Chapter 720: The Soldiers' First Meal in Many Days
"If what he said is true, could you please... show some leniency?"
What she said was already an attempt to force people to give her face.
Li Zhongwu frowned slightly, feeling somewhat embarrassed: "Mrs. Gu, this may be against the rules..."
Kang Zishuang looked at the woman who pleaded for him when they first met, and knew that she did so only because she knew his brother...
But...
The woman in front of him was pregnant and she begged for mercy even though she knew the situation was serious. This made Kang Zishuang think too much.
When he looked up, he met Ran Qingxuan's somewhat helpless gaze. The moment their eyes met, a complex emotion flashed in Kang Zi's eyes.
"If it is proven that he has a problem, even if I have a close relationship with his brother, I will not disrupt the order of the military camp!"
Ran Qingxuan could tell that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Kang Zishuang, otherwise he would never have said this to Li Zhongwu.
"In that case, he must be detained first. He can only be released after the household registration officer confirms that there is no problem with his household registration and that he has not done anything to harm others."
Kang Zishuang had a complicated expression, but he also knew that he and his family's lives were saved.
Zhao Tiezhu was a straightforward person and wanted to say something, but in the final analysis, the person who applied was Kang Zishuang himself. If it was verified that he really did not harm anyone or sell out intelligence about Northern Qi, they really would not be able to detain him.
"You two, take Kang Zishuang to detention first."
"yes!"
When passing by Ran Qingxuan, Kang Zishuang bowed deeply to her.
"I'm sorry to trouble you, ma'am..."
"Well, luckily nothing serious has happened. You stay here and we'll talk about it in a few days."
After the others left, Li Zhongwu stayed there and asked in confusion.
"Mrs. Gu, when you first met him, you seemed to trust him..."
Ran Qingxuan realized that he had no other intentions and shook his head helplessly.
"I don't believe him, I believe my friend, his brother!"
“If Kang Zishuang was a heartless and treacherous person who betrayed his country, he would not have come to the military camp in order not to make his parents sad.
If he had explained it from the beginning, his whole family would have been imprisoned. If he treated his brothers and parents like this, his character should not be that bad..."
Li Zhongwu nodded when he heard this. Just as Ran Qingxuan said, fortunately the Yi ghosts did not launch an attack on Hulu Pass during this period, otherwise Kang Zishuang's fate would have been even more serious than this.
“Gu…Gu…”
As they were talking, two duck quacks came from Zhao Tiezhu and Zhao Xian's stomachs. Ran Qingxuan looked in the direction of the sound and saw that their faces immediately turned red.
The meals for thousands of people could not be prepared so quickly. Ran Qingxuan thought about it, asked about the specific number of people in the wounded camp, and then took out thirty or forty boxes of instant porridge in front of several people.
"Have someone bring a pot of hot water, tear open the packaging of these boxes and add water to them. Give each wounded soldier a box first..."
Holding a bowl-sized barrel, Li Zhongwu and his soldiers looked at Ran Qingxuan with strange expressions as he tore the packaging.
When the water arrived, Ran Qingxuan added two-thirds of water into the box. After a while, he could smell the fragrance of rice coming from the box.
After obtaining Ran Qingxuan's consent, Zhao Tiezhu quickly opened the lid of the box, and the next second he saw the most shocking scene in his life.
"Zhou, this...how did this appear...I..."
Li Zhongwu and his companions surrounded him in disbelief. Under their shocked and frightened gazes, Zhao Tiezhu took a big gulp.
He didn't care about the heat and swallowed it whole in a few gulps.
He just opened his eyes wide and blinked a few times, looking at Li Zhongwu.
"General...it smells so good, and my stomach feels so warm..."
"Don't wait any longer. Eat one portion first. I will distribute it to the wounded soldiers camp later. Once you are full, I will go and treat them."
In addition to being injured, the wounded soldiers were mostly hungry. As long as they had food in their stomachs and Ran Qingxuan treated them from a Western medicine perspective, I believe these people will recover soon.
The six soldiers unpacked the packages and added water at the same time. When they saw the white porridge magically appear, they couldn't wait any longer.
The sound of swallowing saliva came one after another until Li Zhongwu spoke, and the six people temporarily stopped what they were doing.
In less than two minutes, the inside of the empty barrels in the six people's hands was as clean as if it had been licked by a cow, without even a trace of residue left.
"Okay, quickly distribute the porridge in the round bucket. It won't be too late to eat it after the porridge in the big pot is cooked."
The soldiers smiled awkwardly. With some food in their stomachs, they finally felt a little energetic.
Taking advantage of the break from eating, Ran Qingxuan learned that there were less than 3,000 soldiers and less than 500 war horses left in Hulu Pass.
Moreover, whether it was people or war horses, they were basically all skinny and just skin and bones.
The war horses would have had difficulty even standing up, let alone carrying people, and many of them starved to death in just one month.
The food shortage at Hulu Pass began a month ago when the foreign invaders suddenly attacked Hulu Pass.
According to Li Zhongwu, both sides suffered heavy losses a month ago, so the Yigui had only carried out small-scale sneak attacks recently.
Originally, the petty theft attacks had no effect on them at all, but it was because of the lack of food that Chang Hu was seriously injured.
The Yigui people have no chance of breaking through the place guarded by Zhenbei Hou, but if they break through Hulu Pass, I am afraid that the Yigui people will be like locusts passing through.
At that time, Yinyue City, the closest city to Cangzhou, would definitely bear the brunt. After learning about this, Ran Qingxuan hated Qi Jing even more, and could only try his best to control the situation before Gu Yanchen arrived...
That night, the long-lost aroma of rice wafted through Hulu Pass. Even though there were not many dishes, the soldiers who had been hungry for a long time ate them voraciously.
Ran Qingxuan stood on the city wall, looking at the soldiers crying below, his fingers unconsciously stroking the jade bracelet on his wrist.
Suddenly, Ran Qingxuan discovered something unusual through the night vision goggles.
Far away from the crowd, a pigeon flapped its wings and flew up into the sky. From the look of it, you could tell where it was flying to...
"Madam." Li Zhongwu came behind her at some point and handed her a bowl of hot porridge.
"Do you really want to stay? I'm afraid the Yigui people will..."
Ran Qingxuan didn't care and responded, "It's okay. Gu Yanchen will be here in the next two days anyway. With my ability, I won't delay you."
"No, no, no, I don't mean that..."
"I know."
Ran Qingxuan was not a stingy person, so he naturally knew what Li Zhongwu meant.
"General Li." Ran Qingxuan interrupted him and took out a map from his sleeve.
"Tomorrow you will lead your men to this valley, and tell the soldiers that this is the relief grain that the imperial court secretly transported here..."
"But the court obviously won't..."
"If I say I will, I will."
Ran Qingxuan stroked her pregnant belly and smiled softly, with a cold light flashing in her eyes.
She couldn't reveal too much before Gu Yanchen came. She would soon make Qi Jing pay the price for the food she took out later.
In the distance, the second dove flew away quietly.
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