Chapter 206 This matter is a dead end!
When Tushe'er saw the painting, he was first shocked and his eyes widened, then he breathed a sigh of relief and rolled his eyes.
"It scared me to death. They made it so mysterious. I thought something serious had happened."
"..."
"In the end, it was just a painting. Who would be so bored as to play a prank?"
She had relaxed, but Shang Ruyi's expression remained unchanged. She stared intently at the painting, from left to right and then from right to left. Suddenly, as if she had noticed something, her eyes lit up.
Tushe'er said, "Miss, shouldn't we just ignore this kind of prank?"
Shang Ruyi said in a deep voice, "Who would give five taels of silver to the gatekeeper to play a prank?"
"...?"
Upon hearing this, Tushe'er was stunned for a moment, and then came to her senses—even if it was a prank, it was a bit too much to spend.
She immediately looked at the painting again, but still couldn't figure it out. She asked, "Then, what does this mean?"
Shang Ruyi's expression grew even more solemn.
She reached out and pointed to the rightmost stalk of wheat on the drawing paper, saying, "Wheat represents grain. Right now, the thing directly related to grain in front of us is Xingluo Granary. So, this stalk of wheat represents Xingluo Granary."
"ah!?"
Tushe'er was startled. Looking at the painting again, she immediately understood and said, "Then, the person in the middle facing the wheat, is that the son-in-law?"
Shang Ruyi nodded: "That's right."
"..."
"This person represents Yuwen Ye, and he is attacking Xingluocang."
Tushe'er's gaze then fell upon the knife on the far left of the painting, and she exclaimed in horror, "Then this knife—"
Shang Ruyi said, "This knife is aimed at Yuwen Ye's back."
"..."
"The meaning of this painting is that Yuwen Ye is attacking Xingluocang, but someone is plotting to stab him in the back!"
Tushe'er gasped.
As if unwilling to accept such a dangerous and cruel possibility, she hurriedly said, "Miss, could it be that someone is playing a prank and deliberately trying to scare us? Our Duke's Mansion has quite a few enemies, like that General Wang—spending five taels of silver to make us suffer isn't a lot of money for them."
Shang Ruyi glanced at her but didn't say anything.
Indeed, the implications of this painting could be true or false; if it's false, then it's not worth mentioning at all.
But what if it's true—
Chu Yang has made it very clear today that if Yuwen Ye suffers another defeat and further losses, he will not let him off the hook. If what this painting implies is true, and someone is trying to harm Yuwen Ye behind his back, then this matter is a dead end!
Yuwen Ye is doomed!
Thinking of this, Shang Ruyi squeezed the painting into a ball in her palm.
Seeing her like this, Tushe'er subconsciously grabbed Shang Ruyi's wrist and whispered, "Miss, do you really believe that this painting is real?"
Shang Ruyi glanced at her, gritted her teeth, and said in a deep voice, "I can't take this risk!"
Tushe'er asked, "Miss, what are you going to do?"
Shang Ruyi composed herself and asked, "Where is Jiang Kesheng?"
Jiang Kesheng was the captain of the two hundred-man team that Yuwen Yuan left for her when he left Dongdu. These two hundred men were too conspicuous and could not be left in the city. Therefore, Yuwen Yuan sent them to his manor outside the city to practice martial arts. Jiang Kesheng would come to the Yuwen residence every few days to pay his respects to Shang Ruyi and report on the situation outside the city.
Tusheer said, "He went out of the city to the estate."
"Oh no..."
Shang Ruyi frowned, thought for a moment, then got up to get paper and pen, quickly wrote a letter, sealed it, and handed it to Tushe'er, saying, "You must leave the city immediately and deliver this letter to the manor to Jiang Kesheng. He will know what to do after reading it."
"yes."
Tushe'er was straightforward; he took the letter and was about to leave.
But just as she turned to leave, she saw Shang Ruyi changing her clothes. Instead of changing into casual clothes, she was changing into clothes for going out. She was shocked and asked, "Miss, what are you doing?"
Shang Ruyi said, "I need to get out of the city quickly before the city gates close."
“Miss, this won’t do! It’s too dangerous for you to go alone! Let me go to the estate and call everyone back so they can go with you.”
"It's too late,"
As Shang Ruyi spoke, she changed her clothes. Although her tone was hurried, she was unusually calm: "The village is in the north. It would take at least half a day to go there and back. And things on the battlefield can change in an instant."
"Then you should bring a few more people with you."
"No, our Duke's Mansion is already in the eye of the storm. If I go out of the city alone, I won't attract much attention. If I bring a lot of people, I'm afraid we won't even be able to leave the city."
"Can--"
"She'er!"
Shang Ruyi interrupted her, saying seriously, "If someone really wants to harm Yuwen Ye in the army, he won't wait for me tonight."
Hearing her say that, Tushe'er had nothing to say.
Shang Ruyi said, "Alright, hurry up and get out of the city. Be careful on the road!"
Tushe'er nodded, turned to leave, then thought for a moment and turned back, saying, "Miss, you must be careful going alone. Your safety is the most important thing to me..."
Shang Ruyi felt a warmth in her heart.
She smiled and nodded, and Tushe'er immediately turned and left.
Shang Ruyi took a few more things and followed them out.
|
Night deepened.
The already silent mountains were now plunged into an even deeper, more ethereal stillness. The bitter cold froze everything in the mountains, with only the occasional gusts of wind carrying snowflakes preventing the place from falling into complete silence.
This is Xingluocang City on Huangtuling.
The vast city of Cangcheng was now completely in the hands of Wang Gang's army. All the checkpoints and passages were guarded. A long road wound its way out from the mountains and led into the city, directly to the largest council hall.
The place is brightly lit, like a cluster of candles deliberately lit in a silent mountain range.
Inside the council hall, the noise was even more intense than the flames in the braziers placed around the main hall. Two rows of eight stools were placed in the main hall, with eight minor leaders sitting on them, each followed by three or five subordinates, all talking loudly and arguing incessantly.
At the very top of the council hall, there was a low table with a map of the area surrounding Xingluocang City on it.
A man sat behind a desk, looking down at a map.
Because he was holding onto the edge of the table with one hand and supporting his forehead with the other, and because he was furthest from the surrounding braziers and there were no candles or torches nearby, the light was very dim, and it was almost impossible to see his features. One could only sense that his body was very strong and muscular, and even just sitting there, he looked like a crouching tiger, exuding a terrifying aura.
Regardless of the arguments in the council chamber, he remained silent.
Gradually, the people around him sensed his gloom and quieted down.
At this moment, a handsome young man in his early twenties stood up and asked, "Brother, what exactly are your plans?"
"..."
The man didn't speak, continuing to look at the map.
Another middle-aged man with a full beard and an impatient expression said impatiently, "Hua Ziying, you're asking unnecessary questions! We have so much grain now. As long as we hold the pass, the imperial army can't do anything to us. Why should we care about what's going on outside?"
The others chimed in, "That's right, we don't need to worry about what's going on outside."
"With so much food here, we don't need to fight anymore."
"Then Yuwen Ye is no match for him either."
Hearing the confident voices of these people, the person sitting in the main seat remained silent, staring at the map. It was the young beggar, Ying, who spoke uneasily: "Gentlemen, although we have an endless supply of grain by guarding this granary, it's not time for us to rest easy. I've received news that the imperial court is planning another military campaign against Liaodong. To wage war, they must rely on the grain from Xingluo Granary, so they will definitely find a way to invade."
"oops,"
The burly man with a thick beard waved his hand and said, "Little Flower, why are you being so indecisive? Yuwen Ye has sent troops three times these past few days, and he's lost every time, with so many of his men dying. He's clearly an incompetent fool. Why are you so afraid of him?"
The people around him were amused by the name "Little Flower," and they laughed and said, "That's right, he really lives up to his name."
"I think Yuwen Ye is a good-for-nothing, a complete idiot!"
"Ha ha ha ha."
When Hua Ziying was called "Little Hua," his face immediately showed anger, but he could only suppress it at this moment and said, "I don't think so. Although Yuwen Ye's three expeditions were very hasty, he did not send many troops. It was obviously a test. And today, the people who went out to scout have returned and reported that he has already—shown such an anomaly. There must be a problem! Brother Lu, we cannot be careless."
"Strange phenomenon? You call this strange phenomenon? We call this being terrified and pissing our pants, hahahahaha."
"Xiaohua, your name sounds so girly, and you act just like a girl too!"
"You're afraid of him, but we're not."
Seeing the people around him laughing and mocking him again, Hua Ziying turned pale with anger, his chest heaving violently. He gritted his teeth, turned to the tall figure in the main seat, cupped his hands, and said in a deep voice, "Brother, what do you think?"
The lobby fell silent.
In fact, no matter how much they argued, the final decision rested with the older brother.
After all, he was the one who led their troops out of Wanggang Village, seized the largest granary in the world in one fell swoop, and recruited heroes from all sides. Now he is a powerful leader who makes the imperial court tremble with fear!
All eyes were on him.
The wind blew in from outside the gate, causing the flames in the brazier to flicker and sway. The firelight illuminated the man's strong figure, revealing a calm yet dangerous aura.
After a long pause, a deep voice rang out—
"Immediately mobilize troops and leave the city!"
Those around him were startled and hurriedly tried to say something, but then they saw the man slowly raise his head, revealing a pair of bright eyes that shone brightly in the dim light!
"We need to take the initiative."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com