Jiang Jin didn't waste words with him. "I mean, transport all the supplies I requested to the Great Valley. You can at least help with this short distance, right?"
Sheng He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. He couldn't exactly admit that they had never intended to provide the supplies in the first place, could he?
"What?" Jiang Jin's expression turned cold. "Don't tell me you weren't planning to give us the money and provisions? Trying to get something for nothing?"
Sheng He felt a tremendous pressure, his heart churning like a stormy sea. This woman's aura was incredibly powerful, even stronger than that of his family head. Could this be the power of the royal bloodline?!
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Not daring to look directly at Jiang Jin, he quickly stood up and bowed deeply. "Of course not. Please, do not misunderstand."
Sheng Shang also broke into a cold sweat. He stood up alongside Sheng He, keeping his head down and not daring to speak.
Jiang Jin watched them until the two men were bent so low they were on the verge of kneeling.
Only then did she lean back gently against her chair, speaking in a languid tone. "Good. Go back and tell your family head: in ten days, at the Great Valley, remember to transport the supplies there."
She had originally thought the situation in Ze'a Commandery was critical. Although many crops were not yet ripe and some remained unharvested, rushing it would have taken only four or five days.
Now it seemed Ze'a Commandery wasn't in a hurry at all, even having the leisure to play mind games with her. In that case, they could just take their time.
It was only because she was planning to attack Shanguan County anyway that these funds and provisions were essentially a free bonus. Otherwise, given Ze'a Commandery's irritating behavior, she wouldn't even have bothered paying them any attention.
"Understood!" Sheng He and his companion secretly breathed a sigh of relief, unconsciously using the response of subordinates to a superior.
Suddenly recalling that Jiang Jin had just said "in ten days," Sheng He looked troubled again. "We... we might not be able to hold out for ten days."
Jiang Jin was speechless. They couldn't even hold out for ten days, yet they were still trying to scheme against her. She didn't know whether to call them shrewd or just plain stupid.
Qiu Liao sneered coldly. "It's only ten days. If the enemy refuses a truce, you can simply pretend to negotiate with them."
Sheng Shang was stunned. "Negotiate?"
Jiang Jin nodded. Qiu Liao's strategy was indeed viable and relatively easy to execute.
"Exactly. Act subservient, offer to cede territory and pay reparations. If all else fails, say you can cooperate with Quzhao to wipe out my Gefeng first. Just drag out the negotiations to stall for time."
Sheng Shang and Sheng He exchanged a glance, understanding the crux of the plan, a gleam of realization flashing in their eyes.
Jiang Jin curled the corners of her lips. "Remember, this is your last chance. There won't be a next time. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless."
After Sheng He and his companion left, Qiu Liao sighed. "Acting like this, it will be hard for them to accomplish anything."
Yun Ci shook his head. "It might not necessarily be Sheng Chi's idea."
The noble families were not that united; they were merely forced together out of necessity. Now that they were required to jointly provide money and grain, their reluctance was understandable.
It was just that they were too blind to the reality of the situation.
This time, Sheng He and his companion didn't bother resting. They quickly rode out of Gefeng City. After covering some distance, both of them coincidentally looked back at Gefeng.
At this very moment, both men profoundly realized that Princess Jinyang was far from simple.
A Princess Jinyang like this could not possibly be a mere puppet, as their family head had speculated.
The family head had miscalculated this time!
One day later, in Ze'a Commandery.
"What did you say?" Sheng Chi slammed his hand on the table.
Sheng He maintained his bowing posture. "Princess Jinyang said to transport all the agreed-upon supplies to the Great Valley, and she will send people to transport them from there."
Kong Yi frowned. "Where would she get so many people? Gefeng is a small city. Even if it were full, it would only hold tens of thousands. Even if she mobilized everyone, it wouldn't be enough."
Silence filled the hall. No one answered his question because they didn't know either.
Sheng He weighed his words before saying, "Family Head, it would be best to provide the supplies as previously agreed. Princess Jinyang is very formidable!"
Sheng Chi was somewhat surprised. He looked at him and asked, "Did you discover something?"
Sheng He and Sheng Shang were both men he trusted, and he knew them well. Previously, they hadn't taken Princess Jinyang so seriously.
Sheng He shook his head. "No discoveries. Just intuition."
Sheng Chi was speechless.
He lowered his head in deep thought, sighing only after a long while. "Call the family heads over to discuss this."
Regarding Sheng He's remark about Princess Jinyang being formidable, he felt a mix of joy and worry. The joy was that the more capable Princess Jinyang was, the higher his chances of getting out of this predicament.
The worry was that with such a capable Jinyang and such a powerful Gefeng, if they ever became enemies in the future...
While the noble families of Ze'a Commandery debated how much money and grain each should contribute and how to use negotiations to force a temporary truce with the Quzhao army, the number of refugees in Gefeng continued to grow.
The refugees currently stranded in the temporary shelters numbered in the thousands. Since there weren't enough houses, latecomers were assigned to sleep outdoors in designated zones based on their arrival time.
Batch after batch, they were kept isolated from one another. Only those who stayed for five days without showing any symptoms of illness were allowed to enter the city.
At noon, the scorching sun beat down on everyone, making them somewhat drowsy.
The gates of Gefeng City opened, and several soldiers pushed out two handcarts containing the refugees' lunch.
Zhao Renxian didn't need Zhao Er to give the order; he led his soldiers over to take charge.
Zhao Renxian was originally the Diarrhea Bandit. After entering the city, he had given himself the name Zhao Renxian and enlisted in the army alongside Zhao Er. He was now Zhao Er's deputy platoon leader.
Pushing the food to the large open ground in front of the temporary shelters, Zhao Renxian shouted, "Zone One, line up."
The refugees clearly knew the rules. No matter how hungry they were, as long as their zone hadn't been called, they didn't dare push forward to get food.
Soon it was Zone Five's turn. At the front of the line was a tall man. Looking at the same coarse grain porridge with radishes and greens scooped into his bowl every day, he couldn't help but frown. "Why is it the same every day?"
Zhao Renxian paused his scooping and looked up at him. "What? Is it not good enough for you?"
They were eating well now. Back when they were on Wuhu Mountain, let alone radish and green vegetable porridge, he had even eaten tree bark and leaves.
Radish and green vegetable porridge might not be considered a feast in Gefeng, but for ordinary commoners, even in good years without war, this was still considered a very decent meal.
In any case, before he entered Gefeng, he had never eaten anything this good.
The tall man curled his lip. "Didn't you Gefeng people say you treat the commoners well? This is it? I've been here for two or three days, and I haven't even seen a speck of meat."
A man standing behind the tall man chimed in, "Exactly. It's bad enough you won't let us into the city, but our food is way worse than yours. I saw you guys eating meat yesterday."
"Yeah, talking about preventing a plague—what plague? Making us wait out here, who knows what your real intentions are?" a woman in the line echoed.
Zhao Er walked over. "What's going on?"
Zhao Renxian snorted coldly. "They're complaining about not having meat to eat."
Zhao Er narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the tall man. He remembered him; his name seemed to be Wang Wu.
Wang Wu had arrived three days ago, bringing over a hundred people with him. Almost all of them were men and women in their prime, with only a few elderly folks.
Moreover, they were slightly different from the ordinary refugees. Their bodies were quite sturdy, and they weren't so weakened by hunger that they couldn't walk. Because of this, Zhao Er had some impression of him.
Zhao Er wasn't angry, though. He asked, "So what exactly do you want?"
Wang Wu licked his lips. "I want to eat meat. At least one meal of meat every day."
Zhao Er twitched the corner of his mouth, looked at the refugees in the various zones, and asked loudly, "Does anyone else share this thought?"
Whether they had already received their food and were wolfing it down, or were still holding their bowls waiting for their share, the commoners looked at each other in bewilderment, completely at a loss for how to react.
