When Mu Ning heard this news from the Nest Man, she was utterly stunned and couldn't help but marvel at how professional the operation was.
The key point was that they had been stealing for over a year, and Qu Zhaojun hadn't noticed a thing!
This called for an explanation of what made this granary different.
Regular granaries were built in separate units, each holding anywhere from a hundred to several hundred dan of grain.
But the one they were targeting was special—a single massive granary capable of holding over two thousand dan. If the amount dropped slightly now and then, it really might go unnoticed.
The young woman spat in disdain: “Those spineless bastards. They really told you everything. Pathetic.”
The old man, however, showed no change in expression. He looked at Mu Ning: “So what if they did? We were taking grain from the Qu people. What does that have to do with you?”
Mu Ning replied unhurriedly: “Nothing much. I'm just curious—as the former magistrate of Shantong County, why didn't you lead the townsfolk to Ze'a Commandery or Sizhou instead of hiding up in the mountains?”
“As for you stealing from the Qu—before, it had nothing to do with us. Now it does.”
The old man froze for a moment, then gave a bitter smile: “Those lads really can't be trusted. They spilled everything.”
He was indeed the former magistrate of Shantong County, named Yu Shu.
The young woman was his granddaughter, Yu Zhu.
The young man was the county's constable, Gu Zhuo.
Gu Zhuo snorted: “Whoever we are, we took grain from the Qu, not from you. What business is it of yours?”
Mu Ning glanced at him and said slowly: “I forgot to mention—this mountain range now belongs to my lord, and the grain of nearby Shantong County will also belong to him. So tell me, does it concern us or not?”
Yu Shu, Yu Zhu, and Gu Zhuo: “…”
She had such a pretty face, yet she could speak so shamelessly.
And what was worse, the girl beside her—childlike in appearance—nodded in agreement, looking utterly convinced.
Mu Ning paid no mind to their complicated feelings: “You haven't answered my earlier question.”
Yu Shu lifted his head and stared straight at her. After a long pause, he sighed: “I don't trust the aristocratic families.”
“As for going to Sizhou—I did think about it.” He shook his head slowly: “But the road was too far. The odds of our old, weak, women, and children making it there were slim.”
Most importantly, he had a fallback here—a retreat that wasn't quite a retreat.
The long years of war had made him think ahead. He had long since arranged an escape tunnel within the city.
The entrance was right at the granary.
And that tunnel had saved their lives. When the Qu attacked the city back then, they had escaped through it.
Afterward, using his knowledge of the surrounding terrain, he settled everyone on Xiaoqi Mountain.
Among their people were plenty of able-bodied men—including the Nest Man and the others, former county constables with real strength—who could hunt and forage for wild fruit on the mountain.
Either way, it was better than making a long, desperate trek to Sizhou.
But the plan was beautiful, and reality was cruel. Last year was a drought. There were hardly any wild fruits, and even the wildlife had dwindled.
They weren't just a few people or a few families—they were over a thousand. With such a large number of mouths to feed, relying solely on the mountain was nowhere near enough.
Left with no choice, he activated that fallback route, taking the risk to slip through the tunnel and steal grain from the Qu people's stores.
He didn't dare take too much. Like a cautious rat, he stole a little at a time, again and again.
The granary was large enough, and every time they were extremely careful—only taking the loose grain from the storage bins, and spreading the theft across multiple bins so that each bin's level dropped only slightly. No ordinary person would ever notice.
But for over a thousand people, even stealing ten or twenty dan meant each person only got about a jin or so—barely enough to last a few days.
Still, thanks to that fallback and the mountain, almost all of them had survived.
Mu Ning smiled: “Since you're all moving within the influence of our Jinyang Army, how about we go big this time—steal all their grain, what do you say?”
The old man neither agreed nor refused, only asking: “Then what do we get out of it?”
Mu Ning looked at the people outside: “I hear the granary you've been stealing from holds over two thousand dan of grain.”
“And you're all starving like this, yet you've only dared to steal tiny amounts because you're afraid the Qu will track you down if they notice, right? Since that's the case, that grain has hardly anything to do with you anyway.”
Yu Shu shook his head: “No, we could have kept taking it little by little. It's not like it's got nothing to do with us. Besides, without us showing the way and without the tunnel we dug, you'd get nothing at all.”
Even though the odds were slim, he still wanted to fight for his people.
No matter how good the Jinyang Army's promises sounded—credit, working off wages—nothing beat having grain in hand.
Mu Ning lowered her head in thought: “You're just providing guides. We're the ones doing the hard work, and if there's a fight, we're the ones swinging.”
“However, you'll soon be our people. I won't take advantage of you. If it's truly over two thousand dan, we'll give you fifty dan. You wouldn't dare steal that much yourselves in one go, would you?”
The old man agreed without hesitation. Even thirty dan would have been too risky—anything more and they'd easily be caught.
Once the Qu army discovered the theft and traced it back, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Even if they had a chance to escape, with snow covering the land and destruction everywhere, where could they go?
Mu Ning nodded: “Good. Then it's settled. Have your people pack up quickly and head to Shanguan County first.”
Yao Ji hadn't expected such a pleasant bonus either. He immediately gave Shuangjiang two more regiments.
Mainly because the roads were bad, and the grain had to be carried out of the mountains by hand.
For this operation, aside from the Nest Man and the Straw-Raincoat Man, Gu Zhuo and Yu Zhu also joined in.
Shantong County was a small county in Donghu Commandery, situated right against the mountain with no moat around it—which played right into the Nest Man's hands.
The group stood on the mountain, looking down at the rundown city not far away.
The Nest Man muttered: “The guards aren't here today?”
The Straw-Raincoat Man said: “Probably too cold and they've withdrawn. Doesn't matter anyway—we're going around them regardless.”
Shuangjiang shook his head: “We've got a lot of people this time. If guards were present, we'd have to take them out first.”
“This county is small. How does it have so much grain? Are there many Han civilians inside?”
Yu Zhu shook her head: “No. Everyone inside Shantong County is from the Qu.”
“Because Shantong County has a horse ranch. The grain for the ranch workers and defenders is all supplied from the county seat, so the granary stock is considerable.”
“A horse ranch?” Mu Ning's eyes lit up: “Where is it? Is it far from here?”
