Luo Ah-di’s expression softened considerably. “Why are you digging a tunnel?”
Now that the matter had been brought up, Zhu Liao no longer hid anything. “We have family members who were taken into Wenxia City, so we wanted to dig a tunnel in and rescue them.”
His voice fell. “Unfortunately, with the manpower we have, there’s almost no chance we’ll be able to dig all the way through to Wenxia City.”
Last year, more than a hundred people had been able to come and dig. Now, only a few dozen remained. They had even hesitated over whether they should persist this year.
In the end, they had decided to come anyway. Perhaps they would never see their relatives, who had been taken into the city, again in their lifetimes, but at least they would still have something to hope for.
Luo Ah-di continued questioning him. “How many people are left in your village? Are they all still in the original village, or have they gone up into the mountains?”
“We went up into the mountains,” Zhu Liao replied. “The Ji people occupied our old village. They forced the Han people to wear shackles while working, so we don’t dare go back.”
As for which mountains they had gone to or how many people were hiding there, he said nothing.
His thinking was simple: if anyone had to die, it would be those of them here, and the people in the mountains would not be dragged into it.
Before choosing to come here, they had already prepared themselves for the possibility of dying away from home.
Luo Ah-di did not mind their guarded attitude. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Are you willing to help us dig the tunnel? We’ll provide food and lodging.”
Since these people had found their way here, it was impossible to send them back before the matter was settled.
But they were all ordinary civilians, and he could not bring himself to kill them.
In that case, they might as well help with the work. This would also free up more of the Dragonshadow Guards to patrol the surrounding area.
His advance force consisted of only around one hundred and fifty Dragonshadow Guards. They had brought even fewer people for the excavation. Aside from their usual patrols and reconnaissance, some of the Dragonshadow Guards had to help dig the tunnel as well.
Sometimes, he felt that the Dragonshadow Guards were omnipotent. They had to know how to do a little of everything.
As for whether these dozens of people harbored any ill intentions, it was not important.
If more than a hundred Dragonshadow Guards could not keep an eye on a few dozen civilians, they might as well go back into the furnace and be remade.
Zhu Liao and the others stared up at him in astonishment. “W-What did you say?”
Had they just heard correctly?
Food and lodging?
Luo Ah-di smiled and pointed toward the tunnel. “Let’s go over now. It’s almost lunchtime anyway. Eat first, then you can get to work this afternoon.”
Zhu Liao and the others exchanged glances. For a moment, none of them dared believe what had happened, but instinctively, they rose and followed the group.
Even when lunchtime arrived, they still had not recovered from their shock. They stared at the bamboo bowls filled to the brim with porridge. Something had been added to it; it smelled sweet and fragrant.
It was rice porridge—plain porridge—and it had actually been given to them just like this?
In all his life, had Zhu Liao ever eaten rice this white? For a moment, he could not remember. Probably not.
Even when they had rice to eat, it was the coarse variety. Yet coarse rice was already the best food they had ever tasted.
Zhu Liao swallowed. “Th-This is really for us?”
Luo Ah-di explained, “You probably haven’t had a proper meal in a long time. Have some porridge first. We added some sweet potatoes. It’s sweet and soft, so your stomachs can get used to food again.”
The Jinyang Army mostly ate rice, because only when soldiers were properly fed could they maintain strong bodies and peak combat effectiveness.
The Dragonshadow Guards were the elite of the Jinyang Army. Whether it was food or anything else, they received the best.
With trembling hands, Zhu Liao dipped his bamboo chopsticks into the porridge and placed a little in his mouth.
It really was fragrant and sweet.
His heart ached, and the familiar cramping pain stirred in his empty stomach.
To be able to eat his fill—to taste something this delicious—even if he died at that moment, he would feel that it had all been worth it.
Zhu Liao let out a breath, then finally began shoveling the porridge into his mouth in great gulps.
Luo Ah-di watched the civilians devour their food. Quite a few of them began quietly sobbing as they ate.
A pang of sorrow went through him, reminding him of his former self.
He only hoped that their lord could conquer Chongzhou as soon as possible and rescue more civilians.
Just then, he saw Wen Ping approaching from a distance.
He hurried to meet him. “Why have you come? Is there some news from above?”
Wen Ping glanced at the civilians in the distance. His expression did not change in the slightest. Clearly, the Dragonshadow Guard who had escorted him in had already told him what was happening here.
He withdrew his gaze and looked at Luo Ah-di. “Come on. Let’s talk over there.”
The two of them walked toward a secluded area, followed by several Dragonshadow Guards to ensure that no one could overhear them.
Wen Ping was beaming. “Our lord has taken all of Fengzhou.”
Luo Ah-di was stunned at first, then overjoyed. “That’s wonderful!”
When he had set out, their lord had not yet attacked Wuqin and the other places.
Who could have imagined that, in the blink of an eye, he would have taken all of Fengzhou?
Wen Ping smiled and said, “Captain Xia, Commander Shuangjiang, and the others are also coming to Chongzhou.”
He explained that Xia Chanyi and the others would be arriving in Chongzhou.
At the end, he sighed emotionally. “It’s great. We’re finally no longer fighting alone.”
Luo Ah-di was equally excited. “That’s right. We’ve finally been waiting for them. It looks like our lord will be able to take Chongzhou soon.”
Wen Ping shook his head with a smile. “It’s not that easy. Still, the fate of Wenxia City depends on how quickly you can finish digging. The day the tunnel is completed will be the day Wenxia City falls.”
Luo Ah-di was filled with enthusiasm, but when he thought of the tunnel’s condition, helplessness returned to his face. “The passage is too narrow. Even if we had more people, it wouldn’t help. We can’t fit too many people inside to dig at once.”
Wen Ping thought for a moment. “Don’t we have several dozen more people now? Once Captain Xia arrives in a few days, we’ll have even more people. We can work in shifts during the day and night.”
The tunnel would be left with several “openings” according to the circumstances—partly to let in light, but more importantly, to allow ventilation.
Overall, however, it was still dim. On most sections, they had to light lamps even when working during the day.
So there was actually little difference between working at night and working during the day.
Luo Ah-di nodded. “That should work. However, the people who arrived today are in terrible shape. They’ll probably need another two days to recover.”
Dingyang.
When Great Chanyu Jiao Kang of the Jiao clan received Jiao Tai’s message, he slammed his hand onto the table in fury. “Arrogant! Who does Qu Zhao think he is, daring to cause trouble on Jiao clan territory?”
Military Advisor Jiao Hualing frowned. He was more concerned about something else. “Princess Jinyang? Is that the legitimate princess who was given to General Jiao Liang back then?”
Jiao Kang racked his memory for quite a while before nodding. “It should be her. Who would have thought she had such a sharp tongue and such sharp teeth? We should have killed her back then.”
He only remembered that she was the legitimate princess. As for her name or title, who had cared?
She had merely been a prisoner, a plaything for their Jiao army.
The more noble a woman’s status, and the more beautiful and delicate she was, the worse the treatment she usually received.
At the time, he had even wondered whether such a pampered princess could survive two days in Jiao Liang’s hands.
Who could have imagined that she would possess such ability?
Jiao Hualing sighed. “In the end, was she simply too formidable, or was Qu Zhao’s army just too useless?”
No matter how hard he tried, he could not understand it. The mighty Qu Zhao army had actually been defeated by a woman—and over the course of more than a year, at that.
