On this day, Su Jin and Hanhan were helping at the military doctor’s place to prepare golden sore medicine.

On the battlefield, no medicine is consumed more than golden sore medicine, no matter how much there is, it’s used up.

Fortunately, Su Jin had improved the prescription, using fewer herbs while increasing the efficacy.

Just this one prescription saved the court an unknown amount of money and countless lives.

Feeling a bit tired and realizing it was lunch hour, Su Jin and Hanhan returned to the camp.

Leaving from the military doctor’s place, they saw soldiers squatting outside the tents eating steamed buns, with porridge in their bowls.

Su Jin glanced over, frowning slightly.

The porridge was much thinner than a few days ago, almost seeing the bottom of the bowl.

"Has the court’s grain and grass still not arrived?" Su Jin asked.

Xingxing shook her head, "Not yet. The Marquis has already sent three memorials urging them."

Luckily, they had silver notes with them and managed to extort 20,000 taels from Fourth Son-in-law and Sun Prefect to buy food, or the soldiers would be too hungry to train by now.

Su Jin stepped into the main tent, where Marquis Dongxiang was asking how many days the grain and grass could last.

The General in charge of the kitchen said, "Barely four to five days."

Marquis Dongxiang’s brow was tightly furrowed.

He knew precisely how much grain the court had sent to the border, and it had been ages since they sent more. Were they expecting him to fight drinking the northwest wind?

No grain, yet the troops must advance.

Without adequate grain, how can we fight this battle?!

Nanliang hadn’t attacked for days, seemingly knowing the army lacked enough grain, preparing to attack when the soldiers were hungry and horses tired, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

Marquis Dongxiang sent Prince NanAn and the Heir of Marquis Beining to urge for grain.

The two, along with seven or eight soldiers, rushed overnight towards the Capital City.

They had just set off towards the Capital when Old Master Zhou and Mr. Wei brought grain over from another path.

Prince NanAn and the Heir of Marquis Beining traveled for two days and met the court’s grain convoy.

They looked at each other from afar.

The bridge on the path essential for transporting grain to the border had been destroyed.

The grain convoy couldn’t pass.

The time spent repairing the bridge was the same as taking a detour, leaving repairing the bridge as the only option.

Additionally, not only did they encounter the broken bridge, but earlier they were blocked by enormous rocks rolling down from the mountain, delaying for several days.

Though it only blocked the path, not burning the grain was a small fortune amidst misfortune.

The Heir of Marquis Beining looked at Prince NanAn, "Why block the grain convoy and not directly burn the grain?"

Asking him?

Who was he supposed to ask?

Prince NanAn gazed at the grain, saying, "Perhaps in their eyes, this batch of grain belongs to them."

"The border won’t hold for many days. Even if our Daqi soldiers are brave and fierce, they can’t withstand hunger."

Prince NanAn despises Prince Qi and Duke Chong’s sneaky tactics.

Either they completely disregard the Empress Dowager’s well-being and rebel, or they secretly hide in anonymity, eking out an existence.

These methods unwilling to blatantly decry the world, resorting only to underhanded tricks, are truly despicable. Although not overtly waving the banner of revolt, they collude with external enemies!

Nanliang, enemy camp.

Nanliang generals were in good spirits.

Daqi’s camp had already started buying rice in the town, clearly showing the camp was out of food.

Their soldiers, with intense training regimens, needed three or four large steamed buns a meal. One day without food and they’d feel weak.

In battles between two armies, spies in both camps are unavoidable, just unable to access vital secrets.

Such an excellent opportunity can’t be missed.

Must attack the city at once and capture a city from Daqi!

"Let the soldiers eat well and be ready to attack the city at any moment!"

Nanliang’s kitchen smoke billowed to the sky.

Nanliang soldiers’ morale was high.

Meanwhile, Daqi’s morale wasn’t as strong.

Marquis Dongxiang’s anger was fiercer than ever.

They had mustered all their strength for the battle at the border, only to be dragged down by a bunch of laggards. It was his oversight, focusing only on the border and not the grain.

The battle had barely started, yet grain became a problem, and it would only become harder in the future.

Indeed, Prince Qi’s heart was set on rebellion, while Duke Chong had held court affairs in his hands for three years. After Old Duke Chong’s incident, he quickly inherited the title, eliminated opponents, and firmly grasped the court in his hands. His methods were not ordinary.

He should have sensed when he led the Flying Tiger Army to the border with grain.

If the grain wasn’t meant for Prince Qi’s rebellion, why deceive the court saying there was no grain, instead requesting money and rice for relief?

He saw only a glimpse but hadn’t thought this glimpse was part of a larger conspiracy.

Marquis Dongxiang was vexed by his lack of forethought.

Old Prince and the Prince crafted one excellent battle plan after another, but when it came to grain, one was more helpless than the next.

But they could predict Nanliang wouldn’t miss such an opportunity, advising the soldiers to stay vigilant.

First prioritize food for the soldiers defending the city.

Lunch arrived, and Marquis Dongxiang squeezed a steamed bun.

It was a large steamed bun, yet a slight pinch could shrink it by half.

With such steamed buns, eating five or six wouldn’t fill him.

Marquis Dongxiang ate three and drank water furiously; encountering water, the bun would dissolve and expand, providing a sensation of fullness to weaken hunger.

Eating less also meant the soldiers’ training was reduced since training would deplete physical strength and increase hunger.

If Marquis Dongxiang ate so little, Xingxing ate even less seeing him, not being a soldier.

But eating less left her weak all over.

Xingxing worried she might starve to death in the camp.

"If only we could seize Nanliang’s grain," Xingxing said, rubbing her belly.

Nice thought, just hard to execute.

The Nanliang people weren’t pushovers.

Even if it meant burning the grain, they wouldn’t let others have it.

Su Jin handed a pastry to Xingxing, saying, "Your husband hasn’t sent any news back; the situation likely hasn’t deteriorated to that point."

In border warfare, there’s never a time without grain.

Xingxing looked at Su Jin, "You aren’t eating?"

"I’m not hungry," Su Jin said.

"Then I’m not hungry either."

As she spoke, a loud shout echoed across the camp, "Grain has arrived!"

Xingxing’s eyes lit up, "I’ll go have a look."

Marquis Dongxiang headed towards the camp entrance upon hearing the news grain had arrived.

Seeing Old Master Zhou riding on horseback, Marquis Dongxiang frowned.

This wasn’t court-sent grain.

Old Master Zhou dismounted and approached Marquis Dongxiang.

Marquis Dongxiang patted his shoulder, "Brother Zhou, you’ve done me a great favor this time."

No matter if the grain was given or bought, its timely arrival was too crucial.

In his joy, Marquis Dongxiang slapped him particularly hard.

Such mighty force—

Old Master Zhou’s arm nearly broke.

Old Master Zhou’s eye twitched, "I’m not a martial man, how can I withstand you slapping like this?"

Marquis Dongxiang was overtaken by happiness and quickly started to massage Old Master Zhou.

The more he massaged, the more it hurt.

Old Master Zhou was afraid of him, saying, "This batch of grain was sent by my in-law Old Master Wei, specially as a token of apology to the Heir’s wife."

"Apology?" Marquis Dongxiang furrowed his brow.

Old Master Wei staggered forward to admit fault to Marquis Dongxiang for failing to educate his son properly.

With food at hand, Marquis Dongxiang temporarily resolved the urgent need, feeling better.

Yet upon hearing Young Master Wei had designs on Beauty Pavilion, his face darkened, "Looks like the Wei Family’s grain is really plentiful, expanding Young Master Wei’s appetite so much."

Old Master Wei’s scalp tightened.