On her wedding night, she went into exile with her pharmacy arsenal

Chapter 1968 Night Visit to the Military Camp

The courtyard of the Su Mansion is deep, and the night falls on the eaves.

Yan Ruyu and Huo Changhe walked side by side on the bluestone road. Yan Ruyu said in a deep voice, "The assassin has a slender figure, but his attacks are ruthless, and he is very familiar with the routes of the Su Mansion."

Yan Ruyu lowered her voice and said, "I suspect that the assassin just now was Miss Li."

Huo Changhe nodded in agreement. "Su Shengsheng mentioned it the other day when he was drunk. Miss Li lived in the west wing of the inner courtyard. He said he was worried that she liked quiet and couldn't stand the noise in the front yard."

However, the Su Mansion covers a very large area, and the two of them only have a vague impression of where the west wing is.

They avoided the patrols and groped their way forward along the bamboo groves beside the wall.

About half an incense stick later, a faint scent of pine smoke and ink suddenly wafted from the front.

Yan Ruyu paused to listen, a faint rustle of a brush across rice paper. She exchanged a glance with Huo Changhe, then tiptoed around to the carved window frame.

The candlelight flickered in the window, reflecting a pure white figure.

Miss Li was sitting by the window, her moon-white skirt spotless, her black hair loosely tied up with a wooden hairpin, her face without a trace of makeup, her beautiful eyes and eyebrows full of concentration.

She held a wolf-hair brush and carefully outlined the rocks on the rice paper. With a slight turn of her wrist, the ink color was smudged to create a distinct texture.

Yan Ruyu's mind flashed with the assassin's face painted with oil paint - the interlaced blue and green lines obscured his features, and only a pair of eyes revealed cold murderous intent.

The Miss Li in front of him had gentle features, ink stains on her fingertips, and even the way she held the pen was somewhat delicate. She was completely different from the agile and ruthless assassin.

She couldn't help but feel startled. Could it be that her suspicion was wrong?

Huo Changhe stared at the scene inside the window, frowning slightly, but said nothing.

Only after Miss Li put down her pen and rubbed her sore wrist did the two of them tiptoe back and return along the same path.

After leaving the Su Mansion, the dusk became even darker.

Yan Ruyu was still thinking about what she had just seen and heard, and whispered, "Looking at her, she doesn't look like someone who knows martial arts, but..."

Huo Changhe jumped onto his horse, reached out and pulled Yan Ruyu onto the saddle, and said in a deep voice, "People's hearts are hidden in their stomachs. We can't judge them by appearances alone. Let's go to the military camp first. The food issue is more important."

That’s right, Yan Ruyu nodded. After all, they were all in the same mansion, there was a long time to come, so there was no need to rush.

The two men rode their horses through the city gate and galloped towards the military camp in the northern suburbs.

As the night deepened, the cold wind blew up the dust on the ground, making a crackling sound as it hit the armor.

From afar, the outline of the military camp became clearer in the night. Torches were lit at the camp gate, and several armored soldiers stood solemnly with spears in their hands, on high alert.

Huo Changhe pulled the reins of his horse and hid behind a distant slope with Yan Ruyu.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at the soldiers in front of the camp gate - he saw that most of those soldiers were thin, their armor looked empty, their faces were sallow, cold sweat was oozing from their foreheads, and they occasionally swayed slightly, gasped for breath, and could not even stand steadily.

"We're really short of food." Huo Changhe's voice was solemn. "Judging from the situation, we've been out of food for at least some time."

Yan Ruyu's heart sank.

No matter what era, if the military camp runs out of food, the consequences will be disastrous.

"We have to sneak into the granary and take a look."

Huo Changhe nodded, and under the cover of night, he took Yan Ruyu around to the low wall on the west side of the military camp.

The guards here were relatively weak. He bent his knees and jumped up, grabbed the wall with one hand, flipped over and fell into the camp, then reached out and pulled Yan Ruyu in.

The two men walked along the shadow of the barracks, avoiding the patrol team and moving towards the granary.

The granary was located in the northwest corner of the barracks and was guarded by four soldiers.

Huo Changhe signaled Yan Ruyu to wait, and he quietly moved around behind the guards like a civet cat. Two stones popped out from his fingertips and hit the back of the necks of the two soldiers accurately.

As soon as the other two noticed something was wrong, Yan Ruyu pounced on them, covered their mouths and noses, and dragged them into the dark.

The two men quickly opened the door to the granary, and a stench of dust filled their faces. Yan Ruyu raised a torch to illuminate the surroundings, and the sight before them made them both gasp.

In the huge granary, dozens of tall grain bins were empty, a few moldy grains were scattered on the ground, and thick spider webs were in the corners of the walls. Not to mention rice, not even a grain of corn could be seen.

Yan Ruyu frowned, the light from the torch reflected on her face, full of anger.

Although I had guessed it, it was still hard to suppress the anger in my heart when I saw it with my own eyes.

"Su Zhenhai even arranged for people to watch over the granary to conceal his activities," Huo Changhe's expression was no better. "How could he only have four people guarding the real granary when they were holding it?"

Huo Changhe walked to the front of the granary, reached out and touched the wooden board at the bottom of the granary, and his fingertips were covered with a thick layer of dust.

He said in a deep voice: "It seems that the military camp will be short of food for longer than we thought."

Just then, footsteps and voices were suddenly heard outside the granary.

Yan Ruyu quickly turned off the flashlight and hid behind the grain storage with Huo Changhe.

Through the gap, they saw several men who looked like officers walk in. One of them said irritably, "If we don't find food, the brothers will mutiny! What should we do?"

Another person sighed, "Who says it's not true? There was clearly food and fodder that reached the waterfront, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye. Maybe the people above them embezzled it."

"Wait a little longer, Envoy Su will find a way."

"The city envoy isn't a god... What's that person above me? I think it's that old scoundrel, Governor Ding! He enjoys a life of luxury in the city, while we're forced to eat tree bark and wild vegetables."

"I think it would be better to lead the troops into the governor's house and kill him. He must have food."

"You're crazy! Leading troops into the government office is tantamount to rebellion, and you will be executed along with your entire clan."

"Oh, I'm a bachelor, and I'm the only one in my clan. I'd rather die quickly than slowly starve to death."

Another person sighed softly, "I still believe in Envoy Su. He said there would be a way."

As they talked, they walked away.

Huo Changhe whispered, "It seems that the food problem in the military camp is imminent and must be solved quickly. Otherwise... if it really causes a mutiny, it will be disastrous."

Yan Ruyu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, this is a good opportunity to test Su Zhenhai and win the hearts of the people."

Huo Changhe's eyes lit up: "Do you have an idea?"

Yan Ruyu nodded: "Let's go, let's leave here first."

The two of them walked away quietly, preparing to return the same way they came.

Although most of the soldiers here are physically weak, they still insist on patrolling. A team's patrol time is short to avoid consuming too much physical strength.

Huo Changhe stared at it for a while and sighed.

From these soldiers, it can be seen that Su Zhenhai treats them well and enforces strict military discipline.

Hopefully, Su Zhenhai hasn't changed.

Just as they were about to move forward, there was suddenly a commotion in the distance.

"stop!"