Love Lock

Chapter 3 The whole story
"Oh!"

Han Lei withdrew her hand and waited quietly for Zhao Zun to answer her question.

Han Lei's fingertips were cool and soft, like a cloud brushing past Zhao Zun's heart. This sudden separation actually made him feel a little reluctant.

Zhao Zun's gaze followed Han Lei's small hand for a long while before he spoke weakly.

"The Great Jing Dynasty is surrounded by many countries, large and small. To the north alone, it borders the Ara, the Turks, and the Mongols. Yong'an City and Ling'an City are the northern passes of the Great Jing Dynasty, and the 100,000 soldiers I lead are the garrison troops in these two cities..."

Zhao Zun spoke calmly. Before he fell into a coma, he had carefully observed that everything that appeared with Han Lei did not belong to any country surrounding Da Jing.

As the commander-in-chief of the border army, he paid close attention to and understood the strength of the surrounding countries.

Even the Dongming Empire, which is more powerful than the Dajing Empire, cannot currently produce such an exquisite ambulance, let alone a weapon that can kill enemies remotely with just a soft "click".

If the Eastern Ming Empire possessed such a powerful weapon, it would have long since become the overlord of this continent. Why is it still so peaceful?
Other countries were weaker than the Eastern Ming Empire, and it was even less likely that they would have such powerful equipment.

Most importantly, iron is a scarce commodity, let alone refined iron. Where would one find such high-quality refined iron to forge such a unique ambulance?

Therefore, Zhao Zun felt that even if this mysterious woman in front of him was not a friend, she was definitely not an enemy either, and it should be fine to tell her.

Furthermore, when Zhao Zun woke up just now, he happened to grasp the two keywords "time travel" and "staying here for a lifetime".

This further confirmed his judgment, even though he didn't understand what time travel was.

Zhao Zun licked his dry, chapped lips and continued speaking.

"The Turkic people live in a cold climate and are nomadic, lacking clothing and food. In the past, they would always rush south to attack and plunder cities after the autumn harvest and before winter. This year, a battle had already been fought after the autumn harvest, but unexpectedly, the Turks gathered a large army again to attack Yong'an City after winter."

"You were defeated because you didn't have enough troops?"

Han Lei recalled how the marshal of the army had been relentlessly pursued and attacked by the Turks, chased like a stray dog; the scene was indeed quite tragic.

Can you speak?
Zhao Zun rolled his eyes at her and shook his head.

"The 50,000 troops stationed in Ling'an City must also guard against the Ala Kingdom and the Meng Kingdom, and cannot be transferred away to provide support without authorization. However, the 50,000 troops stationed in Yong'an City are sufficient to deal with the large army that the Turks temporarily assembled."

"The provisions for our northern garrison are usually allocated and supplied by the Ministry of War in Jingzhou and Cangzhou, and delivered on time and in the required quantity every month. If there is a war, we will raise more provisions from nearby areas."

This time, Han Lei didn't interrupt him, but listened quietly as he continued.

"However, after the last great battle, the remaining provisions will not last more than a few days, and the provisions for next month will not arrive for more than ten days. I had no choice but to order the rapid collection of provisions in Cangzhou and send an urgent report to the court."

"The entire Cangzhou region is a barren land, and with the annual wars of the past few years, the amount of grain and fodder that have been gathered is pitifully small. The battle in Yong'an City has been at a stalemate for almost a month, and the grain and fodder that Cangzhou has mobilized is also quickly exhausted."

"But there has been no news of the imperial court's provisions, and the soldiers have been forced to eat tree bark and grass roots. I have sent people to inquire several times, but the news I have received is that they are still collecting them."

Hearing this, Han Lei felt extremely heavy-hearted. It is said that an army cannot move until its supplies are ready, and as a soldier herself, she could naturally empathize with that sentiment.

Han Lei unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and handed it to Zhao Zun, "Then can't we use the military rations from Ling'an City first?"

This time, Zhao Zun cast an appreciative glance at him, then propped himself up and gulped down a mouthful of sweet mineral water.

"Ling'an City is also waiting for next month's military rations, but with no other choice, I still set aside some to support Yong'an City first. Even if it's just thin porridge, it will at least allow the soldiers of Yong'an City to hold on for a few more days."

"I was anxious about the situation in Yong'an City and wanted to see it for myself, but I didn't want the spies from Ala and Meng Kingdom to know that I was not in Ling'an City. So, I put on my personal guards' armor, took only twenty guards with me, and secretly escorted the supplies away from the camp before dawn."

Xiao Zhengfei, standing nearby, blinked, his gaze fixed on the bottle of mineral water. So that's how it's opened. Xiao Zhengfei was also very thirsty. He carefully reviewed Han Lei's movements as she unscrewed the cap, picked up his own bottle of mineral water, and imitated her, unscrewing it and taking a big gulp.

"Uh... Miss Han. Do you have anything to eat?" Xiao Zhengfei asked, wiping the water from the corner of his mouth. He'd already drunk the water, so asking for some food wouldn't be shameful, right?

"Oh, yes, yes, yes."

Han Lei slapped her forehead and quickly took out several cartons of milk and several bags of bread from the passenger seat and handed them to them.

Why didn't she think of that? Since there's a food shortage, even a prince might go hungry!

Seeing Zhao Zun and Xiao Zhengfei tear open the bread packaging and wolf it down, Han Lei quickly helped them insert the milk straws.

"What is this? It smells delicious."

Xiao Zhengfei let out a beautiful sigh, as if he had tasted some heavenly delicacy.

Zhao Zun swallowed the bread in his mouth and nodded repeatedly.

"Here's milk and bread. Eat slowly, I have more in my car."

Seeing how hungry they were eating, Han Lei felt a pang of sadness.

Xiao Zhengfei nodded firmly.

They were indeed extremely hungry.

When I set off in the early morning, I only had a bowl of thin porridge that was so light you could see your reflection in it and half a pancake. Now it's already evening.

Seeing that they were eating more slowly, Han Lei asked, "Were the grain supplies you were escorting stolen by those Turks?"

Zhao Zun shook his head: "Part of the grain and fodder could not be transported over at all, and the other part has already fallen off the cliff."

"Huh?" Han Lei exclaimed in astonishment, "How could you have fallen off a cliff?"

Zhao Zun let out a long sigh, his eyes filled with deep sorrow.

Seeing that Zhao Zun was in a bad mood, Xiao Zhengfei took over and continued.

"The prince originally planned to take the official road, but when he passed through Yinshan, one of his guards suddenly suggested that they take the iron chain bridge in the Yinshan valley, which would save half the journey. The prince was also anxious about the situation in Yong'an City, so he agreed."

"The iron chain bridge was narrow and long, with only enough space for two people to cross side by side at most. So the prince led ten of our personal guards in front and we crossed the iron chain bridge smoothly."

"and then?"

Han Lei looked at him nervously.

Xiao Zhengfei sighed, "The horses carrying the grain were lined up in a row. Just as they reached the middle of the iron chain bridge, the bridge suddenly collapsed, and all the horses and grain that were crossing the bridge fell off the cliff. The remaining grain and the guards who were bringing up the rear are still on the other side of the bridge."

Han Lei raised an eyebrow slightly, as if trying to catch something.

Xiao Zhengfei continued, "We were looking for a way to go back and meet up with them, but we hadn't gone far when hundreds of Turks rushed out of the woods and ambushed us."

Han Lei touched her chin, her brows furrowed, and finally grasped the key point.

"Hearing you say that, I have a feeling there's a traitor among your personal guards?"