The Empress Kneels in Her Palace to Admit Her Mistakes After Slaying Her Ways in the Female-Oriented

Zhang Shi's heart sank to the bottom of a lake.

Having fought his way in and out of the grasslands seven times, he knew all too well the importance of supplies. The saying "an army marches on its stomach" perfectly illustrates this point.

In fact, it could be argued that, in many cases, the importance of food supplies outweighs the combat effectiveness of an army.

And provisions...

The army that came from the capital was never considered wealthy.

When they first left the capital, they relied entirely on the imperial court for funding. Although the Duke was extremely powerful and there were no shortages, the expenses for the 200,000-strong army, including food and supplies for the horses, and the journey from the imperial court to Yunjing, were unimaginable.

Fortunately, the conquests along the way went relatively smoothly, and they captured two major cities, Wusheng Pass and Huai'an City, in succession. Since these cities had not experienced the ravages of war, their food supplies were greatly replenished.

But that doesn’t mean there’s an abundance of food supplies.

After all, they still have to face the entire Yunjing.

Therefore, a consensus has almost been reached within the military that once a city is captured, its granary must be seized first to obtain its resources for military use.

His plan to take Yuancheng also included seizing its resources. After all, an insignificant Xu Shang wouldn't warrant such a large effort from their army.

Can……

What does it mean that the Taicang area in Yuancheng is now completely empty?

What's the point of having no gold, silver, or any other treasures?

Did Hu Shaoyou spend it all?

That's not right. We've only been defending the city for a few days. Even if the consumption was huge, it shouldn't have been used up in such a short time!

"Let's go see again, let's explore again!"

"Fine, I'll go myself!"

Zhang Shi personally led a team to investigate the granary, armory, and treasury in Yuancheng. As expected, they were all empty. The most surprising thing was that not even a single grain of rice was left in the granary.

"Then what the hell is the point of me attacking Yuan City?"

Zhang Shi felt incredibly overwhelmed.

On the grasslands, he roamed freely and was hard to beat. Even though the conditions were harsh, he was carefree and at ease. But when he returned to the Central Plains, where supplies were plentiful, he felt constrained at every turn and found himself in a difficult situation.

Just as I was trying to think of a solution, a guard rushed in to report.

"General Zhang Shi, the Duke has arrived."

"What?"

"The Duke is here; he's less than ten miles from here."

"The Duke has really come? Could it be that the Duke had some kind of premonition, knowing that I failed to capture Xu Shang and protect the grain supplies of Yuan City, and has come to punish me?"

Zhang Shi wanted to cry but had no tears.

But when the Duke arrived, he dared not be negligent. He quickly tidied himself up and went to greet him personally. Soon, he met Ren Tianye at the city gate.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that quite a few people had arrived.

The Duke, Wang Ming, Su Jin, Pei Jingzhi... it can be said that all the high-ranking officials of their southern expeditionary army were present.

"My lord!"

Zhang Shi stepped forward and bowed, his face showing distress.

"What's wrong?" Ren Tianye was also somewhat surprised: "Wasn't this battle fought quite well? We took Yuancheng with one cannon shot and even killed the city lord, Hu Shaoyou."

"It should be considered a contribution."

"Why the long face?"

"Lord Duke..." Zhang Shi dared not conceal the truth and said, "The Yuancheng granary, treasury, and armory are all empty."

As he spoke, Zhang Shi explained the situation in detail.

Ren Tianye also frowned.

This vast city of Yuan is completely empty?

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Is that city lord, Hu Shaoyou, really dead?"

"Yes, I have verified it many times. He is indeed dead. His body is currently at the Gu residence. His wife is crying so hard she's almost going crazy. I don't intend to get angry with a corpse. I just sent people to guard it and didn't do anything else."

Ren Tianye nodded and said, "Let's go."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"Oh, right..." Ren Tianye seemed to remember something during the journey and asked, "Where's Lu Shuang?"

"My lord, what did Lu Shuang go to investigate on her own? She is a member of the Demon Suppression Division, and she was sent by my lord and Lord Su Jin to assist me. I never restrict her freedom. As long as it's not a big deal, she can do whatever she wants."

Ren Tianye nodded again, and they headed towards the Gu residence together.

……

The Gu residence.

Hu Shaoyou, who had been prepared to die from the moment he began defending the city, had already prepared a coffin, and now his body had been placed inside.

The solid wood coffin, however, was like an insurmountable chasm, keeping Gu Qing out. Gu Qing was so grief-stricken that she became numb, her eyes were vacant, and her tears had all dried up, leaving only a pair of bloodshot eyes.

The hall was silent, with only the crackling of the candlelight.

Zhang Shi's personal guards outside the door did not come in to disturb them. After all, whether a person is sincere or not may be faked, but it is extremely difficult to fake it like Gu Qing.

Zhang Shi's personal guards were also human, and they would unconsciously respect a woman who valued loyalty and affection.

This created a situation where they could monitor without interfering.

until……

Two cries suddenly rang out.

"My son, how could you abandon us like this? Now that you're gone, what are your father and I supposed to do?"

"My son, my son, we've raised you for a thousand days, and today, your mother and I are burying our son. What are we going to do now?"

……

The two loud voices drew the attention of all the guards, who immediately recognized the two uninvited guests.

They should be the parents of the deceased Hu Shaoyou.

This is a new situation.

Someone immediately went to report to Zhang Shi.

The others became even more wary.

Gu Qing, who had been kneeling on the ground with numb eyes, finally moved her eyes and turned her head almost numbly, as if she saw something, or as if she saw nothing at all.

Then it dawned on me.

He suddenly stood up.

Kneeling for too long caused his blood and qi to rush to his head, making him feel dizzy. He reached out and grabbed the coffin to stop himself from feeling dizzy.

His face already showed an anxious expression.

"Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, what brings you here?"

"Didn't you go back to your hometown?"

On the eve of the Battle of Yuancheng, anticipating a life-or-death struggle, Gu Qing suggested early on that the two elderly people return to the countryside, and she personally escorted them to the city gate.

What...the two of them are back now?

"My son is dead, how could I not come?"

"Daughter-in-law, Shaoyou is dead, Shaoyou is dead! We, even if we die, should come!"

Hu Shaoyou's parents were also filled with grief. After saying those words to Gu Qing, they both threw themselves onto the coffin and cried their hearts out.

"Son, now that you're gone, what will happen to all your debts?"

"My son, you were such a good person, giving those fellow soldiers so much money and supplies, but we still couldn't hold Yuancheng. My son, you died such a tragic death!"

Gu Qing, who had been grieving along with them, suddenly paused upon hearing this and asked in surprise, "Father-in-law and mother-in-law, what money and provisions?"

"What should be given to fellow soldiers?"

"What do you mean?"

Hu Shaoyou's mother turned around, her expression slightly surprised, and said, "Daughter-in-law, don't you know? In order to encourage everyone to do their best to defend the city, Shaoyou distributed all the money and grain in the city's granary, treasury, and armory to his soldiers."

"Yes, he told both of us, but not you? Oh dear, it must be because you're very strict with him, so he didn't dare to tell you. He probably thought he'd wait until the war was over, but I never expected... my son would die on the battlefield!"

Gu Qing's pale face turned even paler.

The grain, fodder, and money in the granary, armory, and treasury were all distributed.

They also borrowed supplies equivalent to four million taels of silver from surrounding cities.

That's an astronomical sum!

……