A daily intelligence report; in chaotic times and famine years, grain is plentiful.

North City, Huang Family.

In the living room, Wang Laoqi was bowing his head humbly, waiting for Huang Chengyue's reply.

Huang Chengyue simply held his teacup and remained silent.

Wang Laoqi cursed inwardly, then adopted a respectful posture and pleaded, "Master Huang, please have mercy and lend my Wang family some grain."

Hearing this, Huang Chengyue sneered, finally put down his teacup, slowly raised his head, and looked at Wang Laoqi's disheveled appearance with disdain.

"What do you mean by that, Master Wang? Your Wang family has been operating in Shannan Town for so many years, and you still have so much grain in your hands. How could you have fallen so low as to borrow grain from our Huang family?"

Huang Chengyue's lips curled up.

He had already learned of the robbery of the Wang family's granary, and now Wang Laoqi must be in dire straits.

These days, food is more important than anything else, so Huang Chengyue certainly wouldn't lend it out easily.

"Master Huang, it's not a loan, it's an exchange!" Wang Laoqi said urgently again. "I'll exchange it with my land. There are several hundred acres of fertile land outside Lingtou Village. I'll give it all to you, Master Huang. I just beg you to help me save the Wang family."

"The fields outside Lingtou Village?"

Huang Chengyue raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but smile.

"That's right, those are all top-quality grains. Don't worry, Master Huang, when we wipe out those rebels in Lingtou Village, they still have a lot of land and grain in their hands. The Wang family can then..."

"Shut up."

Huang Chengyue raised his hand to interrupt him, his eyes instantly turning cold.

He slowly stood up and looked down at Wang Laoqi.

"Wang Laoqi, do you really think I, Huang Chengyue, am a fool? There's a rebellion in Lingtou Village, and Chen Mo's gang of bandits are roaming around the area. Do you want me to take over your mess?"

Huang Chengyue's tone was full of sarcasm.

"I was more than generous in helping you back then, and now you're being so ungrateful, wanting to borrow grain from the Huang family?"

"Master Huang, that's not what I meant! Don't worry, as soon as the government troops arrive, those rebels won't be able to hold out for long, and all those fields will definitely be handed over to you, Master Huang."

Wang Laoqi was already drenched in sweat.

The Wang family is now facing a food shortage. They have so many servants to feed, and the grain stored in the other granaries simply won't last until the harvest.

Now we can only use land to trade with Huang Chengyue.

"Wang Laoqi, if it weren't for you, the government wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses. We couldn't even handle Lingtou Village and were completely fooled. We couldn't even protect our own granary. And now you still have the nerve to negotiate with me?"

Huang Chengyue sneered, not taking Wang Laoqi seriously at all.

Now that Wang Laoqi is down on his luck, he has no value to be of any use.

If it weren't for Wang Laoqi provoking enemies everywhere and dragging the Huang family into trouble, the Huang family wouldn't have had to break ties with Zhao Canjiang.

Upon hearing Huang Chengyue's words, Wang Laoqi's face turned pale.

Furthermore, the Wang family was a prominent clan in Shannan Town. If it weren't for Chen Mo, the Wang family wouldn't have fallen to such a state.

Thinking of these words, Wang Laoqi felt another surge of hatred.

"If you really want to borrow grain, it's not impossible. Just let the Huang family handle all the grain trading in your Shannan Town."

Huang Chengyue suddenly spoke again.

This condition was undoubtedly a fatal blow to Wang Laoqi.

As the saying goes, even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. Back then, the local gentry in each place did business within their own sphere of influence and wouldn't actively provoke others.

But now Huang Chengyue is asking for the grain trade in Shannan Town, which is undoubtedly an attempt to cut off the Wang family's source of income.

"Master Huang, you..."

Wang Laoqi gritted his teeth, suppressing his dissatisfaction.

"Fine, if you don't want to agree, then forget it. You're not that capable anyway. I guess I misjudged you before."

Huang Chengyue waved his hand, making a gesture as if to see the guest out.

Just then, a servant rushed in in a panic, banging on the door.

"master!"

The servant shouted and knelt down in front of Huang Chengyue.

"What are you doing?"

Huang Chengyue looked at him with considerable dissatisfaction.

The servant trembled with fear and replied, "Master, our grain transport caravan outside the city was robbed by bandits, and we're missing a full 20,000 catties of grain..."

"Say it again!"

Huang Chengyue was furious and couldn't believe the news.

When he learned that Wang Laoqi's granary had been robbed by bandits, he immediately wanted to transport all the stored grain from the outer perimeter back to the north city. He did not expect that the bandits would receive the news so quickly.

Could it be that there's a mole within the Huang family?

"Our grain wagons were hijacked, and only two of the men responsible for escorting them escaped..."

The servant responded nervously again.

Upon hearing these words, Huang Chengyue's composure vanished instantly, replaced by anger.

"A bunch of ignorant thieves! How dare they touch my Huang family's property!"

Huang Chengyue picked up the porcelain cup on the table and smashed it violently onto the floor.

Upon hearing this news, Wang Laoqi, who was standing nearby, felt a little smug.

It seems that the Wang family isn't the only one suffering now.

However, the Huang family only lost one caravan, while the Wang family lost the entire grain storage of a granary.

"Master Huang, as I said, those bandits are lawless and dare to provoke even you, Master Huang. In my opinion, it must be Chen Mo's idea again."

Wang Laoqi then took the opportunity to speak.

Regardless of whether Chen Mo was behind this or not, it is certain that Chen Mo is colluding with Qingfeng Village.

"Is it Chen Mo again?"

Huang Chengyue glared angrily at Wang Laoqi.

"I think he's asking for it!"

Previously, Huang Chengyue had no enmity with Chen Mo. He had the government sentence him to death simply to do Wang Laoqi a favor.

Since that bandit dares to provoke the Huang family now, then don't blame the Huang family for killing him.

"Master Huang, not to be nosy, but when it comes to dealing with Chen Mo, I, Wang Laoqi, have the most experience. If Master Huang could lend the Wang family a little help, I would certainly do my utmost to eliminate this traitor Chen Mo!"

Wang Laoqi suddenly straightened his back and said with considerable confidence.

The Wang family had always been in charge of Chen Mo and had fought with that kid for a long time. Although they won less often, they still gained experience.

"You piece of trash? If you hadn't come begging to me back then, would you have been able to deal with him?"

Huang Chengyue was in a fit of rage and didn't want to pay any attention to Wang Laoqi.

Seeing this, Wang Laoqi still refused to give up and continued, "Please give me another chance, Master Huang. I have quite a few clues about Lingtou Village. The Wang family almost killed Chen Mo back then..."

"Stop talking nonsense, what's your solution? Tell me quickly."

Huang Chengyue had no patience whatsoever.

"Based on my deduction, Chen Mo will definitely lead the people of Lingtou Village to escape into Black Wind Ridge. They have cultivated a lot of land in Black Wind Ridge, and I know where one of them is."

Wang Laoqi said again.

Hearing Wang Laoqi's words, Huang Chengyue frowned.

He never imagined that such a small village would dare to provoke the Huang family.

"Then I'll give you one more chance. If you don't handle it well, your Wang family will have no place in the North City area."