Chapter 78: Moye Valley

  Thanks for ngplus friend's vote!

  The next morning, Yue Yun learned that the grain had been loaded onto the carts and notified Niu Tong, Guan Ling, and Yu Yunwen to prepare for departure.

  This trip to Chu State has been delayed for too long, far exceeding the original expected time. Fortunately, 1.5 million stones of grain have finally been gathered, and after transporting them back to Zhu Xian Town, I should be able to give a satisfactory account to Old Man Yue Fei.

  Han Shizhong was busy discussing next year's military supplies with a group of grain merchants, so he sent Han Yanzhi and Geng Zuo to see off Yue Yun at the gate of Chuzhou City.

  After saying goodbye to everyone, Han Yanzhi finally couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Brother Yue, why didn't you go see Miss Li before leaving?"

  Yue Yun let out a sigh after hearing the news. He had also wanted to go see Li Yu Rong, but what could he say to her after meeting? He didn't even know how much longer he himself would live, so how could he make any promises to her? It was better not to meet than to part ways in sorrow.

  Han Yanzhi saw the look on Yue Yun's face, shook his head and said: "I don't know what you're thinking, but Miss Li really likes you. This is a letter she asked me to bring to you, saying that there's something in it that you need most right now!"

  After saying that, Han Yan directly took out a pink envelope from his pocket and handed it over to him.

  Yue Yun took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart, and accepted the envelope, opening it to read its contents.

  The letter was written in beautiful handwriting, and the paper still emitted a faint fragrance. However, the content of the letter did not express the longing emotions that Yue Yun had imagined, but rather Li Yu Rong mentioned that the financial situation of the Yue family's army was currently not good, which could be seen from his anxious expression when buying grain. Therefore, she donated 5,000 guan to Yue Yun in her personal capacity to alleviate the urgent need.

  Inside the letter is a voucher with the seal of Datong Money House, which can be exchanged for copper coins at any Datong Money House within the territory of Great Song.

  Holding this IOU, Yue Yun felt a strong sense of affection. Li Yu Rong was indeed considerate, knowing that what she lacked most now was money.

  He even thought further: The Yue family now has people, while the Li family has money. The only thing that both families lack is power. However, under the combination of human and financial resources, seeking further power seems to be a good choice as well.

  But as soon as this idea emerged, it was denied by himself!

  No matter how hard he tried to save his life, he would never do something like this for the sake of gain. Let's take things one step at a time and see if we can get through this difficult situation first, then consider what's going on between him and Yu Ruo. Yue Yun secretly made up her mind.

  Yue Yun and Niu Tong rode side by side on the official road to Haozhou, surrounded by elite soldiers of the Beiwei army in all directions. Guan Ling led more than 20 scouts ahead as usual. Although they were all within the Song army's defense zone, Yue Yun didn't dare to be careless at all, after all, this was different from when they came, with an additional important burden of 1.5 million stones of grain.

  One hundred and fifty thousand dan of grain could not be transported back by just over three hundred people, so Yue Yun hired a lot of carters and laborers in Chu State. The entire fleet had about one hundred and fifty large carts, each loaded with about one hundred bags of grain. Yu Yunwen and his father were arranged to ride in a horse-drawn carriage, walking in the middle of the fleet.

  Han Shizhong was also worried about accidents on the road, so he sent one of his generals, Cheng Min, to lead 500 soldiers to escort them. He was very familiar with this route. However, these 500 people were all infantrymen, and only Cheng Min, as the main general, rode a horse. Therefore, the 500 infantrymen could only walk on the sides and rear of the team, their main task being to protect the grain carts and civilians.

  When they just left Chu Prefecture, Yue Yun and others were still very cautious, but all the way was very calm, without encountering any obstacles. The counties they passed through were under the jurisdiction of Chu Prefecture, and Cheng Min directly found the county magistrate, showing Han Shizhong's token, those magistrates immediately became extremely respectful, arranging food and lodging for everyone in the convoy.

  But such good days only lasted for three days, and they soon entered the territory of Hwangju.

  Bozhou belongs to the jurisdiction of Zhang Jun, the Huai Xi Xuanfu Envoy. However, Zhang Jun himself had long since withdrawn and returned to his old nest in Jiankang. The current defender of Bozhou is Yang Zhongye, a trusted general under Zhang Jun.

  Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun were not on good terms, so Yue Yun did not plan to disturb this Yang Defence Envoy either. He discussed with Cheng Min, planning to rest in Huozhou City for only one night tonight, then head to Shouchun.

  It was already afternoon, and the group had entered the territory of Bozhou for more than thirty miles, and they were only twenty miles away from the city of Bozhou.

  The trees on both sides of the official road were blown by the strong wind, and many residual leaves drifted away with the wind.

  Cheng Men pointed to a valley mouth over 100 zhang away in front and said, "General Yue, that valley is Moye Valley. Once we cross the valley, we will arrive at Huzhou City. This is also the shortest route; if we take another route, it would be more than half of the distance. Tonight, I'm afraid we won't make it to Huzhou City."

  Yue Yun gazed out at the canyon mouth ahead, but suddenly felt a surge of unease, as if some eyelids were twitching.

  He saw Cheng Mengjin galloping forward and hastily called out to stop him: "General Cheng, don't rush into the valley just yet! Guan Ling hasn't returned with his report!"

  This Moye Valley is a narrow and long mountain valley that must be passed through to enter the city of Mozhou. The peaks in the valley are all covered with dense and dark forests, making it an ideal place for someone to ambush this grain team.

  Guan Ling had a wealth of experience in sending out scouts, and upon seeing such a treacherous valley, he would certainly send some scouts to investigate.

  Cheng Men had already galloped his horse forward for over a dozen steps when he heard this, and only then did he rein in his horse and turn back, saying in surprise: "General Yue, isn't General Guan supposed to have returned to report because he discovered something was amiss? Judging from the usual reasoning, by now he should have entered the valley for over half a quarter of an hour, yet so far no one has been sent back to report, which means that the front lines should be safe, right?"

  Yue Yun thought for a moment, his face slightly awkward, wondering if he was being overly suspicious after the assassination attempt by Yang Yue at his birthday banquet.

  Then he smiled and said: "Since it's like this, let's enter the valley then!"

  Cheng Mian glanced at Yue Yun, thinking to himself that although the great general's reputation was immense and his military achievements numerous, he was being overly cautious. Even if there really were mountain bandits launching a surprise attack, could they possibly defeat him and Yue Yun's 800 elite soldiers?

  Yue Yun and Cheng Min walked slowly towards the entrance of the valley. However, when they reached the entrance, Yue Yun's unease in her heart became even heavier.

  He glanced around the valley and found it surprisingly quiet. Except for some rocks and mud on the ground, there was not a single person in sight.

  Cheng Men saw the gravel on the ground, slightly surprised, turned his head to Yue Yun and said loudly: "General Yue, this canyon road is not easy to walk, riding a horse may be difficult to proceed. I'll lead 100 men to clear the gravel in front, so that the grain carts can pass through!"

  Yue Yun nodded, but he always felt that something was wrong, so he reined in his horse and carefully observed the situation in the valley.

  Cheng Wen frowned and thought that Yue Yun was being overly cautious, he really didn't know where he got the guts to ambush Wan Yan Zong Min before.

  He then ordered one of his subordinates: "Bring your men and come with me to the front to clear away the rocks!"

  That commander-in-chief responded with a single word, then put the long sword in his hand back into its scabbard and said to his own subordinates: "Go! Everyone follow General Cheng together to open up the valley first!"

  At this time, Niu Tong muttered: "It's really a bit strange! Guan Ling didn't even leave someone to receive him at the valley mouth, what a waste that he was the vanguard captain for three years!"

  Yue Yun's mind immediately flashed with a brilliant idea, and he shouted loudly: "General Cheng, come back quickly! There is an ambush!"

  He finally realized that there was big trouble. Guanling was the best reconnaissance general in the Wei army, how could he make such a low-level mistake: entering the valley to explore, and not even leaving someone at the entrance of the valley to respond to the main force. It was clear that the respondent had been poisoned by someone.

  Cheng Men and his subordinates finally changed their expressions after hearing this.

  But at this time, the commander had already led more than a dozen people who were walking in front into the valley entrance.

  Cheng Ming reined in his horse and was about to speak when a series of mournful cries had already come from the valley.

  Everyone's face changed suddenly, and Yue Yun shouted: "Quickly form an array! There are enemies lurking in ambush!"

  ——————————————————————————————

  PS: The second update will be at 12 o'clock in the afternoon!