Chapter 273: He Chunhua's Predicament

“Seeking immense profit and fame?”

“Otherwise, after suffering such a great disaster, a person would either be disheartened and live in anonymity, or filled with anger and seeking revenge. Who would be so eager to serve as an official?”

By the time Dong Rui managed to rescue Guiyuan from the brink of death, the sun was already setting.

Hong Chenglue had just received a report from a scout. The scout had spent a night hidden in Xinhuang City to gather intelligence on the enemy and had only just returned to the mine.

“They plan to depart tomorrow morning?”

Hong Chenglue dismissed the man, tapped twice on the old wooden table with his finger, and asked again, “What about the scout sent to Bailu Town? Has he returned?”

Xu Yingxian immediately replied, “Not yet.”

“We’re so close to Bailu Town, why hasn’t he?”

“Uh…” Xu Yingxian, being astute, quickly added, “I’ll send someone again immediately!”

Hong Chenglue remained silent until Xu Yingxian had already stepped outside the door, then called out to him, “Come back!”

“General?”

“Who did you send?”

“Liu Si.”

“Is he usually reliable?” After all, these were Xunzhou cavalrymen; he hadn't known them a few days ago, and they weren't the Beijia army he used to lead. He still didn't have a deep understanding of this unit's combat habits and capabilities.

“Liu Si has always been punctual and cautious. This is the first time he hasn't returned past the appointed hour.”

Something was unusual. Hong Chenglue's heart sank slightly, and he thought, “This isn't good.” He had lived in Bailu Town for several years, and the traces he left behind couldn't be easily wiped clean.

“No need to look for him,” he said. “This is my oversight. Order the camp to be moved. It's no longer safe here; we're changing locations!”

This abandoned mine was known only to a few locals and had originally been an excellent hiding place.

What a pity.

“Huh?” Tao Ze was startled. Others also heard it. Xu Yingxian immediately replied “Yes,” but two other generals stood up, saying, “This isn't right! Perhaps Liu Si was delayed on the way; it doesn't necessarily mean something happened in Bailu Town!”

“General Baili and many of our brothers have just been treated; they should be resting quietly now and shouldn't be moved or jostled. We can't assume Liu Si was captured by the enemy just because he's half an hour late, thus causing us all this trouble.”

“Yes, it’s not right!”

These men were all from Xunzhou, subordinates of Nian Zanli. Even though Nian Zanli had appointed Hong Chenglue as the commander for operations behind enemy lines, they weren't truly convinced and felt a closer connection to Baili Qing.

Even if there were other places to stay, they couldn't openly use the main road. The route would certainly be the most difficult mountain path, so bumpy that even a normal person's backside would go numb from riding a horse, let alone critically ill patients like Baili Qing, who feared jolting the most. A few shakes might reopen their wounds, putting their lives at risk again.

In this situation, they felt Hong Chenglue was just chasing shadows and making a big fuss over nothing.

Hong Chenglue didn't get angry, merely asking them, “Then, what do you suggest?”

“Send more men to Bailu Town to find out for sure.”

Hong Chenglue had no objection, even smiling. “Alright, let's do that then.”

The two generals felt that General Hong seemed quite amiable, unlike the decisive and unyielding figure from the legends.

He Lingchuan and others entered the mountain, led by the old man.

The old man, whose surname was Shan, was not good at riding horses. He Lingchuan even hired a carriage for him, fearing that his old bones would fall apart before they even reached their destination.

“I haven't been to that mine in ten years,” Old Man Shan said, peering out the window to identify landmarks, afraid of missing the small path. “Mr. Hong is a widely known good person. My wife used to take things from his house, and he never really minded. He often went hunting in the mountains and would share some of the game with us. I remember he once caught a huge wild boar, truly massive, weighing over five hundred catties. He wasn't stingy either; he shared it all with the neighbors in the alley. Ah, I really didn't expect him to work for the Xunzhou people.”

Was Hong Chenglue working for the Xunzhou people? He was clearly going to be their leader; Old Man Shan simply didn't know that. He Lingchuan casually remarked, “You have a lot of wild game in these mountains.”

“They used to be everywhere, but in recent years, they've become fewer and fewer,” Old Man Shan shook his head. “If you manage to catch even one rabbit after a whole day in the mountains now, it's a blessing from heaven. Once, Mr. Hong went into the mountains for two days and came back empty-handed, saying the forest was utterly empty.”

“All eaten up?” They had indeed not seen a single wild rabbit despite walking for so long.

“Yes,” Old Man Shan replied. “The harvests haven't been good these past few years, and the government is ruthless in demanding money. If people can't get enough to eat, don't they have to find something else?” The old man suddenly pointed, “Right here, go in!”

The place he pointed to had no path, only dense undergrowth. Jiao Tai went forward with his machete, slashing twice and clearing a heap of long grass, revealing what looked like a barely discernible small path. However, it was lined with young trees, seemingly grown only in the last few years.

“This is it, indeed! Look, I carved a mark on that large stone!” Everyone looked and saw a triangular mark carved with a small knife on the black stone next to the dwarf locust tree. Although covered in moss, it was barely recognizable.

“We used to take this shortcut when we left work to go back to town; it saved us half an hour!”

The carriage couldn't proceed. Shan Youjun helped the old man onto the front of his saddle, and the group continued on.

The path was full of ups and downs, even requiring them to wade across rivers and streams. Without someone who knew the way, it would have been impossible to find the path.

After more than half an hour, Old Man Shan pointed to the low mountain ahead and said, “Once we cross that, you'll see the mine.”

Mao Tao stealthily reached the mountaintop, peered down, and then nodded to He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan immediately took out three taels of silver and handed them to Old Man Shan, saying, “Thank you, this is your payment.”

He gave one tael more than the agreed amount, and Old Man Shan was greatly grateful. Wiping cobwebs from his forehead, he said, “Do you want to know about another way out of the mine?”

The others were startled. “The mine has another exit?”

“Originally, no,” Old Man Shan took a sip of water, building their suspense. He Lingchuan then reached out and gave him a few more slivers of silver, and only then did Old Man Shan lead them around the back of the mountain.

At this point, He Lingchuan felt that the old man and his wife were indeed a perfect match, truly 'birds of a feather flock together.'

“Fourteen years ago, there was still mining here, with nearly a hundred people working every day. I remember it was two days before the New Year back then, and everyone wanted to finish quickly and go home. But just as they were digging with great fervor, the mine tunnel suddenly collapsed again.”

“Four or five died on the spot, and a dozen or so more were trapped. We thought we were doomed, but then the rock wall deep within the tunnel was also shattered, letting light through, though the opening was too small. We used pickaxes to widen the crack into a passage. The rock face slid down several times, burying that opening multiple times, so we dug it out multiple times, finally escaping after immense hardship.”

“It's been so long, I don't know if that exit is still there.”

After descending for over a *li* along the mountain slope, Mao Tao, who was ahead, suddenly shushed them. “Don't move!”

The five had just passed between two large boulders. Through a crack in the rocks, they could see two men sitting around a fire outside the gorge ahead, with weapons at their waists.

These were guards.

He Lingchuan's heart settled when he saw this. If the mine had no back entrance, why would the Xunzhou people station two guards here?

Sure enough, Old Man Shan pointed there, indicating that “the exit is right there.”

Hong Chenglue had indeed chosen this abandoned mine as his base with careful consideration; he had even prepared an escape route.

The five immediately crept back, careful not to alarm the two guards.

Back near the mine entrance, Old Man Shan said, “You officials have business to attend to; I'll head back first.” This looked like the prelude to a brawl, and the old man wouldn't be able to handle it, so he needed to slip away quickly.

A carriage was waiting for him at the end of the small path; he knew how to drive it.

Only when his figure disappeared at the end of the path did Mao Tao turn and stealthily head towards the mine.

The three waited patiently.

About a quarter of an hour later, Mao Tao stealthily returned and whispered, “There are at least six sentries around the mine, all positioned on high ground, giving them a full view. The open-pit mine is about seventy to eighty *zhang* in diameter, so it would be difficult to shoot arrows at the people below from here. Oh, and they're cooking down there. More than a hundred people are sitting on the mine's stone steps waiting for food, and there are a dozen or so low houses by the mine where Xunzhou people are coming and going. I saw some carrying out bloody water to pour, so there might be injured people inside the houses.”

“I also heard a loud shriek, as if Dong Rui's strange bird was preening its wings on a rooftop.”

Indeed, the aroma of cooked rice drifted up with the wind. The others asked He Lingchuan, “What do we do now?”

There were hundreds of enemy troops below, and only four of them; they couldn't possibly take them on. He Lingchuan then pointed to Jiao Tai. “You go back to Xinhuang and report to my father; let him decide. The rest of us will just lie here and eat our dry rations.”

Jiao Tai accepted the order and turned to leave.

Since Dong Rui's strange bird was also here, and that creature had keen hearing and eyesight and could fly, their actions would have to be even more covert.

He Chunhua sat in the bungalow, lost in thought as he stared at the military loss report on the table.

The grain transport team had been defeated in Bailu Town, losing ten thousand *shi* of grain. Things were better here in Xinhuang, but over a hundred people had been killed or wounded, and over four hundred *jin* of grain had been burned.

Given the current state of the Iris Kingdom, every time they raised grain, they had to tighten their belts and practically extort the common people again. Even Ke Jihai in the west would drool over this amount of grain. Yet, He Chunhua, personally escorting the supplies this time, had lost half of the twenty thousand *shi* of grain allocated by the royal court before even reaching the front lines.

Therefore, when he met Zhao Zheng, he would be at a significant disadvantage in terms of morale and standing.

This left him very displeased.

At the same time, he was conflicted: should he stop to pursue the remaining Xunzhou cavalry, or should he first safely transport the provisions to the front lines?

From the perspective of the bigger picture, he should choose the latter. As a grain transport team, the safety of the provisions was paramount, and ensuring the soldiers on the front lines were fed was paramount.

But even if he made this decision, it was hard to say that Hong Chenglue wouldn't strike again, intending to burn the remaining provisions as well. That would put them in a passive position.

If they took the initiative to attack...

His surviving strategists had already discussed it with him twice, and they all insisted on prioritizing grain transport.

But He Chunhua had not yet made a decision.

He was unwilling to simply dismiss this ambush as concluded, and it would be difficult to explain upon his return.

It was at this moment that a report came from outside:

“The Eldest Young Master's personal attendant requests an audience.”

Finally, a message! He Chunhua's spirits lifted. “Come in.”

Jiao Tai arrived, dusty and travel-worn, his lips cracked. Without even pausing for water, he rushed to report the intelligence on Bailu Town and the mine to He Chunhua.