Chapter 110: Openly Repairing the Plank Roads, Secretly Marching to Chencang

???? Important Note : For the continuity of this story consider to Support us on Pãtreon/Flokixy to access advance Chapters and To Support The Daily Update Seeing Jun Mo also follow her out, Su Li asked in surprise, "What are you doing out here?" Jun Mo smiled and said, "Why is your face so red?" Su Li shot him an exasperated look. If her parents knew she had come to this kind of place, they would surely skin her alive. "You men just love these pleasure quarters." Jun Mo's smile vanished. "This was arranged by the Prefectural Governor. If I had known beforehand he arranged it here, I wouldn't have come, no matter what." His tone carried a hint of helplessness. "If you hadn't said something like 'Shu Du produces beauties,' would he have arranged it here?" Su Li raised an eyebrow. Jun Mo, knowing he was in the wrong, didn't argue further. "Alright, alright, it's my fault. Let's go; we'll go inside and discuss serious matters." The heat finally receded from Su Li's face. "You go in first. I'll wait a bit." Jun Mo pulled her. "No. This place is fraught with danger; you cannot leave my sight." Su Li pulled her hand back. "Fine, I'll go in. Two grown men pulling and tugging, what a disgrace." With that, she took the lead and entered the room. Jun Mo chuckled softly and followed her in. Jun Mo glanced at Su Li, who was burying her head like an ostrich in her seat, and clapped his hands. The room instantly fell silent. "Ladies, you may all leave." The Prefectural Governor waved his hand, dismissing them. He knew the real "Hongmen Banquet" was about to begin. The others also looked at Jun Mo with serious expressions. Jun Mo smiled. "Everyone, don't be so serious. You all know this Prince is the easiest to talk to." "This Prince has come to Shu Du this time, and everyone knows the purpose: disaster relief." The Prefectural Governor chuckled. "Your Highness, you've seen it too. The disaster situation in Shu Du isn't severe..." "Not severe? Then where did those refugees waiting to die at home come from? Or is this Prince's intelligence mistaken about the refugees south of Shu Du?" Jun Mo's smile vanished. The aura of a superior pressed down on everyone, making them afraid to even look up, let alone breathe too loudly. Jun Mo continued, "Why is everyone silent now?" The Prefectural Governor forced a smile uglier than a cry. "Your Highness, this humble official truly has no other way. The imperial court hasn't released any grain, and the disaster situation worsens daily. This humble official is also deeply grieved!" Su Li sneered. "Grieved? I think if everyone present wasted a little less extravagantly each day, it would be enough for the refugees to have a meal." As soon as Su Li's words fell, everyone started crying poor. "Young Master Wei, you don't know! Our family is also about to run out of food! Even today's welcoming banquet was scraped together by tightening our belts!" "Yes, yes! We really don't have any spare grain." Jun Mo continued, "I won't say much more in terms of pleasantries. For this disaster relief, the imperial court's grain might not arrive until next spring. Therefore, everyone present who has grain should contribute it. This Prince will report your merits to the imperial court and ensure you are rewarded." Jiang He spoke up, "Your Highness Prince Jing, it's not that we won't contribute grain, but we truly don't have any at home! It's useless for Your Highness to pressure us like this. Even if you put a knife to our necks, we can't produce any!". "Yes, yes!" Jun Mo smiled. "This Prince has time to wait with you. If you can't produce grain today, don't even think about leaving this room!" After speaking, Jun Mo and Su Li stood up and left the room. The door immediately closed, with Mo Yang and Mo Feng guarding it like two great Buddha statues, one on each side. The people inside the room looked at each other. Isn't this Prince Jing a rogue? But seeing Jiang He's calm expression, they also calmed down. "What's there to fear? We don't have grain. Even if he locks us up for a few days, we still won't have grain. His Highness will eventually release us. Everyone, please be patient." Hearing Jiang He say this, the crowd regained their composure. In the adjacent room, Jun Mo and Su Li sat opposite each other, leisurely drinking tea. Su Li said, "I hope everything goes smoothly on Brother Wang's side." "Rest assured, it's all arranged." Whether those in the next room donated grain or not was irrelevant; they were only kept there for one night. While Su Li and Jun Mo leisurely drank tea here, Wang Wei and the others on the other side were busy as bees. In the narrow tunnel, Wang Wei and the others had excitement in their eyes. "Dig faster, dig faster! We've received word from Miss's side! The merchants in charge of guarding the granaries are all trapped. We need to move quickly." "Don't worry, Boss Wei. You know me, Gopher. Give me another quarter of an hour, and it'll be done soon." Although this tunnel wasn't wide, it could accommodate two people passing through simultaneously, and there were oil lamps at intervals. Sure enough, after a quarter of an hour. "Done! The last granary has been breached!" Wang Wei quickly had the people behind him go up one after another. The group entered the granary and, without a word, started working with tacit understanding. Bags of grain were rapidly moved out through the narrow tunnel. The patrol teams outside the granary passed by one after another, completely unaware. Although they were very quiet, some noise was unavoidable. "Why do I hear sounds inside?" a patrolling soldier said. He slowly approached. Just as he was about to open the door, a voice called out to him. "Brother Xiang, what are you doing? Quick, I brought wine and snacks! It's a bit cold tonight. Call the brothers over for a drink to warm up!" That person immediately forgot about the strange noises inside. The door is locked tight; it's probably just rats. After the people outside left, the group inside the granary, who had frozen stiff, let out a sigh of relief and continued moving the grain. They moved grain like this for almost the entire night, finally filling their own granaries. Gopher then led a few men to fill back the earth, restoring the underground passage. The opponent's granaries were now empty. By the time all this was done, it was already broad daylight. Jun Mo and Su Li had sat like this, playing chess all night. "Your Highness, Miss, everything went smoothly," Mo Yun suddenly appeared in the room. Su Li put down her chess piece, stood up, and rubbed her shoulders. She exchanged a look with Jun Mo. Jun Mo smiled. "Let's go. It's our turn to take the stage again." Opening the door to the adjacent room, they saw everyone sleeping haphazardly on chairs or on the floor. Seeing Jun Mo and Su Li enter, Jiang He, who had been sitting on a chair with his eyes closed in meditation, instantly opened his eyes. "Your Highness Prince Jing, even if you lock us up for ten days or half a month, we still can't produce any grain." The others woke up, rubbing their eyes, feeling resentful but not daring to vent. Jun Mo smiled faintly. "This Prince knows everyone is uncomfortable. This Prince is also just doing his duty. Please don't blame this Prince." "We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare." Jun Mo continued, "This Prince discussed with all of you for an entire night but couldn't come up with a good plan. This Prince has also done his best. If everyone signs this, you can all go back." Saying this, he took out a stack of paper and handed it over. Jiang He took it and looked, a smile appearing on his face. It stated clearly that they indeed had no grain at home and were powerless to help. It seemed this Prince Jing was indeed just going through the motions, using this paper to report back. They were right to insist they had no grain! Everyone quickly and elegantly wrote their names, then took their leave one after another. Jun Mo took the stack of papers, smiled as he looked through them, then handed them to Su Li. Su Li's lips curled. This group of people wouldn't imagine that this stack of paper would one day make them suffer in silence.