Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 1159 - 1156_1

Chapter 1159: Chapter 1156_1

General Di’s expression grew even more pained upon hearing these words, for they were indeed spoken by his own sister!

"Go tell the Empress that I’m fine and I don’t need any ointment. Take it back to her, along with its flower scent! After all, I’m a man, what would people think if they smelled flowers on me, as if I’m wearing cosmetics!"

The eunuch had expected General Di to react this way, so he relayed the Empress’s instructions: "General, if you don’t accept this ointment, the Empress will blame me. She also said that the Emperor uses this ointment too. Please feel safe to use it, Sir! I’ll leave it here and then return to the palace to report back."

Having said that, the eunuch placed the ointment in the carriage, bowed, and left.

The Emperor uses it as well? Upon hearing this, General Di finally reached out to pick up the jar of ointment, opened it and sniffed, indeed, it was just a faint floral scent, not strong!

Oh, the pain in his foot was unbearable! Since the Emperor used it too, why would he resist? It’s not like he’d be the only one losing face!

With that thought, General Di quickly applied the ointment to his legs.

It must be said, the ointment was really effective. After 15 minutes, General Di was finally able to step down from the carriage and walk back to his room!

...

Although the battle plan had been revised, Shangguan Xuanyi was still kept busy. The route for transporting supplies had to be changed. This was far too crucial, even if it meant taking a longer path, he couldn’t allow the people of Nangong Country to seize the opportunity!

After all, the thing Nangong Country lacked the most was supplies! They would certainly do everything they could to seize it!

Soldiers had to stay on the battlefield to fight, and there weren’t many people transporting food. This made it easy for the enemy to capitalize on their weakness.

Shangguan Xuanyi discussed the supply and medicine transportation route with Prince An, Shangguan Ruixi, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, and others.

Several days later,

On a dark and windy night, carts of grain were quietly delivered to the warehouse where Shangguan Xuanyi had been the evening before.

After all the grain was stored, Shangguan Xuanyi waited for everyone to leave before he locked the doors and left using his Qinggong.

Fifteen minutes later, another figure dressed in black sneaked into the warehouse. After inspecting the warehouse and seeing that it was filled with grain, he picked two sacks, poured a small amount of medicine powder into them, mixed it, and after ensuring that the powder was stuck to the rice, he re-tied the sacks.

Having completed his task, he quickly turned to leave.

However, the moment he reached the door, a sword was suddenly held against his neck.

The figure in black, realizing he had been discovered, quickly flung a handful of poison powder towards Shangguan Xuanyi’s face, attempting to exploit his avoidance of the powder to escape the sword at his neck.

Shangguan Xuanyi quickly pulled back his sword, his wide sleeve deflecting the poison powder.

The intruder tried to escape using his Qinggong, but before he could even reach the door, a sword was once again at his neck!

Following this, Shangguan Xuanyi moved swiftly forward and immobilized him by pressing his acupoints.

Straight after, Feng Xing walked in, bowed to Shangguan Xuanyi, and greeted, "Master!"

"Take him away and lock him up!" Shangguan Xuanyi commanded dispassionately.

"Yes!" Feng Xing quickly led the man away. ...

In the secret room, the intruder was bound to a chair, unable to move.

Shangguan Xuanyi walked in and looked at him briefly. He then picked up a token from the table and examined it.

The token was also made of bronze, with a design identical to the one he had previously found. However, its material was slightly different with a higher copper content. One wouldn’t notice this unless they compared carefully and were familiar with metallurgy!

Whether the robbers deliberately left the token to mislead them, or someone impersonated Gong Zixuan to kidnap Shangguan Wanru, it had been several days and the truth was still not clear.

"Did Gong Zixuan send you to poison the grain? And how many other lots of grain have you poisoned?"

"I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t even know who Gong Zixuan is!" The man in black flatly denied upon hearing this.

A smirk of contempt appeared on Shangguan Xuanyi’s lips, "So, when my people were interrogating you, you didn’t say a word. But now that your master gets mentioned, you’re eager to mask the truth? Too bad, this isn’t a secret to me anymore! I have personally met Gong Zixuan!"

People tend to give themselves away the more they try to hide the truth!

"That’s impossible!" The man in black exclaimed in surprise.

"Is it really? Your reaction says otherwise!" Shangguan Xuanyi remarked with a faint smile.

This princely scum from Minze Country was too cunning, using such tricky words to gauge the veracity of his master’s death!

"How many of your accomplices are still in Prince An’s Mansion? How many spies has Nangong Country planted among us?"

This time, the man in black turned his head away and refused to say a word!

Shangguan Xuanyi replied with a cold smile, "Don’t want to talk? Don’t worry, even if you don’t, I will weed them out one by one!"

Every country would plant spies in another country, keeping them in the shadows until they were needed.

They too had moles in Nangong Country.

After saying this, Shangguan Xuanyi left the secret room. He had only come to see the token.

As soon as he stepped out of the dungeon, the guard standing by the door asked, "Master, how should we deal with this man?"

"See if you can get anything out of him."

"Yes!"

Upon leaving, Shangguan Xuanyi went straight to Prince An’s Mansion. Shangguan Ruixi was waiting for him there. As soon as he returned, Ruixi asked, "Did you catch him? What was the man trying to do in the warehouse?"

"Yes, we did. He was poisoning two bags of grain!" The two bags of grain that the man in black poisoned were unsealed, intended for the soldiers transporting grain.

The grain transported to the front lines was all sealed to prevent tampering. The unsealed grain, however, was meant for the soldiers traveling with it.

Poisoned? Shangguan Ruixi was startled when he heard this.

The soldiers’ meals were sometimes made from mixed grains, and one sack of grain could feed several hundred people. If the poisoned grain had not been discovered, it could have killed hundreds of soldiers.

Never underestimate the power of taking out several hundred soldiers without any cost. In fact, it could easily disrupt military morale and instill fear among them.

"A few days ago, a report came to the Imperial Court that a batch of grain had mysteriously gone missing. They were unable to contact those transporting it and had no idea where they disappeared to. Yesterday, it was discovered that those responsible for the transportation of grain had all died of poisoning and their bodies were found buried under a forest. A heavy rain washed away the covering soil, exposing the bodies. That’s when it was brought to light. Unfortunately, no trace was found of the grain."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.