Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 2830: Chapter 3831: Female Zhuge

”Ruozhu, you...” Jiang Yichun didn’t understand. Even if she had some plan, she couldn’t be using such a large amount of grain as bait, right? The cost was too high.

Bai Ruozhu gave an impish grin. ”I can’t bear to give it up.”

After she finished speaking, she strode over and touched them one by one, and the things vanished into thin air.

She had put all the grain into the Space!

”If it’s left empty here, it’ll arouse suspicion. Let’s use those fallen leaves and weeds from the mountain.” She muttered, then produced some dead leaves and weeds. Anyway, once they were burned, no one could tell what they had been.

Outside, Lin Zhenghui rushed over with his men, shouting anxiously, ”Ruozhu, Yichun, come out, quickly!”

He then said to his subordinates, ”If this won’t do, we’ll charge in and save them.”

Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun hurriedly rushed out from inside. Both their faces were blackened, and they looked extremely bedraggled.

”Master, don’t go in. It’s all fire inside, don’t send men to their deaths.” Bai Ruozhu said between gasps.

Jiang Yichun held back a laugh. His own wife’s acting was really superb, and her arson skills weren’t bad either. The fierce blaze inside was half her doing.

”Dig firebreak ditches first, don’t let the flames here spread to the surroundings. Hurry!” He chimed in, playing along.

”Right, right, everyone hurry and dig ditches, make them wider.” Lin Zhenghui immediately ordered.

Half an hour later, the fire was finally put out, but the Camp was a complete mess, and many men were somewhat dejected.

The enemy had used just a single Cavalry squad to throw their formation into chaos and had even burned their grain. This was a blatant slap in the face!

Bai Ruozhu saw that Lin Zhenghui was also dispirited and called him into the Tent to discuss.

After sending everyone else out, she lowered her voice and said, ”Master, don’t worry, the grain is fine. I used the Secret Method of the Astrology Building to hide it.”

Lin Zhenghui’s eyes widened. ”Really? You’re not just trying to comfort me?”

Bai Ruozhu nodded. He then looked toward Jiang Yichun, and seeing Jiang Yichun nod as well, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

”Then why didn’t you say so earlier? If you’d said it, everyone would’ve been reassured.” Lin Zhenghui asked, puzzled.

Bai Ruozhu made a shushing gesture and said softly, ”We have a spy here. I can’t say it out loud.”

Thinking back on how the fire had started, Lin Zhenghui immediately understood.

”After all, this isn’t a regular Army. You’ve recruited all kinds of people from the River Jiang. It’s inevitable that spies slip in.” He said with a sigh.

Jiang Yichun patted his shoulder. ”Even in a formal Army there are spies, Old Lin. Don’t blame yourself.”

Lin Zhenghui glared at him. ”You call me Master like Ruozhu does.”

The corner of Jiang Yichun’s mouth twitched. Lin Zhenghui was still hung up on his refusal to formally take him as Master, to the point of resorting to this kind of tactic...

”Just call him Master, it won’t cost you a piece of flesh.” Bai Ruozhu smacked Jiang Yichun.

Jiang Yichun had no choice but to call him Master.

”Master, think about it. They arranged for their best mounted archers and fastest horses to be sent to their deaths. There’s no way they wouldn’t want some payoff, right?” Bai Ruozhu smiled. ”I think, on the one hand, they sent people to coordinate from inside and out, using the fire to impact our morale and distract us, so they could buy themselves time. On the other hand, if we really lost our grain, we’d have to resupply, wouldn’t we? That would give them a chance to seize the new shipment. So we can be certain they’re practically out of grain now.”

Lin Zhenghui thought it through carefully. It did make sense, but he still frowned. ”If that’s the case, why not just ambush you on the road and rob your grain directly?”

”That’s why I said you have a spy here.” Bai Ruozhu’s expression turned a few shades colder. ”This time they really stumbled into a lucky break by accident. Have you forgotten that I originally agreed to deliver the grain tomorrow, the day after?”

The agreed time was indeed the next day. But because she had been worried about Jiang Yichun and Lin Zhenghui, and the newly collected grain was already prepared, she decided to set out a day early and brought some doctors along.

If she had departed according to the agreement tomorrow, even if the grain hadn’t been taken by the enemy, they would still have lost some Horsemen. Not to mention the doctors she brought had no martial skills at all. Faced with those ferocious Turkic Cavalry, they would have had no power to fight back.

”Th-this...” Lin Zhenghui also broke out in a cold sweat, his face turning a mottled blue with rage.

”Ruozhu, don’t come next time.” Jiang Yichun said.

Bai Ruozhu glared at him. ”Why shouldn’t I come? I have to be the one to come. They dare to scheme against even me—do they take me for some soft persimmon?”

Knowing that once she lost her temper she was hard to reason with, Jiang Yichun sighed helplessly. ”Are you planning to escort another batch of grain over and use it as bait?”

”Exactly. Without me as bait, how are we going to lure them out?” Bai Ruozhu grinned wickedly. ”They don’t have enough grain, so they’ll definitely mobilize a large force of Horsemen to seize it. That’s our best chance to wipe them out in one stroke.”

As she spoke, she unfolded the Carriage Map and pointed at one spot. ”They might ambush here. But this place is too close to Liuri City, which could draw out the City’s defending government soldiers, making it hard for them to retreat. They may come quickly, but after grabbing the grain, they won’t be able to withdraw nearly as fast.”

”Then there’s here. The ground sinks in; it’s suitable for an ambush. If they push giant stones down from the cliffs on both sides, there’s nowhere to dodge in the valley. Casualties will be heavy, and it’ll be easier to seize the grain afterwards. It’s just that this place is too close to the Main Camp, so it still wouldn’t be easy for them to get away.”

Bai Ruozhu went on, pointing to a spot in the middle. ”Here, the geographic advantage isn’t obvious, but the land is flat and wide, very good for the Turkic Cavalry to launch a fast raid. And look at these Mountains behind it, with small paths leading up. If they can’t easily retreat with a large quantity of grain, couldn’t they first hide the grain in the Mountains and only bring a portion back quickly to their Camp?”

”Or perhaps the rest of their men are already hidden in the Mountains. Once they seize the grain, with ample supplies in the Mountains, they can come down from the rear and catch us off guard.” Jiang Yichun picked up swiftly.

The husband and wife exchanged a smile. Their minds truly worked in perfect sync.

”Should we send people to search those Mountains first?” Lin Zhenghui asked.

Jiang Yichun shook his head. ”If we send people, they might not come back. And those Mountains cover a huge area; it would take too much effort. Ruozhu’s plan is still the better one.”

”As long as we draw out their large force of Horsemen, if they fail to seize the grain and lose their main strength on top of that, won’t their Army crumble just the same?” Bai Ruozhu said, tapping that spot on the map with her fingertip, her gaze growing darker.

A great battle was about to begin.

”Ruozhu, you really are a Female Zhuge. We should’ve had you as our strategist long ago.” Lin Zhenghui said with a smile.

”Master, you’re the only one who needs to know about this. The encirclement operation doesn’t require the Camp’s people to take part. I suspect they might send a small force to launch another attack as a feint, to divert your attention.” Bai Ruozhu added.

”All right, the Camp will stay put. I’ll assign you some dark guard.” Lin Zhenghui emphasized again, ”Men who are loyal and reliable!”