Chapter 298

To avoid any accidents, General Cheng and his people left the city once their group was fully assembled. Although the soldiers in the western region were reluctant to follow the Cheng family, even a fifth of them, the departure of over twenty thousand troops would inevitably cause quite a commotion.

Currently, Fei Yunsong and his son Fei Yanchen were both tied up with the ongoing battle and couldn’t spare the attention to stop them. This allowed the Cheng family to quietly delay their departure.

However, none of them were brave souls who would agree to separate from a large group of troops, even though a smaller group might have been less conspicuous.

Nonetheless, the journey back to the capital would not be easy for the Cheng family, given the large number of people. But those are stories for another time.

Now, the Cheng family set out with their twenty thousand troops, seemingly in a stealthy manner, but in reality, making quite an imposing exit.

Just an hour after the Cheng family left, news of their departure became known to others. The sheer number of people and the commotion they caused made it impossible to keep it a secret.

However, Fei Yunsong and Fei Yanchen were engaged in battle with the foreign invaders outside the city, so their subordinates didn’t know how to report the news. After some hesitation, one of them hurriedly ran to the temporary residence where the Fei family was staying upon their return to the western region.

In the courtyard of the temporary residence, patrolling squads constantly crisscrossed, and the messenger had the idea to try entering and conveying the message.

Everyone knew about Wen Yunlan’s serious injuries, and they didn’t want to disturb her at this time. However, the Cheng family’s departure was a significant event, especially since they had taken away twenty thousand troops.

The timing was coincidental, as Wen Yunlan had not yet gone to sleep after changing her medicine. When she heard that someone urgently needed to report a matter of great importance, she called the messenger in.

Upon hearing the messenger’s report, Wen Yunlan briefly pondered and immediately realized that the Cheng family was planning to return to the capital. Even though she was injured and staying within the city, she wasn’t idly lying in bed. Her injury had always been suspicious, and she had been investigating it.

At the time of her injury, she had been patrolling a new route outside the city that usually went unnoticed to avoid drawing the attention of foreign invaders. She had very few people with her, but unexpectedly encountered a large number of troops. All her subordinates perished in their efforts to protect her.

Thinking of this, Wen Yunlan gritted her teeth. Moreover, preliminary investigations had revealed that all the evidence pointed to the involvement of the Cheng family in this matter.

So, upon hearing that the Cheng family was planning to leave, Wen Yunlan summoned her strength, sat up, and decided to personally intercept them.

However, just as her troops were being organized, another major incident occurred.

In the distance, thick smoke rose into the sky, and in no time, the chaotic clamor of voices began to ring out. Everyone turned to look in the direction where the smoke was billowing.

Someone with a solemn expression said to Wen Yunlan, “Madam, it seems to be coming from the direction of the granary.”

Wen Yunlan’s face grew equally grave, and it took on a slightly pale hue. With smoke billowing in that direction, if something happened to the provisions…

Wen Yunlan couldn’t bear to continue that thought. Just as she was torn between pursuing the Cheng family and attending to the granary, someone came running in a panic.

“The granary… the granary is on fire!”

“Quick, save the granary, it’s on fire!!!”

Wen Yunlan swiftly made a decision and ordered her people to extinguish the fire, then hurried over herself.

The matter of provisions was of utmost importance, as the one hundred thousand troops in the western region relied on these supplies. By the time they reached the granary, the fire had already spread to several storage areas.

Some soldiers were working to separate the unburnt provisions from the ones that were already on fire. When the fire had just ignited, some soldiers had tried to use buckets to carry water and put it out. However, it seemed that someone had sabotaged most of the buckets by poking holes in the bottoms. So, by the time they brought a bucket of water over, it had mostly leaked out. As a result, the fire grew larger, and they had to quickly move the unburnt provisions to an open area.

Wen Yunlan hastily instructed her followers who had come with her to join the firefighting team. The raging flames were not completely extinguished until late into the night. Fei Yunsong and his son, Fei Yanchen, also returned from outside the city.