Having a Baby Before Marrying a Wicked Husband - Chapter 108

Gu Ren clearly knew that someone outside had heard their conversation but for some reason didn’t speak up to alert Liu Neng.

Even when Liu Neng noticed the noise, he stopped him.

“What are you doing?”

Liu Neng said. “I heard a sound outside, I’ll go check.”

“It’s nothing, you misheard. Probably just a cat or something,” Gu Ren said, not wanting him to go out. He diverted his attention with other matters, talking about the people of Beirong.

The person outside the door was so frightened that he was sweating all over. It took him a while to leave quietly, not daring to make a sound. He seemed to have heard some big secret… but he didn’t dare to tell anyone.

Back in his own tent, the soldier who overheard the conversation remained silent, keeping the matter to himself, not revealing it to anyone. He thought, if nothing happened, it shouldn’t matter.

So, for several consecutive days, he paid special attention to the matters of the granary, making his comrades who were having a good time with him think that he wanted to change his place of assignment.

“Do you want to go to logistics department?”

“No…” the soldier shook his head, wanting to tell his comrades what he heard that night, but then closed his mouth. These days had been peaceful; maybe he was just overthinking it.

Beirong’s famous general Zhuogu Xierli was the most patient. If he were the king of Beirong, he would have already chosen to send troops to meet the provocation of the Chen army. But he was the only one still guarding the gate, ignoring the Chen army outside.

He firmly held onto the gate, refusing to leave. He was waging a war of attrition. The Chen army was engaged in distant operations, and soldiers stationed outside were most afraid of this kind of delay. Not only did it consume their limited food, but it also gradually wore down their morale during the long wait.

“When will this end? Are we going to fight or not?” During their rest, several soldiers sat under a tree and talked.

“Who knows. It’s my turn to be on duty tonight, and I’m so sleepy. I’ll just nap for a while.” With that, the soldier lay down and fell asleep, only waking up in the evening to prepare for his shift.

He had taken countless night shifts, each passing calmly, except for the night winds being a bit louder. When everything was silent and only the stars twinkled in the sky, the military camp would appear especially tranquil. The soldiers on patrol marched with strong and orderly steps, punctuated by the occasional sound of a clapper.

But that night, something happened.

The granary suddenly caught fire.

The flames soared, thick smoke billowed, and everyone worked together to extinguish the fire, but the granary was still lost. Only the one in the east, closer to Jiang Manyue and the others, was spared the disaster.

In the glow of the fire, Jiang Manyue’s face was dark and gloomy. He rushed out without even fully dressing, wearing only a white shirt. Against the backdrop of the ashes behind him, he looked somewhat desolate from a distance.

Yan Cai arrived a bit later, carrying a padded jacket. After draping it over Jiang Manyue, Yan Cai also looked worried.

“You came out?” Jiang Manyue turned his head, holding Yan Cai’s hand. “You’re not wearing much either. Where’s our son? Why did you come out?”

“Our son is still asleep, I didn’t wake him up. I left Zhu Hua to watch over him. I’m not cold, I came out wearing clothes.” He adjusted his cloak and tied the sash tightly, his eyes filled with concern. “The granary has always been heavily guarded; how could it burn down?”

There were dedicated people assigned just to guard the granary, and any signs of fire could usually be extinguished at the outset. But to think that a fire could escalate beyond control caught them off guard.

“How much was burned?” If there was no food, what would happen to the tens of thousands of people here?

“They’ve estimated it, probably enough rations left for the army for a month. But it hasn’t been fully calculated yet, this is just an estimate.”

Even if it was just an estimate, it was still dire. If there was no food, what was the point of this war? Everyone might as well return to their hometowns.

Even if they reported to the capital now and transported food from there, the time it would take was something they couldn’t afford.

Chen Nan led a few people to meet with them. He bypassed the usual protocol and went straight to report to Yan Cai.

“Reporting to the prince, I’ve brought the team leaders who were on duty guarding the granary tonight.” Chen Nan couldn’t suppress his anger. “These bastards!”

Several team leaders knelt down. It was their teams’ turn to guard tonight, but they hadn’t expected such a mistake to happen under their watch.

Now, their heads were on the line.

“I… I didn’t know. When it was our turn for duty, we were outside, and everything was fine. But later, somehow, we suddenly smelled a fragrance, and then we all passed out. After a stick of incense burned, the soldiers on duty came over and found the fire. By then, the fire had already grown large…”

As he spoke, he lowered his head in shame, feeling like he couldn’t face anyone anymore. Such an important matter had resulted in such a serious problem.

The night shifts were in two-hour rotations, so the arsonist had timed it perfectly. Moreover, a fire here would be quickly discovered, but extinguishing it might be a bit difficult since there were no abundant water source. And most importantly, the fire had spread rapidly within a short period of time.

Jiang Manyue remained silent, pondering, when another person came to report.

“We’ve found the source of the fire. It’s oil! We found a large quantity of oil… so the fire spread quickly within the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn.”

“How could there be so much oil? Where did the granary get oil?” Such flammable materials were strictly prohibited in such places; oil wouldn’t be kept there under any circumstances.

“I… I don’t know… There wasn’t any during the day.” The person stammered, unable to meet their eyes.

Jiang Manyue sensed something amiss and said coldly, “What are you hiding?”

With a thud, the person fell to his knees, his voice filled with tears.

“I-I don’t know… Please, your highness, have mercy, please. Today, someone with a general’s badge brought something in. I heard the clinking sound of liquid hitting the wooden barrels, and it didn’t seem right, but he had the general’s order and said it was on the general’s command, so I let him in…”

The person’s face was panicked. Now thinking about it, the contents of those barrels… wasn’t it oil? The items in the granary were already prone to combustion, especially with a warehouse in the middle storing cotton clothes and blankets, which would ignite quickly.

With just a light touch and a splash of oil, rapid combustion was inevitable.

Liu Neng, who arrived a step later, just happened to hear this statement and instantly became furious.

“You damn liar! When did I ask you to deliver anything!?”.