I Became a Sugar Mama to an Ancient General during a Famine! - Chapter 13 Part 1

The air was thick with the stench of blood, with corpses scattered across the ground.

Zhan Chengyin, his eyes bloodshot at the sight, shouted, “Everyone, stop!”

The people saw the general arrive with hundreds of cavalry, surrounding them on all sides.

Their attempt to rob the military provisions had failed.

They had lost all hope.

Weapons clattered to the ground as many dropped them.

They knew the consequences of robbing military grain, but they didn’t regret it!

Even facing death, they accepted it.

What they regretted most was that, before dying, they couldn’t bring a single morsel of food to their families—who were on the brink of starvation.

This despair was far worse than being cut down.

A burly man who had taken the lead dropped his cleaver and knelt on the ground.

With sorrow, he pleaded, “General, we know the consequences of stealing military rations. We don’t mind dying, but I beg you—please, give our children something to eat. They’re about to starve to death.”

His wife, clutching their frail, barely-breathing child, blocked the cart and wailed, “If you die, our child and I won’t survive either!”

As she spoke, she raised the child, intending to slam into the wall.

Chen Kui kicked her back with a single blow.

“Shut up! I’ve worked hard defending the city, lost several brothers, and you repay us by stealing military provisions?”

“The law of Great Qi is clear—stealing military supplies is punishable by death!”

“Arrest all those who participated in this robbery today.”

The elderly, women, and children around the cart—mostly family members—tried to block the soldiers.

A withered old man collapsed by the roadside. If not for his clouded eyes still moving, one would have thought him already dead.

He watched helplessly as his son, caught stealing military grain, was cut down before him.

As his child fell, that last breath the old man had been holding dissipated.

Many children crawled toward the fallen bodies, clutching them and weeping bitterly.

Zhan Chengyin closed his eyes in sorrow at the sight.

He had planned to set up porridge stations in the morning, but never expected that tonight, someone would dare to rob the military grain.

With a heavy heart, he said, “Disarm all the people who participated in the robbery and press them into military service.”

“Those blocking the carts, clean up the blood and bodies. Your labor in the military camp will serve as atonement.”

“Spread the word—set up cooking pots in the alley behind the general’s mansion. Every citizen in the city can come and receive a bowl of noodles!”

The moment Zhan Chengyin finished speaking~

Everyone knelt down, including the nearby onlookers.

They were all in disbelief, their expressions a mix of sorrow and joy. They laughed and cried, wiping tears with their sleeves.

There was food!

The general had food!

It was wonderful.

Everyone could get a bowl of noodles!

This was noodles!

The citizens hadn’t eaten noodles for half a year, almost forgetting the taste.

Now, they wouldn’t starve to death.

Even the commoners who had just participated in the robbery, their faces still stained with blood, looked at the general with pleading eyes, hoping their families could receive a bowl too.

Zhan Chengyin looked at them and said, “Your families will be able to eat white rice porridge every day.”

White rice porridge?

The same plump grains as the military rations!

Only then did they truly let down their guard, putting down the knives hidden on their bodies.

One by one, they knelt, kowtowing to Zhan Chengyin, their eyes red with tears. Choking on their words, they said, “Thank you, General, for sparing our lives! We volunteer to join the army and fight to the death without hesitation!”

Zhan Chengyin waved his hand, “Take them away!”

Their families—the elderly, weak, women, and children—stepped aside, allowing the military supplies to be transported back to the camp.

*

Around the corner, Zhao Youcai, Wei Guang, and Mute Sun watched everything unfold.

Zhao Youcai, his voice excited and trembling, said, “Brother Wei, the general’s mansion must be hiding a massive amount of grain. This is amazing—just amazing!”

Mute Sun and Wei Guang both turned to look at Zhao Youcai.

This entire premeditated robbery had been organized by Zhao Youcai.

He had stationed people to watch the back gate of the general’s mansion. When they saw soldiers pushing carts toward the mansion, they went door to door, leaking information that the general’s mansion had food.

They then incited people to rob it.

These people, on the brink of starvation, were willing to do anything.