Marrying a concubine and swallowing her dowry? The mistress turns around and marries a high-ranking

Chapter 239

Chu Tianming's bodyguards immediately drew their swords and surrounded Shen Wei.

But before Shen Wei could make a move, the soldiers of the Shen family army around him rushed forward, some brandishing their spears, others drawing their swords, to protect Shen Wei, instantly creating an impenetrable barrier!

The foremost general, his blade gleaming like snow, stood guard before them, and said in a stern, deep voice:

"General Chu, I don't care what your current position is, or what Marshal Shen's position is. In our hearts, we will always only recognize him as our Marshal. If you want to touch him, you'll have to step over our dead bodies first!"

The soldiers of Shen's army around him responded one after another: "We swear to protect Marshal Shen to the death!"

"We swear to protect Marshal Shen with our lives!"

The shouts spread out like waves, stirring up responses from millions and converging into an ever-growing roar that resounded deafeningly over the desert.

Shen Wei was almost completely hidden in the crowd. Looking at the passionate Shen family soldiers around him, tears welled up in his eyes.

What merit or ability does he possess to have so many brothers follow him to the death?

Shen Wei steeled his resolve and loudly proclaimed, "Let's go to Tianfu Pass! Defend Luzhou City! Luzhou City has never fallen in a century since the founding of the Northern Yi Kingdom. We cannot allow those with ulterior motives to hand it over to the Western Qi!"

Tianfu Pass is a natural barrier west of Luzhou City and the only passage from west to east to Luzhou City, making it a crucial point for defending the city.

At his call, ten thousand responded.

"Head to Tianfu Pass! Defend Luzhou City!"

"Go to Tianfu Pass! Defend Luzhou City!..."

Chu Tianming was so angry that he trembled all over!

These damned ants! Are they trying to rebel?!

He roared furiously, trying to drown out the shouts of the crowd: "How dare you! I am the current marshal! I have the Emperor's decree in my hand! You are disobeying my orders, are you plotting a rebellion?! This is a capital offense! All of you are guilty of a capital offense!"

No one paid him any attention, except for the general who had been at the very front, who looked at him and gave a contemptuous laugh.

"General Chu, we have 70,000 men on our side, how many do you have? What kind of capital crime are you talking about? Go ahead and sentence me to death right now, and see if you can kill me."

Since we've already disobeyed orders, what's wrong with rebelling as long as we follow Marshal Shen?

Chu Tianming never expected that these former members of the Shen family army would be so stubborn and fearless, even willing to rebel in groups!

What kind of spell did Shen Wei cast on them to make them so devoted?

Chu Tianming was furious, but instead he sneered.

"Fine! You've got guts! I have thirty cartloads of military rations here, which were originally meant to support you, but since you've openly rebelled, I naturally can't give them to you. I want to see how you're going to defend Luzhou City without a single grain of rice!"

Chu Tianming knew that Shen's old troops had been fighting bitterly on the front lines for months and were now out of ammunition and food. Without reinforcements, they simply wouldn't be able to hold on.

In Luzhou City, there is not much food left. News of the approaching Western Qi army has reached Luzhou City, and most of the people who can escape have taken their families and all their food and begun to flee.

How can a group of generals and soldiers who are so hungry that they can't even stand up straight fight a war?

They're courting death!

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent, and the atmosphere became heavy.

Food shortages were indeed an issue they could not ignore.

I heard that the harvest in Beiyi was poor this autumn, and there is a shortage of food everywhere. Now, Luzhou probably doesn't have much food either, so they can't possibly rob the refugees.

Feeding warhorses is relatively easy; the Northwest isn't completely barren, so they can gnaw on withered grass and roots and survive for a while. But it's not the same for people.

How can we defend Luzhou City?

At this moment, some sharp-eyed people noticed that a long procession of carriages and horses was approaching on the distant horizon.

"That is......"

Shen Wei was the first to recognize him: "...Ling Jun!"

The horse leading the way was Shen Lingjun, followed by forty or fifty large carts, all fully loaded.

Shen Wei was surprised to see Shen Lingjun here again and said angrily, "Didn't I tell you to withdraw from Yongzhou? What are you doing here?"

Shen Lingjun smiled and said, "I heard that the Northern Yi Army is short of food. I happen to have a batch of grain here, so I'm sending it to you."

As she spoke, she dismounted from the horse and pulled open the tarpaulin covering the cart.

The trucks were loaded with bags of flour and millet, heavy with at least a thousand kilograms on each vehicle.

This was naturally grain taken from her spatial storage. Her caravan only had twenty carts, which was far from enough. She scoured the entire city of Luzhou and barely managed to buy another twenty-odd large carts, because the entire city was currently fleeing with their families, making carts very difficult to purchase.

Even so, it only filled three or four percent of the food in the space.

Everyone's eyes widened when they saw so much grain.

Shen Wei was stunned: "Ling Jun, where...where did you get so much food?"

Shen Lingjun said, "I built my own caravan. This year, the north suffered a severe drought and a poor harvest, so I transported grain from the south to the northwest. I'm sure I can sell it for a good price there. But since my father's army needs grain more, I will definitely donate this batch of grain first to relieve the immediate crisis. This is only a small part; there is much more grain in Luzhou."

She specifically built a caravan just to have this excuse to use.