After Being Abducted by the General

chapter 18

Yang Zongfa went through great hardships to slow down the people who were chasing after Yuan Li. When they arrived at the Tunji Camp, they saw Yuan Li and Chu Hechao chatting and laughing.

Yuan Li's smile towards Chu Hechao was gentle, and his demeanor was polite. Surprisingly, Chu Hechao also showed great respect towards Yuan Li, behaving with propriety and displaying a lot of patience. At a glance, their obvious good relationship as brother and sister-in-law made it seem like the scene that Yang Zhongfa had just witnessed of them fighting on horseback was nothing but an illusion.

Yang Zhongfa rubbed his eyes vigorously, unable to close his mouth due to his astonishment at Chu Hechao's behavior. He scratched his head and went to find Yuan Congyun and Han Jin. "What's going on?"

Han Jin was Yang Zhongfa's deputy, while Yuan Congyun was his colleague, both serving under Chu Hechao. These two had been assigned by Chu Hechao to oversee the troops in the Tunji Camp, both to ensure that the soldiers maintained their training and did not slack off and to prevent the soldiers from being recruited by the camp's military officer.

Han Jin was even more bewildered than Yang Zhongfa, shrugging his shoulders. "Sir, I have no idea either. General came with his sister-in-law, and they've been like this from the moment they arrived. I've never seen the general behave so humbly and respectfully before, it's scary."

Yuan Congyun cleared his throat and nodded towards Yuan Li. "So, that's the wife of the Young Gelao?"

"Yes, but Young Master Yuan prefers to be called 'Young Master' by others," Yang Zhongfa smacked his lips. "You two better change how you address him quickly. Stop calling him 'sister-in-law' or 'little sister-in-law.' The General said that from now on, we'll rely on Young Master Yuan to provide us with military funds!"

Yuan Congyun sighed deeply. "I never expected that after Young Gelao's death, it would be his wife who takes up the mantle. Yang Zhongfa, I don't dislike Young Master Yuan, but there are some things I must ask you honestly. Can this Young Master Yuan really shoulder such a heavy burden? This is the rear of a 130,000-strong army. It's the lives of 130,000 soldiers plus our own! This is no child's play!"

"Congyun, can't you see it from the General's attitude?" Yang Zhongfa patted Yuan Congyun's shoulder. "If this person didn't have real talent, would our General be so polite and respectful?"

After saying those words, Yang Zhongfa's expression became slightly strange, and he whispered, "Well, maybe not that polite... The General abducted him here without Young Master Yuan's consent."

The other two men gasped and whispered, "Really? Abducted here by force?"

Yang Zhongfa nodded, feeling awkward.

Yuan Congyun sighed, "The General really... sigh."

The imperial court had placed the military funds for Chu Hechao at the front of Tunji Camp. However, knowing that Chu Hechao had brought a thousand cavalry soldiers with him, they simply left the supplies there and didn't send any laborers to transport them.

The military funds were not ancient artifacts like calligraphy, paintings, gold, silver, or silk; they were actual bags of food. The 130,000-strong army required 900,000 stones of rations for a month, and once loaded onto the carts, it formed a long line that presented some difficulties for a thousand cavalry soldiers.

But Chu Hechao seemed to have anticipated this. With a command, all the cavalry soldiers removed the unnecessary baggage from the supplies and left them at the front of the Tunji Camp. They took everything that could be taken and hit the road.

The large group hurried towards Ruyang County.

Yuan Li looked back with regret at the discarded items. "General, why didn't you bring more cavalry when you came to Luoyang?"