Chapter 57: Lack of Supplies
"Commander Leng..." The bandit leader dragged the word, feeling like he was in triumph at this moment. "If perhaps you are unaware about the situation further ahead, I can tell you."
He shrugged his shoulders. "The imperial family has abandoned this place, anyway. They don’t seem–"
Before he could continue his words, Commander Leng turned to the imperial guard beside him. "Bring him to the cart."
The bandit leader stiffened, and he tried to make himself appear nonchalant. "Oh, I understand. You are still considering it. Fine, I am a magnanimous person, so I am willing to wait for a decisive imperial commander like you."
They hoisted him up to one of the remaining wagon carts, ignoring his painful groan and curses as his wounded limbs hit something.
Commander Leng had given a day’s time in order to search for the stolen wagon carts.
There were just too many people at that time that they couldn’t protect all of the wagon carts, and fortunately, they still had some supplies with them.
However, after he calculated it, the bandit leader was right. Their current supplies were far from enough.
In order to give some of their clothes to the first branch, the second and third branch was forced to unpack their wagon carts.
"Mother, Eldest sister-in-law, you can choose some clothes..." Shen Jinyi opened a cloth bundle, which contained women’s clothes.
Then, she opened another which was filled with men’s garments.
Ye Shichang wasn’t picky and he grabbed some from the pile, thanking his second brother. He went to Old Madam Ye and his wife’s side to wait.
"What kind of clothes are these? Jingyi, are you giving us rags to wear?" Zheng Huizhen complained, and yet, her hands reached out to grab the entire bundle.
They just grabbed everything Shen Jingyi laid out on the grass-covered ground, not just picking one or two.
After they finished taking things from the first branch, they turned to the third branch.
Ye Lingyue was surprised that Ye Yaoting was also quick-witted enough to protect his family’s wagon cart at an important moment.
This third uncle seemed to be smarter than Ye Shichang, and also, a lot more brave.
She had seen Ye Shichang busily avoiding the bandits’ attack instead of protecting his family’s wagon cart. It was no surprise the wagon cart easily got stolen away.
By the time the sky turned darker, the imperial guards returned from their mission.
"Reporting to Commander, we managed to bring one wagon cart back..." one imperial guard saluted and immediately reported to his superior.
The more he listened, the darker Commander Leng’s expression became.
Even if he had guessed the result.
He nodded after receiving the report. "You are dismissed."
The Ye family was busy unpacking their wagon carts and repacking them again for the entire day. In order to guard against the bandits calling for reinforcement and returning, they also had to move a little further away from the ambush scene.
Currently, they were truly dead tired.
Ye Lingyue checked the system’s binding progress, her face expressionless. It hadn’t changed at all.
She also didn’t forget to check her storage space. Based on her guess, the guards wouldn’t be able to recover the stolen supplies.
Would her rice sacks be enough? Alas, her space was truly too small to fit more supplies. Otherwise, she would have bought more back then at the last night market.
Early in the morning, the exile convoy continued again.
This time, Commander Leng was more on guard and didn’t ignore any of the thieves’ warning words. Even if they had to use the longer path to arrive at a checkpoint.
During the past week, they truly experienced the difficulty of life in the famine.
There was no lack of thieves that most of the imperial guards needed to be mobilized at night to guard their supplies. After all, they couldn’t afford to lose more.
"Sister, can you give me and my brother one bowl of rice?"
As Ye Lingyue was cooking a small pot of rice away from the camping site, she suddenly had two small guests.
"It’s you two," she was surprised to see the two little brats who had stolen some of the food from their carriage appear there.
They were the first ones who had warned them about the bandits.
She became quite interested in them. "Why are you asking me for food now instead of grabbing it directly?"
The older one pursed his lips, and his eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. "Because you are so beautiful, Sister. I can’t bear to steal something from you again and see you sad..."
She instantly became speechless. This brat was quite good with words.
"How are you two so good with sneaking around?" She asked again curiously.
"Experience!" The younger one patted his little chest proudly. "Sister, we are the best ones around here."
She found these two little guys quite cute and funny, so she wanted to try something.
"I can give each of you one bowl of rice, but you have to do something for me. How about it?" She studied their expressions.
"What is it?" They were straightforward.
She pointed to the pot of rice. "Can you deliver the rice to my family? You know the way, right?"
The two little boys easily agreed. "That’s easy. Leave it to us!"
Ye Lingyue put the rice in another pot and gave it to them. "Be careful, there are a lot more guards around. Don’t drop the rice too or you get any!"
She hadn’t expected them to return, but surprisingly, they did. They even brought back the empty small pot.
At this time, Ye Lingrui also finally returned and brought some wild vegetables.
"Aren’t these poisonous?" The little boys were stunned when they saw the wild vegetables Ye Lingrui had brought.
The younger one tugged on Ye Lingrui’s sleeve. "Sister, someone died after they ate grass from the ground! You shouldn’t eat them!"
Ye Lingrui smiled. "That’s fine. I will eat them myself then."
His twin sister immediately snatched the wild vegetables from him and started cooking it, patiently explaining to the little boys.
Ye Lingrui could only get a small amount, which wasn’t surprising. Not long after, Ye Lanxi also returned.
They were all stunned when they saw what he had brought back.