The Imperial Army Is Coming

After a long while, Shen Changfeng finally stopped, wiped his mouth, and said:

"Xiao Ke, buy another 1,000 tons of rice tomorrow. It doesn't have to be the best, just the freshest. Get it to the warehouse as soon as possible; I need it urgently."

Meng Ke's face was still a little flushed, but after calming down and returning to normal, her brain started working again.

"Isn't five hundred tons of rice in the warehouse enough?"

Shen Jingchuan: "Okay, I'll transport these 500 tons tonight. If that's not enough, you can keep buying."

Meng Ke didn't ask any more questions and agreed immediately.

Shen Jingchuan boarded his flying sword, went to the western suburbs warehouse, collected the rice, and returned to the West Mountain Separate Garden.

In his bedroom, a thought activated the Ring, sending him back to another world.

In a flash, he found himself in his bedroom in another world.

The room was quiet. Shen Jingchuan pushed open the door and came out. There was no one in the outer room, and Xiaoyue was not there.

He left the main house and had just stepped into the courtyard when he saw Xiaoyue sitting by the stone table, happily eating a handful of snacks.

When Xiaoyue saw him come out, she jumped high and pounced on him, clinging to him.

"Young master, you're finally back."

Shen Jingchuan reached out and patted her back, laughing in annoyance.

"Alright, you're such a grown man, and you still can't behave properly."

Where are the ladies?

Xiaoyue wrapped her arms around his neck and pouted.

"Both ladies are cultivating. Qinghe and Ju'er have also gone back to their rooms to rest."

She suddenly lowered her voice, leaned close to Shen Jingchuan's ear, and spoke softly.

"Young master, are you going to find Ju'er or Qinghe?"

"In my opinion, you shouldn't go anywhere. Wouldn't it be better to stay in our own room?"

The voice was soft and sticky, making Shen Jingchuan's scalp tingle. He quickly put her off him.

"You little brain of yours, all you ever think about is all sorts of nonsense."

Why haven't you been cultivating?

Xiaoyue pouted, looking quite self-righteous.

"I've been cultivating, I just took a break and was keeping watch for you."

Shen Jingchuan ignored her and waved his hand.

"Alright, go back to your room and cultivate. I'm going to rest too."

He spoke a few more words to Xiaoyue before returning to his room.

He had already left the commonly used Second-Tier Spirit Gathering Formation to Meng Ke; now that the Spirit Gathering Formation was gone, he was thinking of going back to buy another one.

That night, he sat cross-legged and cultivated peacefully throughout the night.

The next morning, after breakfast, Shen Jingchuan summoned his flying sword, left Azure Cloud Stronghold, and headed towards Yuxi Prefecture. He landed directly in the courtyard of the City Lord's Mansion.

The guards at the gate spotted him immediately and quickly stepped forward to salute.

"Greetings, young master."

Shen Jingchuan waved his hand and stepped inside.

"Chief Hu?"

The guard stood beside him, replying with a smile.

"Young master, the chief is having breakfast inside."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Hu Tieniu's loud voice came from inside.

"Young master? The young master is here!"

Then, Hu Tieniu came out of the house to greet him, holding half a meat bun in his hand.

As soon as Shen Jingchuan entered, he saw two young women sitting at the dining table. When they saw him come in, they quickly stood up and bowed, then lowered their heads awkwardly, not daring to touch their chopsticks.

Shen Jingchuan knew that these two were Hu Tieniu's newly acquired concubines, so he raised his hand to them, indicating that they did not need to stand on ceremony.

Hu Tieniu greeted them with a cheerful smile.

"Young master, have you eaten? Would you like them to bring some more hot food? I don't have anything particularly good here, so please make do with this."

Shen Jingchuan waved his hand and smiled.

"You eat, I finished eating before I came."

Hu Tieniu didn't stand on ceremony. He stuffed the bun in his hand into his mouth in a few bites, then ate a couple more bites with the bowl in his hand before wiping his mouth.

Seeing this, the two girls quickly stepped forward and deftly cleared away all the bowls and chopsticks on the table.

Hu Tieniu wiped his mouth before coming closer, looking miserable.

"Young master, you've finally arrived! I've been so busy these past few days, I'm practically exhausted."

Shen Jingchuan glanced at the two girls who had just left, a half-smile on his face.

"You seem to be living a pretty comfortable life. I bet you're busy with these two things."

Hu Tieniu grinned widely and chuckled.

"Oh, young master, look at what you're saying. Those two are only busy at night."

"During the day, I wasn't idle; I was busy with important matters."

He led Shen Jingchuan into the hall, reporting as he went.

"Now our team is all on the right track, training enthusiastically day and night using the methods you gave us."

"The brothers are well-fed and warmly clothed, and their families have all been allocated land as you said. Their morale is incredibly high."

Shen Jingchuan listened and nodded.

Hu Tieniu's expression turned serious, and he lowered his voice.

"In addition, the spies I sent out have returned."

"The scouts report that the imperial court is already mobilizing troops, drawing many men from various regions and converging them on the capital."

"The exact number hasn't been determined yet, but judging from the current situation, they'll be attacking soon."

Shen Jingchuan paused and looked at him.

"Just this route? Have you heard anything from the northern border?"

Hu Tieniu shook his head.

"There's been no movement over there. I reckon they're still guarding against the enemy to the north, and their border troops won't dare to move easily."

Shen Jingchuan asked again.

Are you confident you can hold on?

Upon hearing this, Hu Tieniu thumped his chest loudly and raised his voice again.

Yes! I'm very confident!

"My lord, with the equipment you've provided, let's start with this armor. I had it slashed with swords and stabbed with spears in front of the entire army."

"I wouldn't say it's invulnerable to swords and spears, but ordinary swords and spears can't cut through it easily. Unless you're extremely unlucky, at most you'll suffer some superficial wounds, which are unlikely to be fatal."

He became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, gesturing wildly.

"Think about it, when you're on the battlefield, you won't get hurt, and you can still kill the enemy. You'll feel confident, and your morale will be off the charts!"

Shen Jingchuan listened and agreed that it made sense.

In warfare, the better the armor protects a soldier, the more willing they are to charge forward—that's self-evident.

He hesitated for a moment, then looked at Hu Tieniu.

"Take me to an empty warehouse. I've brought you the grain."

Hu Tieniu was overjoyed and grabbed Shen Jingchuan's arm.

"Really? So fast? Oh, young master, you're a real lifesaver!"

"Come on, come on, I'll take you there right away."

At that moment, Hu Tieniu led the way, taking Shen Jingchuan out of the city lord's mansion and heading straight for the warehouse.

This place was originally the official granary of Yuxi Prefecture. It was a vast area with thirty-six large granaries standing neatly in rows, which were used to store grain on ordinary days.

With a thought, Shen Jingchuan released all the grain he had brought from the modern world from his Storage Ring, filling ten warehouses.

Bags of grain appeared out of thin air, stacked high. To the people of this world, they were all top-quality rice.

Hu Tieniu's eyes widened, and it took him a while to come back to his senses. He couldn't stop smiling.

"Young master, with this grain, I feel much more at ease."