Everything Was Gone Overnight

Shen Xiao's face turned pale:

"We still haven't received the military pay the court owed us for those three years."

So you mean the imperial court isn't going to pay us military pay or provide us with weapons?

Who can we beat with our bare hands?

Qin Shan said, "Never mind that for now, let's eat."

Then they saw a dozen or so cooks from Qin Shan's team come out and start cooking.

For lunch today, we had braised free-range chicken and pork stew with glass noodles.

The border guards' mouths were watering. "It smells so good! I haven't had meat in ages!"

"It smells so good! I haven't had such delicious food in years."

"General, can we eat these dishes?"

Qin Shan looked at them and said, "Isn't this just the most ordinary food? We eat these dishes every day. Don't you even have meat to eat?"

The border guards all shook their heads.

Qin Shan sighed and said:

"I had heard that the border guards had a tough time, but I never imagined it could be this tough."

Here's the deal: if you just follow me, I guarantee you'll live a life of luxury.

"It's just a contract, a contract of servitude. Are you willing to sign it?"

Qin Shan produced a contract of servitude, and everyone stared at him in disbelief.

Shen Xiao was dumbfounded when he saw the contract of servitude. "Huh? We have to sign a contract of servitude to eat this stuff? Why? Are you planning to sell us off?"

Qin Shan patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Hey! What if you don't sign this contract of servitude and end up as rebels?"

Don't worry, it will definitely be beneficial to you.

Once this contract of servitude is signed, we're family.

Let's have dinner and drinks together then.

And what are you guys wearing? Even beggar's clothes are better than that!

"Once the contract of servitude is signed, armor and weapons will be provided immediately."

Shen Xiao looked at Qin Shan and said, "General Qin, I didn't mean anything by it! May I ask who our master is?"

Qin Shan chuckled and said, "Sign first, then you'll see your mistress. She'll be here soon, right?"

Shen Xiao signed the document and pressed his fingerprint on it.

The Border Pass Army behind him also quickly came over to sign.

Signing the papers means you get such good food, armor, and a long sword—who wouldn't want to sign?

After signing, Qin Shan said, "Distribute the equipment to the brothers."

Soon, everyone received a cotton-padded coat, a suit of armor, and a long sword.

Shen Xiao donned his armor, picked up his longsword, and said, "Thank you, General. I never expected our master to treat us so well."

Qin Shan nodded and said, "Of course, so you all must listen to your master from now on."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the Old Scholar Tree brought Zhou Wanwan over.

Zhou Wanwan said with a smile, "Are you having lunch? I'm hungry too, could you get me a bowl of rice?"

Qin Shan quickly ran to serve the rice, and then scooped out a spoonful of stewed chicken and pork with vermicelli for her.

Zhou Wanwan was really hungry and wolfed down her food.

Everyone around knelt down.

Shen Xiao's soldiers were still standing there dumbfounded when Qin Shan's men tugged at his sleeve and said, "What are you standing there for? Kneel down!"

Shen Xiao then realized what was happening and immediately knelt down, saying, "Greetings, Master."

Zhou Wanwan looked at Shen Xiao and said:

"Shen Xiao? General Shen? He has been serving in the Border Pass Army for six years. He is brave and skilled in battle and has repeatedly made outstanding contributions."

Later, he was transferred back to the capital, where his 13,000-plus soldiers became nothing more than figureheads.

Shen Xiao lowered his head and said, "Yes."

Zhou Wanwan said, "Get up! Don't kneel down all the time. Have you all eaten?"

Shen Xiao quickly nodded and said, "I'm full. I've never eaten so much before."

Zhou Wanwan looked at them and said, "From now on, you'll be obedient under Qin Shan. What others have, you'll have; what others don't have, you'll also have."

Qin Shan asked, "Your Majesty, when will the grain supplies arrive?"

Shen Xiao flinched. Had something gone wrong with his ears? The Emperor? Where was the Emperor?

His eyes darted around several times.

Qin Shan rolled his eyes and said, "I'm calling him the Emperor, your future master. This is our master, understand?"

Zhou Wanwan said, "It's already on its way. Oh dear, here it is!"

There were more than 300 trees, and they were covered with all kinds of supplies.

Looking at the supplies, Qin Shan said, "Hey! Noble Consort Ning has prepared quite a lot for us this time!"

Zhou Wanwan said:

Do you think Noble Consort Ning is that kind-hearted?

She planned to sell these supplies, so I had them seize them all.

Eunuch Liu led several thousand men to escort these supplies.

But they were robbed after walking only a dozen kilometers.

The key is that no one knows who the robbers are.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "This is going to kill me! Where are all these supplies? Go find them quickly!"

The supplies from dozens of horse-drawn carts have all vanished.

Eunuch Liu shouted anxiously, "You all need to investigate immediately! If you can't find anything, we'll all lose our heads!"

They searched the surrounding mountain villages thoroughly, and in the end, they only found some grain.

The bandits all knelt on the ground, begging loudly for mercy. "Sir, spare our lives! We really didn't steal anything from you!"

Eunuch Liu trembled with rage. "Who is it? Who is it? Get out here right now!"

After searching for a long time without finding any clues, they could only report back to Noble Consort Ning.

Noble Consort Ning was drinking tea and listening to some music, thoroughly enjoying herself.

She looked at Princess Jianing and said:

"You should focus on making money now; the suppliers you've found are quite good."

After a while, I'll sell these things to other countries, and I'll make even more money then.

We only have a shop in Beijing now; we plan to sell nationwide in the future. I've already spoken to many people these past few days; you can have a good talk with them another day."

Noble Consort Ning had a large number of subordinates, and countless people wanted to curry favor with her.

Isn't selling these goods very simple?

Princess Jianing was quite happy. "Mother, you're the best to me."

Then, Eunuch Liu rushed over and said, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! All our supplies are gone, all of them vanished overnight!"

Noble Consort Ning was so angry that she stood up abruptly and said, "What? Gone? What do you mean by gone?"

Eunuch Liu wept and said:

"Today we came to a mountain forest, and suddenly, everyone fainted."

When I woke up, I found that all the supplies had disappeared.

Noble Consort Ning gritted her teeth and said, "Investigate! I want to see who did it!"

She immediately dispatched the Brocade Guard, more than 200 of Brocade Guard rushed out, but they almost turned the area upside down and still couldn't find anything wrong.

Those Brocade Guard reported back:

"Your Majesty, we've checked, we've gone to look, but we couldn't find the grove that Eunuch Liu mentioned at all."

It was just a wasteland, overgrown with weeds.