Lord of the Desert

Chapter 363 Jinshan
The third day of October, the twenty-ninth year of Zhenghe.

The carriage came from Tingshan Pass and bumped along the way, heading straight towards Duanli.

Inside the car, Tang Xingqing tied up her long hair, and the silver hairpin that she had been holding on her fingertips for a long time floated up and pinned it behind her head.

Ever since Duanli City changed hands more than ten days ago, the Baisheng Army no longer strengthened her martial arts seal; until this morning, the Qiansi Nian Qi that had been stagnant for a long time began to flow smoothly again.

So she branded the hairpin first.

With the "flying sword", Tang Xingqing felt a little relieved. She lifted the car curtain with her fingertips and looked outside.

The sky was bright at this time, with scattered clouds illuminating the hills.

An official road slowly extends into the wilderness, supporting the people gathering from all directions.

Some of them pushed wheelbarrows, some led donkeys, and those with wealthier families rode in ox carts. As for carrying baskets on shoulder poles, pockets and backpacks, they were everywhere.

Tang Xingqing had heard about the Baisheng Army's plan to release grain in Duanli City when she was still in Longqiu Town, but she didn't believe it until now.

The carriage caught up with the crowd.

Tang Xingqing looked down at the passers-by - rude, stupid, and coming here without even knowing whether the news was true or false.

Passersby also saw her through the window. They were first struck by her elegant and beautiful face. But after seeing the gold ornaments on her forehead and the black and gold clothes in the signature style of the Tang family, they all avoided her and showed their distance from her.

The official road is not wide, and the carriages and people are clearly separated.

Half an hour later, Duanli City was in sight.

Tang Xingqing's eyes swept across the parapet that was smashed to pieces by cannonballs, and stared at the gap that was several feet wide. After more than ten days, all three counties of Huaiyang State knew that Chisha had won the first victory by blasting open Duanli with the White Thunder God.

[At that time, I was confined in Longqiu...]

She thought silently, feeling that she had lost to this peer for the second time, and she couldn't help but feel ashamed and pursed her lips.

The carriage passed through the long line and stopped in front of the city gate.

The driver from the Baisheng Army took out the document and negotiated with the gatekeeper. After a while, he lifted the curtain of the carriage for the latter to confirm.

Tang Xingqing sat in the car, feeling mixed emotions.

In the past, she had ridden her horse through the city gate countless times based on her surname and status, and after she was ranked among the top three, she was even more honored. But the gatekeeper who just came over even held his sword in one hand and looked at her fearlessly.

The vehicle entered the city and was soon met by arranged officers.

"Ms. Tang, we have informed the Tang family of your itinerary in advance. I believe the family has already prepared a lunch."

The man who came was dressed in military uniform and introduced himself as Feng Qing, the deputy commander of the central army.

"Will Feng escort you there?"

Tang Xingqing felt uncomfortable when she heard that, and just said she wanted to take a walk and not go to the Tang Mansion first.

She then followed the crowd and walked into the city's main street.

At this time, the people who came to collect food filled the road and were being arranged in order under the shouts of the soldiers of the Victorious Army.

Most of them looked timid, perhaps because they had never had the opportunity to leave home, or perhaps it was the first time they were qualified to enter the city, but they could not help but look at the beautiful prosperity.

The streets are busy and bustling.

Tang Xingqing listened casually to the messy and repetitive topics - nothing more than whether they could get food, how much each person could get, and how to live after bringing back the food - and strolled forward with the team, passing through several streets and alleys unknowingly.

She recognized this direction; it led to Wei'ecang.

The team became quieter as it moved forward, and many people showed visible anxiety and fear.

[With such a serious matter, perhaps some grain should be released, but how can one man receive 40 liters? ]

Tang Xingqing complained in her heart with disdain. Just as she turned the corner of the street, she caught a glimpse of a corner of gold floating above the tiles in the distance.

She was stunned.

"That is..." Tang Xingqing instinctively turned around and asked, but she was too embarrassed to wait for a reply.

She simply jumped onto the roof of a house next to the street.

Under the gaze of everyone, Tang Xingqing quickly flew dozens of meters and then stopped like a lightning strike.

The walls were torn open and the roof was blown off, and the familiar towering warehouse was no longer there.

Instead, there was a round-bottomed golden cone with a diameter of twenty feet and a height higher than a five-story building.

"This is……"

Tang Xingqing breathed rapidly.

She saw more bamboo baskets being lifted out from the underground granary, the blackened and rotten grains being set aside and the rest being poured into the cones.

At the end of the long line, the people who got to the front of the line talked quietly with the receptionist, and then took their portion with many thanks.

Tang Xingqing confirmed it reluctantly.

“This huge hill is actually millet?!”

She uttered this sentence calmly, and her fists clenched and unclenched.

As Tang Shaoyou's successor, Tang Xingqing knew how these golden jade grains were collected layer by layer through a complex system, and how much sweat and pressure were involved.

They are not just food to fill the stomach, but also natural currency and supreme power.

【It shouldn’t be like this.】

Tang Xingqing temporarily lost the ability to think.

Dozens of feet away, the Golden Mountain was more magnificent than the city wall, and the people walking below it were as small as mice and rabbits.

A thin old man, with slender shoulders and a linen short robe on his back, his arms full of green veins exposed under his rolled-up sleeves, was carefully pushing the food he had collected on a wheelbarrow.

It's like pushing your own life.

Then, at the last corner before saying goodbye to Jinshan, he suddenly stopped, turned around, knelt down and kowtowed heavily.

This knock calmed Tang Xingqing's soul.

She is a warrior, she sees more clearly than any mortal.

The tear in the clothes, the trembling of the cheek, the wrinkles on the forehead;

A man with a neck as black as iron, but the sweat he sheds is like drops of melted copper...

Tang Xingqing felt numb all over and even felt as if the world was spinning.

She tried her best to see, but still couldn't understand what was in front of her. She just vaguely felt that this kneeling was not about people, gods, authority, or violence, but something more primitive, more timeless, and more explosive.

In comparison, I, as a noble lady of the Tang family and a prodigy on the list, feel so frivolous and insignificant.

The sun reached its zenith.

Tang Xingqing forgot about her hunger and thirst, and stood on the rooftop watching the grain distribution for half an hour, until Feng Qing urged her to leave several times.

Duanli City where she was born and raised, the streets where she lived day and night for more than ten years, they met again today after a long separation, but it felt like they were meeting each other for the second time.

The Tang Mansion looks the same as yesterday.

The anxiously waiting mother stood at the foot of the stone steps to check on her - after not seeing her for three months, the vertical wrinkles between her brows had become much deeper.

Tang Xingqing walked over quickly with a smile on her face.

Only then did she realize that most of her resentment towards Hong Fan and Baisheng Army had dissipated.

PS: The weight of the rice pile in the article is 9000 tons, the natural stacking angle is about 28°, and the density of rice is 600kg/m. The scale should be correct.

(End of this chapter)