Clouds and Moon Shadow

Chapter 180 Who is the man in black?

After reading it, Zhao Yushan couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Startled, Gu Yuanming took a few steps back, fearing that he might start gesticulating wildly at any moment.

"Take a look," Zhao Yushan said, handing the note to Gu Yuanming. He stretched his arms, his hands resting on the city wall, overjoyed. These two pieces of news were the most exciting news he had heard in the past few days.

"Good, good," Gu Yuanming said twice after reading it.

The soldiers, startled by the two generals, looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering what the two big shots were laughing about.

This second letter came from a spy from the Chu state within the Nanzhao army.

He gave a very concise account of what happened at the camp last night, mainly about the burning of all the grain and the men in black.

As for Yue Zhiqi's fainting, his subordinates were certainly unaware of it, so they didn't mention it.

The destroyed weapons and the poisoning of the kitchen were not mentioned. The former was kept secret by several generals to avoid undermining morale, and the latter was something no one knew about at all.

Of course, they would never have known that General Yu of Nanzhao was sleeping dead next to the wounded soldiers' camp.

The messenger was clearly a low-ranking soldier.

But it doesn't matter.

If it's true that the grain supplies were burned, then it wouldn't be an exaggeration to set off firecrackers to celebrate.

The two were filled with joy and remained silent for a moment. "Tell me, who burned the Yuezhiqi camp's provisions? Whose men were those in black?" Gu Yuanming asked in a low voice, almost to himself.

"Yes, who is it?"

Zhao Yushan was also at a loss for a moment.

Gu Qingyue returned to the General's Mansion and immediately went into her spatial dimension to sleep. Without lingering, she fell asleep almost instantly upon lying down on the bed.

Gu Qingyue didn't open her eyes until she had slept enough.

Being a doctor is not something just anyone can do, especially a military doctor.

That's absolutely exhausting. No wonder I always heard news reports in my past life about doctors dying suddenly after surgery or while on duty. It really is too arduous.

She doesn't want to do this for the rest of her life, really, she doesn't want to be so tired.

If the matter at Nanchong Pass is resolved, and there are still no leads on the person she is looking for, she intends to return to Lizhou.

She still has a lot to do.

When I stepped out of the space, it was still dark outside; it was probably close to midnight.

Gu Qingyue sat at the table, pondering which medicinal herbs to refine first, and how to combine them to save money without affecting their efficacy. As she thought about it, dawn broke, and she was still writing and drawing at the table.

"Hurry, hurry up!" came very hurried footsteps from outside the courtyard.

Gu Qingyue opened the door, walked to the courtyard gate, and grabbed a soldier who was rushing out. She recognized him; he was from General Zhao Yushan's reserve guard battalion, and many of them were temporarily staying in the back courtyards.

"May I ask, Brother Hu, what happened up ahead?" Gu Qingyue asked.

"General Zhao has ordered our reserve battalion to go out of the city together to meet the enemy," the young man said excitedly and ran off.

Turning to go back to her room, Gu Qingyue suddenly thought of something, "Go out of the city to meet the enemy?" This has never happened recently.

Has something happened?

After calculating the time, Gu Qingyue believed that it was not yet time for the Nanzhao soldiers to lose their strength and become weak. The medicine they released the night before last was not that potent; it was a slow-acting poison.

Otherwise, if not many people come into contact with the poison, it will be discovered immediately; slow-acting poisons are more likely to spread over a wider area.

That's right, they used a slow-acting poison that makes people weak and powerless. It won't kill them, but it will make them lose their fighting ability.

This medicine is extremely difficult to prepare, mainly because once poison is added, the human body will quickly experience adverse reactions and the poison will take effect quickly, making it easy for others to discover.

That way, large-scale poisoning cannot be caused, so it is very difficult to control the degree.

It took Gu Qingyue a long time to make a small amount, which she then had Yue Ling and the other person put into the bottom of their water tank and into various seasonings.

It is colorless and odorless, and cannot be detected.

So, if it's not that reason, what could it be?

Gu Qingyue had a sudden inspiration: could it be that news of the burning of the grain supplies had come back?

That makes sense!

Later in the afternoon, news came back that Yue Zhiqi's camp was showing signs of breaking camp and that the camp was in disarray.

Many soldiers seem to have fallen ill; it appears that Yue Zhiqi will be retreating for the time being.

Whether they will break camp and retreat some distance to continue camping or retreat back to the nearest city of Sanchun in Nanzhao is currently unknown.

However, if supplies run out, the war will likely have to stop temporarily, unless Nanzhao sends supplies over immediately.

As evening fell, the Great Chu side remained hesitant and did not press their advantage. Gu Qingyue found this strange; shouldn't they be taking advantage of his weakness to finish him off?

Of course, Gu Qingyue doesn't understand warfare. Perhaps the Great Chu side has other deeper considerations or ideas that she doesn't know, and even if she did, she couldn't control them.

The next day, news came that Yue Zhiqi's troops had withdrawn from the border between the two countries and headed towards Sanchun City.

Next, Gu Qingyue began packing her bags to return to the Lizhou camp.

She, Bai Jingzhi, and Zhao Lansheng were the first to follow the wounded soldiers' battalion back to the Lizhou camp. They did not see Mu Yun Chu return until they set off.

More than twenty days have passed, and the weather has become increasingly gloomy and cold. Winter in the south is actually more unbearable than in the north.

There was charcoal burning in Gu Qingyue's small tent, but she still felt cold everywhere—her hands, feet, and face were cold, and she felt restless.

She knew that the charcoal she had was probably due to Gu Yuanming's special care, and she still respected and liked this general very much.

What she didn't know was that Bai Jingzhi had ordered someone to buy the charcoal from outside, paying for it out of his own pocket, and of course, he would ask Mu Yun Chu for reimbursement.

In just over twenty days, the border situation has undergone tremendous changes.

The war with Nanzhao has completely stopped. Besides the fact that the weather is getting colder and many soldiers are suffering from frostbite, making it impossible to launch a large-scale war, the upper echelons of the two countries must have reached some kind of tacit understanding.

Later, apart from occasional reports of villages being looted and grain being plundered, there were no more large-scale battles, and a complete ceasefire was imminent.

Of course, no matter how cold the weather was or how the war situation changed, it would not affect Gu Qingyue's daily life of planting medicinal herbs, practicing martial arts, and cultivating internal strength. She continued to live a simple life in the military camp as always.

"Qingyue, I heard you're going back to Lizhou?"

Gu Qingyue turned her head and saw Zhao Lan running breathlessly to the stream, anxiously looking at her leaning against the hawthorn tree.

"Yes, the war with Nanzhao has ended, and I should return to Lizhou," Gu Qingyue replied.

Actually, there was another reason why she had to go back immediately: Liu Feng had sent a message that Uncle Song's weapon forging had made progress, and she needed to go back and check on it.

Also, the brothel owned by Manager Xie is almost finished with preparations and renovations, and she needs to give the final approval. The training courses for the young men also need to be upgraded and adjusted…

So, she really has a lot on her plate.