Chapter 182: Breaking One’s Word
There was only one source for the secret letter from the Xu Clan of Ningxi: the current patriarch, Xu Jingfeng.
In the letter, Xu Jingfeng stated that both merchant caravans had arrived at Hanyang Pass, and they had received the grain they had ordered. However, as they were about to leave, they suddenly encountered a ban: no large shipments of grain was allowed to leave the pass unless they received permission from the garrison headquarters. Furthermore, only merchant caravans escorted by royal troops were permitted to transport grain; private caravans were strictly prohibited from doing so.
Wei Yuan knew that the garrison commander[1] Xu Zhongxing, was a member of the Xu Clan. He was even not too distantly related to Xu Jingfeng. Before this, the Xu Clan of Ningxi had been able to transport all manner of contraband at will. Naturally, routine supplies such as grain weren’t a problem—until now.
Ever since Ningxi became the Shattered Realm, all realm stones had either been removed or destroyed. Without the domains of the realm stones, the region could no longer be self-sufficient in grain. Thus, the mortals still living in the Shattered Realm heavily relied on the grain shipments from Inner Jin to survive.
This was why the two merchant caravans Wei Yuan had Xu Jingfeng arrange appeared perfectly normal. If there was one incongruity, the quantity of grain being transported was slightly greater than usual, totaling to three million catties.
The 80,000 people from Willow Ash Town had just arrived at the realm of Qingming. Now was the time they needed those grains. He never expected trouble to strike at this very moment.
The letter also mentioned that Yuan Qingyan, the commandery administrator, had sent word to the three counties to the east, ordering them to block the eastern and western grain routes. At the same time, he had dispatched his own troops to seal off the northern and southern passages, declaring that not a single grain of rice would be allowed to cross the borders.
Wei Yuan knew that this was Yuan Qingyan’s retaliation.
To the north of the Shattered Realm lay thousands of li of continuous mountainous terrain. It was dotted with cliffs and precipices that were thousands of zhang deep, and even several chasms that were tens of thousands of zhang deep, making the area completely impassable. To the west lay the Shaman realm. Thus, closing off the eastern and southern borders were enough to cut off the realm’s food supplies completely.