Bai Jiu arrived at the tollhouse with a report that grain stores were being diverted to the front. The nearby villages had reduced their household allotments. A merchant convoy could bring more, but the merchants had sold to the Registry before.
Bai laid out the price on a table beside the infirmary entrance. “I have not agreed to buy. The food would be enough for the patients and the guards for several days. The merchants want coin on delivery.”
Pel, one of the refuge residents, stood across from him. “The children are already on half rations. You’ll feed the soldiers who took the grain?”
“Some of the patients are Registry soldiers,” Bai said. “They’re wounded. The rest are local and coalition.”
“They rode with the army that emptied our storehouse.”
Wei joined the table. “We won’t take the village reserve by force. The wounded need food if they’re to recover, but it has to come from a separate allotment.”
Ning’s message from White Orchard arrived by a runner. She offered a clinic reserve from the orchard and asked for the patient count before any carts moved. Qinghe checked the number of cots against the morning list.
“We need enough for the patients and the assistants,” she said. “The village’s household stores stay separate.”
