Chapter 293

"How many casualties did we have?" "Seven were injured, one quite seriously, but none died." The soldier said, "The bandits were a mob, but the stronghold was built solidly and was hard to attack." These bandits' skills were very poor, and they had no spiritual energy to use; encountering their regular army, wasn't it just a matter of lying down and waiting for death?

Fu Xin spat, "Then didn't people still get injured? There are villages everywhere, why not just occupy one? Having food and drink is better than this poor mountain and remote place."

Attacking common people is always easier than attacking mountain bandits.

"This place is more hidden." Hong Chenglue walked out of the row house and answered this question offhandedly, "We have food and drink here too."

When he lived in Bai Lu Town, he knew this bandit den was the largest one within a hundred miles, with more than three hundred people. With so many mouths to feed every day, they couldn't rely solely on robbing down the mountain. There were rumors that these bandits would collude with merchants down the mountain to exchange their loot for food.

Even though Hong Chenglue led his troops in a surprise attack, it still took four or five hours to take it down. When they opened the granary later, they found no shortage of food and various supplies, and everyone was overjoyed.

In fact, farmers know very well that when the harvest is bad and they can't steal food from neighbors, they might as well look for field mice at the edge of the field; there might be surprises in the mouse holes, at least enough for several meals.

Obviously, the "field mice" they killed this time were thrifty and kept a surplus even in famine years.

"Hong!" Seeing him, Fu Xin's eyes turned red, and he rushed up to grab his lapels, "What do you mean by leaving us at the mine pit to wait for death!"

The personal guards behind him wanted to step forward to pull them apart, but Hong Chenglue waved his hand.

"I demanded that everyone evacuate, but you refused." Hong Chenglue said indifferently, "Disobeying military orders and causing the entire army to be wiped out, is that my fault instead?"

"You didn't go down the mountain to intercept the government troops at all; why is that!"

"We went down the mountain but didn't find any traces of government troops; we couldn't return empty-handed, so we went to execute the general mission assigned by Marshal Nian, which is to raid and burn enemy food supplies behind enemy lines. What's the problem?"

Fu Xin looked left and right, but after all, he wasn't so angry that he lost his mind, and he still noticed the number of people was wrong: "Then did you succeed in burning them? Hmm? Using us as bait, did you kill the state officials and burn the food supplies?"

He shouted louder and louder, eventually turning into a roar, and the soldiers in the row houses all walked out.

Hong Chenglue caught his wrist, flipped it outward, and punched Fu Xin in the chest, knocking him back five steps directly, almost sitting on the ground.

The personal guards behind Fu Xin all rushed up.

Hong Chenglue stood with his hands behind his back and asked, "Where is General Master Baili? At the very least, you could have retreated from the back mountain through the mine tunnel, right?"

What he left for Master Baili Qing and the others was not a dead end.

As long as they saw the opportunity quickly, Master Baili Qing still had a chance to escape.

Fu Xin was sulky and didn't say a word, so his personal guard answered on his behalf: "The Xiazhou government troops went around to the back mountain, blew up the mine tunnel exit, and used smoke to drive us out. General Master Baili... was captured. We were ambushed on the hilltop and saw the leading Xiazhou general kill everyone."

There was an uproar in the stronghold, and even the veins on Hong Chenglue's forehead jumped.

The government troops killed Master Baili Qing and all the surrendered soldiers in the mine pit? How ruthless.

However, thinking that there was no better way to deal with prisoners when marching and transporting food, it was indeed simplest to just kill them.

He stared at Fu Xin: "Then how did you survive? Could it be that you were greedy for life and afraid of death?"

Fu Xin was furious, but he was stung by the coldness in his eyes, making his back stiff, and he said with a stiff neck: "We took advantage of the enemy's lack of preparation and fought our way out in a bloody path!"

"Abandoning the main general and fleeing, the crime is punishable by beheading." Hong Chenglue's words made his heart turn cold.

"However, we are short of manpower, so I will give you a chance to make up for your crimes." Hong Chenglue suddenly drew his sword, and Fu Xin felt a chill on the back of his hand, with the pain following shortly after.

A section of his little finger fell to the ground.

He let out a scream, covered his left hand, and blood flowed continuously.

After his screaming subsided slightly, Hong Chenglue continued: "If you dare to cause trouble again, or speak falsely against your superiors, or incite conflict, or be greedy for life and afraid of death, it will be your head that falls."

Fu Xin lowered his head, no longer meeting his gaze, but gritted his teeth until they rattled.

Hong Chenglue scanned the area, and everyone lowered their heads.

Master Baili Qing was dead, and this army had to obey Hong Chenglue's command even more. They had nowhere else to go; Xiazhou was the enemy's rear area.

Hong Chenglue said again: "Take off your clothes."

Fu Xin looked up, incredulous: "What?"

"Strip and accept inspection to avoid being placed under a tracking spell."

Being stared at by hundreds of eyes, Fu Xin's face flushed red: "No, I, I..." Stripping naked in front of so many soldiers was more uncomfortable than death.

Deputy commander Xu Yingxian quickly stepped up to smooth things over: "It's also possible to take him into the row house for inspection! General, this is also possible."

Hong Chenglue nodded.

So several personal guards stepped forward and took Fu Xin to a small room on the side.

Hong Chenglue turned and left, his face as cold as ice.

Wu Qing had been standing in the row house watching, and only then did he walk out and ask him: "General Hong, what are your plans next?"

"Bide our time. That nearly ten thousand shi of grain of He Chunhua will definitely reach the front line; we have no way to intercept it. We can only wait for the next operation behind enemy lines."

"You send some men to move around more in the three or four counties and towns in the central north and gather more information." Hong Chenglue had already planned, "In addition, ask Marshal Nian for another three hundred mobile cavalry for me."

The two entered the row house, and seeing there was no one else here, Wu Qing whispered: "General Master Baili sacrificed himself, and Fu Xin escaped back; this isn't an accident, right?"

"Of course not." Hong Chenglue snorted, "The Xiazhou people deliberately let them back to cause trouble for me. Fu Xin has at least a dozen people, and our surprise attack on the Xinhuang military camp failed, so morale is low; it's not appropriate to move against him at this time."

He also lowered his voice: "When does the higher-up want me to return to Beijia?"

"National Teacher Shuangye says that you should persist behind enemy lines as long as you can, and you should worry more about the situation on the Hanhe front line."

The situation on the Hanhe front line? In other words, when he can return to Beijia depends on his performance on the Hanhe next? Hong Chenglue pondered: "I've been away for too long; which National Teacher is currently the head of our country?"

"Currently, National Teacher Mianbing is on rotation to hold the seal." Holding the seal means having the power to decide matters; the four National Teachers have always taken turns holding the seal.

Hong Chenglue's pupils shrank slightly, but then returned to normal: "What a coincidence, she was also holding the seal when I left." No wonder National Teacher Shuangye speaks with insufficient confidence now.

Wu Qing accompanied him with a smile: "Yes, yes." But he thought to himself, I had heard that there was a rift between General Hong and National Teacher Mianbing; it seems it's true.

The two discussed supplies again, and soon a personal guard came to report: "Fu Xin's body inspection is complete; no tracking-type supernatural powers or objects were found."

"Got it." Hong Chenglue waved him away, knowing that after this body search, Fu Xin would hate him even more.

And many soldiers in this stronghold had complaints about him; after all, Hong Chenglue was a Beijia person, and these were all Xunzhou mobile cavalry. Hong Chenglue had heard with his own ears during inspections that "a Beijia general doesn't take the lives of Xunzhou people seriously."

They aren't his own soldiers, so they aren't easy to use.

He asked Wu Qing again: "How is A-Jin doing? Is she getting used to living there?"

Wu Qing smiled: "Don't worry, that village is very hidden. The Madam has two careful old women serving her with washing and eating, and there are people to chat with her; she's much more comfortable than you."

Hong Chenglue was still worried: "I'm thinking, should I pick her up?"

"Better not." Wu Qing said truthfully, "We have no fixed place to live, and we don't know when we'll move. It's too hard for her... a weak woman to travel with the mobile cavalry." Mainly, it's inconvenient.

Hong Chenglue exhaled and nodded, knowing rationally that this should be the case.

Wu Qing continued: "These past few days, every township has been arresting bandits and spies, strictly checking outsiders and unfamiliar faces. I heard that the prison in Haotian Township is full, and dozens of people have been taken out to be beheaded as a warning; everywhere is full of wind and cranes, unprecedentedly tense."

"Wu, you won't be implicated, right?"

"It's fine, my team has official credentials; they can't catch me. The more famine there is, the more important merchants like us are." Wu Qing sighed, "The township officials have also put in great effort to send people to wander through every mountain village, digging three feet into the ground to find the Xunzhou people. General Hong really has foresight; if you had just occupied a mountain village to settle down, you would have to retreat in a sorry state now."

"This should be an order from the state official, and officials everywhere have to follow it. I burned more than ten thousand shi of He Chunhua's military grain, and he's gone crazy."

Wu Qing smiled: "Yes, the bounty for you is almost posted all over the central and northern parts of Xiazhou."

What Hong Chenglue was worried about wasn't himself: "Is there a bounty for A-Jin?"

"I haven't seen that."

After the discussion, the two went about their own business.

￥￥￥￥￥

Benlei Village.

The spring water is rising, and the stream is murmuring.

Two farm women were washing clothes by the stream, looked up at the sky, and both said: "Why does it look like it's going to rain? It was bright and sunny when we came out just now!"

A large mass of dark clouds drifted from nowhere, blocking half the sky. There was still bright sunshine above their heads, but the sky to the east was dark.

"Wash quickly, and go back as soon as you're done."

"You say this spring, it only knows how to rain. It was hard to get some sun, and it only lasted a few hours." The farm woman complained, "The firewood is damp, lighting a fire is a lot of effort, and it chokes people to death."

"Aunt Liu, let me ask you something." Another farm woman said, "Aren't you helping in Village Chief Chen's kitchen? I heard that several relatives came to the village chief's place?"

"Ah, yes." Aunt Liu grabbed the clothes and pounded them hard, "It seems they said they are female relatives from a wealthy family in the south, who are sick and sent to the countryside to recuperate."

"Why did I hear there are quite a few people?"

"There are quite a few, just the old women are three or four, and there are several men who seem to be guards... or bodyguards? One is lean and tough, and the other is strong; they look at people like they are glaring, and their faces are quite fierce." Aunt Liu said, "These people are all here to serve that female relative."

The farm woman wondered: "If she's sick, why not get medical treatment in the city, but send her to the countryside?" Who doesn't know that the conditions in the city are good? Even if there are one or two physicians in the countryside, they are barefoot immortals; how can their medical skills compare to those in the big city?

"I don't understand either, I only know the village chief gave up the main house for them to live in. That noble woman doesn't come out of the room all day, and almost no one has seen her."

(End of chapter)