Chapter 282: Crisis Averted

Er Gou nodded earnestly.

"Yuan Canghai is devoid of virtue and is fundamentally unfit to be a Great General, not to mention that Heaven has already issued a prophecy stating that he is a usurper who brings chaos to the nation."

"Although I, Er Gou, am but a commoner, I am also a subject of Daliang, and I will never watch a group of rebels throw Daliang into turmoil."

"His Highness is benevolent and kind; he will surely be a wise ruler in the future. I am willing to spy on military intelligence for His Highness."

Xiao Moting lowered his head in thought.

Yuan Canghai was a vigilant man; he could not plant spies within the Yannan Army, and many pieces of information were impossible to inquire about.

If Er Gou were willing to return to the Yuan Family Army on his own to pass him information, that would be for the best.

"Er Gou, you are already a deserter; how can you go back?" Xiao Dabao asked. "Once a deserter is discovered, it is a capital offense. If you return to the Yuan Family Army now, aren't you just sticking your neck out to be beheaded?"

Er Gou scratched his head and gave a sheepish laugh.

"Actually, I have a brother-in-arms who is a Centurion in the army I was in."

"This time, when I deserted, I pretended to fall off a cliff, then took the opportunity while falling to roll into a haystack and hide."

"They didn't find me, so they assumed I was already dead."

"If I return to the Yuan Family Army now, I will just say that when I fell off the cliff, I broke my leg, and that I am returning after letting the injury heal."

"My brother won't suspect a thing."

Xiao Moting glanced at his leg. "But your leg is perfectly fine; no one will believe you when you go back."

"That is easy to fix." Er Gou stood up, grabbed a large rock, gritted his teeth, and smashed it onto his own left leg.

Crack!

His left leg was smashed and broken instantly.

"Hiss!" Er Gou's face twisted in pain; he threw the rock away and rolled on the ground in agony. "Yo-Your Highness, now they will believe it."

Xiao Moting frowned; he had not expected that Er Gou would go so far as to smash his own lower leg to repay him.

To be able to go to such lengths showed that he was wholeheartedly loyal to him.

He immediately shouted in a deep voice, "Military Doctor, bandage him immediately."

The Military Doctor hurried over to treat Er Gou.

Xiao Dabao was also astonished. After coming to his senses, he said, "Er Gou, you really smashed your own leg?"

Er Gou clutched his leg, enduring the pain while speaking intermittently.

"In the Yuan Clan's army, although we are soldiers, we are never full or warm, and we are often beaten. Those in charge never treat us like human beings."

"But here with His Highness, I have seen that he treats the soldiers well, and he even risked his life to save ours."

"His Highness is a wise ruler and will surely be able to pacify the world in the future, so we are willing to serve him."

Everyone went to join the army with the initial intention of just getting a meal, but in their hearts, everyone longed for peace.

The Liang Kingdom had been plagued by war for many years, and the common people had long suffered deeply from it.

Er Gou also hoped from the bottom of his heart that there would one day be peace and tranquility.

He saw this wish fulfilled in Xiao Moting.

With such a wise ruler, there will surely be peace under Heaven in the future.

Xiao Moting nodded. "Very well. Since you have volunteered, I shall exempt you from hard labor and let you return to the Yuan Family Army to pass information to me."

After saying this, his tone shifted.

"However, your family and relatives must remain in Beijiang to help clear land and farm at the mine. If I discover even the slightest betrayal from you, your entire family will be dealt with according to Military Order."

The other party was a deserter; he had to be on guard.

Keeping Er Gou's family to clear the land was also a way to keep a hold over him.

Xiao Dabao drew his Long Sword and snorted coldly. "Er Gou, if you dare to deceive His Highness, your family, regardless of age or gender, will all be beheaded, and I will do it myself."

Er Gou lay on the ground. "Your Highness, please rest assured, I will never betray you."

Xiao Moting waved his hand, letting the Military Doctor take Er Gou away for a simple bandage.

At the same time, he instructed the Military Doctor not to bandage it too carefully, so as not to let the other side see any clues when Er Gou returned to the Yuan Family Army.

As for the remaining villagers, Xiao Moting ordered them to be taken away, and that after the Northern Frontier Camp delivered seeds and agricultural supplies in two days, they were to begin clearing the land immediately.

The villagers kowtowed one after another.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Xiao Moting scanned the crowd.

"You will first return to the village to pack your belongings and return to the Northern Frontier Camp in two days to clear the land. If anyone dares not to come, they will not be spared once caught."

"After returning to the village, notify your friends and relatives in each village. In two days, the Northern Frontier Camp will distribute vegetable seeds for free. Any villagers willing to grow vegetables and grain can come to the Northern Frontier Camp to collect them."

"The grain seeds distributed this time are not only cold-resistant and drought-tolerant but also high-yielding. Spread the news so that all farmers can come to collect the grain."

After he finished speaking, the villagers kneeling on the ground felt even more grateful.

This is a true wise ruler!

Not only did he spare their lives, but he also gave free seeds to all farmers so that everyone could farm.

They were willing to work for Xiao Moting!

Xiao Moting returned to his room, closed the door, and immediately wrote a note to Bai Wei.

"Goddess, thank you for the Tribute Fruit you sent. I have already properly arranged for the deserters and the villagers."

"Zhao Li was in a hurry to send the Tribute Fruit back to Shengjing and has already left the mine with his troops."

Qingshan Village.

Bai Wei was also anxiously waiting for news from Xiao Moting.

At that time, when Xiao Moting sent over the paper with the drawing of the Tribute Fruit, she felt it looked familiar the moment she saw it.

Upon closer observation, she discovered that this so-called precious "Tribute Fruit" was actually a modern mango!

The mango's place of origin is India; ancient Daliang had no mangoes, and even in the Western Regions, mangoes were very rare, so they were regarded as "precious fruit."

Bai Wei laughed as soon as she saw it.

There are as many of these "Tribute Fruits" as one could want in the modern era, and there are over a dozen varieties.

She immediately ran to the fruit wholesale market and, following the "Tribute Fruit" drawn in the picture, picked out three cartloads of mangoes.

The ancient Tribute Fruit was small in size and not very yellow in color; in the modern era, these would be considered substandard fruit that hardly anyone would buy.

Bai Wei searched for a long time before she found a batch of substandard fruit similar in size and color.

The price for these three cartloads of substandard fruit was also very cheap; after bargaining, she only paid 800 yuan.

The boss was just worrying that these substandard fruits wouldn't sell, so when he saw Bai Wei wanted to buy them all, he happily agreed immediately.

Bai Wei immediately sent these three cartloads of mangoes to Xiao Moting via Teleportation.

Once Xiao Moting received the mangoes, he quickly had his trusted aides find three horse-drawn carriages, loaded the mangoes, and secretly transported them to the village, then bribed a villager to come out and "inform" on them, claiming the Tribute Fruit had been found, which was how he tricked Zhao Li away from the Execution Ground.

Zhao Li was anxious to recover the Tribute Fruit, so naturally, he didn't have time to verify the identities of these deserters and immediately got up and left.

As soon as Zhao Li left, Xiao Moting immediately swapped the deserters for death-row inmates and pushed them onto the Execution Ground to be beheaded.

The prisoners being beheaded were all wearing black cloth hoods, which made the swap convenient.

Bai Wei received the note from Xiao Moting and let out a long sigh of relief.

Now that Zhao Li was gone, the hidden danger at the Beijiang mine was resolved.

However, this incident also showed that the Emperor was still constantly guarding against Xiao Moting.

Although on the surface it looked like the Emperor's side had no movement at all, in reality, he was watching Xiao Moting more and more closely.

On the note, the two words "natural disaster" were also mentioned.

Bai Wei looked at the note, her brows furrowing.

"Natural disaster? What is Yuan Canghai trying to stir up again?"

The note written by Xiao Moting mentioned one thing: he said the deserter Er Gou had gathered intelligence that Yuan Canghai and the National Preceptor were planning a natural disaster, intending to bring a catastrophic disaster upon Beijiang.

The cold wind whistled, and the snow fell even more heavily.