Lou Jing narrowed his eyes. He looked at the young Miss Yang, who had been forced to walk right in front. She had a slender body and refined facial features that bore a clear resemblance to Yang Xin’s. She looked neat and tidy, and it didn’t appear that she had been made to suffer during her time with the bandits.
“This is the Prefectural Magistrate’s precious daughter, and two of your subordinates,” the Big Boss said. He was standing half a step behind Old Fourth. “So long as you let us leave safely, we won’t hurt a single hair on their heads.”
The Fourth Boss did feel that their tactics were very underhanded, but he had to admit that this was indeed an effective method of getting what they wanted. When they had first found the two injured bodyguards after the botched river crossing, their main purpose in capturing them had been to interrogate them for information. They didn’t manage to get anything and were going to release them, but they had unexpectedly come in useful at this time.
The two men wore outfits identical to the rest of his Youyun Guards, and it was plain on first sight that they were the General Zhennan’s personal guards. The consequence of failing to protect Miss Yang was that the Prefectural Magistrate of Jiuchang County would be mightily offended, but the consequences of sacrificing his two personal guards were far more dire; he risked losing the hearts of all the soldiers he commanded. If a General didn’t even give two hoots about whether his personal guards lived or died, he wasn’t likely to treat his subordinates well either. He’d lose the loyalty of the entire Nansi Prefectural Troops that way.
Lou Jing raised an eyebrow, then looked at the two men who had been tied up securely by the bandits. “I don’t need guards who have managed to get themselves captured by enemies,” he said coldly. He raised a hand, and Yu Liu and Yun Shi’er sprang up. They both held bows in their hands, and they shot two black-feathered arrows at the two trapped Youyun Guards.
The Fourth Boss yelled in fright and retreated, pushing the Big Boss behind him protectively.
Yun Si and Yun Wu didn’t try to avoid the arrows. They twisted their bodies with all their might, raising their bound hands as high as they could. The two arrows sliced neatly through the ropes that tied their hands. Yun Wu kicked the lackey next to him and wrested his knife away; Yun Si pulled Ms Yang towards him, then ducked immediately in one fluid motion. The blade in Yun Wu’s hands passed through where Yun Si’s head had been just a moment before, killing the fellow who had been guarding Yun Si.
The lackeys couldn’t respond quickly enough to this sudden change in the tides, and they were all killed in the blink of an eye.
The Fourth Boss had reacted more quickly than the rest and was about to reach out to catch the two Youyun Guards when Yun Liu shot another arrow at him. He had no choice but to turn his body to dodge, and in that same moment, Yun Si and Yun Wu had already leapt swiftly into the Imperial soldiers’ camp with Miss Yang.
“Thank you,” Miss Yang said, finally heaving a sigh of relief. She was no longer as calm and composed as before, and there were tears in her eyes as she said her thanks to the two Youyun Guards.
“Take Miss Yang down the mountain,” Lou Jing said, his lips curving upwards in a slight smile. His eyes swept across the mountain bandits, whose faces were now very pale. “It’s not too late to surrender,” he said, addressing the bandits.
“Hmph! Big Boss, let’s go for broke and charge through their lines!” the Fourth Boss said. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was gripping his nine-ringed broadsword so hard that his hand trembled slightly, making the rings on his sword jangle.
“I’ll count to three. At the count of three, we will attack,” Lou Jing said languidly. “One.”
“Old Fourth, I have no regrets dying when I have you to call my sworn brother!” Bushy Sideburns said, patting his shoulder and sighing. It had already come to this; it was clear that they had lost.
“Two…” Lou Jing pulled out the long spear hanging from his saddle.
“Big Brother, this sworn brother of yours will share the same fate as you, regardless of whether we live or die!” Old Fourth declared, raising his huge sword and charging at Lou Jing’s horse. “Big Brother, I’ll hold off the soldiers – go, quick!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Before the nine-ringed broadsword could even come close to Lou Jing, Yun Yi had already blocked his path.
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The soldiers wielding long spears charged up the mountain and formed a barrier between the bandits and Lou Jing.
“Attack!” Lou Jing commanded.
The soldiers roared a rousing battle cry, then charged ahead at full speed.
“Wait!” the Big Boss suddenly shouted. “The Jiuqi Mountain Bandits surrender!”
“It’s too late,” Lou Jing said, regarding the stunned Bushy Sideburns calmly. This man didn’t seem to realise where the balance of power lay right now. Allowing them to surrender was but a kindness shown to them, and was not a right. “Kill them all!” he ordered, his face cold.
“SHAAAAA!!!!” the Imperial soldiers roared. The tremendous sound reverberated in the mountain valley. This rock path was too dangerous to fight on – if you weren’t careful, you’d fall right off the cliff. Bushy Sideburns beat a hasty retreat, fleeing back to their hideout with his remaining subordinates.
This hideout was considered a large one, but at its full capacity, it could only hold a little under three hundred people. About a hundred of his subordinates had already surrendered, and a good number of the remaining hundred over people had been killed by the Imperial soldiers. It was imperative that they retreat past the stone door as quickly as they could.
Lou Jing was certainly not going to let them do as they wished. Yun Liu and Yun Shi’er’s arrows flew unerringly toward the bandit leader running right at the front.
Bushy Sideburns got a shock. He grabbed hold of the Fourth Boss, who was running next to him, and used him as a human shield.
The Fourth Boss used his nine-ringed broadsword to block one arrow, but he couldn’t do anything about the other one as one of his arms was held firmly by the Big Boss and he couldn’t break free. That second arrow buried itself in his body. The Fourth Boss stared in shock at his sworn brother, who had betrayed him without a second thought.
Four hours later, Lou Jing rode his Ferghana horse back into camp slowly, dragging the Fourth Boss behind him. The latter was tied up tightly with rope.
Xiao Chengjun stood with his hands behind his back at the front of the army camp, smiling faintly as he saw his handsome General Zhennan return in glory.
They’d won the battle. General Zhennan had successfully conquered the Jiuqi Mountain Bandits, who had eluded capture for so many years, in the short span of a day and a night. There wasn’t a single officer and soldier in the army who was not awestruck by this tremendous feat.
“No wonder he was appointed as a second-ranked general at his young age. He really deserves it,” Wang Zhi said, unable to stop himself from giving an admiring sigh. His eyes followed Lou Jing, who had gone straight to see the injured soldiers without even eating lunch.
“Stop staring,” Zhang Rao said, thrusting a namelist into Wang Zhi’s hands. “The Military Strategist gave us this namelist of new recruits from today. Go pick your new soldiers.”
There weren’t many bandits who knew how to ride a horse, and in any event, there were only a limited number of people who could be in the Imperial cavalry. Their numbers could not be added to willy nilly, and as such, the vast majority of the new recruits from the Jiuqi Mountain Bandits were put into the infantry. Naturally, they fell under the Infantry Captain’s jurisdiction as such.
Wang Zhi looked at the namelist and a pained expression appeared on his face. “It’s not like we haven’t taken in mountain bandits as new recruits before. In a few days, about half of them will run off,” he said.
“They won’t,” Zhang Rao said, wagging a finger at him. “Look at this.” As he spoke, he pointed at another book below the namelist.
Wang Zhi took it out and couldn’t help being stunned. “This… this is the military register!” he exclaimed.
How could he have forgotten? The General Zhennan was in command of the Nansi Prefectural Troops, and was in a very different position from the Wuwei Generals who didn’t have real power. The Nansi Prefectural Troops were all under Lou Jing’s jurisdiction, and putting these people on the military register was a piece of cake for him.
“Entering their names into the military register means that they can’t run away?” Xiao Chengjun asked. He had accompanied General Zhennan for his post-meal cup of tea, and was presently holding a teacup in his hands.
There were still a lot of things to set in order within the Nansi Prefectural Troops, and they planned to rest for a day, send Miss Yang back home at sunset, then break camp at first light the next morning.
“Ordinarily, when we offer amnesty and enlistment, we only use the mountain bandits as miscellaneous staff. They aren’t much different from conscripted military slaves if so,” Lou Jing said, raising his brush and quickly writing out a letter. He took out his General Zhennan seal and stamped down on it in red ink, then called a messenger soldier over, instructing him to send this letter as quickly as he could to the Prefectural Governor in Jiangzhou.
Xiao Chengjun understood. Amnesty and enlistment usually done by the General who led the army, and the recruits who enlisted in this manner could not be given proper military status because that was under the purview of the Prefectural Governor. These miscellaneous staff were often looked down upon by the other soldiers that had a proper military status, and in such unsatisfactory conditions, it was no wonder that the new recruits ran away to continue being mountain bandits with other bandit organisations.
“General, Miss Yang requests an audience,” the guard outside Lou Jing’s door reported.
Xiao Chengjun’s brow creased. Women did not ordinarily ask to meet men of their own accord, especially young ladies who were still single. This precious daughter of the Yang family was about to become one of Lou Jing’s stepmothers – why was she asking to meet him in private?
“Let her in,” Lou Jing said casually. He suddenly felt that his husband was looking at him with a colder gaze than normal, and he couldn’t help swallowing nervously. “About that… she must have something important to say, um…”
When Xiao Chengjun saw his Consort’s tentative manner, some amusement crept into his eyes.
“Greetings to the General Zhennan and the Lord Military Strategist,” Miss Yang said, lowering her head and curtsying to the two men.
Lou Jing opened his mouth, but didn’t dare to say anything for fear of getting into trouble with Xiao Chengjun. He looked helplessly at his husband.
“Miss Yang, you need not stand on ceremony,” Xiao Chengjun said, chuckling softly.
“I understand that my coming here doesn’t accord with propriety, but… I have a request to make,” Miss Yang said. She raised her head and looked at Lou Jing. “I beg the General Zhennan to spare Big Brother Lin’s life.”
“Who?” Lou Jing asked, frowning.
“The Fourth Boss of the mountain bandits – the one the General Zhennan caught,” Miss Yang said, her tender young face taking on an obstinate quality. “His name is Lin Dahu, and he saved my life.”
The husbands looked at each other. This Lin Dahu was a talented person, and Lou Jing hadn’t planned on killing him to begin with – he wanted him to enlist in the army, but what was this Miss Yang on about? Lou Jing looked at the teary-eyed Miss Yang and suddenly had the thought that his father might have been made a cuckold before he even got a taste of fresh grass…
Miss Yang could tell what Lou Jing was thinking, and her face reddened instantly. “General, please don’t get me wrong!” she said in a bit of a panic. She was so embarrassed now that she wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole, but she was determined to repay the debt she owed Lin Dahu for saving her life. She grit her teeth, then explained what had happened during the time she was held hostage.
As it transpired, the Jiuqi Mountain Bandits had originally captured her with the sole purpose of getting their Big Boss back in exchange for her, but Bushy Sideburns had insisted on having her as his wife the moment he returned to the hideout. He wanted to drag her to his rooms and have his way with her at that time. Miss Yang would never let herself be defiled that way, and had intended to just run up hard against a wall and bang her head on it to commit suicide, but thankfully, Lin Dahu had stepped in at that juncture.
“I’ve said this before. We are not to be disrespectful to unmarried young ladies! Even if it’s you, Big Brother, I won’t allow it!” Lin Dahu said, standing protectively in front of the young miss. His own sister had taken her own life after being defiled in a similar fashion, and he really loathed this sort of vile behaviour. Every time he saw this sort of thing happen, he would always step forward to stop it.
Xiao Chengjun nodded slightly. This Lin Dahu was a principled man. “Why did he become a mountain bandit?” he asked.
“I don’t know much either,” Miss Yang replied. She relaxed a little on seeing this refined, elegant-looking Military Strategist. He seemed a lot easier to speak to than that General who was constantly giving off a fierce killing aura. “I heard that his younger sister was ruined by some lecherous government official, and he killed that official in a rage. That was how he got sent to Jiangzhou.”
Jiangzhou was poor and barren, and many criminals were exiled here. That was also why the mountain bandits had greatly increased in number in this region.
“Why should I agree to your request?” Lou Jing asked. He wasn’t particularly moved by this, and he regarded Miss Yang with a faint smile that held no warmth or mirth in it. His eyes were cold. His Yuanlang was actually speaking to a woman in this tender manner!
Miss Yang bit her lip, then took a deep breath. “Shizi is often far away from home, and there’s no one to take care of affairs there. I will be marrying into the Lou family very shortly… and will await the Shizi’s instructions,” she said.
Lou Jing froze, his brows creasing slightly. “About my father… actually…” he started. The Lou family was actually in the wrong in this whole affair, and he had come to Jiuchang to set this matter right and make sure that the Lou family’s name remained untarnished.
“I thank the Shizi for his concern,” Miss Yang said, her eyes flashing decisively. “My father signed the contract, and I have no intention of breaking it for him. And anyway… now that I’ve been kidnapped by bandits, my name has been tarnished, and as things stand, marrying into the Guogong ye’s household as a Side Consort is a better option than I would otherwise be able to get.”