Swish, swish, swish...
Arrows flew, blood splattered, and shrill screams echoed through the sky.
Wang Wu was sprayed with a face full of blood. Somewhat numbly, he turned his head to look at the round-faced man beside him.
He saw an arrow pierced right through the man's neck.
Whether as a show of force or a warning to him, almost all the companions standing around him had been shot. Some were wailing in agony, while others collapsed and convulsed...
A chill rose from his back. Even though it was the sweltering heat of August, Wang Wu felt completely cold, breaking out in a cold sweat.
It wasn't just him; all those still alive were stunned. Watching the people around them fall one by one, they were all so terrified that their legs trembled.
They had murdered, committed arson, and even taken pleasure in torturing others to death, but when it was truly their turn, facing an existence they absolutely could not match, they panicked.
Someone couldn't help but turn and run.
Swish, swish, swish...
The arrows struck with pinpoint accuracy, and all those who ran were shot and fell to the ground.
Xia Chanyi's face was cold, yet carried a hint of a smile. I was only going to kill half of you, but you just had to run. How disobedient.
Seeing the refugees huddled together, too afraid to move, she finally turned to look at Wang Wu. Well? Have you figured out what to say?
Wang Wu couldn't stop trembling from fear, but he knew very well in his heart that this was an absolutely ruthless person. If they told the truth, they would definitely die!
With trembling lips, he said, We, we were just craving meat. As you can see, we are all young and strong men. We can go into the mountains to hunt. Usually, we can, can eat some meat, so, so...
Xia Chanyi raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at the others. I'm sorry, but your companion doesn't want to tell the truth. In that case, let's kill another half.
As her voice fell, arrows shot out, coldly reaping lives.
Someone finally broke down, fell to their knees with a thud, and shouted, I'll talk! I'll talk! It was the Qu Zhao people. Qu Zhao made us do this. We just listened to their words.
Xia Chanyi raised her hand, and the Dragon Shadow Guards immediately stopped shooting. Anyway, they had already taken out another half.
Explain in detail, she said, looking at the man who had spoken.
Wang Wu roared at the man, You can't say it!
Xia Chanyi looked at him with icy eyes. Kill him.
Hearing that cold 'kill him', Wang Wu felt a chill in his heart. He abruptly turned to look at Xia Chanyi, unable to understand how such a beautiful woman could be so ruthless.
Before he could speak, a gleaming arrow flew toward him like lightning.
Pfft.
A coldness struck his neck, followed by agonizing pain.
The tremendous impact of the arrow sent Wang Wu stumbling backward two steps, making gurgling sounds from his mouth.
Thud.
His corpse fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The survivors were horrified. They all dropped to their knees with loud thuds, shivering uncontrollably.
Only then did Xia Chanyi look back at the man who had spoken earlier. Continue.
The man no longer had any illusions of luck. With a trembling voice, he said, It was the Qu Zhao people. They told us to deliberately provoke a conflict between Gefeng City and the refugees. Preferably, we were to make it known to everyone, so that the Han people wouldn't go to your Gefeng.
Ideally, ideally we were to make you and the refugees fight, and it would be even better if we could kill your Jinyang army.
Saying this, he kowtowed and begged for mercy. It really has nothing to do with us. It was Wang Wu. He promised the Qu Zhao people. We didn't want to do it; we were forced.
Xia Chanyi ignored his pleas and asked, The Qu Zhao people from Zhou County?
The man shook his head. I don't know if they were from Zhou County. We met the Qu Zhao people on the official road near Zhou County.
Remembering something, he continued, The leader of the Qu Zhao people had a very pale face. Oh, and his walking posture was a bit strange, like, like he had been, you know...
Xia Chanyi couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth. Wasn't this description exactly like the envoy?
It was said that he did a huge split back then, tearing his leg muscles and pulling his balls. It seemed he really had ruined himself with that split.
She hadn't expected the envoy to still be in Zhou County.
Besides telling you to cause trouble at the gates of Gefeng, did they instruct you to do anything else? she continued pressing.
The man shook his head, then nodded. The Qu Zhao people wanted us to enter the city, and then look for opportunities to cause sabotage.
In truth, the Qu Zhao people preferred that they enter the city and find a chance to cause a disturbance later.
However, they had stayed at the gates of Gefeng for three days and realized that the citizens of Gefeng only went in and never came out. Worried that they wouldn't be able to leave if they went in, they simply decided to cause trouble at the gates.
If they could stir up the emotions of the commoners and make them clash with the Gefeng soldiers, it would still count as completing their mission.
The Qu Zhao people had promised them that after the deed was done, they would be given one hundred shi of grain and 20 beautiful women.
With that grain and those women, they could just hide out in some big mountain, and it would be enough for them to eat and have fun for a long time.
Xia Chanyi didn't even know what to say. Even if all the refugees at the city gates rioted, it would be nothing more than a matter of a few volleys from the Jinyang army's repeating crossbows. It wouldn't harm Gefeng at all.
The Qu Zhao people clearly knew this situation but still had people do it. It was purely to cause annoyance to Gefeng, much like the night raid to fill up the earthworks back then—extremely boring, and harming others without benefiting themselves.
She looked down at the vagrants still kneeling on the ground. These people were stupid too, actually believing the words of the Qu Zhao people and thinking they could get grain and beauties?
She raised her hand. Gefeng had never been lenient toward commoners who had eaten human flesh.
The man was terrified. No, we told you everything! You can't...
Swish, swish, swish...
By the time Xia Chanyi returned to Gefeng, two hours had passed. After all, corpses were not easy to deal with.
Regarding the news she brought back, Jiang Jin wasn't surprised. You did very well.
Xia Chanyi couldn't help but straighten her back. Thinking for a moment, she asked, My Lord, can we recruit soldiers again?
Jiang Jin nodded. Due to the drought, and because Gefeng was the only city nearby handing out free porridge, coupled with Chen Xi's previous maneuvers, quite a few refugees had arrived recently.
The population in the city had reached over twenty thousand. This didn't even count the few thousand at the gates of Gefeng, nor the refugees who were still continuously arriving. Recruiting another batch of soldiers wouldn't be a problem.
The military department acted quickly. The main reason was that the citizens of Gefeng considered enlisting to be a highly honorable thing, so they eagerly signed up.
The next day, they recruited over a thousand, close to two thousand people, bringing Jiang Jin's total troop strength to eight thousand.
As the first light of dawn broke, Gefeng City became lively, especially the center of the market street, which was crowded with people.
Kneeling in the center was a shivering figure. It was none other than Yuan Jian.
Over three days, the wounds on his back had not received proper treatment and had begun to fester and ooze pus. His pants were heavily bloodstained, making him look utterly miserable.
His mother was faring a bit better. The clinic had prescribed some medicine to stop her bleeding. Considering her age, it wasn't until the day after she received medication that she was taken to the brick kiln area for labor reform.
This was already Jiang Jin being merciful by not sending her to the mines. Otherwise, given her injuries and age, she probably wouldn't survive five years.
Of course, going to the brick kiln wasn't necessarily that much better. As the first person to serve a penal labor sentence, she would naturally be assigned the hardest and most exhausting work.
Yuan Jian kept his head down, constantly muttering, I-I'm falsely accused. I'm falsely accused. What's wrong with beating my own wife? Right, I did nothing wrong...
Poisonous woman, poisonous woman, that poisonous woman! I should have beaten that poisonous woman to death. No, don't kill me! I won't ever dare do it again...
Luo Qingci opened his pocket watch, checked the time, and turned to Jiang Jin. My Lord, it is time.
Jiang Jin nodded. Execute him.
