Xie Nanxiao nodded, signaling for the civilians to quiet down. Then he turned to Wen Zixin.
“As for what you said about giving up the future just to survive these few months, don’t you think that’s ridiculous? If they can’t even survive these few months and all die, what future could they possibly have?”
Wen Zixin was forced back two steps by his words.
The civilians suddenly saw the truth. That was right—if they couldn’t survive now and all died, what use would their fields and descendants be?
The saying that scholars’ mouths were full of lies really was true. They had almost been deceived.
Seeing the civilians grow even more hostile toward them and more trusting of the Jinyang Army, Wen Zixin secretly ground his teeth.
“You can stay and handle the corpses. We’ll pay you wages too—one hundred copper coins a month. No, two hundred copper coins a month.”
But this time, no one paid him any attention.
The civilians might not have had much education, but they understood basic arithmetic. In Sizhou, two hundred copper coins could buy only around sixteen jin of fine grain. With the Jinyang Army, the same amount could buy a hundred jin.
Moreover, if they handled corpses in Sizhou, they would constantly be at risk of contracting the plague.
Sizhou certainly wouldn’t provide them with free medical treatment. The prefecture didn’t even have a prescription for the disease, so they could die at any time.
After one incident after another, Sizhou had completely lost all credibility in their eyes. As for the wages, they might not even live long enough to collect them.
Qi Pingwei watched everything unfolding before him, his emotions in turmoil. After a moment, he quietly instructed the guard beside him, “Go tell Tian Quan that we’ll spare some of our ships to help transport the civilians to the islands.”
The soldier frowned and hesitated for a moment before mounting his horse and galloping toward the temporary dock.
Bilan County’s temporary dock.
Quite a few civilians had already arrived at the dock.
Yan Ke and Zhu Xiaoliu directed them onto the ships one by one.
The refugees had hardly any possessions, so they boarded quickly. As soon as one ship was full, it departed for either Xiaoyuan Island or Keyuan Island.
Tian Quan was baffled. He hurried over and asked, “What are you doing? Where are you taking the people of Sizhou?”
Yan Ke glanced at him and replied tersely, “To Keyuan Island.”
“Keyuan Island?” Tian Quan frowned. “Wait, why are you sending these civilians to Keyuan Island?”
Yan Ke had no desire to say more to him. He merely replied, “I don’t know the details either. I’m only carrying out orders.”
Tian Quan was about to speak again when a personal guard of Qi Pingwei came galloping over.
Tian Quan jumped in fright, thinking something urgent had happened. He hurried forward and asked, “What’s wrong?”
The guard dismounted, glanced at Yan Ke and Zhu Xiaoliu in the distance, and whispered a few words into Tian Quan’s ear.
Tian Quan found it unbelievable. “What exactly happened? Why are we helping the Jinyang Army transport the civilians to the islands?”
The guard didn’t know how to respond either. He sighed and said, “Just follow orders.”
Tian Quan: “…”
Helpless, he went to Yan Ke again. “We can spare a few ships to help transport some of the civilians.”
Yan Ke shook his head. “No need. We have enough ships.”
The Jinyang Army had around two hundred ships docked there alone. They truly had no use for the few ships from Sizhou.
Tian Quan: “…”
Had they just been rejected?
On the official road near Qinglian County in Chongzhou, a long procession was making its way forward.
“Aunt, are we going back to Gefeng now?” Yun Chengxuan rode beside Jiang Jin, bored out of his mind.
Jiang Jin looked at the surrounding landscape. “This should be Qinglian County. Let’s take a look at how the industrial zone is coming along before returning to Gefeng.”
Yun Chengxuan looked rather uninterested. “Is there anything good to eat in Qinglian County?”
Jiang Jin shook her head. “No. There’s construction everywhere. Where would there be anything good to eat?”
She shot Yun Chengxuan a sidelong glance. “You also need to exercise more. Don’t think about food all the time, or you won’t be able to lift a sword when the time comes.”
Yun Chengxuan looked at his aunt in confusion. “Aunt, are you stupid? I eat a lot, but I also poop a lot. It doesn’t affect me at all.”
Jiang Jin: “…”
Xia Chanyi and Shuangjiang suppressed their laughter nearby.
Jiang Jin was feeling helpless and was just about to speak when she caught sight of a glimmer of light on a distant hillside from the corner of her eye. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
Xia Chanyi noticed the change in her gaze and followed the direction she was looking in, but saw nothing.
Jiang Jin’s expression remained unchanged as she said softly, “Nine o’clock direction, a little over five hundred meters.”
Xia Chanyi’s expression turned serious. She gradually fell away from the procession.
Shuangjiang tugged on the reins and quickly moved to Jiang Jin’s left, vigilantly sensing everything around them.
In the dense forest, several sturdy men stood on the branches of a large tree. Through the gaps between the leaves, they watched the long procession in the distance, their expressions solemn.
“So Punan Commandery really has been taken back by us Han?” asked a plain-looking man in a low voice.
The man standing beside him had a long face. “I told you so earlier, but you didn’t believe me. Not only has Punan Commandery been taken back, even Shangjing Commandery has been reclaimed by us Han.”
“I heard it was the Jinyang Army that took back the two commanderies—the army under Princess Jinyang.”
As though he had remembered something, he continued, “And Chu Qing, Young General Chu, has also submitted to Princess Jinyang.”
The plain-looking man’s eyes filled with complicated emotions. “Is that so? Young General Chu is a good man.”
The long-faced man gave a derisive laugh. “So what if he’s a good man? In times like these, good people die young.”
“This time, the chieftain sent us out of the mountains to investigate the situation. We didn’t expect to run into the Jinyang Army’s procession. They really do seem impressive.”
The plain-looking man seemed not to have heard him. He merely murmured, “It’s a pity the Jinyang Army came too late.”
The long-faced man had keen hearing and caught his words. He shook his head. “What difference does it make whether they’re late or not? We never planned to come down from the mountains. I think our current life is pretty good.”
The plain-looking man said nothing. He had wanted to leave the mountains for a long time—very long—but unfortunately, they no longer had that opportunity.
He had heard that the Jinyang Army would not tolerate cannibals or anyone who committed atrocities. Once discovered, such people would either be beheaded or sentenced to hard labor in the mines.
“It’s good that Shangjing Commandery has returned to the Han,” another man said casually. “We’re all Han too, and we look the same. It’ll actually make things easier to rob people.”
The long-faced man grinned. “Exactly. Maybe we can sneak into the cities in the future. There are plenty of wealthy people in the cities, not to mention those tender children and women.”
The plain-looking man sighed. “It won’t be that easy. They check household registers before letting people into the cities. We’ll be lucky if we can rob passersby.”
The long-faced man laughed. “But we have household registers.”
“What household registers do you have?”
The long-faced man was just about to answer when he suddenly realized something was wrong.
Why was the voice female?
The men abruptly came to their senses and looked down. Not far from the base of the tree stood several men and women dressed in Jinyang Army uniforms.
Xia Chanyi looked up at them. “Come down.”
A sinister glint flashed through the long-faced man’s eyes. He wasn’t afraid in the least. “Hmph. Why should we come down just because you told us to?”
“Ah!”
A scream rang out.
One of the men had tried to take advantage of the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, but an arrow fired by the Dragonshadow Guards concealed nearby pierced through his chest. His body fell from the tree with a thud, scattering a layer of dead leaves across the ground.
Bang!
His bow crashed down onto his head afterward, delivering the final blow. He finally passed out.
The forest fell silent for a moment.
Only then did the long-faced man realize that the Jinyang soldiers who had come here were far more than these few people. The others had merely hidden themselves all around them, while he and his companions had been completely unaware of their presence.
He asked in a trembling voice, “W-what do you want? We’re just ordinary people.”
