Without thinking for too long, Gu Jinghong looked up to seek Song Jinzhao's approval.
"County Princess, the commoners traveling on this official road are terrified of the bandits from Qingfeng Stronghold. I suggest we take Zhao Jiutou back to the city and behead him in public as a warning, so the people can feel at ease."
Song Jinzhao nodded slowly and methodically.
"Do as you say. Tie him up first and bring him back to Songzhou City."
Song Qiming glanced at the mountain peak.
"Sister, there might still be bandits in Qingfeng Stronghold who haven't come down. It's best to make a trip up there to avoid leaving any future troubles."
Gu Jinghong quickly raised his hand, "How could we trouble the County Princess with such a trivial matter? I will take some men over."
Song Jinzhao was happy to have the leisure and turned her head to instruct Lan Xi.
"Bring Wang Er over and hand him to Young General Gu so he can lead the way."
Lan Xi put her index finger in her mouth. Not long after the whistle sounded, a carriage slowly approached, with Wang Er tied to the back of it.
Song Anhao lifted the carriage curtain. Seeing the ground covered with bloody corpses pierced by arrows, she became momentarily frightened, her mind going completely blank, unable to think of anything.
Xuetuan let out a long roar at the sky, and the few birds remaining in the surrounding woods hastily flapped their wings and fled.
"S-Sister!"
Song Anhao subconsciously called out to Song Jinzhao, her panicked eyes searching everywhere for that familiar figure.
Song Jinzhao rode over, lifted Song Anhao onto horseback, and softly comforted her, "Don't be afraid, the bad men are all dead."
Watching the fierce white tiger leap down, Gu Baozhu and Gu Jinghong were stunned.
Such a massive tiger, and it had been sitting in the carriage? Was this raised by County Princess Linghui?
They rested on the spot while Gu Jinghong took his men up to Qingfeng Stronghold, returning shortly after.
He pointed to one woman and four men who were tightly bound and said, "There were only five of them. Zhao Jiutou had them stay in the kitchen to cook, saying they were going to celebrate their victory."
Thinking of how arrogant Zhao Jiutou was, Gu Jinghong couldn't help but kick him again.
"County Princess, it is still a two-day journey from here to Songzhou City. We can spend the night at Yunshan Temple midway. Let us set off quickly."
There were thirty-two captives kept alive; they had to be brought back quickly.
Song Jinzhao's gaze rested on the young girl's face.
Little aunt, Gu Jinghong was Gu Huaiyuan's son, so this girl should be Gu Zhongxun's most precious youngest daughter, Gu Baozhu.
The captive Wang Er, seeing that Song Jinzhao seemed to have forgotten him and worried about the poison flaring up, couldn't help but howl out loud.
"My lady County Princess, I have already deceived the people of Qingfeng Stronghold according to your demands. Now that they have all been caught, shouldn't you give me the antidote?"
A cold glint flashed in Song Jinzhao's eyes.
She took a medicine bottle from her robes and tossed it to Qing Shuang. "Feed it to him, and hand him over to Young General Gu to deal with."
Wang Er, who had just opened his mouth, was stunned.
He widened his eyes in panic. "You promised to spare my life!"
Song Jinzhao said coldly, "I promised to give you the antidote. Whether the government is willing to spare you, I do not know."
Wang Er choked on the antidote, his eyes rolling back repeatedly.
In the next second, Gu Jinghong directly ordered his subordinates to drag the man away.
On the way to Yunshan Temple, Gu Baozhu chattered non-stop.
When Song Jinzhao didn't bother to respond, she turned to ask Song Shixue and Song Qiming.
She asked about affairs in the capital, especially the time when Gong Linjue came to the capital, showing a posture of getting to the bottom of everything.
Song Jinzhao casually swept her gaze over the men Gu Jinghong had brought, and lightly slipped a question into the conversation.
"Are the military supplies allocated by the imperial court to the southwestern province every year insufficient?"
Gu Jinghong raised his eyelids in confusion, "Why does the County Princess say that?"
Song Jinzhao gestured toward the men on both sides.
"They are not even wearing armor. Is it not because military supplies are lacking?"
Gu Jinghong smiled, his eyes curving.
"The County Princess has misunderstood. They are guards of my Gu manor, not soldiers from the military camp, so they cannot wear armor."
A dark gleam flashed through the depths of Song Jinzhao's eyes.
Fifty men were all guards of the Gu manor, and this was merely what the aunt and nephew had brought out. There were definitely more left behind.
Their eyes met, and Song Qiming tacitly followed up with a question for Gu Jinghong.
"Your respected father is the garrison commander of Songzhou City and has three thousand soldiers under his command. Why hire so many guards? The money alone must be a vast sum."
Gu Jinghong replied, "Those are officially registered troops of the government and cannot be diverted for private use."
"The southwest is a mix of dragons and snakes, with many outlaws committing crimes. These guards are meant to protect us, especially the female family members. We must always bring some along when going out."
After speaking, he looked at Song Qiming.
"Lord Song will understand once you reach Suining. Suining Prefecture has the most yamen runners, a full five hundred men. Every time the prefect goes out, he is guarded by three inner and outer layers. However, he uses the prefecture's funds, so the tax revenue submitted by Suining Prefecture every year is the lowest, and they often cannot make ends meet."
