Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 31: The Male Rabbit's Foot is Confused
At this time, the aroma of fried bacon wafted from the yard. Xu Xin'an shouted, "The hunger worm in my stomach has come back to life," and ran to the backyard. Then, amid Oiniang's shouting and cursing, he grabbed a piece of sausage and ran out.
People who practice martial arts have the strongest appetite. Xu Xin'an and Xu Wujiang disguised themselves and went to Hutouling. They ate dry food with mountain spring water for three or four days. How could they bear to smell the meat at this time?
He did not forget to give half of the sausage to Xu Huai, pointing at the long bundle on Xu Huai's back: "What's in this? Why did Aunt Seventeen say that you were helping Liu Qiong'er, who was redeemed from Yuehonglou, and didn't want to stay in the military camp?"
"Uncle Wu Liang also asked Miss Liu to hire him as a helper. This is an old bow he gave me. He asked if I could exchange it for a new bow that suits him well from the military camp." Xu Huai took off the bag and showed it to Xu Xin'an.
Xu Xin'an opened the bundle and saw an old bow with several cracks on it . He said disdainfully, "He's dreaming!"
In the military camp of the Inspection Office, long swords that are as thin as iron sheets are easy to get, but good bows and armor are rare items no matter where they are; in addition, there are several magic arm crossbows in the military camp that are strictly prohibited from being sold to the public.
There are so many members of the Xu family, and they are divided into different levels of closeness. Xu Xin'an doesn't think that Xu Wuliang's relationship with them is close enough to the point where he can help them exchange a good bow from the military camp.
He thought Xu Huairen was stupid, and he agreed to the matter after hearing Xu Wuliang's nice words. He said to him, "Don't worry about it. If Xu Wuliang asks you for the bow, just give it to me."
Xu Xin'an was selected as a scout in the Inspection Office, and his spirits became high.
Xu Wuliang said he was the elder of the clan, but he had married into another family and had been running the small blacksmith shop for more than ten years without much success, so Xu Xin'an looked down on him somewhat.
Xu Huai smiled inwardly, wrapped the old bow with burlap, and said, "If you don't help, I'll talk to Uncle Seventeen about this."
"You idiot, what good has Xu Wuliang given you? Do you remember that time when his wife snatched the wheat cake from your arms and ran to your mother to have a big fight? With your little brain, you may have forgotten it a long time ago - I won't be angry with you, go talk to Uncle Seventeen yourself and see if he calls you stupid." Xu Xin'an said.
Xu Huai brought back two strings of cash with which he had found someone to exchange the bow privately, and he was hoping that Xu Xin'an would help him directly. But now it seems that he cannot save the two strings of cash.
Although Xu Xin'an was angry at Xu Huai for being ungrateful, he was curious about how Liu Qiong'er redeemed herself from Yuehonglou.
He had been back in the military camp for less than an hour when he heard several people talking about this matter. They also said that Liu Qiong'er had stayed overnight in the military camp the day before yesterday and had made a special trip to pay a visit to Lord Wang Bing. He was curious about what had happened.
"By the way, how did Liu Qiong'er redeem herself from Yue Hong Lou? It was Mr. Wang's idea that you go to her place to help out, and why did he ask Xu Wuliang to help out? Is his blacksmith shop closed?"
"You didn't even help to replace a broken bow, how would I know about all the trouble?" Xu Huai said in a muffled voice.
"Don't really believe me when I say you're stupid ," Xu Xin'an said to Xu Huai, seeing that there was no one in the yard. "It's not difficult to exchange this old bow for a good one from the military camp, but who would be willing to give you a good bow if there's no benefit? At least two or three strings of money have to be given away. Xu Wuliang is taking advantage of you because you're stupid and don't understand the market. Let me ask you, if you have a bowl of bacon that's oozing with oil, and I bring you a bowl of rice with bran, will you give it to me?"
"I will exchange it if you give it to me, but I don't know if you will exchange it if I give it to you?" Xu Huai asked, "Uncle Wu Liang said that this bow should be exchanged for me."
Xu Xin'an was startled and said angrily, "Forget it, I'll help you get the Zhang Liang bow, so I don't have to be bullied by your stupid mouth."
Seeing that Xu Xin'an was deceived, Xu Huai laughed inwardly and was glad that he could save two or three strings of money.
At this time, seeing Xu Wujiang coming from outside with a gloomy face, Xu Huai had a bad feeling in his heart. Xu Xin'an also walked over with some trepidation and asked , "Uncle Seventeen, what's wrong?"
"Lord Deng asked me to lead the soldiers to guard Qingxi Village and block the way out of Hutou Village from the bandits. We will wait for the major clans to agree on the specific terms of joining forces, and then we will attack Hutou Village together!" Xu Wujiang spat and said in a muffled voice.
Qingxi Village is an ordinary village in the middle reaches of Paohu Creek. It is the only way for the bandits from Hutou Village to come out from the deep mountains of the northern ridge of Tongbai Mountain and approach the horse trail. A few days ago dozens of women and children from this village were abducted as hostages by the bandits from Hutou Village, and they have not been redeemed yet.
Xu Xin'an was like a cat whose tail was stepped on. He started to yell, "Master Deng is bullying me. The master of the family is with Master Deng, why didn't he help him?"
Not to mention how dangerous it was to lead a team to guard Qingxi Village at this time. He had just returned from following Xu Wujiang to infiltrate Hutouling to investigate bandit activities. He hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath when he was sent out again. Who wouldn't shout?
There are other soldiers who can be deployed in the patrol camp, so why should we just pick on them?
Xu Huai saw that Xu Wujiang also had a face full of resentment. It was obvious that Xu Wufu did not help him and might even agree with Deng Gui, forcing Xu Wujiang to lead his team to Qingxi Village.
At this moment, Xu Huai's heart was suddenly shrouded in a shadow, and a chill seeped down his back.
He remembered Liu Qiong'er saying that she had heard in Yuehonglou that the assassin had found out that Xu Wufu and Xu Wujiang had been at odds for a long time. Through whom did the assassin pass on what information to Xu Wufu?
…
…
Deng Gui had no roots in Huaiyuan Town, but Xu Wufu was attached to Deng Gui, which made Xu Wujiang lose his biggest support for disobeying orders.
Xu Wujiang was unhappy, but after returning to the house and hurriedly eating and drinking, he still took Xu Xin'an to the barracks.
They will set out for Qingxi Village early tomorrow morning. There are too many things to arrange. Xu Wujiang has some resentment in his heart, but he also has to hold the soldiers under him back from getting angry. At this time, he is not in the mood to find Xu Huai to ask about Liu Qionger's redemption from Yuehonglou and how he and Xu Wuliang were hangers-on in the past.
The matter of arranging the guards around Wang Bing was originally arranged by Xu Wujiang, but this time it was handed over to other governors. Xu Huai went to see Wang Bing at night, and two soldiers from other teams were replaced in the yard.
The soldiers of the Inspection Office were all local soldiers recruited from the local area, but in recent years the major clans in Tongbai Mountain had been fighting over land, water, and forests, and clan fights were not uncommon.
This reflects that the relationship between the Wuzu in different teams within the Inspection Office is not as harmonious as imagined.
Most of the soldiers under Xu Wujiang protected Xu Huai, but Wang Bing's yard was guarded by another team of soldiers. When they saw Xu Huai approaching at night, they drove him away without any hesitation and even picked up clods of earth and threw them at Xu Huai:
"You stupid ass, what are you looking at? Get out of here!"
Xu Huai pushed the door open and walked into the yard. He stretched out his hand and pushed the soldier, causing him to stagger and fall to the ground. When the soldier stood up and rushed over to fight, he grabbed the collar of his military uniform with one hand, pressed him against the earth wall, stared at him and asked, "Who are you calling a donkey?"
Another soldier, however, was watching the fun with a spear in his arms, mocking his companions:
"You grandson, let's see if you can still be mean? This stubborn donkey from the Xu family is a bit stubborn, but he has such strength that it's no problem for him to beat up two or three of you. Do you still dare to provoke him?"
Seeing his companion's face and neck flushed red, but unable to break free from Xu Huai's hands, he came up to persuade him to stop.
"Alright, alright, Xu Huai, stop messing around, you stubborn ass! Let go, or you'll suffocate Chen Heipi to death. Bandits are rampant these days, and Mr. Deng is worried that someone might harm Mr. Wang, so he issued a strict order, prohibiting all outsiders from approaching Mr. Wang. You'd better go play somewhere else!"
Wang Bing was exiled to Tangzhou and the local government was responsible for keeping him under surveillance. In other words, Deng Gui had the power to prevent outsiders from approaching Wang Bing.
Of course, Wang Bing must want to see someone, and Deng Gui, who holds a low position, is unlikely to stop him forcefully, but this will definitely be written into official documents and reported up the chain of command, thus becoming evidence of Wang Bing's "restlessness in the local area."
Xu Huai did not intend to join the Inspection Office and be under the control of Deng Gui, but he had also been in the military camp for two years, and of course he could not do anything that would make Xu Wujiang unable to deal with the situation. He let go of the man, patted his butt and walked out.
Xu Huai walked to the willow grove and waited for a while before Lu Xiong came over.
"Liu Qiong'er moved to Tieshi Lane. Yesterday evening, some thieves came to spy on her, but I led them out to the street and dealt with them..." Xu Huai told Lu Xiong what had happened in the past two days.
Xu Huai had previously deliberately concealed the fact that the assassin's stay at Yuehonglou was personally received by Liu Qiong'er, and that many things were overheard by Liu Qiong'er herself. When Lu Xiong heard from Xu Huai that a thief had gone to spy on Liu Qiong'er yesterday, he was shocked and asked in surprise:
"Miss Liu redeemed herself from Yuehonglou, but Zheng Hui and others disturbed her here?"
"Liu Qiong'er is being guarded by Xu Wuliang at the moment, so there's no need for any trouble for the time being. After all, Zheng Hui and the others still don't know our true strength," Xu Huai said, "but the reactions of Deng Gui and Xu Wufu are somewhat unexpected."
No matter how ferocious the 200-plus bandits in Hutouzhai were, they did not have the strength to capture the city, and it was impossible for Zheng Hui to tell the ordinary bandits about the assassination. In a short period of time, it was extremely unlikely that the bandits in Hutouzhai would invade Huaiyuan on a large scale, or that a small group of elite bandits would raid Huaiyuan Town.
However, it was beyond Xu Huai's expectation that Deng Gui and Xu Wufu colluded with each other and sent Xu Wujiang and other soldiers to Qingxi Village so quickly to resist the bandits from Hutou Village head-on.
Xu Huai had thought of this possibility, but he did not expect it to happen so quickly, so quickly that he was unable to react to it.
New soldiers were assigned to guard the yard, and no one explained to Lu Xiong what was going on. They only said that it was Deng Gui's order.
Lu Xiong didn't want this series of incidents to happen, so he asked in a very awkward manner, "Have you met Xu Wufu? He was sure that the assassin was targeting the old soldiers of the Jingsheng Army and you, so he followed Deng Gui. Did he deliberately let Xu Wujiang's army of soldiers be sacrificed?"
"I have no reason to see him now, but I don't think I know the whole story."
Xu Huai shook his head and analyzed,
"There are a total of seventeen members of the Xu clan who returned to the clan from the Jingsheng Army. My father died early, Xu Wuliang married into the Huaiyuan Town, and three others had some savings. They returned to their hometown and bought land and houses to make a living. In addition, there are twelve people who have joined their kinsman Xu Wufu. The Xu family organizes autumn training for the local soldiers during the slack season every year. These twelve people are the absolute backbone, and they usually work for Xu Wufu, and he relies on them. Xu Wufu and his seventeenth uncle are not on good terms with each other, and the team of soldiers led by his seventeenth uncle, even if Xu Wufu thinks they are not obedient to his orders, can be sacrificed, but there is no reason for him to give up the eleven or twelve people he relies on as his left and right arms!"
Although the local militia is the absolute main force in maintaining local public security, there are only more than 800 households in Yuhuangling, and it is impossible to maintain a local militia of 600 to 700 people all year round. Most of them are organized for autumn training during the slack season, and there are only 40 to 50 farmhands on standby at ordinary times.
Among these forty or fifty people, one can imagine how important the twelve veteran soldiers of the Jingsheng Army are.
If Xu Wufu goes insane, will he sacrifice these twelve people?
