Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 59: The changing times and the heart of a woman
"Don't look down on Miss Liu because she is powerless. It is said that women are the most vicious. Think about it, if Miss Liu hadn't proposed the vicious plan to burn down the village last night, would we be able to sit here and chat happily?"
Xu Huai dragged a chair and sat down, saying casually,
"Besides, we borrowed 500 strings of cash from Miss Liu to arrange for our family. If we don't give Miss Liu a seat now, she might suspect that we are refusing to pay her back."
Liu Qiong'er's beautiful eyes almost turned pale on Xu Huai's face.
It was Xu Huai's bad idea to attack Xiema Mountain. She just intervened a little. How could it be considered as her being the most vicious woman?
"What Xu Huai said seems to make sense..." Xu Wujiang looked at his father-in-law Su Laochang, Xu Wuliang, Xu Wukun and others hesitantly and confusedly, hoping that they would come up with the idea.
"Xu Huai certainly doesn't want to sit in the third chair. It's not a bad idea for Miss Liu to sit here, but I don't know what Miss Liu thinks about it?" Old Su asked hesitantly, looking at Liu Qiong'er.
In his heart, he still felt that Liu Qiong'er was not suitable for the third seat, but he couldn't say it in front of Liu Qiong'er, so he decided to kick the ball to Liu Qiong'er and let her decline it herself.
"I am neither good at literature nor martial arts, but if you think my advice is useful, then I can sit on the throne."
Liu Qiong'er was clear in her mind. With a total of thirty to fifty people, she really didn't want to be the third in command. But Su Laochang's hesitant look made her feel uncomfortable, so she refused to give him a way out and said,
"But if I must sit in this position, then some things must be made clear. Xu Wuliang and Xu Huai have sold themselves to me, and the contracts of selling themselves to me are still there. They should continue to obey my orders in the future and should not sit in any additional position. Otherwise, I will be a mere decoration in this mountain stronghold. Even if I sit in the first position, it will be nothing more than being pushed out by you to be beheaded when the soldiers come to suppress me."
Liu Qiong'er knew very well in her heart that things had come to this point. Unless Xu Huai took her away far away in the future, she would never be able to escape the charge of colluding with bandits in her lifetime.
Then why is she afraid to sit in the third seat?
Everyone looked at each other in surprise. They didn't expect that Liu Qiong'er would take the responsibility and not allow Xu Wuliang to take the second seat. She also wanted Xu Wuliang and Xu Huai to stay under her and follow her orders.
However, Liu Qiong'er's words were sharp and there was some truth in what she said.
Sitting on this chair is a title, but when officers and soldiers come to suppress the rebels in the future, the one sitting on the chair will be executed as the leader of the rebels. Who would be willing to take on this title when they can't even command three or five men?
Even though everyone felt that Liu Qiong'er's words were a bit too much, they were embarrassed to get rid of her so quickly.
Xu Wujiang, Xu Guanshan, and Su Laochang all looked at Xu Wuliang. After all, what Liu Qionger said involved him the most.
Xu Wuliang scratched his head and said with a wry smile, "Miss Liu is right. I was able to get out of this situation only after I got two hundred strings of cash from her to pay off my debts. Then someone else will have to take the second seat."
"I think you, Old Man Su, should stop pushing the second position to others!" Xu Wukun said, "During this period of time, you, Old Man Su, have led the families to reclaim and build a village on the east slope of Lion Camel Ridge. Everything has been arranged very orderly, and everyone has seen it. In the future, we want to gain a foothold in Tongbai Mountain, especially since everyone will not abandon their families. Managing a village is much more complicated than robbing and resisting the invasion of government soldiers. Wu Jiang and Wu Liang may not be patient enough to deal with these things, so you, Old Man Su, and Di Niang have to do it..."
Everyone felt that what Xu Wukun said made sense. It was not complicated to lead thirty or fifty bandits to rob and plunder, but it was not easy to settle hundreds of families. If he recruited more soldiers in the future, the internal affairs of the village would become even more complicated.
"Brother Wu Kun's words make sense. Please don't refuse, father-in-law." Xu Wujiang stood up and asked Su Laochang to sit in the second chair.
The positions were decided. Xu Wujiang and Su Laochang sat in the middle chairs, Liu Qiong'er and Xu Guanshan sat on the left and right respectively, and Xu Huai, Xu Wukun, Xu Wuliang, Xu Xin'an, Xu Sihu and others sat in the second row on the left and right.
Next, they discussed how to gain a foothold. Xu Wujiang and his men planned to take over more than a hundred families as long as they were sure that Pan Chenghu did not dare to counterattack Xiema Mountain. Xiema Mountain was strategically located and could be defended, and there were many wastelands at the foot of the mountain that could be reclaimed.
If they don't cause trouble to the local area, the big clans will tolerate them. As for what kind of people the county officials and soldiers are like, Xu Wujiang and his men know best. As long as they can gather more than a hundred elite soldiers, the county officials may not dare to come and suppress them.
"We still need to operate Shituoling and Jinshagou."
Liu Qiong'er took the third seat and felt that what Xu Wujiang and the others were discussing was inappropriate, so she took the initiative to offer advice, so that Xu Wujiang and the others would see her value and no longer look down on her. She said,
"Pan Chenghu dare not lead the bandits to counterattack. In addition to guessing that the food and grass here have been burned, the more important reason is that there is only one passage out of Xiema Mountain. Once he counterattacks, the exit will be blocked by the soldiers of the Xu family camp from the outside. The bandits will inevitably be defeated without a fight because of lack of food. We must not only manage Lion Camel Ridge and Jinshagou well , but also open a secluded road between Jinshagou and Xiema Mountain. Even if the soldiers come to suppress us in the future, they must not think of blocking us at one end."
"How can Xu Wufu tolerate us continuing to operate Lion Camel Ridge at this time?" Xu Guanshan asked.
Xu Guanshan was a skilled martial artist, so he was able to train Xu Xin'an, a skilled son, but his experience and strategy were far inferior to Liu Qiong'er. He was also afraid of Xu Wufu, and was very confused when he heard Liu Qiong'er's suggestion.
"Have you ever thought that it is actually Xu Wufu who is afraid of us now?" Liu Qiong'er asked.
"What do you mean?" Su Laochang asked.
"If the soldiers come to suppress us, we can't resist them, and we will only lose our lives. But think about what Xu Wufu will lose if he is convicted of colluding with the bandits." Liu Qiong'er said, "I think we can send someone to confront Xu Wufu and ask him whether he led the soldiers and braves of the clan to wipe us out directly to clear his suspicion, or whether he helped us hide our identities so that others will never be able to pin the crime of colluding with the bandits on the Xu family."
Xu Wukun, Xu Wuliang, Xu Wujiang, Xu Guanshan and Su Laochang all looked at Liu Qiong'er in shock. This was going to kidnap the entire Xu clan.
Xu Huai sat in the back seat and whispered to Xu Xin'an, "I told you that women have the most vicious hearts - don't mess with her in the future if you have nothing to do!"
Liu Qiong'er was stabbing Xu Huai in the face, but seeing that everyone was hesitant, she continued, "The stalemate between Xu Wufu and Pan Chenghu is the best opportunity for us to threaten him. If we drag it out until Pan Chenghu retreats to another place or is killed, Xu Wufu will have nothing to worry about. With might really lead his clan soldiers to wipe us out to prove his innocence!"
Even Xu Guanshan, who was the most indecisive, could understand what Liu Qiong'er meant at this time.
At any other time, if they wanted to kidnap the entire Xu family, they would undoubtedly be courting death. Xu Wufu would certainly be able to convince other clan members to sacrifice their own relatives for the sake of justice, round them up and hand them over to the prefecture and county, thus clearing the Xu family of suspicion.
The situation now is very delicate. First of all, Pan Chenghu is convinced that everything he sees is Xu Wufu's plan to take over Xiema Mountain, and Pan Chenghu is leading three hundred bandits to the east of Lutai Village. Xu Wufu cannot explain, and he must lead his clan soldiers to confront them to prevent Pan Chenghu from massacring the village to vent his anger.
Xu Wufu had no time to round them up to clear his suspicion.
After a period of time, especially if Xu Wufu tolerates them to continue building a new stronghold on the east slope of Lion Camel Ridge, how can the major clans who are eyeing the Xu family and those officials in the prefectures and counties who secretly dislike Xu Wufu give him a chance to clear his suspicion?
The fields, pastures, and various businesses in Huaiyuan and Biyang controlled by the Shangfang Xu family have attracted many people who are envious.
Of course, kidnapping the entire Xu family requires a lot of ruthlessness.
It was also very simple to threaten Xu Wufu. They just needed him to continue to tolerate the construction of the new stronghold on Lion Camel Ridge and to build it according to certain defensive standards. If Xu Wufu disagreed, they would directly set up the Xu family's flag on Xiema Mountain and openly recruit the descendants of the lower branch of Xu to join.
Didn’t Zheng Hui spread the word through Hutouzhai that Xu Wujiang was secretly colluding with Xu Wufu?
Then just confirm it.
Can those who are barefoot be afraid of those who wear shoes?
Human nature is always selfish. If no one had thought of this plan, it would have been fine. But after Liu Qiong'er pointed it out, Xu Wujiang, Xu Wukun, Xu Wuliang, Xu Guanshan, and Su Laochang felt that this plan was more feasible.
What's more, everyone was still full of resentment towards Xu Wufu, and this time they were just giving him a taste of his own medicine.
Why can Xu Wufu do it on the first day, but they can’t do it on the fifteenth?
By evening, it was known that Pan Chenghu had occupied Shangliu Village. In the afternoon, he sent bandits to harass Lutai East Village. He had two clashes with Xu clan soldiers on the north bank of Qingliu Creek. Several people were killed and wounded on both sides. Xu Wujiang also made up his mind to act according to Liu Qiong'er's plan.
Except for Su Laochang who was going to meet Xu Wufu, everyone else had their tasks assigned to them.
Su Laochang and Xu Guanshan will continue to be responsible for staying on the east slope of Lion Camel Ridge to build a new camp; Xu Wujiang will lead the Wuzu to garrison Chonghuang Temple to recruit soldiers, and Xu Wujiang will be divided into two teams. One team will be led by Xu Sihu and mainly stationed at Chonghuang Temple. The other six strong men will be selected and led by Xu Xin'an to be responsible for gathering information and scouting the enemy situation.
Liu Qiong'er, Xu Huai, Xu Wukun and Xu Wuliang returned to Lion Camel Ridge. Xu Huai, a powerful general, was needed here to scare Xu Wufu from doing anything else after agreeing to the threat.
Another thing is to organize more than ten young boys and girls including Xu Xiaohuan and Su Shun to undergo more rigorous training.
These young men obviously cannot be taken directly to Xiema Mountain, so Xu Wukun, Xu Wuliang and others need to stay in the new village to teach them martial arts carefully.
The passages from Lion Camel Ridge to Jinshagou and from Xiema Mountain to Jinshagou have to be built at the same time. In addition to the hundreds of families in Lion Camel Ridge and hired men from Lutai Village, they also captured a dozen weak bandits in Chonghuang Temple last night, who can be forced to do hard labor.
