Volume 1 In the Countryside Chapter 57: Don’t Believe in Appearances
He was praised by Zhang Shou as being brave and mighty, upright and rigorous. He came from the Ruiqi Battalion in the capital and served as the commander of the right battalion.
Although Hua Qi introduced himself like this in public, he had lost his credibility because of the previous incident. It was not until Xiong Wei showed the badge of the commander of the left camp of the Ruiqi Battalion and pointed out that he had just been recommended by the Duke of Chu and transferred back from Xuanfu that the frightened children of the nobles believed him.
This time, even the few noble sons who were unhappy because they didn't catch up with the big scene of capturing the rebels last night all felt that it was fortunate that Zhu Ying had simply and roughly drugged them last night. They were already scared before the real fight today. If they had really witnessed or even encountered the fierce battle last night , they might have been held back...
At this moment when everyone was still frightened, Zhang Chen couldn't help but grab Lu Sanlang.
"Lu Zhutou, did you realize that something was wrong a long time ago, so you suddenly covered my mouth? You, you fool, used to pretend to be stupid in the capital, but now you are suddenly gifted in mathematics. How many things are you hiding from us?"
Lu Sanlang had been hiding his incompetence for so many years, so of course he wanted to show off now. However, Zhang Shou had already said all the reasons he could come up with, so he could only say unhappily, "Who told you not to observe carefully? You didn't even notice this little flaw. Didn't you just boast before that no one is afraid of anyone, and if the sky falls, we stand together, so what is there to be afraid of? The eldest lady and the young master were here just now!"
After these words were spoken, not only Zhang Chen, but also a lot of people around him were speechless.
Zhu Ying aside, the eldest lady was fearless, but Zhang Shou was clearly just a boy who grew up in the countryside...
Zhang Wu immediately coughed dryly: "How can we be compared with the young master? If the young master was not a master of foresight, how could Master Ge, who is known as the expert in identifying a thousand-mile horse, accept the young master as his last disciple!"
“That’s right…”
Zhang Shou saw Zhu Ying pestering Xiong Wei not far away, asking him all kinds of questions, but Zhu Ying didn't know anything. He was getting upset and planned to go up and try it himself, but when he heard Zhang Wu and others around him agreeing with the topic raised by Lu Sanlang, he had to stop.
"Don't make me sound like Zhuge Liang. If I was really so sure, I would have listened to Mr. Hua Qi and would not have told Mr. Yang and a few villagers to hide the twenty or so rebels we captured last night. When Commander Xiong entered the village, his words and actions did not seem like those of a vicious criminal. Who knew it would be a false alarm?"
"Stop talking nonsense and go find some villagers to find Yang Laoguan and his men. The captives from last night should be handed over."
Lu Sanlang came up immediately, and the little eyes on his chubby face blinked gently, which was inexplicably a little cute: "Young sir, if you just hand him over, won't that be giving credit to Xiong Wei for nothing?"
Zhang Shou saw that many of the dandies showed expressions of approval, and he couldn't help but sneer: "That heroic commander is obviously good at managing the army, otherwise he wouldn't be able to lead such a disciplined cavalry. He would never do such a thing. Besides, don't you underestimate yourselves? Who in this world dares to steal your credit?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the playboys who had been trembling with fear and even nearly wet their pants immediately straightened their backs.
Yes, we are well-known and respected in the capital. Who dares to steal the credit from me?
"Besides, leaving people here not only wastes food to feed them, but also wastes manpower to guard them every day. Now that you haven't returned to the capital yet, send these twenty or thirty prisoners back first, so that those people in the capital who look down on you can have a good look at your achievements this time. When you return in the future, won't you be proud?"
Just a few words made the dejected crowd excited. Zhang Shou stroked his chin when he saw the group of people dispersed.
He finally saw clearly that treating these dudes was like treating puppies and kittens. Sometimes he had to scold them harshly like training a dog, and sometimes he had to stroke their fur like treating a kitten...
"It's all Uncle Hua's fault. Last night he first watched us make a scene, and today he teamed up with Xiong Wei to perform monkey tricks. It seems he wanted to make us look bad on purpose. I don't believe that the Queen Mother would play tricks on us juniors for no reason. It must be him who did it!"
Zhu Ying walked back quickly, picked up the wine pot and gulped down the wine in one gulp, looking very angry. After complaining for a while, she saw Zhang Shou smiling but not saying anything, and those dandies were gone, so she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows: "Where are the others?"
"I'll have them notify Master Yang and bring everyone out." Before Zhu Ying could object, he changed the subject and said, "Speaking of which, there's trouble in the Linhai camp. The Empress Dowager might think you're not safe in the countryside, so she hopes you can return to Beijing soon."
"No way, didn't grandma send someone to deliver longevity noodles and new clothes yesterday?"
Zhu Ying said this, but she couldn't help feeling guilty when she thought that the bad news came after the people from the Duke Zhao's Mansion in the capital had left. To be honest, she did stay outside for a long time this time. Although her grandmother indulged her, the capital was also in a mess and made people feel bad, but how long could she continue to live like this?
If she really has to leave...she has to leave something for the village so that A Shou and everyone else will not forget her!
Thinking of this, Miss Zhu couldn't help but roll her eyes: "How about I gather everyone to build a wall for Rongshui Village and surround the entire village? This way, we can not only resist the chaotic army, but also be used to resist wild beasts!"
Miss, this is a village, not a town, let alone a county. In this peaceful and prosperous era, there are only occasional military rebellions, but there are no wars everywhere. Suddenly, they mobilized a large army to build a wall around the village... Are they planning to rebel in the fortress?
In modern times, it is also an illegal building and must be demolished...
Faced with this wild idea, Zhang Shou could only say seriously: "Building a wall just because of a small disturbance, doesn't this mean you doubt the ability of the troops stationed in the capital? I think a brave and upright person like Commander Xiong could come here to receive the prisoners and then go back to quell the disturbance. The cavalry is well-trained and can quell the small disturbance in no time, so there is no need to worry about safety."
Not far away, Commander Xiong was in a good mood after having just played a seemingly failed villain role.
He was known as a man with sharp ears in the military camp. He heard everything that Zhang Shou, those playboys, and Zhu Ying said just now.
He has been in the army for so many years, but he has not met many discerning people. The first one was the Duke of Chu, and the second one was the current emperor... Anyway, this young man Zhang is one of them! In the first place, how can a person live his life just by his looks?
Thinking of this, seeing Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying finished their conversation and walked towards him, Xiong Wei took the initiative to greet them.
"Commander Xiong, are you planning to take away the rebels from last night and the assassin who came later?"
Since Xiong Wei had a good impression of Zhang Shou, he would be willing to give Zhang Shou some more advice instead of just giving Zhu Ying a perfunctory response.
"Yesterday, there was a riot in the Linhai camp, and more than a hundred soldiers escaped. The news was sent to the capital by express horse, and the city gates were closed for a while. This morning, I received an urgent report from Master Hua Qi, saying that the rebels had come here, so I was ordered to bring people here to escort the prisoners back to the capital. Fortunately, the gates of the capital were opened early in the morning."
"But suppressing the rebellion has nothing to do with me. After all, I have just arrived in Gyeonggi and am not familiar with the place. It is not my turn to take the lead."
Then, he glanced at Zhu Ying, who was drinking and sulking at the table not far away, and a faint smile appeared on his face: "But I was ordered to bring people, and did not mention horses."
Zhang Shou originally wanted to test what to do with those military horses, but when he suddenly heard such a blatant hint, he thought of Yang Laoguan's coveting of those military horses after he had easily captured both the men and the horses last night, and he couldn't help feeling a bit lucky, as if he had found a pillow when he was sleepy.
He immediately rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "In that case, I will just consider it as our village temporarily borrowing those military horses for a few days. There are not many oxen in the village, and using horses to plow the fields can save a lot of manpower for everyone."
Zhang Shou was just talking nonsense and making up excuses, but he didn't expect Xiong Wei to actually nod and say, "Young Master Zhang is right. When we were in Xuanfu, we often used horses to plow the fields, which really saved a lot of manpower. Those chaotic troops disturbed the countryside last night, so it is only natural to leave the horses to work as compensation. I think the Linhai camp will have nothing to say."
At this point, the heroic commander, who was known for his "strict and upright style", smiled meaningfully at Zhang Shou.
"I'm really not very good at putting on a show to scare people. I can't afford to scare so many people."
People have made it so clear, how could Zhang Shou not understand?
Regardless of whose orders he received, this person obviously intended to stop at the right point in his acting and did not want to cause any big trouble, so he left such an obvious flaw. So, in this day and age, anyone who is successful in official career is actually a shrewd person!
He had learned another lesson: don't trust appearance!
