knife

Chapter 9 Pure people are the most annoying
A cooing sound came from the air. Everyone looked up and saw a gray pigeon circling back and forth. Just as they were wondering about it, Li Dachui stretched out his arm and cooed. The pigeon flapped its wings and landed on Li Dachui's arm amidst everyone's exclamations.

First, he took out a handful of broken rice from his pocket and fed it to the pigeon, then removed a small bamboo tube from the pigeon's leg. He crushed the bamboo tube and took out a scroll of paper from inside.

"Young master, what's wrong?" Fang Xiaomao asked.

Li Dachui handed him the note and casually slipped the pigeon into Fang Xiaomao's hand as well.

"Gather our forces!" he whispered. "A great battle is about to begin!"

Li Dachui's voice was very loud, and Zhang Ruo, the Yuan brothers, and Wu De could all hear it clearly.

"A great war?" Yuan Rong asked. "How big?"

"Brother Yuan, have you ever been in a war?" Li Dachui asked.

Yuan Rong shook his head.

Wu De's face changed color: "War?"

"Yes, it's war."

"When?"

"I don't know. I only know that the enemy is approaching us. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after. In any case, Linghu Ye won't want Zhang Gong to cross the Qingshui River," Li Dachui said.

Why can't we cross the Qingshui River?

"Because once we cross the Qingshui River, we'll be in Linghu Ye's territory. If Zhang Gong dies there, Linghu Ye will have to spend a lot more time and effort dealing with him."

"So, Linghu Ye will deploy troops?" Zhang Ruo asked, his face dark. "What else do you know?"

“Master Zhang, all I know is that there are currently about a thousand bandits, or even more, being hunted down by the Qin army. And wouldn’t you know it, these bandits are fleeing in the very direction we are.” Li Dachui said with a smile, “If we are killed by these bandits, Commander Linghu might avenge us. At that time, the heads of some notorious bandit leaders from beyond the Great Wall will be sent to Chang’an to give Master Zhang an explanation for his death.”

"How dare you, you scoundrel!" Zhang Ru was furious.

"What's there to be afraid of?" Li Dachui said calmly, "The area outside the pass is already in chaos, and the government is not at peace. Isn't that one of the charges against Linghu Ye that you impeached, Lord Zhang? This time, taking advantage of Lord Zhang's death, Linghu Ye's army has been mobilized to restore order outside the pass. Maybe it can bring peace to the area for a few more years."

Zhang Ruo opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word.

Wu De swallowed hard, looking nervously at Li Dachui: "Master Li, you have a way, don't you? Is there any way we can avoid this now?"

"There's no way to avoid it! They planned this all along. No matter which direction you go, you'll run into the bandits!" Li Dachui said. "Do you know which general is in charge of this bandit suppression?"

"Who?"

"Xiao Changche, General of Chariots and Cavalry, is a general under Linghu Ye!" Li Dachui said, enunciating each word clearly. "I think this name must be familiar to you, Lord Zhang. In three years, he fought against the Yuan invaders and won ten battles out of ten. His most glorious victory was when he led three thousand cavalry to defeat more than ten thousand troops of the Left Wise King of the Yuan invaders, pursued them for a thousand miles, and captured the Left Wise King's most beloved concubine. For this battle, he was promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry, and his name became famous both inside and outside the pass."

At this point, Li Dachui sighed, "Linghu Ye really values ​​you, sending such a powerful guy to deal with you. Alas, it looks like I'm going to lose money on this deal."

Zhang Ru gritted her teeth and remained silent.

Yuan Rong and his brothers, Wu De and others, had all lost their color.

If they still harbored some hope when facing the bandits from beyond the Great Wall, the moment they heard that Xiao Changche was in charge of the matter, that last glimmer of hope in everyone's hearts was shattered.

Xiao Changche's name was renowned beyond the Great Wall, and he was also a household name in Chang'an.

After all, the ruthless woman who kidnapped the beloved concubine of the Left Wise King of Yuan and brazenly took her as her concubine was a figure praised and envied by everyone in Chang'an.

In recent years, in an effort to wash away this humiliation, the Left Wise King has repeatedly sent assassins, not to kill Xiao Changche, but to kill his concubine. However, each batch he sent was slaughtered. Xiao Changche was clearly using this woman as bait to lure wave after wave of the Left Wise King's skilled men to their deaths.

Even knowing it was a trap, the Yuan Kingdom still indulged in it, not for any other reason than that they couldn't bear the shame.

Three years have passed, and the woman has given birth to a child for Xiao Changche. Meanwhile, the assassins sent by the Left Wise King of Yuan Kingdom are still lurking in the shadows, and an assassination attempt is staged from time to time.

It can be said that outside the Great Wall, the person the Yuan people hate the most is not Linghu Ye, but Xiao Changche.

This is an absolutely ruthless person.

And now, they're actually standing on the opposite side of this ruthless person.

Xiao Changche drove the bandits to deal with them, and then he played the role of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Zhang Ruo looked up at the sky and sighed.

"I thought Xiao Changche was a pillar of the nation, completely different from Linghu Ye, but I never expected that they were birds of a feather."

Li Dachui looked at Zhang Ruo and said, "Lord Zhang, in your memorial you demoted Linghu Ye and promoted Xiao Changche, thinking you could divide the forces outside the pass and rule them by divide and rule, right? Hehe, no wonder Xiao Changche had to take action personally this time. He wanted to prove his innocence in front of Linghu Ye!"

“A dignified third-rank General of Chariots and Cavalry of the Great Qin Dynasty, actually willing to be Linghu Ye’s lackey?” Zhang Ruo said. “Previously, intelligence indicated that Xiao Changche and Linghu Ye had many conflicts.”

"The Great Qin's Black Ice Guard has long been a mere decoration outside the pass. You actually believe the intelligence they send out without any verification?" Li Dachui chuckled.

"If we don't trust the Black Ice Guard, who can we trust? Linghu Ye's own reports?" Zhang Ruo retorted. Li Dachui nodded: "That's true. Actually, the court can still buy intelligence from Tai'an City; it's genuine and fair. The Black Ice Guard outside the pass has long been a tool in Linghu Ye's hands. However, one thing is true: Xiao Changche and Linghu Ye do have considerable conflicts, and Linghu Ye is quite suspicious of this General of Chariots and Cavalry. But that doesn't stop this General of Chariots and Cavalry from trying to kill you, because he also wants to kill you!"

Everyone remained silent.

The group walked on silently.

The broadsword was already hanging overhead, but it was unclear when it would fall.

The only one we can still count on right now is Li Dachui.

Seeing his calm and composed demeanor, the group of desperate people couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope.

This hope, however, gradually increased over time.

Every now and then, groups of knights would gather from the surrounding area.

These people were all Li Dachui's subordinates.

Sometimes there were two or three riders, sometimes more than ten, and at most, more than fifty riders came at once.

By evening, when everyone was leaving camp, there were already more than three hundred riders surrounding them.

Judging from the way these knights behaved, they were clearly not ordinary people, but rather well-trained soldiers.

Night fell,

A campfire was lit, illuminating their location like a beacon in the dark wilderness.

Outside Zhang Ruo's small tent, Yuan Rong's brothers, Wu De, and others sat closely around it; this was all they could do now.

The people who came after them completely ignored them.

In fact, Li Dachui didn't pay much attention to them, but Fang Xiaomao chatted and laughed with them, directing them to set up camp.

Zhang Qingyun, who came out of the tent, hesitated for a moment before walking toward Li Dachui, who was roasting meat by the fire.

Kneeling beside the campfire, Zhang Qingyun watched intently as Li Dachui arranged the neatly cut pieces of meat. Until Li Dachui handed her a piece.

"Try my baking, for example, the kitten's is much better," Li Dachui said with a smile.

"To be so openly defiant at night, wouldn't that let those thugs know our background?" Zhang Qingyun, holding the piece of meat, was clearly uneasy.

"Have you read military strategy books?"

"I looked at some things haphazardly in my father's study."

“Sometimes, it’s better to have no books than to believe everything you read!” Li Dachui said. “The bandits aren’t stupid. No one who can survive outside the Great Wall is stupid. They’re not coming because they don’t dare to. They don’t dare to come without enough manpower. Or rather, if it weren’t for Xiao Changche, they would have run away by now.”

"Because of you?" Zhang Qingyun asked in surprise. "Didn't you say there were thousands of bandits or more?"

“Sometimes quantity doesn’t necessarily lead to quality,” Li Dachui said dismissively. “Seven or eight groups of bandits were forcibly driven together by Xiao Changche and forced to come here. Do you think they can work together? They didn’t know I was here before, but now that they do, how dare they make any rash moves?”

Zhang Qingyun looked up at the red flag fluttering above the camp, on which a huge black hammer was embroidered with black silk thread.

"Li Dachui? Is it because of this flag?" she asked softly.

"No matter who the opponent is, this hammer can smash them to pieces!" Li Dachui smiled and said, "That's why everyone outside the Great Wall calls me Li Dachui."

"Then who are you?"

"Li Dachui is the most arrogant bandit group outside the pass!" Li Dachui took a bite of the fragrant roasted meat. "So arrogant that even Linghu Ye has to give him some face."

"Then why did you come to protect me and my father?"

"If I said I was captivated by your beauty after seeing your portrait, would you believe me?"

“If you were that kind of person, you wouldn’t be the most formidable bandit outside the Great Wall!” Zhang Qingyun shook his head and said.

Li Dachui swallowed the roasted meat in his mouth and sighed, "I made a deal with someone, and now it seems I lost out. I'll have to make up for it later, I'll have to pay more. To be honest, I'd rather deal with Linghu Ye than fight Xiao Changche face to face."

"Is Xiao Changche even more difficult to deal with than Linghu Ye?"

"In some ways, yes!" Li Dachui nodded. "Linghuye is a politician who knows how to weigh interests, while Xiao Changche is a general, a very pure one, with only one thing in mind: eliminate the enemy. So dealing with Linghuye is about negotiation, but dealing with Xiao Changche is just one word: fight!"

"It sounds like you admire Xiao Changche?"

“Of course, I’ve always liked very pure people. Maybe it’s because people like what they lack!” Li Dachui said, “But when these pure people stand in front of you, it’s really annoying. Hmm, your father is also a very pure person.”

(End of this chapter)