Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 176 Prisoners (Part Two)

Both prisoners were General Lü's trusted personal guards.

General Lü wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his left hand and whispered, "You two go back to the camp and deliver the message. Send the warhorse and silver as quickly as possible."

Pei Qinghe still held a long sword in her right hand, her gaze cold and full of killing intent. Pei Yan, as imposing as a black tower, stared at them menacingly. The beautiful and graceful Pei Yun was also a figure like a killing god.

The two bodyguards, having narrowly escaped death, dared not utter a word and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Pei Qinghe gave them two horses and thoughtfully provided several days' worth of dry rations and cold water: "I'll give you half a month. If I don't see the Fanyang army's gold, silver, and warhorses within half a month, then I'll be collecting the corpses of your general and colleagues."

When Pei Qinghe said these words, he was calm and composed, without the slightest hint of threat.

Both bodyguards were sweating profusely. They mounted their horses and charged out without stopping.

It takes about ten days to travel from Pei's army camp to the Fanyang army camp and back. If it's sending silver and warhorses, the journey will be much slower. Half a month is not an option; there's absolutely no time to hesitate.

"Pei Yan, I'm entrusting General Lü to you." Pei Qinghe instructed, "Take good care of General Lü."

Pei Yan nodded and used the rope to tie General Lü's hands again. Then she reached out and grabbed General Lü by the collar and left.

General Lü felt nauseous from being shaken so much that he remained silent, not daring to utter a single word.

The remaining captured soldiers were locked in the warehouse, but General Lü was treated well and had an empty room.

Doctor Bao came again, examined General Lü's external injuries, cleaned, stitched them up, applied medicine, and bandaged them, all with great efficiency. General Lü fainted from the pain.

That night, no one in Peijia Village slept. The dead had to be gathered and buried, the wounded had to be treated and bandaged, and the battlefield had to be cleaned up.

All the fallen soldiers of Fanyang who were wearing soft armor had to have their armor removed, and all their weapons had to be collected. Every arrow that could be retrieved also had to be recovered.

In addition, there were many wounded warhorses, who were quickly and decisively killed with a single blow. When food was scarce, the tough and coarse horse meat was a rare delicacy.

The faint sound of crying could be heard from several houses in the village.

In this battle, the Fanyang army suffered a crushing defeat, and the Pei family army also suffered heavy casualties. They carried corpses all night, and it was impossible to count exactly how many people had died.

Pei Qinghe, accustomed to the life and death of battlefields, felt a pang of sorrow upon hearing such cries. Pei Yun, standing beside her, couldn't help but sigh softly, "I wonder when we'll be able to stop fighting and stop people from dying."

Pei Qinghe said calmly, "There are always deaths in war."

“In this world, survival comes first. We’ve stayed in Pei Family Village and haven’t gone out to seize territory. But some people still think the Pei Family Army is a pushover and want to take advantage of them. The defeat of the Fanyang Army has also served as a deterrent to the Guangning Army and the Liaoxi Army. Even the Bohai Commandery no longer dares to underestimate the Pei Family Army.”

"After this battle, we will have a period of peace again."

Pei Yun let out a breath: "Are you really going to let General Lü go back?"

“Killing them would be quick and easy, but it wouldn’t do us much good.” Pei Qinghe’s eyes flashed with a cold light: “There are still several thousand men in the Fanyang army’s camp. We don’t yet have the ability to lead troops on long-distance campaigns. Once the Zhan family goes to the border to buy a large number of warhorses, and we train an elite cavalry, we can then conquer all directions.”

Pei Yun felt a surge of pride: "You're right. We're not strong enough yet. Let Lü go back first. We'll take his dog's head in a few years."

Pei Qinghe raised an eyebrow: "There's another point. I can't take Fanyang County, and I don't want the Guangning Army and Liaoxi Army to gain an advantage for nothing."

"The four factions in Youzhou are barely maintaining a balance. Let's keep things like this for now."

A sliver of pale light appeared on the horizon.

A blush struggled to break through the sky.

As the sun rises, it's a brand new day.

Pei Qinghe and Pei Yun hadn't slept for a day and a night. Mao Hongling, who had finished bandaging their wounds, came over and urged the two to rest: "I'll take care of things here, you two go and get some sleep." Pei Qinghe nodded and went back to her room, falling into a deep sleep.

I slept for half a day, then woke up because I was hungry.

Pei Qinghe rolled off the bed and went out, just as Pei Yun came out as well. The two sisters smiled at each other and went to the kitchen together.

As the population of Peijia Village grew, the kitchen staff was never enough. Bian Shulan, who was in charge of the kitchen, had become quite plump from the smell of cooking oil and spoke with a strong voice: "We slaughtered a lot of warhorses last night, and we'll be eating horse meat for the next few days."

The horse meat, braised in soy sauce for half a day, smelled incredibly fragrant and, when paired with steamed white flour buns, was absolutely mouthwatering.

Pei Yan suddenly appeared out of nowhere, squeezed next to Pei Qinghe, and naturally nudged her cousin Pei Yun to the side.

Pei Yun was both amused and annoyed. She reached out and smacked Pei Yan on the back of the head: "You still have this temper? You always hog the spot next to Qing He and won't let anyone else have it!"

Pei Yan winced as she was slapped, then turned to Pei Qinghe to complain, "My cousin Yun bullied me."

Pei Qinghe was amused and reached out to touch Pei Yan's aggrieved dark face. She said to Pei Yun, "She has a minor head injury and can't take a beating right now. If you want to hit her, go somewhere else."

Pei Yan's eyes widened into saucers.

Everyone laughed.

Pei Xuan and Pei Feng also slipped over, and each of them obediently sat down to eat.

Pei Qinghe casually asked with a smile, "You two made a bet before the battle, who won?"

Pei Xuan was quick-witted: "I didn't have time to count them all, but I definitely won. Pei Feng always vomits for a while after killing someone, so he can't wield his knife as fast as I can."

Pei Feng, feeling embarrassed and annoyed at having his past wounds exposed, kept a straight face and said, "I can't possibly brag as much as you do."

It was common for the two to argue and bicker. Pei Qinghe watched the commotion, ate four steamed buns and a bowl of braised horse meat, and then drank a large bowl of rice soup.

There are too many corpses; it will take at least two or three days to dig a pit and bury them.

Pei Qinghe went to inspect the area and then went to the warehouse to see the prisoners.

The prisoners were guarded by Zhai Sanlang's battalion. Although young, Zhai Sanlang was literate, quick-witted, and bold. After joining the Pei family army, he quickly distinguished himself and became a battalion leader.

Entrusted with the important task of guarding the prisoners, Zhai Sanlang was extremely careful and didn't close his eyes for a long time.

Pei Qinghe smiled and instructed, "Divide everyone into two shifts, so they can eat and rest in turn. These prisoners will have to stay in Pei Family Village for at least half a month."

Zhai Sanlang nodded vigorously, trying his best to hide the glint in his eyes.

Pei Yun and the others saw this and smiled.

Pei Qinghe was like the blazing sun, radiating dazzling light. Admiration for strength is human nature. Within the Pei family army, quite a few secretly harbored feelings for Pei Qinghe. Young Zhai Sanlang was just one of them.

Unfortunately, Steward Shi firmly held his position next to Pei Qinghe, so the others could only admire him silently, as they couldn't compete with him at all.

A few days later, Feng Chang led his men back to Peijia Village, bringing with him a large number of dead bodies.

Two days later, Jiang Huiniang, who was leading the troops in place of Gu Lian, also sent back a large number of heads. These were all fleeing soldiers from Fanyang.

Outside Peijia Village, human heads were piled up again to form a mound of skulls.

(End of this chapter)