No title, no marriage? Do you think I'm some kind of lapdog?

today!

Behind the earthen slope upstream of the Liusha River, Su Chuang lay face down in the grass with his buttocks sticking out.

With a blade of grass dangling from its mouth, it squinted at the riverbank below.

Xu Mengran lay down on his left side, her red clothes standing out conspicuously against the pile of withered grass, so she had to press her body even lower.

"Couldn't you wear something simpler?" Su Chuang spat out the straw and muttered under his breath.

"Mind your own business."

Xu Mengran rolled her eyes at him and placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Besides, does it matter what we wear? When a fight breaks out, who cares about clothes?"

I think so.

Su Chuang grinned, "Sister Xu looks good in anything."

"Shut up."

Xu Mengran's ears turned slightly red, and she turned her face away.

Thirty feet down the slope, there is an open area on the riverbank.

Li Cunxiao's brocade robe trembled in the wind.

It wasn't fear, it was that the fabric was too taut; the slightest movement caused it to rip and tear under the strain.

Behind him followed about twenty Flying Tiger soldiers in disguise, pushing five large carts piled with "goods" covered with tarpaulins, looking bulging.

There were also two "maids" who were chosen by Jia Xu from the newly recruited bandit families. They were pretty and were huddled by the carriage, looking timid.

"Will this plan succeed, my lord?" Xu Mengran asked in a low voice.

Whether it succeeds or not depends on how greedy Shali Jiao is.

Su Chuang rubbed his fingers together.

"Wenhe has inquired and found out that the old man lost a lot of men during the clash at Vulture Ridge a while ago and is short of money to recruit more soldiers."

He paused, then added, "We also lack women."

"He had three wives, and one of them ran away last month. He was so angry that he couldn't sleep well for several days."

Xu Mengran spat out: "Scum."

As they were talking, the reeds on the east side of the riverbank suddenly moved.

It wasn't the wind that was blowing it; someone was there.

Su Chuang's eyes lit up: "They're here."

Seven or eight men emerged from the reeds, peeking out cautiously. They were dressed in tattered clothes and carried rusty knives.

The tall, thin man leading the group squinted at Li Cunxiao and his party, stared for a while, then turned around and shouted something.

Soon, the reeds rustled loudly.

At least two hundred people poured out, forming a dense, dark mass that blocked the road on the west side of the riverbank.

The leader was a burly man with a dark face, around forty years old, with a scar on his left cheek running from his brow bone to his chin, like a centipede crawling on his face.

It was indeed Sha Lijiao.

He carried a nine-ringed ghost-head saber in his hand, the nine copper rings on the back of the blade jingling.

"Which road are you on up ahead?" Shalijiao shouted in his hoarse voice.

Following Su Chuang's instructions, Li Cunxiao stepped forward two steps and clasped his hands in greeting.

His movements were as stiff as a puppet's, but he was strong; his fist-clasping gesture actually created a whooshing sound: "I'm from Jiangnan, doing some small business."

"Small business?"

Shalijiao grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Does a small business need so many vehicles? And so many burly guards?"

His one eye swept over Li Cunxiao, then glanced at the two "maids" by the carriage, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Open it and take a look." Sha Lijiao pointed with the tip of his knife.

Li Cunxiao hesitated for a moment. This was also something Su Chuang had taught him, so he couldn't be too quick to agree.

Seeing this, Shalijiao became even more convinced.

He gave a signal, and immediately more than a dozen bandits rushed out from behind him and pounced on the cart.

The tarpaulin was lifted.

Below are neatly stacked "silk bags".

Actually, it was stuffed with dry grass, but the outer layer was made of fine silk, which Jia Xu had picked out from the captured supplies; it gleamed in the sunlight.

There were also two small boxes. When we opened them, the gleaming white silver ingots were dazzling.

"hiss--"

Shalijiao gasped.

What a fat sheep!

He looked at the two "maids" again with his one eye, and the more he looked, the more itchy he became.

These women from Jiangnan are so beautiful, their skin is as white as milk, and their waists are so thin you could snap them in half with one hand...

"Keep the goods."

Shali Jiao brandished his ghost-headed dagger, "The people here too."

Li Cunxiao panicked: "My sir, you can take the goods, but... I need to leave the people here to explain to my master!"

"Explain my ass!"

Sha Lijiao grinned maliciously, "I'm the one who calls the shots in this Flowing Sand River!"

He waved his hand: "Tie them all up!"

Two hundred bandits swarmed forward.

Right at this moment.

Su Chuang moved on the slope.

Instead of jumping up and shouting for battle, he quietly shrank back behind a large rock, ensuring that Xu Mengran and the people below the slope were blocked from seeing him.

Then he silently chanted in his mind, "System, redeem."

A virtual panel popped up in front of me.

Current military merits: 1824

【Redeemable List:】

1. 1000 barbed wire spikes (50 military merits)

200 tripwires (100 military merits)

3. Simple Pit Templates x50 (150 Military Merits)

4. Warning bell line × 500 meters (80 military merits)

Su Chuang glanced around and quickly placed an order: "500 barbed wires, 100 tripwires, 20 pit trap templates, and 300 meters of bell wire."

[Redeem successful]

【消耗军功：25+50+60+48=183】

[Remaining Military Merits: 1641]

[Supplies have been placed in the bushes ten feet behind the host.]

Su Chuang breathed a sigh of relief and then crouched down and slipped back to Xu Mengran's side.

"Where did you go?" Xu Mengran turned her head to look at him.

"I have diarrhea." Su Chuang said without changing his expression. "I'm nervous, and I have a sensitive stomach."

Xu Mengran was skeptical, but didn't ask any more questions—because a fight had already broken out down the slope.

Just as Sha Lijiao's men rushed to the front of the car, Li Cunxiao suddenly moved.

The brocade robe burst open with a "rip," sending fragments flying everywhere!

Inside was a tattered fur coat, but nobody noticed that—everyone was looking at the massive blade as wide as a door panel.

The blade flashed like snow, sweeping across!

The five bandits at the front were cleaved away, swords and all, their blood splattering everywhere.

Shalijiao's pupils shrank sharply: "It's a trap! Retreat—"

late.

Upstream on the riverbank, Yue Fei led three hundred Mo Dao Guards, advancing like a wall, their black armor and black swords striking the ground with unwavering silence.

Downstream, Zhao Yun led two hundred Flying Tiger soldiers to block the retreat route, their bright silver spears gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

On both sides of the hillside, the remaining Flying Tigers drew their bows and aimed their arrows at the riverbank.

"We've fallen into a trap!" Shalijiao screamed. "Break through! Head east—"

To the east are reed beds.

The bandits panicked and rushed inside.

Then he stepped on the barbed wire that Su Chuang had just exchanged.

"Ah—! My foot!"

There's something on the ground!

Screams echoed throughout the room.

The tripwire sprang up from the grass, tripping a bunch of people.

Although the simple pit was not deep, it was filled with sharpened wooden stakes, and falling into it would be icy cold.

Even more ingenious was the warning bell line—when the bandits crashed into it, the bells would ring out in a cacophony, revealing their position, and arrows would immediately come flying in following the sound.

massacre.

One-sided massacre.

With bloodshot eyes, Sha Lijiao slashed wildly with his ghost-headed blade, trying to carve a bloody path through the enemy lines.

Li Cunxiao took a step forward, and the giant blade came down on his head!

"clang--!!!"

The demon-head knife was broken in two.

Shali Jiao's tiger's mouth was split open, and blood gushed out. He looked up and saw the giant blade rapidly enlarging in his pupils.

And then, that was it.

[Military Merit +1 (Bandit Leader, Bonus Reward)]

The battle started quickly and ended even faster.

Within fifteen minutes, more than a hundred corpses lay on the riverbank, and the remaining seventy or eighty bandits all knelt down, trembling with fear.

Yue Fei led his men to survey the battlefield, while Zhao Yun was in charge of taking custody of the prisoners.

Li Cunxiao carried the blood-dripping giant blade back down the slope, looked up at Su Chuang and grinned: "My lord, it's done."

Su Chuang patted his buttocks, stood up, and limped downstairs—his thigh injury hadn't fully healed yet.

Xu Mengran followed behind him, her eyes sweeping over the barbed wire and tripwires, her brows furrowing slightly.

Were these things... just now?

But she didn't ask.

Su Chuang walked to Sha Lijiao's corpse, squatted down, and rummaged through his arms.

He pulled out a money pouch, weighed it in his hand, and estimated it to be at least two hundred taels.

He then took out a jade pendant, which was of average quality.

"Poor bastard." Su Chuang scoffed and stuffed the things into his pocket.

"My lord," Yue Fei approached, "what should be done with the prisoners?"

Su Chuang turned to look at the group of kneeling bandits.

They were all emaciated and pale, their eyes filled with fear and numbness.

"Those who want to die, stand up," Su Chuang said.

Nobody moved.

"Those who want to live, stand up."

Whoosh—they all stood up.

Su Chuang chuckled: "Alright, you're quite sensible."

He walked up to a young bandit, who looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, as thin as a bamboo pole, and whose knees were trembling.

"What's your name?"

"Wang, Wang Ergou..."

Why did you become a bandit?

"We have no land, my parents are starving to death, we have no food to eat..." Wang Ergou's voice trembled.

Su Chuang patted him on the shoulder: "Work for me from now on, and you'll have food to eat and a monthly salary."

Wang Ergou's eyes widened: "Really?!"

"Why would I lie to you?" Su Chuang turned around and shouted to all the prisoners, "Listen up, all of you!"

"Those who want to go home can leave now. Each person will receive two taels of silver for travel expenses."

"Those who want to stay will be assigned to the auxiliary troops, with food and lodging provided, and one tael of silver per month."

"If you perform meritorious service, your reward will double, and you might even be promoted to a regular position in the Flying Tiger Army or the Mo Dao Guard—your salary will double!"

The prisoners looked at each other in bewilderment.

One tael of silver... is enough for a family of three to eat for three months.

"I...I'll stay!" Wang Ergou was the first to shout.

"I'll stay too!"

"And me!"

Su Chuang grinned.

That's more like it.

Days pass by quickly, like flowing water.

After the Battle of Liusha River, Su Chuang's "business" became increasingly successful.

On the fifth day, the remaining rebels at Vulture Ridge were wiped out.

Yue Fei led the Mo Dao Guards in a frontal assault, while Zhao Yun led the Flying Tiger Army in a flanking maneuver, breaching the camp in half an hour.

Sixty-three people were recruited.

On the eighth day, the defeated troops at Langyagou surrendered.

Jia Xu sent men to poison their water source with "half-step poison," and when they woke up, they were already tied up like dumplings.

Forty-one people were recruited.

On the eleventh day, the "Black Stone Village" thirty miles to the north took the initiative to surrender.

Hearing that Wangbeitai provides food, lodging, and even pays people, the village chief led about a hundred people over overnight, fearing that they would miss out on seats if they arrived late.

Su Chuang accepted everything without question.

At this point, only three bandit groups remained to be eliminated, with five days left.

More than enough.

Wangbeitai has also changed.

The wall was raised to three zhang (approximately 10 meters) high, and it was covered with sharpened wooden stakes.

The trench was dug to a depth of 15 feet, and iron caltrops were buried at the bottom.

The number of watchtowers has increased from two to six, and they are manned around the clock.

The "warehouse" in the depression behind the mountain was also built. Although it was simple, it was big and well hidden.

The room was filled with purchased supplies, as well as gadgets that Su Chuang would occasionally "conjure up".

For example, the sudden appearance of 500 jin of refined iron, or dozens of bundles of brand-new hemp rope.

No one asked.

Yue Fei didn't ask any questions; he only focused on training his troops.

Zhao Yun didn't ask any questions; he simply followed orders.

Jia Xu didn't ask any questions; he simply registered everything in a book and arranged everything meticulously.

Xu Mengran wanted to ask, but every time she opened her mouth, Su Chuang would come over with a grin:

"Sister Xu, look how round the moon is tonight! Shall we go out and admire it?"

After a while, she got tired of asking.

Anyway... this man has many secrets, so one more won't make a difference.

Lin Ruxue didn't ask any further questions.

She simply stayed quietly in the beacon tower every day, sometimes bandaging the wounded soldiers' wounds, and sometimes teaching a few literate soldiers to write.

She appears delicate and gentle.

Until that day, two newly recruited bandits got drunk and caused trouble, trying to rob the granary.

At that time, Yue Fei and Zhao Yun were patrolling the border outside, while Su Chuang was doing accounts in the earthen house.

Xu Mengran picked up her sword to tidy up, but Lin Ruxue gently pulled her back: "Sister Xu, let me go."

Xu Mengran was taken aback.

Then she saw Lin Ruxue pull a short dagger out of her sleeve. The dagger had a faint blue light on its blade, clearly indicating that it was poisoned.

She went outside and said something to the two drunkards with a smile.

The drunkard wouldn't listen and even tried to attack.

Lin Ruxue moved.

It was as fast as a shadow.

Xu Mengran didn't even see how she made the move; she only heard two muffled groans.

Two drunkards collapsed, clutching their necks, blood seeping from between their fingers, a dark reddish-brown color.

"Take care of it."

Lin Ruxue wiped the dagger clean, put it back in her sleeve, and turned to go back into the house.

She still had a gentle smile on her face.

Xu Mengran stood there, stunned for a long time.

That evening, she told Su Chuang about it. Su Chuang was counting silver and didn't even look up: "I already knew."

"You know?" Xu Mengran stared wide-eyed.

"nonsense."

Su Chuang grinned. "That girl grew up in the palace. You really think she's an innocent little rabbit?"

He paused, then added, "Emperor Wu's daughter, without some tricks up her sleeve, would have died eight hundred times over."