A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

When the handover time arrived, Chen San and his team of soldiers arrived at their designated handover point before the scheduled time.

This was a thicket of bushes in the northwest of the mine. After Wang Liefeng watched Chen San reach the sentry post, a hidden soldier crawled out of the bushes.

The same applies to the other hidden sentry positions; the sentries are hidden until their comrades arrive and then reveal themselves.

Wang Liefeng stared at the hidden sentry positions, cold sweat immediately beading on his forehead. Fortunately, they hadn't made a sound when they arrived.

Otherwise, if there had been even the slightest commotion, they would have been discovered by Zhao Daxuan's soldiers.

At this time, they were not prepared to attack at all. They did not know the distribution of troops in the mine, and if they acted rashly, they might not be able to take the mine.

If you startle the enemy, it will be difficult to launch a strong attack later.

Even if they could take it, making too much noise and letting the news of the gold mine get out would not be the result they wanted.

After Chen San and his team finished the handover, the area outside the mine quickly returned to calm.

If Wang Liefeng hadn't witnessed the handover at several hidden sentry posts beforehand, even with his years of experience, it would have been difficult to detect anything amiss.

Wang Liefeng turned to look at the soldiers behind him, lowered his voice to a minimum, and said, "You all remain still and don't make a sound. There are many hidden sentries here. I'll go check the situation ahead!"

The soldiers nodded without saying a word, and Wang Liefeng turned and quietly crept towards Chen San's location.

It was only a few hundred meters, but Wang Liefeng, fearing being discovered by others, took nearly half an hour to reach the vicinity of Chen San's hidden sentry post.

Wang Liefeng touched Chen San's back, looked at that familiar figure, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Chen San joined the army three years later than him. At that time, Chen San joined the army with his younger brother Chen Si.

When they joined the army, Wang Liefeng was just a centurion-level officer.

During a battle with the Tartars, Wang Liefeng was being chased by Tartar cavalry when Chen San's hundred-man squad appeared and rescued him.

In that battle, Chen San's reckless fighting style caught Wang Liefeng's attention for the first time.

Afterwards, he also thanked Chen San, and only after asking did he discover that they were actually from the same village, which was only three miles apart.

Wang Liefeng originally thought highly of Chen San and even wanted to recruit him to his side.

However, Chen San's younger brother, Chen Si, couldn't bear the hardships of the border and the constant threat of death, so he secretly ran away and became a deserter.

It just so happened that Wang Liefeng was ordered to capture the deserter Chen Si. When they caught Chen Si hiding in a cave more than 20 miles away, Chen San appeared.

Chen San knelt in the snow and kept kowtowing until his head was bleeding. He clung tightly to Wang Liefeng's leg, pleading for Wang Liefeng to spare Chen Si's life, hoping that Wang Liefeng would spare him for the sake of the life he had once saved.

Chen San secretly gave Wang Liefeng all the military pay he had saved up over two years.

In the end, considering that they were practically from the same hometown and that Chen San had received two years' worth of military pay from him, Wang Liefeng hesitated for a moment and then let Chen Si go.

After returning, he lied and claimed that during the pursuit of Chen Si, Chen Si unfortunately fell off a cliff and died, and his body was missing.

Although he secretly let Chen Si go south, he replaced the pass given to Chen Si with one from his own village and instructed the people in his hometown to keep an eye on Chen Si and prevent him from running around.

I only wanted to keep something in reserve at the time, but I never expected it would become a handle to control Chen San.

He crouched low and tiptoed closer to Chen San from behind, like a silent leopard approaching its prey.

Chen San was intently watching the movements within his field of vision.

He only stiffened when a cold hand suddenly covered his mouth and a short blade was pressed against his lower back. He tried to struggle, but Wang Liefeng held him down firmly.

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice rang in my ears.

"Don't move, Chen San." Wang Liefeng's voice was icy cold, ringing close to his ear. "It's me, Wang Liefeng."

Chen San's body went limp instantly, his eyes wide open, filled with terror and disbelief.

He recognized the voice, and he recognized the person he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Seeing that Chen San did not resist, Wang Liefeng slowly released his hand from covering Chen San's mouth.

But the short blade remained firmly pressed against his waist, its force undiminished.

"Don't make a sound, or I'll send you to meet the King of Hell right now! And your brother won't survive either!"

Just as I thought! This thought immediately popped into Chen San's mind.

He immediately realized that Wang Liefeng's presence at this time and place meant he would definitely use his brother to blackmail him.

"Brother Wang... what are you doing here?"

Chen Sanqiang feigned composure and asked calmly.

"You know perfectly well why I'm here."

"Your younger brother, Chen Si, is living a very comfortable life in my village. My people take good care of him!"

Wang Liefeng sneered, then continued, "Chen San, you should know that releasing deserters is punishable by death under military law, and their families are also guilty!"

"If I were to expose what happened back then, do you think Zhao Daxuan would let you off the hook?"

Chen San's face instantly turned completely pale.

Even though it was nearing winter and the nights were already chilly enough to make one shiver, Chen San's cold sweat still kept pouring out.

He knew that once the matter came to light, not only would he be doomed, but his younger brother and family members, who were far away in the south, would also be captured and beheaded.

"Brother Wang, please let me go!"

Chen San dared not make too much noise, so he could only shake his head desperately and plead in a low voice.

"I didn't see anything tonight, and I promise I won't say a word! Please, have mercy!"

"I can let you go."

Wang Liefeng withdrew the dagger he had been pressing against Chen San's lower back, his tone softening slightly, but still carrying an undeniable threat.

"As long as you cooperate with us, not only will I never mention this matter again, but I'll also give you five hundred taels of silver after it's done!"

"If you're willing, I can also help you transfer back to your hometown so you can reunite with your brother and never have to suffer in this border region again."

Chen San raised his head, his eyes filled with struggle.

Zhao Daxuan treated him well, even though he was transferred from Wei Feng's remnant army to Wangbei Camp and had not been with Zhao Daxuan for long.

However, Zhao Daxuan valued him highly, not only showing concern for them frequently, but even involving him in important tasks such as the gold mine.

However, his younger brother was a family member he had grown up with, and he could not accept that his brother would be captured and executed.

Seeing Chen San's hesitant expression, Wang Liefeng knew what he was thinking, so he added fuel to the fire.

"Don't be naive. Zhao Daxuan's illegal possession of gold mines is a crime punishable by the extermination of his entire family. He will be investigated and prosecuted by the imperial court sooner or later!"

"If you follow him, you'll only be heading towards death. But if you follow me, you'll have a chance to survive and reunite with your family!"

As he spoke, Wang Liefeng took out a silver note from his pocket and stuffed it into Chen San's hand. Wang Liefeng was used to carrying some silver notes with him when he went out, and this came in handy at this moment.

"Here's a deposit of one hundred taels. Take it first. After the deal is done, I'll give you the remaining four hundred taels in full."

The unique tactile sensation of the silver note completely threw Chen San off balance. He gritted his teeth and whispered, "How do you want me to cooperate? What do you want me to do?"