With 100,000 elite soldiers at the start, what should you call me?

Chapter 41 Wang Qi: I'm going to tell on you

……

In the dark and damp prison cell.

Wang Qi was arrested for attacking Li Tian.

On the day of his arrest, he was sent to a labor camp.

The prison in Jianning Prefecture was much cleaner than before, though it was dark.

This place has clearly been cleaned.

Wang Qi was no stranger to prison. He had seen people in prison before, all of whom were imprisoned in dark and filthy cells with a nauseating smell.

But the cells here seem different.

Prisoners are assigned to clean every day, and the guards also require each prisoner to clean their own room.

During the day, they would be taken out as laborers to do tasks such as road repair, burying corpses, repairing city walls, and even land reclamation.

After entering, Wang Qi suddenly had a strange feeling: Was he a prisoner? It felt like he was being enslaved...

On his first day there, Wang Qi was assigned to repair roads, and by evening he was so exhausted that he collapsed.

Just as he was drifting off to sleep on the straw mat, a commotion broke out outside the cell.

The chains jingled in the corridor.

The prisoner in the next bunk was woken up and complained impatiently.

"Damn it, who the hell would commit a crime and get arrested so late? Don't come to our cells, or I'll beat him to death!"

The speaker was named Hei Zi. He was an old man in the prison. He was arrested after the new army entered the city and he took advantage of the chaos to rob people.

According to the haters, they are innocent and were just picking up things that nobody wanted.

Of course, Hei Zi was no ordinary person either. Before Jianning Prefecture was besieged, he was a notorious local thug who stole chickens and dogs, extorted protection money, harassed widows, bullied children, and did all sorts of things. After Jianning Prefecture was besieged, he resolutely followed Wang Qi to the city wall to fight the enemy.

So when the silence was broken, he was not only annoyed that he had been woken up, but also worried that Wang Qi would be woken up.

The sound of chains gradually approached, finally stopping in front of the cell where Wang Qi and the others were located.

A cell has eight beds, but currently only four people are living in Wang Qi's cell.

With the sound of a lock being opened, the cell door was opened.

A newcomer was locked up. After the jailer left, Hei Zi clicked his tongue, stood up abruptly, clenched his fists, cracked his neck, and his face was full of anger.

"He must be a bad guy to be dragged in this late. Damn it, I'll show you what happens when you disturb our sleep."

Hei Zi stood up and punched the prisoner who had just entered.

"Ouch!"

A sound rang out, followed by angry curses that shattered the silence of the prison.

"Who the hell are you! You dare hit me? I'll kill you when I get out of here!"

Li Laowai was knocked to the ground with a punch, his eyes seeing stars.

"Hmph, I'll teach you a lesson." Kuroko returned to his bed immediately after throwing a punch.

Just then, the jailer on night watch came in with a stick.

"Who the hell doesn't sleep well at night?"

"Prisoner number 1023, who were you fighting with just now?"

Several menacing jailers walked in, holding sticks in their hands.

Old Li gritted his teeth and pointed at Hei Zi, who was lying on the straw mat; "He hit me!"

Hei Zi remained motionless, snoring loudly, as if he were fast asleep.

The jailer frowned and struck Li Laowai with a stick.

"You dare to play us? We'll kill you if you do it again."

The prison guards behind him didn't hold back and swarmed forward, beating Li Laowai until he screamed in pain.

The prisoners in other cells woke up wanting to see what was going on, but were scolded by the jailers.

"Go to sleep, all of you. Anyone who joins in the fun will get extra work tomorrow."

Li Laowai got a beating and lay on the ground like a dead dog.

"Damn it! I'll kill you all when I get out of here!"

After the jailer left, Hei Zi stopped snoring, glanced at Li Laowai, and couldn't help but smile.

Old Li was beaten black and blue, his eyes filled with resentment as he glared at Hei Zi. "Kid, you're the same. Once I get out of here, you'll be dead."

However, Li Laowai did not forget his mission; he needed to contact Wang Qi as soon as possible.

Li Laowai's gaze swept across the cell, and he saw Wang Qi lying in the corner. He stepped forward and whispered, "Master Wang, I have something urgent to tell you. It concerns Elder Yun."

Wang Qi, who had been pretending to be asleep, moved at this moment.

He was about to go to sleep, but the noise woke him up again, and then Li Laowai woke him up again.

Yun Richu is not dead!

Wang Qi immediately sat up; "Do you have news of Elder Yun?"

"Yes, but Royal Preceptor, I can only tell you this."

Li Laowai looked warily at the other three. Wang Qi's actions woke up Hei Zi and the other two as well, and they had obviously noticed Wang Qi's actions as well.

Kuroko realized that he might have hit the wrong person.

"That person seems to know the Imperial Preceptor. Did I go a bit too far just now? Should I go over and apologize to him?"

But the way Wang Qi and Li Laowai were whispering to each other in the corner made Hei Zi and the other two understand something, so they wisely stayed away from the two.

"Master Wang, Elder Yun returned this morning. He knows what happened in Jianning Prefecture. Those bandits are forcibly seizing the people's fields without doing anything. Elder Yun couldn't stand it and decided to rid the people of this scourge."

"Now Elder Yun has gathered his old troops outside the city. He has sent me to tell the Grand Preceptor that as long as the Grand Preceptor gathers his old troops inside the city to assassinate Li Tian, and works in concert with Elder Yun outside the city, Jianning Prefecture will surely be able to return to the Grand Preceptor's hands."

"That's all I have to say. Grand Preceptor, please make a decision as soon as possible. The longer this matter is delayed, the worse it will be. We must take action before the enemy army has a firm foothold."

Li Laowai had finished speaking and was now waiting for Wang Qi's reply.

Wang Qi remained silent upon hearing this. If he hadn't met Li Tian, he would have agreed without hesitation.

The reason Jianning Prefecture was lost was because Li Tian, disregarding martial ethics, launched a surprise attack, which led to the loss of Jianning Prefecture.

At that time, he was still full of resentment.

But when I think of Li Tian's words, those words that sound like a curse still echo in my mind.

"A lackey of the landlord class."

Anyone would be angry to be called a lackey, but through today's work, something seemed to have changed in his heart.

The clean and tidy streets, the gradually revitalized Jianning Prefecture—all of these things seemed to have almost nothing to do with the 'landlords'.

Perhaps Li Tian is right. The common people do not refer to a specific group of people, but rather to every single person living on this land.

However, if he supports Li Tian, Wang Qi will be forever nailed to the pillar of historical shame and ostracized by scholars throughout the land. He cannot accept such a thing happening because it is his foundation.

"The Imperial Preceptor?" Seeing Wang Qi hesitate, Li Laowai had a bad feeling.

Could it be that he's planning to defect to the new army?

"Yes, I will consider this matter carefully and give you an answer as soon as possible."

Wang Qi came to his senses and gave an ambiguous answer.

Li Laowai didn't expect the other party to answer like this; "Alright, then, Preceptor Wang, hurry up, this matter cannot be delayed."

Wang Qi didn't sleep well that night; his mind was in turmoil.

The next morning, Wang Qi looked haggard.

"Get up and have breakfast."

"This morning's arrangements included repairing Ningyuan Street."

The jailers knocked on each cell door, waking up every prisoner.

Everyone walked out of the cell one after another and followed instructions.

Wang Qi followed the crowd and came to a prison guard he recognized.