The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 100 Bandits Kill Officials

"Gentlemen, let's go back. It's too cold. Let's have some wine to warm ourselves up," Gao Gou laughed loudly.

As Wei Ya's confidant, and now that Wei Ya is gone, he is practically the master of this place.

That is why his status is clearly a little higher than everyone else's.

The group walked towards the garrison headquarters, chatting and laughing.

"Brother Jia, your warhorses are truly plump and strong; I'm quite envious of them," a village official suddenly said, approaching Jia Chen.

"That was taken from the Northern Barbarians. Don't be envious. If you're so capable, go and take it yourself. The Northern Barbarians have plenty of those." Gao Gou laughed heartily after hearing this.

Everyone shook their heads speechlessly. The Northern barbarians had many horses, but you still needed to be alive to take them.

For them, defending their fortified village was a victory; they dared not think of anything else.

The warhorses that Jia Chen and his group brought were clearly much better than theirs, so it's understandable that they were envious.

The warhorses that Jia Chen had previously captured were mostly divided up by Chen Tai and Liu Tianwang, and did not end up in their hands.

"The garrison commander has quite a few fine horses here. Gentlemen, you may suggest some to him," Jia Chen said with a smile.

Everyone smiled and said nothing more.

Wei Ya was Liu Tianwang's confidant and was assigned some good warhorses.

These fine horses belonged to Wei Ya himself and were provided to his personal guards; they didn't have the opportunity to own them.

"Brother Jia, we don't have anything to do today. It's the New Year, so we must drink to our hearts' content and not leave until we're drunk." Gao Gou came over to greet Jia Chen warmly.

"Alright, let's drink until we drop!" Jia Chen laughed.

Amidst the clinking of glasses and the exchange of toasts, Jia Chen's thoughts drifted far away.

He was unable to participate in this operation personally.

We can only rely on Liu Cheng and Zhao Zheng. Although the two are usually cautious, this matter is too important to tolerate the slightest mistake.

This concerns the life and death of everyone in Qianshan Fortress.

Jia Chen couldn't help feeling anxious, unsure whether they had succeeded.

"Brother, drink!" A man came over, and Jia Chen readily clinked glasses with him before tilting his head back and drinking the wine in his glass.

"Impressive drinking capacity!"

Jia Chen was preoccupied, but he didn't show it at all on the surface and mingled with everyone.

On an official road about ten miles away from Zhenqiang Fort, a rider sped past and soon crashed into a small hill on the side.

Zhenqiang Fort is more than 30 li away from Desheng Fort, and the official road is wide.

However, only here does the official road pass between two small hills.

"They've arrived. Everyone, get ready. Send a message to Lord Zhao," Liu Cheng ordered immediately upon receiving the news.

A soldier was waving a flag from a hidden spot on this hill, and soon a flag appeared on the opposite hill in response.

They had been lying in ambush here, waiting for Wei Ya and his group to leave the city.

To be honest, Liu Cheng was initially a little worried. This place was very close to the official road, and with people coming and going, their whereabouts were very likely to be exposed.

Fortunately, it was still early, and with the freezing weather, there were hardly any people on the official road.

As Wei Ya rode on horseback, his thoughts drifted to Desheng Fort.

Today we must finalize the transfer of Jia Chen with the adults.

He was determined to take Qianshan Fort.

"Sir, please wait a moment, we'll go take a look ahead first," a guard said.

Wei Ya snapped out of his reverie, glanced ahead, and smiled, saying, "There aren't any northern barbarians invading from the south right now, so why would we be afraid of someone lying in ambush here?"

"grown ups?"

"Let's go. We've been back and forth here several times already. What could possibly be wrong?" Wei Ya waved his hand and said.

Although his personal guards were very vigilant, he felt that this time they were being a little too cautious.

The guards, seeing that their superiors had said so, thought about it and realized it made sense.

So the group continued walking forward.

Wei Ya was not worried about his safety at all. As long as the northern barbarians did not invade from the south, the official road was basically safe.

Even though there were many bandits in Datong Town, they dared not appear near the official road.

Because the official road connects the major fortresses, which are not too far apart.

Once they appear, they could be surrounded.

The reason these bandits are so difficult to eradicate is largely because they don't appear on such main roads.

If they commit crimes in remote areas, by the time a large contingent of officers and soldiers arrives, the thieves will have already fled.

Wei Ya and his group soon entered the official road between two small hills. Just as they were halfway there, they suddenly saw a large number of people at the exit ahead.

These people were masked, and their swords and knives were already drawn.

"Not good, back to the city!" Wei Ya's expression changed and he immediately shouted.

They turned their horses around, intending to return the way they came.

But when they turned their horses around, they found that there were also men and horses blocking their way from behind.

Wei Ya knew he had been ambushed.

Although he didn't know who the other party was, the matter was extremely dangerous; if things went wrong, he would die here.

"Fight your way out." After all, he's been in the military for many years and knows how to make the right choice.

Several guards rushed to the front, while others protected Wei Ya as they charged toward Zhenqiang Fort.

Once we get out of here and into open space, our chances of escaping will be much greater.

"Shoot!" Zhao Zheng waved his hand, and more than a dozen arrows shot towards Wei Ya and the others who were rushing over.

These bows and arrows were also obtained from bandits.

Although the bandits were not skilled in riding and archery, they still carried some bows and arrows in case of emergency, and many of them were able to shoot arrows after dismounting.

After firing just one arrow, Zhao Zheng and the others immediately drew their swords and charged forward.

Because the distance was already short, the opponent quickly closed in, making it impossible to fire a second arrow, so they had to engage in close combat.

"Protect the adults!"

Five people on Wei Ya's side were just shot, and three of them have fallen off their horses and their fates are unknown.

"This is Lord Wei, the garrison commander of Zhenqiang Fort. Do you intend to kill an official and rebel?" a guard shouted.

They can only hope now that the other party has mistaken them for someone else.

Seeing that the other party had no intention of answering, it became clear that the target was them, the adults.

Especially since the other party was masked, clearly not wanting to reveal their identity, they would definitely try to wipe out everyone like us.

Wei Ya also drew the sword from his waist; he hadn't truly fought in many years.

Now that it's a matter of life and death, I have no choice but to take matters into my own hands.

The two groups of men clashed quickly.

Zhao Zheng had twenty men, while Wei Ya, including himself, only had ten.

Wei Ya's personal guards were indeed good, but Zhao Zheng's side also selected elite troops.

Just as the two sides were fighting, Liu Cheng's troops also arrived.

"Who are you? Who are you? Who wants to kill me!" Wei Ya watched as his personal guards fell one by one until he was the only one left.

His left arm had been slashed and hung limply, blood flowing down his arm to his fingertips and then dripping onto the snow, staining the area red.

"Kill!" Liu Cheng had no intention of answering him.

Swords pierced Wei Ya's body. Wei Ya wanted to fight back, but he was already powerless.

Blood kept gushing from his mouth, his eyes wide open, desperately wanting to know who had killed him.

Unfortunately, the other party did not even fulfill his dying wish.

"Clean it up quickly, don't leave any trace of us," Zhao Zheng shouted.

Wei Ya's consciousness began to blur, but he was not dead yet.

He suddenly felt a jolt, perhaps because it had quieted down, or perhaps because the other person was very close to him. He could hear the voice very clearly, and the voice seemed somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

"Jia Chen's men?" A figure flashed through Wei Ya's mind. He had been to Qianshan Fort before and met some of Jia Chen's capable men.

Yes, it was that person, but he couldn't remember their name.

"Jia~~~" Wei Ya already knew who killed him, but unfortunately, his life was coming to an end.

Liu Cheng and the others stabbed the corpses several more times to ensure that Wei Ya and the others were completely dead.

"Is everyone alright?" Liu Cheng asked.

"It's nothing, just a few brothers got hurt," Zhao Zheng said.

"Alright, kill those two injured horses and leave them," Liu Cheng said.

Without hesitation, Zhao Zheng immediately killed his two wounded horses, leaving the carcasses behind.

As for the horses that Wei Ya and the others rode, Liu Cheng and his men took them away as long as they were still alive.

They also took away the weapons of Wei Ya and the others.

Where bandits roam, not a blade of grass grows.

Often, even the clothes of the dead are stripped off.

However, Liu Cheng and his men did not do that. They kept their clothes, and Wei Ya and his men could tell at a glance that they were from the military.

That way, once they leave, the person who discovered it will report it sooner.

If they stripped them naked, and they didn't know Wei Ya and the others' identities, it might delay the reporting time.

Liu Cheng and his men followed Jia Chen's plan strictly. Only by getting it discovered and reported quickly could they prove that the bandits were behind it.

The murderers were all riding horses.

"Sir, someone is coming." A subordinate reported.

Liu Cheng and Zhao Zheng glanced in the direction of Desheng Fort and saw a group of people coming towards them. It wasn't an army; there were carriages and ordinary civilians walking around.

"Withdraw!" Liu Cheng ordered.

They were wondering when the first group of people would pass through, and if it was too late, they would have to wait a while longer.

As time goes on, there may be many changes.

Surprisingly, we're quite lucky; a witness has appeared.

The group mounted their warhorses and quickly retreated out of the group's sight.

"Th-those are bandits?"

"Quick, run!" The people coming this way saw Liu Che and his group and their faces turned pale with fright.

"Wait, they're gone!" someone shouted again.

If the bandits really came to kill them, they wouldn't be able to escape even if they tried.

Only then did they muster their courage and not flee. After confirming that the bandits had truly left, they cautiously continued onward.

The scene before them chilled them to the bone.

At the same time, they were also glad that their group had come out late; if they had come any earlier, they would probably have been the ones to suffer.

They didn't know Wei Ya and the others' identities, which wasn't wrong of them.

"Ah? This is... a soldier?" As these people approached, they realized that the person who had died there was a soldier.

Judging from their attire, they were definitely not ordinary border soldiers, but rather high-ranking figures in the army.

"Isn't he Lord Wei, the garrison commander of Zhenqiang Fort?" Someone recognized Wei Ya's identity.

"The garrison commander? No way, the garrison commander was killed?"

"There's no mistake, I've seen the garrison commander."

"Quickly, report this immediately!" Everyone's expression changed drastically.

Bandits killed an official, and a garrison commander at that—this was a momentous event.

Since they've encountered this, they must report it immediately; if they report it too late, they'll likely face dire consequences.

So they immediately split into two groups: some returned to Deshengbao to report, while others went to Zhenqiangbao to deliver the message.