After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

The sky was beginning to lighten with a faint, fish-belly-like white.

The lake breeze on Yunze Lake made the grass and trees on Black Tiger Mountain sway violently, making a loud rustling sound. The crowing of roosters also rang out at the right time, and the night sentries on the whole mountain began to change shifts.

The sleepy-eyed scout, Qian'er, yawned, propped himself up with his hands, slung a simple wooden bow over his shoulder, and tucked a bamboo quiver into his waistband. He pushed open the camp gate, and a cool breeze from the mountaintop blew in. Qian'er shivered and cursed.

I walked up to the old man who cooked porridge, took a broken bowl, gulped down a few mouthfuls of porridge, felt a warmth in my stomach, exhaled a puff of white breath, and cursed the old man for no reason, saying "It's so watery." My stomach and mouth immediately felt much better.

The villagers sprang into action. Some were sharpening knives, some were practicing, some were wrestling... their faces flushed, veins bulging, shouting "Hey hey hey!" as a group of slackers gathered around, their faces red and necks thick with anger, urging the two inside to go all out.

This contest of strength involves stakes. Whoever wins gets to be the first to stab one of the rabbits they just caught last night.

The young ladies were all kept in the Pleasure Cave. Only brothers who were at least minor leaders or had made great contributions could go in to have some fun. On weekdays, the brothers would relieve their lust with fair-skinned young men... He had also slept with a few, but he didn't like that kind of thing. The experience was not as good as going down the mountain to find prostitutes.

Some barracks were filled with deafening shouts, where people were gambling with dice... These hooligans, their eyes bloodshot, had often been gambling until dawn.

The leader never actually stopped them, simply assuming these idiots were patrolling the stronghold all night.

The point of going up the mountain is to be carefree, eat meat to your heart's content, and divide gold by the scale. If you can't gamble or visit prostitutes, then what the hell is the point of going up the mountain!

The only one unhappy was the second-in-command, a lousy scholar. After coming up the mountain last year, he had banned it several times, saying that it wouldn't amount to anything. So everyone hid their gambling equipment and gambled secretly.

Two days ago, this scholar fled back like a dog. I heard he was killed by the Imperial Guards, or some say he was killed by a village bully called Ning the Demon King from Li Family Village... Ha, Ning the Demon King, a village bully, what a joke! ... This scholar surnamed Xiao had previously led two hundred brothers down with him, but this time he lost them all and was covered in blood. Now, when his brothers gamble in front of him, the scholar doesn't dare to say another word... Even a scout can find something to say to him.

He dragged his feet as he walked towards the camp gate.

The Black Tiger Stronghold's camp fence faced southeast and was three zhang high. The outer fence was made of wood, while the inner fence was made of bricks and stones. To prevent the soldiers from setting fires, the outer wooden fence was coated with orpiment.

A large wooden gate was built in the middle. Walking out of the gate, there was a long slope about four zhang wide and one hundred zhang long.

The slope was very steep and covered with sand. Horses could barely make it up, but if a cart were to be pulled up, it would definitely not be able to.

The locals call this place Ma'erpo, and they all follow suit, thinking it's a good omen... Whoever attacks our village, their family will be in mourning!

The village was piled with logs and stones. When the soldiers came, they would push the logs and stones down, killing half of the villagers before they could even touch the village gate!

Outside the gate of the village stood two high platforms, one on the left and one on the right, each about four zhang high.

The scouts above climbed down, and the scouts below climbed up. During the handover, they yawned a few times and muttered a few curses like "Why are you so late?" and that was how the change of shifts was completed.

Standing on the high, chilly platform, looking down, one sees the almost vertical green mountains, and looking back, one sees the large stronghold that has been built by bandits over the years.

In the center of the village stands a rather large wooden barracks, with a flag embroidered with a black tiger on its roof. This is the council hall of Black Tiger Village.

In the pale light of dawn, the council hall was brightly lit, and a cacophony of noise could be heard from within.

"Boss, spies from all over the country have reported that several thousand-household garrisons in the surrounding area have indeed started to move, and the imperial court has even sent down some bird-like governor..." In the center of the hall, someone bowed and reported the situation in detail.

A dozen or so bigwigs sat on either side, some with worried expressions, others with disdain.

"After our two hundred brothers were lost, that guy surnamed Ning came after us. Our friend in the garrison said that this guy surnamed Ning persuaded their garrison commander to send not only soldiers but also his personal guards..." As the person in the room reported, he glanced at the second seat next to the main seat in the hall, where a sickly young man was sitting... The young man was expressionless, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.

Just then, a burly man wearing a sweat towel laughed and said, "Good timing! Wasn't the second-in-command tricked by this guy surnamed Ning? Even if he hadn't come, we would have gone to find him!"

"Hey, you long-armed monkey!" A tall, thin bamboo pole across from him sneered. "Listen to me carefully, those henchmen from the thousand-household commander's household are all here. You monkey, relying on your long arms to escape, you think you can? But our village isn't going anywhere!"

Long-Armed Monkey slammed his hand on the chair and cursed, "Long-Shoulder! You fucking start talking nonsense! Who the hell are these servants! Run? Run my ass! When these bastards come, I'll be the first one to charge, or I'm not a true hero!"

"Hehe." Long Tiao chuckled a few times. "You're going first? You monkey, are you going to get chopped into mincemeat by the servants?"

"You!—" The long-armed monkey slammed its fist on the table and stood up instantly!

"Hey! We're all brothers, what's all this fuss about!" People on both sides immediately stood up and started to smooth things over... Long Tiao chuckled twice and sat back down, while Tongbi Hou glared at the other side resentfully, but was also pushed back down by someone.

In the front row, someone stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Chief, this time we'll stick to the old tricks and focus on defense. The village will be self-sufficient and can last for half a year. The government troops can't attack us anyway."

At this moment, the young man in the second seat coldly said, "They have gunpowder."

"Haven't we had this before?" No sooner had Xiao Chun finished speaking than someone on the left stood up and loudly retorted!

In the past, the government occasionally used firearms against them, but it was of little use; more often than not, the guns exploded and killed them.

The government also had cannons, but those things were too heavy for the soldiers to pull up. They just set them up at the foot of the mountain, fired one shot as a show, and then pulled them back.

The group reminisced about the scenes, their tone relaxed and cheerful, but as they spoke, they would occasionally glance at the livid-faced second-in-command... Hey! Afraid of gunpowder? You son of a bitch!

Changtiao stood up again, clasped his hands in a fist and said without any politeness, "Second-in-command, you stumbled and were scared out of your wits by the gunpowder. We don't blame you, but if you keep bringing this thing out to scare us, boosting the morale of others and diminishing the prestige of the village, then we, Changtiao, will be a little dissatisfied!"

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, echoing with "Changtiao makes sense"... In their conversation, they became increasingly less polite to the former Little Zhuge Liang from Black Tiger Mountain.

Xiao Chun's eyes swept over the dozen or so menacing leaders below, his right cheek scar twitching slightly, but he gritted his teeth and held back.

With a formidable enemy at hand, the leaders were too lazy to keep mocking Little Zhuge Liang, and their conversations eventually circled back to the encirclement by the government troops.

Some suggested going down the mountain to ambush the government troops before they arrived and eliminate several groups of them.

Some people say that the village is now missing two hundred red sticks, and the newly recruited brothers are not strong enough. Defending the village is the most important thing. We should take advantage of this time to prepare more logs and sand.

The noise continued for a long time. Some people slammed their fists on the table, some smashed bowls, and some swung chairs as if to hit someone. In short, everyone was red-faced and the atmosphere was very heated.

At that moment, a soft cough came from the head of the hall.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Everyone turned around and looked at the imposing man sitting upright in the tiger-skin chair.

Meng Hao, the leader of Black Tiger Stronghold, smiled calmly.

He first praised the brothers, saying that their suggestions were very insightful. He then said that the second-in-command's fault was not due to a lack of fighting spirit, but mainly because the spy Wang Fu had spread false information. He added that Wang Fu's head had been removed and displayed to the public.

He also emphasized that Black Tiger Stronghold had all the advantages of favorable timing, location, and human resources compared to the government troops, and that even a hundred years from now, the stronghold would still be indestructible.

After this brief exchange, Meng Hao's eyes darkened, and he smiled, changing the subject: "However... brothers, now that the imperial court has sent an inspector, have you considered... whether we... could be granted amnesty?"