Starting with Intercepting and Marrying the Eldest Princess - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: “This Is Xie Jing’s Corpse…”

It was evening. Xie Ning led the five hundred soldiers of the Vermillion Bird Camp to advance secretly along the rugged and steep mountain path, deep into Qing’an Mountain. The setting sun of autumn illuminated the forest, its slanting rays warm and gentle.

“Commander, the valley about a hundred paces ahead is the place.” Two scouts returned from reconnaissance, crouched low, turned back, pointed in the direction of the valley behind them, and spoke in hushed voices.

Xie Ning nodded and walked about a hundred paces forward with the scouts.

Standing under the hazel trees, she looked out at the valley. Inside the valley, on flat ground, well-organized houses with gray brick and tile roofs were built. Bandits moved back and forth among them, and there were even women washing clothes by the small river.

The Qing’an Mountain bandits on guard, wearing cloth head coverings and holding knives, stood on bamboo towers, patrolling back and forth. Viewed from afar, it resembled a small village.

Liang Cheng asked in a deep voice: “Did you find any hidden sentries?”

The scout replied: “We found three and eliminated them. My subordinate just went to check. The mountain stronghold’s defenses are weak. There are only about two hundred bandits with knives. The rest are elderly, women, and children who were plundered, washing clothes, chopping wood, and boiling water for the bandits.”

Xie Ning nodded. She followed the scouts fifty paces to the left, standing on a densely forested hill covered by hazel and pine trees. She gazed out at the valley, taking in the entire layout of the stronghold. Her expression was solemn, and she whispered: “Old Liang, as soon as it gets dark, you lead a hundred men to attack from the southwest flank. I will lead the main force to sneak attack from the front.”

Liang Cheng frowned: “Sir, the front is too dangerous. Why don’t I lead the assault?”

“It doesn’t matter. When these busy elderly and weak return to the stronghold, it will be the time when the bandits are most relaxed. The gate will be wide open. We will seize the opportunity to attack. You just need to support from the side, and we can minimize casualties,” Xie Ning whispered.

“Besides, this is my first battle. If I fear danger now, I won’t have the face to raise the Vermillion Bird flag.”

Holding a high position yet willing to face arrows and stones and charge ahead, Xie Ning’s action earned Liang Cheng’s salute with clasped hands.

At the same time.

At a fork in the road about six or seven li from Qing’an County town, Li Dabalai (Scarface Li) led six or seven hundred bandits to enter the mountain forest near the road, concealing themselves in two groups, one in front and one behind.

“Chief, you are truly smart. If it weren’t for your decision, the stronghold would have been in real danger this time.”

Listening to his subordinates’ flattery, Li Dabalai laughed loudly: “As long as I can surround this group of people, whether it’s the Vermillion Bird Camp or some other bird’s nest camp, I’ll turn them into a dead camp!”

Just then, a subordinate came from the rear and whispered: “Chief, there are about two thousand soldiers about two li from us.”

Li Dabalai was stunned, then enraged: “Didn’t those dog officials report only five hundred men!”

“I can’t fight two thousand! Retreat first!”

The subordinate cried: “Boss, I only said they were two li from us, I didn’t say if they were in front of us or behind us.”

Li Dabalai was taken aback. Before he could react, he saw the two thousand Imperial Guards led by Wan Yue appear behind them.

Wan Yue was also stunned on the spot. Looking at the attire of the group in front, are they mountain bandits?

Why would mountain bandits appear here? Do they also intend to encircle?

Wan Yue frowned. Just as he was about to suggest a joint attack to the leader, he saw Li Dabalai charge towards them in extreme fury.

Wan Yue: “…”

As for Xie Ning’s side, as soon as it got dark, she led the five hundred well-rested soldiers of the Vermillion Bird Camp, divided into two teams, and rushed toward the valley’s main gate under the cover of twilight.

At that moment, the elderly, women, and children in the stronghold were returning from washing clothes and chopping wood, walking slowly towards the gate. When the official army charged, they immediately scattered and fled.

“Enemy attack…”

The bandits eating steamed buns on the parapet of the single-story high gate were instantly thrown into chaos upon seeing this. They quickly grabbed their knives before even swallowing their food, rushing to meet Xie Ning who was ascending the ramp onto the stockade wall.

But just then, a flash of a blade appeared. The bandit’s eyes widened slightly. He felt a sudden darkness and a cloud of blood mist sprayed from his neck.

Xie Ning brandished the goose-quill saber in her hand, having killed one bandit, and continued to charge into the stronghold.

At the same time, the hundred soldiers led by Liang Cheng also charged out from the other side. The two forces were like two arrows, slaughtering the bandits.

The bandits were caught off guard and fell into chaos. After sixty or seventy of them died, they finally couldn’t hold on and completely collapsed, kneeling to surrender.

Xie Ning saw the trembling women, elderly, and children hiding in the dark. She waved her hand: “Keep a few who can speak. Kill all the rest!”

“Yes!”

The killing finally stopped in the Qing’an Mountain stronghold when the night shrouded the forest and the bright moonlight shone into the valley.

Xie Ning frowned, smelling the strong scent of blood in the air. She walked toward the assembly hall of the stronghold. Just as she was about to enter the hall, Tang Zhong brought out a man who looked like a scholar.

“Sir, he is the third leader of the stronghold.”

“You are the Grand Princess’s Imperial Son-in-Law?” Before Xie Ning could speak, the scholar stared intensely at Xie Ning and asked.

“Be honest, kneel down!” Two soldiers kicked Fan Yi’s knee. The scholar grimaced in pain but only muffled a grunt.

“Where are the others from your place?” Xie Ning asked indifferently.

Mentioning this, the scholar let out a cold snort but truthfully recounted what happened.

It turned out that after receiving the news of the Vermillion Bird Camp entering the city, Li Dabalai, the chief leader of Qing’an Mountain, took the second leader and over six hundred men, divided into two groups, left Qing’an Mountain, and set up an ambush.

Only this third leader was left in the stronghold, commanding two hundred men to stay behind.

Xie Ning frowned: “Since you were prepared, why was the stronghold still so lax?”

The third leader shook his head: “If the truth was told, no one would be willing to stay behind, so this news was only known to the three of us. The Chief also used ‘going out to plunder’ as a pretext for taking people out.”

“I thought my two hundred men could hold out for a while. Once the Chief returned with his men, you would all be finished.”

“But the Chief… that’s right, why hasn’t the Chief returned yet?”

The scholar was stunned: “Do you have another ambush hidden?”

After hearing the third leader’s words, Xie Ning’s expression became somewhat strange. If her guess was correct, Li Dabalai had likely encountered Wan Yue.

Sure enough, Li Jing, who had been responsible for watching Wan Yue in the rear, also rushed over quickly: “Brother Jing, Brother Jing!”

“That Wan Yue and the mountain bandits are fighting!”

Xie Ning’s spirit lifted. This is truly heaven helping me!

“Liang Cheng!”

“Subordinate present!”

“Leave fifty people here to watch. The rest follow me back to the battle!”

Liang Cheng hesitated: “Sir, those Son of Heaven’s Imperial Guards…”

Xie Ning showed a hint of a cruel smile: “Kill them all the same!”

Wan Yue looked at the remaining thousand or so Imperial Guards behind him, startled and angry.

“Li Dabalai, are you mad!”

Li Dabalai also had only about two hundred men left, but he laughed heartily: “I thought this North-Pacifying Army bunch was formidable, but didn’t we bandits still manage to kill half of them! My death is worth it!”

“Brothers, charge!”

As soon as Li Dabalai finished speaking, he saw some movement in the direction of the stronghold.

Wan Yue’s gaze instantly froze, and his face turned slightly pale.

In an instant, a portion of soldiers appeared in the center of his vision, followed by the left, the right, the far left, the far right…

They appeared as if by magic, standing in dense rows, quietly watching under the moonlight.

Wan Yue’s teeth couldn’t stop chattering, making a “clack-clack” sound.

A banner appeared in his sight, and the standard-bearer kept waving it.

Following the waving, the Vermillion Bird Army slowly walked out of the forest.

Fifty, one hundred, two hundred, five hundred…

Their pace was neither fast nor slow, as if they were strolling in a meadow.

Li Dabalai was dumbfounded, knowing that the stronghold had been lost. But there were only five hundred people here. He had just used four hundred people to take down a thousand. Could two hundred men not take down five hundred now!

“Brothers, Heaven does not want us to die! Follow me and charge!”

With a roar, Li Dabalai led two hundred men and charged toward the Vermillion Bird Army.

Xie Ning slowly drew her saber. The Vermillion Bird Army also slowly drew their sabers. The blades reflected a chilling cold light under the moonlight.

Li Dabalai was full of confidence.

Li Dabalai charged in.

Li Dabalai frowned.

Li Dabalai was gone…

Xie Ning stepped forward, kicked Li Dabalai’s corpse, and asked the stunned Wan Yue: “Was he always this brave?”

Wan Yue shook his head, gave a bitter smile, and slowly clenched the saber in his hand.

Xie Ning frowned: “You still want to resist?”

Wan Yue had no choice but to resist. They were the Son of Heaven’s Imperial Guards. If they surrendered, even if they could return alive, the Emperor would not let them go, nor would he spare their families.

It was better to fight to the death now.

“Come, let me see the gap between us and the North-Pacifying Army!”

So Wan Yue saw it.

But he could no longer describe it to anyone.

Xie Ning searched his body and pulled out a secret imperial decree. After reading it, she tucked it into her robes.

This was the secret decree the Emperor wrote to Wan Yue. It was probably what the Grand Princess wanted.

So, here’s the question.

Is the Emperor sick in the head, needing to write a secret decree with the imperial seal to give orders to the Imperial Guards?

And how did Pei Shujing know this thing existed…

As for the contents of the decree, it was hard to comment.

Forget it, she won’t worry about it. She’ll leave everything to the Grand Princess.

After clearing the battlefield, Xie Ning sent someone to notify the Qing’an County officials to come tomorrow.

She and the Vermillion Bird Army rested in the stronghold overnight.

When the first ray of sunshine rose, Jin Zheng and the officials looked with astonishment at Xie Ning, whose eyes flashed with a bloodthirsty glint. They were speechless.

Xie Ning took a sip of tea and ordered the third leader and the items sorted out last night to be brought in.

“Gentlemen.”

Xie Ning held her saber and looked at the officials. Aside from Jin Zheng, no one dared to meet her gaze.

A miserable wail was heard. Everyone looked up and saw the third leader writhing on the ground like an eel, clutching his bleeding neck.

Everyone, including Jin Zheng, was so terrified that their hair stood on end. They dared not make a sound.

Xie Ning accepted an account book handed to her by Tang Zhong. As she flipped through a few pages, some officials’ faces drastically changed, while others’ hearts leaped into their throats.

Xie Ning casually looked through a few pages and closed the book: “I know some of you accepted a lot of things from the bandits. But it doesn’t matter. The bandits are dead, and I will pretend I didn’t see this account book.”

The officials of Qing’an County were even more shaken than before.

Didn’t Xie Ning want to kill all these corrupt officials?

Yes, but she couldn’t.

There were too many of them. If the matter were pursued, only Jin Zheng would be left as an official in the entire Qing’an County.

Even if they were all killed, who could guarantee that the replacements wouldn’t be even more greedy?

Right now, these people at least only accepted bribes. If the incoming officials saw no profit and turned their hands against the common people of Qing’an County, that would be even worse.

Moreover, this matter was not something she could handle.

Xie Ning threw the account book into the brazier, watching them with icy eyes.

“I have only one request: properly settle the women, elderly, and children who were plundered and brought to this mountain stronghold. Can you do this?”

Jin Zheng took a deep breath, knelt on the ground, and said respectfully: “We will definitely not fail the General’s order!”

The rest of the Qing’an County officials also knelt down: “We respectfully obey the General’s order!”

Xie Ning patted Jin Zheng’s shoulder: “I am the Imperial Son-in-Law. It can be said that I am the most idle person in the capital. And Qing’an County is only a hundred li from the capital. Understand?”

Upon hearing this, everyone’s heads bowed even lower.

“Get up. Prepare the horses. We should return to the capital.”

Jin Zheng stood up, intending to try and persuade her to stay for a few more moments, but he saw Xie Ning shake her head and say nothing more.

Xie Ning naturally wanted to rest for a while before leaving.

But for some reason, her heart kept pounding.

It felt as if something unpredictable was happening.

The capital.

The Grand Princess’s Residence.

Pei Shujing’s gaze was vacant.

Even though the decaying corpse at her feet was barely recognizable, she could still identify him.

This person was none other than—

Xie Jing.

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