Chapter 174 Am I worrying about nothing?

The women trusted Xiao Ning even more. After all, in this era, who would care about a woman's life?

But she cared about their lives and even sentenced the bandits who raped women to death.

Xiao Ning gave them time to settle their wives and children. As for the looted property from their village, it was certainly confiscated. Of course, travel expenses were also distributed to the women according to the head count budget.

Most of the women were abducted and brought up here, so they naturally had to go back home, even if their families were no longer around...

Some people were dissatisfied with Xiao Ning's verdict. They wanted all the bandits who destroyed their families to die!

No matter whether his hands are clean or not, it is better to burn down this village and burn all the people and their children to death!

But they were just floating duckweed. How could they expect the imperial generals to change their decision because of them? Even if they did, they would probably only bring shame upon themselves...

When those women left, some of them looked at Xiao Ning hatefully.

Xiao Ning didn't react much, but Xu Chong was very angry.

"What do they mean? We rescued them, but they don't even deserve a thank you. How can they just roll their eyes at us?"

Xiao Ning sighed: "We rescued them, but their relatives died because of these bandits. They wanted everyone here dead, but we spared these people's lives. How can they not hate us?"

Xu Chong was speechless.

Xiao Ning said, "The world is in such chaos. Everyone wants to live. Right and wrong are no longer clear. Let them hate. Our current plan is to quell the rebellion as quickly as possible and stop this endless killing."

Xu Chong uttered an "Oh" muffledly. Ever since leaving Shengjing City, everything he saw and heard along the way gradually overturned his previous cognition.

He originally wanted to make great achievements in the troubled times, but after seeing the tragic situation in the troubled times, he would rather be a soldier in the capital camp forever, receiving a few taels of silver every month, and then go home to farm when he is old enough, marry a young wife, have two children and live a happy life.

After arranging everything here, Xiao Ning led his men down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, they saw the two children they met the day before being held tightly in a woman's arms, and the three of them hugged each other and cried bitterly.

There were two young girls standing nearby, wiping their tears with their sleeves.

It seems that these are the mother and sister they are looking for.

Xiao Ning withdrew his gaze and continued to lead his troops forward.

When the boy saw Xiao Ning, he immediately came out of his mother's arms, threw himself at Xiao Ning's feet, and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, General, for rescuing my mother and sister..."

Xiao Ning: "...No need to thank me. Now that you and your son are reunited, you should go to your relatives and friends as soon as possible."

Their mother and sister had just glared at Xiao Ning, and now they felt a little embarrassed.

The boy said that they were almost starving to death, and they happened to meet these soldiers and were able to save their lives by eating the bread given by the young general.

The woman clutched the corner of her clothes, came over, leaned slightly towards Xiao Ning, and saluted, "Thank you, General, for saving my child's life."

Xiao Ning avoided her greeting and said, "You are too polite, Madam. It's just a small favor."

Seeing Xiao Ning about to leave, the woman hurriedly said, "I am the daughter of the Wang family of Luling, and my husband's family is the Sun family of Youyang. If the general can send someone to escort me and my family to my parents' home in Luling, I will reward them with a thousand gold coins."

Xiao Ning said, "I'm sorry, we are under the Emperor's order to suppress the rebellion. Madam, you have to walk the rest of the way on your own."

After Xiao Ning finished speaking, he nodded slightly at her and turned to leave.

The woman watched Xiao Ning leave, gritting her teeth and saying, "I already told him my surname, but he refused to help me!"

The boy held her hand and said comfortingly, "They are coming from the south and are passing through Luling. Judging from the general's style of conduct, I think our journey south will be relatively peaceful."

In troubled times, no matter who you are, you cannot escape hardship.

Even those rebels specifically targeted the powerful families for looting. They loved their gold, silver, food, and the girls they had raised...

The girl came over, took her other hand, and shook it twice. "Brother is right, Mom, let's go quickly and go to uncle's house early~"

When the woman heard her children say this, she had no choice but to swallow her anger and turned around to take them to Luling.

As for the reputation that has been lost...

After sending her son and youngest daughter to Luling, she would take her eldest daughter and niece with her to die.

Xiao Ning led his men back to the makeshift camp.

"Find a military doctor to treat these people's injuries. We'll continue our journey in three days."

Li Yuan gave orders after hearing this.

Soon several military doctors came over, all of them were older, only...

Xiao Ning glanced at the young military doctor who was following several old military doctors with his head down. He looked thin and small, as if he was malnourished.

She had looked through the list of military doctors at the time. There was a famous young military doctor named Lu Li, who seemed to be about 22 years old.

But why does this person look like a child?

As far as she knew, the military doctor profession in Dayong was also hereditary, and there was no such thing as a family not being able to afford food, so... was it innate?

Xiao Ning watched several military doctors come in to clean the wounds of the wounded. Although the military doctor named Lu Li was short, kept his head down and didn't say much, he was very skilled in treating the wounds, which showed that he had real skills.

Xiao Ning withdrew his gaze and turned back to his tent. On the way, he met Shen Zhiyi who was walking towards him. Xiao Ning didn't want to pay attention to him, but he blocked Xiao Ning's way.

"I heard that you incorporated those bandits into your team?"

Xiao Ning nodded, "Yes, does Supervisor Shen have any objections?"

Shen Zhiyi: "...These people are from bandit backgrounds, engaged in burning, killing and looting. Aren't you afraid that they will bring bad morale to the army?"

Xiao Ning: "I dare to ask for it, so I'm not afraid of this."

Shen Zhiyi: "...Am I worrying about nothing?"

"I'm glad to know." Xiao Ning raised his hand and patted his shoulder, smiling and said, "Okay, Shen Jianjun worked hard last night, go back and rest."

Shen Zhiyi froze when he was slapped, and took a step back with an ugly look on his face.

Xiao Ning: “…”

She withdrew her hand nonchalantly and returned to her tent.

After three days of rest, the army set out.

As for those bandits who are still injured...oh no, they should be called recruits now.

Naturally, they followed with gritted teeth.

However, their bones were not injured to begin with, and they had rested for three days. Now they were just going to suffer a little more if they hurried on this journey, but it would not cost them their lives.

The fact that they survived was already a great favor from the general.

How dare you ask for anything else?

Yes, during these three days, Xiao Ning gave them a good ideological lesson.

They were just small-time soldiers who had just joined the army and still had the mentality of small peasants. Xiao Ning just gave them a simple explanation and made them realize their mistakes deeply.

Xiao Ning took the opportunity to promote some new ideas through storytelling.

They were stunned by what they heard.

The soldiers on one side were used to it.

When they were in the camp, Xiao Ning often told them some strange things.

At first, they just listened to it for fun.

After a long time, I felt that what she said seemed to make sense.

Especially the phrase "The people are the most important, the country is second, and the emperor is the least important."

At first glance, it sounds outrageous.

Thinking about it later, yes, why do they have to regard the monarch as heaven?

The monarch they are loyal to still treats them as worthless.