After leaving the government office, Bai Ying and the other three followed Ye Feng to Beifeng City, intending to pick up the brothers from Langya Village.

The four men rode horses and followed behind Ye Feng.

Qian Ergou cupped his hands in greeting to Bai Ying and said, "This time, we are very grateful to Brother Bai Ying for pleading on our behalf before the Prince!"

Zhang Debiao also cupped his hands to Bai Ying: "Consider this a favor we owe you. If you ever need anything in the future, just let us know!"

Li Yuanbao also spoke up, saying, "I, Li Yuanbao, also owe you a favor!"

Compared to when they were in prison, these three were clearly much more sincere.

Bai Ying glanced at them, not taking credit: "It was the prince who released you. Even if you owe him something, you owe him a debt of gratitude!"

In truth, he hadn't done anything for them; it was only because the prince was magnanimous that he was willing to let them go.

He also knew that the prince deliberately mentioned him in front of them in order to win over the hearts of the people for him.

The prince is devoted to him, how can he take credit for it?

"Your Highness, we will repay you. Once we become his soldiers, we will naturally be willing to risk our lives for him!" Li Yuanbao said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Li Yuanbao was simple-minded. In his mind at this moment, he was already the prince's man, and even his life belonged to him. How could he dare to have any disloyal thoughts?

Qian Ergou immediately pledged his loyalty: "That's right. Since Your Highness has spared my life, my life now belongs to Your Highness. If Your Highness tells me to go east, I will never go west. I will obey Your Highness in everything!"

Zhang Debiao laughed and said, "From now on, we'll all be working for the Prince, so we'll all be brothers!"

Upon hearing this, Qian Ergou couldn't help but sigh, "I never imagined that after fighting each other, our four villages would eventually become one family. Fate is always so wonderful!"

"We must never do those robberies again!" Li Yuanbao said, as if speaking to himself and also to them.

Without a second thought, Qian Ergou raised his voice and said, "That's right! Now that we're with the Prince, we're no longer bandits. Why would we do anything so shameful?"

Zhang Debiao also stated, "His Highness established the Northern City Army for us. We are all generals of the Northern City Army. Although we are only deputy generals, we still have to set an example for the soldiers. We must never do anything that violates discipline or breaks the law again!"

The prince is especially strict with the law; I heard that quite a few officials in the north were executed this time!

The fact that the prince spared them this time is a huge relief; if they were to be beheaded by the prince for corruption and bribery in the future, it would be not only shameful but also a terrible loss!

Although Ye Feng was riding at full speed at the front, he heard every word the others said.

These people are not inherently bad, they have self-awareness, and they possess the courage and loyalty of bandits. It can be said that the prince did not make a mistake in recruiting them.

If these people are used well, they will definitely be able to help the prince in many ways, especially that White Eagle, who will surely become the prince's right-hand man in the future, just like the Marquis.

The four of them followed Ye Feng from Beifeng City to Beiming City, and then back to Bei'an, finally freeing all the bandits from the four villages. The bandits from the four villages were officially reunited.

After reuniting, before Ye Feng led them into the military camp, Bai Ying, Zhang Debiao, and the others first explained the situation to their respective brothers in their villages.

The brothers of Liuying Village were all calm, especially when they heard that the prince had appointed Bai Ying as the general of their Northern City Army, while Zhang Debiao and the others were only deputy generals. They were all very happy and proud.

They all respected Bai Ying very much and had long regarded him as a general. So naturally, whatever Bai Ying said went, and they had no objections at all.

But the people from the other three villages started making a scene.

"So, does that mean we can't be bandits anymore, and we'll all be soldiers?"

"When bandits are beheaded, soldiers get rations—that's a good thing!"

"But why isn't our leader the general? Why is that White Eagle the general?!"

"That's right! Liuying Village is just a bandit stronghold outside the northern border. When did it become their place to run wild in our northern lands? They even dared to steal our leader's position as general!"

"That's right, this is the North. How dare the Eagle Village act so arrogantly? Our Silver Tiger Village's leader should be the general. Our Silver Tiger Village is the largest village in the North!"

"Silver Tiger Stronghold is the largest stronghold in the North. Whoever acknowledges this should be the leader of our Black Panther Stronghold and become the general. No one else can take the position!"

"I support our Wolf Fang Stronghold's leader to become general; I won't accept anyone else as my leader!"

The people from the three villages started making a fuss, and the people from Liuying Village got upset and started shouting too.

"Hey, what do you mean? The one who made our leader a general is the prince. If you're so capable, go talk to the prince!"

"That's right, if you want to make trouble, go make trouble with the Prince. If you're not afraid of being exposed, then go ahead and make trouble!"

"Who do you think wants to be a general? It's because our leader is more capable than yours!"

Who among the other three villages would agree with this?

"Strong my ass! This is northern territory, what right do you outsiders have to yell at me!"

"Pah! Whether he's strong or not, we'll only know after we fight. If you're so capable, then make a move!"

They were exchanging insults back and forth, creating quite a scene, and the insults even seemed to be escalating into a physical fight.

Bai Ying spoke first, rebuking the people of Liuying Village: "Stop arguing! From now on, there is no Liuying Village, no Silver Tiger Village, no Black Panther Village, no Wolf Fang Village, no bandits, no thieves, only the Northern City Army. You are not bandits, you are not thieves, you are soldiers! There is no leader, second leader, third leader, or any leader of any village here. There is only General Bai, Deputy General Zhang, Deputy General Li, and Deputy General Qian. Do you understand?"

"Yes." The people from Liuying Village immediately responded loudly, not daring to say another word.

Zhang Debiao and the others genuinely admired the discipline of Liuying Village, but fortunately, their words carried some weight.

Zhang Debiao began by reprimanding the men of Silver Tiger Stronghold: "Did you all hear what General Bai said? These matters are not for discussion, but for notification. You are no longer bandits, much less bandits of Silver Tiger Stronghold; you are merely soldiers of the Northern City Army! You can choose to live as soldiers, or continue as bandits in prison or be beheaded!"

The people of Silver Tiger Village lowered their eyes in shame and shouted in unison, "We choose to join the army!"

Li Yuanbao also loudly reprimanded the people of Black Panther Stronghold: "Black Panther Stronghold is gone, all the other strongholds are gone. We are all soldiers of the Prince. Our highest leader is the Prince, and actually General Bai. We are the last few deputy generals. Do you all understand?"

"Understood!" the people of Black Panther Village shouted in unison.

Qian Ergou looked at the people of Langya Village and said, "I understand that it may be hard for everyone to accept this result for a while, but being a soldier is better than being a thief. There is no future in being a thief, but being a soldier can protect our country and bring honor to our ancestors. His Highness is kind-hearted and willing to give us a break. We should cherish this opportunity even more. From now on, we will follow His Highness's lead and obey General Bai's orders. Do you understand?"

The people of Langya Village shouted in unison, "We will follow the Prince's lead and obey General Bai's orders!"