Chapter 70 Chapter 70 Old acquaintance!

When the old shopkeeper, who was half asleep, heard about the night attack by the Northern Yuan cavalry, he was so frightened that he almost fainted. When he went out to look, he found it was so quiet outside that there was not even a ghost.

Why did the firewood pile at home catch fire?

"Put out the fire! Put out the fire quickly!" He was so heartbroken that he kept beating his chest and stamping his feet.

Chen Ling'an was really disappointed. "Why are you still worrying about the fire? Wake up the villagers and run!"

"Did you set my firewood on fire? That was the firewood my whole family needed to survive the winter!" The old shopkeeper grabbed Chen Ling'an and asked him to compensate.

Xiaoman heard the noise and ran out, "What's going on?"

Chen Ling'an pushed the old shopkeeper aside, handed Xiaoman a dagger, and said briefly, "Northern Yuan cavalry, hide in the fields."

Xiaoman understood immediately, and without saying a word, rushed into the kitchen, grabbed the washbasin and rolling pin, and started banging them loudly.

She ran and shouted while knocking on the door: "The Tartars are coming! The Tartars are coming! Everyone is hiding in the fields -"

It was like a drop of water falling into a boiling oil pan. The children's frightened cries, the adults' panicked shouts, the clinking sounds of people packing up... suddenly threw the village into chaos under the cover of night.

The local security guard came running over, sweating profusely, grabbed Xiaoman's arm and asked, "Who are you? How did you know the Tartars were coming?"

There was no time to explain in such a hurry, and explanation would be useless. It would be more efficient to use the authority of an official to pressure him at this time.

Chen Ling'an quickly took the badge from Lao Niu and waved it in front of the local security guard. "Captain of the Imperial Guards, I will obey your orders!"

He moved too quickly and it was dark, so the security guard could only see the two words "Zhili", but these two words were enough to shock him.

The local security guard hurriedly sent someone to the town to report the news, and ordered the young men in the village to guard the village entrance with weapons. He also shouted at several villagers in frustration: "It's already late, and you are still caring about your few broken belongings!"

Chen Ling'an looked at the guard carefully, then shouted to the two still-dazed guards, "Grab your knives and fight the enemy!"

The two jailers felt so unlucky and hesitated to step forward.

The sound of the earth shaking was getting closer and closer, and the shouts of the Northern Yuan army rising up could be heard.

Chen Ling'an said coldly, "Either you go and kill the enemy, or I will kill you now and sacrifice my life for my country. You will leave behind a good reputation, and your family will receive compensation from the court."

Xiao Ma was young and full of vigor, and he couldn't stand it when he heard this. He stiffened his neck and shouted, "You don't need to provoke me. I'm not as good as a convicted traitor like you."

The old cow was unable to stop it and could only sigh.

The horses' hooves thundered, and the Northern Yuan cavalry obviously did not take these farmers seriously. Even though they knew their whereabouts had been exposed, they still rushed forward recklessly.

When they reached the village entrance, the first few horses suddenly neighed and fell down. The cavalrymen on the horses were unable to react in time and fell off their horses one after another.

Tripwire!

Chen Ling'an was secretly surprised. There was such a thing in this small village?

Seeing that the rebels behind were about to approach, he kicked a Northern Yuan soldier who had fallen off his horse and started to chop him with his sword.

Amidst the flash of blood, the shadow of swords, and the sounds of fighting, people kept falling...

The leader soon discovered that there was a young man whose knife skills were fast and fierce, different from others, and he actually killed several of his men in a row.

"Who are you?" the leader asked in broken official language.

The fire was burning brightly, and Chen Ling'an stood in the middle, making it hard to tell whether the red clothes on his body were blood or flames.

He gently wiped the blood from his cheek, his face expressionless, "Chen Ling'an."

The leader shook his head: "I haven't heard of it."

Chen Lingan sneered and said, "Don't worry, it will soon become a nightmare for you Beiyuan people."

As soon as he finished speaking, he flew up, and the knife in his hand came in front of the leader like a ghost.

With a scream, half of the leader's arm fell off.

"Our people are here!" someone shouted.

But in the distance on the official road, there were some flashing torches, moving very fast, which must be cavalry.

If you don't leave now, you might not be able to leave.

The remaining Northern Yuan cavalry immediately turned their horses around and retreated.

Finally, they saved their lives! The old cow and the little horse breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did they feel weak all over and scared in their hearts. They collapsed to the ground involuntarily.

Chen Lingan glanced at them and said, "He didn't run away from the battlefield. He's a real man."

Xiao Ma was about to say something back at him, but when he saw the dead and injured villagers on the ground, the corners of his mouth drooped again.

Chen Ling'an asked the local security guard, "The tripwire is something the military uses. Where did you get it?"

The local security guard said, "It was distributed to each village by the garrison. Every autumn those barbarians come to steal the food. There's really nothing we can do."

Chen Ling'an nodded thoughtfully and cast his eyes on the officers and soldiers who were rushing over. They were wearing five-colored cloth scarves, armor, and small helmets in the form of caps, which were clearly the attire of the regular cavalry of the garrison.

This place is not far from the security guard post, but it is definitely not a distance that can be traveled back and forth in half an hour.

The officers and soldiers split into two groups, one group continued to pursue the enemy, and the other group stayed to help the villagers clean up the battlefield and collect the bodies.

The captain in charge was very surprised that those fierce Northern Yuan cavalry were stopped at the village entrance by a few country villagers. They didn't get any food and their leader was seriously injured!

The local security guard pointed at Chen Ling'an and said, "Thanks to this officer for noticing the barbarians' movements in advance, otherwise we would have been killed before we even woke up. Look at these Tartars on the ground, almost all of them were killed by this officer."

The captain clasped his fists solemnly and asked, "May I ask where you are posted, sir?"

Chen Ling'an returned the greeting. "I, a criminal, dare not address myself as Your Excellency. I am Chen Ling'an, convicted of crimes by my superiors and exiled to the Huai'an Guard to garrison the border. These two are the officers who escorted me, Niu Desheng and Ma Xifu. They are brave and valiant, and have rendered great service."

Chen Ling'an?!

The captain managed to control himself and not scream out loud. He stared at the "big traitor" without blinking, and for a moment forgot to pay attention to the old cow and pony who were saluting him.

Chen Ling'an coughed softly.

The captain woke up as if from a dream and made a decision immediately, "I am Xue Chao, the general flag of Huaian Guard. You can come back to the camp with me, and I will report today's events in detail to my superiors."

Chen Lingan: "Huai'anwei is not close to here, you arrived just in time."

Xue Chao was also a clever man. He explained with a smile, "To prevent the Northern Yuan from invading from the south, the garrison issued new orders. In addition to the border, the cavalry is also required to patrol all counties within the defense zone. It's just a coincidence that Bao'an County happened to be patrolled tonight. We rushed here when we saw the fire."

"Is it only Huaian Guard that is carrying out this operation, or is it carried out by all the guards in Yanbei?"

"All the guards."

Chen Ling'an raised his eyebrows slightly and changed the army's daily drills into daily patrols. All the guards in Yanbei were linked together, which not only broke the barriers and rigidity between the guards, but also kept the army's mobilization firmly under his control.

This old guy has some tricks up his sleeve.

However, he did not plan to go directly to the garrison with Xue Chao.

Xue Chao didn't force it. Seeing that his men had almost finished cleaning up, he smiled and said, "Well, if you come to the garrison next time, just tell me if you have anything to say. We soldiers don't care about anything else. As long as you fight in the battlefield, you are our good brother!"

After saying this, he bowed, jumped on his horse, whistled, and led his men to meet up with the vanguard.

Chen Lingan hurried to find Xiaoman.

She stayed with the women and children in the village and was not injured. Chen Ling'an finally breathed a sigh of relief, and a look of fatigue after the tension appeared on his face.

When Xiaoman saw him covered in blood, she panicked and her face turned pale. She repeatedly confirmed that he was not injured, but tears were still welling up in her eyes.

This was just a harassment by a small group of Northern Yuan cavalry. It could not be considered a serious battle at all. The battlefield would be a hundred times more brutal than this.

The fear of losing him, which had been deliberately ignored and suppressed along the way, could no longer be suppressed.

But she didn't dare let Chen Ling'an know at all. She just lowered her head and told him to change his clothes in a low voice. She was secretly thankful that it was still dark and the person opposite her couldn't see her appearance clearly.

How could Chen Ling'an not know?

He said nothing, went back to the house, washed the blood off his body, changed his clothes, sat for a while, and then slowly walked out of the house.

It was dawn, and the misty white fog covered the earth. The desolate sound of bells spread over the village, carrying the low cries of the villagers, striking Chen Ling'an's heart again and again.

Xiaoman hugged his arms and said, "Twelve people died, all the pillars of the family..."

She couldn't continue.

Chen Lingan patted her hand soothingly, "It's time for us to set off."

Xiaoman: "I want to leave some money for those families."

Chen Lingan reminded her: "Just give small change, don't give large banknotes."

Xiaoman hesitated for a while, but finally nodded.

Before leaving, the old shopkeeper gave Chen Ling'an a large gourd of wine, and the village headman also gave them two miles of land. "If it weren't for you, my benefactor, I'm afraid there wouldn't be a single person left alive in our village. We will erect a longevity tablet for you, kowtow and burn incense every day, praying that you will be promoted to a noble position, become a prime minister, and enjoy long-lasting blessings."

Chen Ling'an smiled, and Xiaoman actually showed a bit of shyness in his smile, which was rare!

This person doesn't completely not care about other people's opinions.

The rest of the journey was easy, and three days later they arrived at Huaianwei.

Because Xiaoman's name wasn't on the document, the guards refused to let her into the prison camp. Pointing to a nearby village, they said, "That's where the officers' and soldiers' families live. There's a small post station there. Go stay there, young lady. It's really strange! We've only ever had exiled women here, never anyone coming here voluntarily!"

Xiaoman had no choice but to watch Chen Lingan's figure disappear into the dark door.

Once the handover was completed, Chen Ling'an followed the officers to the prison camp where exiled prisoners were detained.

The officer took him to the inspection hall, told him to wait, and then left. There wasn't a single officer or soldier in the hall, and it was utterly silent. Chen Ling'an was surprised. He looked around carefully several times, but couldn't see any hidden traps.

There was tea, fruits and snacks on the table. Chen Ling'an was thirsty, so he picked up the tea and drank it without any warning.

At the end, he added, "Not only is the tea from last year old, but it's also full of tea leaves. I'm amazed you can actually drink it. I admire you, I admire you."

But suddenly a burst of laughter erupted from outside the door. "You little brat, you're already my prisoner, and you're still being picky. I'm doing you a huge favor by not giving you a beating."

Before the laughter died down, a tall and mighty general appeared from behind the screen. It was none other than the eldest son of Marquis Pingyang, Qin Boyan!