Song Quanzhao stood rooted to the spot, not daring to move an inch, his mind filled with the thought that he must be dreaming.
But the sounds of pain that kept coming to his ears told him that this was not a dream.
I thought today's plans had been disrupted and the bandit suppression would be delayed, so I was just about to retreat.
Unexpectedly, the bandits suddenly got diarrhea and were all busy defecating. The mountain stronghold also caught fire, causing chaos. As a result, the bandits were easily captured.
These facts are really too strange.
Zhao Da and the other firefighters returned, covered in sweat and black ash from their faces and bodies.
Song Quanzhao quickly asked, "How is it? Were any civilians injured?"
He had just seen the fire engulf several thatched huts outside, which terrified him, fearing that the fire would kill innocent civilians.
Zhao Da scratched his head and asked in surprise, "There's no one in the house, and we haven't found any civilians. Sir, have these bandits hidden anyone?"
It was really strange. Not a single civilian was there, and all the bandits had stomach problems. Right now, quite a few of them were defecating, filling the entire village with an indescribable stench.
If he hadn't been certain he was fighting bandits, he would have suspected he was there to watch the bandits defecate.
Song Quanzhao frowned, glanced at the mountain that connected to the village, and said, "Take a few more men up the mountain and search for them. Make sure to bring them down safely."
Zhao Da quickly agreed and led a group of men up the mountain.
The rest of the people were taking inventory of the bandits and their valuables in the village.
Jiang Yimian came down from the mountain at this moment. She did not find any trace of Lu Cijian in the village and was unsure whether he had left or had been discovered by the authorities, so she came to check the situation.
Looking at the various scenes in the village, even though she was mentally prepared, she was still shocked when she saw the rows of bandits defecating.
What kind of laxative did Lu Cijian give these bandits? They're still having diarrhea. She feels her eyes are dirty.
Jiang Yimian quickly turned her head away, her eyes widening in surprise. "Lord Song, how did the village get burned like this? And what happened to those bandits?"
Upon seeing that it was her, Song Quanzhao breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time became alert. "Miss Jiang, what are you doing here? Didn't Zhao Da tell you not to come out today?"
He found it strange that all the bandits in the village had diarrhea, and that all the villagers had disappeared. The bandits' expectation of threatening the villagers did not come true.
While feeling fortunate, they also felt that the bandit suppression campaign had been won too easily.
If someone had infiltrated the village first to poison the bandits and then set fire to create chaos, all of that would make sense. Could all of this be the work of the person in front of us?
Jiang Yimian was a little embarrassed and just smiled and said, "I was just curious about what it was like for the government to suppress bandits, so I came to join in the fun. Don't worry, sir, I only took a few glances from afar and came down after seeing that the village had calmed down. I definitely didn't interfere with your bandit suppression."
Could this guy be suspecting her? She won't admit it, and even if he suspects her, he has no evidence.
Seeing the curiosity on Jiang Yimian's face, Song Quanzhao dismissed the thought. How could someone in front of him do something that even government officials couldn't? He must be overthinking it.
Although Miss Jiang is a little clever, that's all. If this person were really that capable, why would he be holed up in the mountain, afraid to come out?
Furthermore, if she were truly that powerful, she wouldn't have bothered to prepare a bland and strange meal in that small, low-lying area to gain his sympathy.
Judging from the complexions and physical condition of the people in the small depression, they were living relatively well. Although they didn't have plenty of meat and fish every day, they were still much better off than the people who had fled famine.
At first, I didn't think about it carefully because I was focused on the methods of suppressing the bandits. But after thinking about it carefully, I realized that this sympathy-seeking act was full of loopholes.
This also shows that Miss Jiang was just a clever girl, and the people in the small depression were all simple farmers, not that smart or capable.
This person couldn't have devised such a meticulous yet dangerous plan.
As for getting the news about the mountain stronghold from Wang Ergou, it was purely accidental, or you could say it was good luck.
They happened to run into Wang Ergou, who was alone. They ambushed him, captured him, and extracted information from him.
It's quite common to get an upset stomach; I guess the cook from the makeshift kitchen wasn't careful enough, which is why this happened.
Without doubt, Song Quanzhao's words became more sincere. He smiled and said to Jiang Yimian, "The government was able to successfully suppress the bandits thanks to Miss Jiang. I will thank Miss Jiang on behalf of the people of Qinghe County."
Jiang Yimian simply waved her hand, saying nonchalantly, "Lord Song, you flatter me. There's no need for further thanks. Just remember the hundred taels of silver."
She didn't want that empty thank you; money was much more practical.
Although she already had five hundred taels, she couldn't afford to lose the one hundred taels she had squeezed from the imperial court! It was what she deserved.
Song Quanzhao twitched his lips, but still nodded silently, becoming more and more certain that the matter of the bandits had nothing to do with Jiang Yimian. This guy only had money in his eyes and would never do, nor was he capable of, such a thankless task.
Just then, Ma Ming excitedly ran over.
"My lord, my lord, I found grain, medicine, and some money in the cellar."
Song Quanzhao was immediately overjoyed and quickly ordered several constables and Ma Ming to move the things out.
When the hundreds of bags of rice and flour were brought out of the cellar and neatly piled on the ground, Song Quanzhao's eyes instantly welled up with tears.
"Good, good, good, that's good now, the refugees have food to eat and won't go hungry anymore."
Although the imperial court had distributed a considerable amount of disaster relief funds, after being exploited and embezzled at each level, there was not much left by the time it reached Qingshui County. If he hadn't specifically used the disaster relief funds to buy cheap coarse grains and mixed rice, those refugees would have starved to death long ago.
The government doesn't have much silver right now, and the next batch of disaster relief funds hasn't arrived yet. He's really worried about this. Fortunately, he has these things, and luckily, they're not too much. He can report to the prefect and distribute them to the refugees himself.
Jiang Yimian nodded when she saw that Song Quanzhao was genuinely happy and there was no greed in his eyes. Fortunately, he was a good official who was wholeheartedly for the people, otherwise it would have been a waste of what she had painstakingly taken from him.
Ma Ming frowned as he looked at the boxes of medicinal herbs and said, "Sir, these herbs seem to belong to Young Master Lin's family. It looks like a lot of them were sold off by the bandits."
Looking at the items that were clearly less than what Lin Yan'an had mentioned, Song Quanzhao said helplessly, "There's nothing we can do about it. The bandits will definitely exchange the loot for silver as soon as they've taken it. They won't really leave it behind. Go and call Young Master Lin over so he can take a look at these goods."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
