Chapter 219 Acting
The next morning, the people Lin Changning and his men had sent out returned early.
After morning drills, Qi Rong called Lin Changning and Lao Han to gather in the tent.
As expected, the Tartars were willing to exchange their Han slaves for Lin Changning and his men's prisoners.
The given time was two days later, and the location was Yongzhou City. After the two sides exchanged personnel, they called a truce. After thinking for a while, Lin Changning said, "Then I will go and spread false information first. In order to let this information spread unintentionally, we still need to put on a good show."
There were naturally some Tartars who understood Chinese, so in order to successfully send out the message, it was necessary to let the information circulate among the Tartars unintentionally and without deliberate intent.
As for how to pass it on, Lin Changning already had a plan in mind.
These prisoners are now kept in one place, and each day they are given only a little bit of cornbread and a little water to barely fill their stomachs. This is to prevent them from eating too much, because if they don't eat enough, they won't have the strength, and if they don't have the strength, they won't be able to form a qualified fighting force.
Although the tendons of these people had been severed, the Tartars were fierce and barbaric, so being cautious was always better than nothing.
After receiving the order, Lin Changning led Lao Han to the place where the Tartars were imprisoned. The two of them exchanged a few words with a few food deliverymen, then changed their clothes and pretended to be food deliverymen. Together with the two people in front, they carried the food buckets inside.
Lin Changning looked at Lao Han and couldn't help but feel a little nauseous. Lao Han's body was too strong, and even the soldier's clothes couldn't hide the fierceness in his bones.
Lin Changning rubbed his temples, told Lao Han to change back, and whispered a few words to him. Lao Han looked at Lin Changning suspiciously: "Can they believe me if I say that?"
"There shouldn't be any problems. Seeing is believing, so we should avoid them a bit to make it seem more real."
Old Han scratched his head: "Alright, let's go."
After saying that, Lao Han led the three men swaggering into the place where prisoners were held.
“Hey, let me tell you, we’re going to exchange hostages in two days. These people can’t die! If one or two die, we’ll lose a few civilians. These two need to be more alert. We can give them things, but don’t give them too much to eat.”
Lin Changning and two soldiers bowed and followed behind Lao Han, saying "Yes, sir." After they finished speaking, Lao Han swaggered over and sat down at the guard's small table.
"You guys go distribute the food first, I'll sit here and have a drink for a while."
Lin Changning and the two soldiers exchanged a glance, then went to distribute the buns to the prisoners one by one.
Each person only gets half a nest, and quite a few people, with their hands tied, still try to steal other people's nests.
A group of people, their hair disheveled and dirty, looked at the cornbread in their hands with shining eyes.
The three of them were subtly distributing steamed buns when Lin Changning casually brought up the matter of exchanging hostages.
“It’s really boring to be around them every day; it’s like fighting with dogs for food every day.”
A soldier spat on the Tartar.
"If you ask me, we shouldn't waste food on these people. These beasts who were born of mothers but not raised by them killed so many of our people. They all deserve to be torn to pieces."
Lin Changning sighed and subtly observed the people imprisoned here. Suddenly, one person caught his attention. That person seemed to be a minor leader, and his clothes were somewhat different from the others.
Lin Changning approached and casually said, "Who wouldn't want to kill them? It's just that there are still many people in other cities. I heard that we are only planning to use these prisoners to exchange for the people of our Great Xuan. I don't know if it's true or not."
One of the soldiers sighed and said, "That must be true, otherwise why would they still be giving out food and feeding them every day? Sigh, the dead are gone, so we can only take care of the living first. Otherwise, I would really like to chop all these people up and feed them to the dogs."
The person Lin Changning noticed raised his head, and after realizing the soldier was looking at him fiercely, he quickly lowered his head.
Lin Changning turned to the side, exchanged a glance with one of the soldiers, and continued, "Anyway, their Achilles tendons have been severed, so even if they are put back, they will be crippled anyway, so it doesn't matter."
The person with their head down, out of the soldier's sight, cast a sinister gaze like needles piercing behind Lin Changning.
Lin Changning had noticed this person long ago. After seeing that this person's reaction was somewhat different from the others, he realized that this person probably understood Chinese.
After locking onto the person, Lin Changning and several other soldiers went to distribute food to other areas.
At this moment, Lao Han was sitting at the table drinking, and soon his face turned bright red.
After Lin Changning and the three soldiers returned, they put down their food buckets. Lin Changning knelt down beside Lao Han and said obsequiously, "Commander, it's not good for you to just drink all the time. I'll go to the water and fire station and get you some peanuts and vegetables."
Old Han waved his hand: "Go away, go away, and ask them to bring more peanuts to go with their drinks."
Lin Changning accepted the order and led one of the men out the door to find a cook to prepare some dishes and peanuts.
After taking a few sips of wine, Old Han suddenly stood up, swaying as he surveyed the group of prisoners. As he drank, he picked up a horsewhip and lashed it hard across the Tartars.
They were muttering curses under their breath, mostly unpleasant things, and the Tartars kept their heads down, trying to avoid Old Han's whip.
Old Han looked drunk, but he was actually quite sober at the moment, silently counting the people who could understand Mandarin that Changning had just whispered to him about.
When they reached the front and back of the prison, Old Han seemed to trip over something. The leader inside slightly raised his eyes, looked at Old Han, and curled the corners of his mouth slightly, seemingly with some disdain.
Old Han's eyes widened as he pointed his riding crop at the young leader: "Hey, wasn't he just laughing at me? Damn it! Bring him out here, I'm going to beat him to death today!!!"
The soldier glanced at Old Han, cupped his hands in a gesture of hesitation, and said, "Commander, you can fight back to vent your anger, but don't kill him."
Old Han said impatiently, "Just bring people up, don't make a fuss!"
The soldier, somewhat helpless, opened the cell door and dragged out the leader. Old Han's whip whistled through the air as it lashed out at the leader.
"Weren't you just laughing at me? Keep laughing, why did you stop?"
The junior leader looked up, his eyes brimming with undisguised resentment.
"You're still glaring at me! I'll teach you to glare at me!!"
Old Han cursed and swore as he lashed out at the junior leader with his whip.
The young leader was quite tough; he didn't utter a sound. Old Han got tired of whipping him after a while, squatted down on the ground panting, and pointed his whip at the young leader, cursing, "You've got guts, but what good are guts? You'll still die in a while, hahaha!!"
The young leader suddenly looked up at Old Han, who lashed out with his whip again. This time, the whip struck the young leader's face, leaving a bloody welt.
"You incomprehensible bastards! What are you looking at? You really think you'll live if we let you go back? Heh heh, the imperial army is coming to wipe you out soon!!! Cherish these days you're alive!!!"
The soldier standing nearby asked in great surprise, "Commander? Is the imperial court going to attack the Tartars?"
Old Han pretended to have a lisp: "Of course, when the main army arrives in time, these people will still die!!!"
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