Mu Lingchen looked back at the vast swarm of bandits and exclaimed, "There really are so many bandits in the North! Judging by this number, there must be tens of thousands of them!"
Xuanyuan Zhan raised an eyebrow: "Four villages, I estimate there are forty thousand people!"
"So many!" Mu Lingchen was taken aback by the sheer number of people, then, as if remembering something, he frowned and asked, "So, what do you plan to do with these people?"
What about the forty thousand bandits?
We can't just kill them all!
"Let's get to Beian City first and then we'll talk about it." Xuan Yuanzhan himself hadn't figured out how to deal with these bandits.
The group headed towards Beian City in a grand procession.
As they continued their journey deeper northward, they encountered many refugees fleeing the disaster.
The refugees were all very curious when they saw such a large group of people.
Why are there so many soldiers?
"What's going on? Where did all these soldiers come from?"
"It seems like it's not just government soldiers; the people in the middle are all bandits!"
"These bandits must have been captured!"
"I think I can see some of the leaders of Silver Tiger Stronghold."
"Several leaders from Black Panther Village and Wolf Fang Village are inside."
"Could they have all been arrested?!"
"It looks very likely. So many bandits have all been captured!"
"Who's the leader? He's got some serious skills, managing to capture so many bandits all at once!"
"I heard that the Emperor sent the Holy King to the North to provide disaster relief and suppress bandits. I wonder if that's the leader?"
"I saw that they were also escorting a lot of grain carts. I wonder if the Emperor's relief grain from the north has arrived."
"Really? The disaster relief supplies have arrived, so aren't we saved?"
"Should we still run?"
"The disaster relief supplies have arrived, and the bandits have all been captured. What are you running for? Go back!"
The refugees who were originally heading out suddenly turned around and followed the soldiers towards Beian City.
Mu Lingchen looked at the large group of refugees who had suddenly followed behind and exclaimed, "There are quite a few refugees from the North!"
Xuanyuan Zhan frowned: "There are even more in the city."
He has only been to Bei'an City; he has not been to any other cities yet.
If Bei'an is in such a state, the other cities must be in no better shape!
This is a good opportunity to publicly execute Chen Chuan and distribute relief food; that should appease the refugees.
When the group arrived in Beian City, it was already fully light.
The refugees sitting at the gate of Beian City were so frightened by the arrival of the massive army that they all ran into the city.
The soldiers guarding Beian were quite frightened when they saw so many soldiers coming. Just as they were about to close the city gate, Mu Lingchen shouted, "The Holy King is here! Quickly open the city gate!"
"The Holy King?"
The soldiers were stunned to see Xuan Yuanzhan sitting on his horse. Some immediately opened the city gates, while others notified the prefect.
The refugees following behind became somewhat agitated upon hearing Mu Lingchen's words.
"It really is the Holy King!"
"The Holy King has arrived in the North! Our North is saved!"
After the city gates opened, Xuan Yuanzhan and Mu Lingchen led a large group of people into Bei'an City.
The refugees in Beian City had all been hiding, but when they recognized that their leader was Xuan Yuanzhan, they were no longer afraid.
Several refugees ran out and excitedly said to Xuan Yuanzhan, "So it's you, young master! You've returned!"
Some people still remembered that Xuan Yuanzhan had followed Zhang Debiao, the leader of Silver Tiger Stronghold, and now they couldn't help but earnestly advise him: "Young master, you are such a good person, you can't really go to Silver Tiger Stronghold. It's full of bandits, there isn't a single good person there!"
Hearing what the refugees were saying, Zhang Debiao, who was behind them, wanted to explode, but he was being held back by the soldiers and didn't dare to speak.
How come they are all bad people?
The prince originally intended to kill them, but now they're slandering Silver Tiger Stronghold like this. Isn't this driving them to their doom?
Knowing that they genuinely cared about him, Xuan Yuanzhan looked at them and smiled, "Don't worry, all the bandits of Silver Tiger Stronghold have been captured, and they will never harm the people again."
Upon hearing Xuan Yuanzhan's words, the refugees noticed that among the group of soldiers behind him were many bandits.
The bandits were all being escorted by government soldiers, indicating that they had all been captured.
"Have all the bandits been captured?"
Is this true?
"It seems that not only Silver Tiger Stronghold, but also Wolf Fang Stronghold, Black Panther Stronghold, and Flowing Eagle Stronghold, all the bandits in the north have been captured!"
"My goodness, young master, what is your identity? You really captured so many bandits!"
"Yes, young master, how are you so amazing!"
The bandits in the north are very powerful. Even the local government can't do anything about them and can only let them run rampant and harm the people.
But this young master has only been in the North for a short time, yet he has already captured tens of thousands of bandits there.
They've all been arrested!
That's amazing!
Before Xuan Yuanzhan could reply, the prefect of Beian City came running over excitedly: "Your Highness! Your humble servant, Zhu Ji, the prefect of Beian City, pays his respects to Your Highness!"
The refugees were stunned when they heard Zhu Ji address Xuan Yuanzhan.
Your Highness?
This kind-hearted young man is actually a prince?
So, when he said that the emperor sent a holy king to the north to provide disaster relief and suppress bandits, was he that holy king?
Good heavens, the last time they were given rations, it was actually a prince.
What merit do they have to deserve that a prince would share his rations with them?
The refugees came to their senses and immediately knelt down before Xuan Yuanzhan.
"We commoners were blind to your greatness, Your Highness, please forgive us!"
"This humble subject pays respects to Your Highness! May Your Highness live a thousand years!"
"Long live the Prince!"
Xuanyuan Zhan looked at the refugees and laughed, "Ignorance is no excuse. Alright, get up."
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
Seeing how kind Xuan Yuanzhan was, the refugees finally felt a little relieved.
Xuanyuan Zhan glanced at Zhu Ji: "You are the prefect of Bei'an City."
"Yes," Zhu Ji immediately bowed and replied.
Xuanyuan Zhan raised his chin at him: "Prefect Chen Chuan of the Northern Lands colluded with bandits from four villages in the Northern Lands to rob the government's disaster relief grain, showing no regard for the lives of the people in the Northern Lands. He is an inhumane official and is now being escorted to the Beian execution ground to be beheaded at noon today. Go and inform all the officials in the Northern Lands to come and witness the execution!"
With each word Xuanyuan Zhan spoke, Zhu Ji's heart trembled.
He never expected that Prefect Chen Chuan would dare to do such a thing.
Even if you wanted to embezzle some disaster relief grain, you should have waited until the disaster relief grain was escorted to the north before figuring out a way, right? Instead, you colluded with bandits to directly rob government grain and were caught on the spot. Isn't that just courting death?
Zhu Ji glanced at Chen Chuan, who was being held captive among the bandits, and dared not say another word: "Yes, I will send someone to inform them right away."
As Zhu Ji spoke, he looked at Xuan Yuanzhan with a fawning expression and said, "Your Highness, would you like to go and rest for a while?"
"Go straight to the execution ground." Xuan Yuanzhan led his men directly to the execution ground in a grand procession.
The refugees also followed Xuanyuan Zhan to the execution ground to watch the spectacle.
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