The original book doesn't delve much into the main villain's childhood experiences, only mentioning it briefly in a nightmarish recollection:
That same winter, Yuan Cheng led him through the mountains to Longxing Prefecture. Heavy snow blocked the mountain passes, and they were trapped in a thatched hut, nearly starving. The accompanying refugees, having run out of food, secretly set their sights on the still-childlike Yuan Cheng.
After hearing Zhi Wang's story, Ye Wenxue suddenly felt that the plot was somewhat familiar, so she brought people over to take a look.
Before she eavesdropped, she wasn't even sure if the leader in the thatched hut was Yuan Cheng, let alone know these two women who had long since passed away.
The reason for asking this question is simply to prevent the bald man, who is so brainless, from being seduced by beautiful women and making a mistake.
—After all, the bald guy has a history of being scammed.
The man who had lied to him was leaning against the door with his arms crossed, carefully examining the two bound women.
My first impression was that he was very thin.
It was like there was no meat on the bones, just a layer of skin stuck on; it was terrifyingly thin.
These days, just surviving is considered lucky, let alone being raised to be plump and healthy.
The two bound women were also sizing up Ye Wenxue.
That dim-witted bald man was easy to deal with, but the woman at the door was different; she didn't seem like a soft-hearted person.
The woman in the corner swallowed hard, trying to remain calm as she spoke: "I...we didn't lie, and we didn't intend to use someone else to kill us."
These people are all beasts, they all deserve to be killed!
Ye Wenxue stared at her silently.
To increase credibility, the woman in the corner blurted out all the heinous things these vagrants had done:
"Yuan Cheng led them to kill people and seize territory everywhere. The original inhabitants of Qingxu Town and Qingpu Town at the foot of the mountain who had not yet fled the famine were all killed."
Furthermore, he also sent messengers to deliver news of the impending rebel attack, all in order to seize a prefecture before the two armies clashed. There was another person behind Yuan Cheng, but it was unclear who he was, though…”
Ye Wenxue waved her hand, indicating that she didn't need to say anything more:
"I am neither an official of Tanzhou nor a court official responsible for pacifying the people's livelihood. I am not interested in these things."
The woman in gray linen clothes next to the bald man hesitated for a moment, then, without even glancing at the useless bald man, went to Ye Wenxue's side and knelt down with a thud.
"Young lady, we have never done anything wrong. We followed them only to seek a way to survive. Please, have mercy and let us go!"
The woman huddled in the corner could also tell that the burly-looking bald man was a coward and couldn't make decisions.
She quickly skipped over to Ye Wenxue, eager to kneel down before her.
To survive, one can't care about anything else.
Ye Wenxue glanced at the two women, not making them kneel, and gestured to the woman in gray to make her stand up: "There's no need for that."
Before she could continue, the bald man came over eagerly to take credit: "We killed the few people with obvious characteristics that Zhiwang mentioned, and we also killed the others who had human flesh on their bodies."
After the killing, only a handful of people survived in the thatched hut, apart from two bound women.
The sleeping gas was extremely effective, and the room was filled with a strong smell of blood, but these people were still asleep.
Ye Wenxue didn't even glance at the bald man, but stared at the two hesitant women for a moment before thinking:
"Tell me how you avoided the sleeping gas, and I won't kill you."
The two women exchanged a few glances and believed it.
The woman in gray gritted her teeth, pointed to the thatched roof, and then looked at the bald man:
"When he parted the thatch on the roof, a few drops of snow fell on my face."
Because of her physical condition, she was particularly sensitive to sleeping gas, so she told another person and secretly covered her mouth and nose.
Bald man: "..."
Ye Wenxue closed her eyes tightly, swallowing the word "useless" that was about to come out, out of consideration for the bald man's help: "Let's go."
"Hey!" The two bound women turned to leave.
Ye Wenxue gave the two of them a strange look, then called the bald man and left.
Two people were left behind, along with a room full of people who were either dizzy or groggy.
After leaving the valley and finding the horse, Ye Wenxue stopped and looked coldly at the bald man.
The bald man's legs went weak, and he almost knelt down before the man. He raised his hand and swore:
"If I make a similar mistake again, I'll... I'll be struck by lightning!"
Ye Wenxue rubbed her head, trying to comfort herself.
The bald man is not the meticulous, highly efficient, and principled second-in-command of the uprising army described in the original book.
It took a lot of hardship to evolve from a bald guy in a bandit stronghold into the renowned Zhang Suinian.
That's what I think, but...
"Next time something happens, I'll handle it myself."
To avoid being scammed by your own people instead of by others.
The bald man, knowing the matter was over, chuckled and stepped forward to whisper in someone's ear, "Those two saw our faces, should I go back...?"
He gestured towards his neck.
Ye Wenxue shook her head: "Wait a minute."
What are we waiting for?
The bald man didn't understand what difference waiting a little longer made.
After about the time it takes to eat a bowl of rice, thick smoke rose into the sky above the valley, and flames roared up, visible from miles away.
Ye Wenxue withdrew her gaze: "Let's go."
They are all intelligent people, and they are all people with tragic fates.
Why should Ye Wenxue be so ruthless if she doesn't cause her any trouble?
The bald man gave her a deep look, breathed warm air into his palms, untied the horse's rope, and said jokingly:
When did you become so soft-hearted?
Leaving problems behind is not Ye Wenxue's style.
As for the bandit stronghold at that time... Although Baldy didn't want to admit it, Ye Wenxue obviously thought there were too many people in the stronghold, making it troublesome and dirty to kill them.
The two horses had been walking in the snow for too long and were almost too tired to ride.
Ye Wenxue and the bald man could only lead the horse forward: "Soft-hearted? Perhaps."
Sensing a hint of coldness and mockery, the bald man gave an awkward laugh, feeling thankful that the two had made the right choice instead of hoarding a hut of corpses as food for the winter.
Otherwise, Ye Wenxue would definitely not hold back and would turn around and kill her to silence her.
As for whether the fire will spread again...
Looking at the snow falling heavily, and then stepping on the thick snow under his feet, the bald man realized he was overthinking things.
After walking for half a day in the freezing snow, the bald man suddenly slapped his forehead, pulled a jade pendant from his pocket, and tossed it into Ye Wenxue's hand:
"This was taken from the pocket of the person who was chatting with Yuan Cheng. He was the main force that injured Zhi Wu. Look at what's engraved on it."
Ye Wenxue took the jade pendant; it was warm and smooth to the touch, a piece of the finest jade.
After looking through them over and over, she took out another jade pendant and put the two jade pendants together to form the character '郑'.
The generation before the Dayan Dynasty was the Great Zheng Dynasty.
Ye Wenxue stared at the jade pendants for a long time, then threw them into her spatial storage. Seeing the pendants gradually dissipate into a clear mist, she handed the bald man a few taels of silver.
"The jade pendant is mine now."
The bald man held the silver, his eyes blank.
Ye Wenxue ignored him, gazing at the white hillside in the reflection of the snow, and inexplicably sighed:
"I just want to live quietly in the mountains and raise a child, why is it so difficult?"
The bald man knew how to answer this question: "Hey, isn't it all because of that damned imperial court!"
They enjoy the tax revenue from the people every year, but when something really happens, they do nothing. They deserve to be criticized!
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