Hu Laosan found a grove of trees and squatted down. After making sure that no one was around, he carefully went to the base of a big tree.
Seeing that the soil at the base of the tree had been disturbed recently, Hu Laosan immediately dug it up and quickly retrieved a letter.
After reading the letter, Hu Laosan swallowed the entire letter. Although there was nothing to fear about these rebels, he had to be wary of the new strategist. If the other side found something to hold against him, things would be difficult to explain.
However, the contents of the letter left Hu Laosan somewhat at a loss as to what to do.
The general sent by the imperial court to Xiguan to quell the rebellion was Zhao Xinping, a third-rank general. He came from a poor family and had worked his way up in the military for more than 20 years before finally reaching his current position. He was mature and steady, and his military tactics were the same. Just like his personality, he would never make the slightest mistake.
It is also possible that because he came from a poor family, he has always been walking on thin ice, afraid to make any mistakes. But now Zhao Xinping is a general with a high position and great power.
Under Zhao Xinping's steady and methodical approach, Li Yijun's range had actually begun to shrink, but the speed was not that fast, and it was unclear whether it was intentionally stalling for time or what was going on.
At this time, Zhao Xinping's army was only a hundred miles away from here, in a place called Yangcheng. However, because of Liu Chuang's presence, Zhao Xinping was unwilling to give up easily, so he sent Hu Laosan here to gather information.
After agreeing to send messages every seven days, Zhao Xinping basically left Hu Laosan to his own devices, wanting to know everything but taking no concrete action.
This composed man, however, sent a message today instructing Hu Laosan to obtain as much information as possible about Liu Chuang's military deployment map, as he intends to take real action against Liu Chuang soon. After all, Liu Chuang is the biggest leader of the rebel army, and once he is captured, the others might flee at the mere sight of him.
Hu Laosan, however, felt a strange sensation permeating everything. Both the strategist and General Zhao seemed to have suddenly changed their ways. Everything appeared to be far more complex than it seemed.
However, when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Since he had already agreed to come to Ning Ye's request, Hu Laosan was bound to do something really important.
Back in the military camp, Hu Laosan knew very well that it was impossible to obtain the military deployment map from the mighty general; the only possible source was the mysterious strategist.
But we can't rush things now; we have to proceed slowly and methodically. If we rush, we'll only end up with our own doom.
Ning Ye had been traveling for more than two days and was still halfway to Cangzhou City, but now his carriage had to stop because there were several petty thieves blocking the road not far away.
This made Ning Ye, who had been in the car for two days, very excited. After all, in his eyes, these people were just there to entertain him and posed no danger whatsoever.
After parking the car, Ning Ye jumped out and swaggered towards the group. However, when Ning Ye arrived in front of them, he didn't rush. Instead, he stood there as if waiting for them to do something.
The petty thieves were stunned. What was wrong with this guy?
We were robbing them on the road, how come they don't seem scared at all? Can't you give us some face?
After waiting for a while, Ning Ye said boredly, "Why don't you guys start shouting? Shouldn't you say something like, 'I opened this road, I planted this tree, and if you want to pass, leave some money'?"
The petty thieves who blocked the road felt as if they had been greatly insulted.
"Stop your nonsense and throw down all the money on your person and all the valuables in the car, or we'll make sure you see blood today."
Ning Ye nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, that's the line. Hmm, it's right. Now I have a question for you: are you going to put down your weapons and surrender obediently, or do you want me to beat you black and blue before you consider surrendering?"
The robbers were furious, but Ning Ye casually stretched his body, completely ignoring them.
Just as Ning Ye was about to make his move, more than a dozen people suddenly rushed out from both sides of the road. These people who urgently needed the goods must have been lying in ambush there all along, but Ning Ye did not care about the safety of the carriage at all.
Just kidding, everyone on the carriage is capable of fighting, okay? Even Xiaoqing, after learning from Sikong Changfeng for so long, is quite skilled.
Ning Ye was focused on the few kids in front of him, but unfortunately these guys weren't even qualified to warm him up.
When the dozen or so people rushed to the carriage, they suddenly discovered that the people jumping off the carriage were not only burly and powerful men, but also Taoist priests with long swords and an air of otherworldly grace. Not to mention the delicate little girl, who also seemed to carry a hint of murderous intent.
It's easy to guess that these people's fate is extremely tragic. In Sikong Changfeng's eyes, these people are no different from the so-called "iron men." Even though they have sharp blades in their hands, they are completely incapable of exerting the necessary deterrent effect.
In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, all the petty thieves had lined up together, and this large group of people looked quite aggrieved.
Ning Ye took a closer look at the clothes of these people. They were basically all tattered rags stuffed with cotton instead of cotton. They were all made of cattail fluff mixed with rags.
Ning Ye would never believe that these people were genuine bandits. If they weren't, he would have killed them from the start. Why would he leave them here with bruises and swelling on their faces?
Ning Ye was holding a piece of dried meat in his hand, eating it slowly and deliberately. "I see that your robbery methods are quite skilled. You must have done this kind of thing quite a lot. Tell me honestly where your hideout is, so I can do justice to the heavens."
An older-looking man spoke up: "We don't have a base of operations, we're just a bunch of people. We're just robbing people on the road to make a living. If we run into tough guys like you today and get taken down, we'll accept it."
Apart from this man who was still able to control his gaze, everyone else's eyes had already been drawn to the jerky in Ning Ye's hand, and everyone was involuntarily swallowing their saliva, clearly quite craving it.
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