Li Qing smiled, his usually serious face softening considerably. "My elder brother doesn't have such ambitions. He only wants revenge and will spend the rest of his life protecting his family. I have no ambition, but I've brought the Li family army together because I want to give you a stronger backing."
Li Ruo's heart skipped a beat. Her older brother and grandmother had the same idea. She seemed a little guilty. "I see. Thank you, older brother."
"Silly girl, there's nothing to thank me for, we're family." Li Qing patted her shoulder again. "You're my only sister."
“My only sister.” Li Ruo savored these words, her smile growing brighter and brighter.
Suddenly, the scouts Li Qing sent out to patrol the border returned. "Young general, six large ships have arrived fifty miles away, carrying bright yellow dragon flags. They are very likely the Imperial Guards from the capital."
"The Imperial Guards?" Li Qing seemed unsurprised, and gave a cold laugh. "The Emperor's men arrived very quickly. How many of them are there?"
"I estimate there are forty or fifty thousand." The scout judged based on the depth of the ship's draft, because he thought there might still be food on board. "But it's strange, it's noon now, and there's no smoke coming from the cooking fires on board."
Li Ruo thought for a moment and then laughed, "Brother, maybe they're out of food and are waiting to wipe us out so they can have a meal."
Li Qing nodded, "Very likely. My spies who went to the capital before said that most of the grain in the capital could not be salvaged, but there were so many Imperial Guards."
"So, on the surface, the emperor wanted to wipe us out, but in reality, he was also sending troops out to plunder grain."
The situation is very serious.
These are a pack of hungry wolves.
Li Ruo said, "They probably don't know we've come to Qinghua Mountain yet. They'll definitely head straight for General Mountain. We'll send someone to inform Xie Xiao while we follow behind..."
Minister Wu also sent out spies, but when they passed through the waters of Qinghua Mountain, the spies reported that there were hardly any people there, not even stoves.
A strategist suggested that they land at Qinghua Mountain, rest for a while, and then head to General Mountain, which would also make it easier to find out the enemy's situation.
Minister Wu was eager to make a contribution and save his daughter. In addition, the food on the ship had run out, and there was no guarantee that there would be food on Qinghua Mountain. He thought it would be better to go directly to Black Wind Village, where they had food.
The other subordinates also agreed.
Therefore, Minister Wu directly ordered the large ship to sail to General Mountain.
The army marched in a grand procession, banners fluttering in the wind; this was the emperor's army, and along the way, the people all submitted to its rule.
Tremble, you bunch of reckless bandits!
However, before he even reached General Mountain, just after crossing the North Mountain waters, he was blocked by three large ships.
A black banner with red lettering, bearing the large character "黑" (black), fluttered high on the ship.
The young man standing at the bow of the ship in the center looked extremely arrogant, with his bangs flying wildly and his eyes dark and sharp. Minister Wu subconsciously asked, "Are you Xie Xiao?"
"Oh, so I'm that famous now?" Xie Xiao said, hands on his hips, looking nonchalant. "And who are you?"
A general beside Vice Minister Wu spoke in a booming voice, “You audacious scoundrel, how dare you be so disrespectful to a general of the court! This is Vice Minister Wu of the Ministry of Personnel, son of the Duke of Qing, and father of the Princess of Yongjia. Surrender at once!”
Xie Xiao made an ear-picking motion and laughed, "What dung beetle? There's actually such an official? I've really learned something new today."
Minister Wu nearly vomited blood. "You, Xie Xiao, a mere bandit, dare to rebel! Return my daughter to me immediately, and then surrender. I might spare your life."
"That's right, I had forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it. You still have a daughter in my hands. You should just surrender now."
"You—" Vice Minister Wu's eyes widened, but for the sake of his daughter, he had no choice but to suppress his anger for the time being. He said to his deputy, "Please have Deputy General Zhang read out the imperial edict."
Xie Xiao laughed loudly, "Another imperial edict! Why does His Majesty like issuing edicts so much?"
The brothers laughed along with him.
The deputy general's face darkened, but he held back for now. If he could be appeased, why go to war?
The imperial edict essentially stated that if Xie Xiao could bring Black Wind Stronghold under the control of the imperial court, the emperor would recognize the Black Wind Army, appoint Xie Xiao as the Tiger Might General, allow his family to reside in the capital, grant his mother the title of Third Rank Imperial Consort, appoint his elder brother to the Hanlin Academy, and reward all the brothers of Black Wind Stronghold according to their merits.
"Xie Xiao, the Emperor's grace is boundless, why don't you kneel down and thank him for his kindness!" Vice Minister Wu said sternly.
Xie Xiao, the fourth leader, Sun Ergou, and the others exchanged glances and smiled. "Thank you, thank you. If His Majesty could kneel before General Li to beg for forgiveness, I might consider it."
"What!" Minister Wu almost jumped up. "Xie Xiao, don't be so ungrateful and seek your own death. I have 50,000 elite Imperial Guards here, which your bunch of rabble cannot withstand."
Xie Xiao laughed loudly, "I don't need your flattery!" As he spoke, he bit his whistle and made a loud "beep," shouting, "Brothers, charge!"
The large ship, like a colossal sea shark, charged towards the other ship as if it were not afraid of death.
Minister Wu's heart trembled. These bandits were truly fearless. Today, he would show them the power of a desperate army.
With 50,000 imperial guards and no food, their only chance of survival was to kill their enemy; their momentum was formidable.
But Wu Shilang never expected that the enemy, a mountain bandit, would be so skilled in naval warfare. He could change formations while sailing, with one ship charging forward and two others moving to their sides. Several small boats would also appear as they sailed, and these small boats would suddenly shoot out countless hooks like lightning, hooking onto the hull of the ship where the commander was.
It's obvious they're here to arrest him.
Minister Wu hurriedly ordered his men to shoot arrows at the small boats to prevent them from boarding, but the enemy's cover from behind was too fierce, and they also had a shield formation, which was no less effective than their regular army.
"This bandit actually knows how to march and deploy troops!" Even the deputy commander, who had led troops for many years, was greatly surprised. "Soldiers, kill these bandits! Seize their granary and we can live."
The fourth leader suddenly roared, "Kill us? Dream on!" Heartbroken in love, the fourth leader was especially energetic this time, charging forward like a madman.
Just then, Wu's subordinate shouted, "It's bad! Three large ships are surrounding us!"
Minister Wu was greatly alarmed and went to the back. Although he was still quite far away, he could still see the character "Li" on the banner.
Li Jiajun is here!
But he tried his best to remain calm, saying, "Don't worry, the enemy only has so many men, far fewer than us. Kill Li Qing, that traitor! The Emperor will reward you handsomely!"
But that ship was going way too fast! Amidst the rolling waves, I couldn't see anything, only a person wearing something round on their head and thick clothes.
Fast, too fast!
In an instant, the small boat was about to reach them, and Minister Wu hurriedly said, "Fire arrows! Fire arrows at that!"
With a "bang".
It wasn't their arrows, but something from the other side, that struck the archers.
"Bang bang bang!" Three archers fell in succession, and then there was another "bang," and Wu Shilang felt a piercing pain in his shoulder.
Before he could even figure out what kind of hidden weapon it was, he suddenly realized that the small boat had disappeared.
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