Chapter 174 Promotion
Zhou Zhining trembled with fright and whispered, "It will never happen again."
But the fingers under the sleeves kept clenching, breaking their nails.
How is she not as good as Yao Qingling?
She doesn't believe it!
...
Yao Qingling is just timid.
Ever since she allied herself with this band of bandits, she has been living in constant fear of being discovered and has tried every possible way to stay away from the word "bandit."
That is what she often told those bandits: to lead them onto the right path and to live normal lives.
But some people are used to being bandits and thieves, and fantasize about using the betrayal of others to achieve their own meteoric rise.
Inside the manor, Yao Qingling coldly observed the selected dissidents.
They broke their oath.
"Do you regret it?" she asked softly, her eyes devoid of any light, her face expressionless, as cold as a heartless, man-eating demon.
Knowing they were going to die, some cried and begged for another chance.
Someone shouted, "Yao Qingling, you hypocrite! You took our share of the money and are now enslaving us! That's money we risked our lives to get, what right do you have to take it away!"
Some people shouted curses: "Yao Qingling, you're about to give birth. Aren't you afraid of retribution for killing us?!"
The shouts of anger and cries blended together, rising and falling in waves.
Amidst the cries and curses, Yao Qingling walked resolutely away from the dungeon without looking back.
There was originally no dungeon in the village; this was originally a cellar used for storage.
Ever since the incident involving Old Man Hu, Tao Ye has turned the cellar into a dungeon for interrogation and imprisonment.
Locking people up here means they're helpless and have no one to turn to.
Tao Ye scooped up a ladle of water and poured it into the pot, cursing, "Bullshit! You yourselves broke your promises, and now the poisonous oaths you swore have come true!"
As Qingling walked out of the dungeon, she could no longer hear the curses of those people, nor could she hear Taoye's voice of defense.
Once outside, the fresh air eased Qingling's pent-up feelings, but they didn't completely disappear.
She watched the sun gradually set.
retribution?
She escaped from the piles of corpses in the southwest and witnessed hellish horrors.
If there really is retribution, why do some people with so much blood on their hands still live so well?
For Qingling, her killings were simply so that she and a few others could live a little longer.
After a long while, Taoye emerged from the dungeon and said, "Miss, please don't pay attention to what those people are saying. The child will live to be a hundred years old."
Qingling nodded: "According to the plan, tie them up and send them to Que'er Mountain."
Those with ulterior motives were also identified at the dock.
Yao Qingling ordered that all these traitors be sent to the village in Que'er Mountain.
Return to their origin.
Lin Shiyuan led the minor official up the mountain to deal with them.
These traitors still have some value.
The man wearing the black and white mask was like a demon, his blade flashing without hesitation before he set a fire.
The flames completely engulfed the vast mountain village.
Finally, Lin Shiyuan carried over thirty corpses to deliver the report, saying that these were the bandits entrenched in Que'er Mountain.
"...The bandits resisted fiercely, and my subordinates, along with the minor officials, fought bravely against them. The bandits put up a stubborn resistance. However, the bandits were numerous, and my subordinates could only order their men to set fire to surround them. Some of them fled westward, but these were the ones who could not escape in time."
Lin Shiyuan wiped out the bandits' stronghold and arrested so many people in one fell swoop, much to the delight of the prefect.
The fact that none of his many subordinates had captured a single bandit tarnished his "brilliant" record and made him a target of attack.
There are now more than thirty bandits, isn't that enough to shut those court officials up?
Hmph, in the end, those court officials just couldn't swallow their anger over Yongning Temple.
The prefect wrote a memorial to the throne, praising Lin Shiyuan and also commending himself for his good judgment in choosing a person.
When the Empress heard this, she was overjoyed and wanted to promote Lin Shiyuan's rank.
"Isn't it a waste of talent to appoint a general as the commander of the military command?"
The Empress and the Empress Dowager also told her about this, saying that the souls of those who died at Yongning Temple could finally rest in peace.
Even the Empress and the Empress Dowager took notice of this matter, saying that Lin Shiyuan had made a great contribution by eliminating the bandit threat in the capital.
The emperor issued an edict, transferring Lin Shiyuan to the position of Vice Minister of War.
The decree was issued so casually that it surprised many people, while others said they didn't find it strange at all.
The emperor had intended to spare Lin Shiyuan's life from the beginning; otherwise, he wouldn't have made him parade through the streets for trial.
Nowadays, most officials, both civil and military, are just coasting along, holding their positions without doing their jobs, and corruption is rampant; very few are actually doing anything productive. Since the new emperor ascended the throne, he has been trying to make changes.
However, the problems had been accumulating for a long time. Most of these court officials came from powerful and influential families, with deeply entrenched relationships behind them that were difficult to shake.
Now that we've finally found someone to do the work, and someone so fearless and brave, it's not surprising at all that we're using him.
“Even the capital is in chaos. Look at those good-for-nothings. If they actually did any work, there wouldn’t be so many hooligans and bandits.”
"Work? Ha, Que'er Mountain is so far away, and that mountain stronghold is built on such a high place. Are they willing to sacrifice their legs?"
"They didn't even know where the bandits' hideout was. Before, they said they were going to suppress the bandits, but they just strolled around the main road outside and came back. I've seen them several times..."
The people in the neighborhood were talking about it, and they all thought that Lin Shiyuan's promotion was well-deserved.
Lin Shiyuan is a fierce whirlwind amidst the filth.
Yao Qingling sat in the teahouse, not asking for a private room, but listening to the people's discussion in the main hall.
These were words she had people spread.
Lin Shiyuan went from being a commander to his current position as a senior official in the Ministry of War. Although he only rose one rank, many people are stuck at that rank for their entire lives.
Take Qingling's uncle, for example. He served as the supervisor of the Shanglin Garden for more than ten years. After Qingling's father died in battle, he was able to move up in rank thanks to the influence of the emperor.
Lin Shiyuan was promoted to this level in just one month.
There must be some jealous courtiers who want to oppose him.
Yao Qingling enhanced Lin Shiyuan's prestige among the people, making those who were wary of him and wanted to bring him down wary, and also laying the groundwork for Lin Shiyuan's next promotion.
She listened for a while and left satisfied.
In the evening, Qingling sat alone in the courtyard, with a charcoal stove beside her.
Lamb soup was simmering on the stove, bubbling gently and filling the air with its rich aroma.
Yao Qingling's hands were also busy.
She was making a rabbit lantern with bamboo strips by flipping her fingers.
Lou Yue brought over a bowl and chopsticks, glanced at Qing Ling's lantern, and said, "I had forgotten that Miss can make lanterns."
She seemed to remember something, and her gaze towards Qingling became somewhat complicated: "Miss, are you missing someone?"
Qing Ling smiled faintly, her hands continuing their work.
"You don't have to make a lantern just because you have someone on your mind."
She made lanterns when she was in the southwest.
When her father wasn't fighting, he would play with her. He made her rabbit lanterns that were popular with young girls in the capital, and he also taught her how to fly kites.
Later, when we arrived in the capital, lanterns were sold everywhere during the Mid-Autumn Festival or Lantern Festival, and there were also lantern king competitions.
However, when Qingling was young, she was ostracized in the Marquis's mansion and could not go out like the young ladies and gentlemen like Yao Qingqi.
She made lanterns in the yard and hung them above her bed to play with by herself.
Later, she married into the Duke's mansion.
In their first year of marriage, Zhan Xingzhuo accompanied Yao Qingling to the market for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and he gave her a rabbit lantern.
Yao Qingling treasured that lantern for a long time and wouldn't allow anyone to break it.
The following year, when they moved to the new mansion, Qingling brought the lantern with her, but Zhou Zhining "accidentally" broke it.
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