Chapter 421 "Third Brother, those are all living, breathing human lives!"
(Thanks to 昧666 for casting a monthly vote.)
In just a few words, Li Shiyue told Ma San about how Zhao You's family had been robbed by bandits and how all the women and girls in the village had been taken away.
"Magistrate Wang and County Lieutenant Zhou have already discussed this matter with the villagers."
However, the general led his troops away from the camp yesterday to patrol the border.
Li Shiyue never expected that on her first day off, Liu Tan would lead his troops away from the garrison and head towards the border town.
"That's true. Liu Tan is now the Prince of Zhenbei, so patrolling the border is naturally his responsibility."
Thinking this, Li Shiyue frowned and looked at Ma Sanwen: "Even if the general decided to patrol the border on a whim, the people in charge of this garrison must have made arrangements long ago."
Is it General Ma? Or General Liu?
"Neither."
"......"
"It's General Zhao!"
Li Shiyue stared wide-eyed at Ma San.
Sure enough, Ma San nodded helplessly and replied, "Yes! It's that bastard Zhao's third son!"
Speaking of Zhao Laosan, we must mention the late Princess Zhao Changying.
Yes, although Zhao Changying is dead and Zhao Dahuzi has also been killed, the Zhao family's influence in the Xuanjia Army is still not to be underestimated.
After completing the funeral arrangements for the old Prince of Zhenbei and his wife, Liu Tan secretly reached an agreement with the Zhao family.
Because of Zhao Changying's mistake of killing her husband, the Zhao family could make concessions to Liu Tan and give up some of their military officer positions.
However, Liu Tan also had to ensure that he could not completely exclude the Zhao family's influence in the military!
After all, in the nearly twenty years since Zhao Changying married the Prince of Zhenbei, at least 30% of the Xuanjia Army members were from the Zhao family or related to the Zhao family.
For Liu Tan, who was not yet certain to inherit the title of Prince of Zhenbei from the emperor in the capital, negotiating with the Zhao family and maintaining the military situation was the best option.
This Zhao Laosan was from the direct line of the Zhao family, and was a close relative of Zhao Changying, who was related to her as cousin.
Although Zhao Laosan always obeyed Liu Tan's orders in important matters, there were still two lives at stake: Zhao Changying and Zhao Guang'an.
Therefore, in the military garrison, if there was any small matter, such as transporting military rations or matters related to spring planting and autumn harvesting of farmland, Zhao Laosan would always deliberately create some trouble to show off the presence of the Zhao family.
Therefore, upon hearing Ma San say this, Li Shiyue frowned.
Among these events, Li Shiyue not only brought Liu Tan so many warhorses after returning from the Turks, but also used the old Khan's scimitar and longbow to disrupt the relationships between the princes in the Turkic royal court.
Liu Tan immediately promoted Li Shiyue to the rank of Ningyuan General, a fifth-rank official, and placed her in the garrison of Sanshan County.
In the military, each position is filled by a specific person, and Li Shiyue's position as General of Ningyuan was a position that the Zhao family had their eye on and wanted to fight for for their son!
Thus, before Li Shiyue even entered the garrison, she had already become a thorn in the side of the Zhao family.
After entering the garrison, Li Shiyue did indeed quickly secure his position as General Ningyuan through his own hard work;
However, she still suffered losses along the way.
This loss was a scheme devised by Zhao Laosan.
Moreover, Zhao Laosan always liked to nag about Li Shiyue's status as a woman, and always liked to use some kind of ethical and moral code to suppress Li Shiyue.
Therefore, one time Li Shiyue couldn't stand it anymore, so in the middle of the night he put a sack over Zhao Laosan's head, who was alone, and gave him a good beating.
Even though Zhao Laosan knew that it was Li Shiyue who beat him, Li Shiyue was so skilled that he had scouted the place beforehand. The entire garrison knew that Li Shiyue was the one who did it, but there was no evidence.
Liu Tan also sided with Li Shiyue, telling Zhao Laosan that if no evidence could be found, then it couldn't be said that Li Shiyue did it.
Furthermore, Zhao Laosan's martial arts skills were indeed no match for Li Shiyue's.
Therefore, Zhao Laosan had no choice but to accept this loss.
But because of this beating, Li Shiyue and Zhao Laosan became irreconcilable enemies.
Of course, Li Shiyue deliberately created an "enemy" like Zhao Laosan in the army.
However, she did indeed dislike Zhao Laosan to some extent.
As for why he wanted to make enemies?
Li Shiyue knew that she needed to have a weakness in front of others, besides her identity as a female demon.
Even though Liu Tan never asked Li Shiyue whether she killed Liu Shu.
But Li Shiyue knew that Liu Tan had long been convinced that Liu Shu was the one who killed her.
Liu Tan must have been wary, or rather, cautious, of her ability to kill Liu Shu silently.
If Li Shiyue could still be so shrewd and diplomatic while in the garrison, not only Liu Tan, but even Ma San would probably be wary of her.
However, the flaw that Li Shiyue deliberately created has now caused her trouble.
"What about General Ma?"
Ah, I remember now, General Ma went to escort the Turkic delegation.
Alright, General Ma is busy, but what about General Liu?
The Grand General should at least hand over the garrison to General Liu!
How did that bastard Zhao Laosan get into charge?
That shouldn't be the case!
Ma San explained helplessly to the already anxious Li Shiyue, "General Liu's mother was having a birthday celebration, and he went back to the prefectural city on the day you were on leave."
"......"
Dozens of people in the Zhao family died!
Dozens of women and young girls have been kidnapped, and we're just going to leave them alone?
Third Brother, those are all living, breathing human lives!
Li Shiyue's voice grew louder and louder, and Ma San pulled her arm and walked to the side, further away from the soldiers standing guard at the gate.
Li Shiyue was still saying indignantly, "Moreover, where did those bandits come from?"
Shouldn't we investigate and find out the truth?
There are already signs of a severe drought these days. If these bandits are refugees who turned to banditry due to a drought somewhere, what if we don't investigate thoroughly and cause a major disaster in the future?"
Ma San didn't answer Li Shiyue's question, he just looked at Li Shiyue with a helpless expression.
"In October, without the general's approval, we cannot lead our troops out of the garrison. You know all this."
"Zhao Laosan, no, where is General Zhao now?"
I want to see him!
Li Shiyue went to look for Zhao Laosan, but she didn't even get to see him before being stopped at the door by Zhao Laosan's personal guards.
Thinking of Brother Zhao and what he had said, Li Shiyue mounted his horse and rode towards the entrance of the garrison without even saying goodbye to Ma San.
Upon leaving the garrison, Li Shiyue saw four people waiting nearby and simply called out to them, "To the prefectural city!"
What was Li Shiyue doing in the prefectural city?
She wanted to see General Liu and get a permit from him that would give her the authority to lead troops out of the garrison to suppress bandits!
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