This was the most difficult choice Lü Tu had ever faced since coming into this world. He truly couldn't bring himself to kill these suffering people, but giving them a quick death was perhaps the best outcome for now.
He turned and walked out, with constant wails in his ears, and Lu Tu's heart was suppressed to the extreme!
He clutched the strip of cloth covered with names, stood on the edge of the cliff at the mountaintop, and shouted hoarsely into the vast, boundless forest: "I want you all dead!"
Shortly after, footsteps sounded behind them, and Huo Ting's steady voice came: "Squad leader, the matter has been dealt with, we can leave now."
Lu Tu turned away from him and whispered, "Thank you."
Upon hearing this, Huo Ting nodded blankly and told his men to carry their respective bundles and descend the mountain.
By this time, Lü Tu had recovered, but he had more important things to do. Zhou Taishan had colluded with the Wuhuan to betray the country and allowed his men to become mountain kings and bully men and women. Lü Tu would settle accounts with him slowly!
Zhao Liang and the others at the foot of the mountain noticed Lü Tu's gloomy expression and dared not ask any more questions. After all, encountering bandits was bad luck, and the villagers dared not speak carelessly or inquire about the situation on the mountain along the way.
Huo Ting and his men, who had gone up to the mountain stronghold, also kept silent about what had happened on the mountain.
The group finally returned to the village. Lu Tu had someone vacate the small house next to his own house. It was originally the wedding room that his father had prepared for him to divide the family property. Although it was simple, it was sheltered from the wind on all sides and had thatched roofs, so it was perfect for use as a warehouse.
Lu Tu sent Zhao Liang with 50 men to the Niu Mang Mountain pass to dig trenches with Liu Yang and others.
When the villagers of Kuishan heard that they would receive food for their work, they all volunteered, and the number of people was quickly gathered.
After the villagers dispersed, Huo Ting and the others handed over the 230 taels of silver they had carried to Lü Tu, and each carried away 100 jin of millet.
Lu Tu stopped Huo Ting: "You must make sure the seven people who came up the mountain today keep their mouths shut!"
"Understood."
“You are responsible for patrolling between the two villages on weekdays. If anything happens, you are the first to shoot a signal arrow to notify us. You will collect one string of cash from me every month.”
Huo Ting gratefully clasped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, sir!"
Lu Tu nodded: "You go ahead and get busy. I'll call you if I need anything."
At this moment, Lu Tu returned home exhausted. Song Yuxi had already noticed his gloomy mood and took the initiative to step forward to massage his temples: "Husband, what's wrong?"
After their in-depth conversation last night, there was no longer any barrier between them. Moreover, Lu Tu knew about Song Yuxi's background, so there was no need to hide anything: "The border army, or rather the Great Yu court, is rotten to the core!"
He then briefly recounted what he had seen to Song Yuxi. Upon hearing this, Song Yuxi became even more furious, her hands trembling and her teeth grinding together: "The border troops have gone too far! Back then, my father wanted to support the crown prince to succeed to the throne and then reorganize the border troops, but unfortunately, the crown prince was too upright, and the sixth prince seized the throne..."
"My lord, what are your plans?"
Lu Tu looked out the window with a deep gaze. "Since the border troops are incompetent and the emperor is foolish and tyrannical, I should take his place!"
'Hiss!' Even though Song Yuxi came from a military family, she was stunned when she heard Lu Tu's words!
“I will support you no matter what you do, but I think it’s best not to seek revenge on Zhou Taishan right now.”
Lu Tu became interested; he also wanted to hear what insightful opinions Song Yuxi had: "What is it?"
“We are weak now. You have less than 10 soldiers under your command, and none of them are trained. Calling them militia is an exaggeration. All the fighting force we can count on is you alone. You are truly all alone.”
"Our fastest chance for promotion right now is to use your wisdom and martial prowess to kill enemies and gain merits, and then gradually strengthen our power."
I think your idea of bringing together the able-bodied men from both villages to work is very thoughtful. It not only ensures the stability of the young and middle-aged men in both villages through work-for-relief programs, but also wins over the hearts of the people – truly killing two birds with one stone!
Upon hearing this, Lü Tu was overjoyed and instinctively reached out to hug Song Yuxi. However, he suddenly remembered that he had been in contact with the woman on the mountaintop. He quickly fetched water and washed himself thoroughly with wood ash before kissing Song Yuxi on the forehead.
"My wife is truly intelligent; her thoughts coincide with mine. She will surely be my wise and capable wife in the future!"
Song Yuxi had always lived in the general's mansion and had rarely seen strange men. How could she withstand such direct praise and confession from Lü Tu? What seemed perfectly normal to modern people sounded almost like flirting to her, and her face immediately turned bright red.
"My husband, please don't praise me anymore, I'm not used to it."
Lu Tu held her in his arms, stroking and scratching her for a while. The room was filled with laughter and joy, sweeping away the previous gloom. If it weren't for the early hour, Lu Tu might have been exploring new knowledge with Song Yuxi again.
"My wife is right. These able-bodied men I've gathered will be very useful in the future. I plan to start training them after the fortifications are completed. The only regret is that I don't know how to shoot."
Song Yuxi blinked her bright, lively eyes and said, "I can!"
Lu Tu asked in bewilderment, "How come you know everything? Didn't your father forbid you from learning martial arts?"
Song Yuxi smiled slyly: "I did not learn martial arts, but I memorized my father's spear techniques. Oh, I forgot to tell you, husband, I have a photographic memory!"
Lu Tu then remembered the garlic extract he had taught Song Yuxi to make. He checked it out and found that it was almost identical to the one he had made. He instantly believed in Song Yuxi's photographic memory!
"My wife, I want it!"
Song Yuxi was only smug for a short while before Lu Tu's words made her blush again: "Husband, let's talk about it later."
"I want to learn your family's marksmanship!"
"Let's talk about it tomorrow morning. My husband is feeling quite hot. You should go and attend to your important business!" Song Yuxi broke free from Lü Tu's embrace, and the two of them were playing a game of tag, laughing and joking.
At this moment, Ye Xing'er carried a load of firewood over and respectfully greeted Lü Tu, saying, "My lord."
Lu Tu nodded: "Thank you for your hard work. Take a few pounds of grain back with you later."
"Thank you, sir."
Her interruption disrupted his enjoyment, and Lu Tu, no longer able to indulge in the pleasures of love, rode his horse toward Niu Mang Mountain to check on the progress.
When Lü Tu arrived at the Niu Mang Mountain pass, he saw a group of people resting from a distance. When he rode up to them, the resting people quickly picked up their hoes and continued working.
Liu Yang and Nie Yun quickly ran over, looking somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Sergeant, I only allowed them to rest for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea because they seemed a bit tired."
The workers on site also glanced at Lü Tu with concern, fearing that Lü Tu would blame them.
Lu Tu glanced at the excavation progress, which was even faster than he had expected, and couldn't help but laugh and scold, "People aren't cattle or horses. They can rest when they're tired. As long as they're not deliberately slacking off, it's fine."
Upon hearing this, everyone felt a surge of warmth in their hearts. If it had been any other supervisor, they probably would have broken several whips by now. They cheered, "Thank you for your understanding, sir!" and swung their hoes with even more force.
As Lü Tu walked along the edge of the trench, he suddenly felt the unique vibration of a horse's hooves. He shouted to the crowd, "Everyone, take cover in the trenches and be ready to fight the Wuhuan at any time!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
