Chapter 10: Former Members of the Changhua King
Jin Tang quickly replied in a low voice: "He...he asked me to hide here and go observe the terrain himself, saying that we should prevent anyone from escaping..."
Before he finished speaking, a figure flashed by from a hidden place behind the temple and gestured to them, indicating that they should lead the soldiers and bandits into the temple.
Qian Deng felt reassured upon seeing Ling Tianshui. After all, it was his power that made the sword-drawn soldiers before her no longer a threat, giving her complete confidence.
Qian Deng lowered his voice and said, "Aunt Lan, we all sympathize with your situation. But no matter what, the Jin family has treated you well over the years. Now you've eloped with this soldier and bandit for no apparent reason, and you've been discovered. This will not only bring disaster to the Jin family, but also to your family. Are you so happy for yourself that you don't consider others?"
"Hmph, if it weren't for the Jin family, would I have had to suffer all these years? I would have already had children with Brother Feng and lived happily for ten years!" Lan Xiurong put her arm around the man beside her and scoffed at her words. "Back then, Brother Feng and I had already secretly decided to spend our lives together, but my parents forced me to marry a dead man for the huge betrothal gift from the Jin family and tore us apart. Fortunately, God has eyes, and now we are finally reunited. No matter how many people you bring, I will not go back with you, and Brother Feng will not let you take me away!"
The man patted her shoulder soothingly and saluted them, "Everyone, my name is Feng Yi. Xiurong and I have known each other since childhood and have a deep affection for each other. I hope you will grant me your blessing."
Cui Fufeng said, "Lovers are rare in this world. Aunt Lan and you are in love, so we are willing to help you. However, eloping is truly dishonorable. Why don't we sit down in the temple and have a good talk? Perhaps we can find a solution that benefits both of us, right?"
Feng Yi and the others had knives in their hands and obviously felt that they posed no threat, so they readily agreed and motioned for them to enter the temple.
A group of people entered the dilapidated temple, tore off a few banana leaves as cushions, and sat on the ground.
Naturally, there was no tea or anything in the dilapidated temple, and the few people were too lazy to exchange pleasantries. They looked at the appearance of the soldiers and bandits and found that they were quite strong, but they had been hiding in the mountains for a long time, and their clothes were dirty and tattered.
Lan Xiurong's lover Feng Yi was originally a neighbor of Lan Xiurong. They fell in love with each other when they grew up. Unfortunately, his family was too poor. Therefore, even though Lan Xiurong was over 20 years old, the Lan family still did not agree to their marriage.
Later, Lan Xiurong was forced to marry, so he joined the army. For eighteen years, he wandered around without returning home, let alone marrying. Unexpectedly, during the war last year, he reunited with Lan Xiurong, who had escaped from Chang'an, and their old feelings rekindled. Lan Xiurong gradually moved her belongings, and a few days ago, seeing the opportunity was right, she fled the Jin family and hid in the mountains with him.
Cui Fufeng asked, "Which army do you belong to? Why are you hiding here?"
Feng Yi hesitated and didn't say anything.
The man next to him, with half of his nose missing, said, "We were originally from the Tiger and Wolf Division of the Jingyuan Army. On the day of the mutiny, our commander took us to plunder, but we brothers didn't want to go, so we hid here. Later, the imperial court started to purge us. If we were caught, we brothers would have to serve our whole lives in hard labor and wouldn't be able to return home. So we could only hide here and wait out the storm..."
"Really..." Qian Deng lowered her voice, not caring if they would tell she was a woman. She simply asked, "Who cut off your nose? Did you drop it because you were so engrossed in the beautiful scenery by the pond?"
As soon as the word "pond" came out, not only did the man without a nose look pale, but the other soldiers and bandits next to him also looked frightened.
The smallest and thinnest one pointed at her and cried out, "How did you know..."
"Acai!" Feng Yi immediately stopped him, and the man with goatee next to him also quickly gave him a look.
But others may not know the intention of Qiandeng's words, but Cui Fufeng is the person involved.
On the night when Lady Qi died, Qian Deng and Cui Fufeng were besieged by rebel soldiers by the pond. In order to protect her, Cui Fufeng attacked the rebel soldiers ruthlessly, aiming at their faces.
How could he and Qiandeng not recognize that the cut-off tip of the nose was caused by his blade.
Before Jin Tang and Ming Jiu could understand what was happening, Cui Fufeng suddenly stood up and kicked the man closest to them, Mei Bi Tou, on the shoulder. He rolled over a circle and a half on the ground and his head hit the wall hard.
The man without a nose immediately had his head broken and bleeding. He was stunned and couldn't even stand up.
"Let's go!" Cui Fufeng shouted, picked up Qiandeng and quickly retreated towards the temple gate.
Jin Tang was stunned, not knowing how to react, when Ming Jiu grabbed him and dragged him over.
Feng Yi immediately jumped up and rushed towards them. But suddenly, a figure appeared behind him. Ling Tianshui had already jumped into the temple gate and kicked him hard, knocking him down.
Along with the sound of Feng Yi falling, the man with goatee and the strong man rushed up from behind.
Ling Tianshui turned around and grabbed the thin man next to him, grabbed his vest and threw him to the opposite side. The three of them collided with each other and fell to the ground at the same time, and the knives in their hands hit the ground with a clang.
Seeing him so powerful, Lan Xirong was frightened and turned around to run away.
Ling Tianshui kicked the broken incense burner away and it hit her vest, hitting her waist. Her legs went limp and she fell to the ground.
Only then did Mingjiu let out a cry of "Ah!" Seeing the five soldiers lying on the ground, he could only glare angrily: "Didn't you tell me to come and fight? You didn't leave any for me!"
Ling Tianshui kicked the bandit with a cut nose away and said, "The fight is over. You clean up after it."
Mingjiu cursed and saw that there was no rope around, so he quickly stripped them of their clothes and tied their hands.
Jin Tang looked hesitantly at Lan Xiurong who was still lying on the ground and unable to get up, and then looked at Qiandeng's expression.
Qian Deng calmly instructed him: "Help your Seventh Aunt up quickly, be careful not to hurt her."
Jintang hurried over to help Lan Xirong sit down beside the pillar. Mingjiu had already untied Feng Yi's belt and tossed it over to him. He hesitated for a moment, then tied Lan Xirong's hands behind her back and gestured for her to sit against the pillar.
Several soldiers and bandits were tied up individually. Qian Deng glanced at the five of them and asked in a deep voice, "From the slightly different accents you all have, you must be from different places. Why did you come together to cause trouble?"
The goatee rolled his eyes, bowed his head and pleaded repeatedly: "I really didn't rebel. We were all soldiers. When we knew that the leader was rebelling, the army had already entered the city to plunder. We didn't make it into the city, so we could only follow the leader and wander around the suburbs. Later, when we passed by the pond, we heard the sound of chopping and killing, so we went closer to take a look. Who would have thought that the third brother's nose would be cut off? It was also a sudden disaster..."
"Really?" Seeing that they refused to admit it, Qian Deng asked again, "Judging from your appearance, you must have been in the army for more than ten or twenty years. But the Jingyuan Tiger Wolf Division—"
Ling Tianshui knew all about this like the back of his hand. "There wasn't originally a Tiger and Wolf Division among the Jingyuan soldiers. It was formed temporarily when Zhu Tao entered the Guanfang Autumn Defense War, gathering refugees and defeated troops from the northwest. Your accents are different, so you're certainly not refugees from the northwest. Tell me, which unit were these deserters from?"
Goatee crouched on the ground, still looking respectful. "No, no, you guys have misunderstood. We have never been deserters. It was just a coincidence that brought us together..."
Before he could finish his words, Ling Tianshui stepped on his goatee with one foot and kicked him out with the other.
The man with goatee rolled on the ground, holding his bloody chin and screaming like a pig being slaughtered - his beard and a small piece of facial skin had been torn off under Ling Tianshui's feet.
Ling Tianshui kicked away the leathery beard with an expressionless face, and ignored the "goatee" without a goatee. His eyes turned coldly to the faces of the other people.
Seeing how ruthless he was, the four of them were terrified and pale, trembling like sieves: "General, spare our lives, we will confess the truth and will not dare to hide anything!"
Ling Tianshui turned to Qiandeng and raised his chin to signal her to continue asking.
Mingjiu sucked his teeth and saw Goatbeard rolling on the ground, so he pulled him over and tied him to a pillar.
Even though Qian Deng knew that soldiers would be brutal, he was still stunned by Ling Tianshui's unusual cruelty. After coming to his senses, he turned to Feng Yi and asked, "So, which team were you from before?"
Her voice remained low, but it held a chilling chill. Even a strong man like Feng Yi felt intimidated by Ling Tianshui beside her, and could only speak truthfully, "Back then, we were... under the command of Prince Changhua."
As soon as they heard the three words "King of Changhua", except for Cui Fufeng who already knew what was going on, Jintang Mingjiu and others immediately looked at Qiandeng with expressions of surprise.
Qian Deng just stared at him, speaking slowly and clearly, "Tell me how you left the Changhua King's army, how you came here, and what you did here. Tell me every detail clearly."
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