Chapter 586: The Evil Neighbor (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
"Have you caught any wind of this?"
A temporary camp within the territory of Sibao County.
The man speaking looked to be in his mid-thirties. Despite his slightly lax physique due to proper care over the years of pampered living, he still possessed a certain physique. He sported a meticulously trimmed mustache and sat in the tent sipping fine wine, exuding a leisurely air.
He sat high in the main seat, his eyes sharp and shrewd.
A lamp was lit inside the tent, its light dim.
Judging from their breathing, none of them were ordinary people.
A warrior general below laughed loudly, his voice laced with sarcasm: "Reporting to our lord, there's been no word from Longwu County. We're starting to have doubts. Was the person who nearly killed Shiwu two years ago really Shen Youli? Or was he just an imposter?"
The man put down his wine cup: "Is there really no movement?"
General: "Every word is true! Our lord is indeed wise, seeing through Chen Youli so clearly. He is truly 'more merciful than ruthless.' We are also in the midst of the autumn harvest season, so he probably won't dare to give up the grain harvest and really fight us. He can only suffer in silence."
It wasn't that the generals were arrogant and underestimated Shen Tang; rather, Shen Tang's public profile was genuinely low. His fame was short-lived—the battles of Xiaocheng and Shiwu were fleeting, and after that, he focused on managing his own small territory. Even when Zheng Qiao forcibly transferred him to Longwu County, he didn't cause a fuss. The outside world talked about him for a while, but his fame was quickly replaced by other new gossip.
The most recent splash was still the defeat of Shiwu.
but--
Just how badly did Shiwu fail?
They don't know much about it.
Shen Tang firmly controls Yonggu Pass, a vital channel for trade and commerce, virtually eliminating communication between the Ten Crows outside the pass and various forces within it. Consequently, they are unaware of the terrifying methods Shen Tang has employed against the Ten Crows.
Longwu County was a barren land that had been repeatedly ravaged by the Ten Crows. It also refused Huang Lie's lead in the fierce Dragon Slaying Scheme and "hid itself away" for two years. Other forces in the pass were too busy fighting each other to pay attention to the little nobody Shen Tang.
Shen Tang's only remaining presence in the past two years has been occasionally mentioned by Wu Xian, Gu Ren, Zhang He, and a few others, but he has never actually been seen. Even his many good reputations have lost their meaning. The transformation from a "benevolent gentleman" to a "cowardly coward" has only taken two years.
Qiu Cheng, that is, the man, had never seen Shen Tang in person, and his impression of this neighbor came entirely from other people's words.
At first, I thought this person must be extraordinary to have achieved fame at such a young age, but after observing him for two years, I found that this neighbor seemed excessively gentle and harmless, as if he lived in a completely different world from them. While people were fighting and killing outside, the neighbor was still engrossed in farming.
In the first year, the harvest in Sibao County was decent, and Qiu Cheng didn't want to provoke Shen Tang at this time. At that time, Shen Tang had only recently finished dealing with Shi Wu, and his temper was still raging and his morale was high. He had nothing to lose and might fight back if provoked.
But this year is different.
This year's harvest in Sibao County is dismal, the government is struggling to collect land taxes, and the common people are fleeing in droves. The soldiers are running out of pay, and the Dragon Slaying Bureau Alliance is also in a stalemate, with both sides entering a phase of competition for manpower and food. Zheng Qiao holds the Imperial Seal, which can influence the weather to some extent. In terms of endurance, he is stronger than the Dragon Slaying Bureau Alliance, which relies entirely on the weather.
Qiu Cheng also began to worry about the food supply.
Then, someone reminded him that his neighbor was a sucker.
Qiu Cheng hesitated at first: "I'm afraid that's inappropriate..."
Wu Xian and the others were quite wary of Shen Tang. They had never dealt with Shen Tang before and didn't know his background. They were afraid that if they acted rashly, they would suffer a loss. Qiu Cheng could feign refusal once, but he couldn't refuse a second or third time. Finally, he was persuaded.
You must do your research before taking any action.
The person who gave him the advice was very familiar with Longwu County, and even knew the locations of the granaries in Nanyu County and Beishang County.
After hesitating for several days, Qiu Cheng finally made up his mind.
If the food crisis isn't resolved soon, the menu will have to be changed.
So, they tested their skills in Nanyu County.
The whole process was surprisingly smooth and seamless.
They encountered almost no significant resistance or counterattack; they merely burned a few places and killed some civilians before drawing away the troops stationed in Nanyu County. Qiu Cheng's men, having moved the granary, were still somewhat dazed—could this really not be a trap set by the enemy?
Normally, there should be an ambush, right?
They waited and waited, returning to their own territory, but the pursuers never appeared, let alone an ambush. Looking at the freshly harvested grain, one soldier even slapped himself to confirm he wasn't dreaming—this was actually real!
Qiu Cheng's fingers traced the rim of the wine cup.
He chuckled and said, "That's not necessarily true."
He wasn't as optimistic as that military general.
"A dog that bites doesn't bark."
"Who knows if Shen Tang is a dog that doesn't bark?"
This success might be due to Shen Tang's complete lack of preparedness; such an easy victory doesn't prove anything. We still need to see how the enemy plans their next move. However, the intelligence brought back by their scouts once again exceeded their expectations. Aside from increasing vigilance and proceeding with the autumn harvest as planned, Shen Tang took no other action.
Are you really going to swallow this bitter pill without saying a word?
Qiu Cheng was suspicious.
At that moment, a woman's voice rang out from inside the tent, sneering, "A dog that bites doesn't bark, but what if this dog is mute?"
Both the military officer and Qiu Cheng looked over.
The woman was not old, only around nineteen years old. She was dressed in plain black clothes, with simple makeup, and was calm and serene. She did not wear any pearls or jade in her hair. She sat quietly from beginning to end, only showing some reaction when she heard people talking about "Chen Tang".
His eyes occasionally flashed with a mixture of pleasure and hatred.
Qiu Cheng said, "We must not underestimate our enemy."
The tone of his voice was very gentle.
Qiu Cheng wouldn't easily embarrass a meritorious official, and he also understood the woman's ulterior motives and her prejudice and dislike towards Shen Tang. After all, Shen Tang had taken all the male members of the woman's family from her household register; the two sides were practically blood enemies.
The woman lowered her eyes.
His gaze fell on the monogram at his waist.
He would occasionally flick the tassel with his fingers.
Qiu Cheng put down his wine cup.
"Send more people to keep an eye on Beishang County's movements..."
The granaries in Nanyu County could only solve his immediate problem; if he wanted to get through the year peacefully, the shortage would be much greater.
Since the neighbor is so wealthy and easy to prey on, only a fool would only visit once. Nanyu County was merely a small test, to gauge Shen Tang's reaction and bottom line.
The main meal has not yet been served.
According to the information provided by the woman, Beishang County is flatter and has more arable land than Nanyu County. Shen Tang has put a lot of effort into this area, so naturally, the grain production is also greater. It is roughly estimated that the grain stored in the granary can solve the problem of military pay for the soldiers under his command for more than half a year, which makes Qiu Cheng tempted.
However, this time the action will be more thorough.
"only!"
Seeing that it was getting late, the military officer, having shared the good news, tactfully withdrew, leaving Qiu Cheng and the woman alone. Before the two could speak, several whispers came from outside the tent.
Before long, a smartly dressed middle-aged woman entered, carrying a food box in her hand. She smiled and said, "Seeing that the young master hasn't had his meal served yet, I know he's been drinking too much again. Why don't you try to persuade him to stop?"
━━(￣ー￣*|||━━
No matter how tough next year is, I'll grit my teeth and get a two-bedroom apartment. The quality of the residents in this community is seriously affecting the living experience. Zhejiang has had so little rain this year; the water comes one day and then stops the next, and this has been going on for over a month. The community has a water storage tank, but it's not very big. With the increase in residents this year, water supply has been limited to specific hours on days with water outages.
This is the fundamental premise.
That evening, a resident in the same building suddenly launched into a tirade in the group chat, angrily complaining about the water being cut off early. He said the water usually stayed on until 10:30 PM, but today it was stopped at 9:30 PM, while his child, who gets out of school around 9 PM, hadn't had a bath in over a week, and so on, using various dialects to express his dissatisfaction. Xianggu simply reminded him that the water was probably cut off because the reservoir was empty (that was all Xianggu said).
After all, the property management isn't the Dragon King, right? Why would they shut off the water in advance? Do they think they'd make a fortune by keeping all that water? Knowing the water would be cut off, why didn't they store water beforehand? Don't they need to flush the toilet? Why didn't they take a shower during the days when there was water? They didn't even shower for over a week…
There was really no need to hurl such harsh insults in the group chat.
As a result, that homeowner started yelling at me and even called my dad to complain (we live in a resettlement housing complex, from the same village). He told me not to be so rude, that he'd already given me face many times in the group chat, and that if I kept complaining, he wouldn't... Me... do I even know him??? If he's so tough, why doesn't he just climb up to the 7th floor and confront me? Why call my dad? My dad even told me to apologize to him to avoid being targeted...
Damn, we're both homeowners, who's inferior to whom?
Then the property management came out and initially spoke gently and softly, but he still wouldn't let it go, so the property management invited him to come to the reservoir the day after tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)
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