More than 500 miles away from the capital, on Red Hair Mountain, the chieftain Xu Meng looked at the food his brothers brought up with a troubled expression, scratching his head repeatedly.
After a long pause, he glared at his subordinate Xu Da and said angrily, "He won't eat fish and meat, does that kid want to eat dragon meat?"
Xu Da said with difficulty, "That child didn't say he wanted to eat dragon meat, he just said he wanted to eat the mushrooms from our mountain. Brother, what do you think...?"
Xu Meng's tiger-like eyes widened in disbelief. "What? Eat mushrooms? Are you out of your mind?! Why would you eat wild pheasant or wild boar meat, or fish, but that stuff?"
If it weren't for the fact that this little brat is dressed in gold and silver and looks so rich, and who knows how much ransom he could get, people wouldn't be willing to serve him a feast!
Xu Da curled his lip and said, "Brother, you didn't see it. That kid only tasted one bite of roast chicken and then spat it all out! He even said that it's something even pigs wouldn't eat, and that we're wasting food!"
"Pah!" Xu Meng spat on the ground and roared, "You little bastard, I can't even bear to eat him, and he's complaining about it! Never mind him, he won't starve to death in two or three days!"
Xu Da shook his head violently, "No way, brother! This is a fat sheep. We finally made up our minds to finish this job and then call it a day. We can't afford any mistakes!"
Xu Meng's expression darkened slightly, and he remained silent.
Since he led the villagers to wander to Hongmao Mountain and became a bandit, life has not been easy.
The gang on the next mountain killed someone a couple of years ago and was wiped out by the government. They learned their lesson and haven't dared to harm anyone in recent years, for fear of angering the government and being wiped out as a whole.
However, the mountains are barren, and there are significant differences between the north and south, so they have no way to settle down here. When they can't even afford to eat, they can only occasionally rob passing merchants to get some money to improve the lives of the villagers.
This time, it was a stroke of luck that they managed to rob a six- or seven-year-old child.
It's also the fault of the child's parents for being so careless. They dared to let such a young child run around in this desolate wilderness with several guards, letting the little lamb fall into the tiger's mouth.
Judging from that child's attire, he could easily extort at least a thousand or eight hundred taels of silver!
The messenger has been gone for three days now, so we should have news soon!
Seeing that Xu Meng remained silent for a long time, Xu Da kindly advised, "Brother, I'd better take a few people to the mountain to pick mushrooms. It would be troublesome if that child starved!"
Xu Meng waved his hand weakly, indicating his tacit agreement.
Xu Da left Xu Meng's room, walked to the outside of a stone house across the courtyard, and leaned out to say to the boy lying on the bed, "Kid, I'm going to take some people to find mushrooms for you. You stay in your room and don't cause any more trouble!"
The boy on the bed silently rolled his eyes and ignored him.
As soon as Xu Da left, the boy jumped out of bed, clutching his crotch and grimacing, "Lili, I need to pee!"
Fu Li sighed silently and said, "I told you before, there's no flush toilet here, which will be very inconvenient, but you insisted on staying!"
Jiang Huai squeezed his legs together and muttered, "If I can achieve great merit this time when I leave the capital, then Mother and Father will be able to let me go out without worry in the future!"
No, they'll only be more worried!
Fu Li thought to himself, but didn't dare say it aloud. He picked up Jiang Huai and jumped out of the window, running to a secluded place to relieve himself.
Red Hair Mountain is not high, but it is covered with pine trees, lush and verdant, with many branches of streams and brooks, making it difficult to find people hiding there. Therefore, the government did not send troops to exterminate the bandits hiding on Red Hair Mountain.
Jiang Huai wanted to play in the water a little longer, but when he saw someone coming from afar, he quickly jumped onto Fu Li's back and returned to the stone house before being discovered.
While eating fruit picked from the mountain, Jiang Huai's short legs swung back and forth on the bed, mumbling indistinctly, "Where did Master Xi go? Is he still on the mountain? Uncle Xi and Uncle Wu should have arrived by now, right? Will Mother scold them?"
Fu Li's lips twitched, and he said, "Young Master, you should worry about yourself first! If this matter reaches His Majesty and the two imperial grandsons' ears, I estimate that Red Hair Mountain will be razed to the ground."
Jiang Huai paused in his mouth, quickly swallowing the fruit. "How could that be? I just wanted my uncles to inform Father and Great-Grandfather to bring those wicked bandits back. I didn't mean anything by it!"
Fu Li chuckled inwardly.
Young Master probably doesn't yet understand the ways of the Fu family of Qingcheng Mountain. Just wait, he'll soon find out about the patriarch's wrath!
Qingcheng Mountain.
Inside the council hall, Fu Xiaolou's thick eyebrows were furrowed, his usual jovial demeanor completely gone, replaced by the cold and menacing aura befitting a true master of the martial arts world.
"All members of the Fu family, listen to my command: Qingfeng Hall members, follow me to rescue Huai'er; the rest of you, split into three groups and besiege Hongmao Mountain! Leave no one alive who tried to rob Huai'er!"
"Yes, Master!"
At the same time, in the Imperial Palace of Shangjing.
The Crown Prince stopped the Crown Princess and the Emperor from rushing out, frowning as he said, "Women, what are you doing causing trouble! Lord Fu has already taken my tiger tally to the military camp to borrow troops, and the Imperial Guards have almost all left the city by now. Don't cause any more trouble!"
Jiang Shan was still worried and stared intently at the Crown Prince, asking, "Your Highness, Huai'er will be alright, won't she?"
The Crown Prince rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on, and said, "A few hundred mountain people causing trouble are nothing compared to the army of Daqing. Besides, General Fu is personally leading the troops, so don't worry!"
Jiang Shan then composed himself, bid farewell to the Crown Prince and his wife, and hurriedly returned to his residence to await news.
In the golden autumn of October, the morning mist draped Hongmaoshan Mountain in a hazy veil, making the distant mountains and nearby waters appear as pure white.
The village was built on a slightly elevated flat area at the foot of the mountain.
What awakened Xu Meng was not the clear chirping of birds on Red Hair Mountain, but the heavy and deep sound of horses' hooves.
He was stunned for a moment, his mind still reeling, when Xu Da burst in, running and jumping.
"It's terrible, brother! The government has sent troops to besiege Red Hair Mountain!"
Xu Meng sat bolt upright in bed, as if doused with a bucket of cold water. He grabbed Xu Da and demanded, "What did you say? Why would the government send troops to besiege Red Hair Mountain? How many people are there?"
Xu Da held up two fingers with a mournful face, his face wet with what looked like tears or sweat.
"Two hundred? That's alright, that's alright. Quickly tell the brothers to evacuate while the morning fog is still blowing!"
Xu Da closed his eyes and said, "It's not two hundred, it's two thousand!"
"Two...what? Two thousand?" Xu Mengnan's face turned pale, and his legs began to tremble uncontrollably.
There were only a little over three hundred people, young and old, on the mountain, who could barely handle the two hundred soldiers from the government. But suddenly two thousand people came...!
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