Chapter 12: Your little lover has already thrown you into the clouds...
Fang Yilan groped his way forward along the edge of the village. The lights in every household in the village had already been turned off. It was pitch black all around, and the vision was extremely limited.
She walked around in a big circle, and most of the places she saw along the way were courtyards where soldiers or ordinary farmers lived, and she did not find any trace of Lieutenant General Lin.
She didn't know how long she had been walking around, but she was a little lost. The more she walked, the more unsure she felt. Suddenly, a house appeared in front of her. Unlike the simple courtyards around it, it was obviously carefully renovated.
Fang Yilan became alert instantly, slowed down his pace, and walked carefully into the yard.
Before I even got close, I heard a conversation: "Ayue, I understand that my sister's incident has hit you hard, making you reluctant to go down the mountain. But you also know that my legs..." The person who spoke had a low, hoarse voice, revealing a bit of helplessness and fatigue. "It's already broken, and there's no way I can stand up again. Now Qi Chun is getting more and more arrogant, and my physical condition means I won't be able to control him sooner or later. Surrendering is urgent and cannot be delayed any longer."
"I'm well aware of the situation. It's just that..." Xiao Yue's voice pierced through the wall. "We've withheld Ruining's military pay, and now Qi Chun has Lin Hongguang imprisoned. I'm afraid Ruining won't let it go easily."
"We have no choice but to withhold military rations. If we don't do this, we won't be able to lure out the Fang family's army. I've expected that Qi Chun won't let go of this opportunity. It's really unfair for General Lin to be implicated in this, but for the sake of the folks in Qishan, I really have no other choice but to take this risky move. When this matter is completely resolved, even if I have to pay with my life, I will have no complaints." The person who spoke sighed heavily, and there was bitterness in the ending tone.
"I don't know if the Fang family's coach will go straight up the mountain to fight for Lin Hongguang." Xiao Yue said, feeling unsure.
"Of course I will come." A crisp voice suddenly sounded outside the door and window.
There were two "knock knock" sounds, and someone knocked on the wooden window from outside, neither light nor heavy.
Fang Yilan's bright and lively face shone through the window lattice. She bared her white teeth and jokingly said, "If I had known you were eagerly waiting for me here, I wouldn't have gone through all that trouble and revealed my identity much earlier."
"Are you Fang Yilan from the Fang family?" Xiao Yue's face showed shock, and he raised his voice involuntarily, his eyes full of disbelief.
"It's me. Didn't I tell you earlier that I know a little bit about the art of government and politics?"
Fang Yilan smiled mischievously, turned over lightly, and jumped into the house neatly, not forgetting to turn around and close the windows and doors.
After completing a set of movements, her eyes fell on Huan Ying.
Huan Ying looked to be over fifty years old and did not have the temperament of a bandit. His face was weathered, his cheeks were sunken, and he looked a little sickly.
Fang Yilan didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point: "From what I heard from you just now, you deliberately sent people to rob the military pay? Are you planning to use my Ruining army to help you eliminate those restless forces in the mountain stronghold?"
Huan Ying smiled wryly and explained, "General, I'm afraid you've misunderstood. To be honest, I've been harboring thoughts of surrendering to the imperial court for years. Back then, we simply didn't want to become the Xiling people's lackeys, so we made up our minds and took our brothers to the mountains to become bandits."
As he spoke, he seemed to sigh, "Later, Qishan's power gradually grew, and the people in this village became a mixed bag, difficult to manage. They were no longer the simple and honest poor people I brought to the mountain. Qi Chun was originally a butcher born in the city. He had worked hard to gain some power in the mountain village. How could he be willing to give up everything and go back to living the life of an ordinary citizen? This village is not my place of authority, and my leg injury is not healing, so I am no longer able to control everyone."
"I understand your difficulties. Do you know where Lieutenant General Lin is being held now? I have to confirm whether he is safe first." Fang Yilan looked at Huan Ying with burning eyes.
Xiao Yue snorted coldly, "He must be locked up in Qi Chun's side room. His yard has been guarded these past few days. He thought he could keep the others in the dark."
"Qi Chun's little plan is not difficult to guess. He took the opportunity to kidnap General Lin, thinking that I would not be able to do anything to him. Not only could he extort some grain from Rui Ning, but he could also take the opportunity to drive me out of power and seize power. However, he also knew in his heart that he would never dare to harm General Lin. He could not afford the consequences if he really angered Rui Ning. He just believed that you, the general, are a woman and dare not touch this hot potato, so you can only hand over the grain obediently." Huan Ying added.
After hearing this, Fang Yilan smiled softly and said, "In that case, why don't we just go with the flow and send him off."
*
Qi Chun felt that he and the newly captured young lady must be born to clash with each other and would run into each other every now and then.
There is an unbreakable rule in Qishan that all looted property must be shared equally among everyone in the village.
Originally, if Xiao Yue hadn't caught him red-handed, Qi Chun would have killed the ill-fated couple without anyone noticing, and then set fire to the carriage, just as if it had never happened, which would have saved him a lot of trouble.
Who would have thought that now this matter would be exposed, and he would have to share the spoils with everyone. What was even more infuriating was that Xiao Yue actually brought that young lady with him to such a solemn occasion.
"What's wrong, Third Master? You're dividing up my family's wealth, and you won't let me join in the fun and get a share?"
When Qi Chun heard this, his face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. He snorted coldly, "She's just a woman who can only flirt with others. What's there to be proud of?"
But there were so many people around and he was too lazy to argue with Fang Yilan anymore. He casually pointed at two boxes of gold and silver jewelry, shook his head at his men, and was about to leave.
"Hey, wait." Fang Yilan held out her hand to stop Qi Chun and the others. "Here is a headpiece that Zhao Lang specially asked a craftsman to make for me. I can't give it to you."
She caught a glimpse of a jade bracelet, and her eyes lit up instantly. She hurriedly picked it up and waved it in front of Qi Chun: "And this, this is the dowry my mother left me, and I can't give it to you."
Qi Chun's brows were twisted into knots, and he waved her hand away forcefully, feeling a tightness in his chest due to anger.
Fang Yilan pretended to be incredulous and said, "Third Master, you're not really going to snatch something from a weak woman like me, are you? If this gets out, aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
Xiao Yue took the opportunity to speak up and slowly joined in: "They are just a few accessories. There is no need to hurt the relationship over this. Just let her take it."
Qi Chun was so angry that his eyes were blazing with fire. He glared at Fang Yilan viciously and said harshly through his teeth: "Don't think that I won't dare to touch you just because Xiao Yue is backing you up."
Huan Ying saw that the situation was not good and hurried out to smooth things over.
"Okay, stop making such a fuss. What a mess!"
When the surrounding minions saw the leaders quarreling among themselves, they also began to whisper.
Qi Chun was so embarrassed that he was shaking with anger. He roared in shame, "I will never let you leave this door alive today." As he said that, he drew the long sword from his waist.
Xiao Yue also drew his sword, stepped forward and said coldly, "If you dare to touch her, you'll see."
Fang Yilan dodged nimbly, hiding behind Xiao Yue. He popped his head out, his face full of malice, and continued to add fuel to the fire: "Third in command is so furious, isn't he feeling guilty? What's the matter, First in command, you don't listen to the Second in command? It seems that in this village, it's still unclear who has the final say."
Qi Chun gritted his teeth in hatred, his back teeth chattering, as if he wanted to eat Fang Yilan alive.
Fortunately, several of his men were smart enough to rush forward and stop Qi Chun who was ready to attack. They dragged him out of the house together and the farce was finally settled.
Qi Chun stormed out of the yard, his fury showing no sign of abating. As he walked, he suddenly seemed to remember something. His eyes darkened, and he and his men turned back with murderous intent and stormed into the woodshed.
Before Zhao Huaixu had time to adapt to the sudden brightness of the woodshed, he was knocked to the ground by a flying kick.
The woodshed was already dark. Zhao Huaixu had just noticed some light coming in, and before he had time to adapt to the sudden brightness, a flying kick hit him in the chest. He was instantly kicked over, and his back hit the ground heavily.
Qi Chun raised his foot and stepped hard on Zhao Huaixu's head, and even rolled on it maliciously. The rough sole of his shoe rubbed back and forth on his cheek, leaving several bloody marks on his face.
"Do you know that the little lover you've been thinking about so much has been abducted for only a few days and has already thrown you out of the sky. You don't even know where your soul has flown to!" Qi Chun said viciously with a twisted look of pleasure on his face.
Zhao Huaixu's body suddenly stiffened, his eyes full of disbelief. He shook his head desperately and objected loudly.
"Impossible! My wife is definitely not that kind of person. Don't try to sow discord between us. No matter what you say, I won't believe it!"
Qi Chun looked at Zhao Huaixu, who was stupid, stubborn and unyielding, and felt a surge of anger rising to his head. He was so angry that his vision went black and he vomited blood for some reason.
He was provoked to even greater fury, and rushed forward fiercely, violently grabbing Zhao Huaixu from the ground, and then he threw several punches and kicks at him. Qi Chun continued to curse, "What kind of magic potion did that bitch feed you to make you all so devoted to her?"
"They are all extremely stupid. What the hell are they dreaming about? Her good days are about to end. I will make sure she knows who has the final say in Qishan." Qi Chun beat and scolded her.
Suddenly, a burly man rushed in, shouting at the top of his voice, "Oh no, Third Master! The First Master just announced in front of everyone that he's handing the position of leader of the stronghold to Xiao Yue."
Upon hearing this, Qi Chun retracted his fist and threw the man to the ground. His face was still full of anger, and before leaving, he kicked Zhao Huaixu hard again.
"I'll deal with you later."
Then he straightened his clothes and slammed the door and left.
When the wooden door was locked, several dark shadows suddenly appeared. Zhao Huaixu raised his hand and wiped the blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, with a coquettish and creepy smile on his face.
"After the matter is done, this person will stay."
"Yes." An equally cold voice responded in the darkness.
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