Three days later, almost all the able-bodied men who could be captured from both inside and outside Qinghe County had been captured, and the new roster had been basically completed. Qinglong Village was originally small, and now with so many people suddenly crammed in, it felt a bit suffocating.
After Wang Wu had the new arrivals counted, he requisitioned a large area of civilian housing to serve as a temporary military camp. By the time he had finished giving instructions and returned to Qinglong Village, his assistant had already come up to him, holding a thick booklet. "Sir, the headcount has been completed. There will definitely be no problems this time."
Wang Wu glanced through it briefly and nodded, saying, "Well, I'll let the Pavilion Master review it later, and then have people quickly prepare all the necessary supplies, including clothes and weapons, according to the number of people."
The assistant patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, sir. This batch of work has already been handed over. We just need to collect it once the number of people is determined."
When it comes to weapons, the most powerful members of the Liang family are still the Zhou family. However, the old lady of the Zhou family seems to have some complaints about Tianshu Tower. She has sent people there several times, but it seems to have no real effect. "The Zhou family still won't give in, right?"
The assistants felt a headache when the Zhou family was mentioned. Xiahou Qing had previously instructed them to do their utmost to secure their help, but negotiations between the two sides had repeatedly failed. Although Xiahou Qing seemed to understand the difficulty and didn't punish them excessively, they, the subordinates, were still somewhat uneasy. "I think asking the Zhou family for help is probably out of the question. I heard from the Zhou family's servants that it seems we've offended someone from the family, so Old Madam Zhou wouldn't even let us into the main hall, let alone see anyone."
"Logically speaking, our Tianshu Tower and the Zhou family have always kept to themselves and have nothing to do with each other. Could it be that one of these people is one of theirs, or have we accidentally offended them at some point?"
Wang Wu's suspicions were half correct. Tianshu Tower had indeed offended the Zhou family, but only Xiahou Qing, Huangfu Zhong, and a few secret guards knew about it. To avoid causing further complications and attracting the dissatisfaction of those with close ties to the Zhou family, they kept it a secret. Given what Xiahou Qing had done to the last descendant of the Wei generation in Old Lady Zhou's family, it was absolutely impossible for him to seek covert assistance from the Zhou family.
The assistant was just a lowly subordinate, so naturally, he didn't know what was going on. He could only say, "Sir, I can guarantee that there is absolutely no powerful person among these people. To be on the safe side, after bringing these people back, I sent a number of people to inquire about their household registration and family situations one by one. Even if there is someone with the surname Zhou, it is definitely not that Zhou."
Wang Wu had thought about the background check before, but he had too many things to do so he didn't give any instructions. He didn't expect his assistant to have such a comprehensive view of the matter. He couldn't help but praise him, "Well, you're quite attentive. Not bad."
The assistant was somewhat flattered and said, "Your Excellency is too kind. I have also received a lot of favors from the building. How could I not do my best?"
Wang Wu smiled and said, "Work hard, and you'll have something to gain later. Okay, I'm going to report the situation to Lord Xiahou. You keep a close eye on them and make sure these soldiers don't act recklessly, and don't let our people do anything reckless either. We're short of manpower right now, and some people don't know how to handle their actions, so we need to be careful."
"I understand."
After Wang Wu finished arranging the affairs of Qinglong Village and left, Xiahou Qing's secret guards suddenly appeared behind his assistant like a ghost. If he hadn't been quick-witted, he would have been frightened and screamed, "Sir, why did you come here in such hot weather?"
The secret guard looked at the direction Wang Wu left and asked, "Where is Wang Wu going?"
The assistant who had been helping Xiahou Qing monitor Wang Wu's every move replied, "Your Excellency, he said he would report to you, Your Excellency."
The secret guard continued to ask: "Are there any strange behaviors today?"
The assistant said, "I haven't found anything wrong yet."
"Keep an eye on his movements. If you notice anything amiss, report it immediately to the surrounding secret guards." Without waiting for a response from his assistant, the secret guards vanished in the same breath as he had arrived. His elusiveness was remarkably similar to that of ghosts, who appear and disappear without a trace.
The assistant stood there, gazing at the clear blue sky, and couldn't help but sigh softly, "...The secret guards surrounding the Pavilion Master are truly incomparable to ordinary people. I've finally managed to cling to the Pavilion Master's thigh, and I can't let go easily. This is a golden opportunity for me to rise to prominence."
On his way to find Xiahou Chun, Wang Wu would inevitably pass by the back door of the courtyard guarded by Guard C. Initially, Wang Wu didn't pay much attention to the young guard guarding the back door, but the young guard approached him with a playful smile: "Hello, Lord Wang, are you going to see Lord Xiahou?"
Wang Wu sometimes got firsthand information from the guard accidentally dropping it while chatting with others. Today, he had actually taken the initiative to stop him, so he figured there might be some interesting news. "Well, no suspicious people coming in or out today, right?"
Guard C puffed out his chest and raised his head as he replied, "No, absolutely not. Don't worry, sir!"
Wang Wu nodded slightly and said, "Work hard, don't just chat and doze off. If the Pavilion Master sees you, he won't be as patient as me when talking to you."
After that, Wang Wu saw that there was nothing more to talk about and was about to leave, but he asked Guard Bing to follow him mysteriously and whispered, "Sir, wait a minute."
Wang Wu turned around and glanced at Wang Wu, then asked quietly, "What's wrong? Did you find anything new?"
Guard C spoke cautiously, like a woman gossiping. "Sir, I heard some rumors today about you. They're not to be believed, but they ring true, so I wanted to tell you."
Wang Wu chuckled and asked, "What are they talking about behind my back?"
Guard C explained, "I didn't say anything. I just heard from the two people guarding the side door that someone seemed to have gone to the adults' hometown."
Wang Wu's expression changed slightly when he heard this. Before Guard C could notice anything unusual, he smiled and said, "How is that possible? There's no one left in my hometown. What would I do there?"
Guard C scratched his head and said, "I don't know about this, but I see they are talking about it with details, so this matter is probably not a small matter."
"It's just idle chat, don't take it too seriously," Wang Wu said. After rummaging in his sleeves for a while, he took out a purse and threw it directly to Guard C.
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