Zhenniang, The Three of Us (Chapter 32)
Sometimes things are like that: you're filled with anxiety when you haven't made a decision, but once you've made it, you feel refreshed.
Zhao Zhenniang used to worry about running the factory every day, to the point that she couldn't sleep. Now that she has nothing left, she is no longer causing internal strife.
My mind is empty, and I feel very at ease.
More people chose to stay with her than one might imagine, especially those who had experienced the fall of Northeast China.
After their hometown fell apart, and they finally managed to settle down in a new place, and their lives gradually improved, they were forced to wander again. This was enough to destroy people's confidence in the future.
After wandering and drifting for so long, they still had nowhere to live, so they decided not to give up and followed Chief Zhao into the mountains!
Those who had given up all hope gathered around Zhao Zhenniang, and even Zhang Ying didn't leave.
Zhao Zhenniang was very surprised by this. No matter what, she had a legitimate government job and was lucky enough to be recognized by the southern government, so she could continue to find a job to make a living. How did she end up following her to become a bandit?
Zhang Ying couldn't help but laugh. Where did this serious fabrication come from?
Everyone knows she's from Ping'an City, a special clerk who rose to power thanks to Zhao, and she's the boss in Ping'an City. Outside, how many people would even give her a second glance?
Having been the boss for so many years, I've gotten addicted to it. I can't stand sitting on the sidelines elsewhere, so I might as well stay here.
Does Japan, a tiny island nation, also dare to attempt to annex the land of China?
They entered my territory and forced me to become a bandit; they must pay the price!
Scholars are indeed eloquent; her words inexplicably invigorated everyone, making them feel excited and as if they had found a pillar of support.
Zhao Zhenniang had long harbored this idea and had begun preparing for a do-or-die situation several years ago. She had many dealings with local bandits and river bandits, and this time she was going to lead her people to join the Lotus Water Village!
The bandit leader of Lianhua Water Village was named Wangshan Jiao. She was originally a woman who was kidnapped and taken into the village as a hostage. Later, when the bandit leader died, she was appointed to lead the village out of danger and became the new leader.
Of all the bandit leaders in the mountains, she's the only woman. If Zhao Zhenniang doesn't support her, who will she support?
When the Chinese Merchants Alliance was in power, Zhao Zhenniang consistently provided her with money, food, and weapons, making her the biggest bandit leader in the area.
Now that Zhao Zhenniang is in trouble, Wang Shanjiao immediately opened the gates of the village to welcome her in, and very generously offered to give her the position of chief of the village.
Of course, Zhao Zhenniang had to refuse. How could an outsider like her try to take the boss's position as soon as she arrived?
Wang Shanjiao, however, was very sincere: "I, Wang Shanjiao, have never admired anyone in my life, but you, Chief Zhao, are the one I admire the most."
"There's nothing to fight over with my pots and pans, please don't be shy."
"With you leading the village, you'll definitely be better at it than I am!"
Zhao Zhenniang was very grateful for Wang Shanjiao's straightforwardness.
It's not that she doesn't want to be the leader, but rather that she's never been a powerful leader with absolute authority back home. She just hopes that the people in the village will be as close as family from now on, listening to what's right, not to anyone else.
People who have been big bosses always have a way of speaking pleasingly. Wang Shanjiao was overjoyed and took her hand to join them, and they worshipped the incense together.
This involves Granny Wang's expertise, so she'll immediately share some professional knowledge about incense sticks with everyone.
Although she made up many of them herself, they were so convincing that they fooled everyone, who praised her professionalism and said they had been blinded by her before.
Looking at the incense table that had been set up, Zhao Zhenniang smiled and said, "People in our area worship Third Aunt and Second Sister; they are very effective."
Upon hearing that it had worked, Wang Shanjiao agreed and offered her prayers as well!
Zhao Zhenniang led everyone in offering incense and finally began to ask her third aunt and second sister: Is the path she is taking feasible?
The third aunt and the second sister remained silent, as the eldest aunt had already reached a level beyond their reach.
But remaining silent wasn't a good idea, so Ye Xiqing thought for a moment and drew a very auspicious fortune stick.
When Zhao Zhenniang came to her senses and saw the fortune slip, she was overjoyed: "Third Aunt has spoken! Everything will be auspicious!"
Granny Wang and Zhao Zhenniang's men were overjoyed and announced the good news to everyone.
Only Zhang Ying and Wang Shanjiao were completely confused.
Am I the only one who saw this fortune slip that you personally picked out?
...
Regardless, Zhao Zhenniang and those who went up the mountain with her were overjoyed. Third Aunt had spoken, and it was guaranteed to work!
Wang Shanjiao didn't know if it was true or not, but since so many people said it was true, it must be true.
Heian City has completely fallen, and war has broken out in various places. One side fights after another, and there is no safe land left.
Whether they stayed behind or migrated, no one had time to care about the other; they could only look after their own path.
Zhao Zhenniang had done many businesses that required capital, but this was the first time she had done one without any capital.
Destruction is always easier than construction, and defending a title is always harder than challenging one. They used to be the targets, but now it's their turn to hide in the shadows and take sniper shots.
Although we agreed to disregard everything and just go wherever the tide took, the room was full of people who tend to overthink, so in the end we decided to plan things out properly.
The second sister remained unusually silent about the mountain climbing scene, but since they were already up there, what could they do but try to figure something out?
Without a foundation of popular support or a rallying cry, they will only be treated as ordinary bandits and easily wiped out by a random troop of soldiers.
Doing business requires marketing, and so does being a bandit. You need to establish a stronghold and spread the reputation of your stronghold.
Most importantly, a destined team is following the strategy of encircling the cities from the countryside, and they will be here very soon.
If someone recruits you to fight the Japanese together, you must join! Don't get so caught up in banditry that you can't extricate yourself!
After Jian Yu'an finished speaking, Granny Wang immediately nodded, "Second Sister is definitely right!"
Those who came with Zhao Zhenniang from Zhao Family Fort were very familiar with this scene, but Zhang Ying and Wang Shanjiao remained unusually silent.
Is this the second sister again?
No matter how confused the two were, what "Second Sister" said made a lot of sense, but how should they set up the village?
Jian Yu'an and Ye Xiqing had already discussed this privately, and Ye Xiqing, who had previously worked as a director, had made significant contributions to this issue.
Have you ever read detective novels? Nursery rhyme murder, snowstorm mountain villa murder, premonition murder, ghost murder, which do you think is the most oppressive?
Jian Yu'an: ...
What do you do in modern times? Why do you feel no guilt at all when it comes to murder?
But when the enemy is strong and we are weak, the most oppressive thing is indeed ghostly killing.
Create an elusive, elusive, and invisible assassination organization, like a ghost, lurking behind the enemy lines.
Even the most ruthless person is afraid of ghosts.
Once a policy is determined, a point of attack must be found.
In the eyes of the Japanese army, they were a superior race, and the inferior people were killed like animals. Wherever they occupied, they burned, killed, and looted without any regard for others.
The most ruthless serial killers are even given the title of hero and honored in newspapers.
When the people of Lotus Water Village received the newspaper, they felt a surge of anger without any need for embellishment.
He slammed the newspaper on the table and pressed several hands together on that face: It's him we've decided!
On an ordinary day, the Japanese garrison was indulging in revelry as usual when a lotus-shaped dart, carrying a newspaper photo, was nailed to the door of the military police headquarters.
Three days later, at midnight, I will surely take this man's head!
Upon receiving such a provocation, the Japanese army was naturally both surprised and suspicious, neither daring to believe it was true nor daring not to believe it was not true, and surrounded the person who was about to issue the death ultimatum.
They simply couldn't believe that with such tight security, someone could take a head right under everyone's noses!
They held out in fear until midnight, and when nothing happened, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and laughed at the person who had issued the death ultimatum for talking nonsense.
The person chosen as the target liked to drink. Someone handed him a drink, and without thinking, he took it and gulped down a large mouthful.
The group had been tricked, and they were more amused than angry. They put away their guns and went home to sleep.
I'll release this joke tomorrow and give those who actually took it a good thrashing.
But as soon as they stepped out the door, the person who was being protected by the group began to turn blue, foam at the mouth, have difficulty breathing, and collapse.
Everyone was shocked and hurriedly rushed the person to the hospital, but the poison was a combination of medicine and poison, and the poison that Ye Xiqing had prepared was quite potent; the person died before even reaching the hospital.
When the scene is chaotic, it's easy to miss more details. The sudden shifts in tension and relaxation leave the Japanese troops bewildered.
By the time they returned to catch the assassin, it was too late; the assassin had already shed his disguise and escaped.
Major Sada, who used to be the shopkeeper across from Zhao Zhenniang but has now transitioned from business to the military, was shocked to see his subordinates reporting that the clock in their shop had been moved forward by five minutes, and the Killing Hero was still dead at exactly twelve o'clock.
Everyone light torches and search through the night!
But people of this era, with their ingrained way of thinking, assume that the assassin is a man.
Walking down the street, I saw an old beggar woman covered with a tattered straw mat, who even had bound feet. Who could connect her with an assassin?
By kicking her to the side of the road, one correct answer is eliminated.
When the city gates were reopened, Wang Shanjiao disguised herself as a beggar woman and openly begged for food, which almost made everyone laugh out loud.
Everyone was delighted; the plan had been executed so beautifully!
Premonitions of murder in suspense novels, especially when combined with serial elements, are often imbued with a sense of mystery and sophistication.
But Ye Xiqing felt that the preview of the serial killings was less a result of showing off advanced murder techniques.
Rather, it's more accurate to say that it's a simple tool for achieving goals, and its effectiveness begins right from the title.
The advance notice gives the assassination target a psychological suggestion; once the target accepts this message, it will inevitably interfere with his actions.
Regardless of the reaction, they were manipulated into the assassin's scheme, moving from an environment completely unknown to the assassin into an environment relatively known to the assassin.
The series of events further reinforces the killer's sense of invincibility, artificially endowing the killer with a more terrifying, cunning, omnipotent, and invincible allure.
The enemies created by the human brain are always more terrifying than the real enemies.
So much so that they overlooked the fact that the real cause of all this was none other than an old woman with bound feet who was never noticed by anyone.
The phrase "to take the head of a person" is also a trap, leading Japanese people who are well-versed in Chinese to believe that it means shooting or beheading, when in fact it means poisoning.
There is reality within illusion, and illusion within reality; use all your strength to lead the enemy into a maze.
For the operative who personally carried out the decapitation, let's not use the overly feminine nickname "Wangshan Jiao" directly. Let's change the code name and call him "Tu Xingsun".
Wang Shanjiao had a capable general named Tu Xingsun, who was proficient in the Five Elements Escape Technique and could kill people without them even realizing it.
In the future, more code names can be created based on different assassination methods, even female names like "One-Zhang-Qing".
Each of them seems capable of anything, from flying to diving, but in essence, they are all just women with bound feet, wearing different names.
Once the enemy is tamed, they can use a feint attack, claiming to send "Tu Xingsun" to kill someone, but actually sending "Yi Zhangqing".
The infinity symbol can be arranged in an infinite number of ways. What is placed on a plane is this symbol, but who knows what it is under the skin?
No one around you is safe, because we will kill you in any form!
...
Major Sada is dead, and the murderer has not been caught. All he can do is rage in a state of impotence.
Before leaving the city, Wang Shanjiao distributed large-character posters everywhere, declaring that Lotus Water Village would be responsible for the assassination attempt, which was extremely provocative.
Major Sada was furious. More important than the fact that someone had been killed was that no one should know that someone had been killed, otherwise how smug those Chinese would be!
To maintain morale, they immediately had someone who looked very much like the killing hero take another picture.
Nonsense! Our people are not dead at all; they are still alive and well!
The people below: ...
So what are you doing, searching the city from house to house late at night? Is someone else missing?
Whether the people below believed it or not, Major Sada simply published articles in various newspapers with his eyes closed, saying that people were alive.
After finding out the general information about Lianhua Water Village, they immediately dispatched troops to suppress the bandits there!
The anti-bandit forces came with great force, but guess why there's an old Chinese saying: "Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake."
Even the Nationalist army isn't coming to suppress these bandits, so why are you coming to do it?
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