"These able-bodied men should be sent to the front lines of the battlefield to serve as human targets first thing tomorrow morning."
"That's right, I saw King Jin's soldiers riding into the government office to eat and drink."
“Our Prefect Wu is a corrupt official! His mansion is right behind the prefectural government office, and he always sends these soldiers several boxes of silver and gold every time.”
"Hmph! They're just exploiting the people."
Upon hearing this news, Li Lanzhen also learned the general situation of the government office.
After eating the wontons, the three of them sat for a while to rest.
He came out carrying the water bag that the waiter had filled.
"Dog Egg, you go ahead and show us where the government office is."
Gou Dan led Han Yinan by the hand, with Li Lanzhen following behind. She observed the shops on both sides. Outside the grocery store, there were many baskets of cooked and dried vegetables piled up, and there was a long queue in front of the grain shop.
Those who bought the grain were only carrying a small half-sack of it.
They walked a short distance and arrived at the government office.
The door was open, and as Li Lanzhen slowly walked over, she saw the men of Hanjiacun sitting on the ground, heads bowed and eyes closed.
Xue Bao and Han Mingjiang leaned against each other, also resting with their eyes closed. Li Lanzhen knew that if they saw her, they would think that she would save them, so she stayed quietly and didn't make a sound, conserving her energy.
Those who shouted and cursed were beaten. Li Lanzhen shook her head. "A wise man submits to circumstances. What's the use of shouting now?"
Leading the two children, they slowly walked past the government office and continued forward.
We came to the entrance of an alley and went in. After walking a short distance, we saw a dilapidated courtyard. The weeds inside were as tall as a person, so it seemed that the place had been abandoned for a long time.
They went in through a gap in the courtyard wall.
I found a shady spot and sat down to rest.
"You two get some sleep, and we'll come over when it gets dark."
The two children ran all the way down the mountain without resting, and now they were tired and fell asleep as soon as they lay down.
Li Lanzhen leaned against the wall, closed her eyes to rest, and mentally examined her weapons in the space around her.
He pondered how to carry out the rescue later.
The best solution is still to use fireworks.
However, there are only three double-bang firecrackers left. There are still many other fireworks, but they are not as powerful as the double-bang firecrackers. I wonder if I have anything I can exchange with the merchant.
Anxiously opening her eyes, Li Lanzhen began to observe the courtyard.
It's quite large, probably a three-courtyard house. I don't know which official's residence it was, or why it was abandoned.
Not knowing if there was anything useful in the room, Li Lanzhen looked up and was blinded by something.
I closed my eyes and opened them again. Looking over, I saw that they were just roof tiles.
These tiles are not ordinary tiles; they are actually glazed tiles.
Haha, it came to me without any effort!
She stood up, intending to find a place to go up on the roof and remove the tiles to see if she could hang them in the mall to exchange for firecrackers.
Li Lanzhen circled the main house but couldn't find a way up. In desperation, she called for the system.
"System, how can I get these tiles? Please help me quickly."
"Fool! Put your hand on the wall, silently chant 'collect the tiles,' and see what happens."
"Is this all you're going to do? Why didn't you ever tell me that you could collect supplies like this?"
The system is silent.
Li Lanzhen didn't bother arguing with the system; she was busy.
Finding the wall closest to the roof, she placed her hand on it and silently chanted, "Collect the tiles. Collect them all into the space."
There was no sound, and just when Li Lanzhen thought things were going wrong, "whoosh!"
A cloud of dust rose up.
The glazed tiles on the roof were gone; upon closer inspection, they were all in their own space.
Li Lanzhen quickly went to where she had been sitting, sat down, and began to exchange for the firecrackers she urgently needed.
They hung these glazed tiles on a section of the mall to indicate what supplies they needed, and then waited quietly.
Before long, the supplies I needed arrived.
There were two boxes of firecrackers, about two hundred of them, along with other fireworks and a variety of cooked foods.
This time, Li Lanzhen ordered cooked food, including flatbreads, steamed buns, dried noodles, fried dough sticks, and instant noodles, all packed full in food containers.
Li Lanzhen didn't look at the food carefully at first, but looked at the firecrackers first.
These firecrackers are enough. Since we need to save people, let's rescue the people from Hanjiacun first, and then rescue all the refugees we can.
After examining the small box of lighters, Li Lanzhen took out five, giving one to each of the two children, and keeping three for herself for Xue Bao and Han Mingjiang.
The three of them threw firecrackers from different places to lure the soldiers over, and then they sneaked in to rescue Han Mingjiang and Xue Bao.
Then, they rescued the others.
I prepared two small bags, each containing 20 firecrackers and other fireworks, to be given to Han Mingjiang and Xue Bao later.
Once those two are rescued, the rest will be left to them. As for myself, hmph! It's not easy to come to the government office; it would be too easy for that corrupt official, Prefect Wu, not to take some supplies.
After dark, the two children woke up, and Li Lanzhen taught them how to use a lighter and how to light firecrackers.
"You must remember, light the fuse of the firecracker and throw it. Make sure to throw it at the enemy. It's very dangerous; you can't let it blow up yourselves or your own people. Understand?"
Both children nodded solemnly. "We know. We won't make a mistake. Don't worry."
Having discussed what to do, the three of them slowly walked towards the government office.
The journey was uneventful. When we arrived at the government office, the gate was indeed closed, and there were two soldiers guarding the gate.
"You two get ready. I'll count to three, then throw! Light the firecrackers and throw them at the two soldiers."
Li Lanzhen took out two bundles of "bombs"—three firecrackers tied together—lit them, and shouted out the code.
Suddenly, the silent Ankang city government office was filled with the sounds of gunfire and cannon fire, followed by wails and shouts of preparation for battle…
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