The Japanese pirates fled in defeat, leaving behind not even the wounded who were not yet dead, only howling outside the city gates.
Yunye led his men to clean up the battlefield. Those who were farming outside saw the city gates open and quickly carried back their hoes and shovels.
When the Japanese pirates attacked before, they were all hiding in the mountains.
Liang Wen raised his hoe to smash it on the head of a wounded bandit, but Lin Yinan saw that the man only had some knife wounds on his arm and quickly stopped him.
"Liang Wen, don't kill him."
Seeing Lin Yinan on the city wall speak up for him, the man hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, "Thank you, Lord City Lord, for sparing my life!"
Upon seeing this, the others all knelt down and begged for mercy.
"Lord City Lord, you are magnanimous. We were forced into this situation."
"We will remember your kindness for the rest of our lives."
Yunye and Liang Wen were completely bewildered, not understanding why Lin Yinan didn't kill these people.
Lin Yinan stood on the city wall, looking down at them with a smile, and said, "No need to remember it. I never said I would let you go."
The bandit who had initially kowtowed and begged for mercy suddenly changed his expression and pointed at Lin Yinan, cursing, "I knew you wouldn't be so kind! Come on! If you have the guts, kill me, and I'll be a hero again in eighteen years."
"I never said I was going to kill you," Lin Yinan said slowly.
The bandit was so flustered by her teasing that he almost collapsed.
What exactly do you want?
"Sister-in-law, are we going to lock them up?" Yunye asked.
Lin Yinan said, "Yes, let the doctor bandage the wounds that aren't serious, lock them up and starve them for two days, then send them to clear land and farm. Find a few skilled bodyguards to keep an eye on them, and if they slack off, they won't get any food. They'll only get food if they complete the task."
"Our cattle need a rest."
Once they arrived in Longtan County, their cattle never rested, except on rainy days.
Traitors exist in every dynasty; being too lenient with them is simply a waste of resources.
"Great! Anan, your idea is excellent!" Yunye couldn't help but clap his hands and cheer.
Liang Wen stepped forward and kicked the Japanese pirate who was tied up like a dumpling, which made the pirate curse loudly.
"Lord City Lord, are these Japanese pirates the same?"
"Yes, if they disobey, just kill them."
As Lin Yinan spoke, he raised his gun and fired a shot into the head of the cursing Japanese pirate.
The bullet's immense impact blew his skull off, splattering his brains all over the Japanese pirates beside him. They were so frightened that they dared not utter another word, their eyes fixed on Lin Yinan on the city wall with venomous hatred.
Upon seeing this, Yunye flashed his sword, and the man immediately covered his eyes and screamed in agony.
"Yunyi, starve these Japanese pirates for three days. If they are still so unruly, kill them directly."
Yun Yi obeyed the order and led the guards to drag the person away.
Liang Wen pointed to some of the more seriously injured people on the ground and asked, "Second Master Yun, what should we do with these people?"
Yunye said in an icy voice, "Kill him. Don't waste our medicine. He probably won't be able to get out of bed for at least ten days to half a month."
As soon as he finished speaking, a guard stepped forward with a knife and slit the throat of the man who was not quite dead.
Four of the cowardly bandits could no longer keep up the act and scrambled to their feet, kowtowing and begging for mercy.
Liang Wen and his men rushed forward and pinned them to the ground. Then, the guards brought ropes and tied them up like dumplings.
As for the confiscated swords and knives, the villagers carried them back to the county government office in baskets.
Seeing that there was nothing left to miss, Lin Yinan, Qianxia, and Qianwu came down from the city wall and slowly walked back.
Qianwu carried Lin Yinan's gun and walked with an air of indifference, which Qianxia found amusing.
"Walk properly, or your brother will scold you if he sees you again."
"I think that carrying a girl as a weapon is the only way to look impressive," Qianwu said proudly.
After saying that, she imitated Lin Yinan's gun-raising gesture, constantly mimicking the sounds of swords and knives, "whoosh~ whoosh~".
As Lin Yinan walked along, watching the two sisters bicker, she suddenly felt a tightening in her stomach. She stopped and instinctively reached out to touch her stomach.
"Girl, what's wrong?" Qianxia immediately noticed her unusual behavior and asked anxiously.
After waiting for more than ten seconds, the tense feeling disappeared, and then the little thing kicked twice, as if to express its dissatisfaction.
Lin Yinan shook her head, "It's okay, the baby kicked me."
Qianxia was worried and walked over to support her arm. "Those Japanese pirates probably frightened him. Let me help you back so that Doctor Lü can take a look."
Qianwu also put away her playful mood and followed beside her with great concern.
Counting the days, Lin Yinan realized she was 36 weeks pregnant. She knew that the tight feeling she had just experienced was Braxton Hicks contractions, and the fetus would be full-term in a week, meaning she could give birth at any time.
The thought of childbirth made her feel inexplicably panicked.
Giving birth is a life-or-death situation for women. Even in hospitals with advanced medical technology in the past, the risks were still there, let alone in ancient times when there was nothing.
Since becoming pregnant, there have been no checkups. The child was conceived after Yunmo was drugged. I don't know if there will be any problems.
With this thought in mind, Lin Yinan's mind became even more confused.
Only after Dr. Lü finished taking her pulse did she nervously ask, "Dr. Lü, how is the baby?"
"The child is healthy and there's nothing wrong with him," Dr. Lü replied.
Lin Yinan was still worried and asked, "Is there anything I should be careful about?"
“The baby isn’t big yet, so you should eat and drink as usual.” As if sensing her anxiety, Dr. Lü added, “The baby is close to delivery, and I see that your wife has already found a midwife for you. You can have the midwife check if the baby is in the correct position later.”
Before leaving, Doctor Lü comforted her, saying, "The Third Madam is strong and will surely have a smooth delivery. Don't worry too much before then."
"Thank you very much, Doctor Lü!"
After seeing Doctor Lü off, Qianxia went to ask Yunmu for the midwife she had found. She was among the first group of refugees to arrive with the merchants, and because of her poor health, she was assigned light work.
After carefully examining Lin Yinan, the midwife said, "Third Madam, don't worry. The young master is considerate of you and has turned into the correct position early on, so he will suffer less during childbirth."
"Thank you for your kind words, Granny Cheng."
Lin Yinan asked Qianxia to bring a bag of freshly baked meat pies to the midwife. The midwife took the pie, put it close to her body, and went out happily.
Both Dr. Lü and the midwife's examinations showed everything was fine. To avoid overthinking, Lin Yinan forced herself to keep busy.
As the pregnancy progressed, she experienced Braxton Hicks contractions several times a day. She overheard many older women talking about their childbirth experiences, which took place either in the fields or in the mountains.
Lin Yinan was so frightened that she dared not go out and wander around anymore, fearing that she might give birth to the child outside.
She would sit in the county government office and direct everything. Any tasks that needed to be done were carried out by Lin Yiheng or the heads of each team, and the work progress would be checked by a supervisory group composed of the clan chief and several respected elders.
That afternoon, she was fanning herself as she watched Lin Fu, Liu Ji, and Pan Qingshui copy the book "Tiangong Kaiwu" (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature).
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