Di Yingxue didn't put the child down after all: "Chief, this child has been sleeping like this the whole way. He won't be able to sleep peacefully if I put him down."
Shenxi nodded, indicating that there was no need to force others to follow their habits.
"You must not be from an ordinary farming family!"
Although the question was directed at her, the tone was certain.
Di Yingxue's overall demeanor was that of a young lady from a wealthy family.
"If the leader asks, I will not hide it from him."
Di Yingxue said without any hesitation: "I am the eldest daughter of the former Vice Minister of Revenue. Five years ago, my father was wrongly accused of embezzling military funds, which caused a mutiny in the army. He was sentenced to beheading."
Vice Minister of Revenue? Five years ago? Shenxi did recall from the original owner's memories that there was indeed such a thing. Five years ago, there was a turmoil in the capital caused by Vice Minister of Revenue Di Wei embezzling military funds. Later, the turmoil was quelled, Di Wei was beheaded, and his family was exiled to the army.
"Are you Dewey's daughter?"
Di Yingxue was surprised that a peasant girl knew this, but then she thought that with such a leader's magnanimity, it was not surprising that he would know.
“My father is none other than Diwei.”
Di Yingxue recalled: "My father was wronged. It was clearly the Minister of Revenue who embezzled military funds along with the Commander-in-Chief of the Capital, and then framed my father."
“My father died unjustly, and my mother, unable to bear the humiliation, hanged herself. I endured the humiliation to survive so that I could raise my only brother to adulthood.”
"Unfortunately, fate was against us. On the way to the frontier, we encountered bandits, and many of my family members were killed or injured. My brother and I were separated."
Shenxi patted Shenyue, who was about to wake up. Shenyue turned over, hugged her arm, and fell into a sweet sleep again.
Shenxi gestured for Di Yingxue to continue.
Di Yingxue lowered her voice: "I was rescued by an old servant, but unfortunately the old servant was injured. I happened to run into Zheng Er and asked him for help. Who knew that after Zheng Er learned the whole story, he killed the old servant and raped me."
Shenxi had considered that Zheng Er had obtained Di Yingxue through some means, but she never expected him to be so ruthless.
Di Yingxue's eyes reddened: "The Zheng family are all beasts. They not only forced me to stay with the three men in the family, but also took me to the county town to do prostitution. If I disobeyed even slightly, they would beat me up."
Shenxi sighed softly. It's not easy for a girl to survive this long after being treated like this.
Di Yingxue gritted her teeth: "If it weren't for the thought that I might find my younger brother and avenge my family, I would have already committed suicide to prove my resolve."
Shenxi gently patted her hand with his other hand: "Don't worry, the people who bullied you won't have a chance to bully you anymore."
"Don't talk about suicide or not. As long as you're alive, there are endless possibilities. From now on, forget all the misfortunes of the past!"
Then Chenxi said seriously, "Since you said you would follow me, your life belongs to me. You cannot take your own life lightly, understand?"
Di Yingxue was taken aback for a moment, but seeing Shen Xi's serious expression, she nodded in agreement: "Yes, Chief!"
After settling her in, Shenxi found Zhao Rong and asked softly, "Did Zheng Yang handle it?"
When Zhao Rong returned and nodded to her, Shen Xi knew that Zheng Yang had been dealt with. Asking again was just to make sure that nothing went wrong.
Zhao Rong nodded: "Don't worry, sir. I secretly put poison in his mouth. It's poison specifically for killing prey. I put in a lot of it. He's definitely dead."
Chenxi nodded. He could rest easy knowing he was dead. He was a wicked person who was prone to causing trouble and held grudges. He couldn't be allowed to live.
That night, the group heard several wolf howls, which frightened many people so much that they dared not make a sound, and then there was silence.
The next morning, the patrol team discovered the carcass of the three-headed wolf and the remains of a person, which they brought back.
After reporting to Shenxi, Shenxi told everyone not to worry about it and that Zhao Rong should lead the whole group in training, including Shenxi.
Some people were starting to feel the strain; their bodies had been weakened since they fled the famine.
Zhao Rong then called a halt: "Today is just basic training. Tonight we'll teach you some basic moves."
Everyone exclaimed in surprise, "We still have to practice tonight!"
The young and strong were still able to endure it, surrounding Zhao Rong and asking when they could reach the point where they could hunt.
Zhao Rong laughed and scolded, "You haven't even learned to walk yet, and you already want to run? You'll be lucky if you can catch mice in half a month, haha!"
Qingzhuang knew he was joking, but everyone knows that hunting skills are not something that can be learned easily.
Logistics Minister Shen Rongxuan led a group to distribute food to Li Qin, and Li Qin and the selected people began to cook.
Shen Rongxuan was truly capable; not only did he select the right people and assemble the logistics department, but he also managed to gather all the food and water together.
Although some people were very reluctant to hand over their stored grain, they had no choice but to do so under Shen Rongxuan's combination of kindness and coercion.
Food is scarce, and we can only eat two meals a day. The first meal can only be eaten around nine o'clock.
Training ended around 6:00 PM, and everyone except those who cooked had to go do chores.
Fang Chenyan led the people he had selected, mainly child soldiers, to find herbs. Shen Xi instructed them not to leave the area of the trap.
Looking at the bustling scene, Shen Xi smiled.
She doesn't have to work; she has other things to do.
They led Zheng Ankang and Zhao Rong to the place where the patrol team had left the wolf and the skeleton. Based on the outline of the skeleton, they could roughly determine that the person was Zheng Yang.
Zhao Rong went forward to check, confirmed his guess, and nodded to Chen Xi.
Zheng Ankang gasped. He wasn't stupid; he had traveled all over the country. How could he not see how Zheng Yang died?
The wolf clearly died here after eating Zheng Yang, who was poisoned.
Chen Xi sneered: "What, you feel sorry for him?"
Zheng Ankang looked up and said hesitantly, "Commander, isn't there a saying that goes, 'One should be lenient when one can be lenient'?"
Shen Xi's face was icy: "That's for kind-hearted people. For the wicked, evil must be eradicated completely, and there should be no leniency!"
Then he emphasized, "As my head guard, you must not be soft-hearted like a woman!"
"Yes, sir."
Zheng Ankang always felt a strong sense of oppression emanating from this little girl.
Seeing that Zheng Ankang had sensed it, Shen Xi smiled gently: "Guard Captain, don't worry, I always treat my people well."
Zheng Ankang nodded in agreement.
Chen Xi turned his head and asked Zhao Rong, "What kind of poison did you use?"
Zhao Rong replied respectfully, "Ricin poison."
Chen Xi breathed a sigh of relief; the toxicity of ricin could be neutralized by high temperatures. Otherwise, it would have been a waste to use the three-headed wolf's meat.
She had someone take the three-headed wolf away and hand it over to the cooking squad, instructing them to handle it carefully, bury its internal organs, and make sure the wolf meat was thoroughly cooked before eating.
Then they ordered people to bury Zheng Yang's remains. Many people saw it. After Zheng Yang's death, these people realized even more that they should never offend their superiors!
The guards who temporarily serve as patrol members train harder than others. They don't do any work, but they are trained in shifts by Zhao Rong and Zheng Ankang. Shen Xi also teaches them some clever tricks.
Shenxi's special training of this 30-man guard team impressed many young men. Shenxi said, "If anyone wants to stand out and join the guard team, they must have real skills!"
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