Chapter 299: Disposal
Editor: Atlas Studios
Finally, the noise in the room completely disappeared. Those who were still awake felt that something was wrong. When they opened their eyes, they were greeted by a cold spear and a sharp blade. Turning their heads stiffly, they saw that the courtyard was surrounded by the Imperial Court’s army. At the same time, a burst of fireworks exploded in the backyard…
Some residents of the town took a look outside and cursed in their hearts. “Ugly people are really troublesome. They even set off fireworks.” They gritted their teeth in hatred towards Feng Yu.
The two platoon commanders who were ambushing on both sides of the town’s exit didn’t see anyone escape. Seeing that it was almost dawn and there was still no movement at all, the two platoon commanders gradually became anxious. Just as they were about to rush over to help, a horse galloped out of the town. “L-Little General ordered Battalion Commander Fang to immediately bring people into the town and set up defenses at the northern entrance. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter or leave!”
After confirming that it was a messenger, Battalion Commander Fang immediately jumped out of his hiding spot and asked anxiously, “What happened in town? Why didn’t I hear anything?”
The messenger grinned. “Little General has already captured everyone. It’s just that dozens of them managed to escape. That’s why Little General had to spend some time looking for them and verifying the number of people. Now, we’ve confirmed that there’s no one missing.”
Meanwhile, Battalion Commander He, who was guarding the southern entrance, also received such an order. The two of them were extremely surprised. They didn’t hear any commotion from the town and it was over just like that?
Qi Haoran stood in front and looked at the unruly Feng Yu. Suddenly, he sneered and kicked him away. Seeing him spit out a mouthful of blood, he felt slightly appeased.
“Fei Bai, get someone to send those girls away and secretly send them out through the back door. Give them some of the wealth that Feng Yu plundered.”
Fei Bai agreed. Qi Haoran looked at Feng Yu coldly and said, “As for him, just keep him alive and don’t kill him.”
Feng Yu panicked when he saw Qi Haoran turn around and leave. He was not afraid that Qi Haoran would beat him up or scold him because as long as he communicated with him. If he had an outlet to vent, he might be able to persuade him to let him go, escape, or defend himself. However, when Qi Haoran did not even speak a word to him and simply turned to leave after kicking him. From the sound of it, he had no intention of interrogating him.
Seeing that Qi Haoran was about to disappear from his sight, Feng Yu hurriedly asked, “Don’t you want to know the location of my treasures?”
Qi Haoran continued walking without stopping. Fei Bai sneered and said, “What’s so difficult about that? Could it be that you can hide those treasures yourself? We can just ask one of your subordinates.”
Feng Yu’s face turned pale. Although he had tried his best to minimize the number of people who knew, it was impossible for him to carry so many things alone. Therefore, there were really many people who knew. He really did not know if those people had told anyone.
The residents of the town did not expect their world to change in just one night. The residents who had been living in fear immediately cried bitterly. Because some of their families had died in the hands of the rebels, they wanted to rush to the rebels and beat them up to vent their anger.
However, when they rushed forward and saw the heavily guarded soldiers, they were discouraged.
The two squires who had been chased away returned with tears all over their faces to thank Qi Haoran. Qi Haoran said coldly, “Your residence has been temporarily requisitioned. We’ll return it to you after we leave.”
The two squires were stunned for a moment before they smiled obsequiously and said, “General, you can stay as long as you want. We definitely have no problem with it. But the things in the residence…?”
“The things snatched by the rebels are all in your residence, so make a list of the things in your residence. I’ll take away what doesn’t belong to you later.” The residents of the town had also lost a lot. Qi Haoran obviously didn’t want to give up halfway, so he planned to distribute the things. At the very least, he couldn’t let these two squires benefit, right?
It was already a huge surprise to be able to get their things back. Hence, the two squires were extremely grateful to Qi Haoran.
Qi Haoran was waiting here for the county magistrate. He was going to fight in a war, so he naturally couldn’t bring these captives with him. Moreover, the prison in the government office couldn’t hold more than 2,000 people. Even if it could, the county magistrate was afraid that they would break out of prison and rebel. Moreover, where could he find food for more than 2,000 people?
Hence, Qi Haoran decided to execute these rebels on the spot. Of course, he couldn’t kill every single one of them. However, as long as their hands were stained with human lives or they had raped women, they would be executed on the spot. Qi Haoran would temporarily be in charge of the executioners.
He had no intention of staying here any longer. Hence, he had to kill those who deserved to be killed within two days. Only then did Qi Haoran feel that it was not good to quietly take down the entire rebel army, for it increased his workload.
If the two armies had fought back then, they might have been able to directly eliminate more than half of the other party’s manpower. However, this would undoubtedly have put his soldiers at more risk and would have harmed the town’s residents.
Qi Haoran self-identified as an upright and kind young man, so this thought merely flashed across his mind.
Before the county magistrate arrived, Qi Haoran had already begun his investigation. By the time the county magistrate arrived, Qi Haoran had already identified 639 people who had either killed or raped girls.
This number looked a little high, but it was not a large proportion in a team of more than 2,400 people. Qi Haoran only found out after checking that 1,000 of them had only joined this team a few days ago and had not had the time to do evil. There were also some people who either had a conscience or no guts. Hence, they only rushed forward to scare people, but they had never killed anyone.
Qi Haoran started fretting about what to do with the remaining 1,800 people.
Fei Bai came up with a bad idea. “Master, why don’t we just take them all in? These people who follow Feng Yu are all in their prime and don’t have much family. If we bring them back, they can at least form a division.”
Although Qi Haoran was also tempted, he said, “How much manpower do we have? What if they betray us on the way back?” Qi Haoran rolled his eyes and said, “But we can let one person give it a try.”
“Who?”
Qi Haoran grinned. “That leader of the 40,000 people whom we can’t find no matter how hard we investigate. That person can bewitch 40,000 people, among which many are old people. It shouldn’t be difficult for such a person to bewitch these young and strong men.”
Fei Bai was dumbfounded. “But Master, where are we going to find them? And what do we do with these people for now?”
Qi Haoran chuckled and said, “I was originally worried that it would be too slow for the infantry to attack Jiangyou. Now, it seems that we can station an army here. We’ll guard the remaining 1,800 people first and crush them psychologically first. Then, it’ll be easier to control them.”
“2,000 men watching over 1,800 people? Didn’t you object to this before?”
Qi Haoran couldn’t help but smack his head. “Previously, I objected because it was impossible for 2,000 people to escort 1,800 people all the way. Now that we have control over their fate, can’t we even keep an eye on them? In at most five days, I’ll be able to find that person.”