Chapter 498: Murder
Editor: Atlas Studios
Of course, the Emperor did not really want them to kill or capture all 130,000 rebels. He did have this wish, but it was 200,000 troops against 130,000 rebels. Not to mention how much military supplies and rations they needed, they could not afford to waste the time.
The Emperor just wanted to give those rebels a warning so that they would obediently accept the amnesty. After all, if they really fought, their losses would be huge. If they forced those people to fight to the death with them, there would probably be an ongoing war in the next three to four years. While those people could focus on fighting to the death with them, the Imperial Court still had many concerns.
The officials also knew that this was the art of talking, so none of them were stupid enough to come out and correct the Emperor. Therefore, for some reason, this decision spread to the Jinghu area. In the eyes of the rebels, this was a signal that the Emperor could not take it anymore and decided to send an army to fight them to the death.
At first, the bandits were panicking. Then, they began to contact each other and discuss forming an alliance to resist the Imperial Court’s army. Even Liu Dahei and Lin Man rushed to participate anxiously.
As for the two people who had recently fought with the Imperial Court’s army, they were warmly met by the other bandit leaders who took turns to ask them about the Imperial Court’s strength.
That was because Liu Dahei and Lin Man’s defeat was really too ugly. The assistant commander, who only had 3,000 men and was surrounded by 30,000 rebels, actually managed to break out of the encirclement. Although people didn’t say anything unpleasant to the two bandit leaders, they mocked them openly and secretly. Therefore, the two of them were very aggrieved. They really wanted to speak what was on their minds to each other in order to seek comfort. However, everyone felt that the duo didn’t have a good relationship. Every time the duo gathered together, there would be people following them around, with a very nice-sounding excuse: to prevent the duo from getting into a conflict.
In reality though, they were just there to watch the show.
The duo’s expressions increasingly darkened. In the end, they gathered together to discuss a plan. “Let’s pay attention to Qi Haoran’s movements. When the time comes, we’ll directly bring people to his side and directly face-off against Qi Haoran. We have something on him, so he definitely won’t dare to do anything to us. When the time comes, we’ll negotiate with him and get him to let us go.”
Lin Man agreed to Liu Dahei’s plan and went back to watch the chaotic battle in peace. The rebels were fighting to nominate a leader.
At this moment, Qi Haoran, whom Liu Dahei and Lin Man had high hopes for, was running on the dirt road with more than 1,400 remaining soldiers. Only when the sun was about to rise did Qi Haoran give the order to rest on the spot. The soldiers immediately rolled onto the grass on both sides of the road or ran straight into the forest to lie down. They were really exhausted.
Qi Haoran sat cross-legged on the ground and took out a piece of dry food to stuff into his mouth. Then, he took out the map and pointed at a spot. “We can reach Tongren from here. Tongren is not under the occupation of the rebels. I wonder if Tongren’s garrison will participate in the operation to surround and kill the rebels.”
As Deputy General Zhong drank water, he said, “I think they will definitely participate. It’s already not bad if they can leave 1,000 people to guard the city.”
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He looked at the hard biscuit in his hand sadly. “I wonder if Tongren has any military rations for us.”
Along the way, they had found many supply points, but most of them had moldy grains. Having already left Hengzhou a few days ago, the supply points they found later on were all from other garrisons. In other words, it was not only the garrisons in Hengzhou who did this.
Deputy General Zhong was so angry that he scolded “What corrupt officials!” for a few days. Qi Haoran looked at him disdainfully. “Is it interesting to scold yourself?”
Deputy General Zhong’s face turned red, but he didn’t dare to complain anymore.
Qi Haoran was unwilling to disturb the commoners, so they all passed through the villages without entering. They all knew that Qi Haoran’s military discipline was strict, so no one dared to forcefully rob the commoners. Deputy General Zhong thought that the soldiers might not be able to hold on for two days before protesting against Qi Haoran. At that time, he could take the opportunity to force Qi Haoran to agree to let them be self-sufficient. Unexpectedly, despite Qi Haoran’s strict requirements, not only did the soldiers not make a fuss, but they also became more and more convinced of him.
Deputy General Zhong watched as Qi Haoran gradually took control of the entire army from him, but he did not dare to do anything. Although he had something on Qi Haoran, Qi Haoran also held his lifeline. This time, Qi Haoran had already gained several trusted aides after successfully breaking out of the encirclement. His prestige in the army had also increased. In addition, his official status was higher than his to begin with, so Deputy General Zhong’s control over the army gradually weakened.
At the thought of having to eat a few more meals of moldy dry rations, Deputy General Zhong took a fierce bite of the dry rations and swallowed them forcefully.
After the hottest period passed, Qi Haoran stood up and led everyone to continue advancing. A scout ran over and reported, “General, there’s a village ahead. Should we stop and rest tonight?”
Qi Haoran looked up at the sky and ordered, “Don’t stop. We’ll go as far as we can before it gets dark.”
The army’s discipline looked very good now, and the soldiers were willing to follow him to eat moldy dry food and not disturb the commoners. However, if they stayed in the village and saw others eating rice, vegetables, and saw even women and children, could the tired army really continue to maintain such strict discipline?
Qi Haoran would not take such a gamble.
Deputy General Zhong and the soldiers below only thought that Qi Haoran did not want to disturb the commoners. They continued to follow Qi Haoran expressionlessly. However, when they were about to pass by the village, Qi Haoran stopped.
Deputy General Zhong asked in confusion, “General, what’s wrong?”
Qi Haoran frowned as he looked at the village. He twitched his nose and finally frowned as he summoned a scout. “Go into the village and take a look. Be careful.”
The scout did not understand what was going on, but he still turned around and ran into the village.
This village was very close to the main road, only about 300 meters away. Between the trees, one could clearly see the overlapping houses in the village. It could be seen that the conditions were not bad.
Qi Haoran led his men along the main road, but there was no noise from the village at all. If the villagers hid because they were afraid of the military disaster, what about the dogs they raised?
The 1,400-odd of them did not deliberately move quietly, so this small commotion would definitely alarm the dogs raised by the villagers. Previously, they had heard the barking of dogs when they passed by some villages.
Qi Haoran had a nagging feeling that something was amiss. It was only when he walked below the draught and vaguely smelled a trace of blood that he felt that this village was too quiet. It was so eerily quiet that it felt strange.
Qi Haoran looked in the direction of the village with a dark expression. The scout he had just sent ran back with a slightly pale face and said in a trembling voice, “General, something happened in the village. Corpses are lying everywhere. I’m not sure if the murderer is still hiding in the village, so I didn’t dare to make a fuss.”
Qi Haoran’s face sank. “How long have the corpses been there?”
The scout paused for a moment and said, “I’ve touched two of them. Both of them are cold and their blood has already coagulated. Looking at the livor mortis on their faces, it should have been quite some time.”
It was very unlikely that the murderer was still in the village. Though, it was unknown if there were any survivors in the village.
