Xuanping still wanted to persuade Li Chanxiu, but Li Chanxiu had already skipped past the topic and continued what he had been saying earlier. “Right, if Fourth Boss’s throat feels uncomfortable, you can usually soak honeysuckle and lophatherum leaves in water to drink, or simply hold licorice slices in your mouth.”
When Pei Er heard the words “Fourth Boss,” his gaze turned slightly cold and he immediately shot the man a glance from the corner of his eye.
When he heard “licorice slices,” he could not help looking toward Li Chanxiu again, his eyes dark.
Li Chanxiu coughed lightly. Somehow he felt as if he were being stared at by a wronged wolfdog. He forcibly suppressed the impulse to casually take out a few licorice slices to give to Xuanping.
Seeing that he did not hold it against him for having kidnapped him earlier and was even considering his throat, Xuanping felt grateful again. “Thank you, Miss Shen. You truly have the benevolence of a healer. I offended you earlier, I am truly ashamed.”
Li Chanxiu shook his head to show he no longer minded, then hurriedly said, “It’s getting late. I’ll go make some jinchuang medicine for Young Master Lu first.”
He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, among himself, Pei Er, and Physician Hu, sooner or later one of them would give something away.
Upon hearing that medicine would be prepared for Lu Zhi, Xuanping naturally paid close attention and quickly said, “Alright.”
As for that “extraordinarily strong” servant, if Miss Shen wanted him, she could have him. Although he thought the servant was very likely “fake strong, actually just thick clothing.” But it was only grinding medicine; any ordinary man could do it. Most likely Miss Shen had become weak after treating his elder brother’s wounds for such a long time just now and needed someone to help pound the medicine.
Thinking this, Xuanping led the three of them all the way to the side room next door.
Before leaving, he thanked them again and said, “If you lack anything here, just have the servant… have this Shen Er go tell Tan Yun. He’ll be keeping watch outside my elder brother’s room tonight. Or you can come directly to me.”
Tan Yun was the youth who had earlier asked Pei Er to help bring the water.
Li Chanxiu smiled and nodded, politely seeing them out.
After Xuanping stepped out of the room and stood in the corridor, he immediately grabbed Tan Yun beside him and pulled him aside, frowning as he asked, “That Shen Er, I feel like he looks a bit unfamiliar?”
“Uh.” Tan Yun immediately stammered, his eyes wandering.
The moment Xuanping saw this, his face hardened and he said, “Speak!”
Tan Yun immediately did not dare hide it. After cautiously glancing at him, he honestly confessed, “Second Brother, don’t be angry when I tell you, he was… sent from the West Stronghold.”
He stammered and simply did not dare mention the words “Third Boss.”
But the moment Xuanping heard “West Stronghold,” he understood. His face darkened and he quickly interrupted, “Alright, alright, leave it for now. If they send people again in the future, don’t accept them. As for this Shen Er…”
He frowned, then instructed, “Pay more attention to Miss Shen’s side. Someone newly up the mountain may not understand the rules and may work clumsily. If he doesn’t do well, quickly replace him with someone else for Miss Shen.”
“Ah, alright!” Tan Yun nodded hurriedly.
Xuanping still had other matters to deal with. After giving these instructions, he quickly left.
There were government soldiers at the foot of the mountain preparing to suppress the bandits. The stronghold had to strengthen its defenses. The West Stronghold had also gone out plundering a few days ago… All these matters had to be kept from his elder brother so he would not get angry and damage his health.
Thus everything was pressing down on Xuanping.
Tomorrow he still had to find a way to go down the mountain to buy medicine. When he thought about the troublesome people from the West Stronghold again, his head began to ache.
Where did he need Miss Shen to prescribe medicine for his throat? What he needed was a prescription to cure headaches.
***
Inside the room, after Li Chanxiu closed the door tightly and heard the footsteps of the two outside growing farther and farther away, he finally let out a breath of relief.
Turning around, he quickly walked to Pei Er and asked in a low voice, “How are you here too?”
When he suddenly saw the other person outside just now, he had nearly exposed himself.
Pei Er still looked at him with dark eyes. Pressing his lips together, he answered with another question, “You wanted to give him licorice slices just now?”
Li Chanxiu: “…”
For some reason, he instinctively denied it. “I didn’t want to give him any.”
Only then did Pei Er smile, his expression relaxing somewhat. In a low voice he explained, “I received General Chen’s letter saying you and Physician Hu were kidnapped by mountain bandits…”
At this point he frowned and asked, “Wasn’t it that Xuanping who kidnapped you? Then just now why did you…” want to give him licorice slices.
Li Chanxiu shook his head. “It’s a long story. In short, Xuanping and the others aren’t bad people. Let’s talk about you first, how did you end up on the mountain?”
“Oh.” Hearing him speak up for Xuanping, Pei Er suppressed a trace of discomfort in his heart. He briefly explained how he had come up the mountain to scout, how he had sneaked into the stronghold, and how Tan Yun had caught him and made him carry water, which led to him coincidentally seeing Li Chanxiu.
After hearing this, Li Chanxiu said in surprise, “You really are bold. Luckily you came in from the West Stronghold.”
If it had been the East Stronghold, he might have been exposed right at the gate.
Pei Er thought silently that Miss Shen was also very bold. Trapped in a bandits’ den, she was not only unflustered, but even able to make use of her own advantages to resolve the dangerous situation, making this group of mountain bandits treat her with great respect.
Even if he hadn’t come tonight, the other party might not have been in danger.
Thinking of this, he could not help looking at Li Chanxiu again. The other’s clear and elegant face was always calm. Though her figure was slender, there was an indescribable resilient strength about her, like green bamboo bent under the weight of piled snow.
Pei Er’s gaze could not help becoming burning.
“Ahem.” Physician Hu, who had been ignored all this time, finally could not help speaking, interrupting the increasingly strange atmosphere in the room.
“Well… if you want to reminisce, we can do that later. Let’s talk about what we should do next first.” Physician Hu said with a forced cheerful smile.
Only then did Pei Er remember he was also there and hurriedly moved his gaze away.
Li Chanxiu also felt somewhat awkward and coughed lightly to cover it up. “Let’s make the medicine first and talk while we work.”
As he spoke, he took out the medicine pouch he carried on him. Together with Physician Hu he weighed the ingredients according to proportion, then handed the ones that needed to be ground into powder to Pei Er.
Holding the pestle, Pei Er pounded the medicine with a gloomy expression.
Helping Miss Shen with work made him happy. But helping Miss Shen grind medicine for another man made him very unhappy.
Li Chanxiu seemed to notice his poor mood and subconsciously told the truth. “Actually, buying these medicinal ingredients was to make jinchuang medicine for you. Just now I needed an excuse to keep you here, so I temporarily said it was for that Young Master Lu.”
While saying this, he had almost reached out to pat Pei Er’s head the way he had stroked the wolfdog’s head in his dream. The way Pei Er’s eyes drooped looked too much like a wronged wolfdog.
Li Chanxiu’s hand had already lifted, but midway he came back to his senses and forcibly stopped himself by pinching his fingertips.
Hearing these words, it was as if something joyful had happened again to Pei Er. His eyes suddenly brightened, and he pounded the medicine with even greater force.
For a time, the entire room echoed with the “thump, thump, thump” of pounding medicine.
Next door, Xuanping, who happened to have come again to find Tan Yun, faintly heard it and could not help rubbing his chin, thinking: This servant really does have quite a bit of strength?
Inside the room, Li Chanxiu and Physician Hu sat by the table. While watching Pei Er pound the medicine, they quietly discussed their next course of action.
Listening to the steady and forceful pounding sounds, Li Chanxiu thought: good, it conveniently covers the sound of our discussion.
From the corner of his eye he could not help glancing again at Pei Er’s arm.
The East Stronghold’s guards were stricter than the West Stronghold’s. It would be almost impossible to quietly take two people away together.
Especially after Li Chanxiu learned that Lu Zhi and the others were exactly the bandits Pei Er intended to suppress, he had a new idea, perhaps they could “recruit” Lu Zhi and make him completely break with the West Stronghold.
But this required a premise: he had to cure Lu Zhi and make Lu Zhi trust him even more. Before that, he had to hide Pei Er’s… identity.
If Lu Zhi learned that the troops suppressing the bandits, especially one of their deputy leaders, had already infiltrated the stronghold and was even working together with Li Chanxiu, it would very likely arouse his vigilance and distrust.
In addition, he would have to find a way to persuade Pei Er. This kind of matter was not something Li Chanxiu, a military physician, could decide alone; Pei Er needed to make the decision.
But he had not yet figured out how to persuade him.
Pei Er knew clearly that he could not take two people away at once. At this moment he was also thinking of exploring the stronghold again in the second half of the night to thoroughly understand the internal situation.
Only Physician Hu remained constantly worried, concerned about whether he would be able to leave this bandits’ nest alive.
After the jinchuang medicine was finished, Li Chanxiu gave forty percent to Pei Er, kept forty percent himself, and personally delivered the remaining twenty percent to Lu Zhi’s side.
The one who received the medicine was Tan Yun, who was guarding outside Lu Zhi’s room. With a grateful expression he said, “Why did you come personally? You could have just had that servant called Shen Er bring it.”
Li Chanxiu smiled but said nothing. Naturally he had not let Pei Er come so that he would appear less and avoid being noticed.
By the time he returned, the night had grown deep, and wind had begun to rise in the mountains.
After entering the room, Li Chanxiu lay down on the couch without removing his clothes.
Physician Hu had been arranged to stay in another side room. After the jinchuang medicine was finished, he had already left.
Pei Er kept watch outside the room. With his current identity as a servant, it would naturally be inappropriate for him to remain in the room with Li Chanxiu.
In the latter half of the night, the wind in the mountains grew stronger, sounding like the wailing of resentful ghosts, blowing the withered trees until they swayed like ghostly shadows.
Suddenly, a faint glow of fire appeared in the direction of the West Stronghold. Then the flames grew brighter, accompanied by bursts of shouting and killing cries.
Pei Er abruptly opened his eyes and looked toward the direction where the fire had appeared in the West Stronghold. Instantly guessing what had happened, his expression darkened.
On the East Stronghold’s side, people who had already gone to sleep were also awakened one after another. Torches were lit in succession, and hurried footsteps sounded outside the courtyard.
Li Chanxiu also suddenly opened his eyes on the bed. Hearing the faint sound of clashing weapons, for a moment he almost thought he was still on the battlefield in his dream.
Very quickly he came back to his senses, hurriedly got off the couch, put on his shoes, and rushed outside.
Hearing the movement, Pei Er opened the door for him first.
Li Chanxiu frowned and looked toward the direction of the flames. “What’s going on?”
Pei Er’s expression was not good. Gritting his teeth, he said in a low voice, “Commandant Qian has attacked the mountain.”
“Commandant Qian?”
“The garrison troops from Yongding Town,” Pei Er briefly explained.
As he spoke he pulled Li Chanxiu into the room and shut the door tightly again. “They should have come up from the small path near the cliff on the West Stronghold’s side. Judging from the firelight there and the wind, they’re probably being attacked with fire by the West Stronghold’s people.”
He had warned Commandant Qian before. Before leaving he had also instructed Thousand-man Commander Li that if Commandant Qian insisted on attacking the mountain from there, he must stop him. But he had not expected…
“Looks like Thousand-man Commander Li couldn’t stop him,” Li Chanxiu said in a low voice after hearing his explanation.
Pei Er fell silent and nodded.
At this moment, the people from the East Stronghold responsible for night patrol hurried over to the neighboring room, their steps hurried.
Tan Yun, who was guarding outside Lu Zhi’s room, refused to let them in. The man said anxiously, “Government troops are attacking the stronghold, we can’t not let Second Boss know.”
Tan Yun said, “But…”
“Tan Yun, let him in.” Just then a voice came from inside the room, accompanied by a muffled cough.
Pei Er and Li Chanxiu exchanged a glance.
Pei Er immediately said, “I’ll go listen.”
“Wait.” Li Chanxiu wanted to pull him back, but just as he reached out his hand, the man had already gone.
Before long, Physician Hu also hurried over. He was wearing a cotton robe that he had not even finished putting on, his expression unable to hide his alarm. He said in panic, “What’s going on? I heard the mountain’s being attacked? Will they kill us as hostages, ”
Before he could finish, Li Chanxiu suddenly raised a hand to stop him.
Then Li Chanxiu stepped out of the room and listened carefully to the movement next door, silently praying that Pei Er would be careful while eavesdropping and absolutely not get caught.
Just as he was thinking this, he saw Xuanping hurrying over as well. Seeing Li Chanxiu standing outside, he did not even have time to greet him and anxiously went straight into the room.
Before long, something could be heard crashing to the floor next door, followed by Lu Zhi’s angry rebuke faintly coming through,
“Nonsense!” “Who allowed them to do this?” “How much more have you been hiding from me?”
…
After a while longer, Lu Zhi could faintly be heard saying something about “stop,” after which Xuanping came out looking dejected and hurried toward the West Stronghold.
Not long after, Lu Zhi himself came out as well, seated in a wheelchair and pushed by someone who looked like a steward.
Li Chanxiu quickly pulled Physician Hu back into the room.
Seeing the light still on in Li Chanxiu’s room, Lu Zhi turned slightly and instructed Tan Yun about something, then headed toward the West Stronghold.
Soon after, Tan Yun came to knock on Li Chanxiu’s door and asked through the door whether he had been frightened.
Hearing Li Chanxiu say “I’m fine,” he comforted him with a few words, saying that there had been a fire at the West Stronghold and everyone was busy putting it out, which was why the noise had woken him.
Then he apologized a few times.
Li Chanxiu listened and naturally pretended not to know anything, saying, “I’m fine here. If you have things to do, go take care of them.”
Tan Yun responded with an “ah,” added “then please rest early,” and quickly left.
Li Chanxiu frowned. At this moment, how could he possibly fall asleep?
He simply sat at the table and waited with Physician Hu for Pei Er to return.
By now Physician Hu had already learned the situation from him. He paced back and forth in the room, becoming more and more worried. “Sigh, this Commandant Qian, why wouldn’t he listen to advice?”
When he first heard the stronghold was being attacked, Physician Hu had briefly hoped they might be rescued.
Now that he knew Commandant Qian had been told not to take that small path yet insisted on doing so anyway and had indeed encountered a fire attack, he was already in despair.
Why had Yongding Town sent such a stubborn person to lead the troops? If only he had listened to even a little of Pei Er’s words.
Physician Hu could not help sighing repeatedly.
But what he did not know was that Commandant Qian had not completely treated Pei Er’s words as if they were nothing.
In fact, after hearing Pei Er’s warning, Commandant Qian had hesitated somewhat.
It was just that they had truly been defeated too many times before, and had even been personally reprimanded by letter from the prefect. This time they were ordered to suppress the bandits together with the garrison from Yongfeng Town, which somewhat implied that their own ability was insufficient.
The garrison soldiers from Yongding Town actually all felt uncomfortable about this, especially Commandant Qian.
Although earlier he had put on airs in front of Thousand-man Commander Li and Pei Er, this time when he led troops out he had sworn a military pledge. The soldiers he brought were also holding back a breath of determination, vowing to wipe out the bandits on the mountain.
So Commandant Qian could not help suspecting again, could Pei Er’s warning have been deliberate misdirection? The purpose being to make the Yongding garrison afraid to attack the mountain immediately, causing them to lose the initiative so that the Yongfeng troops could attack first and take the credit.
After all, the Yongfeng garrison was attacking for the first time and had less experience than Yongding’s troops. Logically speaking, the Yongding garrison should have the advantage. If the other side wanted to seize the credit, wouldn’t they need other tricks?
Judging others by himself, Commandant Qian inevitably felt that Thousand-man Commander Li and Pei Er would certainly try to trip him up. Especially after discovering that Pei Er had secretly gone up the mountain with more than a dozen men, he became even more convinced that the man was trying to mislead him so that Thousand-man Commander Li and the others could attack first.
Moreover, the soldiers under him were also impatient. One after another they urged him, asking why they still had not attacked.
He gathered several people to discuss it. Eager to gain merit, they all echoed his words, believing Pei Er was deliberately misleading them.
“Tonight is clearly a clear night, where would any wind come from?”
“Exactly. I think the Yongfeng troops are afraid we’ll take the credit, so they deliberately said that.”
“Commandant Qian, give the order quickly. We can’t lose this time!”
Seeing that the others shared the same thoughts as him, Commandant Qian became even more certain and finally made up his mind.
Although some people spoke more cautiously because their numbers were not large, or perhaps Commandant Qian himself had already leaned toward a decision, in the end he still did not listen.
In the latter half of the night, he personally led the troops up the mountain along the narrow path. When Thousand-man Commander Li heard the commotion and saw that they really intended to go up, he hurried over to persuade them but was stopped by Commandant Qian’s men.
At first everything went smoothly. But halfway up, wind gradually began to rise in the mountains.
Commandant Qian hesitated for a moment, but after a while, seeing that the wind was not strong, he relaxed and ordered the march to continue.
Only when they were about to approach the stronghold did the wind suddenly grow stronger. And because they were between mountain ravines, the wind blew even more fiercely than in other places.
A sense of foreboding slowly rose in Commandant Qian’s heart. Yet they were already close to the stronghold, this was the most likely chance they had ever had to capture it, and he was truly unwilling to withdraw the troops just like that.
While he was still hesitating, suddenly shouts of killing erupted from above. Immediately afterward flames soared into the sky, and countless torches rained down from above.
Driven by the wind, the flames surged like fire dragons with a sudden whoosh.
In an instant, the narrow mountain path turned into a sea of fire. More than a thousand soldiers were crowded on the path and were instantly surrounded by the flames. For a time, cries, screams, and the wails of those falling from the cliff echoed continuously.
The dry branches by the roadside crackled as they burned, and the firelight illuminated faces filled with terror.
Only then did they discover that the roadside had long been piled with flammable branches. Even the snow had been cleared away, everything prepared in advance, just waiting for them to come.
Commandant Qian was protected by several personal guards. While swinging his saber to cut down the arrows being shot at them, he shouted at the top of his voice, “Stay calm! Don’t panic!”
But everyone was already packed together in a mass, trampling one another as they desperately fled down the mountain, completely without order.
…
The fire burned until dawn before it was finally extinguished.
Pei Er did not return until the sky was almost light.
Li Chanxiu was sitting by the table, supporting his forehead with one hand. Just as he drowsily nodded off, he suddenly heard the door open and immediately woke with a start, quickly sitting upright.
Pei Er came in carrying the chill of the night with him, then turned and shut the door tightly.
Li Chanxiu quickly stood and asked, “How was it?”
Physician Hu also stood up with him, his face full of worry.
Pei Er shook his head and strode over. First he poured himself a cup of the cold water on the table and drank it in one gulp. Only then did he say hoarsely, “Just as expected, Commandant Qian suffered a crushing defeat. Fortunately that Second Boss went in time and stopped them from continuing the fire attack. Otherwise, among the Yongding garrison troops, it would have been good if even half could return alive.”
Li Chanxiu thought: just as expected.
Then he sat down again, his heart somewhat heavy.
“What a disaster!” Physician Hu said painfully. After a pause, he added in a dry tone, “But… I didn’t expect that Second Boss to actually be quite a good person.”
Just then there was movement next door as well. It seemed Lu Zhi and the others had returned.
Lu Zhi was clearly extremely displeased. Before he even entered the room, he suppressed his anger and said, “Why are you following me? Go call that one surnamed Song to come see me.”
As soon as the words fell, Xuanping was heard responding with a muffled “Yes,” followed by the sound of hurried footsteps leaving.
Pei Er and Li Chanxiu exchanged a glance. Then Pei Er said again, “I’ll go listen.”
“Wait!” Li Chanxiu grabbed him again.
This time he caught him, but when Pei Er turned his head, Li Chanxiu paused. He suddenly realized that he did not actually have anything to say; he had simply been worried out of instinct.
His fingers gradually loosened. Pressing his lips together, he finally said, “Daytime is different from nighttime. Be careful.”
Pei Er suddenly smiled and nodded heavily. “Mm.”
After saying that, he turned and went out.
***
West Stronghold, the council hall.
Chief Song was laughing loudly as he drank with three or five others. Sitting at the table, besides a man dressed like a scholar, a burly martial-looking man, and the scar-faced Third Boss, there was also another person, Centurion Jiang from the Yongfeng Town garrison.
“Brother Jiang’s method was truly good. Killing those dog soldiers today was really satisfying. It’s a pity that fellow you mentioned, what was it, Er, wasn’t there. Otherwise you could’ve seen the miserable sight of him crying for his parents while burning in the fire.” After drinking a bowl of wine, Chief Song said this while eating meat in big bites.
Centurion Jiang also smiled and raised his cup. “When they attack the mountain again later, if that Pei Er is there, I’ll have to trouble Chief Song to help eliminate him in one stroke.”
“Easy, easy!” Chief Song laughed loudly. “Right, and about the salt we looted earlier, ”
“Chief, that mustn’t be mentioned.” The scholar-looking man beside him hurriedly stopped him.
Centurion Jiang’s expression also changed suddenly.
Chief Song came back to his senses and quickly covered it with a laugh. “Right, right!”
Then he raised his wine bowl again and said, “Drink, everyone drink, hahaha!”
Only then did the nearly stiff atmosphere relax. Several people hurriedly echoed him and all raised their cups.
Just then someone below came to report, “Chief, the Second Boss has sent someone to invite you over.”
The atmosphere at the table immediately grew heavy. The few people exchanged glances, and Centurion Jiang’s gaze also became subtle.
Chief Song happened to notice and suddenly set down his wine bowl. “Not going. If he has something to say, he can come tell me himself.”
“But…” the subordinate clearly hesitated, “the one who came is the Fourth Boss.”
“Fourth Boss?” The Third Boss’s eyes lit up. Even the scar on his face seemed to soften. He hurriedly said, “I’ll go take a look.”
Before he could stand up, Chief Song glared fiercely at him. He immediately froze, sat back down again, and looked awkward.
“Look at you, so spineless!” Chief Song said with displeasure. Then he stood up. “I’ll go take a look myself.”
It was obvious he meant to go to the East Stronghold. Hearing this, the scholar immediately stood up to follow him, and the burly man beside him did the same.
Centurion Jiang’s eyes turned for a moment. Suddenly he also stood up and called out to stop Chief Song.
Chief Song turned around.
Centurion Jiang hesitated for a moment, but finally gritted his teeth and said, “Chief Song, you could say I helped you a great deal this time. Speaking of which, I also have a small favor I’d like to ask you.”
Chief Song said directly, “If Brother Jiang has something to say, just say it. Why be so roundabout?”
Hearing this, Centurion Jiang spoke frankly. “It’s like this. Earlier I asked your brother, the Third Boss, to help kidnap someone, a young lady. But he drank and delayed things, so he didn’t catch her. I heard the Fourth Boss captured her instead, and now she’s at the East Stronghold…”
He did not continue the rest, but anyone who understood would understand the meaning.
As an aside, he added a bit of provocation: “Chief Song is the leader of the stronghold. Even the Second Boss of the East Stronghold should listen to you, I imagine?”
Hearing this, Chief Song indeed said, “Naturally! I thought it was something serious. Don’t worry, I’ll go help you bring that girl over.”
After saying that, he left with the scholar and the burly man behind him.
Centurion Jiang sat back down. Thinking that he would soon see the person, he could not help rubbing his hands together.
“Heh! Heh!” Suddenly the Third Boss waved a bowl of wine in front of him, reminding him to come back to his senses.
Then he drank the wine in one gulp and said, “Say, Jiang Chong, you asked me to kidnap someone before and promised to give me this amount. Isn’t it time to pay up now?”
As he spoke, he raised three fingers and waved them.
Centurion Jiang frowned. “But didn’t you drink and delay things and fail to capture her?”
“Who says I drank and delayed things?” The Third Boss slammed the table and stood up, displeased. “And why do you care how I captured her? The current situation is this: you’re in the stronghold and are about to see the person you asked me to kidnap. Let’s not talk about the process, doesn’t the result match what I promised? Shouldn’t you pay?”
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