Chapter Fifty What to Do After Returning

  After executing all the robbers, Li Qīn finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had long since noticed that some of the robbers' eyes were flashing with intent. At this critical juncture, as long as one robber took the lead, there would be chaos, giving the robbers an opportunity was tantamount to releasing the enemy. If there was even one Han soldier who, due to his own soft-heartedness, acted unexpectedly, it would not be worth it!

  Li Qin rushed over and beckoned to Jia Yuanchun, calling out: "Sister-in-law, what shall we do now?"

  Jia Xu smiled and said proudly to Ma Chao: "See? At the critical moment, you still have to ask me!"

  Ma Chao looked up at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "Critical moment? I thought the critical moment was just now!"

  "You little kid, your yellow teeth haven't even fallen out yet, what do you know!" Jia Yu glared with his eyes and ignored Ma Chao, striding towards Li Qun.

  Kema Chao followed quietly behind, his two hands clasped together as he grasped the hem of Jia Yu's robe, following closely and saying loudly: "Did Little Chao say something wrong? Uncle Jia, don't be angry, you're the most important one!"

  Children's words are innocent, it's better not to say anything, but once spoken, it would make Jia Yu embarrassed and herself unaware of the key point, and she still hasn't figured out her own heart!

  Arriving in front of Li Qin, Jia Yu looked at the corpse on the ground and said: "It's almost dawn, why not rest for a while, and after eating something when it gets light, we can continue on our way. I reckon we'll have to climb mountains and cross ridges."

  Li Qin felt deeply fatigued and nodded in agreement: "Brother-in-law is right!" However, he didn't want the soldiers to rest immediately. He loudly ordered the soldiers with spears: "Form ranks!"

  The halberdiers heard the order and immediately formed a line in front of him, each holding a long spear, chest out and head held high!

  "Right dress! Eyes front! At ease... Attention!" Li QIN shouted loudly, and the soldiers followed suit.

  Feng Cheng and the others met, and they all praised him. They had experienced the ferocity of the horned armor soldiers before, and even if they had any doubts in the past, they didn't have them now. The fact that the other side was powerful indeed had its reasons. Look, after finishing the battle, they could still form a neat formation, if it were someone else, no one would be able to do it!

  Ke Jia saw it, but was greatly surprised. He thought to himself: "Ah Qiang is really something! This is the way a famous general trains his troops. Not to mention this small place of Fu Ping, even in the governor's mansion of Liang Zhou, there isn't any officer who can do this. Ah Qiang is definitely not an ordinary person, his future prospects are boundless! What's more wonderful is that such a person is my wife's younger brother, a close and beloved relative. That means my own future prospects will also be infinitely bright!"

  "Disperse!" Before Li Qīn could even finish shouting out the word "scatter", he heard a child's voice ring out: "It's over, let's disperse!"

  Xiao Ma couldn't help it and actually imitated Li Qin's tone, shouting "Disperse!" Everyone who heard this burst out laughing, even Jia Yu couldn't help but laugh!

  The soldiers with the horned helmets all had expressionless faces, although they were also laughing in their hearts. Who dared to show it on their face? They all understood that as long as a hint of expression appeared on their face, the long whip would really be used to lash their buttocks!

  Li Qīn turned his head and glanced at Mǎ Chāo, who quickly hid behind Jiǎ Xū, only peeking out with half of his head, looking at him: "Uncle Lǐ!"

  Li Qin turned his head and said: "Disperse!"

  The halberdiers stood together, holding up their spears and shouting: "Kill!"

  Shen Yi shouted, "Ma Xiao'er, your scream almost made me laugh out loud! If I got whipped, I'd take one lash, but I'll give you two!" He then ran to grab Ma Chao.

  Ma Chao turned around and ran away, shouting "You're just a little kid!"

  Everyone ignored the bandit's corpse on the ground and entered the forest to rest. Before long, daybreak arrived, and the big fire in the canyon still had not gone out, with thick smoke billowing up.

  The soldiers took out dry rations and distributed them to the women, and they themselves also started eating.

  Jia Xu and Li Qiang sat together, with Ma Chao sitting next to them. Jia Xu was chewing on dried meat in his mouth, and he nudged Ma Chao with his elbow, saying: "Go play somewhere else for a bit, the adults have something to discuss."

  Ma Chao saw Jia Yu hurry him away, feeling very wronged. He quickly climbed onto Li Qian's lap and coquettishly said: "Little Chao won't leave, Little Chao doesn't want to play, Uncle Li don't hurry Little Chao away!"

  Li Qianhuan hugged him with one arm and stuffed the dried meat in his hand into Ma Chao's small hand, saying: "Good, Uncle Li won't drive Little Chao away, Little Chao is the most obedient, Uncle Li likes Little Chao the most."

  Jia Xiang shook his head and said: "This kid is really sticky, but judging from his age, it's definitely not!"

  "What is definitely not?"

  "Judging by his age, he definitely isn't your son!" Jia Yu said with a smile.

  Li Qin also laughed and said, "Nonsense!"

  Jia Yan's expression turned serious, and he said: "Ah Qun, you have something to do now, and there are two things after returning to the city. First, let's talk about the current one. Those treasures cannot be handed over, just hand over the raw iron and horses, these can't be hidden, and even if they are handed over, the county magistrate will reward them, so you won't lose out."

  Li Qin nodded and said: "I understand this. The treasure and that big knife I will hide them away."

  Jia said, "As for the two things after returning to the city, one is that you must win over those soldiers who are not under your command and make them keep their mouths shut. If they can become your direct subordinates, that would be best. When you see the county magistrate, you absolutely cannot say that all the bandits were annihilated, but rather say that a portion of them escaped. As for the heads, bringing back thirty or forty is enough. This way, you can show that you have achieved merit and also indicate that there are still bandits who may come to take revenge at any time."

  Li Qin understood that the bandits returned quickly, indicating that Ding He and Tang Jie had clashed, but neither side had gained the upper hand. However, if Tang Jie had been at a disadvantage, he would have sent troops to pursue them. In other words, relying on the city walls and the entire army of Fuping, Tang Jie was unable to do anything to the bandits, yet Li Qin had annihilated them all by himself. His achievements surpassed those of his superior, which would make anyone feel uncomfortable, no matter how broad-minded they were. Who knows what bad ideas might arise from this?

  But if the bandits are not completely eliminated, it means that the danger has not been removed. So even if Tang Jie has ideas, he does not dare to do anything to him and still needs to use him to fight against the bandits. The feudal era generals often raised their own villains, making the emperor dare not move them. In fact, Li Qin now also needs to be like this, it's a matter of course, only that he wants to prevent is the county magistrate, rather than the emperor.

  Li Qindao said: "I understand this one, what about the second thing?"

  Jia Yu said: "Sir, you are the descendant of Fei Zhangjun, I have known this for a long time. Take this opportunity to clarify things and make it clear to the county magistrate. I've seen your troops training, they're different from others. If you don't reveal that you're a famous general's descendant, you'll inevitably be envied by your colleagues. But if you reveal your family background, they will feel inferior and think it's natural that they can't compare to you, and therefore won't envy you."

  Li QIN nodded and said: "I understand this too. Hey, human relationships are really complicated, more headache than fighting!"

  Jia Yu said, "This is also a headache. In a place like Fuping, you only need to deal with a few people! After you've clarified things with the county magistrate, remember that you must strongly request to stay by his side and serve him. The more strongly you ask, the more he will be on guard against you and won't keep you by his side, instead letting you leave the county town far behind. This way, your secret of hiding treasure will not easily be revealed, and you can also expand your own power. I estimate that you may even have a chance to be promoted to team leader."

  Li Qindao said: "Good, let's listen to brother-in-law."

  Jia Xian smiled and said, "Let those soldiers shut their mouths tight. I'll take care of this, you don't need to show your face." After finishing speaking, he patted his clothes, stood up, and walked over to Feng Cheng and the others.

  After seeing Jia Yu leave, Ma Chao leaned on Li Qian's knee, raised his small face and asked: "Uncle Li, what did Uncle Jia say just now? I didn't understand it at all."

  Li QIN stroked his hair and whispered: "He said how can we eat meat every day in the future!"

  Ma Chao was overjoyed and asked, "Really? Can we eat meat every day?"

  Li Qindao said: "When we get back, you tell your mother and brother to move the family to Fu Jiao Village. From now on, they will live with Uncle Li."

  Ma Chao nodded heavily and said: "Good, Xiao Chao is willing to live with Uncle Li, and mother and younger brothers will definitely be willing too."

  On the other side, Jia Yu gathered Feng Cheng and others together, saying this and that. He was eloquent and didn't need many words to confuse Feng Cheng and others. Moreover, he analyzed and summarized various complicated relationships from all sides, which made Feng Cheng and others dizzy and confused, nodding their heads in agreement with Jia Yu.

  Jia Yu returned to Li Qin's side and said, "It's all settled. We've eaten our fill, drunk enough, and rested sufficiently. It's about time we headed back."

  "Brother-in-law takes the lead, one against two!" Li Qin laughed. He stood up, calling on everyone to gather their things, beheading a portion of the bandits, preparing to return and report their merit, then helping the women onto horseback, with the soldiers taking care of them, returning together to Fuping County.

  After making a big detour, they returned to the main road and found the iron cart in the woods by the roadside. They hitched up the horse and continued on their way.

  They brought the woman and drove a large cart, greatly reducing their speed of progress. They walked for a while and rested for a while, and it wasn't until after dark that they finally returned to Fuping County.

  Last night, the county town was raided by bandits, although they did not break in, but the defense on the city wall was greatly strengthened, fearing that the bandits would come again. The soldiers guarding the city saw a large team of people coming from afar, and under the moonlight, it was unclear which team it was. The soldiers immediately beat the drums, and someone went to report to Tang Jie.

  Tang Jie heard that there was another cavalry outside the city, and he was so frightened that he quickly ordered people to beat gongs all over the street to warn them. He himself led a group of officials and rushed up to the city wall.

  Arriving at the city gate, Tang Jie saw that the group of cavalry had approached, and one rider was galloping towards him. Judging by his uniform, he was a Han soldier. As the man rushed closer, Tang Jie took a clear look and surprisingly found it was Li Qin.

  Li Qiren rode up on horseback and shouted loudly: "Brothers above, listen! I am Li Qiren, the one who has been fighting against bandits. I have returned with a large iron cart. Brothers, please quickly report to Lord Tang and ask him to open the city gate for me!"

  ——

  Today's first update is released on time! On the first day of work and school after a long holiday, there are many things to do, don't be too tired, brothers and sisters, pay attention to rest, take a look at "The Lord" to pass the time, and collect it by the way, and take a look every day, haha!