Invincible Iron Army 13, Robbery Book Flag

  Jiang Cai said to Wu Ge: "I, your subordinate, have defeated the strong enemy and come to receive the reward today." Wu Ge asked: "What merits do you have?" Jiang Cai replied: "Your subordinate timely sent out a warning from the beacon tower, and also defeated an enemy army of one thousand people, killing more than 900 of them, and captured three of their spies." A bold hundred-man commander rebuked: "You dare to falsely claim credit!" Jiang Cai hastily said: "Absolutely not! The enemy's corpses can serve as proof."

  That hundred-man commander continued to scold: "You are truly bold, daring to steal the credit of others. Not long ago, it was Commander Qian who went to inspect the military situation, and coincidentally encountered an enemy attack. The commander was wise and powerful, and immediately issued a warning, leading the five men on the beacon tower to defeat the enemy's thousand-man army, killing over 900 enemies." Jiang Cai suddenly understood that their credit had been stolen by Commander Wu Ke. Jiang Cai thought to himself: "You eat meat, but at least let us drink some soup." He immediately said: "Right, commander, you are correct. It was indeed Commander Qian who led the five of us in defeating the Xiongnu cavalry."

  "You're really bold, you still dare to steal our credit!" The hundred-man commander continued to scold. Jiang Cai was also stunned, and saw that the hundred-man commander said: "The ones who held out on the beacon tower were us five hundred-man commanders." As he spoke, he pointed with his hand, and it turned out that he was pointing at Wu Cai, Wu Lu, Wu Xi, Wu Shou, and himself, Wu Zhong. They were all house slaves of the Wu family. The other hundred-man commanders, Zhao Posi, Sun Ping, Zhang Kuo, Wang Yun, and Lü Jing, etc., dared not speak out in anger.

  "Are you shameless? We fought bravely against the enemy, shedding blood and fighting hard. Where were you then? Now that we have achieved merit, you're taking all the credit for yourselves. You're too shameless!"

  "How dare you slander a superior officer! Take him down!" Wu Ge angrily shouted. People from both sides rushed forward to seize Jiang Cai, who loudly exclaimed: "You're shameless!"

  Wu Ge continued questioning: "Jiang Cai, I ask you, your beacon tower has been completely occupied and destroyed by the Xiongnu. How did you manage to return alive?"

  For a moment, Jiang Cai was unable to respond. Wu Ge scolded further: "You clearly deserted in battle. What else can you say? Take all five of them into custody and execute them at noon tomorrow."

  Jiang was taken away, and Wu Zhong said: "The adults have also caught two spies, how should we deal with them?" Wu Zhong asked, but he didn't need to ask: "Execute them together at noon today." Wu Zhong hastily agreed. "Wait," Wu Cai said: "Adults, why don't we send these spies to Yu Yang and ask for credit again?" Wu Ge waved his hand and said: "This is a place where the two armies are fighting, and spies come and go frequently. Every day, we catch spies from the other side, so catching enemy spies doesn't count as merit. Moreover, whenever we catch enemy spies, we always execute them on the spot. There's no reason to send them to the rear. If we do, the officials in the rear will just laugh at us for making a big deal out of nothing."

  "I am your Jiedushi, let me go quickly!" Liu Jiao shouted loudly. "It turns out to be a madman," the soldier guarding them said. Wang An said to her, "You'd better save some energy, shouting like this won't do any good." "It's all because of you," Liu Jiao said angrily. "If it weren't for you, how would I end up dying here?" Wang An smiled and said, "Don't be so aggrieved, we're also very helpless, dying together with a spy." "Who are you saying is a spy?" Liu Jiao asked.

  Wang An ignored her, Li Li fell silent, he thought of his wife's betrayal, thought of Wang Cai Zhu, and for a moment felt indignant. Wang An noticed his emotions and suddenly felt a sense of sympathy as fellow outcasts.

  Jiang Cai is also very calm now, he has faced life and death many times, and he is no longer afraid of death. He is just resentful towards Wu Ge, thinking to himself that he has seen shameless people before, but never one as shameless as this.

  Zhang Wan and Du Lu loudly scolded Wu Guo, while Liu Jiao's guards were so frightened that they trembled all over, filled with fear of death.

  The next day, the eight of them were taken to the execution ground, which was set up in a local market. It was customary for executions to take place in markets here. The executioner looked at the time, calculating the moment, and as soon as it was time, he gave the order to behead them. Liu Jiao continued to shout at the soldiers: "I am your governor, call your commander to see me!" But all this was in vain. The executioner was annoyed by Liu Jiao's shouting and ordered: "Plug her mouth for me."

  Wang An thought of his father, who had always been there for him without fail. His love was as thick and heavy as a mountain, but he didn't know how he was doing now.

  "The time has come, carry out the execution," said the executioner, raising his knife. Just as he was about to bring it down, a messenger approached the executioner and said, "Wait, Defense Commander Du is passing by, postpone the execution for now." The executioner had no choice but to order a stay. Defense Commander Du rode by on his tall horse, surrounded by guards. Liu Jiao recognized him - his surname was Du and his name was Dulin. She tried to call out to him, hoping he would recognize her, but unfortunately, her mouth was gagged and she couldn't make a sound.

  The defender cast a glance at them, Liu Jiao's heart skipped a beat, she hastily straightened up her body, hoping the defender would recognize her. However, the defender didn't notice and galloped past, leaving Liu Jiao feeling downcast, lowering her head. She thought to herself

  Apart from her defensive appearance, it seemed as though no one could recognize her here anymore.

  The executioner saw that the defense envoy had already passed by and immediately shouted "execute", the executioner raised his knife again, just about to chop off. "Wait" a soldier-like person came over to stop him. The executioner was furious and said: "How dare you, a small soldier, stop the execution? Don't you want to live?" At this time, a colleague next to him hastily pulled him back and said to him: "This is the defense envoy's personal soldier. Although he is a small soldier, he is from above after all. As the saying goes, 'even a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's gate'". The executioner hastily and respectfully said: "I don't know what orders you have." That person walked forward, carefully looked at Liu Jiao Jiao, and hurriedly knelt down, saying: "Defense Envoy, how are you here?" The executioner was also stunned and said: "Are you mistaken? He is just a spy after all." The soldier didn't pay attention to the executioner, hastily went forward and untied Liu Jiao Jiao's ropes, shouting towards the front: "Defense Envoy, the Governor is here".

  The defender hastily rode over, and upon seeing Liu Jiao Jiao, he too was filled with doubt. He had only met her once before, and now that they were meeting again, he wasn't very sure. Du Lin hastily asked the guard, "Are you certain she is the governor?" The soldier replied, "Absolutely not mistaken! In the past, Governor Liu came to our army for a secret visit, and said I was treacherous-looking with a heavy heart. Later, Governor Liu had me arrested by her personal guards, and personally whipped me until I thoroughly repented and became a good person. Now, I am extremely grateful to Governor Liu." The soldier thought to himself, "If you were beaten to death by her, you would remember her for the rest of your life!" In reality, I was wronged - I had a cerebral thrombosis, and whenever I saw anyone, I would shiver; plus, I also had some sort of epilepsy, where during episodes, my eyes would go straight, and I would foam at the mouth. It wasn't like the saliva that wolves drool when they see their prey, but Governor Liu said she had never seen anyone as evil-looking as me before, and insisted on reforming my wicked ways. Who could change a natural disaster? So, I welcomed a life of suffering, every time after being beaten by her, Governor Liu would be shocked, saying "Why are you still so evil-looking? It seems the punishment wasn't enough, we need to continue correcting you!" My God, that was a natural disaster, not my fault! Heaven, what kind of life did I lead?! The defender originally had some impression of Liu Jiao Jiao, and now with the guard's words, he suddenly remembered. He hastily paid his respects with a grand bow.

  Wu Ge now seemed to have lost his soul, thinking that he was really unlucky for eight lifetimes, and had actually pushed the Jiedushi (Military Governor) onto the execution ground. He hastily came over to apologize, saying: "Jiedushi, you are magnanimous, please forgive my blindness, it was all their doing, they said you were treacherous", after finishing speaking he pointed at Wang An and others with his hand.

  Liu Jiao's face was as cold as frost, and she didn't care about Wu Ge. She instructed her personal soldiers: "Release all their ropes, I want to set up camp." Liu Jiao went to the back to change clothes, and only saw that she wore a tight-fitting outfit, looking neat and tidy, with a pair of knee-high boots on her legs, especially showing off her beautiful figure. Adding to this was a face that could bring disaster to the country and its people. The men present were all shocked, thinking her a heavenly being. Only Wang An unintentionally said: "She's slightly inferior to Hu Yinyin." Li Li hastily said: "What kind of eyes do you have? Hu Yinyin's looks aren't even one ten-thousandth of the Commander's!" Liu Jiao heard their hushed conversation and glared at Wang An with anger.

  Liu Jiao asked Wu Ge with a smile: "Wu, I heard that you resisted the enemy on the beacon tower and killed more than 900 enemy soldiers. Is that true?" Wu Ge immediately replied proudly: "Yes." Liu Jiao said: "At that time, I was also on the beacon tower, but I didn't see you." Wu Ge's head suddenly sweated, and he said: "Sir, I..." "How dare you falsely report military information and steal credit from your subordinates? What crime should you be punished for?" Wu Ge's face turned pale, and he quickly knelt down to kowtow. Liu Jiao said: "Guards, take him out of the camp and execute him." Du Lin hurried over and said: "Sir, Wu Ge deserves to be executed according to the law, but since he has served on the border for many years, I hope you can give him another chance." Liu Jiao knew that officials protected each other, and it was not good to do too much now. This Wu Ge was very hateful, but there was no need to rush to deal with him. He said: "Wu Ge's death sentence can be commuted, but his punishment cannot be escaped. I demote you to a hundred-man commander and send you to the front line to redeem yourself." Wu Ge quickly kowtowed to thank him.

  Liu Jiao continued, "Those who have committed crimes should be punished, and those who have made contributions should be rewarded. Jiang Cai and others defended the beacon tower with merit, and now promote Jiang Cai, Li Li, Zhang Wan, and Du Lu to thousand-household leaders." Jiang Cai and others hastily thanked him.

  Liu Jiao then turned his face towards Wang An and said to him, "You have made contributions, but you abandoned the beacon tower without permission. According to the law, you should be beheaded. Come, take him out of the camp gate and execute him."

  Jiang Cai and others were shocked and hastily said, "Commander, I am a Wu Chang, abandoning the beacon tower was my idea, if there is any blame, I am willing to bear it alone." Li Li said, "Sir, abandoning the beacon tower was my suggestion." Du Lu and Zhang Wan also said, "We are also responsible, we hope you will spare Wang An."

  Liu Jiao thought to himself, why do you want to protect a wolf in sheep's clothing? Du Lin then said, "Commander, military orders cannot be disobeyed. If one abandons their post without permission and is not severely punished, how can the commander control the army in the future?" Liu Jiao thought he was right, and his face immediately turned ugly.

  Jiang Cai hastily said, "Commander, I know Wang An has committed a crime, I am willing to use my official position to redeem Wang An's sin." Wang An was shocked and said, "Big brother! It's not worth it, you have worked hard for many years, and it is not easy to achieve your current status."

  Li Li, Zhang Wan, and Du Lu also said without hesitation, "Commander, we are also willing to use our official positions to redeem Wang An's sin."

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