Chapter 4: Welcoming the Servant King

  The Siming Mountains are located in the eastern part of Zhejiang Province, with the highest peak, Siming Mountain, at an elevation of 1,017 meters. Although it is located in a subtropical region, the winters on Siming Mountain can still be quite cold, especially during the winter of the eleventh year of the Xianfeng era. The morning temperature was only minus fifteen degrees Celsius. Because Siming Mountain is close to the sea, the air is relatively humid, so the cold here is different from the dry cold in the north, making it feel even colder than the north.

  "Ah~~~ Qi! Seventh... Seventh Auntie! Can't we just not go to welcome the Servant King?" I asked, mustering up my courage.

  "What's wrong with you again?!" Lu Qigong said with a displeased face.

  "We've been up for a whole day and night! Oh, I'm so sleepy! Can't we take a rest first? We're deeply grateful for Seventh Aunt's great kindness!" said Bingyù, yawning as he spoke.

  "Lazy pig! Stone-headed iron egg! Take them down!" Seventh Aunt scolded as she walked away. ——It seems that she is still quite considerate of her subordinates!

  Shitou Tie Dan led us and those seventeen "comrades" of mine to the campsite.

  "You guys sleep here! Oh~~~ I'm so sleepy! We also need to go to bed!" —— It seems that not only my brother and I couldn't withstand the sleepiness, they also couldn't hold on.

  "What is this place?" Shi Bingyu stuck his head in and shook it back and forth: "How does it look like a pigpen?!"

  "It used to be like this, oh~~~ now this is where you guys sleep! If it's cold, just pull some straw from over there and put it on your body!"

  “……？”

  How can such a handsome and elegant guy like us sleep in a pigsty?! Oh my god! This is too miserable, isn't it?!

  "Come on! The pigpen isn't sleeping! Zhe Ze Sheng, all of you come over here! Take the straw to that rocky place and let's all squeeze together to rest!"

  ……

  "Xiao Zhu! Do you know how many troops Seventh Aunt has?" I turned around to ask Zhu Ze Sheng who was beside me.

  Although I was very sleepy, but once I lay down, I couldn't sleep no matter what.

  "I heard from rumors in the military camp before that there were more than 10,000 people!" replied Xiao Zhu.

  "Over ten thousand people? No way!!! How come I see only five or six hundred people here?" Little Shi asked in surprise. Damn! This guy can't sleep either?!

  "Qī Gū's troops are all over Ningbo, Taizhou and Shaoxing. This is just a small part of the forces." said Zhang San beside Shi Bingyu.

  "How many of you were in the team fighting against Qi Gu in Ningbo?" I asked.

  "The Green Camp has three thousand men. A few days ago, more than a thousand Xiang Army soldiers withdrew from Shaoxing and another thousand or so of Hua's 'Changsheng Army' are in Zhenhai." Zhang San replied.

  "When did Qi Gu's team rise up? Why are women leading the way here?" Xiao Shi asked in surprise. Letting a woman be the leader of men, it really doesn't feel right.

  "In the eighth year of Xianfeng, in Ningbo, Yao Bei led by Huang Chunsheng's 18th Bureau tenant farmers rebelled. Those who rebelled were defeated by the Green Camp led by the county magistrate, and Huang Chunsheng was also captured and executed by lingchi. The scattered tenant farmers then elected Huang Chunsheng's wife, Lu Qigou, as their leader. Later... (originally wanted to say Taiping Army, but now I've become a bandit myself) the Taiping Army entered Zhejiang, and the main force of the Green Camp went to Hangzhou, so the county magistrate didn't dare to come and suppress Lu Qigou easily." Zhang San replied.

  "Do you know what attitude the locals have towards Lu Qiuge?" I asked.

  This is naturally understood. Chairman Mao said: "The unity of the military and civilians is like one person, who can be an enemy under heaven? Without understanding the hearts and minds of the people, how can you mix in?"

  "That's naturally supported! However, it can only be spiritually supportive, not someone who dares to really help Qi Gu's team when they are at a dead end! If the government finds out, it's going to be beheaded!" Zi Sheng said with a sigh.

  Mental support? ! —— How useful is this kind of support? ! It seems that Chairman Mao's mass line still can't be used at this time!

  "Xiao Zhu, Zhang San, you two bring the others and have them stand guard around us with Comrade Shi. We have something to discuss." I ordered them.

  "Yes!" they replied. "Get up! Get up! Let's go! Go and sound the alarm everywhere!"

  "What's on your mind?" I asked Shi Bingyu after we were left alone.

  "Big brother, I think our chance has come! But will rewriting history have any negative effects on the future world? And can we really rewrite history?"

  "Nonsense! Do you think the future world is still the world we came from?!"

  "What did you say?!" Shi Bingyu looked at me in confusion.

  "Is this automatic rifle something from this era? Is that smashed Santana over there something from this era?! Since we brought them here, the future world has already changed! Or rather, our world back there hasn't changed but the world here is changing starting now!"

  "Big brother, what are you talking about? What's this world and that world?" Shi Bingyu became even more perplexed.

  I picked up a branch from the ground and drew a straight line on the ground with it.

  "This is our historical trajectory."

  I tapped in the middle of the line.

  "We have arrived at this point in history."

  Suddenly I drew the branch upwards from that point. "History changed here," I pointed to the earliest drawn straight line: "The history of the world we came from continued in the same way. But," I pointed to the fork, "now we will rewrite the history from here!"

  "Will we never be able to go back?" Xiaoshi looked at the line on the ground.

  "How do we get back?" I retorted. "How did we even get here? According to those science fiction stories, we were driving and somehow mysteriously entered a space-time tunnel that dumped us here. It's luckier than winning the jackpot in the sports lottery 100 times! Do you think you'll win the jackpot again 100 times?"

  "I understand, but big brother, what should we do next?"

  "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun! We must build our own armed forces!!"

  "What did you say?"

  "My idea is to first help Lu Qi's troops and after gaining some power, do it myself! After all, helping others conquer the world is not as good as conquering the world for oneself!"

  "Good!" Shi Bingyu said with a clenched fist and rubbed his palms together, "Damn it! Establish a new China!"

  "Come over here!" I called those who were resting. "Zhang San, go and call Shi Tou and Tie Dan over. We're leaving!"

  After a while, Zhang San walked back himself. "Comrade Yang, they said they haven't slept enough and will leave after they've had enough sleep."

  "......?" These two lazy pigs!

  Afternoon...

  "Are you done yet?! Hurry up and get out of bed! If you don't leave now, Seventh Aunt will kill you all!"

  Who's yelling in my ear?! I haven't slept enough yet! Ah?! No good! What time is it now?!

  I sprang up at once.

  "Shoo! Don't bother me, I haven't slept enough yet!"

  Xiao Shi whispered beside me.

  "Damn it! Hurry up, Bingyu! The sun is about to set!"

  "What's it to me if the sun sets? Doesn't it set every day?"

  This kid! Looks like he's going all out.

  "Your gun has been taken away by Qiū Jiě!"

  "What?!...!" Shi Bingyu suddenly jumped up "Wow! My **!......"

  Only after he finished speaking did he realize that the gun was still in his arms.

  "Damn it! Boss! Why did you scare me?!"

  "Don't sleep! We still have to welcome the arrival of General Wang's troops!"

  "What?! How did I fall asleep?!"

  "The Shuai Wang has arrived at the foot of the mountain stronghold!"

  "What? When did you get up, Liu Shi Tou?" Shi Bing Yu only then realized that Liu Shi Tou was still standing beside him.

  "Seventh Aunt has just entered the village. Hurry up and go greet her!"

  ※※※

  Bang! Boom!

  Firecrackers exploded at the entrance of the mountain village, and several people walked up from below, followed by a team of men - each wearing a yellow scarf on their head, carrying rifles on their shoulders, and with a waist knife hanging from the waist of the one in front.

  "Is that the Servant King in front?" I turned back to ask Shi Tou.

  "That's right! You see, Seventh Aunt isn't welcoming her in?"

  Lu Qigong's face was filled with smiles as she ran a few steps forward to greet him.

  "We've been expecting you Taiping Army! You're finally here!" Qiūjiě said, pulling on the man's hand.

  Damn! Why isn't she being so polite to us?!

  "There, there! Seventh Aunt is being polite! We should also thank Seventh Aunt for cooperating with us to exterminate the Qing demon! Haha haha haha!" The man laughed.

  "Come on! Come on! Please! Inside, please!" Seventh Aunt made a welcoming gesture.

  Bang bang bang bang......

  Applause erupted, and in the midst of the applause, Servant King Li Shixian smiled as he charged around with both hands shaking everywhere, while walking towards the inside. Suddenly, the Servant King saw us watching the commotion from the side.

  "I wonder where these two brothers are from?"

  "Oh, they're just people who have recently joined us, Servant King..."

  "Hehe, can you call him over for a meeting?"

  "Of course, of course!" Seventh Aunt shouted towards us "... (she forgot both of our names) You two come over here!"

  Who went past? Let's take a look around.

  The stone and iron egg thought they were called to run away happily!

  "Not you two!" Seventh Aunt glared at them and pointed at me "You two!"

  What? Are you calling us?

  I exchanged a glance with Shi Bingyu and ran over.

  "Where are you from? What's that thing on your head? Why are you wrapped in a quilt?" asked the servant king with a smile.

  "Report! We are Ningbo people! What's on our head is a hat! Because it's cold so we're wrapped in blankets."

  What a rustic old hat! What's on his head isn't a hat, is it shoes?! In such cold weather, if we don't wear our coats, won't we freeze to death?!

  "Hats? How have I never seen such a strange hat before? Hehe... (Of course, you haven't! Your era couldn't possibly have 21st-century things! But if it weren't for the fact that we need to wear them to keep our heads warm in winter, we would've taken them off long ago! It's like people are staring at us like we're monsters!) And besides, don't you guys have clothes to wear?"

  "The clothes are worn out, but they're too thin, it's cold in the wind!" Little Shi said with a smile to Servant Wang.

  "Shi Wang, they were sitting on a strange creature (that's not a monster, it's a car! You're ignorant!) that suddenly appeared here last night." Qi Gu explained, "At the time, they were wearing very strange clothes and claimed to be from the future come to help us. I told them to kill two Qing demons to test whether they were real or not. Who knew they used some... (she couldn't remember the word 'automatic rifle' because it was too unfamiliar) very strange fire gun that killed over a dozen Qing demons and captured over ten prisoners? That's when I let them join us."

  "Huh? The two of you have killed a total of how many Qingyao?" Servant King looked at us in surprise after hearing Lu Qiuniang's introduction.

  "Not many, fifteen were killed and seventeen were captured alive, a total of thirty-two people." I said calmly.

  "Awesome! Awesome!" exclaimed Servant King.

  "If only my subordinates were as brave as this!"

  My ears were relatively sharp and I heard the servant king's murmurs.

  "Seventh Aunt."

  "Huh?"

  "May I have two people from you? Of course, I can give you a hundred rifles as compensation."

  No way! We have such good luck?! Haha! Looks like when luck comes, even city walls can't stop it!

  "Are you... wanting them both?" Seventh Aunt asked in puzzlement.

  It seems that women react faster than men! Unlike the silly guy next to me who is staring blankly and doesn't even know who we are talking about!

  "What's wrong? Is there something difficult?"

  "There's nothing wrong with that! What's wrong with a family having something to say?" Seventh Aunt laughed. "You two still don't greet Servant Wang? Following Servant Wang will have a great future!"

  "See the attendant king!"

  "Ah?! Oh, see you later, Your Majesty!" Shi Bingyu also said following him.

  "Haha! Quickly, get up!" The servant king smiled and said to us with a humble gesture.

  "Lu Shunde!"

  "The end is near!"

  "Go pick out a hundred good guns and give them to Seventh Aunt!"

  "Your Honor!"

  "No need! No need! There's no need for such courtesy between brothers!" said Qi Gu, pretending to be polite.

  "Seventh Aunt, can we take away those Qing soldiers we captured yesterday?" I asked.

  "Suitable! (Anyway, since I'm keeping them, I might as well give them food - why not do a good deed?)"

  "Then thank you!" I thanked him.

  "Li Tianchen!" Li Shixian shouted at a young man behind him.

  "Agreed!"

  "Bring them to my tent and wait for me, I will have matters to ask them later!"

  "Your Honor!"

  Li Tianchen smiled at us: "Brothers, let's go down first!"

  "Zhang San, Ze Sheng! Bring your brothers and follow us!" I shouted at Zhang San and the others behind.