Chapter Seven: Establishing Prestige

  The soldier grasped the hilt with both hands and chopped down fiercely, a streak of knife light, extremely powerful.

  Wu Ji had never practiced martial arts and couldn't dodge, if he was really chopped, Wu Ji would be done for. Wu Jian, Wu Xing, and the crowd of personal soldiers hadn't practiced martial arts either, but no one retreated, they busily stood in front of Wu Ji, hastily raising the knives in their hands to prepare for battle.

  "Stop!"

  A thunder-like roar rose, making people's ears ache, and a figure suddenly appeared in front of them. It was Huangfu Song, with his right hand's middle two fingers pinched on the blade of the hemp-wrapped knife, the sword light stopping abruptly like a snapped thread.

  "You!"

  The soldier's feeling was like his knife being cast in copper and iron, taking root, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't budge it a single hair, and he was shocked to the point of being speechless, his face turning bright red.

  Huang Pu's wrist shook, and the soldier stumbled backward, retreating six or seven steps before stabilizing. His chest felt like it had been heavily struck, his blood churning, his face flushed red, and his eyes were filled with shock as he measured Huang Pu with a hint of fear.

  "Good kung fu! I knew you were skilled from the start, but I didn't expect it to be this impressive!" Wu Jie was greatly excited.

  When the bandits were causing chaos, Huangfu Song rescued Wu Ji. Wu Ji then realized that Huangfu Song was a master, with exceptional skills, but he had not expected him to be so extraordinary.

  Wu Jian, Wu Xing and a group of loyal guards witnessed this scene with a mix of shock and excitement, their eyes gleaming with fervor as they gazed at Huangfu Song.

  Huangfu Song just smiled and didn't say a word.

  "What do you want to do?"

  The soldier's face was pale with fear, and he was extremely afraid of Huangfu Song. He gripped the hemp-wrapped knife tightly in both hands, standing in front of the bed, guarding the Hun family on it, but did not run away.

  "This is Commander Wu, how dare you be so rude!" Huang Fu Cheng sternly rebuked: "Don't you greet Commander Wu?"

  "Commander Wu? Hmph! Another corrupt official who only knows how to embezzle our military pay, bullying us like a dog!" The soldier was stubborn and arrogant, raising his head and puffing out his chest, without taking a step forward to show respect.

  "How dare you..." The soldier ignored Wu Ji, and Wu Jian couldn't help but get angry, holding his knife, ready to rush up and argue.

  "Wu Jian, halt!" Wu Ji took a step forward, looked at the soldier and said, "You're Li Mingchu, aren't you?"

  "Do you know my name? My surname is Li, and my name is Mingchu. If you want to kill me, then kill me! If you want to behead me, then behead me!" Li Mingchu twisted his neck and became stubborn.

  "If you kill me, it's killing an official and rebelling against the government. Aren't you afraid of death?" Wu Ji asked in a deep voice, raising his eyebrows.

  "Death? Who isn't afraid of it? I'm afraid of death, but you dogs of officials, have driven me to the point where I have no choice but to fight to the death!" Li Mingchu's hatred was burning fiercely, and he shouted at Wu Ji: "I'll kill this dog official, even if I die, it will be worth it!"

  "Do you know that after you die, your family will be exiled and scattered thousands of miles away? If she has a child, it will also suffer. From the moment of birth, it's a sinner, aren't you afraid?" Wu Jie didn't get angry, but instead continued to interrogate.

  "This... " Li Ming was taken aback for a moment, his mouth agape, unable to speak, sizing up his wife with a look of distress.

  "It was I who dragged you down! It's all my fault!" Li Mingchu's wife burst into tears, sobbing and sniffling, her face filled with grief and indignation.

  "Don't get too excited or upset, that will stir up the fetal energy." Wu Ji said in a low voice: "Send two people to find an experienced midwife who has given birth before and is rich in experience. Also, ask a doctor to come back and prepare."

  Wu Ji took a step forward, and Li Mingchu blocked his way, with a vigilant expression: "What are you doing? You dare!"

  Huang Fu's hand stretched out, like an eagle grabbing a small chicken, and threw Li Mingchu to one side. Wu Ji came to the bedside, lifted up the quilt and took a look, it was no different from the quilt Yang Xiuxiu had covered herself with earlier, thin as paper, covering her body like she wasn't even covered at all.

  In this situation, even if the child is born, it will freeze to death. Wu Ji's heart aches, thinking that his experience in Wujiacun was already miserable enough, but he didn't expect Li Mingchu to be any better off than him.

  "Go and get two more people to buy some bedding, charcoal, chicken and meat back." Wu Ji took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and asked: "Are there many good houses in the military camp?"

  The soldiers were all from Wu's village, they didn't live a good life, but compared to Li Mingchu, it was like living in heaven. At least, if they wanted to have children, their poor relatives would help out as much as possible. Even if the family lacked food and drink, with everyone chipping in a little, they could still have children.

  Li Mingchu's experience made them feel a sour heart and red eyes, Wu Ji's order was immediately met with unanimous approval from the bottom of their hearts, and they busied themselves to make arrangements.

  "You're not up to no good, are you?" Li Mingchu still found it hard to believe, sizing up Wu Jie with great caution.

  It's not his fault, the Song Dynasty army was too corrupt, embezzling military pay was a common practice. Li Mingchu had been a soldier for so many years and had never seen an officer like Wu Jie. He guessed that Wu Jie wanted to help him out. This was what he had been hoping for every day, someone who could lend him a helping hand and let his child be born safely. But when his dream came true, he couldn't believe it.

  "This is not a place to give birth, I'll get you a better room. If there isn't one in the barracks, we'll rent one outside." Wu Ji understood his doubts and spoke straightforwardly.

  "There is a room, but I'm afraid you're this dog... Commander Wu can't bear to part with it." Li Mingchu opened his mouth again, about to scold Wu Jie as a dog official, fortunately he came to his senses quickly and finally addressed Wu Jie as Commander.

  "What's so hard to part with?" Wu Ji felt a little strange.

  "It's Wu's house." Li Mingchu gritted his teeth and finally said, "That's He Wanquan's house, decorated like an imperial palace. Living inside, not a single draft can be felt. If you light a charcoal brazier, it's as warm as spring, cozy and warm."

  "Take her away!" Wu Ji said without thinking, blurting it out.

  "Really?" Li Mingchu's words were both unbelievable and endlessly surprising.

  "What are you still dawdling for? Are you not cold enough?" Wu Ji hummed and shouted loudly.

  This shout was like a wake-up call, Li Mingchu suddenly woke up and quickly came to the bedside, took off his tattered clothes and put them on his wife's body, bent down and hugged her, and quickly walked out of the house.

  Wu Ji followed closely behind him and had just stepped out of the house when he was startled again.

  Surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, they glared at Wu Ji, their faces filled with resentment, as if Wu Ji was the murderer of their fathers, each pair of eyes shooting out hateful gazes.

  "What does Li Mingchu want to do with you?"

  "Where are you going? He's going to punish you?"

  "Corrupt officials are just corrupt officials, black-hearted and cruel! They won't even let you have children!"

  The soldiers were getting more and more indignant, some even picked up their weapons, posing as if they wanted to have a fierce battle with Wu Jia.

  "Wu said that he would give his house to me if I gave birth to a child!" Li Mingchu replied to the soldier's question, himself not having much confidence: "I don't know if it's true or not, let's try."

  "You can believe this? How old are you?"

  "Hei Wanquan that scoundrel was here, didn't let us take another step. Left foot stepped in, chop off the left foot; right foot stepped in, chop off the right foot!"

  "Hurry up and leave, the corrupt official is going to harm you, he's framing you!"

  A group of soldiers started analyzing it in a lively discussion, and the more they talked about it, the more it seemed like that's what had happened.

  Li Mingchu had already been somewhat skeptical, and after hearing what the soldier said, he became even more convinced, and involuntarily stopped in his tracks.

  "What to do?" Huang Fu's eyebrows rose, and the sharp light in his eyes burst out: "I'll go catch those loose-tongued people!"

  "General, general, spare this humble woman!"

  Just as Huang Fu was about to take action, a anxious woman's voice rang out. Wu Ji glanced over and saw three soldiers dragging in a woman. The woman was around thirty years old, quite attractive, but her face was pale, clearly frightened. Her clothes were disheveled, torn in several places, revealing her snowy white skin.

  Perhaps she was too frightened, this woman's whole body trembled, and a plea for mercy was stuttered out.

  "You serve the masters well and the masters will reward you handsomely!"

  Three soldiers with a lustful glow on their faces, with sparkling eyes, kept sizing up the women, as if they couldn't wait to pounce and have a good time.

  "Hurry up! Hurry up!"

  There were soldiers who were eager to take advantage of the situation and followed the crowd's lead, inciting them further.

  "How could these three brothers have done such a thing?"

  There were soldiers who were disdainful and did not stay to split their lips apart.

  "Sneaking around like a thief, we can't even lift the lid of our pot, what choice do we have? But doing this kind of thing, is it not just being a bandit, or not human at all?" Wu Jia saw that soldier who had been in a big fight as soon as he entered the military camp, shaking his head and looking down on him.

  "Who wants to live a good life? Follow us!" One of the three soldiers, a tall and imposing figure, shouted loudly at the crowd of soldiers.

  "Ah!" The woman almost fainted when she heard this.

  This is a matter of hundreds of soldiers; once they get emotional, can she handle it?

  Fortunately, no soldiers responded, and three soldiers started singing a solo, which was very boring. They dragged the woman away, ready to leave.

  "Halt!"

  Wu Jie let out a loud shout and quickly stepped forward, blocking the three soldiers.

  "Who are you?"

  "Ah! You're Wu Xiuciai!"

  Three soldiers who had witnessed Wu Jie's ruthlessness were somewhat intimidated.

  "This is Commander Wu!" A soldier revealed Wu's identity, with a complex intention, wanting to embarrass Wu and also save the woman.

  The Song army's soldiers were often involved in theft and robbery, but this was because they had no other choice. Forcing themselves on civilians' daughters, however, was not a common occurrence among them. After all, most of the Song army's soldiers were refugees who still retained their good nature and would not commit such acts.

  "Wu in command?" The three soldiers sneered: "He's actually in command? He must have bought the position with silver!"

  "As the commander of the camp, I should restrain you! You have committed the crime of forcibly taking a civilian woman, and your punishment is death! Behead them!" Wu Ji's face was cold as he stared at the three soldiers, announcing their death sentence.

  Wu Jian and Wu Xing rushed forward together, knocking the three soldiers to the ground, pinning their hands behind their backs and binding them up.

  "Really going to kill?"

  "Definitely won't kill!"

  "Perhaps we should reward the three brothers generously and let them off easily!"

  The soldiers were skeptical and discussed it in a flurry of speculation.

  Just as the soldiers were murmuring, Wu Ji drew out his sword and came to the front of the three soldiers, holding it high and shouting loudly: "All of you listen clearly: whoever dares to forcibly take a woman, will be put to death!"

  "Do you dare kill us?" The three soldiers realized something was wrong.

  Amidst the crowd's incredulity, Wu Ji's knife chopped down heavily, and a head rolled off.