Chapter 28: A Straightforward Demon
Zhao An only taught Qin Tong the most basic charging movements; he couldn’t stay hidden forever. After a few words with Hu Sheng, he was about to step out from behind the woodpile. “Are you going to help me train the militia?”
Hu Sheng shook his head, only then remembering to state the purpose of his trip. “We’re going to be apart for a while. I’m taking some men to the border of Shuzhou to intercept the rogue soldiers.”
“Didn’t you already desert the imperial army to become a mountain chieftain? Why are you going to intercept rogue soldiers?” Zhao An’s tone was teasing as he said this. From Hu Sheng’s few words, he could tell that he had connections with many military commanders in the court. As long as he wanted, he could return to the army at any time. The military system was not very strict now, and many soldiers were simply criminals sentenced to exile.
Zhao An thought Hu Sheng had rejoined the army, but Hu Sheng said, “Even as a mountain chieftain, I’m the most formidable one in the surrounding provinces. The entire underworld respects me as their leader.”
Hu Sheng saw the worry in Zhao An’s eyes. Thinking of how he not only thought of selling grain but also actively trained the militia in the face of natural and man-made disasters, he knew he was not someone who couldn’t withstand storms. So he told Zhao An the truth. “Ma Dian, the leader of the Miao village rebellion, has been killed. But the person who deliberately increased the taxes on the Miao villages is still alive, and he’s leading troops. The scattered rebel army will cause some chaos in these provinces, but after they disperse into the countryside, they won’t actually affect the overall situation. However, the army that suppressed the rebellion has already collected ‘bandit suppression donations’ from five county towns, captured many men in the name of conscripting laborers and sold them as slaves to the north, and colluded with local tyrants to drive up the prices of grain and goods, further exploiting the remaining people to annex the remaining population and land.”
“I remember you said that this was a military conflict deliberately provoked by someone. A high-ranking court official felt that the Miao people were competing with the common people for resources and wanted to kill a batch of them. But in the current situation, the plight of the nearby common people is no better than that of the Miao villages.” Zhao An’s scalp tingled. Although he had fought against the most terrifying mutated monsters, he still felt a chill when faced with such sinister human hearts.
Hu Sheng nodded and patted his hair comfortingly. “The people in the court only care about the big picture, not the livelihood of the common people. The people carrying out the orders only care about making money and care even less about the people’s livelihood. So the underworld in the surrounding provinces are all scared, afraid that they too will become an excuse for a military conflict. So they’ve asked me to ambush the main culprit who provoked this conflict.”
Zhao An had been shocked by the news Hu Sheng had just told him and hadn’t thought too much for a moment. But after feeling the warmth from Hu Sheng’s hand, he remembered another matter.
Zhao An asked impatiently, “What’s the name of the person you’re going to kill?”
“Zhao Nanyu,” Hu Sheng said, then looked at Zhao An, whose face had suddenly turned ugly. “What’s wrong?”
Because Zhao An remembered a description from Tears of a City-Toppling Beauty. When Zhao Qingcheng’s second child was about to be born, the once-favored Consort Mei had added blood-activating herbs to her ginseng soup, intending to make her bleed to death. This matter was discovered by a nanny specially sent by the emperor to take care of Zhao Qingcheng. Consort Mei’s entire family was implicated. Even her arrogant and overbearing brother, who had just returned from a victorious battle, was thrown into prison, and many other crimes were later uncovered.
The emperor wanted to sentence Consort Mei’s family, the Shang family, to be executed, but a court official came out to stop him. “General Shang is guarding the northern border. Without him, what will we do when the Xiongnu attack again?”
But the emperor said very confidently, “Isn’t there still Zhao Nanyu, who has just returned from suppressing the rebellion in the southwest?” Then he insisted on the order and had the entire Shang family killed.
The text described this Zhao Nanyu as being eight feet tall, as strong as a bear, with a full beard, but very heroic and unceremonious. When he first met the emperor in the capital, he said that he had seized a lot of spoils of war while suppressing bandits and rebellions in the southwest, and he presented ninety percent of it to the emperor, and very frankly stated that he wanted to keep ten percent to support his family. “I still have a few boys at home to feed,” Zhao Nanyu had said with a smile, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
The emperor was very pleased with his honesty and immediately bestowed rich rewards. Later, during a hunting trip, he had even saved Zhao Qingcheng, who was almost injured by a wild boar. And he was one of the few supporting male characters in the book who did not have a romantic entanglement with Zhao Qingcheng, because he was not very good-looking.
But because of their few encounters, and also because his surname was Zhao, Zhao Qingcheng, thinking that she had no one left in her maternal family, made him her elder brother. The emperor was also very supportive of this decision, because he wanted to leave some useful support for his son and give Zhao Qingcheng a reliable and obedient maternal family.
So this person, described as straightforward and heroic, was actually a demon who provoked military conflicts for his own selfish desires, profited from them, and exploited the common people to the bone.
Why wasn’t Zhao An surprised at all? In an angsty romance novel, there would always be many twists and turns to make the story exciting. However, when the protagonists were the emperor and his consort, a small twist in the center of power could mean the lives and fortunes of countless people.
Hu Sheng noticed that Zhao An was distracted and asked again, “What’s wrong? Do you know Zhao Nanyu?” After all, they both had the surname Zhao. Perhaps they had had some interaction before.
Zhao An shook his head and grabbed Hu Sheng’s hand. “Can you not go? I’ve heard before that Zhao Nanyu’s martial arts are very formidable. It seems he offended someone and was trapped in Xiangxi, unable to be promoted.”
Zhao An didn’t actually know if Zhao Nanyu had offended anyone, nor did he know his life story. He said this just to gain Hu Sheng’s trust, because Zhao Nanyu was really formidable. He could fight Li Xiuye to a draw. According to the description in Tears of a City-Toppling Beauty, Li Xiuye’s martial arts were top-notch in the Xu Kingdom.
Hu Sheng hadn’t expected Zhao An to actually know Zhao Nanyu, because the person who had suppressed Zhao Nanyu and prevented him from rising was himself.
Although he had no official position, he was the uncrowned king of the northern border. Zhao Nanyu had once been a garrison commander in Dingzhou, but Hu Sheng had discovered that he was killing innocent people to claim military merits. He had tried to report him to the court, but he had let his subordinates take the blame and only received a punishment for lax management, being sent to Xiangxi to manage taxes. He hadn’t expected him to get involved with the Songhe Academy faction in the court and create such a tragic event.
Hu Sheng felt that it was his own failure to cut the weeds and remove the roots that had caused this disaster, so he planned to personally kill Zhao Nanyu.
“Don’t worry, I’m more formidable than Zhao Nanyu,” Hu Sheng said, squeezing Zhao An’s palm, about to let go of his hand and say goodbye.
But Zhao An held onto Hu Sheng’s hand tightly. “If you must go, I have a good thing for ambushing people. One part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, three parts charcoal, plus one part sugar. Mix them and pack them into a sealed ceramic jar. Light it and throw it at the enemy. It will definitely produce unexpected results.”
“Isn’t that just a firecracker? It’s useful for scaring horses when they’re galloping,” Hu Sheng said. Although he nodded, he didn’t really take it to heart.
But Zhao An still held his hand and said seriously, “Try it out first and you’ll know. The power is definitely greater than a firecracker.” One part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, three parts charcoal, plus a little white sugar for a big Ivan. The power of this crude explosive was enough even in the era of spiritual energy revival. At least, the plants Zhao An’s wood-elemental ability could create before the third rank couldn’t withstand it.
“You must try it, do you hear me?” Zhao An confirmed at the end. Only when Hu Sheng nodded solemnly did he let go of his hand. “Be careful. Wear some armor.”
“I’m going,” Hu Sheng said, taking a step back and giving Zhao An a deep look, as if to record his figure in his pupils. Then he turned and left without looking back, because he was afraid that if he looked back, he would be reluctant to leave.
Zhao An watched Hu Sheng’s figure disappear from his sight. Only then did he take a deep breath and step out from behind the woodpile.
Such a formidable person as Hu Sheng had no presence at all in Tears of a City-Toppling Beauty. And Zhao Nanyu, because he had connected with Zhao Qingcheng, had laughed until the end and was enfeoffed as a Duke. This made Zhao An suspect that this ambush of Zhao Nanyu was Hu Sheng’s death trap.
He really wanted Hu Sheng to stay, but in the end, he chose to let go, because Zhao Nanyu had to die.
Three days later, the participating villagers could already run a full lap around the entire village without anyone falling behind. Then Zhao An increased the intensity of their training. Besides sprinting, he added the Mandarin Duck Blade formation. In groups of three, two held blades and one held a shield. Two groups cooperating could attack enemies from all four sides.
Of course, when they first started training, to avoid injuring themselves, they only held short wooden sticks, not real knives.
Just as the villagers had formed their ranks and Zhao An had not yet ordered them to engage in group combat, the foreman of the kiln, Tang Gong, ran over excitedly. “We’ve fired all the toilet bowls and shower pipes you wanted. When can we install them and try them out?”
Zhao An’s dejected mood for the past three days finally improved a little. He forced a smile. “Let’s install them now. Have all the workers go together.”
“Alright~!” Tang Gong agreed quickly, but Zhao An still sensed a hint of disappointment in him and immediately understood that it was because he had promised a bonus but had not yet delivered.
Before he turned to leave, he said, “After it’s installed, go to Hai Bo for the bonus. Two liang of silver for the master craftsmen, one liang of silver for the helpers.”
Tang Gong immediately put on a sincere smile and bowed repeatedly to Zhao An in thanks. “Thank you for the reward, boss!” Seeing Zhao An wave his hand, he quickly ran to find people to work.
The villagers participating in the training saw this scene, and many showed envious expressions. The grip on their wooden sticks loosened a lot. They were training here with all their might, but it seemed they were not as well off as those who were digging earth. They had only been working for over a month and were already getting a bonus of one liang of silver.
Zhao An also noticed the change in their mood. He clapped his hands and said loudly, “Don’t be envious. The brick and tile kiln can produce enough materials for a new house every day, and it’s all for you to use. More than twenty new houses have already been built in the village. Those who haven’t gotten their turn yet just have bad luck in the draw. Think about how much it costs to build a house, and you won’t be envious of that little bonus.”
These words indeed cheered them up a lot. Zhao An thought for a moment and continued to encourage them, “Train hard. In ten days, we’ll organize a competition. The first-place team will get a pig as a reward. The top ten teams will get a chicken. The rest will get nothing. You have to work hard yourselves.”
As expected, the temptation of the reward was great enough. Everyone wanted to share a pig among three people. The intensity of their fighting became exceptionally great, and their roars shook the heavens, showing Zhao An what momentum was.
But Zhao An knew that in ten days, the rogue soldiers might have already entered the territory. They would have to test their results in actual combat. Of course, he would prepare the prizes in advance to motivate the villagers to train.
