The setting sun stretched the mountain’s shadow long and thin.
Li Daoxuan held a Chinese at pie in his left hand while his right pressed buttons outside the box—north, south, east, and west—studying the terrain around Duzhucun for amusent.
Studying it, he soon spotted Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang seven or eight li south of the village. Each led a group, marching directly toward Duzhucun.
Seeing his little people always filled Li Daoxuan with joy. His finger tapped the “north” button, scanning the path ahead of them for any sign of ambushed enemies, beasts blocking the way, or similar dangers.
The babysitting Deity was utterly devoted when protecting his own.
He tapped northward the entire way. The roads held no beasts or ambushers. Tap, tap, tap, and the view shifted back to Duzhucun village itself.
Just then, Li Daoxuan couldn’t help but utter an “Eh?”
There were people in Duzhucun!
And they were clearly not officials. Judging by their attire, they looked like… mounted bandits!
Roughly one hundred twenty n, each with a horse. Naturally, they weren’t mounted now. Their horses grazed nearby while the n sprawled haphazardly across the village center, resting.
Li Daoxuan thought to himself: What’s going on? What bunch is this now?
Interesting!
This could lead to so inexplicable event unfolding.
His fingers frantically jabbed the buttons again, shifting the view. Soon, just over a li north of the village, he saw a large troop of officials. They flew no banner, but there was no doubt—this ti, it had to be Wu Zimian arriving.
A good show was coming!
Li Daoxuan lowered the lid over the box, making the low cloud representing him vanish. He entered full “spectator mode.”
…
Zao Ying and her one hundred twenty followers had rested for over an hour, eaten so rations, and finally regained their spirits. Being chased by Hong Chengchou’s household troops had terrified them out of their wits.
Who knew an official in Shaanxi territory could be so vicious!
Zao Ying stood up, slapping the dirt off her backside. “Alright, rested enough? Up! Get ready to move.”
Her subordinates began rising to their feet. At that mont, a lookout posted at the village entrance sprinted toward them. “Leader, leader… A big troop of officials one li north! They’ve got tons of warhorses with them too.”
Zao Ying’s heart clenched. “Hong Chengchou’s n caught up again?”
Hearing this, Li Daoxuan was mildly surprised: Oh? So you were the ones fleeing Hong Chengchou’s chase?
The lookout answered, “Not Hong’s people. But they deliberately hid their banner. Didn’t identify their unit. Can’t tell who they are.”
Zao Ying snorted a laugh. “Officials, marching with banners furled? Seems this lot isn’t any respectable sort either. Must be up to so shady business. Carrying loads of horses… I get it. Yansui General Wu Zimian. Word’s been going around for days—he’s selling a batch of warhorses.”
Li Daoxuan nearly laughed aloud. Was Wu Zimian that notorious? Xing Honglang had guessed it was him the instant horse-selling was ntioned. Now this mounted bandit leader hears “horses,” and imdiately figures it out too.
Wu Zimian was practically famous among both sides of the law! How could an official infamous for such shady deals not fear punishnt from the court?
The lookout whispered, “Boss, should we avoid them?”
Zao Ying scoffed, “Why avoid Wu Zimian? He’s no Hong Chengchou. ‘General’? More like ‘Sleazy rchant Wu.’ Let’s just talk to him. Maybe buy a few horses off him straightaway.”
Zao Ying and her group decided to stay put, settling down to wait right there in Duzhucun.
Before long, Wu Zimian’s large forces arrived.
This fellow was still quite cautious. The main army camp did not enter the village; he only sent a small team in first. Seeing Zao Ying and her companions, the leading servant shouted loudly, “What is three plus two?”
Zao Ying thought to herself, “Password, huh? Good thing I already knew Wu Zimian’s contact password. This was no secret in the jianghu.” She replied loudly, “Thirty-two.”
The servant was overjoyed. “Good, you’re the buyer.”
Zao Ying said, “Hehe, I heard you have a batch of military horses for sale.”
The servant said, “Exactly, no need for idle talk. Five hundred horses for thirty-five thousand taels of silver. Hand over the money, and we hand over the goods. Our general values honesty in business.”
Zao Ying said, “The price is a bit high…”
The two began bargaining.
Li Daoxuan watched this from outside the box and couldn’t help but feel amused. “This is a bit unfair, isn’t it? I was the one who spotted these warhorses first; I want them! I can send small people all kinds of supplies; only living things are impossible to send. Where did this female horse thief co from? Poaching business?”
This was intolerable!
However, Li Daoxuan wasn’t cruel enough to kill soone just because they snatched his business. Killing for such a reason would be too unreasonable; he couldn’t do it.
His mind started churning. He thought, “Should I reach down and float Xing Honglang over here, so all three parties can bargain and compete for the deal?”
As this thought crossed his mind… suddenly, more people appeared from the northeast of the village!
And this ti, there were many people, up to thousands. Their attire was chaotic: so wore officials’ armor, others had on tattered burlap clothing, and still others wore silk rchant clothes, but with no rchant-like grace at all—the outfits were clearly ill-fitting.
Li Daoxuan exclaid in surprise. He saw that this new group flew a large flag with the big character “Wang” written on it. Wang Zuogua of Yichuan had arrived!
His arrival here wasn’t strange. Since the peasant uprising in the early Chongzhen era, Wang Zuogua had been active around Huanglong Mountain.
Wang Zuogua looked completely different from when he first attacked Bai Family Fortress. Now, his aura seed deeper, and his clothes were higher quality—no longer ragged, but a set of Mountain-patterned Armor worn by a general, impressive and imposing.
Previously, he gave a sense of sheer ferocity, but now, that ferocity was tinged with a hint of craftiness.
He turned to his trusted general Miao i and asked, “Wu Zimian is just up ahead?”
Miao i chuckled. “Yes! He stopped at Duzhucun ahead and appears to be trading warhorses with soone in the village.”
A smug smile flashed across Wang Zuogua’s face. “Wu Zimian is worthless; his n are insignificant. But if we charge recklessly, he’ll surely flee with the warhorses. Our two legs can’t catch up to four.”
“Miao i, Feishan Hu, Big Honglang, each of you take one division. With my main force, surround Duzhucun from the four directions: north, south, east, and west. Ensure we seize those five hundred warhorses.”
…
The nas of Big Honglang and Xing Honglang differed by only a single character. If the eunuch had chosen the nas personally, he wouldn’t have made two characters in the book so similar, but both were historical figures.
The eunuch could only sneer at the naming skills of those involved in the peasant uprising towards the end of the Ming Dynasty.
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