Chapter 846: Aftermath
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Lord Li looked ashamed. “It’s my fault for not managing the place well, causing the bandits here to run rampant and offend the Princess. I’m extremely ashamed.”
Yu Youyao said calmly, “Lord Li, you don’t have to blame yourself. I originally thought that they were just ordinary bandits, so I was careless. Who knew that this group of bandits had some background? They actually fled from the mountains 50,000 kilometers in the west and occupied the mountain as king. They even gathered four to five hundred people. They’re very fierce.”
Lord Li was immediately frightened out of his wits.
Mountain bandits who came from a hundred thousand miles of mountains were all desperadoes. The implication was huge.
When the Great Zhou Dynasty first established its own dynasty, the mountain bandits had occupied this area. Now, hundreds of years had passed. The mountain bandits had been exterminated again and again, but the problem of bandits was still endless.
He couldn’t help but rejoice in his heart. Fortunately, he had been careful. Seeing that those bandits had lost their morals and had frequently committed crimes in the area of Anshan, he felt that it was a little tricky, so he mentioned this to Princess Shaoyi.
Otherwise, if they waited for the mountain bandits to continue growing, they would sooner or later develop into a huge problem in Liancheng.
It was even more difficult for the government to suppress the bandits.
The problem of the bandits had blown up too much. He couldn’t bear the blame from the state capital.
Lord Li’s reaction was completely within Yu Youyao’s expectations. “You don’t know this, but these bandits are actually so bold as to behave atrociously in front of General An Yuan, who was personally conferred the title of third-grade by the Imperial Court. At the very least, they’re the ones who don’t have eyes and have a death wish. At the very least, they’re ignoring the Imperial Court and looking down on Yue Fei, the King of the North. If we let them off, where will General An Yuan’s dignity, which has been through hundreds of battles, be? Where will King Yue Fei’s dignity go? Where will the law of the Imperial Court go?”
Lord Li agreed deeply. It was true that the princess had disguised her identity and everything had been simple. She had set up a trap to lure the mountain bandits into it. However, if the mountain bandits did not make a move themselves, General An Yuan would have no reputation.
Indeed!
Yu Youyao changed the topic. “General Anyuan immediately led his troops to attack the stronghold. Who knew that this group of mountain bandits would actually take more than a hundred hostages in the stronghold? The suppression of the bandits fell into a stalemate. It wasn’t until late at night that King Yue Fei, who was patrolling the edge of the rock area, received the news and rushed over. He reformulated the plan to suppress the bandits and sent someone to secretly infiltrate the stronghold to cooperate from the outside. Only then did he save the hostages and successfully eliminate the mountain bandits.”
When he heard that there were so many hostages in the mountain bandits, Lord Li was even more frightened. Once again, he was glad that he had not gotten involved. “I didn’t expect the situation in the stockade to be so complicated that even King Yue Fei was alarmed.”
He did not doubt Princess Shaoyi’s words. The You army was all elites. No matter how powerful the mountain bandits were, they could not compare to the You army. There was no loophole in this excuse.
Yu Youyao nodded. “The situation in the mountains is a little complicated. In order to escape, there were mountain bandits setting fire in the stronghold to create chaos. Currently, Military Advisor Huang is still checking the number of mountain bandits and their identities. The hostages also need to be checked. As we’re not sure if there are mountain bandits mixed in, this batch of hostages is temporarily under the care of the You army.”
When he found out that this group of bandits were not ordinary bandits but bandits who had fled from Shanxi, Lord Li couldn’t wait to hand them over to the You army to deal with them. This was exactly what he wanted.
The two of them chatted for a while before recounting the situation in the mountain.
Lord Li bade farewell to Princess Shaoyi and immediately went to the place where the hostages were placed, but he was stopped by the You army guarding him. “His Highness has instructed that before the identity of this group of hostages is verified, no one is allowed to approach them without His Highness’s permission.”
Lord Li’s heart turned cold. He kept feeling that there must be unidentified mountain bandits hidden in this batch of hostages. For the time being, it was impossible to confirm. That was why King Yue Fei was so cautious and sent a large number of troops to guard them, not allowing anyone to approach.
He was even more afraid.
At that moment, Lord Li could only hire a soldier to lead the way and rush up the mountain with more than a hundred bailiffs.
The entire stockade had been destroyed by the fire and was in a mess. The bowl-shaped stockade had blocked the spread of the fire. Otherwise, the fire would have spread to the mountain and the entire mountain would have burned down.
There were many corpses in the valley. Some had been killed by the You army, and there were also charred corpses. In addition, there were more than 30 survivors kneeling on the ground with their hands and feet tied.
Huang Wenxian was still interrogating the living mountain bandits and determining the identities and crimes of the other mountain bandits in the stronghold. Yin Huaixi sat at the side and watched.
Lord Li hurriedly went to greet King Yue Fei.
Yin Huaixi said calmly, “The suppression of the bandits is also the government’s business, and the You army shouldn’t have interfered. It’s just that not long ago, the Empress Dowager issued an imperial decree that we have to protect Princess Shaoyi. The bandits collided with the Princess’s carriage, so the You army took action. All the subsequent matters should have been handled by the government. It’s just that this group of bandits has an extraordinary background and is related to the bandits in the mountains 50,000 kilometers west of Shanxi. It’s very important. For the Princess’s safety, this matter should be investigated again. If there’s anything wrong, please forgive me.”
These words were enough to give him respect. How could Lord Li dare to put on airs? He quickly bowed. “It was also my fault for not managing the place well, which caused the bandits to run amok and offend Princess Shaoyi. It’s already very kind of Your Highness not to blame me. Now that Your Highness has helped the government eliminate the problem of the bandits, it’s my blessing and the blessing of the commoners. I’m endlessly grateful.”
Yin Huaixi nodded. “Lord Li directly looked for Military Advisor Huang about the specific situation of the bandits and hostages. If the government has any needs, Military Advisor Huang will definitely cooperate fully.”
With this, Lord Li was really relieved.
The mountain bandits had already been eliminated, and King Yue Fei would bear all the rest. What he needed to do next was to interrogate the living mountain bandits, interrogate the hostages, verify the identity of the hostages, calm them down, and so on.
Lord Li waited until Military Advisor Huang had finished interrogating the mountain bandits before looking for him.
Military Advisor Huang was very generous. Not only did he give him a list of mountain bandits who had fled 100,000 miles away and the crimes they had committed all these years, but he also made an additional copy of the case file he had made from interrogating the mountain bandits, as well as the list of hostages he had interrogated previously.
These three books were ironclad evidence. Lord Li believed this matter even more deeply. With these three books, the case of suppressing the bandits could almost be closed.
However, they still had to go through the motions and bring some mountain bandits over for interrogation. The hostages also had to be interrogated.
Military Advisor Huang continued, “There was a fire in the stronghold, and many mountain bandits were burned to death. There’s no way to confirm the identities of the mountain bandits, nor can we confirm if all the mountain bandits have been eliminated, let alone determine if any mountain bandits have escaped. His Highness has already sent someone to search the mountain, so we have to be more cautious about everything. I’m afraid we’ll overstep our boundaries. Lord Li, please understand.”
Lord Li hurriedly said, “Military Advisor Huang, you’re being too serious. I’m afraid.”
The bailiffs brought by the government cooperated with the You army to search the mountain stronghold, move the corpses, and do some help. Lord Li heard his subordinates’ bailiffs report the situation in the mountain and did not find anything abnormal. The last trace of doubt in his heart dissipated.