Chapter 2257: Unpredictable Hearts
Unexpectedly, this sentence made Feng Haijiao twist his brows and shout sternly, "So you mean you can run whenever you want?!"
The minion turned pale with fright, kowtowing repeatedly and begging, "This small one dares not, this small one dares not!" His wife, though bound, also kowtowed repeatedly and begged.
Feng Haijiao sneered and said, "Drag them all down and chop them!"
The personal guards immediately came to drag people away. The market square filled with crying and shouting—some yelling "Spare my life," others shouting "Injustice." The minions standing by felt this punishment was too excessive. Though they were all "new brothers," they had stirred the spoon in the same pot for a few months after all. But they all feared Feng Haijiao, this evil star, and no one dared come forward to plead for mercy. They watched as several people were dragged over and the personal guards swung their sabers down, instantly dropping four human heads. Fresh blood sprayed from the cavities.
The personal guards flicked the blood off their sabers and were about to drag more people. Bi Xuansheng squeezed out from behind, panting, looking as if he had run wildly over, and interceded, "Master! Master! Even if they have a thousand faults, you, Old Sir, have a great capacity—spare their lives..."
Feng Haijiao said impatiently, "With a big battle imminent, Sir knows better than I how desertion in the face of battle should be handled, right?"
Bi Xuansheng bowed deeply, showing 120,000 points of humility. "Master! The team is about to set out. For family members to come send off their husbands—this is human nature. If we behead them, the punishment is unavoidably too heavy..."
"So you're saying I wronged them?" Feng Haijiao glared with his yellow eyes.
Bi Xuansheng hurriedly said, "Master speaks too heavily. If they truly intended to escape, this student would absolutely not dare plead for leniency. It's just that right now is the time we need people. Family members sending off men and shaking military morale is indeed true. But considering they are all new brothers and don't understand the rules, teaching them a lesson with military cudgels would be enough. Why kill people?"
Seeing the unbearable looks on the faces of the minions in the market square, plus Bi Xuansheng pleading humbly, Feng Haijiao found it inconvenient to flare up again. "Since you plead for them, I will spare their lives." He called the captain of the personal guards. "The death penalty can be waived, but living punishment cannot be spared. These individuals, regardless of gender, each get eighty military cudgels! To warn others against following bad examples!" After finishing, he snorted heavily through his nose before carrying his horse whip back to his residence.
Seeing the captain of the personal guards fetching military cudgels to bind and beat the group, Bi Xuansheng said, "There are women here. Military cudgels bring bad luck hitting them. Just use some bamboo strips to whip them."
The minions knew he was using "bad luck" as an excuse to lighten the punishment and watched this young master advisor—whom they used to regard as an "outsider"—leave with grateful eyes. Then everyone dispersed, busy with their own affairs. Each was afraid of becoming the next batch of chickens to be slaughtered.
On the market square, more than ten minions and their mothers, wives, and sisters were bound by personal guards and thrown on the ground. Military cudgels and bamboo strips crackled up and down, filling the field with wails and pleas for mercy. Four headless corpses lay abandoned to the side, blood staining the mud deeply black.
Feng Haijiao's moving operation dragged on for another day. It wasn't until the morning of the third day that the fleet departed successively. He and his men were accustomed to living on the water; the boats were sufficiently prepared, and they were familiar with the channel. Though worried about Australian ambushes and inevitably fearful along the way, the navigation was smooth.
Xin Laonan's manor was located in the mountains at the border of Yangshan and the neighboring county. It had historically been a "three-no's" zone—ungoverned territory. There had originally been Yao villages here, but most were later wiped out by government troops. Many outsider Hakkas moved in to farm the mountains, forming a situation of Han and Yao living together.
Xin Laonan's family had been half-farming, half-bandit for generations. The place where Xin Family Manor was located was called Thunder Struck Slope. In reality, it was a solitary peak amidst high mountains and precipitous ridges. Surrounded by deep ravines and steep valleys, the peak's top was slightly flat and had a water source. It became a village settlement.
To ascend Thunder Struck Slope, there were only three roads. The one Feng Haijiao took was the most convenient. Disembarking at Hu Bay by the Lian River and going up along Huangdan Gully for twenty li, one could reach the first stockade gate of Thunder Struck Slope.
Feng Haijiao's fleet was safe throughout and abandoned the boats to go ashore at Hu Bay. The team advanced up along Huangdan Gully. The terrain of Huangdan Gully was not steep. Both sides of the canyon were densely covered with forests, and a babbling brook ran at the bottom. A sandy gravel path wound along the brook, extending into the depths. The scenery was truly beautiful.
However, Feng Haijiao and his group had no mood to appreciate the scenery. Though it was only twenty li from Hu Bay to Thunder Struck Slope, the team—including porters and family members—totaled fully four or five hundred people, carrying many boxes and cages.
The boxes of valuables were very heavy. Carrying them along the mountain road consumed far more energy than on flat ground. Fortunately, the mountain terrain here was not yet steep and the journey not arduous. Walking and resting along the way, from noon departure until dusk, they had traveled less than a third of the journey. The porters and minions were exhausted. Except for the family members of the big leaders who had sedans to ride, the rest of the women and children walked. Fortunately, the journey was not far. Though the team walked sparsely along the way, most reached the campsite before dark.
Feng Haijiao sat in a sedan the entire way. Arriving at the campsite, he saw people and horses lying east and west, various boxes of goods thrown all over the ground, some packages broken open. There was no one guarding around the camp. Minions either sprawled on the ground resting or gnawed dry food with cold water. He couldn't help but feel a burst of annoyance, scolding and whipping until he finally drove people up from the ground. He sent sentries to all four sides before returning to rest under a thatched shed.
Shortly after resting, a leader came to report that the carried grain was running low and was now insufficient.
"Before departure, didn't everyone get issued ten days of dry food? Only six days have passed—how is it not enough?"
"Dry food was issued for ten days, but only soldiers got it. Many people are dragging families..." The leader looked embarrassed. "Also, those more than a hundred porters—because they have to carry goods, they couldn't bring many days of dry food."
"Leaving porters aside, did the families of each household not prepare dry food themselves?"
"Small households are short of grain and couldn't prepare much." The leader said, "In this small one's opinion, should we send some porters back to Hu Bay tomorrow morning to transport some grain?"
There were still several hundred shi of grain on the boats left at Hu Bay—because there was no manpower to carry it, it had been left on the boats with guards.
Feng Haijiao hesitated. It wasn't that he grudged the grain, but once porters were sent to transport grain, some of these boxes of valuables would have to be left halfway while continuing to move forward. Of course, after arriving at the mountain stockade, he could send people to retrieve them. But the boxes held gold, silver, and valuables; he didn't feel at ease leaving them in this valley—even sending people to guard wouldn't work. These things were enough to make people turn treacherous.
"Tell everyone to endure. Once we get to the manor, there will be wine and meat—eat openly!" Feng Haijiao was anxious to go up the mountain. Firstly, only at the mountain stockade could safety be guaranteed. Secondly, he was also anxious to see Master Zhan and hear his news—especially news of the government troops.
For the current Feng Haijiao, Zhan Zhekun's halo as Governor Xiong's advisor had become his lifeline. He knew hiding at Xin Family Manor was just lingering on his last breath. Once they pacified the three Lianyang counties, they would naturally free their hands to deal with him.
To survive, to continue being his "Yangshan Tyrant," only the imperial court could be relied upon.
However, the rumors these days had him living in constant fear, because it was widely said that Xiong Wencan had been dismissed and arrested by the court, and probably couldn't keep his life. Once Xiong Wencan was beheaded, Zhan Zhekun would naturally lose his value. Whether the new Governor would remember his "solitary loyalty" was a big question mark.
While worrying, someone came to report: "Xin Family Manor has sent people."
Feng Haijiao's spirits rose. "How many people came?"
"Three people."
Hearing only three people had come, Feng Haijiao secretly felt disappointed. He had originally thought Xin Laonan would send people with wine and meat to reward them, which would at least lessen the fatigue and resentment of his subordinates.
"Call them in."
A mountain villager entered. Feng Haijiao recognized this person—he was Xin Laonan's trusted aide.
"This small one Huang Daqiao pays respects to Master Feng." Saying this, he kowtowed on the ground.
"Rise." Feng Haijiao put on an "official air." Though he wanted to speak very much, he forced himself to remain silent for a while before asking, "Did you come from Manager Xin?"
"Yes, Master." Huang Daqiao said respectfully. "This small one came under my Manager's order specifically to welcome Master Feng and also bring a message to Master Feng."
"Speak."
"First, Manager Xin asks how many people Master is bringing. He needs a number so he can arrange food and lodging..."
Feng Haijiao thought to himself that this old fox was astute! Probably afraid my large number of people will turn the guest into the host.
Thinking of this, he pretended to sigh sadly and said, "To be honest, this time Brother Sun was defeated and died, greatly damaging our brothers' prestige. Since ancient times, sharing wealth is easy, but sharing hardship is hard. Many brothers who originally came to join have left—I couldn't detain them either. Now only the original old brothers are still following me."
Huang Daqiao listened respectfully.
Feng Haijiao put on a look of hopeless future and discouragement. "The brothers under my hand are still over a hundred. Plus family members, there are nearly three hundred. Only, this time I came out of Qinglian Market to seek refuge with Manager Xin bringing the whole family's belongings, so I hired more than two hundred porters to follow. Once these people arrive at the stockade, give them a full meal and send them home—no need to prepare extra grain."
These words were half true and half false. His team had many people; this couldn't be hidden. Even if it was dark now and Huang Daqiao couldn't see clearly, once on the road tomorrow, Xin Laonan's spies would have ample time to count his numbers.
Fortunately, there were indeed many family members in his team. Though not as many as nearly two hundred, it could at least dispel part of Xin Laonan's suspicion. He said there were about a hundred old brothers under him—this was an old fact Xin Laonan already knew. There were many boxes in the team, and most people were carrying them—this was also fact.
"Yes, this small one will relay to the Manager upon return."
"Since there is a first, naturally there is a second. What else did Manager Xin say?"
Next Update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Part 461 (End of Chapter)