Chapter 176: Captive
These two captives were both personal soldiers and confidants of General Lu.
General Lu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his left hand and instructed in a low voice: “You two return to the barracks to deliver the message. Bring warhorses and silver at the fastest speed.”
Pei Qinghe still held the long saber in her right hand, her gaze cold and full of killing intent. Pei Yan, who was like a black tower, stared at them menacingly. The elegant and graceful Pei Yun was also a figure like the God of Slaughter.
The two personal soldiers had escaped death and did not dare to say much, nodding repeatedly in agreement.
Pei Qinghe gave them two horses and thoughtfully provided several days’ dry rations and cold water: “I give you half a month. If I don’t see the Fanyang Army’s gold and silver and warhorses within half a month, wait to collect the corpses of your general and comrades.”
When Pei Qinghe said these words, she was calm and composed, without any hint of threat.
Cold sweat broke out on the foreheads of the two personal soldiers. They mounted their horses and rushed out without stopping.
From the Pei Family Army to the Fanyang Army barracks, a round trip would take ten days. If bringing silver and warhorses, the speed would be much slower. Half a month allowed no room for hesitation.
“Pei Yan, General Lu is entrusted to you.” Pei Qinghe instructed: “Take good care of General Lu.”
Pei Yan nodded, bound General Lu’s hands again with rope, grabbed the collar of his clothes, and walked off.
General Lu was shaken until he felt like vomiting but did not make a sound, not even daring to fart.
The rest of the captured soldiers were all locked in the storeroom, but General Lu’s treatment was not bad; he had an empty room.
Doctor Bao came again, checked General Lu’s external injuries, cleaned and sutured them, applied medicine and bandaged, his actions very deft. General Lu fainted from the pain.
That night, no one in Pei Family Village slept. The war dead needed to be collected and buried, the wounded soldiers needed medicine applied and bandaging, and the battlefield needed to be cleaned up.
For the dead Fanyang Army officers and soldiers, soft armor was stripped from those who had it, and all weapons were picked up. All recoverable arrows had to be found.
In addition, there were many warhorses that had been slashed; they were given a quick end with one saber stroke. In times of food shortage, the tough, hard horse meat was a rare delicacy.
Several households in the village faintly transmitted cries.
In this battle, the Fanyang Army was badly defeated, and the Pei Family Army also suffered heavy casualties. Corpses were carried all night, and it was impossible to count exactly how many had died.
Pei Qinghe was accustomed to life and death on the battlefield, but hearing such cries made her feel uneasy. Pei Yun beside her could not help but sigh softly: “I don’t know when we can stop fighting and dying.”
Pei Qinghe said indifferently: “War always has deaths.”
“In this world, we must survive first. We’ve always stayed in Pei Family Village and haven’t gone out to seize territory. But some people always think the Pei Family Army is a soft persimmon they can pinch. The Fanyang Army’s great defeat is also a deterrence to the Guangning Army and Liaoxi Army. Even Bohai Commandery won’t dare to underestimate the Pei Family Army anymore.”
“After this battle, we’ll have another period of peaceful days.”
Pei Yun exhaled: “Are you really going to let General Lu go back?”
“Killing him would be satisfying, but it wouldn’t bring us much real benefit.” A cold glint flashed in Pei Qinghe’s eyes: “There are still several thousand people in the Fanyang Army barracks. We don’t yet have the capability to lead troops on long-distance campaigns. Wait until the Zhan Family buys back a large batch of warhorses from outside the passes, and we train an elite cavalry, then we’ll conquer all directions.”
Pei Yun felt a surge of ambition: “You’re right. Our strength is not enough yet; let Lu Xian go back first. In a few years, we’ll take his dog head.”
Pei Qinghe raised an eyebrow: “There’s another point: I can’t take Fanyang Commandery, and I don’t want the Guangning Army and Liaoxi Army to get it for nothing.”
“In Youzhou, the four powers barely maintain a balance. Let’s keep it this way for now.”
A streak of fish-belly white appeared on the horizon.
A blush of red struggled to break through the sky.
The morning sun rose, another brand new day.
Pei Qinghe and Pei Yun had not slept for a day and a night. Mao Hongling, whose injuries had been bandaged, came over and urged the two to rest: “I’ll handle things here; you two go sleep for a while.”
Pei Qinghe nodded and fell into a deep sleep after returning to her room.
She slept half a day and was woken by hunger.
Pei Qinghe rolled off the bed. When she went out, Pei Yun was just coming out too. The sisters exchanged a smile and went to the kitchen together.
There were more and more people in Pei Family Village, and there were never enough hands in the kitchen. Bian Shulan, who managed the kitchen overall, smelled of oil fumes, her figure had become much plumper, and her voice was full of vigor: “Many warhorses were slaughtered last night; we’ll eat horse meat for the next few days.”
The horse meat had been braised in soy sauce for half a day, smelling irresistibly fragrant, and paired with white steamed buns, it made one’s mouth water.
Pei Yan popped up from somewhere and squeezed in beside Pei Qinghe, naturally nudging her cousin sister Pei Yun aside.
Pei Yun was both amused and annoyed, reaching out to smack the back of Pei Yan’s head: “You still have this temper? Always hogging the spot next to Qinghe, not letting anyone else come!”
Pei Yan grimaced from the smack and turned to complain to Pei Qinghe: “Cousin Sister Yun is bullying me.”
Pei Qinghe was amused and reached out to touch Pei Yan’s aggrieved dark face, saying to Pei Yun: “She has a minor head injury now and can’t take a beating; hit somewhere else if you want.”
Pei Yan’s eyes widened like copper bells.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Pei Xuan and Pei Feng also slipped over and sat down obediently to eat.
Pei Qinghe casually asked with a smile: “You two made a bet before the battle; who won in the end?”
Pei Xuan was quick with her words: “We didn’t have time to count precisely, but I definitely won. Pei Feng always vomits for a while after killing and isn’t as fast at wielding a saber as me.”
Pei Feng’s sore spot was exposed, and he was somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, his handsome face tense: “I definitely can’t match your bragging.”
The two often bickered. Pei Qinghe watched the fun for a while, ate four steamed buns and a bowl of braised horse meat, then drank a large bowl of rice soup.
There were too many corpses; digging pits to bury them would take at least two or three days.
Pei Qinghe patrolled once, then went to the storeroom to check on the captives.
Guarding the captives was Zhai Sanlang’s battalion. Although Zhai Sanlang was young, he could read and write, was clever and bold. After joining the Pei Family Army, he quickly showed his talent and became a battalion commander.
Entrusted with the heavy responsibility of guarding the captives, Zhai Sanlang was extra careful and had not slept at all.
Pei Qinghe smiled and instructed: “Divide everyone into two shifts to take turns eating and resting. These captives must stay in Pei Family Village for at least half a month.”
Zhai Sanlang nodded vigorously, trying hard to hide the gleam in his eyes.
Pei Yun and the others saw it and all smiled.
Pei Qinghe was like the blazing sun in the sky, radiating dazzling light. Admiration of strength is human nature. In the Pei Family Army, there were quite a few who secretly admired Pei Qinghe. The young Zhai Sanlang was just one of them.
Unfortunately, Steward Shi firmly occupied the position beside Pei Qinghe, so everyone could only admire her silently in their hearts and could not compete with Steward Shi.
A few days later, Feng Chang led people back to Pei Family Village, bringing a pile of heads.
Two days after that, Jiang Huiniang, who was leading troops in place of Gu Lian, also sent back a large pile of heads. These were all the fleeing Fanyang Army soldiers.
Outside Pei Family Village, a jingguan was piled up again with heads.
