Chapter 217: Provocation
Pei Yan never questioned any of Pei Qinghe’s decisions and sheathed her sword in anger.
Mao Hongling wiped her tears with her sleeve and said in a low voice: “The Liaoxi Army has taken the entire Liaoxi Commandery. Li Gouzei has conscripted many able-bodied men. Rumors say the Liaoxi Army now has thirty thousand troops, far outnumbering our Pei Family Army in troop strength.”
Pei Qinghe said gravely: “Li Gouzei is endlessly greedy. Officials and magnates in Liaoxi Commandery have almost all been killed off, and the common people have been scraped clean. People can’t live, and hearts have turned. It’s all held by force. Li Gouzei also withholds military pay and rations, so the soldiers can’t even fill their bellies—how can they train? Defeating the Liaoxi Army is no difficult task. I can lead three thousand elite soldiers and rout the Liaoxi Army.”
“But right now, warfare rages everywhere. Bohai Commandery has been at war for over a year, and in the Capital City, the Imperial Guard and King Qiao’s Rebel Army are fighting in chaos. If our Pei Family Army fights the Liaoxi Army too, and the Xiongnu Barbarians enter the pass, who will resist?”
“Li Gouzei is in Liaoxi, and at least he can guard the border somewhat. We can’t move against him lightly right now!”
Internal and external threats must be clearly distinguished!
Even the most hot-blooded and impulsive Pei Yan calmed down upon hearing this: “This blood feud, we’ll record it for now. One day we’ll lead troops to fight the Liaoxi Army. When that time comes, I’ll lead the vanguard! I want to personally chop off Li Gouzei’s head!”
Pei Qinghe nodded and had someone bury Pei Yi.
The Pei Family Army had never suffered defeat, and casualties were commonplace. Everyone shed a tear for Pei Yi and then set the matter aside.
Who would have thought that General Li, not content with killing and seizing horses, would send someone to provoke the Pei Family Army.
The envoy was a deputy general under General Li. His greedy eyes had been flashing with hot light ever since entering Pei Family Village. Especially when seeing the women coming and going in the village, he revealed his ugly nature completely.
Women in Liaoxi Commandery were mostly sallow-faced and skinny, without much flesh on their bodies, either despairing, sorrowful, or numb.
Women in Pei Family Village, regardless of looks, all had rosy faces and full of spirit. They made people drool.
Once General Li subdued the Pei Family Army, these spirited women of various charms would be in the palms of the Liaoxi Army officers and soldiers. He had to beg the general for a beautiful one to be his wife—yes, that pretty miss with almond eyes and peach cheeks would do…
Pei Zhi’s brows twitched again and again, her right hand pressing on the sword hilt. She quickly withdrew it.
No! Cousin Sister Qinghe hadn’t given the order, so she couldn’t act on her own!
Pei Yan lacked such patience. Frowning, she said to Pei Qinghe: “This dog thief’s eyes are darting everywhere, leering at Pei Zhi. I’ll go give him a lesson!”
Pei Qinghe hummed: “Don’t beat him to death. Leave him breathing—I have questions for him.”
Pei Yan grinned ferociously, cracked her knuckles, and stepped forward with a punch.
The deputy general’s chest emitted a muffled sound. He spat out a mouthful of blood, cried out in agony, his eyes full of shock and anger: “You dare hit me…”
I’m a confidant of the King of Liaoxi, sent here on orders to deliver a letter. Don’t you know the rules of war—not cutting the envoy?
Unfortunately, he had no chance to say these words. Pei Yan’s principle was: when you can act, never waste breath.
The deputy general wanted to fight back, but Pei Zhi and others advanced coldly smiling to join in. They beat him together until he was a puddle of mud. His leg bone was broken, ribs cracked, and his crotch stomped hard. The deputy general writhed in pain, his cries piercing the clouds.
Only then did Pei Qinghe step forward and ask coldly: “What did Li Gouzei send you here for?”
The deputy general was in too much pain to speak.
Pei Qinghe ordered Tao Feng to search him, and soon a letter was found. Pei Qinghe opened it, sneered repeatedly at the corners of her mouth, then turned to instruct Pei Yan: “Chop off this messenger’s hands and feet, and hang him under the tree north of the village.”
This job Pei Yan knew all too well.
Pei Yan agreed and dragged him off like a dead chicken.
Pei Qinghe gave the letter to Mao Hongling.
Mao Hongling was the best-tempered among the Pei Clan women. After reading the letter, she was still furious: “Pah! This Li Gouzei! Utterly shameless!”
Pei Xuan and Pei Feng crowded over to read the letter and were both enraged. The sweet-faced but harshest-handed Pei Xuan gritted her teeth: “I’ll lead troops to Liaoxi and chop up Li Gouzei!”
Pei Feng’s handsome face was like ice, and he said coldly: “I’ll go kill him!”
Steward Shi, who had hurried over upon hearing the news, also saw the letter.
The letter’s content was simple: General Li demanded to marry Pei Qinghe as his wife!
Pei Qinghe was eighteen this year, in the prime of youth. General Li was already forty-nine, old enough to be her grandfather. Moreover, General Li was notoriously lecherous, keeping a harem of beauties in his barracks. And now he had the face to propose “marriage alliance”! He even wanted to use the five hundred seized warhorses as betrothal gift!
This was naked provocation and humiliation!
Shi Yan suppressed his surging anger and said gravely: “Li Gouzei is deliberately provoking the general, trying to make the general take the initiative to attack the Liaoxi Army. General, please calm your anger and don’t fall for the dog thief’s scheme!”
Pei Qinghe nodded slightly: “Rest assured, I won’t fall for it!”
On the contrary, those around her were all quite angry. Pei Yan, who had chopped off the deputy general’s hands and feet and hung him from the tree, returned. Seeing the letter, she was indeed furious, jumping and shouting to lead troops out.
A cold glint flashed in Pei Qinghe’s eyes: “I won’t send troops to attack Liaoxi. But with Li Gouzei provoking like this, I must return the favor somehow.”
“Bring paper and brush. I want to write a proclamation.”
Pei Qinghe took up the brush and swiftly wrote a proclamation. Head Steward Shi found skilled artisans to carve blocks and print thousands of copies of General Pei’s handwritten proclamation. Then they were sent to various county towns in Liaoxi.
In just a few days, this proclamation spread throughout Liaoxi Commandery.
Life was hard for the common people in Liaoxi Commandery. Those who truly couldn’t survive could seek refuge in Yan Prefecture or Beiping Commandery. General Pei was willing to take in all pitiful common people.
The Pei Family Army’s military reputation was simply too good. The oppressed and desperate common people all wanted to live good lives under the Pei Family Army. Pei Family Village was hard to enter, but with the vast territories of Yan Prefecture and Beiping Commandery, taking in any number of common people was no issue.
At first, they fled a few at a time, then entire villages fled en masse.
General Li, who called himself King of Liaoxi, could not restrain himself any longer. With common people fleeing in droves, vast swathes of good farmland in Liaoxi Commandery lay abandoned. Without common people farming, where would land tax and military rations come from?
General Li sent envoys to the Pei Family Army again to seek marriage, while dispatching troops to patrol everywhere, bloodily massacring any fleeing common people they caught.
This somewhat stemmed the tide of common people fleeing. But the Liaoxi Army’s reputation grew even more foul.
Wave after wave of marriage envoys were sent, all killed clean by Pei Qinghe—not a single one lived to carry a message back to the Liaoxi Army.
It was just a matter of who lost patience first and struck first.
Two months later, dire news came first from the Guangning Army.
General Yang led four thousand troops to Bohai Commandery to reinforce the emperor, but was slaughtered by the Rebel Army, dying under Tao Wudi’s blade.
