The people in the office sat in a circle.
Madam Yu naturally took the lead, and Miss Jun did not need anyone to offer their seat, she took the seat beside Madam Yu.
A clerk stepped forward to report the count: the number of refugees as well as the Jurchen's spoils were even greater than what Li Guorui had mentioned.
Although half a day had passed, Judge Tian and the others were still visibly shocked when they heard the numbers again.
"The soldiers under the Duke of Chengguo's command are truly valiant," he said to Madam Yu.
The admiration and respect were genuine, but his expression was also complex.
It was both good and bad news that the Duke of Chengguo's troops had come here.
After all, the dynasty had already issued orders to withdraw troops and cease fire with the Jurchen people.
Madam Yu shook her head.
"No, these are not the Duke of Chengguo's troops; with the military so stretched on the northern front, the Duke of Chengguo would never deploy his troops without due cause," she said, pointing at Miss Jun, "These are Miss Jun's."
Miss Jun.
The people in the hall turned their gaze towards the young woman.
Since entering the city, she had hardly spoken, gentle and soft.
Who was she? How could she command troops? Were they real?
"Actually, we are farmers," said Miss Jun with a smile, "just here to help out."
Farmers.
There was silence in the hall, and Li Guorui's mouth twitched slightly.
If you don't want to tell, you don't have to tell, but don't joke around.
"Lord Tian, your arrival is timely, as I was just about to see you," cut in Madam Yu.
Judge Tian hastily paid his respects, hesitating slightly before he dared not speak the words "What orders does Madam have?"
But whether he spoke or not, it wouldn't stop Madam Yu from speaking.
"Please have the Hejian garrison issue orders to welcome and escort the populace of the three counties southward across the border," she said succinctly.
As expected...
Lord Tian's heart trembled.
The Duke of Chengguo intended to defy orders and continue the confrontation with the Jurchen.
They could have followed the Duke of Chengguo before, because there was no disagreement between the Duke and the emperor over the northern lands, but now with the emperor's orders, if the Duke chose to defy them and they followed him, wouldn't that be disloyal?
The Duke of Chengguo had a prestigious reputation and had defied orders before; the emperor wouldn't do much to him, but it was different for them.
When immortals fight, the mortals suffer; they might end up as scapegoats.
"Madam, it's not that we are afraid of fighting, it's just that the dynasty has commanded…" Lord Tian said, grinding his teeth.
"The dynasty's orders were to cede the three counties' land," Madam Yu interrupted him, "but it said nothing about ceding the three counties' two hundred thousand people."
The people in the hall were stunned.
"The land is ceded, His Majesty the emperor did not say the people were to be ceded," Madam Yu continued, "so you going now to welcome back our Great Zhou population to move southward is proper and not only is it not defying orders, it is obeying the emperor's will."
This made sense, and the expressions of the people in the hall shifted.
Madam Yu looked towards the office entrance where the noise outside could be faintly heard.
It was due to the sudden addition of several thousand people, and even with the best efforts to maintain order, the noise was inevitable.
"Hundreds of thousands of people, if you escort and welcome them all back, it will demonstrate His Majesty's benevolence. This is not defiance, but merit," she said sternly, "Our land, our people, with people there is land, the land can be forsaken, but the people should not be abandoned. We are welcoming back our own people, our own kin, our sisters and brothers, what's wrong with that?"
She looked at the people in the hall again.
"What do you not dare to do?"
With a few snaps, some generals stood up emotionally, tipping over the chairs.
"I can! I dare!" one of them blurted out.
Following his lead, more generals stood up, echoing his sentiment, and the atmosphere in the hall instantly boiled like oil in a pan.
Judge Tian did not expect Madam Yu to speak in such a manner. Indeed, this explanation was sensible and reasonable, and for the emperor known for his beneficence and filial piety, the safe conduct of hundreds of thousands of people to the south would certainly be welcomed.
Whether for the dynasty or for the common folk, this action would surely be a great merit and loud fame.
This kind of merit could be enough to earn a place in history.
But one should not act impulsively.
"Madam, Madam," he took a deep breath, hushing the generals in the hall to calm down while he addressed Madam Yu, "The Jin thief's forces are substantial, with five thousand having entered Bazhou, and the defense line has been breached. We do not know how many more Jin thieves will follow, and it is truly more dangerous than fortunate for our troops to enter Bazhou."
Two officials nodded along.
"Indeed, we can welcome the fleeing civilians without refusal."
"Now Hejian has only ten thousand soldiers, it is truly difficult to prevail against the Jurchen."
"If the Jin thieves take the opportunity to launch an attack, not to mention the protection of Bazhou's people, the tens of thousands of military and civilians in Hejian Prefecture may not escape unscathed."
This statement slowly brought the previously agitated hall to a quiet.
Indeed, this was the fact.
The faces of the generals turned alternately red and white.
"It's not just your Hejian soldiers carrying out this task alone." A woman's voice rose, "Our Qingshan Army will assist."
Assistance? Everyone's gaze turned toward Miss Jun, who was sitting beside Madam Yu.
As said by Sun Sanjie, they had fewer than forty people. Could it be that this was just the vanguard? With more forces rushing over later?
If that was the case, having more troops naturally meant more possibilities and guarantees.
"How many troops does the Qingshan Army still have available?" Lord Tian inquired.
"What you see is what you get—forty people," Miss Jun stated.
Only?
Lord Tian stared at her with wide eyes.
"Only," Miss Jun nodded with a smile, then added, "It's enough."
Forty people for assistance is enough? What a joke, who would believe that!
"I believe."
Suddenly, a voice resounded in the hall.
Everyone turned to look in the direction of the voice and saw Li Guorui, who was sitting in the back.
Since his return, he had been somewhat dazed, seemingly exhausted, and had not spoken much.
At this moment, he stood up, his expression agitated, his eyes bright, his whole demeanor as though his soul had returned.
"I believe," he said loudly, looking at the young woman seated in the front, his face full of fervor, "I believe that the Qingshan Army's forty men alone are enough to traverse Bazhou unopposed, invincible in their path."
Ever since Li Guorui got back, his mind seemed off. Could it be that the shock had messed with his brain?
Lord Tian slightly furrowed his brow.
"How so, traverse unopposed?" he questioned.
Li Guorui became even more agitated.
"How? You should go and see the over two hundred heads that were taken," he shouted, pointing outside, "Go and see with your own eyes how they fight! Watch how Jin thieves frantically flee before them! If you see it, then you'll understand how they've traversed unopposed and invincible!"
They...
Lord Tian and the others looked once more towards Miss Jun.
Li Guorui had mentioned when he first returned that it was Miss Jun and her people who fought, but at that time, they were all too shocked by the achievements and the number of refugees returned to really delve into what he said.
So it turned out that those words weren't just courteous flattery for a guest? It was truly they who fought?
"How did they fight?" Lord Tian asked.
...........
"They are simply not human."
"Such huge stones, thrown and a swath killed just like that."
"One cart turned out to be a crossbow, launching arrows that could pierce through ten men."
"Their horsemanship is superb."
"Catching up to those Jurchen soldiers, they seemed utterly fearless."
In the corner of the street, several soldiers returned from Bazhou were surrounded by people, narrating and exclaiming, while the surrounding soldiers listened in surprise and fear.
No matter how it was described, it seemed unbelievable.
"There's nothing unbelievable about it; this is all true," several soldiers exclaimed, "Look at those trophies, hundreds of Jurchen heads killed by their mere forty people, and then there's us. We wandered in Bazhou for three days, met Jurchen thieves three times, and yet, incredibly, we returned unharmed. That would have been impossible before."
Indeed, battling against over a thousand Jurchen soldiers, moving in the Jurchen-infested area for three days, not only unscathed but also bringing back so many civilians.
This was an unprecedented event, an ironclad proof beyond dispute.
The soldiers wore expressions of shock and complexity.
Someone passed by, and the soldiers who were talking suddenly stood up straight.
"Look, look, here comes a hero from the Qingshan Army," a soldier said in a low voice, "I personally saw him kill no less than ten Jurchen people, armed only with a long saber."
The crowd hurried to look, seeing a man almost forty, lean and moving slowly with his horse, looking even older, thinner, and less imposing without his armor.
Seemingly remembering something, the man slapped his head, grabbed the reins, and hurried onto the horse. But as he was mounting, there was a snap, and something fell from his leg to the ground.
Everyone instinctively looked over.
A foot.
A foot!
The soldiers by the street cried out in shock.
Had the battle been so fierce that this hero's foot was severed?
"Doctor!"
They cried out in panic, about to rush over to support the man who was about to collapse screaming in pain, yet he did not roll around crying out, nor was there a river of blood. Instead, he calmly bent over to pick up the foot, carried it in his hand, mounted his horse, and rode away nonchalantly.
The soldiers by the street stood frozen, stunned.
This, this...
Is he an immortal, or a monster?
This Qingshan Army is truly not human!
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