"My lord, actually, I think being a house servant sounds pretty good. Maybe I might even make a top-notch one," Xue Three joked.
Zheng Fan couldn't be bothered with Xue Three's chatter.
Perhaps, for the average person, becoming a servant in the Li family seemed an irresistible offer. Unlike the typical servants of prestigious families, the Li family's servants were not responsible for menial chores. Instead, they were practically private soldiers: eating the best, using the best, with positions often passed from father to son. They were fiercely loyal to their masters, somewhat reminiscent of imperial guards.
Basically, once you entered their circle, you could become part of the Li family's direct lineage after three to five years.
Moreover, the Li family, according to what Xue Three had later learned, was the largest family in Beifeng Prefecture. While they didn't have many descendants and their lineage wasn't thriving, they were a genuinely prestigious military family, with generations inheriting the title of Earl of North Border, something akin to the Prince Mu's Manor during the Ming Dynasty.
But how could Zheng Fan abandon his seven "subordinates" and go be a servant by himself? In this strange world, his seven "subordinates" were the only ones who could give him a sense of security. Also, even from a personal development perspective, being his own boss was much better than working for someone else.
"Last night, during our encampment, I specifically went to the officers' tents to eavesdrop on their conversation," Xue Three said.
"That woman's tent?" Liang Cheng asked, looking at Xue Three.
Xue Three shook his head immediately. "That old man with the sword never leaves her side. Right now, I don't have absolute confidence in fooling him, so I picked a mid-ranking officer's tent instead and got quite a bit of information.
Currently, the Li family—that is, the Earl of North Border's family—is not having an easy time.
Because the Desert Barbarians have completely fragmented, there hasn't been a large-scale, campaign-level conflict between the two sides for almost a hundred years. At most, there have only been minor skirmishes.
Consequently, the status of the Earl of North Border's lineage has been steadily declining. It's partly their own fault for not understanding how to play the game of fostering enemies to increase their own importance.
Furthermore, since the current monarch of the Yan State ascended to the throne, he has been working to weaken the feudal lords and centralize power, apparently with plans to wage war on the Central Plains and dominate the region.
The present Earl of North Border was summoned to the capital some time ago under three imperial edicts. Nominally, it was to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday, but in reality, he has been placed under house arrest there.
As a result, there's considerable unrest within the North Border military."
"So, this time, is the Li family trying to make a show of strength?" Liang Cheng asked.
"Something like that. The pretext is that two North Border army scouts disappeared within the territory of that Desert Barbarian tribe. The North Border army requested to enter their territory to conduct a search but was refused.
Consequently, the Earl of North Border's household mobilized a few thousand North Border Iron Cavalry and attacked directly.
The chief of that Desert Barbarian tribe had some sense; he tried to cut off their supply line. Who knew that woman would be even more ruthless? She used several thousand civilian laborers as bait and completely annihilated all the forces the tribe deployed in that sortie."
After listening, Liang Cheng nodded and said, "The intentional provocation was to demonstrate to the Yan State court that the Li family still maintains extremely strong control over Beifeng Prefecture and the North Border army. This would make the court hesitant to act against the Earl of North Border, who is under house arrest in the capital.
They also deliberately used the civilian laborers as bait. Firstly, to achieve significant battle results in a short time, thereby quickly ending this local war, which was destined to be brief. After all, this war was initiated solely by the Earl of North Border's household and not by the court's decree. The Earl of North Border's household couldn't afford to drag it out; the war needed to start and end quickly. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to withstand the consequences, whether it be accountability from the court or the Desert Barbarian tribes slowly uniting against them.
Secondly, it was an attempt to tarnish their own reputation, to make the emperor and ministers of the Yan State court believe that the Li family was merely a family of uncultivated warriors, thereby lowering their guard. Any family with rebellious intentions, aiming for that supreme position, would at least project an image of loving their subjects to win popular support before an uprising. News of the Earl of North Border's household using several thousand civilian laborers as bait will soon spread. The people of Hutou City, along with the entire Beifeng Prefecture, will develop a distaste for this action by the Earl of North Border's household, but the court will be very pleased."
"I didn't expect you to understand so much," Zheng Fan said, looking at Liang Cheng with some surprise.
In Zheng Fan's mind, Liang Cheng had always been a man of few words, yet he seemed to understand the convoluted ins and outs of such matters so well.
"I've experienced similar situations. 'Once the hare is caught, the hunting dog is cooked'—that's a timeless truth.
Moreover, sometimes, when you're in that position, even if you yourself are utterly loyal to those above, you can't guarantee that your subordinates will be equally loyal."
"Like Zhao Kuangyin?" Zheng Fan asked.
"More or less."
The three of them sat on a small hill, chatting while watching the army march in the distance.
Zheng Fan was the first to get up. He dusted off his pants and said,
"Alright, we should head back."
"HAHA, when we get back, we need to think hard about how to best utilize those three hundred men we've been authorized," Xue Three said, eagerly jumping onto his horse.
"We only have the authorization for the unit, no funds, provisions, or equipment," Zheng Fan reminded Xue Three.
The court had indeed issued an edict to protect the trade routes, but it wasn't actually asking each border town to self-sufficiently establish and maintain caravan guards. Instead, it required the military leaders of Beifeng Prefecture, headed by the Li family, to dispatch troops to be responsible for the various towns.
This was, in fact, another method to weaken their military strength. There were many border cities like Hutou City. Three hundred men here, three hundred there—it added up to a significant number.
Cutting flesh with a soft knife sometimes hurts more.
However, it was clear the Li family had no intention of truly complying. As a feudal power, with their current head already under house arrest in the capital, if they continued to sever their own limbs, they would truly render themselves fish on the chopping block.
That was why the woman had told Zheng Fan there was only authorization for the unit, with no supplementary soldiers, provisions, or weaponry.
Liang Cheng also mounted his horse. Hearing Zheng Fan's words, a confident smile appeared on his face, and he said,
"My lord, don't worry about the money and manpower. If Blind Bei and Siniang can't even handle something like this, they wouldn't have the face to continue following you."
Xue Three chimed in, "No, Siniang is useful. Blind Bei can be discarded."
Having rendered meritorious service, they were each given a horse when they left the main force to return to Hutou City.
Oh, and there was also a military order—useless in the eyes of that female general: the post of Merchant Guard Captain of Hutou City, with an authorized strength of three hundred men.
Under the blazing noon sun,
the three riders galloped together,
kicking up a trail of dust.
「...」
"Sisters, what's on this table is the travel money I've prepared for all of you. These are your contracts. Look, I'm burning them now." Feng Siniang held a handful of contracts and threw them all into the brazier.
However, none of the "aunties" standing before her showed any sign of wanting to leave, nor did any come forward to take the money.
For the brothel owner to burn their contracts directly, without requiring a single coin for their freedom, and even provide travel money—such a good madam was truly one of a kind in any brothel under heaven.
Of course, if this were a city in the interior, faced with such good fortune, the girls would probably have rushed forward to take the money and leave. But this was Hutou City, and they were no longer delicate young beauties.
Someone knelt, and following her lead, everyone knelt.
"Madam, you can't abandon us!"
"Yes, Madam! Without your protection, where else can we all go?"
"Madam, I don't want to leave."
Over the past six months, since the inn opened, Siniang had taken in many "aunties," all of whom were unfortunate souls struggling to get by.
These times were different from the past. In the world Zheng Fan came from, in that country, if you had able hands and feet, it was actually quite difficult to starve to death.
But this was a world where it was truly easy for people to starve.
Feng Siniang's lips curved into a cold smirk. "What's this? Why are you shamelessly clinging to me now?"
SMACK!
Siniang slammed her palm on the table.
The madam's aura was terrifying!
Siniang treated the girls under her well, and they all knew it. Compared to the madams in outside brothels who treated lives as worthless, Siniang was practically a Bodhisattva.
But Siniang was also extremely strict in her management, and she had them all well-behaved and submissive. Once Siniang got angry, they truly didn't dare to continue their clamor and could only lower their heads one by one.
"Every single one of you must have saved up quite a bit of private money, right? Our prices aren't high, but we're quick!
Day in and day out, you've all accumulated a fair amount, haven't you?
In this regard, I, your granny, haven't monopolized the earnings. Tips and such, I've turned a blind eye.
Now, look, I'm burning your indenture papers and I've prepared your travel money.
What you do next—whether you stay in Hutou City or go to other towns, whether you start a small business, find a decent man to marry, or walk out this door and straight into another brothel to continue this trade—is all up to you. You are free to go!
We don't owe each other anything. So stop your sniveling in front of me. You learned your tricks from me. You can fool customers, but you think you can fool me?"
With things said so plainly, the "aunties" looked at each other, then slowly stood up and began to come forward one by one to take their travel money. After taking the money, they would kowtow to Siniang again.
One "auntie" took her money, kowtowed, but didn't get up immediately. Instead, she asked,
"Madam, the inn is doing so well. Why are we closing it?"
"Close? Who said I'm closing the inn?"
"Then if you're not closing, why...?"
Feng Siniang smiled, then extended her hand, pointed to her face, and said,
"From now on, I'm going to upgrade our business. These past six months, I, your granny, have truly had enough!"
The subtext of these words could be translated into another sentence, one that most homeroom teachers would say:
You are the worst class I've ever taught.
「...」
"Wine is still the best," Blind Bei said, putting down his wine cup, a look of enjoyment on his face.
"Save some. We didn't brew much," A Ming, who had already recovered, said from his seat beside Blind Bei.
Rain was falling in the courtyard, pattering against the loquat tree.
"We can brew more in the future," Blind Bei said.
A Ming turned his face to look at Blind Bei. "Is it time to start?"
Blind Bei stretched lazily and said, "That depends on how well you've recovered."
"I'm fine now," A Ming stated.
The recovery speed of a vampire and that of a man weren't the same, but both represented a kind of pride.
"If you're fine, then we can start," Blind Bei said.
"Oh, my body is fine," A Ming replied, "but in other aspects, there are still two problems."
"Speak," Blind Bei instructed.
"First problem," A Ming began, "our lord isn't back yet. Are you going to take the initiative and start without him?"
"Our lord will be back sooner or later," Blind Bei said. "What we're doing is trivial. We have that much self-awareness and initiative."
"Good. Second problem," A Ming continued, "I told you two days ago that my body had pretty much recovered. Why didn't you say we should start then, but chose today instead?"
"Because it's raining today," Blind Bei answered.
"HUH?" A Ming exclaimed.
"I feel," Blind Bei mused, "that rainy days are suitable for killing."
A Ming stood up and looked at Blind Bei, who was still sitting on his recliner, eyes narrowed.
After a moment, A Ming said,
"You're really itching for a fight."