Happy Little Scholar

Wu State, a mansion somewhere in the imperial capital.

Several figures sat in the courtyard, talking in low voices.

Behind them, there were dozens of other figures, all of whom were the elite subordinates who entered the imperial capital together this time.

"What do you think, what official position will they give us this time?"

"It should be quite a big one. If it weren't for us this time, could they have defeated Princess Duanrong so easily..."

"General Cheng has already gone to the palace to ask, and there should be news soon... This world is really magical. At first, I wanted to be a thief, but now I have become an official. I never dreamed that I, Ma Datou, could wear an official hat in this life..."

...

The identities of several people are all rebels. After the chaos in Wu State a few years ago, they rose up and established themselves as kings. A few days ago, they were recruited by the court and cooperated with the court to defeat another powerful rebel army. This time they came to Kyoto to receive rewards and official positions.

While they were talking, there was a knock on the door. Someone stood up and said with a smile, "Is it General Cheng who is back?"

He went to open the door himself and saw the familiar face of General Cheng.

"Haha, General Cheng, we will be colleagues from now on..."

Poof!

Before he finished speaking, his body shook violently. He looked down at the spear that pierced through his chest, blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and he looked at the man opposite and said painfully, "You, you..."

The man drew out the spear with a calm expression and then waved his hand.

"Shoot!"

Rows of archers immediately swarmed in, and the courtyard was filled with angry curses and howls.

"Cheng, you are not trustworthy!"

"I will not let you go even if I become a ghost!"

"What are you doing? We are one of our own!"

...

A place of chaos.

On a hill near Wu State, a man with a neutral face was pacing back and forth in the hall, with a hint of anxiety on his face.

"Report!"

A figure ran quickly from the gate of the village. After running in, he knelt on one knee and said loudly: "Report to General Wei, Her Royal Highness was ambushed by the court in Linzhou. Fortunately, she has successfully escaped and is about to arrive here..."

The man's face sank and he immediately said: "Chen Qing, you personally lead 500 people to go out to meet Her Royal Highness!"

Behind him, a man knelt on one knee and bowed: "I accept the order!"

Another person hesitated for a moment and asked: "General, sending out 500 people at the same time will make too much noise. If the Wan brothers know about it, I'm afraid they will..."

The middle-aged man's face sank slightly. The Wan brothers were a group of fierce bandits dozens of miles away from here. They were numerous and powerful. In recent years, there have been occasional frictions between the two sides. If the other party took advantage of the opportunity to enter, it would also be a big problem.

He thought about it, shook his head and said: "The safety of Her Royal Highness is more important. Chen Qing, set off immediately!"

At this moment, a faint voice suddenly sounded in everyone's ears.

The messenger pursed his lips, looked at them, and said: "General, the Wan brothers, they..."

Someone's face changed immediately and asked: "Are they doing something unusual again!"

The messenger shook his head and said for a long time: "The Wan brothers, they..."

Someone couldn't help it and said angrily: "What's wrong with them, tell me!"

"They are building a road."

General Wei was stunned when he heard it, frowned, and asked: "Building a road?"

The messenger looked up at him and nodded: "Our spies saw it with their own eyes, not only the Wan brothers, but also the black blind man in Shuangchaling, the patrol tiger in Baihugou..."

He named several notorious bandit leaders nearby, swallowed his saliva, and said: "They are all building roads..."

The Wan brothers, the black blind man, the patrol tiger..., the people he mentioned just now were originally fierce bandits in Wu State.

In the early years, they were just a small group of horse thieves roaming in the border states. Later, when the country was in turmoil, some people gathered a huge force to form a separatist trend. In a small area, they were enough to compete with the court.

There are also people like the Wan brothers, who are neither strong nor weak. They can neither compete with the court nor submit to other major forces. They simply escape into the chaotic place, occupy a mountain, and establish themselves as kings.

Over the years, they have grown like a snowball and have long become a tyrant in the mountains. They often go out of the mountains to rob the people's caravans. They want to eliminate them, but they are powerless.

Such mountain bandits suddenly stop robbing and go to do something as unreasonable as building roads. Anyone would find it strange.

One of them seemed to have remembered something and said, "General, I heard that two years ago, a new force rose in Jing State. They were very powerful and opened up the trade route connecting Jing State and Qi State, cleared all the bandits along the road, and escorted the caravans. The bandits they subjugated all did the hard work of paving roads and building bridges..."

General Wei looked at him and asked, "You mean, those people have come here and subjugated the Wan brothers, Hei Xiazi, Xun Shanhu and others at the same time, and let these overlords personally build bridges and pave roads for them and open up trade routes..."

"Except for this, I can't think of any other reason."

"Let's not talk about whether they came to Wu State and subdued the Wan brothers, Black Blind Man, and Patrol Tiger at the same time..., do you think such a huge force will appear in this chaotic place?" General Wei shook his head and said, "No matter what the Wan brothers are doing, first take the princess and His Royal Highness Jing over safely, and then make a long-term plan..."

The man looked at General Wei, was silent for a long time, and then said, "General, what I mean is that if they really subdue the Wan brothers, the next one, the next one, will be us..."

"What does this have to do with us?" General Wei frowned again and asked, "We have no objection to them subduing the bandits, but we are not bandits. Why would they attack us? Do they really think this chaotic place is their territory?"

...

Dozens of miles away, on the mountain road.

A group of black figures were busy on the mountain road, and behind them, a long gray mountain road had appeared.

A bald man stepped hard on the mountain road, and after confirming that there was no problem with the quality, he continued to walk forward.

He thought to himself that this thing called "cement" was really useful, much more convenient than quarrying stones to pave the road.

On a nearby hilltop, a young man looked at the woman in front of him with a slightly respectful look and said, "Leader, this is the news just received from Wu State. After the rebels were defeated, Princess Duan Rong disappeared, and the Wu State court is also trying hard to find her..."

Miss Liu Er finished reading the messages, was silent for a moment, and said, "Send a message to the village and tell them that I will be back in a while. Things here will be temporarily handed over to Lu Luo..."

"Where are you going?"

A voice came from outside the door. The young man saw the three people coming in, bowed, and immediately retreated.

Miss Liu Er looked at them and asked, "Why did you come here?"

Li Yi found a chair and sat down, saying, "If we didn't come, we would have to go to Wuguo to find you in a few days..."

Li Yi was somewhat thankful that he came here as soon as possible. If he had been late for a day or two, he might have to imitate Ruyi and chase his sister-in-law for thousands of miles...

Miss Liu Er looked at him and said seriously, "I can't ignore her."

Li Yi nodded and said, "I didn't ask you to ignore it. I just want to tell you not to be impulsive. You can't save her from the Wuguo court alone or with Liu Meng. We have to think about it in the long run..."

"We?"

"Don't forget, she is also my nephew..."

Miss Liu Er finally nodded. Seeing that he looked exhausted, she asked, "Are you hungry? I'll cook you a bowl of noodles first..."

Lao Fang rubbed his stomach, looked at her and asked, "Miss Er, can you cook one more bowl?"

"Cough!"

The sloppy old man coughed lightly.

Lao Fang looked at him, turned around and said, "Three bowls."