Taiheiki

Chapter 81 Contradictions
The speaker was Wang Gui, the commander of Baqiu County. He was a middle-aged, stocky man with an ugly face, a broad nose, and a thick chin. He was a good man, though he could be a bit too honest. Since the county magistrate had died in battle, he was the de facto highest official in the area.

"You can't say that. No matter what, he came here to relieve the siege of Ba Qiu. You let him do this—"

"Brother Luo!" Wang Gui interrupted Luo Hong. "Let me ask you, if this guy wasn't so eager to make a contribution, how could he have fallen for the bandits' tricks and killed so many people? I clearly told you at the beginning that the county soldiers were weak and could only defend the city, not engage in a field battle with the bandits. Besides, the bandits are cunning and should not be underestimated. We just need to wait until the spring of next year, and once Feng's cavalry arrives, the siege of Ba Qiu will naturally be lifted. What did that guy say? Brother Luo, shouldn't you have rescued him? Wouldn't it have been better to let him be hacked to pieces by the bandits?"

Luo Hong coughed twice, looking a little embarrassed. He knew that Wang Gui was telling the truth, but the dead were the most important. Besides, Feng Gun had sent Cai Buyi to lead the way across the river, intending to use him as cannon fodder. It could be said that Cai Buyi's life was three or four points lost at Feng Gun's hands. In the end, not only did he not even have a coffin, but he was also being talked about like this. Even if he had gone against his conscience, he would not be able to get away with it in front of the gods and ghosts.

"County Lieutenant, County Lieutenant!"

"What's going on? Are the thieves below attacking the city again?" Wang Gui subconsciously pressed the hilt of his knife with his right hand: "Hurry up, all of you, and fill the hole!"

"No, no!" The messenger shook his head repeatedly. "The bandits are moving, but they're not attacking the city. It looks more like reinforcements have arrived!"

"Reinforcements?" Wang Gui's ugly face finally showed a hint of joy: "Brother Luo, let's go and take a look! God bless, Feng Cheqi finally didn't forget Ba Qiu!"

"Yes!" Luo Hong responded. He followed Wang Gui for two steps, then stopped, looked back at the grave, and sighed: "Don't rush to fill it up, let me think of a way. We are brothers, and we must get him a coffin!"

When Luo Hong climbed up to the top of the city wall, it was already crowded with people, some of them sticking their heads out in groups of three or four, looking down the mountain. Luo Hong frowned, wanting to reprimand this obvious violation of military law, but the words were on the tip of his tongue and he swallowed them back. He was a guest soldier, and a defeated guest soldier at that, so he should be careful with his words.

"How is it?" Luo Hong asked.

"It's not very clear from here!" Wang Gui said, "I can only see that there's a battle happening over at the lakeside market, but it's not reinforcements, so we can't be sure who's winning or losing!" He turned around and glanced at Luo Hong: "In my opinion, it's best to send a few spies down the mountain to take a look!"

"It's getting dark!" Luo Hong looked at the horizon. The sun was already approaching the western horizon. It got dark quickly in the mountains. It would be completely dark in half an hour at most. Even an old hand would have to carry a torch on the mountain road at that time.

"Then let's do it tomorrow!" Wang Gui still respected Luo Hong, a veteran who had experienced many battles.

"It's better to send a few more people to check out the bandits' camps! Especially on the lake. If a large army is coming, there will definitely be boats transporting supplies!" Luo Hong said.

"Yes, we must send more people to investigate the lake!" Wang Gui clapped his hands. The area was covered in lakes, swamps, and jungles, making land transportation far less convenient than by water. If the Han army received reinforcements, they would surely advance by land and water. Furthermore, there was no obstruction on the water. If a few people were sent to the high ground near the shore to observe, they could spot the fleet from a distance. By simply looking at the number of ships, large and small, they could roughly determine the number of reinforcements.

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"Idiot! Open your eyes and see clearly what's in front of you. If the boat runs aground again, you'll get out of the water and pull the boat!" Yang Zheng cursed the helmsman viciously.

The helmsman remained silent.

Yang Zheng raised his head, and everyone he looked at lowered their heads, avoiding his gaze. Honestly, Yang Zheng was a good-tempered man, but the better-tempered he was, the more terrifying he was when he got angry. The captain had given him the fleet, agreeing to bring it to the town docks below Baqiu before dark after seeing the fireworks. Yet, he had gotten lost in the harbor, stranded two boats, and was afraid to light a fire at night for fear of attracting an attack from thieves. He spent the entire morning trying to haul the two boats out. Thinking of this, Yang Zheng felt like he was going to explode.

"Captain, captain, it's just ahead! Look, it's the market town!" The captain of the Yuhuang's ship, his voice, brought Yang Zheng back to consciousness. He quickly looked in the direction the captain pointed and saw many houses on the shore two or three miles away, vaguely resembling a market town. He let out a long sigh, "Pick a fast boat and send a few smart ones to explore and see if the captain is over there!"

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"What? The fleet has arrived? Thank God!" Wei Cong jumped down from the bed. "Where's Yang Zheng? Are the ship and the people all okay? What took so long?"

"Everything's fine!" Huang Ping laughed. "I heard they got lost in the harbor. While trying to find their way, two boats ran aground. It was getting dark, and Yang Zheng didn't dare to ignite the towboats, fearing they might attract a night attack. So they waited in the harbor until daybreak before towing the boats out. That's why they were delayed!"

"Yang Zheng, what an idiot!" Wei Cong cursed. "It's only half a day's journey by water, and he actually got lost. I wonder how he managed to be a helmsman in Jiangling!"

"Haha! I'm glad we're safe in the end!" Huang Ping laughed. "The main thing is that this place is different from Jiangling. The waterways are complicated and outsiders really don't know how to get around. We can just pick a few guides from the market town who are familiar with the local waterways!"

"Hmph!" Wei Cong snorted coldly. He knew that Huang Ping was speaking well of Yang Zheng, but Yang Zheng was the only person he trusted and familiar with boats. Besides, the terrain on the Dongting Lake side was indeed very different from that on the Jiangling side. Jiangling was after all near the capital of the Chu Kingdom, and they had been building dikes and dams, draining swamps, and digging canals for more than a thousand years. Although the Dongting Lake side was only a few hundred miles away, it was a completely wild place: there was no clear boundary between the lake and the land. In addition to the large lake surface, there were swamp wetlands, small pieces of land, and harbors and rivers that were several times the size of the lake surface. Fortunately, he came in winter. If it was the other three seasons, the dense aquatic plants would cause the terrain to change even more, and it would not be surprising that his fleet could not find it after entering.

"Forget it, let's spare him this time!"

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Market town, wharf.

The sky was overcast, the sun invisible, the dim light casting shadows on the water like paintings on a folding screen. Lu Ping watched the naked laborers laboriously dive into the water again and again, loosening the sharp wooden stakes driven into the waterbed to allow the fleet to dock. Lu Ping felt that nearly all the survivors in the town had gathered on the long stone embankment at the dock, watching the fleet approaching with hope. The last time they had seen such a fleet was six months ago. For the people of the town, the fleet meant the flow of goods, jobs, income, food, and hope for the future.

"The ship is coming! The ship is coming!"

"What a huge ship! I guess the one coming this time is at least a General of the Central Army, right?"

"What a beautiful boat! See? The sails are made of thick brocade, not cloth or reed mats! It's really magnificent!"

"This boat is at least forty paces long, isn't it? And yet it's only six or seven paces wide. How strange! This French style is so strange!"

"Will a boat like this be faster?" "I don't know, but I've finally made it!"

"Look at how deep this boat is. The waterline is only a foot and a half from the side. Looks like we won't be hungry tonight!" said Liu Qun, a friend of Lu Ping. He was as thin as a bone and as hard as a bone, with a head of messy hair that looked like a chicken coop and only a few short whiskers on his chin. "Finally, we've made it through!"

"That may not be the case!" Lu Ping snorted coldly. "The government troops are less than a thousand strong, and there are nearly two thousand bandits besieging Baqiu City alone. The outcome is still uncertain!"

"I don't care who wins!" Liu Qun said with a smile, "As long as there are ships coming, it's fine. With ships, there are goods, there are merchants, and we have work to do and food to eat! Even beggars have leftover bones to gnaw on!"

Lu Ping remained silent, but that didn't mean he agreed with his friend. He believed that if things continued like this, people in town would indeed be gnawing on bones, mostly human. Without a word, he turned and left, feeling a chill piercing his bones, aching everywhere. Familiar faces flashed through his mind, many of them already gone. Perhaps that was fortunate for them, since he still had to endure. Each day, he would fill his stomach with whatever he could find, sleep on the hard, cold ground, and then search for more food the next day. This cycle continued day after day, and only the gods knew when it would end.

"Go to hell!" Lu Ping muttered, and as he stumbled along the street, he recalled what had happened: "Those thieves should all die!"

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"Make way for the anti-rebellion captain! Make way for the anti-rebellion captain!"

Following the loud shouts, the people on the street retreated to the sides like a receding tide, kneeling before the crimson-clad soldiers in the middle of the street. Before Lu Ping could react, he fell to the ground. He tried to get up, but found that his legs were twitching violently, and for a moment he was unable to move.

"Get up and get out of the way!"

Following the rough shouting, Lu Ping raised his head and saw the familiar crimson armor and two rough faces. He wanted to say something, but Liu Qun's voice came from behind him: "Forgive me, forgive me, my friend is injured and it's inconvenient. I will help him get out of the way immediately!"

Just as Liu Qun was struggling to help Lu Ping stand up again, a familiar voice rang out: "We meet again, what a coincidence!"

"It's you!" Lu Ping recognized the person as Diwu Deng. He quickly pushed away his friend's hand and bowed to Diwu Deng: "Greetings, sir. Thank you for saving my life!"

"That's all!" Diwu Deng looked at Lu Ping with interest. Although his face was bruised and his body was covered in wounds, it was clear that his life was no longer in danger. "It's fate that we meet here again. You're a lucky guy too. When I saw you being beaten like that, I thought you were dead, but I didn't expect you to survive!"

"It's all thanks to you!" Lu Ping said. He was grateful to this officer. If it weren't for him, not only would he not be able to save his life, but he would also be severely tortured before dying. "We poor people may have cheap lives, but we are still strong. After a good night's sleep and two bowls of hot porridge, I am back to life!"

"Not bad!" Diwu Deng patted Lu Ping's shoulder with satisfaction. Lu Ping suddenly felt a sharp pain, but he gritted his teeth and endured it. Diwu Deng laughed and said, "Okay, you are a good man. How about coming to the army to eat food?"

"Do the troops eat food?"

"Yes, most of our soldiers are from Jiangbei and are not familiar with this area. We need a few people who know the way around. Since you dare to exchange food with the bandits, you must be very familiar with the roads here, right?"

"Of course!" Lu Ping puffed out his chest. "I've been a Bachu since I was a child. Even if I were blindfolded, I wouldn't get lost!"

"That's all right!" Diwu Deng nodded and said to the two soldiers, "You two take him back to the camp. Let the doctor take a look at his injuries and get him some good food. Let him recuperate first!"

"My dear!" Seeing Diwudeng was about to leave, Lu Ping hurriedly called out to him.

"What's wrong?" Diwu Deng stopped.

"My friend is also a local. How about letting him come with us? If my injuries don't heal quickly, he can do it for me!"

"Hmm!" Diwudeng looked Liu Qun up and down and said with a smile, "Okay, your friend is also a loyal person, not much worse!"

Lu Ping and his companion were led to a tent in the camp. As soon as he sat down, a doctor came to check Lu Ping's injuries, applied some medicine, and brought him some food. After lying down and resting for over an hour, Lu Ping felt much better. He was just recalling his route when he heard footsteps outside and quickly stood up.

"Hey, you two, follow me!" A soldier appeared at the door of the tent.

"Yes!" Lu Ping and Liu Qun responded and followed. Lu Ping asked carefully, "Excuse me, where are we going?"

"The anti-rebel captain wants to see you two!" the soldier answered without turning his head.

"Suppressing the Rebellion Captain?" Lu Ping was startled when he heard this and asked carefully, "Today I heard someone shouting 'Make way for the Suppressing the Rebellion Captain' on the street. Could it be that—"

"Yes, that's him! He's the one who led us here!" The soldier stopped and pointed to the side: "You two stand here while I go in and pass the message!"

"Yes, yes!" Lu Ping and Liu Qun exchanged glances and saw worry in their companion's eyes. It might not be a good thing for such a big shot to meet them!

Inside the tent, Wei Cong and several of his men were gathered around a table, discussing something. Diwu Deng came over and whispered something in their ear. Wei Cong nodded and said, "Let them in!"

(End of this chapter)