The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 22 Chen Xiaoniang

"Ma Renyu, you take half of the men and surround the village from behind, and I'll take the rest to block the entrance. Don't let any of these beasts escape!"

"promise!"

Upon receiving the order, Ma Renyu immediately led his men off the main road and went around the left side of the village.

Li Yi followed closely behind, leading more than a hundred riders and rushing towards the village entrance from the right side.

This group of riotous soldiers got two mule carts from somewhere and loaded all the loot they could onto the carts.

Not only did they rob property, they also kidnapped several young women and tied them to both sides of the mule cart.

"Those who don't want to die, kneel down and surrender!"

Ma Renyu had already led his men around to the back of the village, and he rushed in first, shouting and cursing.

At this time, the chaotic soldiers realized that they were surrounded.

Seeing the intimidating momentum of Li Yi's elite cavalry, they dared not resist and quickly fled in all directions.

"Damn it, you guys treat my words as bullshit!"

Ma Renyu was not a soft-hearted person. He immediately picked up the bow and arrow and shot, hitting one person in the back with one arrow.

With a cry of "Ah", the man fell to the ground immediately. Although he did not die on the spot, it seemed that he would not survive.

At the same time, the cavalrymen behind Ma Renyu chased after those who were fleeing and killed them.

Li Yi reined in his horse and stopped at the entrance of the village, with no intention of going forward to help.

There are only about forty or fifty soldiers in this group, and many of them don't even have complete armor. Ma Renyu can't handle it.

There's no need to save that thing on his neck for food.

Soon, after more than a dozen people were chopped down, the group of soldiers were finally frightened so much that they all knelt down and begged for mercy.

They wanted to escape from so many cavalrymen, simply because they felt they were not dying fast enough.

"Ugh! What a bunch of cowards!"

Ma Renyu spat and drove all the soldiers in front of Li Yi.

Glancing at them, Li Yi asked, "Which unit are you from? Who is the commander?"

The soldiers were already terrified, all of them lowered their heads and trembled all over, and no one dared to answer.

Ma Renyu cursed, "Li Dushi is asking you questions! Are you all fucking deaf?"

At this time, one of them stammered, "I, we are, we are the Beizhou infantrymen under the command of King Wei..."

Prince Wei Fu Yanqing?
Li Yi was a little surprised because Fu Yanqing had just captured Lan and Xian states of Northern Han not long ago.

How could his men appear near Shizhou, a hundred miles away?
"Prince Wei is far away in Lan and Xian states. Why are you here?" Li Yi frowned slightly and asked, "Could it be that you are deserters?"

Unexpectedly, he just said this casually, but the person who replied changed his expression drastically.

The other party suddenly knelt on the ground and begged for mercy: "Please spare my life, sir! We don't want to be deserters..."

Damn! Is he really a deserter?

Li Yi was too lazy to ask any more questions. He was a deserter and he robbed the people. He deserved to die for both.

What's more, it has both!

"It's all cut!"

After giving the order, Li Yi rode his horse straight into the village, ignoring the wailing and begging for mercy behind him.

I don’t know why, but ever since the battle in Gaoping, Li Yi found that he seemed to have become a lot more cold-blooded.

Dozens of people just cut it down as they pleased, without much psychological burden.

In the past, he might have hesitated for a long time.

Is it because of the baptism of war?
Or can an increase in power and status really change a person's mentality?
But anyway.

The battlefield is indeed a place where people can grow rapidly...

Li Yi took a look around and found that this was a very poor village. Most of the houses were dilapidated and there were only about twenty households.

Now it has been set on fire and many places are in ruins.

In addition to the bodies of villagers hacked to death by the soldiers, there were also more than a dozen surviving elderly, weak, women and children.

They huddled together in fear, not daring to look up... Perhaps in their eyes, it was just a group of more vicious bandits who killed the group in front of them.

The common people's fear of warriors is ingrained in their bones. Nearly a hundred years of warlord warfare has left indelible scars on many people's hearts.

"Woooooooo..."

At this time, a cry was heard from a thatched house at the end of the village.

Li Yi followed the sound and went over.

When he dismounted and walked into the house, he found an old woman lying on her back, with the ground beneath her covered in blood.

And a girl with a pale face and thin body... Li Yi was not sure how old she was. Her physique was that of a ten-year-old child. It was probably caused by long-term malnutrition. Her actual age might be older.

The girl was kneeling beside the old woman and sobbing. When she saw Li Yi rushing in, she was so scared that she shrank back.

Unfortunately, there was a mud wall behind her and there was no place for her to hide.

Li Yi walked closer and took a quick glance. The old woman was breathing out more than breathing in.

He shook his head and was about to ask the girl.

At this moment, the old woman suddenly raised her hand slowly and stretched it out to Li Yi: "Jun, Junye..."

Perhaps it was a last gasp of energy, he was still able to speak even though he was seriously injured and on the verge of death.

Li Yi hesitated for a moment, then squatted on the ground and held the old woman's hand: "If you have any last wishes, I will do my best to help you fulfill them."

"Jun, Jun Ye... my granddaughter is so pitiful... my father is dead... and my mother... ran away... I beg... Jun Ye... to take her in... and do the laundry and odd jobs..."

Listening to the old woman's intermittent words, Li Yi roughly understood what she meant.

He glanced at the girl with tear-stained face. She met his gaze and lowered her head timidly.

After thinking for a while, Li Yi agreed: "Okay, I will take her back to Kaifeng. As long as I have something to eat, she won't starve."

Anyway, Li Yi has been promoted and made a fortune now, so he has more than enough money to support a few more people.

After hearing the answer she wanted, the old woman seemed to die with her eyes closed, and gradually lost her breath.

"Grandma——"

The girl cried out in grief, threw herself on the old woman and began to sob.

Li Yi waved his hand, signaling the personal soldiers who had followed him in to leave, and then he also walked out.

"Tell Madu Yuhou to burn the bodies of those rebel soldiers and villagers on the spot."

Li Yi instructed his personal soldiers to notify Ma Renyu to dispose of the body.

Then he went to find the surviving elderly, weak, women and children and inquired about the situation of the old woman's family.

It turned out that the girl's surname was Chen, and her nickname was Ya'er. People in the village usually called her Chen's Little Lady.

Hearing the word "crow".

Li Yi thought of another great man named "Li Yaer" - Li Keyong.

It is said that when Chen Xiaoniang was born, a crow landed at the door. Her father thought it was a good omen, so he nicknamed her Ya'er.

Surprisingly, Chen Xiaoniang is already thirteen years old this year...you really can't tell from her physique and appearance.

"Envoy Li, I heard you're going to bring a young girl home?"

After finishing his work, Ma Renyu came to find Li Yi, and as soon as he opened his mouth, people wanted to hit him.

Li Yi ignored this guy and turned to find Chen Xiaoniang... Since he had promised something, he didn't want to break his promise.

Ma Renyu hurriedly followed, but when he saw Chen Xiaoniang, he pulled Li Yi aside and whispered, "Brother Yi, do you really want to take this girl back to Tokyo?"

"She's skinny and dirty... a completely ugly girl!"

"What does beauty or ugliness have to do with it?" Li Yi was puzzled. "I'm not bringing her back as a decoration, why does she have to be so pretty..."

"You really don't want her to warm the bed?"

"Fuck off!"

Li Yi was really angry. Out of kindness, he agreed to the dying man's last wish.

How come it became such a dirty thing in Ma Renyu's mouth?

Besides...

I'm not so hungry as to be indiscriminate about food!

(End of this chapter)