Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 20 The Origin of the Bandits
In the main house in the backyard, a burly man was frantically putting on a robe. At his feet, on a reed mat, lay a naked woman.

There were more than ten thieves wearing robes and jackets scattered inside and outside the main house.

Si Qing and Xu Sheng saw that the burly man was the leader of the bandits. They looked at each other and both decided to capture the leader first. They rushed towards the main house with swords in hand, followed closely by three cavalrymen.

The other two cavalrymen and Zhao Cuo and his two companions killed the remaining thieves in the front yard one by one, and then rushed to the backyard to provide support.

The battle was almost one-sided.

Si Qing and his men arrived prepared. Although the bandits were numerous, they were hastily prepared and scattered. Furthermore, Si Qing and Xu Sheng were exceptionally brave, and the five cavalrymen were elite soldiers from Yan Baihu's army. The bandits were almost instantly defeated.

The situation did not improve until the thieves from the side yard came over after hearing the noise.

Whoosh!
Suddenly, there was a sound of an arrow flying through the air, and a cold arrow went straight into Xu Sheng's back.

Si Qing subconsciously reached out to push Xu Sheng away, but her arm was pierced by the arrow.

Two long swords came towards him, and Si Qing drew his sword to block them. However, his injured right arm was too weak to use up the strength, and the sword slipped out of his hand.

Xu Sheng came to his senses, kicked one person down, and killed another person with a knife.

The thief who shot the arrow was about to shoot again when an arrow came from behind and pierced his neck.

Not far away, a cavalryman quickly put his bow back on his back. Just as he drew his sword, a thief swung the sword at him, and the sword pierced through his leather armor and went straight into his flesh.

The cavalryman fell over, and the bandit was about to chop him again when Zhao Cuo, who was standing next to him, rushed over and stabbed the bandit in the abdomen with a knife.

There was a brief melee on the field.

Suddenly, a loud shout was heard from Xu Sheng who rushed into the main house. In front of him, the headless body of a burly man was lying on the ground with his head tilted back to the sky.

Xu Sheng stepped out and scanned the entire room.

The remaining eight thieves were terrified.

Si Qing intended to leave some people alive and shouted, "Those who surrender will not be killed!"

The thieves dropped their swords and begged for mercy as if they heard the sound of heaven.

In this battle, one person from Si Qing's side was killed and two were seriously injured. Including Si Qing, a total of six people were injured.

The one who died in the battle was Shen Lian. Although he was at the back of the team, he was shot to death by an arrow.

Two cavalrymen were seriously injured, and one of them only managed to survive thanks to his protective leather armor.

Of the thirty-two bandits, eighteen were killed, six were seriously injured, and the rest surrendered.

Zhao Cuo, Xu Sheng and Zhang Ying stood in front of Shen Lian's body, depressed and silent.

Zhao Cuo almost cried out: "If I hadn't brought him here, he wouldn't have died. How am I going to explain this to his parents?"

Si Qing sighed and said in a deep voice, "I will definitely report Shen Lian's achievements to the young master, bury him with honor, and reward his relatives handsomely."

Xu Sheng looked at Si Qing's bandaged right arm and said gratefully, "Thank you, Si Jun, for saving my life just now."

Si Qing smiled slightly: "How can we talk about saving each other among comrades?"

At this moment, a hoarse female voice suddenly came from my ear: "Little mistake!"

It was the naked woman in the main house, now wearing a long robe, walking over with the support of a cavalryman.

Zhao Cuo turned around and asked in surprise, "Sister Sang, why are you here? Your father and mother have been looking for you for a few days."

Tao Sang cried, "I went to the river to wash clothes, but was caught and brought here. How can I face people when I go back?"

Zhao Cuo was stunned and speechless. He wanted to comfort her but didn't know where to start.

Si Qing asked, "Who is this girl?" "Sister Sang is from Changshou Village. We grew up together." Zhao Cuo frowned.

Si Qing thought for a moment and said, "If you trust me, I can ask the young master to arrange a place for this young lady to stay in Wucheng for a while. We can tell everyone that she is working in the Yan residence and will return to Changshouli after a while."

Zhao Cuo looked at Tao Sang and asked, "Sister Sang, are you willing?"

Tao Sang nodded quickly.

"Then I'll have to trouble Si Jun!" Zhao Cuo bowed deeply to Si Qing.

"It's just a small matter, not worth mentioning." Si Qing helped him up.

At this time, Zhang Ying and a cavalryman carried a heavy wooden box and walked up to Si Qing. They put the box down, opened the lid, and revealed a box full of Wuzhu coins.

"My lord, there are five boxes inside. One of them is filled with calligraphy, paintings, inkstones and other miscellaneous items. There are even jade hairpins for women." The cavalry pointed to the main house.

Si Qing nodded, walked up to the eight thieves who were kneeling on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs, and suddenly asked, "Who is the cavalry commander?"

The thieves looked at each other in dismay.

Zhao Cuo suddenly pulled out a dagger and stabbed one of them to death, shouting, "Speak or not!"

One of the thieves pointed with a trembling finger at the headless corpse in the main house.

Si Qing asked coldly, "Who does the cavalry commander serve? What is your purpose here?"

Another thief answered first, "The cavalry commander is the subordinate of King Ren. We and the cavalry commander were ordered to come here to rob the refugees."

The Benevolent King refers to Zou Ta, who called himself the Benevolent King of Eastern Wu. He was entrenched in the southern part of Wucheng and had 5,000 men under his command.

Si Qing's expression changed slightly. After a moment's thought, she turned her gaze towards Zhao Cuo and said, "See if Zhu Gui is here."

Zhao Cuo walked around and pointed at a corpse and said, "This man is Zhu Gui."

Si Qing carried Zhu Gui's body and threw it in front of the eight thieves, asking, "Do you know this man?"

One of the thieves trembled and said, "No, I don't know him, but the cavalry commander knows him. He was the one who delivered the two boxes of money."

Si Qing already had a rough idea in mind, and ordered a cavalryman, "Go to Wuheli immediately and report the situation here to the young master. Bring twenty brothers with you, including the accompanying physician."

The cavalry took the order and left.

Si Qing then ordered the other two cavalrymen, "You two go and stand guard outside the hall. If you see any movement, report it immediately."

Then, he pointed at the two seriously injured cavalrymen and gave Xu Sheng and the others an apologetic smile: "I'm worried that there are still bandits nearby. My two brothers are not very mobile, and it would be dangerous for them to stay here. Let's wait here for a while, and then go back together after the reinforcements arrive."

Xu Sheng and others nodded in agreement.

Zhao Cuo suddenly asked, "Lord Si, how old is the young master this year?"

Si Qing was slightly startled, then smiled and said, "Young Master still has one year left to reach adulthood."

"Doesn't that mean he's only one year older than Xu Sheng and me?" Zhao Cuo said enviously, "Seeing the young master on stage today, he was truly impressive!"

Si Qing looked at Xu Sheng and Zhang Ying and asked, "You two are from Wu County. What brings you to Wucheng?"

The relationship between them had become much closer by then, and Xu Sheng said without hesitation, "My sister-in-law is from Changshou Village. Her father-in-law was seriously ill, so my eldest brother brought her back to visit. It happened to be during the war in Danyang. I was worried about something happening on the way, so Zhang Ying and I accompanied her as an escort."

Si Qing asked with concern, "Is your illness better?"

Xu Sheng muttered, "No improvement."

Si Qing comforted him with a few words and secretly kept them in mind.

(End of this chapter)