Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 251 Shock
This band of bandits numbered several hundred, and their arrival was swift and sudden. Each of them was armed.

A cold killing intent flashed in Pei Qinghe's eyes, and she suddenly blew the bamboo whistle in her mouth. Several sharp whistles rang in everyone's ears.

This is a military order to "kill without mercy and leave no survivors".

Pei Yan grinned maliciously, grabbed his long sword, rushed forward, and cleaved a bandit into a bloody mess.

Despite her petite stature, Pei Xuan's swordsmanship was incredibly agile. With a single strike, she severed the bandit's right leg, sending him sprawling to the ground with a scream. Pei Feng swiftly followed up with a fatal blow, piercing the bandit's chest.

Sun Cheng wasn't very agile, but relying on his height and strength, he swung his long sword with great force.

Pei Qinghe's gaze swept quickly across the battlefield, confirming that the Pei family army held a clear advantage, before turning her attention to the Guangning army. The Guangning army's fighting strength had weakened considerably; under normal circumstances, they might have simply mounted their horses and fled. But fighting alongside the Pei family army tonight, their fierce and valiant fighting had greatly inspired the Guangning army, their courage surging, their shouts and battle cries echoing.

Pei Qinghe's eyes searched among the bandits, and she quickly locked onto a figure. Then, she drew her sword and fought her way through them.

On the battlefield, Pei Qinghe was a true god of death. She slaughtered her way through, and no one could stop her.

The bandit leader quickly realized something was wrong and retreated hastily, but it was too late. Pei Qinghe had already reached him.

A cold light flashed.

The bandit leader felt a chill on his neck and collapsed amidst excruciating pain and the horrified gazes of those around him.

To catch the thief, first catch the king. Killing the enemy leader on the battlefield can immediately crush their morale. This group of "bandits" indeed lost their composure and killing intent, and turned to flee.

"Don't pursue a desperate enemy!" Pei Qinghe shouted.

Pei Yan had no choice but to stop pursuing the enemy and continue fighting with the bandits.

This "night raid" turned into a near-total massacre. The bandits were terrified and more and more fled in panic, their figures falling one after another.

As dawn broke, no bandits remained standing on the battlefield. Without Pei Qinghe's orders, Pei Xuan and Pei Feng led their men to finish them off.

Yang Hu felt a chill run down his spine as he watched Pei Xuan and Pei Feng finish off the enemy while laughing and joking. He was also deeply relieved.

Fortunately, he made the right decision at the crucial moment and surrendered to Pei's army.

No one wants to be enemies with such an army.

"General, we have lost thirty-two men. The bandits have lost one hundred and sixty-eight," Pei Xuan reported after counting.

Pei Qinghe said, "Bury our people on the spot, and leave all the bandits' corpses where they are."

With hundreds of people working together, thirty-two corpses were laid to rest half an hour later. Pei Qinghe then led his army away on horseback.

More than a hundred corpses remained in their gruesome state. More than a hundred heads were piled up together.

The smell of blood attracted a dozen wild dogs and a flock of vultures.

Half a day later, Zhang Yun led a detachment of Bohai Navy troops to the scene.

Looking at the corpses scattered on the ground and the more than one hundred heads, Zhang Yun's face turned extremely ugly. It was as if he had been slapped hard across the face, and his skin stung terribly.

"Young master, what should we do with these corpses?" The personal guard beside him dared not look up at his young master's embarrassed and angry face, and asked in a low voice.

Zhang Yun said coldly, "These bandits dared to ambush General Pei; they deserved to be killed. Are we supposed to collect their bodies? Leave them here to feed the wild dogs!"

Then, he rode back to Bohai Commandery.

Meng Liulang, who was guarding the city gate, had obviously received the news. He looked at Zhang Yun with a mocking gaze: "I wonder which blind bandits dared to launch a sneak attack on the Pei family army. Now they should know how powerful the Pei family army is."

Zhang Yun glared at Meng Liulang: "The Beiping Army is hailed as the best elite force in the North. I wonder who would win against the Pei family army?" Meng Liulang was quite tall, and his gaze always carried a hint of disdain: "The Beiping Army is loyal to the Emperor, and the Pei family army is also an unwavering elite force. How could they possibly be a match? Young Master Zhang's analogy is rather inappropriate."

"I would also like to offer a word of advice to Young Master Zhang. Everyone here has discerning eyes, so don't do anything petty or underhanded. If you discourage the generals, the northern lands will never be peaceful again."

Zhang Yun kept a straight face, expressionless: "Thank you for the reminder, General Meng."

After Zhang Yun and his party entered the city, Meng Liulang spat forcefully at the dust.

Zhang Yun returned to the Zhang family dejectedly.

As soon as I entered the study, before I could even open my mouth to speak, I was slapped across the face.

Snapped!
Zhang Yun's left cheek was burning, and she was seeing stars.

General Zhang was still not satisfied and, in a fit of rage, slapped him again. Zhang Yun now had a slap mark on his right cheek, quite symmetrical.

"What did I tell you?" General Zhang roared. "Why did you send men to launch a surprise attack on Pei's army in Guangning without authorization?"

"Such a thing cannot be hidden from discerning people. Now everyone knows that the Zhang family's attempt to launch a sneak attack failed, and they were instead slaughtered."

"And what about the Emperor? How do you plan to explain this?"

Zhang Yun also regretted it, covering his face and sighing, "It was my sister who secretly sent me a message, asking me to take action and teach Pei Qinghe a lesson. I thought I could take advantage of the first day that the Pei family army and the Guangning army left, and catch them off guard. Who would have thought..."

Pei Qinghe had anticipated this and was prepared, and killed the "bandit" instead.

Pei Qinghe threw the Zhang family's dignity to the ground and trampled on it.

General Zhang grew increasingly angry and cursed, "Jingwan has lost her mind. She should just stay in the palace and be a good Empress. Why is she arguing with Pei Qinghe?"

"Even if Pei Qinghe enters the palace as a Noble Consort in the future, she will not be able to take away her position as Empress."

Zhang Yun understood his sister well, and sighed, "Such a formidable person, once she enters the palace, how can my sister possibly compete with her?"

General Zhang said coldly with a gloomy face, "I will go to the palace to see the Emperor and clean up the mess for you and your sister."

Zhang Yun spoke of Emperor Jian'an in private, showing no respect: "Does the Emperor dare to hold a grudge against us for this matter?"

General Zhang glared at him impatiently: "As long as he sits on the dragon throne, he is the emperor. Our Zhang family are loyal subjects, not traitors. How can we be disrespectful to the emperor?"

"Stay home and reflect on your actions these next few days. Don't go out and embarrass yourself."

With two solid slap marks on his face, how could he possibly leave?

Zhang Yun inwardly grumbled, but dared not show any further displeasure, and obediently agreed.

When General Zhang entered the palace to see the emperor, he first blamed himself for failing to eliminate all the bandits in the Bohai Navy, and then praised General Pei for his unparalleled skills with admiration.

Emperor Jian'an said calmly, "General Pei encountered bandits sixty li outside the city. This shows how rampant the bandits are. Can't even the 60,000 elite troops under your command, General, be deterred by bandits?"

General Zhang, realizing he was in the wrong, had no choice but to apologize.

Emperor Jian'an, seeing that things were going well, stopped and offered further words of comfort.

Ashamed, General Zhang went to the inner palace to see the Empress again.

(End of this chapter)