A daily intelligence report; in chaotic times and famine years, grain is plentiful.

Inside Lingtou Village, the sounds of fighting had subsided, and the soldiers of the Zhenbei Army were clearing out the last remaining enemies.

Xiao Yunling sheathed her sword, her cold and beautiful face still bearing a hint of murderous intent.

She rode her horse slowly into Lingtou Village.

"General."

The lieutenant stepped forward.

"Our army killed about 170 bandits and captured more than ten. However, the bandit leader Chen Mo had already led his remaining troops to escape into Black Wind Ridge."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yunling frowned, revealing a hint of displeasure.

"He got away?"

She glanced around coldly, the image of the bandit leader flashing through her mind.

Even when she personally took action during the ambush on the mountain path, she was unable to bring the bandit leader to justice.

Now that Chen Mo has escaped, even if we win this battle, it is still a strategic failure.

"Your subordinate is incompetent; please punish me, General."

The lieutenant knelt on one knee, bowed his head, and apologized.

General Xiao's terrifying qualities were best understood by his subordinates.

"Get up and bring the prisoners here."

Xiao Yunling simply gave the order in a calm tone, unusually without showing any anger.

"yes!"

The lieutenant immediately got up and went to meet him.

Before long, several prisoners were dragged over by soldiers and thrown to the ground.

They were wounded and pale, and when they looked up at the female general in front of them, their eyes were filled with fear.

"Which direction did Chen Mo run off in? Where is your Black Wind Ridge stronghold?"

Xiao Yunling asked sternly.

The prisoners were trembling with tension and did not answer.

"The general is asking you questions!"

The soldier next to him kicked him hard.

The men immediately kowtowed, saying, "We don't know, we don't know where Chen Mo ran off to, please let us go..."

The group was terrified and didn't utter a single useful clue.

Xiao Yunling coldly looked at the group, without uttering a single word, and drew her sword once more.

A flash of cold light appeared, and the prisoners who were still begging for mercy instantly died.

She sheathed her sword and said in a low voice, "Leave no bandits alive."

The soldiers around him were all expressionless, having long been accustomed to their general's style of doing things.

Despite being a woman, she is more ruthless than anyone else, after all, Xiao Yunling is a general who has been tempered from the corpses of the Zhenbei Army.

After dealing with the prisoners, Xiao Yunling continued riding his horse, heading deeper into the village.

As soon as she entered the village, she couldn't help but stop.

The scene before me didn't resemble a bandit's den; rather, it looked more like a meticulously managed village.

Hearing that Chen Mo was also from a village, Xiao Yunling was curious as to why he would lead villagers to become bandits.

As she continued walking, another enormous mansion came into view.

The courtyard was very large, and the outer perimeter was surrounded by blue brick walls. Upon entering, it appeared to be the property of a landlord.

"General, this is the home of that bandit leader Chen Mo."

The local soldiers who were following nearby quickly stepped forward to report.

Xiao Yunling nodded slightly and stepped inside.

"To be able to build such a large mansion, these bandits must have plundered a lot of the people's wealth."

She thought to herself.

In Xiao Yunling's view, Chen Mo was no different from other bandit leaders; he was simply a scourge to the local people.

The arrival of the Zhenbei Army was to eliminate these scourges of the imperial court.

Although she held the bandits in contempt, after fighting Chen Mo twice, she dared not underestimate him.

It must be completely removed as soon as possible to avoid future problems.

Xiao Yunling continued to look around the mansion in front of her, lost in thought.

"General, you are truly valiant! Congratulations on your successful suppression of the bandits!"

Just then, a fawning laugh suddenly came from behind.

Xiao Yunling turned around and saw Huang Chengyue leading a group of local gentry, walking over with a smile on his face.

Xiao Yunling never treated these local gentry with a friendly attitude.

"General Xiao is truly a divine intervention! In just one day, he has wiped out the bandits of Lingtou Village. He is truly unparalleled!"

Huang Chengyue cupped his hands in greeting.

"General Xiao is no less capable than any man, and the Zhenbei Army truly lives up to its reputation!"

The local gentry behind him echoed his sentiments, showering him with flattery.

At this moment, their eyes were unconsciously scanning their surroundings.

Huang Chengyue, in particular, was immediately struck by the sight of the mansion before him.

Now that Chen Mo has been driven away, there must be a lot of wealth hidden in that family. If we can take over the entire Lingtou Village, we can make up for the losses that the Huang family has suffered recently.

Moreover, he had just passed through Lingtou Village and saw a lot of farmland. Wang Laoqi had promised to hand over the land in Lingtou Village to the Huang family, but Huang Chengyue had not yet agreed. Now it seemed that he could indeed force Wang Laoqi to hand over the land to pay off the debt.

Xiao Yunling saw through the thoughts of this group of gentry at a glance.

However, she was too lazy to pay attention to these sycophantic plans, and maintained her aloofness, showing no displeasure at the unauthorized arrival of these gentry.

In the future, the task of suppressing Black Wind Ridge will require the help of these local gentry.

"It's quite remarkable that you were able to raise such a village of bandits."

Xiao Yunling suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Huang Chengyue's smile faltered slightly, but he maintained his obsequious demeanor, saying, "General, you jest. These were nothing more than a group of ignorant and arrogant peasants who had seized the village by chance and plotted a rebellion. Fortunately, you had your army, General, who wiped them out in a single day. The imperial court will surely reward you, General, in the future!"

Compared to General Zhao, this female general was clearly more capable and genuinely wanted to suppress the bandits.

At this moment, Huang Chengyue had already chosen to ignore the arrogance of the Zhenbei Army yesterday.

Once the bandits are wiped out and the Zhenbei Army withdraws, the area around Beicheng will still belong to the Huang family.

It wouldn't hurt to flatter this woman now.

But Huang Chengyue's joy was short-lived, for he soon heard Xiao Yunling say, "Lingtou Village is now unclaimed land. I have decided to use it as a military settlement. You will send people to cultivate the land, and after the autumn harvest, seventy percent of the harvest will be donated to the Zhenbei Army as military rations."

Upon hearing this, the smiles on Huang Chengyue and the others vanished instantly.

70%?!

That woman is way too ruthless!

When they rented the land to those people, they only charged them 50% of the rent.

This female general demands a 30/70 split as soon as she opens her mouth, and she's the one who gets 70% of it, making her a hundred times more unreasonable than Zhao Canjiang.

She has a beautiful face, but her heart is full of hatred.

Huang Chengyue opened his mouth, almost wanting to voice his dissatisfaction, but seeing Xiao Yunling's sharp appearance, everyone stopped talking.

Could it be that this woman is also going to station an army in the north of the city?

Although the main force of the bandits in Lingtou Village has been wiped out, Chen Mo is still alive, and the bandits in Qingfeng Village are still rampant, so the Zhenbei Army really cannot leave.

The local gentry looked at each other, waiting for Huang Chengyue to speak.

Huang Chengyue knew that his background posed no threat to the Zhenbei Army, so he dared not voice any objection on the surface. He quickly cupped his hands and said, "Yes, yes, yes! We will send people to cultivate the land immediately, and deliver all the grain to the army after the autumn harvest!"

The local gentry behind him remained silent, only daring to nod repeatedly.