After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

"Shh, shh..."

The hurried footsteps startled a flock of birds in the woods, which flapped their wings and squawked as they flew out of the forest, causing the branches to sway and the leaves to fall.

It was just as the sun was setting.

The light is ample and gentle.

It dyed the 800-mile-long Taihang Mountains a golden yellow.

South of Yangyuan, in a forest atop Mount Taibai in the Taihang Mountains, several dark figures hurried past.

The verdant Taibai Mountain is located in Lingtai County, south of Guangling County. It is over 820 zhang high and is the largest of the more than 500 mountains in Lingtai County.

Four men, dressed in straw sandals and hemp clothing, and covered in sweat, carried a willow stretcher.

He lifted his thigh and stepped over a thick, dead tree trunk lying on the ground.

Thump, the straw sandals fell to the ground.

He stomped a fallen leaf into the soil, leaving a trail of shallow footprints, raising a cloud of dust, and headed south of the mountain.

Long, green vines droop between the tree trunks.

Panting, the group ripped it open and threw it to the ground, ignoring the thorns stuck in their hands, just making sure they didn't fall on the young man lying on the stretcher.

"Young master, we're almost there."

The burly man on the left, who was in the lead, wiped away his sweat and shouted:

"Miss Susu and her group have set up a stronghold ahead. Once we get there, we'll be able to have a hot meal."

"Um."

Master Ning Nan, who had escaped from Yangyuan under the alias Ning Jiexiao and led four thousand men through great scheming, responded.

"No rush."

With herbal medicine mixed with penicillin applied to his chest, the aroma of the medicine occasionally wafted into his nostrils, and Old Master Ning's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

"Old Huang,"

His body moved up and down with the stretcher. He gritted his teeth, groaned, and forced a smile:

"You mean they can find Xing Zhengting's head, right?"

Old Huang flashed a smile, revealing a set of pearly white teeth:

"How could you not find it? Young master, you're hanging right under the blue sky. We were afraid the wolves would eat you, so we specially tied it up with a rope."

"That's good." Ning Nan grinned and smiled.

This time, encountering Xing Zhengting, this madman, in Yangyuan was something he hadn't expected. He had no choice but to fight several tough battles.

If we call the four thousand men they led a rabble a bit disheartening, then they were certainly not much better than a rabble.

Therefore, he has been avoiding direct conflict with the officers and soldiers all this time, trying to lure the enemy deep into his territory and use the terrain to create a situation where he can win with a larger force in some areas. That's how he has managed to hold out until now.

Even so, he still had over six hundred elite members of the Heavenly Principle Sect he brought down from Miaofeng Mountain, and three thousand men that Su Lang had led in the uprising in Zhuolu County.

Those who died, were injured, or fell behind are probably no more than a thousand.

It was only after the uprising in seven villages of Tianzhen County, plus the hundreds of refugees who had lost their land or offended the local gentry and fled to the Qingtianbei area, that the ranks were replenished with more people.

It was only when he ventured into the mountains, attacked bandits and brigands, and ate and chatted with some refugees that he learned that the exploitation in Tianzhen County was the worst.

So they had Xu Xiyin, Shen Shou, and other powerful leaders of the altar who were most adept at inciting people set the location of the uprising in Tianzhen County.

The banner they were using was different from the past.

In the past, the uprisings of the Heavenly Principle Sect were either aimed at overthrowing the imperial court and restoring the Central Plains, or at defeating the Eternal Mother, or at killing corrupt officials.

None of them are specific enough.

This time he changed his tune, blaming the uprising on the corrupt official "Dong Tianpan," saying, "We vow to kill the corrupt official Dong Tianpan."

They also clearly wrote down all the things Dong Tianpan had done, or rather, the things he had done in the Datong Prefecture government, and posted them everywhere.

More importantly, there were some local gentry in the four counties.

These people were either retired Jinshi or Juren (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), or they were descendants of Jinshi and Juren, and they were quite prestigious in their hometowns.

These people formed strongholds to protect themselves, and if a fight broke out, some people would die.

After all, this was not the end of a dynasty, a time of population explosion, frequent natural disasters, and most people struggling to survive, so there were relatively few truly wicked gentry.

Ning Nan proposed that as long as these local gentry were willing to donate grain and write a letter in blood to accuse Prefect Dong, he would not beat them.

Some have been written.

Some were only willing to donate grain and provisions and provide travel expenses; these were the ones who wouldn't be polite, and you had to take what you wanted, even if it meant forcing your way in.

After the battle was captured, there was a public trial, execution, and distribution of grain.

After writing a few like that, most people were willing to write more.

Anyone who wrote these letters in blood has, in any case, become an enemy of Dong Tianpan.

Because Ning Nan clearly told them that he intended to hand over these blood-written letters to Prefect Dong.

The magistrate who ruined the family and the prefect who exterminated the entire clan—none of these local gentry were afraid of them.

During the public trial, the people who owned land dared not say anything; those who dared to speak were all displaced people who had lost their land and had nowhere else to turn.

After the public trial, some of the more virtuous local gentry were spared from being beheaded; however, Ning Nan would ask:

"Would the old man be willing to write a letter in blood to seek justice from Prefect Dong on behalf of his hometown?"

At this point, most people agreed.

Of course, there are also those who are tough-minded and say, "I would rather die than submit to a thief."

Ning Nan granted their request, but instead of beheading them, he changed their sentence to hanging, leaving them with their bodies intact.

As for the land owned by some wicked gentry, the government has a yellow register, and they dare to divide the land, but the common people dare not accept it.

"Master Huang's younger brother is an official in Datong! If Second Master comes back, we're doomed!"

Ningnan then distributed the land to refugees willing to join their Tianli Army, brave young men from respectable families, and some ordinary people who were already followers of the religion, and they signed contracts.

"The Heavenly Justice Army punishes traitors on behalf of Heaven! It stands up for the people! For every son who joins the Heavenly Justice Army, he will be entitled to twenty acres of fertile land."

Of course, even if the land was allocated to those gentry, they naturally couldn't cultivate it, so they rented it out to the villagers.

"In three or five years, we will come back to collect our rent. It will only cost one coin a year. If the government wants to take back the land, you can let them do so." After saying this to some tenants, some of them, who were not too bold, actually rented the land. In any case, all the grain produced in the past few years would belong to them.

If the grandfather's descendants or brothers come back, they can still be credited with "guarding the land for the grandfather." They will obediently hand over the land, so how could they kill us?

With these multiple measures combined, the reputation of the Heavenly Principle Sect was no longer so feared in the area.

In particular, they helped the local people eliminate some mountain bandits and sent the bandits' heads down the mountain.

Many villages were overjoyed. The bolder ones went directly with the group, while the less timid ones burned incense at home, saying they wanted to join the religion.

In every village, local gentry were coerced into denouncing Dong Tianpan, and the story that "Dong Tianpan forced the Tianli Sect to rebel" spread everywhere, especially from the mouths of some gentry who had fled to Datong.

As for why Dong Tianpan is being targeted in this way?

Huff... Master Ning lay on the stretcher, sighed, rubbed his face, and sniffed. In his mind, he cursed Xing Zhengting, that mad dog, and then cursed another person.

It was the slogan of the rebellion in Tianzhen County, and he made Su Lang and the others shout it out.

"Thank you, Lord Ortai, for inviting us to join forces to annihilate the wicked Dong!"

Hmm... Ortai...

Ortai, Minister of War of the Northern Dynasties...

Dong Tianpan, the prefect of Datong... is too cooperative with Ortai...

Ning Nan blinked hard to relieve the soreness in her eyes.

"Completely destroy Dong Tianpan."

He rested his head on the stretcher, shifted slightly, and sighed again.

"The local officials behind him... they probably won't be so cooperative with Ortai..."