Wei Changtian was almost awakened by the noise outside around midnight.
Groggily, he sat up in bed, put on his outerwear, and called out.
“Wang Er!”
“Hey~”
The door creaked open, and a dark figure slipped in, responding in a low voice, “Young Master, I’m Zhang San.”
“Oh, habit.”
Wei Changtian rubbed his temples, not too concerned, and asked, “What’s going on outside? Why the commotion?”
“It’s County Magistrate Wang who’s arrived.”
“What’s he doing here at this hour?”
“There’s a mountain bandit raid on a village outside the city.”
Zhang San was different from Wang Er, not as chatty, and basically answered only what Wei Changtian asked.
“County Magistrate Wang has come to ask Lord Liang to dispatch troops to suppress the bandits.”
“How convenient?”
Wei Changtian was taken aback, and his senses cleared a bit: “Has Lord Liang agreed to it?”
“Not yet.”
Zhang San shook his head: “Lord Liang doesn’t care much about it, but Miss Liang Jin wants to help.”
“However, Officer Cao is opposed to it, and the two are arguing outside.”
From noble mtl dot come
Zhang San referred to Officer Cao as Cao Shu, the escort officer in charge of “escorting” Wei Changtian to Shu Province.
He must be afraid of complications, which was why he didn’t want Lord Liang to provide aid.
“I’ll go take a look.”
Wei Changtian thought for a while before finally getting dressed and getting out of bed.
Who would have thought that one day he would also experience the “thrill” of having unexpected events occur on his journey?
It was just unknown whether this was a blessing or a crisis hidden behind it.
…
When he arrived at the inn’s main hall, everyone was indeed there.
County Magistrate Xiao was standing beside Lord Liang, his face red and anxious, with even blood vessels visible on his forehead.
It was clear that he had just knelt down to beg Lord Liang to dispatch troops.
The county magistrate’s abilities were unknown, but for the sake of his people, he had gone to such lengths, and his love for the people was undeniable.
“…Miss Liang, Officer Wang, I’m not a heartless person. Seeing the people of Zhongling County die at the hands of the bandits is also unbearable for me.”
On the other side, Liang Jin seemed to have just finished speaking, and it was now Cao Shu’s turn to express his opinion.
He looked at Liang Jin, who was still fuming, and explained in a deep voice, “But we have important tasks to attend to. If we get involved in unnecessary matters and something unexpected happens…”
“Saving lives can’t be considered getting involved in unnecessary matters!”
Liang Jin reacted quickly, immediately seizing Cao Shu’s wording issue.
“Officer Cao, as an official appointed by the imperial court, how can you say such a thing!”
“I…”
Cao Su was taken aback, while Liang Zhen happened to notice Wei Changtian walking down the stairs and hastily interrupted:
“Did we wake you up, nephew?”
“No, I wasn’t sleeping either.”
Wei Changtian shook his head: “I heard there’s a group of bandits raiding a village?”
“Yes.”
Liang Zhen sighed: “Officer Wang wants us to dispatch troops to drive them away.”
“This kind of thing…”
Wei Changtian smiled: “Uncle Liang, you make the decision; what’s there to discuss?”
“Alas, I’m not… Nephew, what do you think we should do?”
Liang Zhen glanced at Liang Jin, and Wei Changtian immediately understood his intention.
It seemed Liang Zhen was inclined to lend a hand.
He wasn’t interested in taking the initiative to lead people to fight bandits, but since they happened to be here, he couldn’t bear to ignore it.
From this, it seemed that this father-daughter duo had similar personalities.
Wei Changtian didn’t immediately express his opinion, instead asking the thin county magistrate: “Officer Wang, how many bandits are there? What’s their strength?”
“According to the returning officials, there are around a hundred people, with a strength of no more than sixth rank!”
The thin county magistrate saw that Liang Zhen seemed to place great importance on this young man’s opinion, although he didn’t know the reason, and again “thudded” to the ground, trembling as he kowtowed.
“Please, young master, beg Liang to save those villagers!”
“I’m eternally grateful, eternally grateful!”
“…”
Some people nearby rushed to support him, while Wei Changtian remained standing, looking at Liang Zhen again.
Seeing the latter slightly nodding at him, indicating his willingness to provide aid, he finally said in a deep voice: “Officer Wang, we can help, but I need to make some things clear beforehand.”
“Just as Officer Cao said, we have a heavy responsibility on our shoulders and cannot afford to lose sight of the bigger picture because of this.”
“Therefore, if those bandits are too ferocious, and we’re unable to help when the time comes… I hope Officer Wang won’t blame us.”
“I won’t! I definitely won’t!”
The thin county magistrate almost cried upon hearing these words and hastily kowtowed again.
Wei Changtian didn’t bother with him, instead quietly walking to Cao Su’s side and lowering his voice: “Officer Cao, don’t worry that I’ll take advantage of this to escape; at worst, we’ll go together later.”
“…”
Cao Su’s face improved slightly upon hearing this; he looked at Wei Changtian, who had been extremely calm and composed since his appearance, and suddenly shook his head in admiration:
“Young Master Wei, the court says you killed Minister Liu in a fit of rage. I used to believe it, but now I wouldn’t believe it even if you beat me to death…”
…
It must be said that Liang Zhen’s over a hundred personal guards were indeed well-trained, taking only about the time it took to burn an incense stick to get dressed and mounted, ready to depart.
However, it had already been almost half an hour since the officials returned with the news.
Under normal circumstances, this time was enough for a group of bandits to raze a village to the ground.
And that’s exactly what happened.
When Wei Changtian and the others arrived at the village under the officials’ guidance, the entire village was already devoid of cries and screams, with only the piercing firelight breaking through the darkness.
It was clear they had ultimately arrived too late, and most of the villagers had already been killed.
However, fortunately, the bandits hadn’t had time to flee and were still facing them.
It was unclear whether it was due to the bandits’ lack of information or their long-term domineering attitude, which had created a “I’m invincible” delusion… In any case, when they saw Liang Zhen’s blue-armored soldiers, instead of fleeing, they let out loud roars and charged forward with their swords raised.
“Bandits! Take this!!”
Liang Jin had already been furious, and with a swift strike, she charged into the bandit group, instantly knocking down three or four people.
However, these bandits were also incredibly brave, and despite their injuries, they quickly got back up and attempted to counterattack with their knives.
But before they could even land a blow on Liang Jin, they were first pierced through by several long spears, and then trampled to death by the dense horse hooves, leaving them with no chance of survival.
“Kill!!”
“Ugh!!”
“Protect the young lady!!”
“Boom boom! Clang clang!”
In no time, the two groups clashed, and Wei Changtian did not advance, instead standing behind Liang Zhen and Cao Shu, silently observing the situation on the battlefield.
Liang Zhen’s martial arts skills were too high, and he didn’t bother to take action personally; Cao Shu had not practiced, so he couldn’t take action.
As for Wei Changtian… he was playing it safe and didn’t want to take action.
This wasn’t a battle against monsters, and there was no benefit to be gained, not to mention the risk of putting himself in danger.
He wasn’t interested in taking unnecessary risks.
Besides, looking at the current situation, it didn’t seem like he was needed.
Although this group of bandits was indeed fearless, the Qingjia Army, which was superior in terms of realm, equipment, and combat strategy, naturally held the absolute advantage, with not a single casualty, and only a few injuries.
At this rate, it was estimated that they could wipe out the bandits in no time.
The sound of clashing weapons grew fainter, and the cries of pain became fewer and farther between.
Watching the dwindling number of bandits, who continued to fall one by one, Liang Zhen and Cao Shu both wore relaxed expressions.
Only Wei Changtian narrowed his eyes slightly, his face thoughtful.