Chapter 51: Deception Is an Art
The sun was glaring. Zhao Youcai stood atop the charred wall of the stronghold, shielding his eyes with his hand as he craned his neck to peer down the narrow path leading up the mountain.
Below, on the open ground, over a dozen men stood or crouched idly.
A man chewing on a blade of grass called out, "Are they here yet? Zhao, you better not be lying to us!"
Baked by the scorching sun, Zhao Youcai was growing irritable, and the prodding only worsened his temper. "What would we gain from tricking you? I found an opportunity and, remembering we were once brothers, thought I’d pull you in on this! Everyone knows the roads near Tongcheng have seen merchant caravans ambushed—there’s money to be made!"
Zhao Deng'er, sharper than Zhao Dazhu, chimed in, "Exactly! Those two officials said we’d get a hundred coins for every person we recruit! And later, we might even land an official post!"
The man with the grass between his teeth fell silent.
At first, they had worried this might be a trap set by the Xinzhou authorities to capture them. But a mere hundred coins per recruit wasn’t enough to cloud anyone’s judgment—it didn’t seem like something the government would bother with. That’s why they had decided to come and see for themselves.
After all, as low-level lackeys, they wouldn’t be valued highly if they joined another stronghold. They’d still be scraping by, always the first to charge into danger during raids.
If they teamed up to rob travelers, they could only target lone refugees—who were usually even poorer than they were. As for large groups of refugees numbering in the dozens or hundreds, or wealthy families escorted by bodyguards—they’d have to be out of their minds to provoke them.
If they could secure official backing and a stable future, nothing could be better.
After waiting another quarter of an hour, Zhao Youcai on the wall finally announced, "They’re here!"
The group hurriedly turned to look toward the path into the stronghold. Two men, one tall and one short, approached wearing bamboo hats and long robes with narrow sleeves.
The shorter one had a lean build, his hat pulled so low his face was obscured.
The taller one stood at least eight feet tall, with something slung across his back, concealed by a cloth cover like those used for guqins. A thick, dark beard covered half his face, leaving only his sharp, cold eyes visible.
Both carried an air of authority. The previously slouching bandits instinctively straightened up.
Zhao Youcai scrambled down from the wall and trotted over to greet them, fawning. "The mountain path is rough—you’ve had a tiring journey, my lords!"
He fanned Wen Yu with his hand and called to Zhao Dazhu, "Zhu'er, hurry and fetch chairs for the lords!"
The stout lackey rushed off to find seats.
Wen Yu lowered her voice. "No need for the trouble. I’m here on official business today."
She swept a glance over the men who were discreetly studying her and Xiao Li. "Are these the people you gathered?"
As she lifted her head, the waiting lackeys got a clear look at her face.
They saw a young man with dark skin, clear eyes, and refined features.
Compared to the tall, bearded man behind him, he seemed far less intimidating.
Zhao Youcai beamed obsequiously. "Yes, yes! Seventeen in total. Thirteen are former brothers from Azure Cloud Stronghold, and the other four were brought in by the others."Wen Yu then took down a small booklet hanging from her waist. When she opened it, a brush was tucked inside, and more than a quarter of the pages were already filled with names.
This action caught the attention of the underlings.
Though illiterate, they could tell the densely packed ink marks resembled names, and they wondered if the booklet might be a recruitment roster. Could it really be that Tongcheng was here to recruit soldiers?
The underlings exchanged uneasy glances before subtly straightening their postures, clearly intimidated.
Wen Yu seemed oblivious to their reactions. She picked up the brush, asked Zhao Youcai to fetch her a small dish, ground an ink stick twice, dipped the brush in ink, and asked the man standing at the front, "Are you aware that Tongcheng is recruiting soldiers?"
The man swallowed nervously and nodded.
Wen Yu said, "Name."
The man stammered, "Ma... Ma Dayou."
"Place of origin."
"Huh?"
"Where you were born."
"Oh, oh! This humble one is from Teng County, Xinzhou."
Wen Yu recorded the information in the booklet, completely unbothered by the man craning his neck to peek at the roster. She continued, "What weapon are you skilled with?"
The man had only ever scraped by in the bandit den, often without even a decent blade to his name. How could he claim skill with any weapon? Sweating profusely, he wiped his brow and said, "S-saber... This humble one is skilled with a saber."
Truth be told, the only proper weapon he’d ever handled was a saber.
The other watching underlings were equally bewildered by Wen Yu’s formal procedure. Someone muttered from the back, "This recruitment looks legit. I heard in earlier years when the court conscripted for war, they’d ask these things..."
Before he could finish, he felt a piercing cold gaze directed at him. The speaker looked up and met Xiao Li’s sharp stare, immediately falling silent.
The others held their breath even more tightly.
Only Zhao Youcai and his two companions, though restrained, couldn’t suppress their flushed excitement. On one hand, they felt incredibly lucky to have climbed such a high branch; on the other, they relished flaunting their newfound status before the underlings who had doubted them earlier.
Wen Yu pressed on, "What is the strength measurement of your left and right arms respectively?"
The man grew even more nervous, stumbling over his words, "D-don’t know."
The underlings waiting behind also grew anxious. They were formerly farmers—how would they know how to measure their arm strength?
Noticing a stone weight from a millstone in the clearing, Wen Yu said to Xiao Li, "Estimate how much that stone weight weighs."
Although Xiao Li had known beforehand that this trip was merely to intimidate the bandit underlings and use them for the next phase of their plan, Wen Yu’s serious questioning and record-keeping nearly convinced him they were genuinely recruiting.
When called upon, he said nothing more but walked straight to the stone weight, gripped its wooden handle, and lifted it effortlessly with one arm. After estimating, he replied, "About 150 catties."
Seeing him lift the millstone weight without any effort, the underlings were further astonished, thinking Tongcheng must be truly formidable—even an ordinary officer handling duties had such arm strength.
After Xiao Li returned, Wen Yu tilted her chin toward the man and said, "Go try lifting that stone weight with one arm."
The man approached the millstone weight, spat into his palms, rubbed his hands together, took a deep breath, and attempted to lift the stone weight.But even with all his might, the stone weight was only lifted partially, not completely off the ground.
After trying with both left and right hands to the same result, Wen Yu made some notation in the ledger and said without looking up, "Next."
The man hung his head dejectedly and went to wait on the other side, while the next man stepped forward nervously yet hopefully, stating his name and place of origin.
Zhao Youcai and the other two watching nearby unconsciously wiped cold sweat from their brows, thinking that this test of arm strength and inquiry about weapon proficiency must be connected to future military assignments. They were relieved they hadn't been tested for arm strength back then, though they worried whether they'd be made to take the test after these men were registered.
Their hearts pounded with anxiety as they waited, but when the registration concluded without them being called for testing, they finally breathed easy.
Out of the seventeen men, only three burly fellows could barely lift the stone weight with one arm.
The group had been thoroughly subdued by this bloodless show of authority. When Wen Yu put down his brush and looked up at them, their expressions couldn't have been more docile.
One of the men who'd lifted the stone weight asked excitedly, "Sir, since we can lift that stone weight, will we be assigned to elite troops when we join the army?"
Wen Yu merely cast him an indifferent glance: "That stone weight exceeds one dan by a small margin. In the army, those who can draw a one-dan bow are already considered elite troops."
Just as elation appeared on the man's face, Wen Yu continued: "But the strength needed to lift something with one arm differs from that required to draw a bow. If you could raise that stone weight overhead with one arm, drawing a one-dan bow would be effortless, and I could guarantee you a place in the archery battalion to learn mounted archery."
The man's joyful expression stiffened. He knew exactly how much effort it had taken him to barely lift the stone weight. Though he'd seen Xiao Li lift it easily earlier, lifting and raising overhead were completely different. Indignantly, he said, "Raising a 150-catty weight with one arm? Sir, are you making fun of me?"
Wen Yu frowned slightly. These men had never handled bows, so they didn't understand that the arm strength needed for drawing a bow wasn't equivalent to what they used for lifting heavy objects.
Xiao Li's injuries hadn't fully healed yet. She knew lifting the stone weight wouldn't trouble him, which was why she'd asked him to test its weight, but raising it overhead would require much more effort.
Unwilling to let Xiao Li take the risk, Wen Yu didn't call on him again, simply saying, "You'll understand after you enter the Military Camp."
The man clearly remained unconvinced and was about to argue further when Xiao Li hooked his foot under the wooden handle beside the stone weight. As the weight rose slightly, he supported its bottom with one hand and steadily lifted the millstone-like weight overhead.
Gasps echoed around them.
Xiao Li looked coldly at the man and said, "See that?"
The man was utterly shocked and quickly bowed his head in shame: "This humble one was ignorant and has offended you, sir."
Zhao Youcai, fearing this fool who didn't know his place would offend Wen Yu and Xiao Li and bring trouble upon himself too, launched into a furious tirade at the man: "You turtle-eyed green bean! Are those two orbs on your face just for show? Who do you think you are? The sir has already recorded your name in the ledger - you think he won't assign you properly?"
The man's face turned shades of green, red, and white under the scolding, but he didn't dare utter a word in response.Zhao Youcai repeatedly apologized to Wen Yu, but she was worried that Xiao Li lifting the stone block would tear his wound open and had no time to attend to this matter for the moment. When her eyes met Xiao Li's, he gave her a reassuring look, and only then did Wen Yu temporarily suppress her concerns.
She interrupted Zhao Youcai: "Enough. Today's visit to the mountain is not only to register the people you brought under our ranks but also to formally recruit soldiers from the refugees."
She turned her gaze to the crowd of followers: "Since all of you were originally from Xinzhou and previously served at Azure Cloud Stronghold, you should know that in Zhao County below the mountain, there is a wealthy merchant surnamed Jia who bullies men and women, seizes farmland and homes, and has driven countless tenant farmers to their deaths. His crimes are too numerous to mention. Now, under the pretext of funding military supplies for the government, he has colluded with corrupt officials, pretending to be benevolent by distributing porridge while letting the grain forcibly seized from tenant farmers rot and using it as fertilizer, without leaving even a single mouthful of winter provisions for the farmers."
Many of the followers were formerly farmers and naturally knew how despicable the Jia family was. Just hearing Wen Yu's account filled them with rage, and they cried out in grief and indignation: "The reason I became an outlaw was because those officials and merchants are in cahoots, leaving no way for ordinary people to survive! Otherwise, who would want to live with their heads on the line, hiding and skulking around for the rest of their lives?"
Wen Yu successfully stirred the emotions of the crowd, yet she remained calm and composed. She simply said, "Tonight, you will follow me to raid the Jia family's grain storage estate. We will distribute all the grain and proclaim to the world: Pei Song is dead! Those who come to Tongcheng to join our army will lack neither food nor pay!"
The bigger the commotion, the faster the news would spread. The neighboring prefectures near Xinzhou would soon be unable to sit still.
Author's Note: This is the second update from yesterday~
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated with nutrient solutions between 2024-01-13 23:20:03~2024-01-14 09:33:53~
Thanks for the nutrient solution irrigation to the little angels: Mingziii～lily, Fireworks Moment 10 bottles; Crab Boss, ., Zhizhi Not Squeaking 5 bottles; 65140677, 22835074, Suisui Hates Chattering, Van Helsing, Dreaming Unheard, Please Eat Lettuce, Falling Blossoms 1 bottle;
Thank you all very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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