Chapter 28: Punis.h.i.+ng Them as a Warning to Others
Translator: Peggyan
When Lian Qingyang made the final preparation for his departure, his deputy reported that distinguished guests had arrived.
Then, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou came inside, and Jiang An withdrew.
Lian Qingyang never thought that he would meet s.h.i.+ Qingzhou at such a time, so he was frozen.
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou lightly glanced at Lian Qingyang and then revealed the one who stood behind him. Although Lian Qingyang had been promoted to be a general from a major, he never met His Majesty.
In that case, Lian Qingyang didn’t know Long Xiaoyuan.
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou said with his head bowed down, “Your Majesty is here. General Lian, please pay formal respects.”
Lian Qingyang was stunned and soon regained his consciousness. “Greetings, Your Majesty. May you live long!”
“General Lian, don’t be so polite.” Long Xiaoyuan said with a faint smile, “I come out with His Grace this time in the casual clothes in order not to expose us.”
Lian Qingyang asked immediately, “Your Majesty, you...”
Long Xiaoyuan said, “We’ll go with you this time. I’ll witness how you suppress the bandits of Mount Yong.”
Lian Qingyang said with his heart doing a flip, “Yes, Your Majesty!”
Now that Long Xiaoyuan and s.h.i.+ Qingzhou went with the army, they changed their clothes and wore makeup. s.h.i.+ Qingzhou masqueraded as an ordinary young man while Long Xiaoyuan dressed like a tough man.
They followed Jiang An, not Lian Qingyang and served as Jiang An’s servants.
Jiang An only knew s.h.i.+ Qingzhou but didn’t know Long Xiaoyuan, which was for the sake of Long Xiaoyuan’s safety. Additionally, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou came here with Long Xiaoyuan’s imperial edict.
Although Jiang An had no idea about what s.h.i.+ Qingzhou thought, he didn’t dare to offend s.h.i.+ Qingzhou.
The army was about to leave, but its discipline was terrible. Those lazy soldiers were dispatched by those five w.a.n.gyehs, so they weren’t good ones.
General Lian accepted a difficult job, for those lazy soldiers wouldn’t listen to him.
Long Xiaoyuan said, “If things go like this, they’ll die.”
“There are as many as 3,000 bandits on Mount Yong. Otherwise, Minister w.a.n.g could have done more. Besides, Mount Yong is steep and rugged. Those soldiers are really dangerous!” said s.h.i.+ Qingzhou.
Long Xiaoyyuan said while frowning, “What methods do you think Lian Qingyang has?”
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou said after keeping silent for a while, “If you’re not here, I’m afraid he would have scruples. But, you’re here, so he’ll probably try your bottom-line.”
Long Xiaoyuan felt stunned after hearing this, “Eh? What?”
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou said, “You’ve mentioned those soldiers are lazy, so the consequence for offending them is bad. But, you’re here and witness how lazy those soldiers are, so no matter how General Lian punishes them, you’ll know but won’t punish General Lian.”
Hearing this, Long Xiaoyuan said, “Well, do I have such a function? Not bad!”
Seeing that Long Xiaoyuan was happy, s.h.i.+ Qingzhoou said with a smile, “Yes...”
As expected, Lian Qingyang got furious one hour later, for several soldiers purposefully caused troubles by unscrupulously talking to each other. He directly picked them up and ordered them to be beaten. As a result, they almost died.
Since they dared to cause troubles, they were ordered to do so by others and were different from the ordinary soldiers. Even so, they ended up being beaten, so all the soldiers knew that Lian Qingyang was intrepid.
Six of the 10,000 soldiers were beaten, which was a small deal, but its effect was quite good!
The army continued marching on, but it was quieter this time.
Long Xiaoyuan said with a smile, “Qingzhou, you’re smart!”
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou smiled but said nothing.