Chapter 157 - 157. Buying People’s Hearts

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

“Run! There’s someone behind us!”

The panicked disaster victims ran and shouted. A cloud of dust rose behind them as a dozen Hu with bows and arrows on their backs, and feathered hats chased them on horses, killing their way through.

“Quick, all of you, enter the forest.”

The place where Su Qing had stewed the meat was in the forest, but their carriages and horses were all parked by the side of the road. The carriages could not enter the forest, so they had to unload the horses. However, it was too late. Before they could unload the horses, the Hu people had arrived on horseback

The Hu, who smelled the fragrance of meat, pulled on the reins of their horses. The Hu in the load had patterns drawn on his face and wore leopard skin clothes. His body was as strong as a bull. When he saw that Ji Shuisheng and the others had a carriage, he opened his mouth and laughed.

“Leave your horses and hand over your food, and I’ll spare your lives.”

Ji Shuisheng gave Qiu Yongkang and the others a look, and everyone was ready for battle. Just as they were about to move against the Hu, a group of great Xia Kingdom’s Army stepped on the dust and surrounded the few Hu.

“Those who offend the great Xia shall be killed without mercy,1’

The loader of the great Xia Kingdom was a young commander. His face was as white as Jade, and he looked valiant. He held a silver spear in his hand and seemed highly majestic.

These Hu wore like wolves in a flock of sheep when they bullied ordinary people, but they were utterly vulnerable in front of a regular army. The young General and his men had killed them all.

“Everyone, don’t panic. General An has already killed all the Hu invaders.1’

A Lieutenant shouted at the crying and running refugees. The panicked refugees knelt down when they heard that all the Hu had been killed. “Thank you for saving my life, Commander-in-Chief An.”

The young General sat on his horse in an awe-inspiring manner and said to the victims in high spirits,

“No need to thank me. As long as the An family is here, we will not let the barbarians invade our great Xia.”

The An family?

Ji Shuisheng narrowed his eyes as he looked at the young, ambitious, and high-spirited General.

His foster father had said that the Emperor was using the An family to balance out the other families, and the third party would benefit from the struggle between the Sandpiper and clam.

Looking at this young General’s actions, he was trying to buy people’s hearts.

The Wan family Army didn’t do anything, and the An family Army protected the people, establishing their prestige among the people and lowering the Wan family Army’s sense of existence. This was a good idea.

As expected, when the people heard that the An family Army protected them, they praised the An family Army and shed tears of gratitude.

An Guangxing felt even more pleased as he listened to the People’s praises. He ordered his men to take away the Hu corpses.

Ji Shuisheng looked at the Hu corpses and felt that something was wrong. However, they were all taken away before he could look at the bodies.

Just as An Guangxing was about to leave, he smelled the fragrance of meat and pulled the horse s reins to stop. When he smelled this fragrance, he could not resist the temptation. He had been running around for days and had to deal with food and drink.

“It smells so good!”

An Guangxing was very picky when it came to food. Today, the fragrance had attracted the cravings in his stomach, making him want to have a good meal. Ordinary food would not enter his eyes.

“I’ll go take a look”

The Lieutenant could tell from An Guangxing’s expression that he was interested. He quickly jumped off his horse and went to find food that his chief would favor.

“Who did this?”

The Lieutenant jumped off his horse and followed the smell to find the big beef pot. He raised his head and asked the villagers of Peach Blossom Cove.

“Sir, our cow is dead. In order not to waste it, we stewed it.”

Qiu Yongkang quickly cupped his hands and reported that the great Xia Kingdom had a rule that cattle were not allowed to be slaughtered, but the cattle were allowed to be eaten after they died of old age.

“Alright.”

The Lieutenant snorted and turned to report to An Guangxing.

“Who can prove that the bull died of old age?1’

An Guangxing asked with a frown. Qiu Yongkang, who was following behind the Lieutenant, immediately came over and bowed,

“Sir, we’ve buried the head of the cow. If you don’t believe me, you can find an experienced veterinarian to check if the cow died of old age.”

An Guangxing sat on his horse and looked down at Qiu Yongkang. He saw that Qiu Yongkang’s expression was calm and didn’t seem to be lying. However, to make sure, he still sent people on the team who knew about livestock to follow up and check.

Before he could find out the truth, he endured the hunger in his stomach and waited patiently.

It was just that the fragrance was tempting, and he couldn’t wait to taste it.

Very quickly, the person who went with Qiu Yongkang to check on the cow head and hooves returned and reported to An Guangxing,

“General, the cow wasn’t killed. Judging from its teeth, it should be more than ton years old. It should have died of old age.”

“Good, good.”

An Guangxing nodded and looked into the forest. The Deputy General quickly got off his horse and cupped his fists to Qiu Yongkang.

“We would like to buy some. I wonder if this brother is willing to part with his treasures?”

“General just protected us. We should show our respect to General, We don’t need money.”

Ji Shuisheng could tell that An Guangxing was wearing a General’s uniform, but he had to say, General, which made An Guangxing very happy.

The more Ji Shuisheng said he didn’t want money, the more he showed that he didn’t want to take a single needle or thread from the commoners, Not only did he want to give money, but he also wanted to give more. Riding on the horse, he said to Ji Shuisheng with a kind attitude,

“It s not easy for you to escape. I’ll buy the beef so you can use the money to buy food.”

“Someone, buy them a hundred taels of beef.”

One hundred taels of silver were enough to buy a month’s worth of food. His generosity made the surrounding people admire him even more. Ji Shuisheng took the lead and shouted,

“General loves the people like his children. The Buddha has blessed the great Xia Kingdom with peace and prosperity. If those barbarian Hu people hear about General’s reputation, they will run away like rats and not dare to invade.1’

When he shouted, the commoners followed suit. An Guangxing happily ordered his Deputy general,

“Make congee with the grain wo brought and give it to the people.”

His words lit up the eyes of the disaster victims around him, and they shouted that the General was a living Buddha.

Ji Shuisheng stood from the ground and lowered his head to hide the light in his eyes. He looked like an honest village man.

Qiu Yongkang looked at the 100 taels of silver in his hand and was very happy. He was just about to sell the beef for a high price. One hundred taels of silver were enough to buy ten buffaloes, let alone meat.

An Guangxing couldn’t stop praising Su Qing’s beef after eating it. He wanted to meet a person whose cooking skills were comparable to a royal chef’s. His camp lacked an excellent chef, and he could reward this person with a good job.

When the Deputy general heard that An Guangxing wanted to meet the cook, he was happy for this person. To enter the chief’s eyes, his ancestors’ graves would be lit with green smoke, and he would no longer have to travel thousands of miles to escape. He came over and asked Ji Shuisheng and Qiu Yongkang,

“Who made this beef? The General would like to see the cook.”

“My Lord, a woman from our village did it. The woman is timid and does not dare to see the official. Please forgive her.”

Ji Shuisheng didn’t expect this young General to want to see Su Qing. He immediately understood what he meant and came over to report with cupped fists.

Being unable to bring a woman along was taboo in the Army.

As expected, when An Guangxing heard that a woman made the beef, he gave up on bringing her into the camp.

The refugees who received An Guangxing’s porridge were all grateful to him and kept calling him ‘General.’ When An Guangxing had enough of it, he waved his hand to stop the commoners.

“I’m not a general, so don’t call me that.”

“The Commander-in-Chief is hundreds of times stronger than general Wan. Why is he a General while you’re just a Commander-in-Chief?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Ji Shuisheng hid in the crowd and shouted. Immediately, the refugees were mobilized to shout as well.

A spy following An Guangxing reported this scene to Wan Yulin!