Chapter 811 - 813: Raise an Army for a Thousand Days, Use it in a Moment_1
"What? They’ve rebelled! That water is diverted from the river; can the river belong to just one family?" Bai Yihong roared in anger. The farmers hate nothing more than those who ruin their crops. If something like this happened in Mountain Village, the culprit would be condemned and said to lack morals, unable to father sons."
"Yes, my father also said they can’t just pick a fight deliberately. That Zhou Buren waved his fist and said he was going to find fault with us today. Uncle Bai, we must quickly find people to help us. I’m really afraid they’ll start a fight," Zhou Chuang said with worry.
Bai Yihong stomped with fury, "They’ve turned against us? I’ll go to the authorities this instant."
"Dad, no need to go to the Government Office." Bai Ruozhu called out to her father. Bai Yihong and Zhou Chuang looked at her as if they had found their backbone, yet they didn’t understand why she didn’t want to report to the officers.
Bai Ruozhu turned to them with a charming smile and said, "I’ve trained Cui Fan and the others for such a crucial moment, haven’t I? To report to the authorities would only let them off easy. How dare they disturb the Earth on Taisui’s head, today we must beat them so badly they’ll never dare cause trouble again."
Lin Ping’er also agreed, "Indeed, those local ruffians, even if they are sent to the Government Office prison, they can come back and pester us again after they’re released. Only if we scare them off this once will they stop coming to cause trouble."
Cui Fan’s trained guards were living in the adjacent Yard. Only a few were assigned to patrol daily while the others practiced there. That’s why Bai Yihong had forgotten about these men. Hearing this, he was overjoyed and said with a smile, "Ruozhu really knows how to take precautions. Let’s hurry and bring people over to have a look."
Bai Ruozhu immediately called Cui Fan over and said, "Bring some men to the manor outside the City with me. There are people causing trouble in our fields. Today, you can also practice your skills. Feel free to fight, just don’t kill or cripple anyone. Oh, and later, arrange for a few men to be on guard duty at the manor."
"Yes!" Cui Fan’s eyes lit up. It had been quite a few days, and he had been eager to show the young lady the results of the guard training.
Bai Ruozhu told her mother to stay home with the children and then set off with her men, a formidable procession making its way out of the City toward the manor outside.
She glanced at the running guards and suddenly felt that there were too few horses at home. If she had dispatched a few men on horseback first, wouldn’t they have been much faster?
Luckily, these guards, trained by Cui Fan, had excellent stamina and were able to run steadily alongside the horses without disrupting their formation, which was even more orderly than the average Army’s. Luckily, no military officers witnessed this on the road, or they would have been utterly astonished.
Bai Ruozhu nodded in satisfaction, confirming that the modern special forces training methods combined with ancient Military Tactics and formations were incredibly effective.
Soon, the group arrived at the farmland outside the City, and Bai Ruozhu, with her keen eyes, spotted from a distance that two sides were fighting fiercely. The hired Farmers were trying to protect Zhou Deshun, occasionally fighting back against the other side, while Zhou Deshun was covered in blood, evidently seriously injured.
Anger surged from within Bai Ruozhu, and she told Cui Fan, "Go and beat them hard, make sure they can’t get up!"
At that moment, Zhou Chuang also saw his injured father, yelled "Dad," and rushed down from the cart to join the fray. Bai Yihong also wanted to join, but was pulled back by Bai Ruozhu, who said, "Dad, don’t be rash. It’s crucial we get Uncle Zhou out and treat his wounds first."
Upon hearing this, Bai Yihong no longer sought to fight. He had others confront Zhou Buren’s group while he himself helped Zhou Deshun get away.
Jianqi was by Bai Ruozhu’s side, protecting her, but he refrained from taking action easily. Seeing Zhou Deshun come over, he even extended a hand to help stabilize him.
"Uncle Zhou, don’t move. I’ll stop the bleeding for you first," Bai Ruozhu said, seeing how severely Zhou Deshun was injured, with a large wound on his head. Her heart ached tremendously, and she wished she could beat all those scoundrels to a pulp.
"I’m fine, it’s just some broken skin," Zhou Deshun said, trying to reassure Bai Ruozhu, though he was clearly struggling.
Bai Ruozhu examined him and luckily, it was just a superficial wound that hadn’t reached the brain. She stopped the bleeding for Zhou Deshun, applied some high-quality Golden Wound Medicine, and then wrapped his head with gauze.
Bai Yihong praised from the side, "Ruozhu is indeed thoughtful, you’ve brought everything we could need."
Bai Ruozhu patted the medical bag slung over her shoulder and said, "I was just worried about someone getting hurt, so I made sure to bring a medical bag when we left."
She let out a huge sigh of relief inwardly. It was fortunate that she had brought the bag ahead of time and put everything inside. Otherwise, even if her father failed to see the signs, Jianqi by his side surely would have become suspicious.
With Zhou Deshun’s head properly bandaged, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, the guards had already beaten over twenty troublemakers to the ground.
Bai Yihong was taken aback and asked, "That was fast?"
Zhou Deshun was just as surprised, noting that they had quite a few farmers on their side before, but sadly they were all honest folks, not skilled in fighting like those ruffians. They had always been at a disadvantage, with some even getting injured. How could it be that in the blink of an eye, all those troublemakers led by Zhou Buren were lying on the ground?
Bai Ruozhu lifted an eyebrow proudly towards her father and said, "They are guards. If they couldn’t even beat some ruffians, how would they be able to protect the home and residence?"
Zhou Deshun gave an envious thumbs-up to Bai Ruozhu, "Ruozhu, the protectors you’ve trained are really impressive!"
Zhou Buren was groaning on the ground, pleading, "Gentlemen, please stop, let’s talk it over, don’t hit me anymore. If you keep this up, someone is going to die!"
But Cui Fan and the others ignored him. They certainly wouldn’t stop until Bai Ruozhu gave the word. Bai Ruozhu had instructed not to beat anyone to death or cripple them, so they were holding back the severity of their blows. However, they aimed for the painful spots, and even if not deadly or crippling, their hits made the gang wail in pain.
"Lord Zhou, Lord Zhou, please spare me this once. I deserve to die, I shouldn’t have crossed you, sir. Please, for the sake of us both sharing the surname Zhou, let me off!" Zhou Buren, shamelessly pleading, saw Zhou Deshun approaching and immediately started howling like a ghost wailing and a wolf howling. His subordinates also joined in begging for mercy, even forgetting to howl in pain.
Zhou Deshun snorted coldly, "Now you remember that we both have the surname Zhou? When you couldn’t get your way with a few words earlier and hit me on the head with a stone, why didn’t you remember what your surname was then?"
"It was my fault for not recognizing a great man. I was foolish. Please, I beg you to let me off just this once. I promise not to make trouble again. You can use the water source as you please, I won’t speak another word about it," Zhou Buren said.
"Humph, that water was diverted from the river. It was there for anyone to use from the start, as if you owned it and we stole it from you. You’ve really got some thick skin there!" Bai Yihong added indignantly.
Seeing that Zhou Buren showed no sign of repentance, Cui Fan and the others continued to beat him until he howled in pain. His already slightly plump bun-like face swelled up instantly, resembling a pig’s head. In desperation, Zhou Buren shouted, "If you don’t let me go, I’ll have my brother-in-law deal with you, and you’ll be forced to leave Beiyu City for good!"