Chapter 826 - 828: Blind to a Great Man_1
Jiang Yichun had pestered Bai Ruozhu for a long time, but Bai Ruozhu wouldn’t give in. As a result, as soon as his elder brother spoke up, his wife readily agreed to go with him, which left Jiang Yichun depressed for several days. He glared at her several times, wanting to pick a fight with Bai Ruozhu, but ultimately he held back.
Before long, the Beiyu Study Palace set a date and notified everyone to have a meeting at the academy the morning before departure. This was so the attendees could meet each other and get acquainted.
Just when there were five days left before departure, a guard from the manor rode back hastily to report, "Miss, that Zhou Buren has brought his brother-in-law with men to cause trouble. We are short-handed, do we need to send more support?"
"How many people have they brought, and who are they? Soldiers from the Northwest infantry camp?" Bai Ruozhu raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Yes, they’re all soldiers, about twenty or so, all seasoned veterans, and some with scars on their faces," the guard who came to report said.
Seasoned veterans may not necessarily be very formidable, but those immersed in the Battlefield for long are certainly more fierce than the guards who just protect the manor; at least, that murderous intent bred in battle can’t be learned by guards. That kind of fierceness is honed on the Battlefield, perhaps even clawed out from piles of dead bodies.
Of course, Bai Ruozhu’s dark guards would have more than enough ability to deal with them.
Cui Fan also sensed the severity of the situation and started to tally up the numbers, but Bai Ruozhu stopped him, saying, "You don’t need to send anyone. They are soldiers, we are common people; even if we are capable of defeating them, hurting them would still be our fault."
"Are we just supposed to tolerate their bullying?" Bai Yihong asked anxiously upon hearing this.
Bai Ruozhu curled her lip, somewhat reproachfully speaking, "Dad, do you think I’m someone who allows others to bully me? Can’t you have a little faith in me?"
Bai Yihong, acting in haste, had forgotten himself, and scratched his head, laughing sheepishly, "I have faith, I have faith. Dad was just asking casually."
"Chenfeng, go tell your master," Bai Ruozhu commanded. "The commanding officer from the Northwest infantry camp has led soldiers out privately to disturb the common people. How shall this matter be settled? Assisting relatives in tyrannizing our hometown, is there any mention in military law of how to deal with this?"
Upon hearing this, Cui Fan’s eyes lit up. Soldiers must be disciplined by their leaders, and the son-in-law is responsible for supervising the discipline of the Main Camp. Who else to turn to if not him?
"Yes, madam, I will go right now." Chenfeng chuckled with the mirth of someone watching a lively scene and swiftly vanished without a trace.
Cui Fan looked on enviously while Bai Ruozhu noticed and pondered deep in her heart.
"Dad, let’s go and have a look too," Bai Ruozhu said casually, which even made the guard who came to report relax a bit, thinking to himself, why was he so nervous? Just look at how calm the young miss is.
Before Bai Ruozhu had even reached the manor, Jiang Yichun had already received the message sent by Chenfeng. His face immediately turned stern, and he told his subordinates, "Follow me!"
He led a troop of horsemen towards the Bai Family’s manor. They almost arrived on horseback just as Bai Ruozhu got there.
When Bai Ruozhu arrived, she saw the soldiers had already beaten the manor’s guards to the ground and were mocking them, with some even damaging the Bai Family’s fields. Bai Ruozhu’s face turned frosty with cold anger as she shouted sternly, "Stop it all of you! Are you soldiers not meant to serve the country and fight its enemies but instead to bully your own countrymen?"
The commanding officer, Wu Xu, raised his hand to stop his subordinates, then looked at Bai Ruozhu with a ruffian’s gaze, saying, "So you’re that Bai Ruozhu, eh? I heard you beat my uncle-in-law badly, he can’t even get out of bed till now. So you’re allowed to bully an honest person, but we can’t seek justice?"
Bai Ruozhu simply couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore. "Honest person? Are you referring to that Zhou Buren? Didn’t you inquire about how he tyrannized the village, leading a gang of thugs to bully the common people? And that counts as being honest? Besides, I recall he is your concubine’s brother, right? Doesn’t that make him your uncle by marriage? You really do enjoy demeaning yourself."
Bai Ruozhu was naturally beautiful, and when she laughed, Wu Xu was completely captivated, even the old soldiers beside him stared with wide-eyed interest, and some even whistled at Bai Ruozhu.
Just then, Jiang Yichun arrived with his horsemen and saw this scene of his wife being "harassed" by others, his face was so cold it could have formed ice.
"Infantry Battalion leader Wu Xu!" Jiang Yichun called out in a deep voice.
Wu Xu came back to his senses and was momentarily stunned upon seeing Jiang Yichun. "General, what brings you here?" His face no longer bore the ruffian’s arrogance, and he appeared visibly intimidated by Jiang Yichun.
Jiang Yichun let out a cold huff. "They’ve been bullying my wife, how could I not come?"
Wu Xu and the twenty-odd old soldiers were taken aback and quickly lined up properly. Wu Xu, with a fawning face, said, "General Jiang, I truly didn’t know she was your wife, or else even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn’t have dared to bring men here."
"Are you suggesting that if it were just the ordinary common people, you would be bullying them?" asked Jiang Yichun with a stern face, his voice rising significantly at the end, exuding quite an authority.
Bai Ruozhu snickered to herself on the side; she finally got to see Jiang Yichun disciplining his subordinates. However, they still had to compensate for her protector’s medical expenses and the damaged fields—they couldn’t get off that easily!
"Oh, it’s just that my uncle by marriage, he was talking nonsense. I had a bit of a drink last night and agreed to help him let off some steam. If I had known it was the lady’s field, I guarantee I would not have taken on this matter." And after saying that, he even muttered under his breath, "But the lady hit quite hard as well, my uncle by marriage still can’t get out of bed."
Bai Ruozhu snorted coldly on the side, saying, "Just because you’ve taken Ruhua as a concubine, you think her brother must be a good person? Don’t you know about the way he rampages around the village? He came here, injured my uncle, and tried to extort protection money from me. Shouldn’t I have hit him?"
"Yes, yes, for sure! That scumbag told me that you stole the water source from his field and when he came to argue with you, you struck first. He really has some nerve, deceiving me like that. I’ll see to it that he’s sorted out when I get back!" Wu Xu shouted, unclear whether he truly had been fooled by Zhou Buren or was just making excuses because Jiang Yichun was present.
Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun exchanged glances; she signaled that she didn’t want to delve deeper but demanded compensation, which was also a way of giving face to Jiang Yichun. It would be good for him, as the new officer, to have some leeway.
"Commander Wu, you’ve left the Main Camp without orders, injured a civilian, and destroyed their field. According to military law, you know how you should be dealt with, don’t you?" Jiang Yichun asked with an icy facial expression.
Wu Xu forced out a bitter smile. "General Jiang, I was truly deceived. I beg for your forgiveness, and that of the lady."
The old soldiers behind him all realized the gravity of the situation and spoke in unison, "General Jiang, please forgive us. We realize our mistake."
Jiang Yichun gave a cold snort without changing his stern expression. "Many people in the army know that you’ve come out here. Do you think I can just let it go without punishment?"
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Mouka had just cried for an hour. This evening, I took my child to the mall to play in the sand, and another child scratched my kid’s face bloody. The other parents didn’t apologize; instead, they argued with me combatively. The father was nothing but a bullying thug, threatening me that if I insisted they go to the Hospital, he would make sure we ended up hospitalized. Later, someone suggested I call my husband or relatives and friends for help. My husband is on a business trip, and since moving to Shenzhen, I have no relatives or friends here—just left to be bullied by others. In that moment, I felt incredibly isolated and helpless...