Chapter 63: The Truth Is Finally Revealed

The heir of Prince Heng’s estate, Zhu Cikao, wanted to take Yachun as a concubine. Having already returned to our household, Zhang Chen went over and broke the thigh of Zhu Cikao’s chief steward, An Dafu. Tian Xuewen shook his head: He is no longer just a bookish scholar; nowadays, Zhang Chen acts with complete lawlessness. He is not a suitable match for our Yachun. Thank goodness the old man wrote the letter of annulment that very day.

The residents of Fushan County town near the East Gate were very enthusiastic. They cleared out a large courtyard to serve as a temporary medical station for the Zhang Village Militia.

Well, several militia members cursed and swore as they brandished steel sabers to intimidate the people of Fushan County town near the East Gate, requisitioning a large courtyard to serve as a temporary medical station.

Carrying Zhang Min, Zhang Chen entered the medical station and personally performed debridement and suturing for him.

At this point, the bandits in the county town finally realized something was wrong. No longer looting or raping women, they began fleeing toward the outside of the city.

It was too late. In over half an hour, the more than one hundred five-man squads of the Zhang Village Militia killed over a thousand bandits.

Currently, there were fewer than eight hundred bandits left in the county town; their numerical advantage had vanished.

It was only a matter of time before the eight hundred brave warriors of the Zhang Village Militia who entered the county town slaughtered the remaining bandits.

Of course, the comrades of the Zhang Village Militia could not possibly wipe out every single bandit in the county town.

Inevitably, some would slip through the net. Over twenty members of Yan Zibei’s first bodyguard squad, after suffering a dozen casualties, broke out of the county town through the West Gate.

They were all fierce bandits. The remaining sixteen members of Yan Zibei’s first bodyguard squad paid the price of thirteen dead to repel the Zhang Village Militia members outside the West Gate.

The one hundred Zhang Village Militia members defending the West Gate failed to block the breakthrough of the sixteen men from Yan Zibei’s first bodyguard squad.

The highly skilled Second Master Yan took Yan Zibei and fled into the darkness; they managed to escape.

At the fifth watch, the battle of Fushan County town came to a successful and victorious conclusion.

The Zhang Village Militia suffered over three hundred deaths, while cutting down more than 1,700 bandits and capturing over 500. Fewer than 300 bandits escaped the county town, their whereabouts unknown.

In this battle, the comrades of the Zhang Village Militia harvested gold, silver, and treasures worth 300,000 taels of silver from the bandits.

This batch of gold, silver, and treasures filled four carriages. Carrying out Zhang Chen’s orders, Wang Shumeng organized men to transport the four carriage loads of wealth back to Zhang Village overnight.

At the city gate, the convoy was intercepted.

Tian Xuewen, the magistrate of Fushan County, and Shi Keren, a prominent village elder of Dengzhou Prefecture, accompanied by several other elderly men, blocked the convoy and demanded that Zhang Village return the gold, silver, and treasures in the carriages to the people of Fushan County town.

"The gold and silver in those carriages were all seized from the bandits, and the wealth the bandits carried was mostly looted from the county town. When the bandits attacked, Zhang Chen did not deploy the Zhang Village Militia to guard the town, and when he finally came to the rescue, he arrived fashionably late. His intention must have been to loot the looters."

Shi Keren rebuked Zhang Chen: "The bandits were plundering the county town, and Zhang Chen had the Zhang Village Militia plunder the bandits—he used the bandits' hands to clean out Fushan County town!"

"No, it’s not what you think. Our master is a good man; how could he possibly want to use the bandits to clean out Fushan County town..." Actually, Wang Shumeng also harbored some suspicion that Zhang Chen wanted to loot the looters, but he could never admit to it!

"The Zhang Village Militia has never received a single coin of military pay from the imperial court, nor have they ever received a single coin of consolation funds from Fushan County town. The Zhang Village Militia has no obligation to defend the county town. As a village militia, their primary directive is to ensure the safety of Zhang Village."

Zhang Chen walked over and stated:

"Several hours ago, upon learning that the bandits had begun attacking the county town, I immediately led the Zhang Village Militia to the rescue. Traversing more than ten li of night roads, our Zhang Village Militia reached the county town in less than half an hour, yet the county town had held out for only a quarter of an hour before being breached by the bandits."

"If our Zhang Village Militia could fly, perhaps flying over would not have been too late. Of course, had our Zhang Village Militia marched at full speed with torches, we certainly could have arrived an hour or two earlier. However, most of our militia members have never undergone training; they are raw recruits."

Zhang Chen shook his head: "Had we rushed to the county town at full speed, exhausted and fatigued, our Zhang Village Militia would have needed to rest for at least half an hour before entering the battlefield. Therefore, I led the militia at a steady, unhurried pace, constantly maintaining our combat readiness so that upon reaching the county town, we could immediately plunge into battle."

"Mr. Shi, I admit I am no good man, nor do I wish to be one, but I am not depraved enough to sit idly by while the people of Fushan County town are bullied by bandits. Though I am poor, I would not sacrifice the people of Fushan County to loot the looters. Besides, my ex-wife Tian Yachun was also in the county town; though we are divorced and our romantic ties are broken, I certainly would not let the bandits bully her."

Seeing Yang Fuli approach, Zhang Chen chided him:

"Bandits might have infiltrated the county town to coordinate with those outside and seize the city gate. Yang Fuli, I warned you, yet the bandits coordinated from within and quickly breached the city. How could our Zhang Village Militia have saved the county town unless we grew wings and flew from Zhang Village straight to the county town?"

"Indeed, our master is truly a good man! He had no intention of looting the looters. Master’s command for us to march at a steady pace was entirely correct. To have actually suspected Master—Wang Shumeng, you are no man!" Overwhelmed with shame, Wang Shumeng lightly slapped himself across the face.

"Captain, what's wrong?" Li Chongshan glanced at Wang Shumeng. "Why are you hitting yourself?"

"There are mosquitoes. Is there a problem with me hitting a mosquito?" Wang Shumeng kicked Li Chongshan.

Although it was only early September, the middle of the night was quite chilly.

A cold wind swept past, causing Li Chongshan to shiver. In his heart, he cursed Wang Shumeng: *In recent years winters have grown increasingly colder, and late autumn nights are already freezing—where on earth would there be mosquitoes?*

"This old man has wronged Chuyang; I judged a gentleman with the heart of a petty person." Every word Zhang Chen uttered was entirely reasonable. Shi Keren offered a polite bow to Zhang Chen, while silently cursing him in his heart: *Zhang Chen, no matter how brilliantly you spin this, this old man will not let you make off with these four carriage loads of gold and silver!*

"After Bailiff Yang returned from Zhang Village and warned me, this official stationed the five hundred garrison soldiers along with the militias from villages like Mazhuang and Yeqiao near the East Gate."

Tian Xuewen wore a bitter expression:

"Alas, the five hundred fierce bandits who infiltrated the city possessed formidable combat strength; they quickly routed the forces I deployed near the East Gate. You cannot blame the Zhang Village Militia. This time, they rendered a great service. Had they not arrived in the county town in time, it would surely have been thoroughly slaughtered, looted, and burned by the more than two thousand bandits, and I, Tian Xuewen, would have committed a crime too grave for a hundred deaths to redeem."

Regardless of everything else, Zhang Chen had led his militia there, and they had annihilated the bandits who had breached the town.

Had the Zhang Village Militia not come, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Therefore, this time, Tian Xuewen was truly grateful to Zhang Chen; he felt like offering his daughter to Zhang Chen as a concubine.

Well, Old Tian probably wouldn't give his second daughter, Tian Yachun, to Zhang Chen as a concubine, but he decided he would curse Zhang Chen a bit less in the future.

"The truth has finally come to light. Now, let’s discuss this batch of gold, silver, and treasures." Zhang Chen smiled.