Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Are there a few more people in Chapter 17?

Yang Er glanced at Yang Shaofeng, then at the path hidden deep in the grass, and added, "Sir, I've been to the county town several times, but whether it's early morning or midday, I've never found this path. According to Brother Limpy Fifth, I'm afraid the person hiding behind this path isn't a good person either."

Yang Shaofeng didn't agree. Instead, he looked at the path and asked, "Brother Limpy Fifth, can you tell who made this path? Was it a man or a woman? Was it one person or many people, and when did they make it?"

Faced with Yang Shaofeng's series of questions, Limpy Five was slightly taken aback. He never expected Yang Shaofeng to be so calm, and he couldn't help but admire Yang Shaofeng's composure in the face of adversity.

Limping Wu gripped his waist knife tightly and cautiously stepped into the bushes again to observe: "Your Excellency, this road has been trodden by many people, and there are women among them."

Yang Shaofeng nodded and said, "Okay, Brother Limpy Fifth will come with me to take Chief Yang back to Heshan Village first, then we'll immediately go back to the county town, gather more manpower, and then come back here to check."

Yang Er immediately became anxious and shouted, "Absolutely not! This path has suddenly appeared here. Nobody knows who is behind it, or whether they are good or bad. Sir, you should go back to the county town with Brother Limpy Fifth. I can go back by myself. Sir, you can rest assured that I will gather all the able-bodied men in the village and be on guard."

Limpy Wu also chimed in, "Your Excellency, what Chairman Yang said is right. We are not far from Heshan Village. Chairman Yang can go back first. Your Excellency is responsible for the county. It would be better to return to Ningyang County first."

Yang Shaofeng frowned slightly, pondering what to do, when he suddenly saw a wisp of smoke rising in the distance.

Limpy Five and Yang Er also saw the wisp of smoke. After observing it carefully, Yang Er exclaimed, "It looks like cooking smoke?"

Yang Shaofeng looked carefully for a while, only to see that the smoke that had been rising earlier had disappeared. After a while, another wisp of smoke rose from the side.

Limpy Five frowned and said, "Is someone taking turns cooking? Judging from the time it took for that smoke to rise, they probably didn't cook much food, just enough for one or two people."

"That's strange. Such caution and meticulousness—could it be a hidden measure left behind by the Tartars?"

"That's not right either. This place is not dangerous, and the Tartars would not bother to leave any hidden forces here, especially since there are women among these people."

After observing for a while longer, until no more smoke rose from the chimneys, Limpy Five continued, "There should only be twenty or thirty people on the other side, at most no more than fifty."

Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement, his curiosity growing even stronger.

Twenty or thirty people, at most fifty.

There were women among these people.

These two conditions combined don't seem like some kind of hidden trick left behind by the Tartars; rather, they seem more like some common people gathering here to avoid disaster.

After pondering for a moment, Yang Shaofeng looked at Limpy Five and asked, "Assuming there are fifty people on the other side, but we only have about ten, are you confident, Brother Limpy Five?"

Limpy Wu shook his head slightly and said with a solemn expression, "Reporting to the county magistrate, I do not know who the people on the other side are, and I dare not make any rash promises."

“If the enemy is a hidden force left behind by the Tartars, even if only half of them are men, I dare not say that we will definitely win.”

"However," Limpy Five changed the subject, "no matter if the other side is Tartars or whatever, I am confident enough to take them down!"

Yang Shaofeng was particularly curious upon hearing this: "You don't have absolute certainty, yet you're confident enough to take them down?"

Limpy Wu nodded and replied, "As the county magistrate knows, almost all of the dozen or so brothers who stayed in Ningyang with me are wounded and can no longer go to the battlefield."

"If the enemy is indeed a hidden force left behind by the Tartars, the brothers are not confident that they can be taken down head-on."

Yang Shaofeng nodded, but Limpy Wu chuckled and said, "However, besides fighting and killing, there are also many petty tricks on the battlefield."

At this point, Lame Five simply pulled a small cloth bag from his pocket: "Your Excellency, look, there are laxatives and sleeping potions in here. Xu Mazi, who stayed with me, knows how to prepare these things. All I have to do is sneak over and go down into their water..."

"Also, I could sneak into their camp after dark and set it on fire, throwing them into disarray..."

Seeing the rather smug Limpy Five, Yang Shaofeng was speechless.

Laxatives or sleeping pills?

Regardless of whether these things are reliable or not, even if they are reliable, so what?

Talking about toxicity without mentioning dosage is pure deception!

And what about sneaking into the camp and setting it on fire? Even if you, Limpy Five, don't have night blindness, wouldn't the other side still have sentries, both visible and hidden?

In case of a direct confrontation, what can you do with just ten or so people?

Well, those dozen or so yamen runners in the county office weren't all disabled, but they were all pretty much the same. One was missing a hand, another was blind in one eye, and even the one or two who looked normal usually had a few toes missing. Someone like Bo Wu, who was only lame, was considered one of the better ones among those dozen or so yamen runners.

Why send just a dozen or so people to fight a deadly battle against what appears to be a group of Tartars left behind?

Every single day is just pure nonsense.

After pondering for a moment, Yang Shaofeng looked deeply in the direction from which the smoke had risen earlier and said, "Since there are men and women on the other side, it seems that someone is hiding to avoid trouble. Let's ignore them for now and go."

Upon returning to the county town, Yang Shaofeng, with a dark expression, said to Limpy Five, "Brother Limpy Five, among the brothers left in Ningyang County, is there anyone skilled in reconnaissance?"

As Yang Shaofeng paced back and forth, he said, "If dozens of people suddenly appear, and they're hiding deep in the mountains and forests, they might cause trouble later if we don't find them."

Limpy Wu chuckled and pointed to his own nose, saying, "Don't worry, Your Excellency, I can find out their background."

Yang Shaofeng smiled helplessly: "Fifty Fifth Brother, it's not that I don't trust you, but this..."

Seeing Yang Shaofeng looking at his lame leg, Lame Five chuckled and said, "Your Excellency, it is true that my leg is lame, but before I became lame, I was one of the best spies in the army. Whether it was the Tartars, Chen Youliang, Fang Guozhen, or Zhang Shicheng, I have investigated every single one of them."

"There are only a few dozen people here, and I'm just doing some reconnaissance. I won't disturb them or cause any conflict with them."

Yang Shaofeng paced back and forth a few times, and after a moment's thought, he made up his mind: "Let's go, call the brothers, let's go together."

……

"We are here now. Not far to the west is Heshan, and to the northeast is the Dawen River. The place where the smoke came from yesterday is probably here."

"Later, Brother Limpy Fifth will go in to scout the situation. His safety is the top priority. If he finds anything wrong, he should leave immediately. We'll go to Heshan first and gather the able-bodied men to guard the village."

"Brother Xu also notified the villages along the road to the county town, telling them to be on guard."

“My horse is faster, and Brother Wang is a better rider. If the enemy is indeed a hidden force left behind by the Tartars, Brother Wang will ride my horse to Yanzhou to find the soldiers stationed there.”

"..."

Once again, Yang Shaofeng arrived at the secluded path not far from Heshan Village and began to make arrangements with a dozen or so yamen runners, each with injuries and disabilities.

The general principle is safety first, everything else is secondary.

Limpy Wu chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Your Excellency. I've always valued my life, otherwise I would have perished on the battlefield long ago."

Yang Shaofeng patted Limpy Five on the shoulder: "Go quickly and come back quickly."

Limpy Wu nodded and then darted into the bushes.

Yang Shaofeng was increasingly amazed as he looked—he knew there was someone in the bushes, but he couldn't hear any sounds coming from them or see the bushes moving. It was truly an impressive skill.