"And then they were locked up. Not long after, a group of officers broke in and took them away."
"I've already investigated the whole matter. Jin Santai, the leader of Jinshan Village, is indeed the leader of the Southern Barbarian Prefecture. He has considerable prestige among his men, and his subordinates are all brave and skilled fighters."
"I expected this. Jin Santai would never surrender meekly; he would definitely choose to escape. That's why I specifically brought these Embroidered Uniform Guards to search the surroundings and prevent Jin Santai from hiding and escaping."
Chu Chen stroked his chin and continued, "Besides these, did you notice anything else?"
"No," the soldier shook his head.
"You may withdraw now."
"Your subordinate takes his leave." The soldier respectfully retreated.
"My lord, could it be that the treasures of the Jinshan bandits were all taken by the Embroidered Uniform Guards?" Su Changfeng asked tentatively.
Chu Chen nodded slightly, "That's right. This was all my arrangement. I just didn't expect them to be so audacious as to take all the ill-gotten gains. No wonder Jin Santai took such a desperate risk to rebel against the royal family."
"If that's the case, what should we do now?" Su Changfeng asked doubtfully.
Chu Chen sneered, "No need to worry. Let them take as much as they want. Anyway, the property left in our hands is of no use."
Su Changfeng's expression immediately became enlightened, and he praised inwardly, "My lord is wise. Those gold and silver treasures are enough to train thousands of private soldiers. If all this wealth falls into the hands of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, we can achieve this without lifting a finger."
"Alright, there's nothing else. You may withdraw," Chu Chen waved his hand.
"Your subordinate takes his leave." Su Changfeng bowed and departed.
A moment later, at Jinshan Village.
Inside a spacious and luxurious house.
"Village Chief, this is a document from the Governor's Mansion. Please review it," a soldier from the Embroidered Uniform Guard presented a document.
Jin Santai's face was grim as he took it and read it carefully. Finally, he couldn't help but explode in anger, "Bastards! You think a mere document can buy off my Jinshan Village? How naive!"
"Village Chief, do you mean... to refuse?" a burly man with a full beard asked.
"Hmph! If it were in the past, I might have considered compromising. But now, the strength of my Jinshan Village far surpasses that of the Governor's Mansion. Why should I submit to them?" Jin Santai gritted his teeth and snorted coldly.
"Village Chief, I think this document is not simple. You should read it carefully," another Embroidered Uniform Guard said at this moment.
"Yes, Village Chief. To be cautious, you should take a look," another Embroidered Uniform Guard echoed.
Jin Santai raised his eyebrows. After a moment of hesitation, he opened the document and began to read. The more he read, the grimmer his expression became.
Finally, he couldn't help but curse, "Dog officials! This is not a document, it's clearly a wanted poster, issued by the imperial court! Are you all out of your minds to believe such an absurd thing?"
"Village Chief, this is a wanted poster personally written by the Governor! If we disobey the imperial decree, we might bring about our own demise!" one of the Embroidered Uniform Guards said with a wry smile.
"What are you afraid of? At worst, it's a fight to the death! I'll fight you all!" Jin Santai roared in anger.
"Fight to the death? How? We only have a little over two hundred men. Even if we fight to the death, how many will be left in the end?"
"Moreover, as far as I know, the imperial court is not only targeting our Jinshan Village this time. Other Jinshan Village strongholds are also under wanted posters."
"You don't understand anything!" Jin Santai glared at them and snorted coldly, "I admit that the Governor's Mansion is very powerful, with tens of thousands of imperial guards. But my Jinshan Village is not weak. As long as we have enough food and supplies, my Jinshan Village can hold out for several years."
"As for the imperial court's wanted posters, I have my own methods. By then, I will let them know what it means to wish you could live but not live, and wish you could die but not die!"
Time passed. Two days had gone by since Jinshan Village was destroyed, yet the entire Southern Barbarian Prefecture was still in an uproar. The original peace had been completely shattered, with all sorts of rumors circulating, even alarming the imperial court.
Inside an ordinary courtyard in Southern Barbarian Prefecture City.
Li Zhongcheng stood by the desk, cautiously looking at the black-robed man in front of him.
"What did you say? The Embroidered Uniform Guards annihilated Jinshan Village?" the black-robed man's voice was hoarse.
Li Zhongcheng swallowed and said, "According to the news from the Embroidered Uniform Guards."
"Heh heh, it's him indeed." A ferocious smile appeared on the black-robed man's lips as he slowly stood up from his chair. "It seems we underestimated this person. He truly lives up to his reputation as the number one strategist of the Southern Barbarians. In just two months, he orchestrated such a brilliant encirclement operation, and even used it as an opportunity to frame Jinshan Village, making the imperial court use Jinshan Village as a scapegoat to weaken our Northern Yue Martial Kingdom. It seems he is smarter than I imagined."
"Master, what should we do now?" Li Zhongcheng asked cautiously.
The black-robed man glanced indifferently at Li Zhongcheng. "Why the panic? Since I dared to do the first move, I dare to do the fifteenth. Whether it's the Embroidered Uniform Guards or the Marquis of Nanling, anyone who dares to obstruct me from seizing the authority of Jinshan Village will not be forgiven."
Li Zhongcheng immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Although his master's words were not very clear, they clearly indicated that he had decided to fight to the end. After all, over the years, they had suffered a lot and incurred heavy losses because of Chu Chen. Especially this time, Chu Chen had directly wiped out nearly half of Jinshan Village's forces, allowing the Embroidered Uniform Guards to successfully capture the leader of Jinshan Village. This was equivalent to a slap in the face. If they did nothing, they would have no face to stay in Southern Barbarian Prefecture in the future.
"Let's wait and see what he plans to do. Once I confirm that he truly intends to attack Jinshan Village, I will decide how to respond," the black-robed man said calmly.
Upon hearing this, Li Zhongcheng hurriedly replied, turned, and left the room, ordering people to closely monitor Chu Chen's every move.
At the same time, in the Embroidered Uniform Guard yamen, Chu Chen was seated at the head of the table, with a stack of documents placed before him. These documents were precisely the criminal evidence of Jinshan Village, including their slave trading, oppression of good citizens, and plundering of merchant caravans. Chu Chen's influence was now far from what it used to be. Even without relying on his royal status, he was enough to influence the court's situation, and possibly even overthrow the court and establish his own regime.
"Someone!" Suddenly, Chu Chen shouted loudly. Immediately after, a guard quickly walked in.
"My lord, what are your orders?"
"Give these documents to the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards. Tell him this is my memorial, and he must dispatch an imperial envoy to Jinshan Village as soon as possible to investigate this matter."