mtl008 Chapter 689 Village
Chapter 689 Village
Lu Yangyang understood what Manager Song was saying.
As the Grand General of the Northwest, my elder brother is not allowed to leave his post easily, let alone mobilize troops on his own. It would be even more troublesome if he were outside his jurisdiction. Not only would he need documents from the local government, but the governments of both places would also need to stamp the documents together before he could dispatch a portion of his troops to suppress the bandits. Otherwise, if this matter were reported to the imperial court, it would be a big problem.
This is indeed a difficult matter, but it's not impossible.
Lu Yangyang quickly grasped the key point: "Don't the local government care?"
Logically, given the rampant banditry, the local government should have tried to find a solution.
This place is not far from the Northwest Garrison. Either we should report to the imperial court first and request the suppression of the bandits, or the local governments should jointly issue a document requesting the Northwest Army to suppress the bandits. In any case, we should not allow the bandits to harm passing merchants.
Speaking of this, Manager Song was also full of complaints: "Who knows what's wrong with the Ningzhou prefect? The banditry in Huangsha Ferry has been going on for almost two years, and there's no way to deal with it. I don't know how many caravans have suffered because of it. Now many caravans simply take a detour and don't go through this area at all."
Seeing that Lu Yangyang was listening attentively, Manager Song was worried that he might frighten her, so he comforted her, "But don't worry, young lady, there are many of us, and it's broad daylight, so they won't dare to do anything reckless."
"Have you encountered this before?" Lu Yangyang asked him.
"I've encountered them a few times, and lost several brothers in the process." Manager Song's face turned fierce as he mentioned this, clearly showing his deep hatred for those bandits.
Lu Yangyang understood. "Then let's find a place to stay first, and set off early tomorrow morning."
We still need to discuss the matter of the bandits with our elder brother. If the local government doesn't take action, this matter will indeed be difficult to resolve.
Manager Song nodded and instructed his men to stay in the nearest village. "We stopped in this village before we arrived, so we're quite familiar with it."
After walking for about 15 minutes, they arrived at the outskirts of a village.
The terrain around here is relatively flat, and the houses in the village are built relatively densely. You can see a cluster of thatched houses scattered in the distance. At this time, the sun is setting, and the scenery in the distance is particularly clear.
Before even getting close to the village, Lu Yangyang sensed something was wrong: "Why isn't there any smoke rising from the chimneys in this village?"
The people of Dazhao usually eat two meals a day, one in the morning and one in the evening.
According to custom, this is the time for dinner, the liveliest time of day in the village.
But the village looked unusually peaceful, with not a wisp of smoke in sight.
Upon hearing Lu Yangyang's words, Manager Song, who was riding a horse beside their carriage, also felt something was amiss. He immediately beckoned to two of his employees, "You two go into the village first and see what's going on?"
The two men responded, jumped off the carriage, and prepared to head towards the village.
“Wait a minute,” Lu Yangyang called out to them, jumping out of the car. “I’ll go with you. Manager Song, don’t rush in. Let’s talk when we come out.”
Just as Manager Song was about to speak, Lu Yangyang gave him a reassuring look: "Don't worry."
Manager Song knew that Lu Yangyang had some connection with their current boss, and that Lu Yangyang had secretly brought people with her. Although it seemed that he was in charge of their team, Lu Yangyang was actually the one in charge. Seeing that Lu Yangyang had made arrangements, he kept quiet.
Lu Yangyang led two men into the village, only to find that not only was there no smoke from the chimneys, but the entire village was eerily quiet.
"When was the last time you came here?" Lu Yangyang asked the waiter next to her.
"About two months ago, this was a big village with two or three hundred people. There shouldn't be anyone here at this hour. Could something have happened?" The waiter was also very puzzled.
The village entrance wasn't far from the houses, and Lu Yangyang and her group arrived in no time.
Lu Yangyang walked to the first house and knocked on the door.
No one answered.
She knocked several more times, and finally there was a sound.
"Who is it?"