Chapter 236: A Mu

Chapter 236: A Mu

"To win a battle, the best strategy is to attack the enemy's mind, not their city."

After dropping that profound line, Meng Wan curiously asked, "How did you come up with the idea to attack Heiye County?"

Several burly headmen exchanged glances, until one of them, the darkest-skinned guy, stepped forward. "It was my suggestion." He was a chieftain of a village affiliated with Fengtong Village, named Lei Bao.

Meng Wan circled around him, staring at him until his face nearly reddened. "And the reason?" he asked in amazement.

Lei Bao was bewildered. "What reason?"

Meng Wan sighed helplessly. "The reason for attacking Heiye County, of course."

"We heard people from Yanlin Village were coming to attack Heiye County, so we figured we couldn't let them get there first. We struck preemptively." Lei Bao said smugly.

Upon hearing this, Meng Wan was initially speechless, but couldn't help but feel a little relieved. As long as it wasn't premeditated, it meant these Yao people were just acting on impulse, not with malicious intent to seize the city.

No wonder they had only been eating and drinking in town, without even looting the most important grain stores.

These big dumbasses—they got the notoriety but didn't actually do anything bad, only to piss off Yanlin Village once?

Meng Wan rubbed his forehead. "Do you even know the consequences of attacking the county town?"

Lei Bao glanced nervously at Na Tuo. "What consequences? This crappy county ain't nothing special. After taking it, we didn't know what to do next."

Na Tuo was somewhat more reliable than Lei Bao and the others. He said to Meng Wan, "We never harmed any Yu people after entering the city. The only official we detained was because he insulted us Yao people."

Meng Wan thought to himself: If not for the fact that they had acted with restraint and hadn't broken into people's homes to cause chaos, he would have already found a way out of the city and back to the prefecture capital, telling Song Tingzhou to wipe them out.

"You've occupied the county, imprisoned an imperial official—whether you harmed anyone or not, you've violated Yu's laws. This won't just affect you; it will implicate your entire village." Seeing that they weren't ruthless criminals, Meng Wan changed his approach and told them the truth.

The population of Lingnan was already sparse compared to the Central Plains. Since these Yao people hadn't taken any lives, there was still room to work things out.

Na Tuo clenched his fists. "The men of our Yao village are all crack shots. We're not afraid of Yu's imperial court."

"That's right! We're not afraid of them!"

"Let them come and fight us!"

The other leaders around him began to clamor.

Meng Wan almost laughed in frustration. Xi Wu Prefecture was very close to Qinzhou on the border. If the Yao stirred up a big enough incident that reached the imperial court, it wouldn't be Song Tingzhou's garrison soldiers coming, but the border troops from Qinzhou.

Did they really think that by luckily capturing Heiye County and imprisoning a decrepit elderly magistrate, they could stand up to Yu's battle-hardened border troops who had seen blood on the battlefield?

Ridiculous as it was, he couldn't say this outright to Na Tuo. He had figured these people out—they were easily provoked, and a few harsh words could drive them to do reckless things.

In an extremely calm tone, Meng Wan said, "Xi Wu Prefecture has 2,000 garrison soldiers, the Southwest General commands 30,000 troops, and there are 100,000 border troops in Qinzhou." When numbers exceed ordinary comprehension, people tend to feel a sense of distance from them.

The ignorant fear nothing.

When faced with this terrifying string of numbers, they would realize on their own how laughable their ignorance and foolishness were.

Sure enough, after he said this, the once bravado-filled men suddenly seemed deflated, lowering their heads in silence.

Meng Wan felt they looked like a bunch of scolded big dogs.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat. "But you are all good warriors. Since you haven't bullied common people, this matter hasn't escalated yet. It's not too late to withdraw now."

Including Na Tuo, several headmen's eyes lit up, though Na Tuo was the slightly more cautious one.

He looked at Meng Wan suspiciously, thinking he was being tricked.

Meng Wan smiled faintly. "Have you eaten well? If so, let me take you to see a good show."

Though bewildered, the headmen felt inexplicably compelled by this young xiaoge's words and followed Meng Wan out of Huicui Tower, heading straight to the grain shop he had visited earlier that day.

They didn't go to the main street in front of the grain shop but instead into a nearby alley.

Meng Wan felt this viewpoint wasn't good enough. He glanced at a nearby rooftop. "Xue Sheng, I want to get up on the wall."

Xue Sheng: "..."

After a moment of hesitation, he said with difficulty, "I'll carry you up."

In a short while, Meng Wan was lying on the rooftop, with Na Tuo and several other headmen beside him. Xue Sheng held A Yan in his arms, along with A Xun, like a mother burdened with children, waiting for them in the alley.

Na Tuo frowned in confusion. "Why are we staying here?"

His voice was too loud, causing the family below them to suddenly light an oil lamp.

"Who's there?"

"Where's the noise? Go to sleep."

"I'm bored staying at home every day; can't sleep."

"I wonder when these Yao people will leave... Sigh."

Meng Wan put a finger to his lips, signaling Na Tuo and the others to be quiet. "Lower your voice," he whispered.

Fortunately, the weather wasn't cold. They lay on the roof for a while, until the moon was high in the sky. Na Tuo and the others regained their senses—they were actually fooling around with an unknown foreign xiaoge!

Just then, four or five horse-drawn carts appeared on the street. Well, they weren't really carriages; just horses pulling flatbed carts without any enclosures.

"Those are our horses!" Lei Bao exclaimed.

Fortunately, the carts were still far away and didn't hear him. Meng Wan had to sternly remind again, "Don't speak anymore. You'll find out what's happening soon enough."

They were all full of questions, but they could tell this matter really did involve them, so they obediently watched in silence.

"Old man, do you hear that? There really is a sound."

"What... what sound? Go to sleep!"

"...Alright, alright."

The elderly couple's voices gradually faded, tinged with a trembling fear.

Meng Wan briefly tuned in to their conversation and, assured they wouldn't come out to disturb, focused intently on the approaching carts.

As the carts drew nearer, he could see several people driving them, all wearing blue-black Yao ethnic clothing.

Turning to see Na Tuo and the others looking puzzled, Meng Wan said softly, "You recognize him, don't you? A Mu, the headman of Gulou Village. I caught a glimpse of him this morning when I was buying grain."

After all, among a crowd of looters, a Yao person in ethnic attire stood out.

When Meng Wan was haggling with the grain shop owner, he had secretly sent Xue Sheng to follow the man, discovering something unusual. Coupled with what Lei Bao had told him about their reason for attacking Heiye County, he formed a bold conjecture.

"So you heard Yanlin Village is gonna attack Heiye County – was it A Mu who told you?"

Lei Bao looked surprised, copied his hushed tone, and whispered, "How do you know?"

Meng Wan smiled but said nothing, lying on the rooftop and clearly hearing the people below speaking Yao.

"Brother A Mu, are we really going to do this?"

"The carts have been brought, there's no backing out now."

"But Na Tuo doesn't let us rob the city folk."

A Mu listened to his companions' disapproving words and turned back to scold, "He's in the tavern drinking and eating meat, and he didn't bring our Gulou Village people. As long as you don't tell, he won't know."

You could hear the resentment toward Na Tuo in his voice.

The cart pullers were all from Gulou Village, so they naturally obeyed his words as the headman. Seeing his anger, they immediately stopped objecting. They left the carts at the grain store entrance and headed straight for the grain store where Meng Wan had bought grain during the day.

Seeing this, Na Tuo already knew what they were going to do. He flexed his arms and was about to get up...

"Don't go. If you trust me, wait a little longer," Meng Wan advised him.

Na Tuo clenched his fists, veins bulging on his sturdy arms, clearly holding back. After hearing Meng Wan's words, he finally relaxed his fists and restrained himself.

They watched helplessly as A Mu led his men to break down the door and burst into the courtyard behind the grain store. With only five men, they somehow created the momentum of fifty, scaring the grain shop staff half to death. Hiding like mice in the farthest corner of the woodshed, they let A Mu and his men move all the grain from the storeroom without daring to make a sound.

Just as the Yao were about to leave after hauling the grain, a timid voice asked, "M-Masters, at least leave your names so I can explain to the boss tomorrow."

A Mu did not turn back. Just when the grain store clerk thought he wouldn't speak, he suddenly said, "Fengtong Village, Na Tuo."

"Damn it!" Na Tuo could no longer hold back. He and the other headmen jumped down from the rooftop and laid into A Mu and his men.

Meng Wan got to see how viciously these headmen fought, and he watched with great interest from the rooftop.

"Husband, do you want me to carry you down?" Xue Sheng asked Meng Wan, seeing that they had been exposed.

"No need, you hold A Yan well. I can get down by myself." Meng Wan sat up halfway on the rooftop, carefully moved to the wall, and then jumped directly down from the two-meter-high wall.

A Yan looked at his clumsy manner with sparkling eyes and shouted in a very supportive way, "Wow! Brother is awesome!"

Meng Wan brushed off his robe, "Just so-so!"

Na Tuo and the others were furious and didn't hold back at all. The Gulou Village men were beaten until they were groaning nonstop.

"Don't kill him – we still need him!" Meng Wan said hastily.

Na Tuo found a shred of reason amidst his overwhelming anger. He lifted A Mu, whose face was covered in blood, and demanded, "Why did you do this!"

A Mu was not as tall as Na Tuo. Hoisted by the collar, he looked like a beaten rooster, drooping his head and replying hoarsely, "I had no choice but to do this."

Na Tuo sneered, "What do you mean? Because I didn't call you to drink today? But the tavern couldn't accommodate so many brothers. A Hu and the others didn't come either – they're waiting for tomorrow night's spread."

Meng Wan was tickled by his simple-minded logic. "It can't be that simple. I'm afraid there's more to it, isn't there, A Mu?"

A Mu gave Na Tuo a deep look, then turned his gaze to Meng Wan. "Who are you? Na Tuo's lover?"

Meng Wan's smile froze. That damn A Mu, he should have let Na Tuo give him another round of beatings, and he would have confessed everything.

Na Tuo, for once, used his head. He threw A Mu to the ground in dissatisfaction, "Now I'm asking you, why did you betray us?"

A Mu lay on the ground, surrounded by his fellow villagers from Gulou Village, whom he had tricked into coming out.

Regret and bottled-up guilt nearly choked him. He sucked in two quick breaths and then said, voice shaking, "I didn't betray you, but Chunmei and the children are in Yanlin Village. They forced me to do this, threatening to kill them if I didn't!"

"How could Chunmei take the children back to Yanlin Village?" Lei Bao asked.

As the two most populous Yao villages in the Xiwu region, Fengtong Village and Yanlin Village frequently intermarried. Gulou Village, a nearby hamlet under Fengtong, also had many people who married into Yanlin Village. A Mu's wife Chunmei was from Yanlin Village.

After the two villages fell out, the women and men who had married into Fengtong cut ties with Yanlin.

"Chunmei's father sent a message saying he was dying and wanted to see Chunmei and the children. So I secretly… secretly took them there."

Meng Wan felt something was off. "Are there other Yanlin folks who snuck back too?"

Another half-dead Gulou Village person on the ground raised his arm, "And my mother."

"It should be more than these two. There must be people from other villages who secretly contacted Yanlin Village and tipped them off on everything you did."

"What!" Lei Bao exclaimed in shock, startling A Yan, who'd been dozing in Xue Sheng's arms.

Meng Wan took A Yan into his arms and patted him gently. "If I'm not mistaken, the guy who told you Yanlin was attacking Heiye County is likely an informant too."

He sighed inwardly. No matter the environment, there are always clever people. He even suspected that the confrontation between Fengtong Village and Yanlin Village was orchestrated by Yanlin Village. How could they react so fast? They gobbled up other small villages quickly and neatly.

"I'm gonna find Ba Lie right now!" Lei Bao was full of anger and couldn't wait a second to have it out with him.

"No, no, no." Meng Wan quickly stopped him. "You fool. Even if you try to root them out now, you won't get them all. Missing one or two would be trouble, and it would only make the Yanlin Village people more alert. Better to turn their own scheme against them..."

Everyone turned their heads toward him and asked in unison, "What does 'turn their own scheme against them' mean?" This time, they finally began to truly believe what Meng Wan said.

The corners of Meng Wan's mouth gradually curled upward. "Now do you believe me when I say I can take down Yanlin Village?"

Na Tuo and the others nodded together.

Meng Wan was very satisfied. "Then listen to me first. First, take half the grain A Mu and his crew stole and dump it in front of the Yamen."

Although puzzled, Na Tuo and the others inexplicably trusted Meng Wan's words. They kicked the Gulou Village people aside, grabbed the horsewhips and started hauling the carts.

Meng Wan walked up to the door of the robbed grain store and told the clerk peeking through the crack, "See that? Those guys on the ground robbed your grain. The leader is called A Mu. When your master asks tomorrow, just say that – got it?"