"... Famine is everywhere in the world today, and the people have no way to make a living. The emperor is tyrannical, and levies exorbitantly. The fate of the Wu dynasty is coming to an end, and the heroes of the world are rising together. This is the aspiration of the people, the trend of the times..."
The dark room, the empty surroundings, and the somber atmosphere. According to Ning Yi's experience, what he would encounter next should be a relatively formal and serious meeting. Regardless of whether the other party was kind or malicious, since the other party wanted to create such an atmosphere, they would not give up halfway and treat it as a child's play. And after that self-introduction of "I am Liu Dabiao", the content of the voice that rang out from behind the curtain was indeed quite formal and serious. Or, at least from the other party's perspective, they should be very serious in creating this kind of atmosphere.
From the beginning, the other party appeared very serious, so Ning Yi also stood there watching and listening seriously. Because at this time in the room, the smell of incense could not hide the smell of wound medicine. The other party was sitting behind the curtain, and it was very likely that he was injured. He had just returned to Hangzhou, and now he had invited him to meet. However, when he stood there and listened for a while, he couldn't help but feel that the atmosphere in front of him was a bit strange.
"... I've heard that Brother Ning is well-learned, but has little ambition. At this time, we men should use our hot blood to display what we have learned, and achieve an unparalleled achievement. This Saint Duke is thirsty for talent... "
Ning Yi could not be considered to have been trained in literature. Although he could understand ancient literature, he naturally did not have much attainment in it. However, he still had many dealings with Qin Siyuan and the others. At this time, after listening to a paragraph or two, he discovered that this seemingly impassioned demand for rebellion was actually not literary at all. It would make sense to say that Liu Dabiao, who came from a bandit stronghold, was a cultured person. But at this time, listening to the other party's deliberately rough and slightly stuttering words, it felt like a class student reading an unsightly essay he had written.
Looking from the other side of the curtain, although he couldn't see clearly whether the young girl was reading a piece of paper in front of her, he could be sure that what she was saying was definitely not something she thought of herself. Either that, or she had seen it before and was reciting it now. But in Ning Yi's view, it was more likely that she was reading it in her hand. Not long after, the other party's reaction also confirmed his guess.
"... Your humble servant Liu Dabiao, cough... Your humble servant Liu Dabiao is highly skilled in martial arts and has extraordinary talents. I have inherited the lineage of the Tyrant Blade of Southern Heaven. I can capture dragons in the Nine Heavens, I can slay dragons in the Five Seas, I can slay dragons in the Five Seas. I am tyrannical and forthright, I am intelligent, I look back with a smile..."
Just as Ning Yi's face twitched slightly, the voice stopped here. He saw her call over the girl who was probably a servant girl, and vaguely heard her voice, "Who made you write this..." After a while, he heard it again, "So embarrassing..."
The servant girl left, and the room became quiet. Liu Dabiao's body was half a length shorter, and it looked like she was sitting there with one hand under her chin. It was unknown whether she was sulking or doing something else. Ning Yi blinked, and for a moment, he did not know what to say. The two sides seemed to be in a standoff, and time passed quietly in this silence. For a while, there was a rustling sound coming from behind the curtain. It was the girl's body moving on the big chair, drinking some water, and then... it looked like she was scratching an itch.
After an unknown period of time, Liu Dabiao probably walked out of the awkwardness, or figured out that she could not just stay like this. She sat up straight and opened her mouth to speak. Her words still sounded a little rough, but it was easy to say.
"Hey, I have a stronghold with more than 4,000 people. I don't really know how to manage it, and I need someone to help me. Can you do it?"
Ning Yi was stunned for a moment. "Uh, okay..."
"Very good." The awkward article from before had probably made the girl a little dispirited. At this time, she nodded, but she was not in high spirits. "Then from now on, you are my person. In the future, no one in Hangzhou can bully you."
After thinking for a while, she said, "You are not allowed to bully others. Anyway, your official position is not high... You are a smart person, and I do not want to tell you too much. Your identity is sensitive, so it is good that you have self-awareness. In the future, every morning, someone will send the matters of the stronghold to your place. I live here, and if there is anything, I will call you over. If there is anything, you can also come and find me... Oh, that's right, when I first caught you, your things... gunpowder can only protect you. Your knife is very sharp, but it is not easy to use. If you are interested in using a knife, you can come and ask me in the future. You can go. "
As she spoke, she grabbed a bag and threw it over. Ning Yi caught it in his hand. The bag probably contained the things that had been searched when he was caught. Other than some silver notes, the most important things were naturally his gun and the military knife that he had asked Kang Xian to make. The center of gravity of the military knife was leaning forward, mainly for the slashing of the knife. At this time, although using a knife required an indomitable momentum, it would not be to this extent. Ning Yi understood. He nodded and left.
When he was about to go out, the voice from behind sounded again. "The place where you stood before is different. If someone in the army offended you, don't hold a grudge... Your wife and the people you are protecting have already gone to Hu Province. They are still safe, so you can rest assured. In the future, when the time is right, we will send someone to bring them here... There is nothing else. "
Ning Yi nodded and closed the door.
It was already noon by the time he returned to the academy and took the rice. When he returned to the small courtyard, he told Xiaochan about the process of meeting Miss Liu. Xiaochan couldn't help but laugh. "How can she be the chief of the stronghold like this?"
Ning Yi had originally thought that there would definitely be a meeting this time. He had many imaginations, but he didn't expect that what happened in the end was indeed almost child's play. It was no wonder that Xiao Chan felt that Miss Liu didn't have the attitude of a Stronghold Master. There was no coercion or intimidation, no proof of allegiance, no this and that. She simply said "I have a stronghold" and asked someone to help me manage it.
However, for Ning Yi, he could not underestimate the injured girl sitting behind the curtain. The last sentence hinted that she had captured Ning Yi, and during the process of attacking Jiaxing, she had already extended her tentacles to Hu Province and was investigating everything around Ning Yi. Perhaps she had already extended her tentacles to Su Tan'er. Apart from that, the girl had only hinted that she was very kind and open-minded, and that he could only rely on her here.
When the initiative was in her hands, no matter how much coercion she used, it was meaningless. She set out conditions and made people do things. If Ning Yi obeyed her but secretly disobeyed her, what awaited him was likely to be a head-on stab. For a fool, many threats might be needed, but for a smart person, there were always some things that could be skipped.
*****
After the simple conversation that day, Ning Yi basically joined the Tyrant's Saber Camp. There was no welcome ceremony, no grand introduction. For Ning Yi, there were only people who began to send various things to Ning Yi's house in the afternoon. They also began to tidy up and prepare to rebuild the collapsed house. The only change was that every morning, someone would send him some documents that needed to be dealt with.
The handling of the Tyrant's Saber Camp was not really under Ning Yi's command. On the second day, Ning Yi roughly understood the whole pattern. Usually, the documents that were sent would be copied into several copies and distributed to several advisors in the stockade. The advisors would write down their opinions and hand them over to Liu Dabiao. After reading them, Liu Dabiao would choose a way to deal with them. Most of the time, she would call someone over to ask why these things had to be dealt with in this way. For the next few days, Ning Yi would be called over almost every afternoon to ask about what had happened in the previous afternoon.
Ning Yi did not know the inside story of the Tyrant's Saber Camp. When he dealt with things, he would usually call Ah Chang and Ah Ming over to ask them about it in detail. Naturally, he took it for granted in the beginning. Liu Dabiao, who sat behind the curtain and whose face could not be seen clearly, would also explain a lot of things to him every day. Therefore, after the first few days, he quickly learned about the Tyrant's Saber Camp.
In the morning, he went to the school for a class on "Records of the Grand Historian" and dealt with some matters. In the afternoon, he went to discuss management with Liu Dabiao for half the afternoon. Ning Yi admired this girl who might be called Liu Watermelon but still called herself Liu Dabiao no matter what. To the outside world, this girl who wielded a huge blade with a thin body was rude, violent, eccentric, and unpredictable. However, in the past few days, she read everyone's thoughts with her injured body and thought about every reason. If Ning Yi was really a university professor, then this girl in front of him might be the most admirable student.
At this time, there were a total of five advisors in the Tyrant's Saber Camp. As for the other four, perhaps because the girl had already learned their thoughts, they rarely called for face-to-face talks. Of course, Ning Yi also met the other four twice. These people were not like Ning Yi, who was a scholar who had been kidnapped. It was said that they were old members of the Tyrant's Saber Mountain Villa. Because they were literate and had some talent and ideas in management, they were called over by Liu Watermelon to form this small group of advisors. Because they were not famous scholars, they were not difficult to get along with.
As for Ah Chang and Ah Ming, Ning Yi already understood their situation. There were a total of eight of them, and they had been brought up by the old Bandit Master. He had personally taught them martial arts, and they were the guards who accompanied the young girl. This was not their real name. The eight of them were called "A life for a life, a debt for a debt". It was said that the girl had personally given them this name. In the mind of the girl called Liu Watermelon, these eight words probably represented fairness.
Back then, when the Tyrant's Saber Camp protected Ning Yi, it caused quite a commotion among some people. However, when Liu Watermelon returned, everything was so quiet that it was as if nothing had happened. Teaching in the morning and chatting in the afternoon, the days were so calm that it was as if they had returned to Jiangning. Within a few days, a few more rooms had been built in the small courtyard. Xiaochan and Ning Yi decorated it with the help of some other people. This was their new residence, and it gave Ning Yi the feeling that they would be staying here for a long time. This feeling really became a reality in the time that followed.
The injuries on his body, the fake rough voice — for a period of time after that, this was still the impression that Ning Yi had of Liu Watermelon. They talked every day, but only through the curtain. The only difference was that on this side of the curtain, Ning Yi had a table that was well-lit. Sometimes, Ning Yi thought that if he was a poor scholar and taught poetry to a girl from a noble family, perhaps it would be like this. Liu Watermelon's learning ability was very strong, but Ning Yi was not the kind of half-baked teacher. Occasionally, the two of them would even quarrel over some problems.
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