Chapter 541: Put a Shot Right in His Face
The bandits are here!
With Dou Wenda's shout, the city walls erupted with the clamor of bells, gongs, and even hollow bamboos... The residents of Pingyang Prefecture seized anything they could strike, making a deafening din.
It was barely dawn, yet the entire Pingyang Prefecture was already gripped by a tense atmosphere.
Wang Er climbed the battlements, gazing west. Bai Mao followed him. "Big Brother," Bai Mao asked, "Which group is it this time?"
Wang Er declared, "Fan Shan Yao!"
Bai Mao gasped, "Ah? That guy."
Both men had encountered Fan Shan Yao before, back when they served under Wang Jiayin. He was an exceptionally handsome and dashing man, blessed with a face that was, by Bai Mao's estimation, at least 320% more attractive than the average man's. Such looks were bound to leave a lasting impression.
"That guy is just too good-looking," Bai Mao grumbled. "I don't know why, but every time I see him, I want to blast a shot right in the middle of his face."
No sooner had he uttered these words than the Puppet Heavenly Lord, perched on his shoulder, chuckled, "Hey, that's called jealousy, you know. It's quite a dangerous emotion."
His first act after rising was to casually switch his perspective in the diorama box to check on his little people. As luck would have it, he landed right on the Puppet Heavenly Lord and overheard Bai Mao's comment.
Bai Mao jumped in surprise. "Ah? The Heavenly Lord is here? When did you arrive?"
The Puppet Heavenly Lord waved its little round, ball-like hand. "Just as you were talking about Fan Shan Yao."
Bai Mao offered an awkward chuckle. Right, getting caught by the Heavenly Lord for being jealous of someone's handsome face was quite embarrassing.
He was just about to offer a placating remark when the Puppet Heavenly Lord declared with clear irritation, "I've heard about this guy's good looks for a while now, and I really want to see how handsome he actually is. Get the binoculars ready in a bit. We'll see if he's more handsome than me. If he is, we'll blast a shot right in the middle of his face. If he's not, then other places will do."
Bai Mao was speechless.
Wang Er was speechless.
While Li Daoxuan's comments were made in jest, he truly was curious to see what Fan Shan Yao looked like. This man's striking handsomeness, after all, was actually recorded in historical texts! His alias, Fan Shan Yao, wasn't widely known, but his real name, Gao Jie, certainly was. He was one of the famous "Four Garrisons of Southern Ming."
According to historical records, this fellow was a compatriot of Li Zicheng, also from Mizhi County. However, he didn't start as Li Zicheng's subordinate; he initially raised his own independent force. It was only later, as Li Zicheng's rebellion grew exponentially, that Fan Shan Yao quite naturally joined his ranks.
While he achieved no particular military feats under Li Zicheng, he did something utterly scandalous, even by today's standards: he seduced Li Zicheng's wife, Lady Xing. It was, in common parlance, seducing his leader's wife.
Lady Xing, upon seeing him, was utterly smitten by his overwhelming handsomeness – a man 320% more attractive than the norm, after all. Naturally, she found herself completely defenseless and soon took up with Fan Shan Yao.
Afterward, Fan Shan Yao, fearing Li Zicheng would catch them in the act, fled with Lady Xing and defected to the imperial court. He reverted to his real name, Gao Jie, and joined the ranks of He Renlong. When He Renlong eventually died, Gao Jie took over his position, disregarded the Ming court's commands, and consolidated his own military power. He ultimately rose to become one of the famed Four Garrisons of Southern Ming.
Tell me, if an exquisitely handsome man, whose name would be etched into history, showed up at your doorstep, leading an assault on your city with a face undeniably more attractive than your own, wouldn't *you* want to blast a shot right in the middle of it?
A militia soldier quickly fetched a pair of binoculars. He initially intended to hand them to the Heavenly Lord, but after glancing at the Puppet Heavenly Lord's round, ball-like hands, he decisively passed the binoculars to Bai Mao instead.
Bai Mao raised the binoculars, first scanning the area outside the city walls until he located Fan Shan Yao. Then, he moved the binoculars in front of the Puppet Heavenly Lord. "Heavenly Lord, please observe."
The Puppet Heavenly Lord's eyes were both sewn with thread. As it looked, the threads on one eye bunched up tightly, while the threads on the other stretched wide open, peering into the binoculars...
Outside the city, a tattered banner fluttered, emblazoned with the three characters "Fan Shan Yao." Beneath it was Fan Shan Yao's main camp, and indeed, one of the leading bandit generals there possessed quite a handsome face.
However... how to describe that face?
Handsome, yes, but utterly lacking in charisma.
A person's charisma isn't solely derived from pleasing facial features; it stems from within. The richer one's inner cultivation and knowledge, the more elegantly it reflects in their outward appearance, enhancing their attractiveness even further.
Fan Shan Yao, on the other hand, was the quintessential handsome bumpkin – all good looks, but utterly devoid of inner refinement to back them up. He was only capable of charming the wives of bandits, like Lady Xing; he certainly wouldn't be able to win over any proper young lady of good standing.
The Puppet Heavenly Lord burst into hearty laughter, hands on its hips. "Hahaha, this man is nothing to fear! He's not nearly as handsome as me, after all. Alright, no need to blast him right in the face; other places will do just fine."
Bai Mao remained silent.
Wang Er remained silent.
After a flurry of strange shouts, the bandits outside the city began their assault.
Wang Er swiftly leapt to the front lines, directing two hundred arquebusiers who unleashed a volley of shots. Two hundred garrison soldiers vigorously drew their bows and fired arrows, while Prefect Dou Wenda commanded a large contingent of militia to continuously hurl down rolling logs and tumbling stones.
Pingyang Prefecture city instantly transformed into a colossal battlefield, with arrows whistling, arquebuses roaring, and stones raining down from above.
Thanks to the efforts of the two hundred arquebusiers, the bandit army outside the city was quickly demoralized and retreated in disarray. However, Fan Shan Yao himself hadn't entered the arquebuses' effective range, making it impossible to eliminate the bandit chief. His forces could return at any moment.
Wang Er and Bai Mao used the lull in the fighting to withdraw and rest.
Just then, Prefect Dou Wenda rushed over, his face grim. He asked anxiously, "How much ammunition do your arquebuses have left?"
Bai Mao replied, "Not much... Each soldier probably has a few dozen rounds left."
Dou Wenda stammered, "This... how can this possibly be enough?"
Bai Mao assured him, "Don't worry! Our reinforcements will arrive very soon."—
The reinforcements from Gao Family Village had actually departed two days prior.
It was on the morning after the bandit army's major assault on Puxian that Li Daoxuan, while randomly switching perspectives, found himself viewing through the Puppet Heavenly Lord. He then immediately switched back to Gao Family Village and notified Cheng Xu.
But Cheng Xu didn't set out immediately.
Because Gao Family Village's operations were extensive, he couldn't easily launch an offensive without first securing their base.
Especially complex was the situation at Prison Valley. Gao Family Village's Prison Valley had successively taken in three thousand surrendered rebels, thirty thousand bandit non-combatants (the elderly, weak, women, and children), five thousand hardened brigands lured from the foot of Xicheng Mountain, over two thousand more brigands captured from Wang Guozhong, and ninety thousand surrendered rebels apprehended from Shen Yikui.
The valleys of Huanglong Mountain were now packed with well over a hundred thousand labor reform prisoners.
While Cheng Xu commanded the troops in Gao Family Village, he naturally had no fear of these individuals causing trouble. However, if the entire militia left Gao Family Village and went to Shanxi, those labor reform prisoners would become highly volatile.
Cheng Xu first had to organize the garrison forces before he could launch an expedition.
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