Supreme Emperor of Mist

"Soldiers! Please, spare the villagers and children! Please do not involve them in this cruelty of war!" the village chief kneeled by the entrance of the village and begged the troops to spare them.

And to those participating in the war for their first time, such an experience wasn't an enjoyable one.

It was as if they're waving the blade in their hand around the innocent villager's throat while they accomplished the task given by their squad leaders.

But again, military command was above everything else, including guilt and feelings. This doctrine was the first lesson taught by Qin Lan's trusted educators and instructors back in the Shuiyue's Military Camp.

"Elder, please pack up and follow us as we escorted you back to the City of Yue. As long nobody retaliates and obeys our words carefully, we will not injure anyone. This is the order from our Marquis, please understand." the soldiers cupped their hands while speaking.

"Please, please!" the village chief seems to be unwilling, but it was not up to their decision. Although thing did get rowdier from forcing the villagers to relocate, it was eventually enforced by the soldiers from Shuiyue County.

Of course, the soldiers kept their promises and made sure not a single person was killed nor heavily injured.

As for their suffering, it was expected. Forcefully relocated without ample time to prepare, the villagers had to travel through a two-day journey on foot without enough provision. By the time they saw the City of Yue in their sight, everyone was relieved.

They were hungry and tired.

The villagers were released when they're a mile distance from the City of Yue. The villagers run to the city as quickly as possible. They're afraid that the soldiers were planning to attack the capital while the refugees entered the city.

But nothing they're worried about happened. After the villagers were released, the soldiers retreated. Instead, something else happened around the four entrances to the City of Yue.

"Queue up! Don't push! Those that do not follow the instructions will be kicked out of the city!" said the soldiers serving the county lord. The soldiers were also seen beating the villagers.

"We're the people of his lord too! How can you beat us like this?" a middle-aged man complained and protected the village chief, which is his father, from the soldier's beating.

It did not come to their mind that they'll be treated worst after coming here. The attitude between the Shuiyue Soldiers and Wuyue Soldiers was between heaven and earth.

"Do you think that having this book of record will get you treated differently? Without his lord's order, nobody is allowed to come in and stay in the city! Now, stay out there until you're called!" the soldier used the back of his spear to push the middle-aged man away.

"To think that these were the soldiers that supposed to protect our county from outsiders... I must be blind..." the middle-aged man supported his father and returned to their group.

*Gallop - Gallop...*

An officer-level soldier seems to be coming to the city entrance in a hurry.

"The lord's orders! Those with no registration record in hand will be treated as refugees! Those with the record, come this way!" a city guard's leader said while he's on his horse.

"Father, let's go!" the middle-aged man was happy that their turn is finally here. Supporting his father that had a problem walking due to the beating earlier, the father-son pair quickly went to the officer's side with the officer.

"Guard captain, please have a look. This is our village's registration record. The seven hundred of us are hungry and tired, so please allowed us to get inside the city." the village chief extends the book to the officer on both hands.

"Hmm... Seven hundred people will take quite some time. It will be great if there's some motivation to check the name on the list." the Guard's Captain smiled while showing a sign using his fingers.

It meant, "bribe me."

"You..." the middle-aged man's hand was shaking from anger. It was utterly ridiculous for them to even think about getting a bribe right now. But he has no other choice as the villagers were waiting for them to get everyone inside.

"Captain, please... This is an heirloom jade from our village. I'm sure if you sell it, it can fetch the price of a few..." the experienced village chief quickly placed a jade bangle with decoration engraved on it as a gift.

But instead, he was ridiculed. It seems that the bangle that worth less than a hundred Flesh Foundation Pills was a piece of crap in front of him.

"How dare you try to bribe me with such a cheap gift. Get back right there and wait for your turn." the Guard's Captain said. It seems that the gift wasn't up to his taste.

The captain went to the others after reprimanding the father-and-son duo. Even the jade bangle was broken from his overreacting action.

"Is this still our home?" the middle-aged man asked. After being treated like this, the ember to rebel appeared in his mind.

He was not the only one that was treated this way. At the end of the day, only one village and the people from White Jade Town managed to enter the inner side of the city to rest. As for the others, they're gathered together at the city square. 

They're barricaded like mice to prevent them from going anywhere. In a way, the treatment they received wasn't much different from how the fifteen thousand soldiers were treated by the Shuiyue County's soldiers.

If there's a must to look for a difference, then...

Those captured by Qin Lan's men were able to have a proper bun and water to eat. As for those barricaded in the city square, they're treated even worst than the defeated soldiers.

All they were given was rice gruel mixed with some husks from the wheat and rice. Some lard was added to make the pot of gruel tasted better. But it was no different from drinking water scooped from a puddle of mud.

Such a treatment continued for two more days.

On the morning of the sixth day from when the war started, something else happened.

Some villagers were finally unable to control themselves anymore as they raised their concern to the soldiers guarding against them. This was a joke because the soldiers who were supposed to protect them ended up watching their own people instead.

"When is the County Lord going to release all of us? We're the fellow people of this Wuyue County! We're not prisoners nor refugees!" a few villagers with strength complained after gathering at the senior guards around the square.

Although none of them were armed, getting surrounded by ten to twenty hungry, angry villagers made them felt threatened.

"Back off!" one of the reckless senior guards pulled his weapon to intimidate the villagers from coming closer. And this only made the enmity get deeper. With every minute passed, the situation only gets worst.

Then, a small fight started here and there. Some people were caught for causing trouble. But in the people's eyes, this turned into a scene where the soldiers were treating them unlawfully. Even if they were given plenty of water to wash away this stain, they couldn't.

It wasn't entirely enjoyable to the County Lord either.

With almost 90% of the population of this Wuyue County is here in the City of Yue, it will undoubtedly create a problem for him. The provision that he put effort into collecting was almost finish distributed to the people.

If they don't find another way to bring food into the city, they'll soon fell into famine by the start of next week.

And for the sake of getting support from the other wealthier families living in the capital, the County Lord organized a banquet and invited these people to come over.

When this news about the County Lord organizing a banquet was spread to the people, small riots happened here and there. As there's no fun in a party if it was not accompanied by beauties, those wealthy individuals were paying handsomely to the people for bringing in young maidens.

One thing escalated to another... The ember that barely looked dangerous is now a hidden flame that can no longer be contained.

When the news about the gangs in the City of Yue was working with the large clans to kidnap maidens into their plaything, the villagers could no longer keep their anger in check. The riot grew and immediately swallowed them.

In that night itself, the city went into flames as the villagers grabbed whatever to be used as a weapon. They marched into the County Lord's Residence and forced the lord to come out to give them an explanation.

But what happened shattered their heart. Those people inside the party were indulging themselves in drugs and women. It was two entirely different worlds between the inside and the outside.

And that's including the County Lord. He was accompanied by two young maidens from the village as the middle-aged man.

"Rotten Official! Drag him out!"

"He's unworthy of becoming the ruler of this land! Rebel, let's rebel!"

...

...

Outside the city, Qin Lan was smiling with a bottle of Lotus Fragrance Wine in his hand. It was time for the Shuiyin Battalion to enter and took over it without sacrificing a single soldier.

"Milord, we're waiting for your order." the officer cupped his hand and awaits Qin Lan to give them an instruction.

"Officer, Secretary Qian. Let's enter the city by tomorrow morning." Qin Lan chuckled.