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Living in a place like the Lüliang Mountains meant that everyone carried a shadow of the past in their heart. The situation was inherently unstable, with successive incursions by the Liao people and border troops. Resources were scarce. It wasn't that there were no people who wanted to cultivate the land and live peacefully, but it was common for people to be killed and their possessions stolen after they harvested their crops. No one chooses to take up a knife and rob others from the start, but when they can't survive honestly, and those who survive are hungry and have no legitimate path, they have no choice but to take up a knife and go out.

Mountain villages and strongholds with some strength could hold onto their small plot of land, growing some grain and raising some livestock, but the land itself was never fertile. Besides the shadows of the Liao people and the border troops, there was also the covetousness of the locals. When everyone around was hungry, the better off you were, the more you were envied. The more you were envied, the more protection you needed, and the higher the cost of survival became. The higher the cost of survival, the more ruthless people had to become, leaving no room for compromise, which ultimately led to a downward spiral. Everyone had experienced hunger.

Lu Hongti’s tears at this moment were understood by everyone. They knew her kindness towards her own people, but they wouldn't mistake it for weakness. Even if she didn't utter any harsh words, the people around her could sense her resolve in her eyes. Of course, such words couldn't move those whose loyalties already lay elsewhere. Lu San and the others hesitated for a moment, then gritted their teeth: "What flowery words! You're just clinging to power! I'm no coward either. Now that we've fallen, if you want to make a move..."

"But I'll give you a chance to live." Lu Hongti interrupted him. "Remember what I'm saying, this time I'll spare your lives, and this will be the only time..."

These words caused an uproar. Lu Hongti lowered her eyes, and when she opened them again, her voice, amplified by her internal energy, spread out. Her unhurried voice almost suppressed all the noise in an instant: "I don't know how many of you respect me or don't respect me. This time, I'll let you live, and not only that, but I'll also let you leave! Those of you who think Lu San is right, take your families and belongings and follow Lu San out of here—"

She raised her head, pointed towards the distant gate of the stronghold: "If you think the prospects are good, then follow them to make a name for yourselves. If you encounter anyone you need to rob or kill, then kill them cleanly, and follow your own rules without regard for me, a woman! Those who leave today, our grudges, let’s recalculate it from the beginning. Those who stay are my Lu Hongti's family, they will abide by the rules here, and are willing to listen to a woman's words, I will ensure that you… can survive, have food to eat..." She smiled, "Can live like a human being..."

"But if after tonight, there are still those who are two-faced here. I am a woman, and my abilities are limited, but if I want to kill someone, you won't be able to hide even if you run to the ends of the earth. At that time, I will definitely kill you, and then kill all your family members, to spare them from suffering in this world. I mean what I say."

The night wind was biting, rustling the skirt of the sword-wielding woman in the square. The surroundings were first silent, then there was a slight commotion, with people whispering to each other. What was happening before them was truly rare in this area of the Lüliang Mountains. After all, in any other stronghold, Lu San and the others would certainly be dead, but now the other side was actually giving the other people in the stronghold a choice. Wasn't she undermining her own authority?

But it had to be said that at least some people in the crowd were tempted. After all, Qingmu Stronghold had only unified the surrounding villages in the past because it simply "provided food." People may not have been fully aware of Qingmu Stronghold's situation when they joined, but after they were fed, their own thoughts came alive, and they began to consider whether it was comfortable to be governed by a woman, and whether this stronghold leader was too soft, and so on.

Amidst the slight commotion around them, the rebellious crowd, who had originally thought they were certain to die, were even more astonished, and they discussed among themselves, both puzzled and wary. At the front of the crowd, the tall man standing next to Lu San, after confirming that he wouldn't be killed, looked at the situation around him and suddenly gritted his teeth and stepped forward: "You speak well, but why should it be us who leave the stronghold? We're the ones who built the power of Qingmu Stronghold, why shouldn't it be you..."

"Brother Li!" Lu Hongti coldly interrupted him. "If you say another half a word today, I'll kill you immediately, and then personally send your sister-in-law and niece on their way, do you believe me?"

She swept her gaze over the man surnamed Li, and then over a woman holding a baby in the crowd on the other side. After silently watching for a moment, she walked to the side and waved her hand: "That's it, send them away. Anyone else who wants to leave, leave tonight too. Pack your things, take some dry food."

The crowd was first surprised, then noisy. Some people ran over, seemingly wanting to change Lu Hongti's mind, while others began to say other things in a flurry of voices. But in fact, some arrangements had been made in advance, and the people Lu Hongti trusted most had already begun to take charge of sending people away. Lu Hongti ignored the crowd's noise and sat down on a rock on the edge of the small square, leaning against it. The night wind was blowing, the firelight and starlight mingled together, and she was half covered in blood, but she didn't mind. She just put her feet together, pulled her skirt down to cover her shoes, tilted her head, and looked at the stronghold in the night.

On the other side of the square, the old man she had gone to greet earlier was leaning on his cane and turning to leave.

This was destined to be a restless night. The noise in the stronghold continued. Some people were preparing to leave, some were discussing, and some who had participated in the rebellion were beginning to regret it, kneeling on the edge of the square and saying they wanted to stay. Lu Hongti finally nodded. She left the small square and went to a house on the hillside. Outside the house, the old man was watching the situation in the stronghold in the night wind. Lu Hongti went over to support him: "Grandpa Liang, the wind is strong, let's go inside."

"It's warm tonight. I don't know if what you did today was right or wrong, I'm afraid a lot of people will leave."

"It's troublesome to keep them here."

"That's true. That Young Master Ning, what he said had its reasons."

"Mm."

"But... using Tian Hu's subordinates to do this, I'm afraid it will scare away a lot of people. I'm also wondering if it will scare away too many..."

"If they really can't share our hardships, then let them go."

She helped the old man into the house. The old man nodded and smiled, patting her hand: "In any case, today you truly looked like a stronghold leader. Mu Li is rebellious by nature, seemingly honest but actually cunning. He's always been the most eloquent. You scared him with just one sentence, very good."

"I learned it from someone."

"Oh?"

The old man looked at her. Lu Hongti smiled and lowered her eyes. During the time she followed Ning Yi, although she didn't say much, she tried hard to remember and imitate how Ning Yi did things. Later, she came to the conclusion that "killing the whole family" was the most frightening thing to say. Lu Hongti had practiced martial arts since she was young and wasn't well-educated, otherwise she probably wouldn't have been able to resist taking out a notebook to write it down.

This change in the stronghold had been prepared for in advance. Although it wasn't foolproof, once something happened, many people knew what to do next. When Lu Hongti encountered Cao Hong's challenge, the old man here had already taken control of the overall situation. At this time, the two of them could discuss it here, who would leave, who would stay, and what would happen in the future. As they spoke, the old man also took out the booklet that Ning Yi had given him from the head of the bed, while Lu Hongti sat on a stool on the side, keeping him company.

The booklet contained predictions of this event happening. Of course, Ning Yi could only infer a rough idea based on human nature. Lu Hongti was on this mountain, a woman, unmarried, and the only trustworthy core group was a few people. This kind of state could maintain a small stronghold, but it was destined to encounter various things in the process of growing larger. Family businesses are also difficult to expand for the same reason, there are too few people who can be trusted. These things could certainly be compensated for by the system later, but there had to be responses in the early stages.

Let them gather together, let them rebel, it was easier to quickly expose those who were two-faced. And then simple killing could only be venting anger. At this time, it might be better to take the opportunity to give them a choice. Since there was already a leader, it might as well let the stronghold split once, eliminate these unreliable factors, and then those who remained would be the real ones.

Of course, Ning Yi didn't expect Lu Hongti to consider using Tian Hu's subordinates. It was also that Cao Hong ran into the muzzle of the gun. There were strongholds everywhere in the Lüliang Mountains, and everyone was fearless. Qingmu Stronghold killing Tian Hu's people was a matter that could be big or small. On the one hand, the Jin Prince of Hebei had a large force after all, and the scale of Qingmu Stronghold couldn't compare. But on the other hand, the two sides were still far apart. Although they occasionally interacted and did business, it would be completely thankless for Tian Hu to conquer Qingmu Stronghold. Although Cao Hong came to Qingmu Stronghold to cause trouble and died, the two sides could still talk.

But offending Tian Hu would, after all, create psychological pressure on the people in the stronghold. Some people who were originally on the fence and hesitant might choose to leave at this time. This might also be because Lu Hongti was a woman, and valued emotions. She was very concerned about whether her subordinates were reliable or not. And once this cleansing was over, the vast majority of those who remained wouldn't have to worry about loyalty. When Qingmu Stronghold expanded again, these people could all become the core, and there would be no more worries about not being able to find candidates for "political commissars."

The two talked for a while about the aftermath of dealing with Tian Hu. Lu Hongti suddenly remembered something and asked, "Grandpa Liang, was 'that place' affected?"

"It doesn't seem to be, but let's go take a look."

"Mm."

Lu Hongti nodded, lit a torch, and went out with the old man holding the booklet, turning onto a short path in the forest behind them. In an open space in the forest was a structure that seemed to be half-built. The things hadn't been affected by this disturbance. The old man opened the booklet, all the way to the last few pages, and checked it against the blueprints as usual. Lu Hongti frowned: "It was also my impatience, I should have built it later. In these days, it's possible that someone with ulterior motives saw it..."

The old man shook his head: "It's okay, such a simple thing, how would they know what it's used for? I just don't know... if this thing is useful at all..."

"He said it should be useful..." Lu Hongti looked at the building, reached out and touched the stone blocks on it, "He didn't explain it clearly either, and now we don't have enough materials here, but I think... we should still build it first..."

Time went back more than two months, in the days before she said goodbye to Ning Yi, Ning Yi found her one day and told her something: "I have something that isn't difficult to make, and I don't know how useful it is, but it's worth trying. The raw materials you can find now might be

a little insufficient, but you can make one according to the pattern first, and if you have the chance, try the effect, um... it looks like this..."

Ning Yi gave her several blueprints to look at: "This still needs to be handled with caution, try not to let it fall into the hands of others."

The sound of the wind came from the forest, shaking the light on the torch. In the flickering of the firelight, it dimly illuminated the words and patterns in the booklet. Because the paper wasn't big, it was also written densely, only for descriptive purposes. In a corner folded by the old man's finger were four words at the beginning: Indigenous Steelmaking.

A faint light spread forward, in the open space it was dark and only the outline was visible, that was the unfinished, stone-built...

...half a blast furnace!

The mountain wind stirred through the forest, blowing past the old man and woman in this open space, traveling through the mountains, gradually, like a thunderous roar...

**************

When the wind rises, dappled light.

The crowd that scattered from Qingmu Stronghold divided into different groups and dispersed into the mountains. This side was the largest group, led by Lu San and Li Li. Looking back, the torchlight of Qingmu Stronghold was hidden in the mountain forest over there, like another world.

After leaving the stronghold, it wasn't just Lu San and Li Li who gathered at the front of the group. The initial rebellion couldn't have been organized by just two people. Several other people were also involved, either because they were good at martial arts or because they were clever and could speak well. At this time, they stood up. Now, looking at the firelight of Qingmu Stronghold, they were unwilling, but there was no going back.

"What do we do now?"

"The terrain around here in the mountains is the best on Qingmu Stronghold's side! If we had taken it down today..."

"What's the use of saying this now! I'm going to join Chen Daxing. He eats big chunks of meat and drinks from big bowls, not like this woman who's so fussy..."

"I can't swallow this! Everyone has a share in the stronghold. Now that we've been driven out, are we just going to let it go?"

"Just be glad you're still alive! Can you beat the Lu family's woman? If you could beat her, we wouldn't have come out now. Over there, one man can hold the pass against ten thousand, can you beat Qingmu Stronghold?"

"I thought more people would leave..."

Among the leaders, there were different opinions, but in the end, most people couldn't swallow their anger. Lu San's son had been killed in this change, and he was dragging the young man's corpse behind the group. His eyes were red, and his expression was somewhat dazed: "I won't let it go. I'm going to Tian Hu and tell them that General Cao was killed..."

"What's the point of telling Tian Hu! Lu San, Tian Hu can't control things here at all. What can he do if he takes down Qingmu Stronghold! He'll lose troops and generals and won't get much benefit!"

"Do you think we were just unlucky today?" On the other side, Li Li looked coldly at the surroundings and said, "Liang Bingfu and Lu Hongti, this old man and this young woman, had a premeditated plan, haven't you realized that? As soon as we launched our attack, they immediately killed their way over. They've long wanted to drive us away!"

His words made everyone stunned, and then they suddenly realized: "Liang Bingfu planned it... this old thing, he's really cunning..."

"It's not Liang Bingfu, he's not that capable..." Li Li shook his head.

"Lu Hongti? Impossible."

"How could it be Lu Hongti, what else can that woman do besides being good at martial arts? When the old stronghold leader passed the position on to her, he just thought she was kind and couldn't bear to abandon the people of this stronghold... haven't you noticed? When did the stronghold start to change? Ever since Lu Hongti went south to avenge herself, after she came back, she did so many chaotic things, set rules, did business with people, haven't you all been talking about it..."

"Yeah, it seems like I heard... she met some expert..."

"Brought back a secret manual? It seems like I heard about it."

"What expert... a scholar." Li Li said, "I once inquired about it a bit. After all, Lu Hongti didn't guard against the people around her, and her mouth wasn't very tight at the beginning, some things could still be found out. Lu Hongti met a scholar, who planned these things for her. That scholar was capable, just like Liang Bingfu... Lu Hongti relied on these things to expand the stronghold. I tried several times to find that secret manual, but Liang Bingfu is as shrewd as a fox, I couldn't get my hands on it..."

"Then what do you want to do by saying this now?"

"Heh, what do I want to do... do you know? Lu Hongti wanted to find a family in the mountains to marry casually a few years ago. If someone proposed marriage, she might hesitate, but she wouldn't necessarily refuse completely... although she refused in the end. But since she came back from the south, if someone proposed marriage, she refused them all. She put her mind on the stronghold and didn't marry, what did she want to do? Last year, she went south for the second time, I overheard these things, Liang Bingfu hoped that Lu Hongti would just find that person and marry him, Lu Hongti said no on the surface, but in fact... I saw her expression those few days before she left..."

Li Li snorted lightly: "Grew up in the mountains, and kills people all day long, what does she really know? A woman like that, once she sees the glamorous world, can't take her eyes off it... she's fallen in love with that scholar, too bad the guy doesn't want to come to a place like this with her, hey,

I think, if that man was willing to marry her, she'd probably stay in Jiangnan and be a young mistress, and wouldn't come back, and we'd have fewer things to deal with. But who in a scholarly family would want to marry an unstable woman who's so good at martial arts!"

Li Li's tone was full of belittling. After thinking about it, everyone couldn't help but nod: "So what?"

"What's the point? Heh." Li Li smiled, and then a coldness flashed in his eyes, "Lu Hongti's personality is inherently emotional, she doesn't have any family now, so she has fewer worries. But it seems she likes that man very much. Do you know, the time she went south before the new year, she brought back another booklet. I don't care which stronghold you want to go to, or if you want to go to Tian Hu to complain... I'm going to the capital."

"Ah?"

"I know that person's name, hey, I heard it. Ning Yi, Ning Liheng, the number one talent in Jiangning, but he should be in the capital. Haha, I heard it. I can't beat Lu Hongti, but that person is just a scholar who likes to talk, or some number one talent, I can imagine what kind of person he is, but I don't deny, he has a lot of useful things in his head. You have to have a method for doing things, you have to pinch the soft persimmon, we can't beat Lu Hongti, we'll run to catch a scholar, and naturally it'll be a piece of cake. At that time, I'll make him wish he were dead, and bring him back to Lüliang, with Lu Hongti's personality... then the stronghold will be ours, and the booklet will be ours... Now I'm just asking, who's going to work with me? Hmm?"

In the sound of the wind, there was a moment of silence, and then someone lifted his knife: "I'll join."

Someone next to him said: "Count me in!"

"Let's do it!"

"Haha, catch her lover, and see how arrogant she can still be!"

In the dim light, one after another raised their hands, and after a moment, the atmosphere became heated. Although there were so many people around after leaving Qingmu Stronghold, the road wasn't easy to walk. It was still better now, but in the winter, they would probably go hungry again. Building a new stronghold and gaining a foothold was also a big problem. The best way was still to take back Qingmu Stronghold. At this point, having seen a way to go, everyone's emotions were boiling like a righteous gathering.

The night was still deep. The few people looked to the south in the night wind. In the encouragement of the wind, there was their determination and ambition that seemed to be unable to be blocked even by the mountains. Li Li folded his arms in front of his chest. It was indeed reckless for them to challenge Lu Hongti. They should have taken hostages long ago – at this moment, they finally went in the right direction.

Thousands of miles away, in a room in Bianliang City, Ning Yi turned over, hugging the body of Xiao Chan, who was only wearing a *dudou* (a type of Chinese bodice), and slept soundly. In his arms, Xiao Chan opened her eyes, blinked, and looked at Ning Yi's sleeping face in the dim light. After a moment, she smiled, slightly pouted her mouth, and gently "popped" on Ning Yi's mouth, and then continued to blink her eyes, looking at him, finally giving a small yawn, snuggled in Ning Yi's arms, and continued to sleep happily...

*************

More than five thousand seven hundred words, I really wanted to add two hundred... but I'll skip it, everyone, please give me some votes, number one, recently I feel like I'm doing well...

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