Newly appointed for just a month, Zhonglang General Fan Boqing was in the middle of his meal when a report came in—another group of bandits had surrendered outside the military camp.

He sighed, setting down his chopsticks. How many waves has it been already?

“That old lady sure knows how to stir up trouble! She doesn’t take certain people seriously at all!”

His deputy, Xu Yuan, was puzzled and asked, “General, what’s wrong? This is a great achievement being delivered to us! Why are you sighing? Do you already know who’s behind this?”

Fan Boqing recalled the strange humanoid creatures that had appeared some time ago—so terrifying that upon seeing them, bandits would burst into tears, snot and drool streaming, even losing control of their bowels.

They were no longer the arrogant warlords of the mountains but instead wailed and begged for justice, calling the soldiers their “Great Lord of Justice.”

“Strange things happen every year, but this year is particularly bizarre. Since when do government troops provide justice for bandits? If word got out, wouldn’t it be the biggest joke in the world?”

Hearing their pleas back then, Fan Boqing had sneered, “These bandits have been ruthless for years. Now they’ve met someone even tougher than them—serves them right. This is karma, pure and simple!”

He had them interrogated, punished them accordingly—poisoning those who needed to be silenced, breaking the legs of those who deserved it.

His actions were just as ruthless as Qiao Xin’s methods.

Then, he had his trusted men escort them all to the Prefect’s Office, claiming credit for the capture.

The Prefect’s face had darkened to the color of pig liver, but that wasn’t Fan Boqing’s concern.

Now, another batch of bandits had arrived.

The deputy promptly dragged in a bandit who had only suffered a broken leg.

Fan Boqing began his usual interrogation.

By now, he was more familiar with the process than even the most just magistrate.

After all, anyone who had interrogated bandits every three days for a month would become an expert.

Torture wasn’t even necessary—these bandits were already sobbing uncontrollably, confessing everything. They had spent most of their lives terrorizing others, yet now they themselves had been raided and robbed.

“Who can we even complain to?”

Xu Yuan read through the confessions and was puzzled. “It’s them again? What are they after? If they turned these bandits in directly to the authorities, they could claim the reward themselves. Why give us all the credit?”

Fan Boqing revealed the truth with one sentence:

“They don’t want fame, nor do they want to be a target.”

“Every bandit they’ve sent us so far comes from the northern mountain regions near Laohu Town—not a single one from anywhere else.”

The bandits claimed there were only three attackers—one of whom had a bizarre habit of burying people alive at the slightest disagreement.

That detail confirmed Fan Boqing’s suspicions.

He checked the map and realized that all the disrupted bandit dens formed a protective circle around Laohu Town, covering a hundred-mile radius.

The mastermind behind this was now obvious.

“But in just a few days, their growth has been terrifying!”

Fan Boqing muttered, “I wonder what these bandits did to provoke that slaughtering demon to the point of being wiped out completely?”

Then he noticed something in the confession—the bandits had twice robbed fur merchants on the official road near Laohu Town.

He suddenly recalled a recent letter from his clan.

Everything clicked.

“So they dared to mess with the wrong person. No wonder they’re dead. They got exactly what they deserved.”

After dealing with this batch of bandits, Fan Boqing turned to Xu Yuan and said, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to meet the person behind all this.”

..

Just as Qiao Xin and her group returned home, Fan Boqing and his personal guards arrived at their doorstep.

After exchanging pleasantries, Fan Boqing got straight to the point.

Qiao Xin didn’t bother hiding anything and admitted openly, “Honestly, I had no intention of raiding their lairs in this freezing weather. If those mountain bandits had stayed in their place, I would have ignored them.

But some of them just don’t know their place—robbing every few days, taking goods, and even hurting people. If we hadn’t arrived in time, the villagers would’ve been butchered. It was an eyesore, so I cleaned it up.”

She then smirked at Fan Boqing. “Are you here to seek justice for them?”

Fan Boqing chuckled helplessly. “Madam, what are you saying? How could I be so ungrateful? You’ve done a great service to the people!

However, with all these bandits being delivered to my camp every few days, it wouldn’t be fair for me to take all the credit, would it?

Others might get jealous. How about letting Yunxin and Yunting serve as my deputies? That way, it’ll be easier to explain everything.”

Qiao Xin politely declined. “That’s unnecessary. We didn’t do this for recognition.”

Fan Boqing adjusted his posture and dropped a bombshell.

“Madam, you may not know, but the imperial draft order has already reached me. In half a month at most, the government will start recruiting soldiers. Instead of letting Yunxin and Yunting serve under just anyone, why not let them join me? I’ll make sure they’re well taken care of. With their achievements in eliminating bandits, they won’t have to start as mere foot soldiers.”

“That soon? What about our town?” Qiao Yunxin’s heart sank.

His father had predicted the draft would start next spring.

Xu Yuan explained, “New recruits need three months of training. That’s why the court had to start drafting early. According to regulations, one of the two brothers must go, while the other can pay ten taels of silver to be exempted.”

“That means most hunters from Laohu Town will be conscripted!”

“Yes.”

Half the town’s young men would be taken. If anything happened, who would protect their home?

Qiao Yunxin looked at his mother. “Mother… what do you think?”

Qiao Xin’s gaze was complex. Slowly, she said, “I am not short of twenty taels of silver.”

Qiao Yunxin was stunned, realizing she had misunderstood.

He took a step forward, knelt before her, and said, “Mother, I know. But I can’t live under your protection forever. I want to carve my own path.”

Qiao Yunting hesitated for a moment before also kneeling.

After a long pause, he squeezed out, “Me too!”

Qiao Xin rubbed her forehead and cursed internally. “These two fools!”

She understood the horrors of war.

Once they left, there was no guarantee they would return whole—if they returned at all.

She had known this day would come. But now that it had, she wasn’t as composed as she had imagined.

But Yunxin had to go—otherwise, how would he ever establish himself in the Prefecture?

Since he must go, it was better to negotiate better terms—to keep them from becoming mere cannon fodder.

Before she could bring this up, though, her foolish sons had jumped the gun!

“Useless teammates!”

Seeing Xu Shi crying uncontrollably, Qiao Xin sighed and pulled her up.

“Enough. I won’t play the villain here. Go comfort your wife and children. I’ll prepare supplies for you two.”

…

Qiao Xin worked tirelessly to prepare everything—bows, daggers, blankets, straw sandals, thick clothes, dried food, and medicine.

“Since they must go, all I can do is hope for their safe return.”

As she sat staring at the window, feeling lost, Qiao Yunqing entered.

“Mother, they’re leaving.”

Qiao Xin smiled bitterly. “I know. Now take these out to them.”