Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Female Bandits (Part 2)
After leaving the injured soldiers’ tent, Jiang Shaohua went to the place where the female bandits were held.
Eight female bandits, differing in height, weight, and age, were tied up hand and foot, unable to move, lying in disarray like pigs awaiting slaughter.
As soon as Jiang Shaohua appeared, her noble bearing was overwhelming, her calmness and sharpness beyond her age hinting at her extraordinary identity.
The female bandits had their mouths stuffed, unable to speak, their eyes filled with pleading expressions. One of them, with a particularly strong will to live, struggled to writhe, lay flat on the ground, and crawled laboriously to Jiang Shaohua’s feet, suddenly kowtowing.
Jiang Shaohua’s brows were stern as her gaze swept over.
This female bandit, with disheveled hair and a blood-smeared face, was unrecognizable. However, she didn’t seem very old. The places where her legs and hands were tied had been rubbed raw by the sturdy hemp rope. Yet, as if she felt no pain, she continued to vigorously kowtow for mercy.
Qin Zhan, who had come in with Jiang Shaohua, furrowed his brows and whispered, "Commandery Princess, this female bandit is the most skilled and was the first to kneel and plead for mercy that day."
Jiang Shaohua nodded slightly and instructed Yin Zhu beside her, "Take out what’s in her mouth. I have something to ask."
Yin Zhu responded, stepped forward, and removed the rag from the female bandit’s mouth.
As soon as the female bandit opened her mouth, she cried out for mercy, "Commandery Princess, spare us! We are just unfortunate people forced into the bandit’s camp, suffering all kinds of torment. They forced us to kill. If we didn’t comply, we would be the ones to die."
"To survive, we had no choice but to endure. Our hands stained with blood, after so long, we accepted our fate. We followed them down the mountain to rob, and sometimes had to kill..."
The other female bandits started crying as well. Their mouths stuffed, they could only let out mumbled cries.
Qin Zhan prided himself on a hard heart, but even he felt a twinge of compassion. Actually, it was because of Qin Zhan’s soft heart that these female bandits’ lives were spared. Otherwise, they would have been slaughtered in the bandit’s camp.
Song Yuan listened to the room filled with muffled cries, furrowed his brows slightly, and said sternly, "Since they’ve become female bandits, no matter how pitiful, they must be dealt with. They can’t just be let go."
Having killed and seen blood, they were no longer ordinary women. Who would accept them if released?
A group of women who had been bandits, unaccepted by society, might revert to their old ways and take up arms to rob again when they had nowhere else to go.
If the Commandery Princess went soft-hearted for a moment, letting a female bandit’s camp go, it would be a joke.
Jiang Shaohua raised her eyes to Song Yuan, "Uncle, rest assured, I am not a soft-hearted person. I kept them for another purpose."
As long as the Commandery Princess has thought it through.
Song Yuan gave a reminder and then fell silent.
Qin Zhan, lacking the ability to understand others’ thoughts, and having less contact with the Commandery Princess while serving in the Personal Guard Camp, was not familiar with her disposition. He bluntly asked, "What does the Commandery Princess plan to do with them?"
Jiang Shaohua calmly replied, "Take them back to the Personal Guard Camp and settle them there."
Qin Zhan wanted to ask more, but Song Yuan had already turned his head to look over. Only then did Qin Zhan close his mouth.
Jiang Shaohua then instructed Yin Zhu to remove the rags from the mouths of the other female bandits and then interrogated them one by one about their identities and backgrounds.
The oldest among the female bandits was thirty-six, the youngest nineteen. Having escaped death, they were eager to lay their hearts bare for the Commandery Princess, speaking without reservation.
"...Commandery Princess, spare us, and we will obey everything the Commandery Princess commands in the future."
"Please give us a way to live. We know our wrongs and will certainly change..."
Jiang Shaohua listened to the room full of crying and pleas, her expression unchanged, her voice clearly reaching the ears of all the female bandits, "Today I spare you from death. However, you are not absolved of punishment. After going to the military camp, you will do the heaviest and most tiring work. If you endure, it will be a way of survival; if not, whether you collapse from exhaustion or take your own life, it is up to you."
The female bandits, at this moment, only sought survival, heedless of these conditions, and nodded fervently in agreement.
Qin Zhan wanted to speak, but once again was silenced by a glance from Song Yuan.
Jiang Shaohua, lacking weapons on her, turned to Song Yuan, "Borrowing uncle’s treasure sword for a moment."
Song Yuan nodded, drew the long knife, and handed it to the Commandery Princess.
Jiang Shaohua moved her right hand, and the bright long knife flashed. The ropes binding the legs of the first female bandit who had spoken were cut in one sweep. The rope around her wrists was cut in another flash.
Song Yuan, having sparred with the Commandery Princess daily, was long accustomed.
It was Qin Zhan’s first time clearly seeing the Commandery Princess in action in broad daylight, his eyes widened like brass bells.
Such a swift blade!
Since when did the Commandery Princess become so formidable!
Jiang Shaohua continued to wield the knife, and in an instant, the ropes on all eight female bandits were gone. Kowtowing and giving thanks became much easier. They each bowed their heads repeatedly in gratitude.
Jiang Shaohua instructed Tu Bai to summon Kong Qingwan.
Kong Qingwan had been staying in the camp for several days, lacking for nothing, yet had grown a bit thinner. Jiang Shaohua glanced at her and instructed, "Here are eight female bandits. Record their identities and backgrounds. In one hour, I will send someone to collect it."
Kong Qingwan responded softly.
...
As the Commandery Princess’s group departed, the military tent contained only the eight female bandits, Kong Qingwan, and four personal soldiers with blank expressions. They watched the female bandits intently, ready to draw their blades at any sign of disturbance or violence.
Fortunately, the female bandits behaved themselves and, under Kong Qingwan’s instructions, sat down.
Kong Qingwan took out a charcoal pencil and paper, starting with the first female bandit.
Which woman who entered the bandit’s camp didn’t carry a belly full of grievances? After only a short while of questioning, the tent was filled with sobbing. Thinking of her own circumstances, Kong Qingwan felt a sourness in her nose.
She paused her writing and said to the weeping female bandits, "If you were male bandits, you would have been beheaded by now, and your corpses strung up."
The female bandits: "..."
Their cries suddenly quieted down significantly.
Kong Qingwan’s eyes were a bit red as she spoke, her voice gentle yet firm, "The Commandery Princess is merciful, sparing your lives is an extraordinary grace. What are you still crying for here? Wipe your tears. In the future, follow the Commandery Princess’s commands to wash away your crimes and become new people."
"Our lives, from now on, belong to the Commandery Princess."
The female bandits nodded vigorously. One of them timidly asked, "We haven’t eaten in two days, and we’re very hungry. Can we have some rice soup to fill our bellies?"
Earlier, when the Commandery Princess was present, the female bandits had focused solely on pleading for mercy. Now that their lives were spared, they felt the hunger gnawing at their stomachs.
Kong Qingwan turned to look at one of the personal soldiers.
The soldier blushed at her gaze, coughed, and said, "Miss Kong, please wait a moment. I’ll go to the kitchen and get some food."
A stick of incense later, a burly man like a black tower came with food.
...