Chapter 613 – Side Story: The Empress’s Growth Diary【3】
What do bandits do?
They are ruthless criminals who thrive on burning, killing, and plundering, exclusively engaged in bad deeds, harming others for their own gain.
However, ever since a ferocious female bandit leader arrived on this mountain, the gang has realized they can rebrand themselves as “Lei Feng.”
“Hey, do you guys think… our leader has a screw loose? We’re bandits, not government officials! We’re just supposed to rob and kill! Why do we have to plow fields and do all this awkward stuff? It’s downright embarrassing!”
One bandit slyly pointed at his own head, sneaking a glance at the center of their stronghold.
“Who cares if her head’s messed up? We’re still not strong enough to confront her.” Another patrolling bandit whispered, “She can smash your head to bits with one punch. Who would dare provoke her? Didn’t you see what happened to our previous leader? He got his neck snapped like a twig between two fingers—dead in no time. I saw his tongue hang out like a long noodle.”
The bandit stronghold was a gathering place for men, where a woman’s only role was to warm the bed and fulfill desires.
Yet, a fierce woman dropped in and knocked out all the “big men” of the gang in one go.
Initially, they were terrified of her martial prowess and had no choice but to submit.
After a while, however, some of the original leaders grew dissatisfied with her “tyranny” and staged a severe protest.
Men, especially those hot-blooded and used to a wild lifestyle like bandits, can’t stand living without women!
Unfortunately, the women captured from raids were released by the female bandit leader, leaving only her as the sole woman in the entire stronghold.
In a whirlwind of emotions, the original leaders planned to ambush the new female head, binding her to use as entertainment.
The result… well, it was predictable. Before they could even make a move, the female leader struck first, killing them on the spot in front of all the brothers, snapping their necks like twigs, and feeding their bodies to tigers she had caught.
The memories of that brutality sent shivers down the spines of the other bandits.
From that day on, the men in the bandit stronghold were left psychologically scarred; those who could escape did, while those who couldn’t curled up, trembling and working under the female head, too scared to look her in the eye, lest they suffer the same fate as the tigers.
“Hey—don’t scare me; I’m a coward! I had nightmares for over half a month after that day—”
The bandit shivered at the thought of internally mocking the female head just moments ago.
On the other hand, Jiang Pengji was too lazy to care about such rumors.
To her, whether these bandits were loyal or not didn’t matter. What mattered was—were they obedient?
“There are so many bandit strongholds nearby?”
She promoted a rather clever bandit to be her military adviser.
It’s said that before turning to a life of crime, he was a well-known scholar who had studied for a couple of years and could read a few characters.
“Sigh, these past years have been tough—how many common people can’t make ends meet? Those high-ranking officials only care about themselves. Do you know how much tax one family has to pay all year? How many people have been driven to death? If they can’t survive, they only have the option to become bandits. That’s why there are so many bandit strongholds around.”
Jiang Pengji frowned.
Tax?
“Can’t pay the tax; will it really drive someone to death?”
She rarely spoke, and when she did, her accent was peculiar, making her speech sound quite awkward.
The military adviser was taken aback.
Where on earth was this leader from, that she didn’t even know about such matters?
“Of course! If they can’t collect taxes, folks have to sell off everything they can, and if there’s a pretty daughter at home, they might even sell her… Sigh, anyway, terrible things happen all the time. In this day and age, being born is just a ticket to suffering.”
Jiang Pengji fell silent for a moment.
She remembered that Widow Zhao’s husband was violently shoved by tax officials and accidentally fell, hitting his head on a rock and dying.
Every time that incident was mentioned, Widow Zhao’s face would turn pale, her eyes filled with despair and pain.
The current situation was dire, with many common people turning to banditry.
The officials were too lazy to control these bandits, and rooting them out required tremendous manpower, resources, and finances, all of which were continuously siphoned off. Thus, the bandits grew more rampant, burning, killing, plundering, or fighting among themselves to swallow each other up. Jiang Pengji had only recently taken over the stronghold when other “fellow bandits” knocked on her door. They heard a new head had taken over and assumed the stronghold was weakened, ripe for the picking.
But the outcome was often unpredictable.
Not only did they fail to rob her stronghold, but they were also ambushed at their own lair by Jiang Pengji and her band of underlings.
She unemotionally counted the various “earnings.”
“No wonder so many people become bandits; robbing does pay off quickly.”
The kneeling bandits trembled, some even losing control and wetting themselves in fear.
It wasn’t their cowardice; it was Jiang Pengji’s ruthless nature.
She had pressed through the stronghold entrance, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake, her presence oozing the aura of a hellish specter.
Bandits are braver than ordinary folks, but at the end of the day, they are still just mortals. How could they withstand her overwhelming aura?
For others, an aura is built over time, but for her, it was about mental oppression, forcefully branding them into submission in their minds, leaving them completely devoid of any rebellious spirit when facing her.
With this “financial windfall,” Jiang Pengji grew even fonder of stirring up trouble.
On one hand, she increased the “extra income” for the stronghold, and on the other, expanded her territory and workforce.
Gradually, Jiang Pengji became a well-known bandit throughout Hejian County. Some bandit strongholds no longer needed her to raid them; they proactively came to affiliate themselves with her. In just half a year, her stronghold’s population grew from dozens to four or five thousand, directly alarming the Hejian County Guard!
The Hejian County Guard was on edge, fearing Jiang Pengji was up to no good. Yet, Jiang Pengji was not that bored; instead, she kept her underlings in check and established several strict rules, promising immediate execution by tiger if anyone violated them.
However, if the bandits had no grey income, how would four to five thousand people survive?
Naturally, there were ways. Jiang Pengji had the bandits open up wastelands and become self-sufficient while selectively training the more promising bandits in martial arts, allowing them to escort merchant caravans for a certain “protection fee.”
Now that chaos was brewing, business wasn’t easy; merchant caravans often fell victim to bandit attacks.
Some lost riches; others lost their lives, resulting in total ruin.
Many merchants were hearing for the first time that bandits didn’t rob and kill; instead, they were acting as bodyguards!
But really, wouldn’t they end up stealing from their clients?
With no “fellow competitors,” receiving business was relatively straightforward.
They set up on main roads, projecting a vibe of “one man can hold off a thousand,” forcibly “bumping” into others to receive protection work.
So, would the merchants prefer to pay a little for their protection or wait to be completely robbed clean?
Many merchants were left fuming yet powerless; they could only hold their noses and endure.
