Chapter 327: Chapter 328: As Worthless as Weeds

Ah Qi was well aware of this, so he pointed a finger in the tattooed man’s face and issued a warning.

But this only provoked the tattooed man further.

The tattooed man swung his fist, slamming it hard into Ah Qi’s face.

Ah Qi staggered from the blow, and half of his face quickly swelled and turned red.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, a vicious glint appearing in his eyes.

The next moment, he lifted his leg and kicked savagely at his opponent.

It was an incredibly forceful kick.

Hua Manman could even hear the CRACK of the man’s kneecap breaking.

The tattooed man shrieked in pain, but he still wouldn’t concede. He lunged recklessly at Ah Qi.

And just like that, the two men were brawling.

Hua Manman stood to the side, shouting nonstop.

"Oh no, stop fighting! Please, stop! It’s all my fault. It’s all because I’m no good. Please don’t fight over me!"

Si Yun was speechless.

She was completely dumbfounded.

’The Princess Consort hadn’t done a thing, just said a few words. How had the situation devolved into this?’

’This... this was incredible!’

At first, the other West Liang people nearby were just enjoying the show. Far from trying to break up the fight, they egged them on, seeming to relish the chaos.

It wasn’t until Ah Qi had the tattooed man pinned to the ground and was beating him senseless that they realized things had gone too far. Seeing that the man was about to be killed, they finally rushed over to pull them apart.

Xiao Hong arrived, having heard about the commotion.

His gaze first fell on Ah Qi’s bruised and swollen face, then on the tattooed man lying on the ground, barely breathing. Finally, he looked at Hua Manman, who stood to the side looking helpless, her eyes red.

Wiping her tears, Hua Manman sobbed, "It’s all my fault... *sob*..."

Xiao Hong asked, his expression impassive.

"Who started it?"

Ah Qi, wincing in pain, spoke up. "It was Ai Zhi."

Xiao Hong’s gaze swept over the others present.

No one stepped forward to speak, tacitly confirming Ah Qi’s account.

Xiao Hong looked back at the tattooed man on the ground and said coldly,

"Fighting is strictly forbidden in the barracks. The penalty for violating a military order is death without exception."

The tattooed man’s body trembled.

He no longer dared to feign death and struggled to his feet.

"Young General, spare me! I’ll never do it again..."

Before he could finish, Xiao Hong’s blade flashed, severing his head from his shoulders.

The bloody head fell to the ground, rolling to a stop at Xiao Hong’s feet.

Xiao Hong didn’t so much as glance at it. He sheathed his blade, his cold eyes sweeping over everyone else present.

Everyone was frozen in terror.

Si Yun clamped a hand over her mouth, barely stifling a scream.

Hua Manman’s tears stopped, and her face went white.

’She knew Xiao Hong was no saint, but she never imagined he would kill one of his own men so casually.’

’No wonder he could condone his soldiers slaughtering an entire city.’

’To him, human life was probably as worthless as dirt.’

Xiao Hong left, but the atmosphere remained heavy and oppressive. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Hua Manman was no longer in the mood to stroll around. She turned back, Si Yun in tow.

Ah Qi glanced at the corpse on the ground, stepped over it expressionlessly, and continued to follow silently behind Hua Manman and Si Yun.

Back in their temporary quarters, Hua Manman saw the filth on the floor—

it was what the lecherous man had thrown up earlier.

No one had cleaned it up, so it remained there in a puddle.

Si Yun quickly found some cleaning tools, wiped the floor clean, then went to the kitchen to boil some water.

She placed a cup in front of Hua Manman.

"Drink some hot water. It will help calm your nerves."

Hua Manman glanced at the cup. Only after confirming it wasn’t the one she had used for her foot-washing water earlier did she relax.

She took a sip of hot water. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ah Qi sitting on the ground by the door, his hand pressed against his stomach. It looked like he’d been injured there.

Hua Manman walked over to him.

Sensing someone approaching, Ah Qi immediately looked up.

His expression grew a little awkward when he saw it was Hua Manman.

Hua Manman pretended not to notice his discomfort and spoke nonchalantly.

"I have a question for you."

Ah Qi remained silent.

Hua Manman continued, "Before you all came here, people lived in this village, didn’t they? Where did they go?"

’She had only seen West Liang people in the village, not a single person from Great Zhou.’

’But from the looks of it, the West Liang people had only arrived recently.’

’So where were the original villagers?’

An awful suspicion formed in Hua Manman’s mind.

Ah Qi was silent for a long time before finally speaking.

"They’re all dead."

Hua Manman’s heart sank.

’Just as I thought...’

’Knowing Xiao Hong’s methods, he left no life spared. This village was clearly no exception.’

’They must have slaughtered everyone in the village the moment they arrived.’

Hua Manman was tactful enough not to ask how the villagers had died.

She asked calmly, "And their bodies?"

Ah Qi lowered his head and said quietly,

"They were all thrown into a pit behind the mountain."

Hua Manman pressed her lips together. Without another word, she turned and went back inside.

The door closed behind her.

Ah Qi looked up at the closed door.

His stomach still ached dully, but he was in no mood to rub it.

’He knew he would probably never get to eat such delicious food again.’

But that evening, Hua Manman slid the door open and came out, a sweet, charming smile on her face.

"Ah Qi, shall we eat dinner together?"

Ah Qi froze.

After a moment, he stammered,

"You don’t hate me?"

Hua Manman feigned a pout. "What are you talking about? How could I possibly blame you? I know you have no choice in these matters. Now, come on, let’s go to the kitchen. I want some fresh vegetables tonight."

The three of them went to the cookhouse again.

People were already busy inside.

Among them were two burly men, army cooks in charge of meals. There was also another woman—He Qiuwen, who had been captured along with Hua Manman and Si Yun.

He Qiuwen was hunched over, washing vegetables.

Though her face was pale, she worked quite efficiently.

A pile of washed vegetables was already beside her.

When she saw Princess Consort Zhao arrive, she immediately stood up.

But the next moment, one of the cooks barked at her.

"What are you looking at? Get back to work!"

Startled, He Qiuwen shrank back and went back to washing vegetables, though she still snuck glances at the Princess Consort from the corner of her eye.

’She desperately hoped the Princess Consort would save her.’

However, Hua Manman didn’t spare her a single glance. She walked straight to the cupboard where the ingredients were kept and began picking out what she wanted for dinner.

She handed the selected ingredients to Si Yun.

Si Yun immediately got to work.

Compared to the two cooks’ simple, rough methods, Si Yun’s culinary skills were clearly more refined, and the food she prepared was far more delicious.

Seeing their own cooking get shown up, the two army cooks were quite annoyed.

Hua Manman looked at the food they’d prepared and clicked her tongue.

"No way... seriously? You’re not actually preparing this for the Young General, are you? There’s no way he’d eat this stuff."

Her tone was as punchable as it could possibly be.

The two cooks’ fists clenched instantly.