A woman adorns herself for the one who pleases her; a scholar dies for the one who truly understands him.
In the feudal era, few common people could read or write. Their simplicity was so pure that it bordered on foolishness.
Many assassins were willing to die for a powerful figure simply because that person had treated them to a meal and pretended to show humble respect by praising them a few times.
There were also many women who, after losing their husbands at a young age and becoming widows, could easily remarry but stubbornly refused, choosing instead to live alone until old age.
Many things that Jin Feng could not understand were commonplace in the feudal era.
The female workers on Iron Can Mountain were a typical example.
When Jin Feng attacked Iron Can Mountain back then, it was not to rescue the girls who had been reduced to “meat horses” in the mountain. The bandits had provoked him first.
In fact, Jin Feng only learned of the existence of “meat horses” in this world after he had already captured Iron Can Mountain.
Saving them was merely something he did in passing.
His original reason for buying female servants from the Guangyuan牙行 was partly sympathy, but mostly because the soap factory was expanding rapidly and he needed them for labour.
Yet the female workers did not see it that way. In their simple and pure worldview, Jin Feng was their lifesaving benefactor.
Therefore, even when Tang Xiaobei, because of the soap formula, forbade the Iron Can Mountain female workers from leaving the mountain, they never once complained.
Jin Feng had once felt guilty about it and tried to gradually open up Iron Can Mountain, no longer restricting the female workers from going down.
The ones who opposed it most fiercely were not Tang Xiaobei, but the female workers themselves on Iron Can Mountain.
This was the difference in values caused by different eras.
No matter how Jin Feng viewed the practice of taking concubines, in the hearts of the Iron Can Mountain female workers, once they received the marriage certificate sent by Guan Xiaorou, they became part of the Jin family.
Most importantly, they did not want to lose to the textile mill female workers.
Even some of the more timid female workers who did not want to fight felt too embarrassed to keep their hands down when all their companions had raised theirs.
In the end, every single female worker raised her hand and signed up.
This actually put Zuo Feifei in a difficult position.
Iron Can Mountain also needed people to stay behind. She could not take every female worker away.
After a moment of thought, she said, “The team leaders will arrange a lottery. Those who draw two stripes will go; those who draw one stripe will stay to guard the mountain. No one is allowed to look at anyone else’s draw. Otherwise, they will be locked in the small dark room!”
In this way, if someone did not truly want to go but had raised her hand out of embarrassment, she could still stay behind.
No one would know what she had drawn anyway.
While the team leaders were organising the lottery, a man with his left eye covered by a black cloth and a ferocious knife scar across his face came running up the mountain in a hurry.
He was Qin Fei, the platoon leader of the escorts stationed to guard Iron Can Mountain.
He had previously served in the Iron Forest Army. During Jin Feng’s attack on Qingshui Valley, a Dangxiang soldier had slashed his face with a blade, blinding him in one eye.
After retiring from the army, he joined the Zhenyuan Escort Agency and was sent by Zhang Liang to defend Iron Can Mountain.
The escorts were usually stationed at the foot of the mountain and rarely came up. Qin Fei had only just received the news that Zuo Feifei was gathering the female workers to intercept the bandits.
He was shocked and immediately rushed up the mountain.
“Factory Head Zuo, I heard you are planning to take the female workers to stop the bandits from Guazi Gully?”
“Yes,” Zuo Feifei nodded and said, “Platoon Leader Qin, you came at the perfect time. I was just about to go and find you.”
Qin Fei did not ask what she wanted him for. Instead, he stared at her and demanded, “Do you know what you are doing? Bandits will kill people!”
“Of course I know bandits will kill people. That is exactly why we must do this!”
Zuo Feifei said, “The area around West River Bend is all open ground, and the forts at the village entrance have already been destroyed by the bandits. If we let them pass, many people in West River Bend will die!
We on Iron Can Mountain clearly have the chance to stop the bandits, yet if we sit idly by, how can you and I explain ourselves to Mister when he returns?”
“This…” Qin Fei was stumped.
The terrain around Iron Can Mountain was mostly mountainous. From a geographical standpoint, it was indeed far more suitable for intercepting bandits than West River Bend.
Moreover, the female workers had volunteered to join the fight.
If he and Zuo Feifei refused, it would indeed be hard to justify.
Qin Fei noticed that the female workers had already begun collecting crossbows. Knowing the matter was beyond reversal, he gave up trying to dissuade them and asked, “Factory Head Zuo, how do you plan to fight?”
“I do not understand warfare. I was just thinking of coming to discuss it with Platoon Leader Qin, but before I could go, you arrived.”
Zuo Feifei said, “What does Platoon Leader Qin think we should do?”
She had been bought by Jin Feng from elsewhere. Since coming to Iron Can Mountain, she had rarely gone down, so she was completely unfamiliar with the surrounding terrain.
Qin Fei’s hometown, however, was near Iron Can Mountain. His grandfather and father had both been old hunters, so he knew every hill and every ravine in the area intimately.
But Qin Fei did not answer her question immediately. He frowned in thought for a while before saying, “Since Factory Head Zuo puts it that way, I will not hold back! If we must fight, I believe we should strike at Yangjuan Ridge!”
“Why there?”
“On one side of the official road at Yangjuan Ridge is a sheer cliff, and on the other is a steep mountainside. It is the perfect place for an ambush. Moreover, it is the only route the bandits from Guazi Gully must take to reach West River Bend. If they want to avoid it, they would have to detour dozens of li!”
Qin Fei continued, “Mister always said that in battle it is best to wait at ease for the weary enemy. Yangjuan Ridge is very close to Iron Can Mountain. We can reach it in the time it takes to burn two incense sticks and simply wait for the bandits to arrive!”
“It seems Platoon Leader Qin has already thought it through. Then we will do as Platoon Leader Qin suggests!”
Zuo Feifei nodded and then asked, “Does Platoon Leader Qin have any other instructions?”
“Other than that…” Qin Fei thought for a moment and said, “In addition to the crossbows, Factory Head Zuo, please send people to cut some bamboo. Also, bring all the pot lids from the canteen!”
“Cut bamboo and bring pot lids?” Zuo Feifei wondered if she had misheard. “Why?”
“I have watched your training. The girls are fine with shooting arrows and operating catapults, but if it comes to close-quarters blade combat, I am afraid they will not manage.”
Qin Fei explained, “So I want to use the formation Mister employed at Qingshui Valley. That way, we can minimise casualties to the greatest extent.”
Although Zuo Feifei very much wanted to ask what formation Jin Feng had used at Qingshui Valley, she knew this was not the time to press for details. She chose to trust Qin Fei and immediately arranged for people to go to the bamboo grove to cut bamboo and to the canteen to fetch the pot lids.
By the time the bamboo arrived, the female workers were also fully prepared.
Qin Fei gave each of them a sharpened bamboo pole. The female workers then lined up and set off towards Yangjuan Ridge.
On the way, Zuo Feifei finally found the chance to ask Qin Fei about Qingshui Valley.
Qin Fei recounted how Jin Feng had received emergency orders, led several thousand Iron Forest Army troops, turned the tide at a critical moment, and defeated the Dangxiang forces.
As one of Jin Feng’s admirers, Qin Fei could not help but embellish the story a little during the telling, making an already intense battle sound even more thrilling and heart-stopping. Zuo Feifei listened in stunned silence.
In her impression, Jin Feng had always been a gentle and refined scholar. On Iron Can Mountain, he was often teased by the girls until his face turned red and he fled in embarrassment.
But today, from Qin Fei’s mouth, she learned another side of Jin Feng.
She also learned what the Macedonian phalanx was.
Looking at the mountain path of Yangjuan Ridge before her, Zuo Feifei nodded slightly. “This place is indeed very suitable for the formation Platoon Leader Qin described!”
