The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 123: Chapter 123: A Mediocre Man After All

It took them twice as long as usual to finally reach the town.

Ji Huan had thought they were meeting at the academy, but that wasn’t the case.

Song Jing led her through a winding maze of small alleys before stopping in front of a private residence.

Just as he was about to knock, the sound of hurried footsteps approached from within, and then the door SWOOSHED open.

The person who opened the door was about the same age as Song Jing, but with a much rounder build. Combined with the thick winter clothes, he looked like a ball at first glance.

He seemed a little surprised to see Song Jing had brought someone, but he didn’t say much. He just tilted his head toward the courtyard, gesturing for them to enter. "We were just waiting for you."

The entrance to the main house was covered by a heavy cotton curtain. Song Jing reached out, lifted the curtain, and let Ji Huan go in first.

The moment she stepped one foot inside, a wave of warmth washed over her. Several charcoal braziers were burning inside the room.

More than ten people were gathered around the braziers. They all appeared to be students from the academy.

Ji Huan gave the room a quick glance, took in the general situation, and then stood by Song Jing’s side.

"You’re finally here!"

When the others saw Song Jing, they all stood up to greet him.

Song Jing smiled apologetically. "The snowy roads were difficult to travel. I’m sorry to have kept you all waiting."

They were only joking and didn’t really blame him, so after a bit of light-hearted teasing, everyone sat back down.

Song Jing gave half of his stool to Ji Huan. Everyone knew he was an only son and simply assumed this was a younger cousin or some other relative. They didn’t pay much attention and got straight to the point.

"Lu Yu, Li Guanchun, are you two sure you’ve notified everyone?"

The first to speak was Wu Rongying.

He looked older than everyone else present, and judging by his tone, he was likely the one who had organized this gathering.

Lu Yu was the stout young man who had opened the door earlier.

Hearing the question, he huffed, "Li Guanchun and I spent two whole days running around, contacting everyone we could reach. Who knew only this many would show up!"

Li Guanchun, in contrast, was as thin as a beanpole.

Among those present, only he and Lu Yu lived in town, so they were responsible for contacting all their classmates in the town and the nearby villages.

As for the more distant places, the twin brothers Zhang Wen and Zhang Wu were in charge of communications.

Their father raised horses for a wealthy family, so they had a horse-drawn carriage at their disposal, making it more convenient for them to travel long distances than the others.

None of them had expected to gather so few people after several days of hard work. They all felt a bit defeated.

"And they call themselves students of the Holy Books! When the nation is in peril, all they know how to do is hide away!" Zhang Wu said indignantly.

Zhang Wen sighed. "The problem now is, there are only twelve of us in total. What great deeds can we possibly accomplish?"

"We haven’t even started and you’re all getting discouraged!" Lu Yu blustered. "Are we supposed to give up just because they’re not here? It’s better that they didn’t come! A bunch of cowards who cling to life and fear death wouldn’t be of any use anyway!"

Wu Rongying looked at Song Jing. "What are your thoughts?"

Song Jing said, "Whether they come or not is a personal choice. Perhaps they have personal difficulties we don’t know about, or other reasons. We shouldn’t be too quick to blame them. Lu Yu has a point. Regardless of how many people we have, the work still needs to be done. If everyone here does their best, we might just succeed."

Li Guanchun, who had been silent until now, also nodded. "This is the situation we’re in. There’s no use in us moping about it."

"Alright then," Wu Rongying decided, clapping his hands. "Let’s not get hung up on the numbers anymore. Now, let’s discuss our specific plan."

Wu Rongying and Song Jing seemed to be the backbone of the group. Once the two of them set the tone, the others were no longer flustered and began to chime in with their own ideas.

Ji Huan sat quietly beside Song Jing, listening. Only now did she realize that the purpose of their gathering was to calm the public.

After the flames of war were lit, the County Magistrate had immediately summoned the village chiefs of all the towns and villages to the county government, strictly ordering them to ensure the villagers under their jurisdiction were pacified.

But because conscription orders in previous years had always been issued by the government office, and the men were personally rounded up by Government Officials—often with the village chiefs’ cooperation.

As a result, whether it was a notice posted by the county government or a personal explanation from a village chief, the common people remained skeptical and adopted a wait-and-see attitude. This was the reason for the turmoil brewing beneath the surface of calm.

But Wu Rongying had a different opinion.

"I think that’s a minor issue. The common folk are simple-minded. All they care about is avoiding death and conscription. As long as neither of those things happens in the near future, whether they’re pacified or not is unimportant. We should set our sights higher. If we’re going to do something, let’s do something big, like calling on able-bodied young men to voluntarily enlist. It is a man’s duty to protect his home and country. If, under our call, we can form a unit to help at the front lines, the entire Northern Pass will see us as role models! Our fame might even spread across the land, and our names will go down in history!"

His speech was passionate and stirring, but the others just looked at each other in dismay.

Ji Huan hadn’t expected it either. This Wu Rongying, who looked so serious and old-fashioned, was surprisingly hot-blooded to the core.

’It’s just... he’s a bit too hot-blooded.’

Right now, what officials at every level—from the prefecture to the county—feared most was public unrest leading to riots. That was why they were trying every means possible to maintain stability.

And here was Wu Rongying. The government had just promised not to conscript anyone, and he was proposing to go out and call on young men to join the army. He was deliberately stomping on the most sensitive nerve.

The common people were already in a state of panic, seeing enemies in every shadow. How could they be expected to distinguish between volunteering and being forced, between enlisting and being conscripted?

They would definitely think the government was going back on its word, saying one thing and doing another—that they had just changed the phrasing and the method, but in the end, they were still going to conscript people!

If another incident like "the hearts of all, within and without, trembled with fear, and the ignorant masses, telling one another, fled with the old and young into the mountain valleys" were to happen, stabilizing the situation would be incredibly difficult.

At that point, no matter what the government office or the village chiefs said, no one would believe them. It might even lead to greater conflict.

Besides, without an official order from the court, not even the County Magistrate of Yeyang would dare to privately raise an army, let alone a group of students like them who held no official rank. Who could tell if they were trying to defend the country or start a rebellion?

Even if they had the purest of patriotic hearts, if they just threw together a ragtag group and charged to the front lines, would they be helping or just getting in the way?

What’s more, the feeling Wu Rongying gave her wasn’t one of selfless public service, but rather a desire for fame.

Of course, she couldn’t just voice her thoughts out loud. She turned her head to look at Song Jing and saw, as expected, that his brow was slightly furrowed.

But Wu Rongying just had to go and ask for Song Jing’s opinion.

Song Jing chose his words carefully before speaking. "Brother Wu, your noble intentions are admirable, but this matter is somewhat inappropriate. After all, we would be acting without proper justification, which could easily bring trouble upon ourselves. If the court truly issues an order for recruitment, then we will naturally have nothing more to say. But for now, we have heard no news of defeat or a shortage of soldiers. We can afford to wait and see."

His words won the agreement of everyone present, except for Wu Rongying.

Wu Rongying hadn’t expected that Song Jing, the one he had always admired most, would reject his idea.

’Hmph. Talented, but gutless. Just a mediocre man in the end!’

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