"What, what exactly happened?" Ye Shikai stood up abruptly. The soldiers caused trouble, murdering in the street, and in a crowded marketplace no less. At any time, this was an extremely heinous act. In times of chaos, there were plenty of "butchers" who murdered the innocent indiscriminately, but Ye Shikai was definitely not such a person. He always emphasized military discipline in governing his army, and there has never been an incident of harming civilians.

Moreover, they had just arrived in Linxiang City, and in less than two hours, such a reprehensible event had occurred. No wonder Xue San came in directly to report it.

"General, several of our brothers were drinking at the market, and due to price issues, they got into a verbal dispute with the shop owner. In a moment of panic, our brothers resorted to violence. Due to their drunkenness, their actions were excessive, and they ended up killing the shop owner."

Ye Shikai angrily slammed the table. Murdering in the marketplace, soon this matter would spread throughout the streets and alleys of Linxiang City. Tens of thousands of citizens in the city would discuss it. If the situation were serious, not only Ye Shikai, but the entire army would be disgraced.

"Where is the soldier who committed the murder now?" Ye Shikai sorted out his thoughts and asked urgently.

"I intended to send someone to capture him, but as the brothers reached the entrance of the market, the road was completely blocked by countless civilians. They refused to let us take away the soldier who committed the murder. I was worried about causing a bigger conflict, so I didn’t forcefully disperse the civilians."

"You did the right thing. If the commotion got bigger, the situation would be even harder to manage." Ye Shikai nodded, sorted out his armor, and quickly rode off.

The marketplace.

"Quickly, fellow villagers, these soldiers have killed a man. We must not let them leave."

"Yes, block them."

The vast Linxiang City was crowded with countless civilians blocking the road. The market was originally at a crossroads, and civilians surrounded all four roads, blocking them completely. Ye Shikai hurried over with his guards, and many city soldiers were already out maintaining order, but they could only block the civilians. After all, compared to the tens of thousands of civilians present, the number of soldiers was indeed insufficient.

"Mr. Sun, you’re here too." Ye Shikai spotted Sun Feng in the crowd and immediately approached him.

"General Ye, you’ve finally arrived." Sun Feng saw Ye Shikai and, driven by urgency, didn’t have time to salute.

"How is the situation?"

"It’s terrible. The civilians have blocked the nearby roads. However, I’ve already ordered the soldiers to disperse the civilians," Sun Feng said.

"No, you mustn’t. If there’s another conflict with the civilians now, public resentment might boil over. We absolutely must not." Ye Shikai immediately stopped him.

"Then what should we do? So many civilians are gathered here. If we don’t handle this, it might cause trouble."

"Leave it to me." Ye Shikai, with his guards, walked toward the crowd. Seeing soldiers approaching, the civilians stepped forward to block them.

"Fellow villagers, we are performing our duties. Please make way."

"What duty? You obviously just want to take the murderer back to the camp. Do you think we’re easy to intimidate? Fellow villagers, we absolutely will not agree."

"No agreement."

"Absolutely no agreement."

"Everyone, please listen to me," Ye Shikai shouted loudly, but his tone was not impatient. Arguing wouldn’t solve the problem, and violence should be used even less.

"Everyone, my subordinate made a mistake and accidentally killed a civilian. It’s my failure to manage them strictly. There will be military law to deal with them, but standing here will do no good. On the contrary, it will hinder the process."

"Humph, who knows how you’ll deal with them after taking them back? They are your people. You’ll surely protect them."

"Yeah."

The civilians shouted loudly, evidently distrusting Ye Shikai. This was understandable, after all, everyone has a tendency to protect their own. Blood for blood, these people certainly didn’t believe Ye Shikai would deal "justly."

"Everyone, my subordinates and I have just come from East County, where we saved 120,000 civilians. To rescue them, nearly 10,000 brothers lost their lives. There is already a bounty on my head worth thousands put up by the court. Please believe me."

"Why should we believe you?"

"Yeah, your subordinate just arrived and killed a civilian. Why should we believe you’re telling the truth?"

"Everyone, my brothers and I have fought for the civilians. Back in East County, we were willing to risk execution to rebel against the court to save those civilians. We fought 20,000 against 90,000 Qin soldiers. If it weren’t for the civilians, why would we go to our deaths?"

"In front of heaven and earth, in front of all the civilians of Linxiang City, here I swear, if I condone corruption and shelter this murderous soldier, may I be cursed by all the people under the heavens and die a horrible death." Ye Shikai raised his hand to the sky and shouted loudly. The civilians in attendance began to discuss among themselves. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"I heard the falling star had descended in East County, and the authorities wanted to kill the nearby civilians. It was this General Ye who, with his subordinates, saved these civilians, which is why he came south to us."

"Yes, I’ve heard this General Ye is skilled both in literature and martial arts and possesses unparalleled talents. Back in the north, he even drove back tens of thousands of the Wolf Clan."

"If this General Ye really has such skills, he shouldn’t be a deceitful man."

"Yes, with so many people present here, and given how firmly he speaks, he probably won’t go back on his word."

Before long, the "human wall" formed by the civilians gradually dispersed, opening up the road in the middle. Ye Shikai immediately ordered his guards to take away the murderous soldier. His body was covered in injuries, probably from being beaten by the civilians. A few other drunken soldiers stood by with their heads lowered. Although they didn’t commit the murder, they were accomplices, and according to military law, they couldn’t escape punishment either.

"Take them all back."

"Yes."

"Yes."

........................

Military camp.

"General Ye, such great prestige. I hear your men killed a civilian just an hour after entering the city." Just as Ye Shikai was troubled, a voice full of "sarcasm" came from the door. Looking up, it was Mi Wen.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am the lord here, the civilians of Linxiang City are my people. Your men killed someone; how could I not know, and how could I not care?" Mi Wen said mildly.

"It’s my fault, my fault." Ye Shikai beat his chest in frustration. "If only I had cautioned them more, urged them to pay more attention to military discipline, such a thing wouldn’t have happened."

The trouble caused by the soldiers naturally involved the commander’s responsibility. He lamented over the soldiers’ hard journey, but didn’t imagine this kind of situation would arise.

"How do you plan to deal with it?"