Troublesome Little Devils

The general continued, "The Five-City Military Office has already dispatched troops to suppress them."

Fang Qian anxiously cut him off. "Forget everything else. Li Er must be captured. He must not be allowed to escape Youzhou alive!"

"Yes, sir," the general replied.

The general hurried off to make arrangements. Governor Fang Qian let out a loud sigh, regretting that he had not kept a tighter watch, for he knew that Li Er was no spy, but Jili, the Göktürk Khan.

After a night of searching, the Five-City Military Office still came up empty-handed. Not only had they failed to find Li Er, they had not caught the farmers who had broken into the prison and taken the condemned prisoner away.

The next day, Fang Qian sat in the main hall, slamming his gavel as he flew into a rage.

Five generals stood below him, every one of them hanging his head.

Fang Qian roared, "Useless! A pack of useless fools! What am I keeping you people for? You actually let a bunch of farmers break into the prison and take away a condemned criminal! And that's not all—the Five-City Military Office's cavalry, over a thousand strong, chased them all night, only to let those rioters escape into the mountains! You... you are nothing but a pack of worthless trash!"

The five generals below did not dare raise their heads. The one in the middle said quietly, "The moment they left the city, they scattered in all directions. How were we supposed to pursue them?"

Hearing this, Fang Qian shouted furiously, "You... what did you say?"

The general who had spoken steeled himself and continued, "Those so-called rioters are local commoners. They smashed the prison and rebelled only because Your Excellency intended to execute the villagers who had come to lodge