Disguised as a man, she became the biggest villain in the book.

Zheng Luoqi hid outside, watching the two inside playing some kind of game of ruler and subject. He observed the situation while waiting for his chance.

The scarred man stepped forward excitedly, told Li San that he was willing to help his lord solve his problems, and led his men out to meet the enemy.

As the scarred man walked further and further away, Zheng Luoqi realized that only Li San was left in the house.

Zheng Luoqi seized the opportunity and quickly climbed over the wall to enter.

After entering the house, she cautiously approached Li San, who seemed to sense her presence.

Just as Li San was about to turn around to check, Zheng Luoqi had already quietly circled behind him and pressed a sharp knife against his back. She lowered her voice and coldly warned, "Don't move!"

Li San felt the cold blade behind him and couldn't help but tremble. He quickly regained his composure and forced a calm demeanor.

"Who is it? Who dares to break in here so boldly? And dares to take me hostage?" Li Sanqiang asked Zheng Luoqi loudly, trying to appear calm.

Zheng Luoqi let out a disdainful sneer: "Tch~ You're just calling yourself King Li, do you really think you're a king? It's one thing to deceive others, but don't deceive yourself too!"

Zheng Luoqi's tone grew even colder: "Tell me, who gave you the audacity to organize a rebel army? Do you want me to guess who your accomplices are in the imperial court?"

"What? I don't know what you're talking about?" Li San was startled at first, realizing that his secret had been discovered, but he still denied it.

"It's fine if you don't want to talk, we have plenty of ways to make you talk," Zheng Luoqi said coldly.

Taking advantage of Zheng Luoqi's inattention, Li San tried to run away, but Zheng Luoqi flew over and tried to kick him to the ground. Li San barely dodged the kick, and the two started fighting. The other soldiers guarding outside heard the fighting and came over to check.

"Men, seize this thief!" Li San ordered his men while fighting Zheng Luoqi.

Zheng Luoqi realized the situation was dire and knew he couldn't delay any longer. Without further hesitation, he acted ruthlessly.

Seizing the opportunity, he launched a flying kick, aiming a vicious blow at Li San's knee. Li San immediately felt a sharp pain and couldn't help but cry out in agony. He then collapsed to his knees, his face pale and writhing in agony.

Li San felt like his knees were about to shatter.

Zheng Luoqi showed no mercy, grabbing Li San's throat with one hand and holding him tightly in her grasp.

Zheng Luoqi looked at the charging soldiers with icy eyes and coldly ordered, "If you don't want him to die, get out of here!"

Almost an hour had passed since Zheng Luoqi sent the signal, and Pei Wenyu and the others had only just arrived at the main camp in the mountain stronghold.

Bo Yu and Prefect Cao led their men in first, and the two saw Zheng Luoqi holding Li San hostage.

Zheng Luoqi understood with a glance and went to do his business with Prefect Cao. Prefect Cao received the look from Zheng Luoqi and immediately understood, leading a group of soldiers to the location of the armory and treasure vault.

Prefect Cao immediately ordered his troops to take control of the two locations.

Li San saw that people had already broken in, and the soldiers were already fighting with the men Bo Yu had brought. Unfortunately, how could these soldiers be a match for Bo Yu and his men? The fight ended in no time.

Looking at the corpses scattered on the ground, despair overwhelmed Li San. His face turned deathly pale as he asked, "Who exactly are you?"

"What? Didn't that person tell you who I am? Oh, it seems they might have been intercepted by my men on their way to deliver the message," Zheng Luoqi said sarcastically.

Bo Yu walked over and knocked Li San unconscious with a single blow, then tied him up and took him away.

"Young Master, the matter has been taken care of!" Boyu reported respectfully.

Zheng Luoqi nodded in satisfaction; everything was under control.

From the very beginning, Zheng Luoqi had Bo Yu use his token to summon the Zheng family army, and then arranged for a fake identity to be used in advance, waiting for news in the house where the fake identity lived.

As soon as Boyu received the message from Zheng Luoqi in the mountain stronghold, he immediately ordered Zheng's army to find the location of the iron and gold mines and sent people to track the movements of the rebel army. On the way, they also discovered the carrier pigeons that Li San was using to contact the imperial officials.

Upon discovering the gold and iron mines, the first order was given to Zheng's army to take control of them. It took considerable effort, but they finally managed to bring the gold and iron mines into their own hands.

On the other hand, Prefect Cao had to take the initiative and control the treasure vault and armory, which were likely to expose the gold and iron mines, in case Pei Wenyu and Lin Zifeng wanted to investigate.

Zheng Luoqi could think of it, and so could they, so they had to strike first and not give them time to react. What good would it do if they realized something was wrong? The matter would already be settled.

By the time Pei Wenyu and Lin Zifeng had brought all the rebels under control, Zheng Luoqi had already resolved everything. She stood quietly, her expression indifferent.

"Lord Zheng, are you alright?" Pei Wenyu and Lin Zifeng rushed over, their faces full of worry, and asked with concern.

Zheng Luoqi remained expressionless and coldly replied, "I'm fine. How's the situation on your end?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, we have arrested everyone and brought them to justice. Please give instructions on the next steps," Pei Wenyu replied respectfully.

“Well done. Please thank General Pei for me. Leave the rest to the prefect.” Zheng Luoqi instructed in a cold tone.

"Prefect Cao, there are still many women and children imprisoned in the dungeon. Make proper arrangements for them," Zheng Luoqi instructed Prefect Cao.

After saying that, Zheng Luoqi set off back to the government office to rest, while Pei Wenyu and Lin Zifeng remained on the ground, looking at each other. They felt that everything was going too smoothly, and they felt that there was something they had not discovered.

That night, the mountain stronghold was ablaze with flames that burned all night long.

The next day, Prefect Cao and Zheng Luoqi discussed matters in the study.

"My lord, what should be done with those women and children?" Prefect Cao asked Zheng Luoqi respectfully.

"Let's build a weaving workshop. Those who are willing to work can stay! Pay them according to market prices," Zheng Luoqi said with a sigh.

Most of the women and children were captured from nearby counties, while most of the men were sent to work in mines, resulting in many deaths. Zheng Luoqi has already sent people to inform these women and children.

Most of these women and children thought that their sons and husbands had just been taken away to work for the bandits, and they didn't know that they were the rebels.

The men, knowing they were to be used as volunteers for the rebel army and forced to mine, mostly wanted to resist, but when they thought of their families being held hostage, they had no choice but to submit.

At first, most of the women and children were very panicked, but later they found that the bandits did not do anything to them. They were given food every day and were not treated too harshly. Gradually, they calmed down. And since men would come back from time to time to report good news, they stopped thinking about it.

Even though they felt something was wrong, they still accepted it.

Little did they know, the men had all been threatened and were only allowed to report good news. Only by calming the women and children and using them as hostages could the miners and those captured to serve in the rebel army be kept from rebelling.

Zheng Luoqi returned to her room and looked at the information about the rebel army that Prefect Cao had confiscated. Thinking of the women and children imprisoned, she suddenly chuckled softly with a mocking tone: "Sure enough, no matter where you are, it's always the common people who suffer."

Just then, there was a knock on the door...