As the sun set in the west, an ox cart slowly drove out of the village. There were several people in the group. Nanshan Immortal pretended to be an ordinary old man, and the rest of the people were serving as sons and daughters, pretending to be a family, and left quietly.
After the sun goes down, half of the houses in the village turn off their lights. There are no entertainment activities these days. The nights are long and candlelight is a waste of money. Unless there are students at home who want to study, ordinary farmers will
In addition to sleeping, I am busy giving birth to children.
Liu Laosan and his wife, Mrs. Liu, have a son and a daughter. In an era where having more children means more happiness, these two are definitely not enough. Today, he finally got rid of those people in the world, and he and his wife are planning to get another one as soon as possible.
Unexpectedly, not long after his house turned off the lights, there was a sudden commotion outside the village. He quickly got up and lay on the window sill to look around. Under the night, the village became brightly lit, and dozens of knights in black were walking through it carrying torches.
Endless.
The sound of horse hooves woke up the sleeping villagers. Under the urging of the village chief, everyone was trembling with fear. The officers who usually carried water and fire sticks were all numb when they saw it. Who would not be frightened to see this group of knights wearing armor and swords?
.
In fact, not only the villagers, but also the village chief was panicking. He had some knowledge and knew who Jin Yiwei was targeting, so he was praying desperately that it was a misunderstanding.
The person who led the search for this village on this trip was General Banner Ji Qianli. He brought several small banners under his hands and dozens of strong men. Now that the villagers had arrived, they took out the sea arrest documents and started questioning them as usual.
"Has anyone seen the person in this painting? This is a prisoner of the imperial court! The laws of our court are strict. Those who harbor criminals will be beheaded. Those who harbor criminals will be punished as members of the same party. Relatives will sit next to each other. Those who fail to report what they know will be punished with eighty sticks and will be sentenced to exile!
"
Ji Qianli's words made the crowd panic again, and the mayor quickly apologized and said with a smile: "Don't worry, sir, we are all honest farmers, and we will never do such illegal things."
"Is that so? I can make my own judgment. If nothing happened, why would I be here?" Ji Qianli's words made him feel as long as falling into an ice cave.
Yes, it is true that the Jinyiwei family has a big business, but there is no reason to use a bull's knife to kill a chicken. There are so many officials in the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen, and it is more than enough to search these villages, so why bother with the Jinyiwei.
Since Ji Qianli showed up here with people, it already means that this place is suspicious.
Seeing no one answered, Ji Qianli asked again: "Who is Liu Dazhuang? Come out and answer!"
This name made the villagers whisper to each other for a while, and they were a little confused. However, it was the village chief who reacted first. His cannibalistic eyes stared at Liu Laosan who was hiding at the end, and he sternly cursed: "Liu Laosan! Your Excellency is here."
I’m telling you, why don’t you come here quickly!”
Liu Laosan walked out with weak legs and feet, followed by his wife and two children. Although they didn't know what happened, it was obviously not a good thing to be named, and the villagers avoided them like the plague.
"Sir, sir! This villain is just an ordinary farmer, he doesn't know anything." Even though his teeth were chattering, Liu Laosan still tensed up his nerves and tried hard not to reveal any flaws.
Ji Qianli narrowed his eyes and looked at him with such evil eyes that the blood all over Liu Laosan's body seemed to turn cold.
Xiao Qi, who was accompanying him, sneered: "Liu Dazhuang, how dare you speak cleverly in front of the general banner master! Someone from the neighboring village reported that you had a private meeting with a strange woman in the forest yesterday! How do you explain it!"
The two villages are not far apart. They are basically farming families, and everyone who comes and goes knows their neighbors well. Liu Dazhuang's family is all farmers, and they don't have any prominent relatives outside.
Moreover, according to people's description, the woman's appearance was outstanding and her clothes were not like ordinary people's. It was these information that made Jin Yiwei suspicious.
"This, this" Liu Laosan also panicked. He thought he was flawless, but in fact the secret was exposed long ago.
He was still planning to fight to the end, but he heard Ji Qianli say quietly: "Liu Dazhuang, think carefully before you reply. If you offend your comrades, not only will you lose your head, but your whole family will not survive."
These words made Liu Laosan break into a cold sweat, and his wife Liu was so frightened that she collapsed in his arms. The two children were still unaware of what was going on, but seeing their parents behave like this, they all felt the same and started crying.
The scene was so miserable.
At this pass, another villager came out of the crowd, knelt on the ground and kowtowed. He cried and said: "Sir! Master! The villain is guilty! The villain is confused! Please forgive me!"
Ji Qianli glanced at him: "Oh? What's your crime? Tell me."
The man quickly shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, no! The villain is not guilty! The villain is innocent! Today Liu Laosan asked the villain to borrow an ox cart. Seeing that he was usually honest, the villain agreed.
I agreed without asking any more questions! I didn’t know that he was related to the imperial convict! My Lord, please spare my life!”
"An ox cart."
Ji Qianli's eyes flashed, and he stared at Liu Laosan coldly and said, "Liu Dazhuang, why did you borrow the bullock cart from him?"
"Little man, little man" Liu Laosan was sweating like raindrops and trembling so much that he could not speak. The two flag officers sneered, pulled out their knives and placed them on the necks of his two children.
The bright knife was unsheathed, and all the villagers were panicked and stepped back one after another. The village chief was also dizzy. With such a stupid family in the area under his jurisdiction, he, the village chief, was probably doomed.
Seeing the knife on the child's neck, Ms. Liu, who was about to faint, suddenly gained strength. She rushed to protect the child and begged for mercy: "Don't hurt my child!"
The two flag officers were as hard-hearted as iron, so they were naturally unmoved. Mrs. Liu cried towards Liu Laosan with tears in her eyes: "Master! Are the lives of outsiders more important than your children?"
Ji Qianli stepped forward, knelt down, put his hand on Liu Laosan's trembling shoulders, and said softly: "Liu Dazhuang, I never hurt innocent people in my actions. If you are willing to tell the truth, I will guarantee your family."
Young and old, your life is safe."
"I"
Liu Laosan is an ordinary person. In his heart, repaying kindness is important, but the lives of his wife and children cannot be lost either. It is the sentiment of a big man to sacrifice his life for righteousness. He is just a farmer.
Finally, Liu Laosan decided to do it. He told him everything he had done in these days, including what Deng Wanshui asked him to do, and the direction in which the oxcart was going.
Ji Qianli nodded with a smile and said: "Abandoning the dark and turning to the light, I think you have some brains. I would like to remind you that if you want to live a good life, you should stay out of the affairs of the world. That is not something you can get involved in."
"Let's go!" Ji Qianli turned around and mounted his horse, greeting people and was about to leave. He had already seen the great achievements waving to him.
The two flag officers glanced at Liu Laosan's family on the ground and asked Ji Qianli: "Sir, how should they deal with it?"
Ji Qianli frowned slightly and said in a deep voice: "I have something to say first. If you are willing to confess, let's forget about it and let's go."
After that, Ji Qianli rode away, leaving the two flag officers standing there looking at each other with confusion on their expressions.
What is Mr. Ji doing? Wasn't that just a trick? When did the Jin Yiwei say they were so trustworthy? Besides, it is true that that family harbored imperial prisoners. Even if they shouldn't be arrested by the Jin Yiwei, shouldn't they?
Shouldn't he tell Shuntianfu Yamen to arrest him?
But since Ji Zongqi had spoken, the two of them, who were younger, naturally did not dare to say anything and rode away on horseback, leaving only Liu Laosan and his family, who were frightened and collapsed, hugging each other and crying bitterly.
My face was full of emotions, but the stone in my heart was truly relieved.
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