Zhou Cang saw that everyone else had stopped, but he was the only one who had not yet resolved the battle, and couldn't help but feel anxious in his heart.
He and Wang Meng have different ambitions!
Wang Meng has gone through the world, growing up from an ordinary hunter to a commander of the Yellow Turban Army; and then from a commander to an ordinary hunter. To a certain extent, Wang Meng has completed a reincarnation. After being mediocre, he has also experienced
He has experienced glory, fallen to the bottom, and then returned to mediocrity. He no longer has the idea of competing with others, and only hopes that Wang Mai will not repeat the suffering he has experienced in the future.
Therefore, Wang Meng chose the Tiger Army.
One is that he has a chance to succeed, and the other is that he also has a backer.
Six hundred stone salary was enough for him to support his family. Moreover, in the Huben Army, Wang Meng did not need to be in battle and rely on military exploits to gain promotion.
Zhou Cang is different, he is still passionate.
Although he also experienced miserable failures and even almost lost his life.
But he still hopes to fight on the battlefield and rely on his martial arts to win fame. Therefore, he is unwilling to join the Huben Army, but chooses to stay in the Cao family. Although Zhou Cangmang is very thoughtful, speaking of it, he is very careful about his thoughts.
The Cao family has put in a lot of effort.
Deng Ji killed Cheng Yao in Runan, and then served as a member of the Huben army, and had close contacts with Guo Jia.
Cao Ji studied his skills diligently and became extremely skilled in making swords. Sooner or later, he would be reused. But what made Zhou Cang determined was the fact that Cao Peng, Cao Zhen and others worshiped Jinlan in prison, and achieved the name of Xiaobayi...
People are not simple, and Cao Peng's future is equally bright. Zhou Cang felt that he might have more opportunities if he stayed in Cao Mansion. As expected, Cao Ji became the supervisor, and Deng Ji also became the head of the county. This made
Zhou Cang is more confident! He knows that as long as he follows the footsteps of the Cao family, he will surely prosper in the future.
But now, even a small horse thief can't be solved.
The people around him had already solved the battle, even Cao Peng had killed two of them. How could this make Zhou Cang feel so embarrassed?
"Xiahou, don't interfere."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xia Houlan approaching him holding a silver gun worth two feet.
Zhou Cang suddenly became anxious and quickly stopped Xia Houlan's actions with a tiger's roar.
In fact, Zhou Cang was unlucky. There were so many horse thieves, but he chose the one with the best skills. The opponent's martial arts was slightly inferior to Zhou Cang's, but the difference was not much. And judging from the situation before the battle, this
Horse thieves are battle-hardened and experienced.
Zhou Cang is angry!
His body suddenly stepped back, but the moment he stepped back, his other foot took a big step forward.
The moment you stamp your feet, exert force on your waist and hips.
After all, he is a master of Yijin level. He retreats and advances calmly and leisurely.
There was a broad-backed machete in his palm, and the knife went with him, slashing out in a very strange way. The opponent was caught off guard and was almost hit by Zhou Cang. In addition, he was the only one left. Although his fists and feet were not messy, he was still a little panicked. This
When you panic, your flaws are exposed.
Zhou Cang has been waiting for this moment for a long time!
He shook his Dantian and suddenly let out a loud roar.
The broad-backed machete struck out with thunderous force, completely covering the horse thief. The horse thief wanted to retreat and dodge, but he didn't expect Xia Houlan to be standing behind him. The moment Zhou Cang drew the knife, he took a small step.
.Don't underestimate this small step, it will make the horse thief confused.
After half a year of practice, Xia Houlan calmed down and his martial arts improved greatly.
Especially watching Cao Peng and others practice martial arts, and later when Cao Peng, Wang Mai and others explained the principles of fist and kick, Xia Houlan was also listening. When it comes to martial arts, ten Cao Peng may not be as good as Tong Yuan's stick.
Fingers. But when it comes to explaining the principles of fists and kicks, Cao Peng is ten times better than Tong Yuan. He often teaches Wang Mai and Deng Fan in an easy-to-understand way. Xia Houlan listened on the side and also gained a lot. In half a year,
, even Xia Houlan himself could not have imagined that he would reach the Yijin level without knowing it.
His strength increased greatly and his martial arts skills skyrocketed.
A silver gun worth two feet seems to have connected with his thoughts.
Therefore, one small step he took was enough to make the horse thief tremble with fear.
Facing two masters of muscle-changing at the same time, the horse thief will still feel fear no matter how courageous he is.
His mind was in a state of confusion, and suddenly there were many flaws. It turned out that there was nothing surprising about Zhou Cang's sword, and it was all based on his strong momentum.
Under normal circumstances, the horse thief could easily dodge.
But at this time...
There was only a clang sound, followed by a scream from the horse thief, who was cut in half by Zhou Cang's diagonal knife.
In an instant, there was silence in Gaoyang Pavilion. All the horse thieves closed their mouths. No matter how painful they were, they did not dare to make any sound at this moment.
These guys are obviously not ordinary passing merchants.
The white-haired old man walked up to the young horse thief, leaning on a bamboo stick.
"You are a naughty son. You usually just steal chickens and dogs, but now you dare to steal horses... I will beat you to death, I will beat you to death, you are an unfilial son!"
The bamboo stick hit the young man head and face.
Cao Peng stood aside and did not stop him.
At this time, Deng Ji and Pu Yangkai also came out under the protection of Wang Mai and Deng Fan.
Upon seeing this situation, the two of them immediately cried out and regretted that they had missed a good opportunity to practice their skills.
The old man beat the young man until his nose was black and his face was swollen, then he dropped his bamboo stick, staggered to Deng Ji and others, and knelt down with a plop.
"Sir, please forgive me for this kid. He just, he just doesn't know the seriousness and was blinded by the bad guys."
"Old man, please get up quickly."
Deng Ji quickly asked Wang Mai to help the old man.
This old man is the chief of Gaoyang Pavilion. Although he is old, he knows it very well.
People like Deng Ji are not ordinary businessmen, but court officials. In other words, their horses are called official horses. According to Han law, those who steal official horses will be tattooed, and then they will be forced to do hard labor on the border. The old man can see this too.
It turned out that Deng Ji was the leader of this gang, so he knelt down and cried bitterly.
"this……"
Deng Ji hesitated.
He has a criminal name and is inevitably a bit old-fashioned in his temperament.
It's just that this old man has gray hair and is over sixty years old, but he still works in this small Gaoyang Pavilion.
Logically speaking, since he is the head of the pavilion, he should also have handymen under him. But looking at the dilapidated appearance of Gaoyang Pavilion, he probably does all the work for him alone.
"Deng Haixi, wait!"
Cao Peng suddenly stood up and stopped him in a deep voice.
The old man looked at Cao Peng with tears in his eyes.
He didn't understand why this handsome young man wanted to stop him?
"Afu, what's wrong?"
"Stealing an official's horse is a serious crime.
Deng Haixi is about to take office. Is it possible to ignore Han law?"
You are going to be an official, so you should know that this law is strict. If you cannot do this yourself, how can you govern the place and convince the people?
"You are in charge of the law, and you should know that law enforcement must be strict and violations must be punished. As the saying goes, poor people must be hateful. Today, you are soft-hearted and let this beast go. Do you know how much harm this beast will cause? You
Being soft-hearted for a moment will definitely bring endless troubles to the people of Gaoyangting."
Law enforcement must be strict and violations must be prosecuted!
Deng Ji's heart moved and he couldn't help but nodded slightly.
A soft smile appeared on Pu Yangkai's face, but he did not speak from the beginning to the end.
"My son has never done anything harmful to nature... Young Master, you are a great master, so please show your respect."
"Have you never done anything harmful to nature?" Cao Peng suddenly sneered, "A man who can gather more than ten people to follow him and steal horses, dare to say that he has never done anything harmful to nature? Let's not talk about others. I dare to say that damn ghost,
Bi killed many people and committed many crimes during his lifetime."
"ah?"
The director of Gaoyang Pavilion couldn't help being shocked.
Zhou Cang said to Deng Ji: "Young Master, this guy is very skilled, and he can advance and retreat in the right way... He is ruthless in his moves, and there is no sloppiness in the slightest. If he hadn't killed someone before, this would never be the case. If we hadn't gained the upper hand today, he wouldn't have been able to do it.
He may not be defeated so quickly. Normally, if I want to win, I need at least thirty moves. What the young master said is true, this guy is definitely not an ordinary person."
At this time, Deng Ji couldn't help but pay attention to it.
"Old man, you get up first. I'll ask you more about this matter."
Gaoyang Tingting stood up tremblingly, pointed at the young horse thief's nose and cursed: "You evil son, where did you get in touch with such thieves?"
"Old man, first check to see if this person is a local."
As Cao Peng spoke, he winked at Wang Mai.
Wang Mai nodded and helped the old man walk towards the body.
Cao Peng looked at the young horse thief with burning eyes and said nothing.
The young man felt a little guilty and quickly lowered his head...
"Back to my young master, this person is definitely not a local!"
After inspecting the corpse, Chief Gao Yang Ting Ting answered loudly.
Deng Ji couldn't help but frown when he heard this. Accompanied by Deng Fan, he walked over.
Cao Peng stood there, scanning the thieves in the courtyard with sharp eyes. He found that there were several horse thieves with somewhat panicked expressions.
"Old man, please identify again, among these people, which ones are locals and which ones are new faces?"
"oh!"
At this time, the chief of Gaoyang Pavilion wanted to rescue his son. He would do whatever Cao Peng said. He had been a petty official all his life, and he still had some discernment. Don't look at Cao Peng.
He was the youngest, and seemed to have the highest status among this group of people. The head of Gaoyang Pavilion even had the illusion that Cao Peng was a child of a noble family, and the others were all followers.
He walked forward tremblingly, and the horse thieves became obviously nervous.
"This is Xiaowu from the neighboring village...he is Wang Ergou...you..."
Gaoyang Tingting identified the horse thief one by one. When he came to a horse thief, he held a torch and was about to get closer to identify him. Suddenly, the horse thief's body suddenly stood up and rushed towards Gaoyang Tingting. Gaoyang Tingting
Chang was startled and almost fell to the ground.
"Brother Ninth, that's my dad!"
The young horse thief exclaimed.
Exclamations, accompanied by this loud shout, echoed over the courtyard.
The horse thief jumped out and wanted to take action. But while he was still in the air, his chest suddenly felt cold.
A silver gun worth two feet came out of the chest.
The horse thief looked at the gun head dripping with blood on his chest in horror, his eyes widening.
Xia Houlan said coldly: "Whoever dares to move again will be shot without mercy!"
Before he finished speaking, all the followers whipped out their steel knives and stared at each one, placing the steel knives on the necks of the horse thieves.
Xu Yi stepped forward to deal with the young horse thief, but was stopped by Cao Peng.
"Brother Hutou, help the old man retreat." He shouted, then slowly walked to the young horse thief, smiled slightly, "I guess you still have some conscience, otherwise you will definitely be dead right now."
He was half a head lower than that young man.
But the coldness revealed in his words made the young man tremble and shiver.
"Second brother, take this, this, and the few thieves out and chop them down!"
"ah?"
Xu Yi was startled and looked at Cao Peng.
Cao Peng smiled and said to the young man: "What? Is there anything wrong with what I pointed out?"
The detective's instinct made Cao Peng pay close attention to the expressions of the horse thieves. The looks of those horse thieves were obviously different from the others.
There was a look of horror on the young man's face.
Deng Ji looked at Cao Peng curiously, looking a little strange.
Xu Yi chuckled, waved her hand, and the Xu family's entourage dragged the horse thieves out.
"How can you kill someone?"
"Han criminal law stipulates that those who steal official horses will be tattooed, exiled for three thousand miles, and lost as border soldiers. If the crime is serious, they can be killed on the spot and reported to Dali."
Deng Ji suddenly spoke.
"As for what is considered serious, Dadu Lu said that it is serious if he touches the official horses without permission; but if Xiao Dulu steals more than three horses, it is serious. You steal the official's mount, what is the law?
Should I use the big dulu or the small dulu?"
The head of the Gaoyang Pavilion on the side immediately shouted: "Xiao Du Lv, Xiao Du Lv should be the standard."
"Then it depends on whether your son cooperates or not."
"You evil son, whatever the young master asks you, you just answer it!"
The head of Gaoyang Pavilion roared loudly, and at the same time, a series of screams came from outside the courtyard.
The sound of footsteps was heard, and the followers of the Xu family walked into the courtyard carrying three bloody heads. The faces of the horse thieves suddenly turned pale.
It's okay to be sneaky at ordinary times, but where have you ever seen such a tragic situation?
Cao Peng looked at the young man, "Your name!"
"His name is..."
"Old man, I'm asking him, if you talk too much, don't blame me for being rude."
Cao Peng turned around suddenly and stared.
Gao Yangting stood up and immediately closed his mouth.
"The villain, the villain's name is Hu Ban."
Hu Ban?
This name sounds somewhat familiar.
Did it appear in Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
Cao Peng suddenly remembered that the name Hu Ban seemed to have appeared in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I remember that there was such a person when the second brother Guan rode alone thousands of miles and passed five passes and killed six generals. However, Hu Ban in the Romance,
It seems that he is a son of an official or a general of Cao's army.
Subconsciously, he turned to look at the director of Gaoyang Pavilion.
"Old man, what is your name?"
"Little old man, the little old man's name is Hu Hua... Young Master, the little old man has never been a thief. He has been the chief of the pavilion for more than 20 years since he was thirty-seven years old. Even when the Taiping thieves are causing trouble, the little old man has never been a thief.
Neither do I... If you don’t believe it, you can ask the people around you.”
Deng Ji asked in a low voice: "Ah Fu, is there any problem?"
Cao Peng scratched his head and quickly comforted him: "Old man, please don't misunderstand me. I'm just asking casually."
I cursed secretly in my heart: You Luo Da liar... How dare you call a pavilion chief Yilang?
Hu Hua in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was Yilang during the reign of Emperor Huan! However, this is probably just a coincidence, because in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the story of passing five levels and killing six generals does not seem to have happened in Chenliu.
Hu Hua was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat and cursed in his heart.
This young boy scared the old man to death!
"age!"
"This little man is twenty-two this year."
"ancestral home."
"Local...oh, it should be Yuen County."
Cao Peng asked: "What is the origin of that damn ghost?"
"this……"
Hu Ban swallowed and suddenly fell to his knees on the ground, "Sir, I am not a villain and refuse to answer. It's really... If I wait for an answer, I'm afraid my life will be in danger."
"Well?"
Cao Peng couldn't help being startled and turned to look at Deng Ji.
Deng Ji showed a solemn look, walked to Puyang Kai, and the two talked in a low voice.
Cao Peng thought for a while, walked to Hu Ban and patted him on the shoulder, "There are some things that I have to explain clearly to you. In fact, I don't need to ask so many questions, just because of your white-haired old father,
It's just to save Hu Tingchang's face. You don't have to answer, but I will send you to the government office. I believe that you won't be able to last long under the three trees in the government office... and you will end up miserable in the end.
The lighter case, he will be sent to the border army and will not be allowed to return home for three years; the serious case, his head will fall to the ground, and your father with white hair will send the black haired man, and there will be no one to die in old age.
If you cooperate with me, I will protect your life.
Did you see him..."
Cao Peng pointed at Xu Yi and said, "He is my sworn brother, his name is Xu Yi. Maybe you haven't heard of his name, but you may have heard of his father. He was the commander of Wuwei School in the Air Force at that time.
Xu Chu, Xu Zhongkang; I have three more, but they are not here at the moment... Speaking of which, you may be more familiar with my third brother. Because he is from Chenliu, and his home is in Chenliu, which is not far from here.
His father was Dian Wei Dian Junming, the most powerful general in the dynasty.
If you cooperate honestly, I guarantee that you will have nothing to worry about. There is one sentence you should think carefully about: you will be lenient if you confess, and strict if you resist!"
When Hu Ban heard this, he was immediately frightened.
Xu Chu, he had heard of it, but was not too familiar with it.
But Dian Wei's name is as loud as thunder. I remember back then, when Dian Wei avenged his friends, he broke into Xiangyi alone and killed a river of blood.
Ten years have passed, and Dian Wei is now even more famous. Almost everyone in Chenliu has heard of Dian Wei's name.
Hearing Cao Peng tell the origins of Xu Yi and others, Hu Ban was so shocked that he was speechless.
Deng Ji turned around and couldn't help but laugh.
"This Ah Fu is full of new things."
Puyang Kai nodded gently: "What he said is not wrong. Leniency will be given to those who confess, strict will be given to those who resist... These eight words seem to be the essence of Xiao Du's law."
He doesn't practice punishment, but he knows a little bit about it.
Little Du's sentencing system pays more attention to the combination of reason and law, rather than blindly seeking strictness like the Great Du's.
If you follow the Big Du Rule, if you commit a crime, it is a crime, and there is no humane thing to say. The Little Du Rule is relatively gentle and more humane.
After Cao Peng said these words, he turned and left.
He walked to Xu Yi and said softly: "Second brother, it seems that things are a bit complicated."
Xu Yi nodded, "What are your plans?"
"Judging from Hu Ban's tone, this matter is probably not a big deal. So it's best to contact the government office here... By the way, General Xiahou seems to be stationed in Chenliu."
"You mean General Miaocai?" Xu Yi replied: "He is the prefect of Chenliu, so he is naturally stationed in Chenliu.
However, Chen Liu seems to be a bit far away from here... It will take at least a day to come and go, and our trip will be delayed. "
"It depends on the situation."
At this time, Deng Ji walked up to Hu Ban and said, "Hu Ban, I will ask you again. You can choose not to answer, and I will send you to see the official immediately. If you answer, I will not be able to tolerate it, and even
Including you fellow villagers, I can also help.
It’s your choice to answer or not to answer!”
"His name is Lei Cheng!" Hu Ban did not hesitate and immediately shouted: "His brother's name is Lei Xu. He has three hundred people under his command and is hiding in Lutaigang."
Lei Xu and Chen Lan and others gathered tens of thousands of troops in Huainan. Later Liu Bei captured the four counties in the south of the Yangtze River. Lei Xu led more than 50,000 soldiers and their families to defect to Liu Bei. Liu Bei appointed Lei Xu as a partial general. He later beheaded Xia Houyuan.