first minister

Chapter 288
Dense forest, official way.

Mr. Jin Yi, a guard in strong clothes;
Besieged by bandits, robbing and asking for money.

Dozens of people crowded in this small space, and the atmosphere seemed to be quietly tense with the waving of sticks and shovels and the uneasy treading of horses.

Xia Jingyun did not choose to have a direct conflict, but cupped his hands with a smile, "The hero, Rongzhi, we are the guests of Yu's house, and we are going to pay a visit to Yu's house. I hope the hero will make it convenient."

Unexpectedly, the bandit leader was not moved at all when he heard the words, and slashed at the tree trunk in front of him, majesticly, "I don't care what kind of fish or shrimp's guest you are! If you don't give money, none of you will leave today!"

Xia Jingyun also restrained his smile, and said slowly: "Your Excellency, think about it clearly. In Longshou Prefecture, the Yu family is not a vegetarian."

"I'm not a vegetarian either!"

The bandit leader stared, "Don't talk nonsense! I don't care if you belong to the Yu family or the Hu family, even if it's Xiao Fengshan's father, as long as you want to pass here, I will snatch you!"

"Son."

Chen Fugui yelled softly, meaning why bother talking nonsense to them.

Xia Jingyun nodded, since that's the case, the only thing left to do is to do it.

The people on the horses also touched their bags quietly, but at this moment, a sound of hooves suddenly sounded from the other side of the tree trunk blocking the way.

Everyone looked up, only to see one person and one horse galloping towards them. The rider on the horseback was lying on the horseback, looking behind him constantly, his posture and expression were obviously full of fear.

But the problem is that the road ahead of him is blocked!
By the time he looked back, it was too late.

The horse didn't receive the order to stop, so it tried to jump straight over.

But obviously he also overestimated his ability.

The horse screamed, and the rider screamed.

One man and one horse drew a graceful curve in the air under the amazed gaze of the crowd, and landed on the open space between Xia Jingyun and the bandit leader.

boom!
Smoke and dust rose instantly.

The horse fell to the ground and couldn't get up, and the person was not much better, and his leg was broken by the horse.

But what shocked everyone was that the rider who broke his leg still didn't give up, and crawled forward tenaciously on the ground, as if there was some terrible demon behind him, and the more distance he could get away from, the more safe he would be.

Everyone was a little moved, but at this moment, there was a burst of intensive hoofbeats in the distance.

The devil that made this rider fearful came.

"Shut up!"

Five riders in gray clothes rode forward and reined in the horses in front of the tree trunk blocking the way.

First glanced at the young man who was still crawling on the ground, and all of them heaved a sigh of relief, then the leader seemed to ignore the battle in front of him at all, and said coldly: "Who blocked the way? "

The bandit leader stood up, looked up and down the people, suddenly saw the patterns on the chests of these people's clothes, his complexion changed slightly, and his expression became respectful, "May I ask you, are you the heroes of the Cao Gang?"

The leader glanced at him condescendingly, "Knowing that I belong to the Cao Gang, why don't you hurry up?"

Such a tone immediately angered a man among the bandits, "What's wrong with the Cao Gang? Even the officials can't control us, and you Cao Gang still want to control us?"

He was bullied before he rebelled, and he was bullied even after he rebelled. Isn't this my creation for nothing?
And this was also the thinking of many bandits in the field, and they all looked at the five men in gray from the Cao Gang with unkind expressions.

The leader snorted coldly, got off his horse, walked up to the man, and said coldly, "What did you say?"

The man was also stubborn, "I said we won't leave!"

Swish!
"Wait a minute, good man!"

After all, the bandit leader's shout was one step too late, the man in gray from the Cao Gang drew his knife in an instant, and directly wiped the neck of the man in front of him.

The man clutched his neck, blood flowed from his fingers, and there was a ho-ho-ho sound from his throat. He looked at the man in front of him in disbelief, and fell down unwillingly.

The bandits around immediately roared and surrounded them, and the gray-clothed man from the Cao Gang was not afraid, and said indifferently: "You can try to attack the Cao Gang, let alone kill us, as long as one of the five of us falls here today a piece of meat"

He looked at the bandit leader and said to himself: "Your cottage will not grow any grass!"

The bandit leader, who had been extremely arrogant in front of Xia Jingyun and the others before, stretched out his hand to stop his subordinates, and looked at the men in gray from the Cao Gang with uncertain eyes, but in the end he really chose to back down.

"Move the tree!"

"Boss!"

"Do as I say!"

The bandit leader roared unwillingly, and a group of bandits had no choice but to move the trees across the road aside under the mocking and contemptuous eyes of everyone in the Cao Gang.

Then, he disappeared into the dense forest with the man's body.

"Okay!" The leader of the Cao gang in gray stretched his waist, "Take this kid, let's go back!"

The young man who just crawled to the ground in front of Xia Jingyun propped up his upper body and looked up at Xia Jingyun, "Help me, man, they are going to kill me, help me, man!"

Everyone in the Cao Gang didn't care about people like Xia Jingyun at all. A man in gray came over and kicked the young man, making him roll on the ground a few times, jokingly said, "You dog, keep running away! Can you escape?"

The man was instantly covered in dust, his beard and hair were disheveled, looked at Xia Jingyun, and said in despair: "Hero, save me, I'm innocent!"

The man in gray sneered, and reached out to grab the young man's collar, intending to drag him to the horse.

But at this moment, Xia Jingyun said softly, "Slow down."

The man in gray pretended not to hear at all, and moved forward firmly, grabbing the young man's collar.

Suddenly there seemed to be a breeze, and then a strong force clamped his arm instantly.

Chen Fugui said coldly: "My son told you to slow down, are you deaf?"

After finishing speaking, he kicked out directly, kicking the arrogant man in gray back a few steps.

The leading man in gray from the Cao Gang was not in a panic, but just looked at Xia Jingyun arrogantly, and said in a slightly cold tone, "This is the person our Cao Gang wants, you should be able to figure it out."

Seeing that there was something going on, the young man with a broken leg who was hunted down said, "I know they are from the Cao Gang."

"To shut up!"

Xia Jingyun suddenly gave a cold shout, and then looked at the Cao Gang with the same indifferent expression, "I don't want to know any news about him, nor do I want to know what grievances he has with you, but I never like to watch people kill people in front of me." , you have already killed one, so I see you are very upset, you go away."

The leader of the Cao gang, the man in gray, sneered, and slowly drew out his knife, "What if I don't get out?"

Swish swish!
What responded to him was the sound of nine people drawing knives at the same time.

The nine snow-white sharp blades reflected the sunlight, so bright that they almost blinded their eyes.

The arrogance and smile on the face of the leader of the Cao Gang slowly froze.

Arms are strictly prohibited in Daxia, and gathering people to hold weapons without reason is regarded as treason.

Even among the members of the Cao Gang, he was the only one with a knife on his body, and the rest of them could only hide their daggers, and they only dared to carry short sticks and other weapons on the surface.

Although the world is in chaos now and this prohibition has been gradually relaxed, it is definitely not a simple person who can have this strength.

His eyes fell on Xia Jingyun's body, and he looked up and down.

First of all, this person is so young, he must not be an official;

There are not too many and not too many people, as if they are on the road. Although they are not very luxurious, they are also well-dressed. It should be the son of some big rebel who is going out with his personal guards to run errands, or someone from another state. Your son dared to be so arrogant in front of them when he crossed the river like a dragon.

He looked at the glaring blade, hesitated for a moment, "May I ask Your Excellency Gao's name."

Xia Jingyun said lightly: "You don't deserve to know. If you don't get out, I'll do it."

The leading man in gray from the Cao Gang took a deep look at Xia Jingyun, and following the principle that a good man does not suffer immediate losses, "Withdraw!"

"Boss, the people from the Cao Gang have withdrawn!"

In the dense forest on the side, a group of bandits hid behind the bushes and watched secretly.

"Keep your fucking voice down, I know!" the bandit leader growled.

The other bandit swallowed his saliva and said with lingering fear, "Boss, we planned to rob them just now."

There was also a burst of cold sweat on the bandit leader's back, and he couldn't imagine how many of them would survive without this episode.

Where the hell did the Raptors Cross the River come from, and they didn't raise a flag to remind them in advance!
While talking, a guard in the team over there found two branches to help the young man fix the broken leg, and put it on the horse's back, and then the whole team started to move.

Before leaving, the leading young master looked at Lin Zi with a half-smile, which made all the thieves feel terrified.

The sun was in the sky, and the elders were also afraid of the sun. After walking for about an hour, when the sun was shining, they found a shady place and sat down to rest.

The horses were tied aside to graze, and several guards dispersed their vigilance.

Accompanied by Chen Fugui, Xia Jingyun came to the young man's side, and handed over a water bag, "Tell me, what is your last name, and why the people from the Cao Gang chased you down."

The young man took a few big gulps and wiped the corners of his mouth, "Is there anything to eat?"

Chen Fugui took out a biscuit and handed it over.

The young man took a few sips of cake and a sip of water, and quickly finished it, then looked at Xia Jingyun, "Didn't the young master just say that you don't want to hear this?"

Xia Jingyun smiled, "I have saved everyone, and those who don't listen to the Cao Gang will think that I have listened, so it's better to listen to what should be heard, at least I know what it is and how they will deal with us. "

The young man looked at him, "Aren't you afraid that those people will come back and bring more people?"

Xia Jingyun said: "I don't think this is something you should worry about now. You can choose not to talk about it, but you have your choice, and I have mine."

The young man was silent for a while, and said: "My surname is You, my name is Qianli, and my name is Zigui. He is from Xichu County, Longshou Prefecture. He is a knight-errant. He usually wanders around Huaisi to make friends. They hunt and kill Me, because I ran into Mr. Long's secret meeting with someone else by chance."

Xia Jingyun raised his eyebrows, "Mr. Long? Isn't it Mr. Ye?"

He thought that this person could be chased and killed by the Cao Gang because he offended the Ye family, the leader of the Cao Gang.

The young man gave a wry smile, "If it's Mr. Ye, I'm afraid I won't be able to get out of Chuning County."

Then he slowly explained: "Young Master Long is the son of Long Zhengqing, the third elder of the Cao Gang, and he is also an important figure in the Cao Gang. Last night, I had a drink with my friends at his home outside the city of Chuning County. After drinking, I was bored, so I got up and went around. Walking around, but heard the sound of carriages and horseshoes."

"At that time, I thought, where did the carriage come from in the middle of the night, so I quietly followed the sound under the cover of the reeds and bushes and approached. Sure enough, I saw a carriage approaching under the escort of four men in black. Alright. When we got there, there was a man in black waiting under the tree, and a man got off the carriage, and it was Mr. Long."

Xia Jingyun said softly, "You know him?"

The young man hummed, "In Chuning County, several important figures of the Cao Gang must be recognized. It's not easy to be confused if you don't know each other. If you are a ranger like us, if you don't have long eyes, it will be difficult for gods and Buddhas." save."

He laughed at himself, "I saw that it was Mr. Long, and I knew it was something beyond my knowledge, so I wanted to retreat silently, but accidentally stepped on the air and fell, which immediately attracted the attention of the guards, so I had to run away quickly. That's what happened next."

Xia Jingyun remained calm, "They chased you for one night and one morning?"

Chuning County is only more than [-] miles away from here. If it is really a fast horse galloping, it will not take such a long time. It is easy to get some verifications of truth and falsehood.

The young man shook his head, "I ran away last night. I thought I'd thrown them away, but I didn't expect them to be determined not to expose the matter. They divided up into several teams to search around, and finally found me."

He cupped his hands towards Xia Jingyun, "If there is no son, I will definitely die, thank you for saving my life, son."

"No, you just dug a big hole for me!"

Xia Jingyun sighed. He originally thought that this person probably had some big secret of the Cao Gang, which would help him in his affairs, so he did not hesitate to risk his whereabouts to be exposed.

But who knew that there was only such a trivial matter behind it. Although it was about helping the son of an elder in Cao, it didn't seem like information that could help him.

He said softly, "Then what are you going to do next?"

The young man thought for a while, "I'm afraid I won't be able to survive in the two Huaihe Rivers. Let's go to the border to join the army and see if I can make a name for myself. Even if I die in battle, it's not a waste of my energy."

Xia Jingyun pondered for a moment when he heard the words, "I need a lot of detailed information about the Cao Gang. If you can satisfy me, I can protect you."

The young man looked at Xia Jingyun, and there was no joy in his eyes, but some suspicion.

Xia Jingyun smiled, and was about to explain a few words, but the young man suddenly smiled, "Actually, no matter what the young master said is true or not, the grace of saving lives is here, so there is no reason for me not to tell the truth."

After hearing this, Chen Fugui raised his eyebrows silently.

Xia Jingyun smiled slightly, "That makes sense."

The young man then began to talk about the news he knew, from the situation of the various factions of the Cao Gang, the apparent factions among each other, and some market rumors, etc., all in one go.

As a ranger in the rivers and lakes, he really knew some strange news, and Xia Jingyun felt that it was not a waste of time after hearing it.

After talking for about half an hour, the water bag was all emptied, and the young man shook his head, "That's basically all, the rest of the things are beyond the reach of people like me."

Xia Jingyun hummed, and then saw the young man looking at him expectantly, obviously he didn't want to go to the border to close the horse leather shroud.

Xia Jingyun smiled, "Saving people to the end, at least wait until you recover from your injuries and can move around freely. Just follow us during this time."

"Thank you, my lord!" The young man clasped his fists together.

After a while, Xia Jingyun and Chen Fugui stood aside.

Chen Fugui whispered: "My lord, do you think there is something wrong with this kid?"

Xia Jingyun shook his head with a smile and said: "It's hard to say whether there is a problem, but it doesn't affect us much. If he has a problem, he will either draw our attention to the Long family, or give us wrong information. As far as we are concerned, there is actually no difference, our eyes are smeared now, and we are going to inquire about the news of the Cao Gang."

Chen Fugui hummed, "Young master, it's good that you know what's in your heart."

"Since we mentioned the Long family, let's pay a visit to the Long family and see what kind of quality this hardcore leader of the Cao Gang is!"

The next day, in the morning.

On the outskirts of Chuning County, outside a vast manor, there were crowds of people.

Today is the fiftieth birthday of Mrs. Long Zhengqing, the third elder of the Cao Gang.

As one of the five most powerful elders of the Cao Gang, such a major event naturally attracted many gentry and wealthy businessmen from Chuning County and even the entire Huai'an County.

Xia Jingyun with mustache and Chen Fugui with beard changed their clothes and mixed in the crowd.

After paying a gift of ten taels of silver to the Zhike Office, he entered the Zhuangzi. While looking around at the family background of the elder of the Cao Gang, he listened to the conversations of the people and all kinds of ordinary news that would take time and effort to inquire about. If you don't want money, you can listen to it everywhere.

Long Zhengqing was an old man in his fifties. He was not tall, and his manner was not as calm and noble as those big men Xia Jingyun had seen before.

At this moment, he was wearing a bright red robe, and together with a young man in his 20s, received some people who were qualified to be greeted by them in the main hall. He drank tea and talked with them, and bursts of exaggerated laughter came out.

Xia Jingyun looked at the young man and observed his behavior. He was indeed not such a calm and sophisticated young man, and his eyes were also a bit sly, but it was in line with the information he learned yesterday.

But to a certain extent, this is Xia Jingyun's nitpicking. The young people he usually comes into contact with are of what grade, and the last time they are all like Zheng Tianyu, so how can a person from the world like Mr. Long be able to compare.

Just when the two were thinking about it vigorously, the Zhike at the door suddenly shouted, "Lord Zunbai from Chuning County is here!"

The two immediately turned their heads and looked out, only to see a sedan chair wobbled and stopped at the gate of Zhuangzi.

(End of this chapter)