Chapter 27 Chapter 27 [VIP]

Chapter 27

The mountain bandits in Yangzhou were a unique faction, having nothing to do with the government or the Four Great Families. They lived in the mountains and forests, relying on the complex terrain for protection. They were good at attacking but easy to defend, which gave the government a headache.

But Haozi seemed to have his own rules of conduct among the mountain bandits. He did not show off and did not kill innocent people. He only took advantage of the four big families and robbed them.

At the beginning, the Cui family's tea had high profits, but it was also difficult to transport and a big target. To prevent bandits, the Cui family hired almost all the escort agencies in Yangzhou City, but those who were supposed to be robbed were still robbed.

The Qian family's salt and the Lu family's cloth, no one was spared.

Even the Park family could not escape the clutches of the devil. Half a year ago, a shipload of jewels had just arrived at the port when a group of "water ghosts" emerged from the water, surrounded the Park family's ship, burned and looted it, and the ship sank, and all the things on the ship were lost.

The Park family also sent people to clear out the bandits, but the bandits were too cunning and always found out about the situation in advance. They would leave the building and come back again after a while.

The four families could not spend all their energy on suppressing the bandits. Over time, they all gritted their teeth and accepted defeat. They considered the lost things as bad luck and just regarded them as feeding the dogs.

Today, the seventh lady of the Qian family sent someone to the top of the mountain to deliver a letter, explaining her purpose. She still didn't know whether the other party would meet her.

Before arriving, Song Yunzhi had heard of Yangzhou robbers who specifically targeted the four major families and spared no civilians. The court's target was the four major families. Five years into the emperor's reign, Jinling, Luoyang, and Chang'an had all surrendered, leaving only Yangzhou.

Yangzhou's shipping accounted for half of Dayu's harvest, which was all in the hands of the Pu family. The Pu family had no intention of handing it over, and even attempted to marry into the Pyeongchang Palace and bring merchants into the government.

Sooner or later, the imperial court and the Park family will have a war.

He must get evidence that the Park family helped the Cui family smuggle. Therefore, Song Yunzhi went there tonight without planning to fight the robbers. He only needed to get two ships of tea to trace the source and find the Cui family's previous smuggling den in Shuzhou.

The road was difficult to travel at night. After entering the forest, the carriage moved slower and slower, and finally stopped. Several people changed horses and walked forward to their destination for a while. Then they saw a light coming from the depths of the forest.

Ah Jin said in surprise: "Uncle, someone is coming."

Song Yun rode his horse and led the team to follow the lights ahead. After walking for about two minutes, the front suddenly opened up. A village was built in the deep valley. The village was brightly lit, as bright as day. Under each light, there was a bandit guarding, some holding machetes or bows and arrows, staring at the direction where the few people were coming.

The person holding the lantern shouted, signaling to the people inside, "The seventh uncle of the Qian family has arrived."

Ajin couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Song Yunzhi turned around and looked at him.

Ah Jin quickly suppressed his smile and whispered, "My brother-in-law has a great reputation." Thinking back to when he first called him brother-in-law, he almost glared at him to death. But it hasn't even been a month, and everyone calls him brother-in-law now.

It is not acceptable yet.

It can be seen that this person is good at everything once he gets used to it.

"Seventh uncle, please come in." The gate of the village ahead opened, and a group of people came out, dressed in coarse cloth and holding cold scimitars in their hands to "greet" them. Song Yunzhi dismounted and went in with the Qian family's guards.

The structure of the village is mostly built with bamboo and is very simple, but it is larger than Song Yunzhi imagined. It is backed by a mountain and the bamboo buildings are built against the mountain, and are five stories high.

The guide spoke in Chang'an dialect. Song Yunzhi could understand him at a slow pace, but he spoke like a firecracker, crackling. When he finished speaking, he turned around and saw Song Yunzhi and his group still following behind. He pointed at Song Yunzhi fiercely and said, "You, go upstairs alone."

The rest of the people could no longer follow.

It doesn't matter how many people go up, Song Yunzhi doesn't care.

Just as he was about to move forward, Ah Jin took two steps and whispered in his ear, "Sir, don't rush to write him a letter when we meet. We are not familiar with this place. Find out the terrain well. If anything happens, run away immediately. I will be waiting for you downstairs."

Song Yunzhi nodded.

Afterwards, he followed the bandits who led the way to the top floor alone.

Just now, looking up from below, the building seemed to be suspended in mid-air. After climbing up, I found that the mountain was sloping and the ground under my feet was solid. The person leading the way pushed open a wooden door and said, "Seventh uncle, please wait a moment. The master just got up and hasn't changed yet."

When Song Yunzhi heard him call him master, he roughly guessed the age of the person he was going to meet tonight.

Sure enough, after one stick of incense, a young man came in.

The young man was wearing a green robe and a dark blue mask covering the lower half of his face. The pair of eyes that were revealed were different from Song Yunzhi's clear and quiet eyes, with a gentle jade color.

People are as clean as willows in the spring moon.

After coming in, he didn't speak first. He stood at the door and silently inquired about Song Yunzhi for a while.

As if he was surprised, unsure if this noble young man with a clear and elegant figure had come to the wrong place, he asked, "Seventh uncle of the Qian family?"

Song Yunzhi had also been paying attention to him. He was wearing a rough linen coat, which was different from the bandits who came up the mountain.

Song Yunzhi

"I am not a talented person, but I am the master of this village." The young man in green sat down on the bamboo chair opposite him, picked up the teacup and poured tea for him. His every move was gentlemanly. He raised his head and asked, "The Qian family wants to buy tea. How much?"

The Cui family's cargo ship was a 10,000-stone ship. Song Yunzhi wanted both ships, "300,000."

The other party was stunned and asked:

He handed him the letter Song had given him, and said, "As soon as the tea arrives, the Qian family will prepare the silver notes."

The other party took the letter and opened it slowly. Song Yunzhi did not open the letter to read the contents. First, he did not have the habit of opening other people's letters. Second, he probably believed that Miss Qian Qi really needed the tea.

Therefore, he trusted her very much.

But after the young master opposite saw the letter, his eyes were obviously not right. After a while, he raised his head and his previous good mood disappeared. "Seventh Master, do you think you have the ability to walk out of here tonight?"

Song Yunzhi knew something was wrong and subconsciously grasped the bronze sword at his waist.

The moment the other party threw the letter down, Song Yunzhi glanced over and saw a line of words on it.

[I have the account book. I wonder if it's worth two ships' worth of tea?]

Song Yunzhi's heart sank, and he secretly thought that the witch deserved death! It was too late. The people below suddenly became a commotion, and one person shouted, "Catch him! He stole the account book!"

The sound of fierce fighting broke the tranquility of the forest, and Song Yunzhi knew that Ajin had succeeded.

He was tricked again.

Song Yunzhi had already memorized the terrain of the village. When the opponent's soft sword attacked his throat, Song Yunzhi leaned back, hooked his toes on the wooden table in front of him, used the force to spin around, and swung the bronze sword in his hand with a sharp cold light to cut the opponent's waist. The moment the opponent dodged, he flipped out of the window beside him.

The Prince of Song Dynasty was taught by the Princess Chang when he was young, and was good at climbing walls and running on rooftops.

His toes stepped lightly on the green bamboo beams of the house, as light as a flying swallow. The bandit leader behind him was no ordinary person either. He pressed forward step by step, with each move deadly, determined to keep him.

Everyone's attention was on the upstairs tonight. By the time they discovered that the account book had been stolen and went to chase after it, Ajin had already rushed out of the village gate.

The Qian family's guards had to save their lives, so they ran out of the village one after another, leaving Song Yunzhi alone inside to be hunted down.

The bandits were no better than the former head of the Cui family. Each of them had blood on his hands. They surrounded the family from all directions, trapped the young master, who was very good at kung fu, and killed him one by one.

The flames burned him and the mountain wind blew up his clothes. The moon-white robe he wore tonight was chosen by Qian Tong himself. It was particularly dazzling in the night, but now it became a sitting duck.

However, the young master held a bronze sword in his hand, and he killed gods and Buddhas. With his own strength, he blocked the bandit's scimitar and avoided the hidden arrow.

Only when the bandit leader attacked, the young master could not keep up with the bronze sword in his hand, and his long gown was gradually stained with blood. He was like an immortal ghost, escaping from the bandit leader and the scimitar time and time again, his figure still slender and upright.

Beyond the firelight, the night wind raged through the forest. Qian Tong sat on horseback and watched for a long time. Seeing him take on a hundred people at once and not be defeated for a long time, he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "He really is a good fighter."

A Jin handed the account book to Qian Tong. You Shang couldn't bear to watch it any longer and said, "I'll go save my uncle."

"Wait." Qian Tong said, "He hasn't called me yet."

She wanted to see how good he was at fighting.

As soon as she finished speaking, the young man in the encirclement seemed to sense something and suddenly turned his head to look in this direction. There were no lights in the forest, and she was not sure whether he saw her.

But he must have doubts, so if that's the case, she should go and help him herself.

Otherwise, he would really kill her after it was done.

Qian Tong tightened the reins and spurred on the horse. Before Ajin and the others could stop her, they saw her horse rushing into the village at full speed. She pleaded with the people inside, "Master Duan, please show mercy!"

As she said this, she threw several rounds of ammunition into the bamboo building nearby. The ammunition exploded when it hit the ground, igniting balls of fire. The bandits were worried that she would throw them towards the crowd, so they retreated in a hurry.

Qian Tong took the opportunity to say to the young master in the encirclement: "Yun Zhen, get on your horse!"

Song Yunzhi didn't call the secret guards. Even though he was forced into a desperate situation, he didn't want to reveal his true identity to her until the very last moment. He wanted to slowly take revenge on her, torture her, and let her know that he was not to be trifled with, nor to be deceived...

He was certain that she was here to watch him die tonight.

To her disappointment, he was not going to die that easily.

Until the moment he saw her rushing in alone to save people, Song Yunzhi was still thinking in his heart that he would never let her go.

The young lady reached out her hand to pull, but he gripped it with great force, squeezing her fingers tightly. Even after he sat on the back of the horse, he still didn't let go. Poor Qian Tong in front was gasping in pain, but after hearing the young master's teeth baring, he had to grit his teeth and endure it. He squeezed the horse's belly and rushed out of the village quickly, saying to Ajin and the Qian family guards who were waiting outside: "The son-in-law has been received, retreat!"

Thousands of horses rolled across the plain. The Qian family's men and horses were no longer unfamiliar and panicked as when they came. They were well-trained and rushed down the mountain. Birds and beasts fled in the woods wherever they passed. Soon they were on the wide official road through the dense forest.

There are pedestrian caravans on Yangzhou's official roads day and night, and there are post stations guarding them at regular intervals, so robbers will not catch up.

It's safe.

But no one spoke and the atmosphere was awkward.

The clatter of horse hooves tested everyone's endurance, trying to see who could hold back first. Ah Jin couldn't stand it any longer and chuckled dryly twice, "We succeeded. We have to drink to celebrate when we get home tonight!"

Qian Tong didn't say anything.

The cold air from the young master was almost rushing towards her. She felt that if she agreed to celebrate at this moment, the bronze sword in his hand might be aimed at her neck.

The young master was so angry at that moment that she even had trouble breathing. It didn't matter if the atmosphere was bad, it would pass if she endured it. It was better not to say anything.

Qian Tong was silent, and no one dared to say a word. After all, everyone was responsible for abandoning their son-in-law and running away.

After walking for half an hour, the team changed from its usual noisy pace and arrived at the door of the Qian family in complete silence.

After the young master dismounted, he stood aside like a Buddha statue, waiting for her to come down.

Qian Tong climbed down slowly, not looking into his eyes, but she felt guilty wherever she looked. His clothes were dotted with bloodstains. She raised her hand to brush away the black hair that had been blown by the night wind, and said sincerely, "You've worked hard tonight. Go back to your room and rest in the morning." She would not accompany him, leaving him alone for a while, waiting for his anger to subside. She turned around and instructed A Jin, "Go get a doctor, a good doctor, and use the best and most expensive medicine. Don't be afraid of spending money. You must heal the wound on my son-in-law's body."

She planned to leave the young master and go back to the house alone, but unfortunately she failed to leave. The young master grabbed her wrist and dragged her forward with a cold face.

Qian Tong was not afraid of the pain and patted the back of his hand. "You are still injured. Be gentle and don't hurt yourself."

Song Yunzhi didn't want to play along anymore, so he exposed her and said, "Why are you pretending? Don't you want me to die?"

Qian Tong immediately cried out in injustice, "What are you talking about? How could I bear to let you die? I had a hard time kidnapping you, and now everyone knows that you are the seventh uncle of the Qian family. Killing you will not benefit me in any way..."

Qian Tong saw him walking towards his yard and hurriedly said, "You want to go to my place? It's dark and windy at this time. I'm afraid it's not appropriate. If the people below see us, they will spread gossip..."

Song Yunzhi was so angry that he threw the can down and said, "He's already the Seventh Uncle. It's not normal for him to stay overnight. What are you worried about gossip?"

The upright young master had been unwilling to do what he wanted since he was kidnapped. When he said this, Qian Tong knew that he was really angry.

Just go.

The young man had taken a night trip once and was quite familiar with her house. After dragging her in, he closed the door and leaned his back against it. He seemed not to feel any pain despite his wounds, just waiting for her to give him an explanation.

Qian Tong explained, "I didn't tell you in advance because I was afraid the plan would fail. I thought with your kung fu, you would definitely be able to defeat the bandits. We made a feint to the east and attack in the west. You went to meet the robber leader, and Ah Jin took the opportunity to steal the account book. As it turned out, we succeeded."

There was no light in the room and he couldn't see her face clearly.

But Song Yunzhi no longer believed any of her expressions. He sneered, "You didn't succeed."

"ah?"

He said, "I'm not dead."

After a moment's silence, the young lady's astonished voice came from the darkness, "How could you imagine that I was hoping for your death? What good would it do me if you died?"

Song Yunzhi remained unmoved, "That's also the question I wanted to ask you."

Why did she suddenly want to get rid of him?

It was already dark, and Qian Tong, unused to it, went to find a tinder and lit the lamp. He turned around and walked towards him with the lamp in hand, weakly saying, "If I really wanted to harm you, I would have waited a few days and not given you the Gu worm. There's no need to send you to a bandit's lair. Everyone knows you're the son-in-law of the Qian family. What's the point of me getting into trouble?"

With the light, Song Yunzhi's vision became clear, "That's because you didn't expect me to come back alive."

His eyes were cold, bloodshot at the corners, and he stared at her innocent yet worried face, gritting his teeth and saying, "I nearly died in there."

Qian Tong was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and assured: "No, I will come to save you."

How could she have any good intentions when a weasel saves a chicken? Song Yunzhi always believed in his intuition. He couldn't ask any more questions, because she would have thousands of reasons to convince him.

He asked, "Where's the account book?"

The young lady in the light across from me looked puzzled. "What do you want the account book for?"

"You're risking your life, so you have to let me know what that thing is."

She didn't refuse, but was worried about his injuries. "Come and sit down. I'll tell you slowly."

Human beings are made of flesh and blood, and it is impossible for them not to feel pain when cut by a knife. He can only endure it a little better than ordinary people, but it is not without pain. The wounds on his body could not heal after running all the way. When he grabbed her arm tightly just now, blood dripped onto her clothes.

He can still hold on.

But he also wanted to hear her tell him the truth, so he walked over and sat on the couch.

Qian Tong didn't lie. He leaned over and whispered, "The government is investigating the Cui family's smuggling case, but they can't find any evidence. Last year, the Yangzhou bandits would rob the Cui family every time they received a batch of goods. As luck would have it, they found an account book hidden in the tea leaves they robbed from the Cui family. When the Cui family found out, they offered a high price to buy it back. The robbers naturally knew its value and raised the price. But unfortunately, before the Cui family could raise the money to redeem it, their house was ransacked..."

Song Yunzhi's heart tightened as he listened to her continue.

But she suddenly paused, stopped talking, glanced at the injuries on his body and said, "Wait a moment, your injuries must be treated."

Without waiting for his refusal, she stood up, opened the door, and said to the maid outside, "Go and call the doctor in."

She said half of what she said and kept the other half. Song Yunzhi had no choice but to let her do what she wanted. He was in her room and didn't worry about her running away. As long as he kept an eye on her, she wouldn't be able to play any tricks.

The doctor came quickly and needed him to undress in order to treat his injuries.

Qian Tong couldn't just watch him take off his clothes, and he wouldn't let her watch. "Turn your back and don't leave."