Although Magistrate Zhou had no idea why those bandits were causing trouble again, since it had happened, he had to suppress them, especially since the current magistrate was Zhu Yunwen.

So, Magistrate Zhou immediately followed Zhu Yunwen, gathered the constables, yamen runners, militiamen and other officials in the county government, and a large group of three or four hundred people headed south towards Heiyun County.

When they reached a forest twenty miles to the south, a constable ran up from the front and said to Zhu Yunwen and Magistrate Zhou:

"Sir, we received a message from the villagers saying that those bandits went in that direction ahead."

Zhu Yunwen nodded and said:

"Order them to pursue!"

The county government's main force went after them in a grand procession.

Throughout the entire process, Magistrate Zhou remained puzzled. Logically, shouldn't those bandits be in the north? How come they're in the south now?

Did those guys change the location without consulting me?

Just as I was wondering, another constable spoke up:

"Sir, we have spotted a group of bandits on horseback ahead."

Zhu Yunwen immediately spoke up:

"Charge! Launch an encirclement and annihilation operation!"

So several hundred men marched off in a mighty procession and quickly caught up with the ten Imperial Guards disguised as bandits.

Soon, the ten Imperial Guards disguised as bandits started fighting with the county government's soldiers. However, these ten Imperial Guards were very strong. If it really came down to a fight, even if the county government mobilized more than three hundred people, they would not be a match for them.

Because any one of these Imperial Guards could easily kill dozens of people.

However, Zhu Yunwen's orders to them were only to act, not to actually kill anyone, and of course, to ensure that they themselves would not be injured.

This was not a difficult task for the Imperial Guards. They only needed to exert their strength, fight the soldiers, and then control the situation so as not to harm them.

This would also create the illusion that these ten Imperial Guards were very strong, able to escape unharmed and retreat unscathed from more than three hundred soldiers.

As a result, the fight became increasingly intense, leaving the bewildered County Magistrate Zhou completely dumbfounded.

He couldn't understand where these ten bandits had come from; they were completely outside his knowledge.

Secondly, they were also shocked by how powerful these ten bandits were. After fighting for a while, the ten Imperial Guards, following Zhu Yunwen's instructions, pretended to be unable to win and tried to escape on horseback.

Seeing this, Magistrate Zhou basically guessed that these ten bandits probably had nothing to do with the Axe Gang.

Could it really have come from somewhere else?

He couldn't let these bandits live, so Magistrate Zhou hurriedly spoke up:

"Chase after them! Make sure they kill this bandit!"

Zhu Yunwen frowned, glanced at Magistrate Zhou, and sneered inwardly, thinking:

"They're not our own people after all. The crackdown on bandits is suddenly much more intense. If we were running into some old acquaintances, we probably wouldn't be so agitated, would we?"

So Zhu Yunwen immediately spoke up again:

"Stop! Don't pursue a cornered enemy!"

County Magistrate Zhou looked at Zhu Yunwen in surprise and said:

"Sir, these ten bandits are extremely fierce. We must not let them return to the mountains."

Zhu Yunwen countered, "How do these ten bandits compare to the bandits of the past, and to the Axe Gang in the north?"

Without a second thought, Magistrate Zhou said:

“Naturally, these ten bandits are more powerful. After fighting for so long, not one of them has been injured. It’s terrifying.”

Zhu Yunwen said, "I see. If we continue our pursuit, will we be careful to eliminate all ten of them?"

County Magistrate Zhou said, "Even if we lack confidence, we must eliminate them. We cannot allow such fierce mountain bandits to exist."

Zhu Yunwen: "Ah, so you're saying that Magistrate Zhou is confident that the soldiers in the county office can wipe out those ten formidable mountain bandits? Then why is it that the Axe Gang, which is clearly not as powerful as those ten bandits, couldn't be eliminated by your county office after so long? Now that you've encountered bandits even more powerful than the Axe Gang, you're so enthusiastic, saying you'll carefully eliminate them. This is something I don't quite understand."

County Magistrate Zhou was immediately stunned.

He then coughed and said:

"Well... I may have been incompetent in the past, but now that I am no longer the county magistrate, have you taken office?"

As this is your first confrontation with the bandits, I was hoping to do my best and achieve something that would benefit you, sir.

Zhu Yunwen smiled:

"So you're quite thoughtful. However, we'll set aside the pursuit of these ten bandits for now. I've decided to apply to the higher authorities for some silver."

After all, as you've seen, these ten bandits are quite formidable, and I must conduct a large-scale search and investigation of them.

Besides, aren't they threatening the villagers to hand over a certain amount of silver? For the safety of the villagers, I have decided to apply to the higher authorities for this silver.

"It's all for the people! I finally understand the hardships and helplessness you felt when you were magistrate, Magistrate Zhou."

With that, Zhu Yunwen turned around and waved his hand:

"Everyone, return to the county government office."

Watching Zhu Yunwen's departing figure, I glanced at the ten bandits who had vanished without a trace.

County Magistrate Zhou felt something was amiss. After thinking for a long time, he suddenly realized what was going on and muttered to himself:

"Wait a minute, isn't this... this is our usual tactic? When we encounter bandits, we could easily deal with them, but we don't, and let them escape."

Then they exaggerated the seriousness of the matter and applied for funds from higher authorities. This… this Magistrate Zhu, could he be playing this trick too?

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