Chapter 87

"Oh, by the way, I encountered a group of bandits on the way here. I dealt with them and captured two of their small leaders. I wonder if County Magistrate Xu knows them?" Lin Shuge said, looking at the dilapidated lobby of the county government in front of him.

Xiangli Gu brought the two men up. Xu Zhengcai glanced at Meng Hu with an unusual look on his face, but he said respectfully, "I have never seen these two people before."

Wang Er was a little excited, but Meng Hu glared at him fiercely, and then he knelt down obediently.

"County Magistrate Xu, do you really not know him? The leader's name is Meng Hu. According to his confession, he is the third in command of the Huyashan bandits. He even dared to rob and kill officials of the imperial court. It is obvious that he has committed many evil deeds, such as burning, killing, looting and all kinds of evil in his daily life." Lin Shuge stood with his hands behind his back, standing under the plaque in the lobby and said.

Xu Zhengcai closed his eyes and replied, "I have definitely never seen it."

Lin Shuge curled his lips and smiled, and asked the officer beside him, "Has the county lieutenant arrived?"

The officer clasped his fists and said, "County Lieutenant Yang is waiting outside the door."

"The county lieutenant arrived quickly. Please ask him to come in."

Xu Zhengcai wiped the sweat from his forehead.

After a while, the officer came in with a man dressed as a warrior. He had a pair of tiger eyes and looked majestic.

"County Lieutenant Li Chao greets County Magistrate Lin." He saluted with a fist.

"Li County Lieutenant, there is no need to be so polite. I am new here and do not know many matters in Qingquan County. However, Li County Li is in charge of the public security of the county. I wonder if you know anyone in your hall?"

"I recognize him. He is Meng Hu, the third in command of Huya Mountain. He is a wanted criminal in Qingquan County." Li Chao said seriously.

Lin Shuge sat at the head of the table and tapped the table with his fingertips. "Is that so? No wonder County Magistrate Xu said he didn't know him. I'm afraid he was too busy and forgot about it."

Xu Zhengcai knelt on the ground with a plop, "Sir, it is true that I have been busy these days and my mind was confused, so I didn't recognize it for a while."

"Then County Magistrate Xu should rest at home for the next few days and come back to meet me later." Lin Shuge said with a smile.

"Sir...I..."

Lin Shuge looked at Li Chao and said, "Li County Magistrate, this man is the third most important person in Huya Mountain. I hope you can interrogate him carefully. By the way, my brother is an expert in interrogation that I brought from Ganzhou. Let him assist you in the interrogation."

Xie Chen cooperated and said, "Brother, do you want to use the same punishment as last time?" He looked at Meng Hu and Wang Er with contempt, "I'm afraid these two can't bear it. The spy confessed after just a few blows."

"Oh, you may not have heard of this. It sounds a bit bloody. This punishment is called "a thousand cuts and ten thousand pieces". It means cutting off one by one..." He gestured to Wang Er, "until there are thousands of cuts, but these two people should not be cut a thousand times."

Wang Er collapsed to the ground, and everyone smelled a fishy odor instantly.

Meng Hu looked at Lin Shuge fiercely with bloodshot eyes.

Xu Zhengcai's face turned even paler, and he looked at the young man sitting at the top with horror. He looked young and weak, but he was like a reincarnated evil spirit. Compared with him, the bandits in Huya Mountain were nothing.

Lin Shuge looked at the frightened officer and said, "Take them both away."

The officer was startled and hurriedly lowered his head to escort the two men out. Li Chao followed behind. Lin Shuge and Xie Chen looked at each other, and Xie Chen understood and followed him out.

The only ones left in the hall were the pale-faced Xu Zhengcai and the calm Lu Yuechuan beside him.

Lin Shuge was too lazy to engage in further witticism, so he told him to get a few officers over, then waved his hand and let Xu Zhengcai go.

"Sir, is the punishment you just mentioned real?" Lu Yuechuan asked with some fear.

Lin Shuge saw that he had a fearful look on his face, but his eyes were clearly full of interest. "It's true, but I also heard it from someone. I just wanted to scare them."

"I was wondering why I had never heard of such a strange punishment in Ganzhou?" Lu Yuechuan patted his chest.

"However, the Qingquan County Government has so many problems. The county magistrate doesn't act like a county magistrate. Instead, he seems like a pawn of Huyashan." Lu Yuechuan said intently.

Lin Shuge frowned, "Let's go clean up the county government office first. We didn't get any rest last night. Let's do it after we have rested up."

"Yes, sir."

Lin Shuge looked at several officers moving things back and forth with a stern expression.

The magistrate's residence was set up in the back hall of the county government office. Xiangli Gu was packing up with Lin Xuan and others, and all the things on the carriage had to be moved down one by one.

After Lin Xuan had organized her things, she wanted to go out for a walk. She didn't bring much from Ganzhou, so she had to buy some daily necessities. Xiang Li Gu stopped her and said, "Let me go with you."

Lin Xuan nodded. She was unfamiliar with the place, so she would feel more at ease taking Xiangli Gu with her.

When Lin Shuge came in, the inner rooms had been almost tidied. He took the bedding that Lin Xuan was holding and said softly, "Let me do it. You can go and rest after you have tidied up."

The few people were indeed exhausted, and upon hearing this, they all went back to their rooms to rest. Lin Shuge gave some money to the officers who helped and let them leave.

Lu Yuechuan and Xiang Ligu have been living in the county government office for the past few days, and will rent or buy a house when they find one they like.

The magistrate's room was naturally the best and most spacious of the several rooms. Lin Shuge put down the bedding and put the books he brought in order, and then he heard footsteps outside the door.

"Zhongxuan, what did you find out?"

Xie Chen placed a piece of paper in front of him and said, "It's all here." Then he picked up the cup on the table, poured himself a glass of water and drank it all.

Lin Shuge poured him another cup, then sat down and picked up the paper to look at it carefully. "Did you find out the topographic map of Huya Mountain?"

Xie Chen hummed, "This group of bandits is not ordinary. The village they chose is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It's not easy to take it down in one fell swoop."

"Meng Hu is only the weakest of the three leaders. According to the information he shared, the second leader of Huyashan is named Yang Yan. His origin is unknown, but he is quite skilled. According to Meng Hu, he once killed a government official."

Lin Shuge pondered for a moment and asked, "What about the leader?"

"The leader is named Yao Dajiang. He was originally a resident of Qingquan County. After committing a crime, he fled to Huya Mountain and became a bandit. Because of his ruthless methods, he often robbed the people and passing merchants. He gathered a group of extremely vicious criminals under his command."

"But brother, you should have discovered that this Huya Mountain seems to be fearless, and their greatest reliance is..."

“Shh…” Lin Shuge suddenly covered his mouth and asked outside the door, “Who is it?”

"My Lord, it's me."

"It's Lu Yuechuan," Lin Shuge said, and then he realized he was still holding Xie Chen, so he quickly let go.

"Come in." Lin Shuge shouted outside.

Lu Yuechuan came in and saw Xie Chen was there too. After the two of them exchanged greetings, he said, "Sir, looking at the situation today, if we don't deal with the bandits in Huya Mountain first, I'm afraid it's not safe to stay in this county government office."

All three of them knew what Lu Yuechuan meant.

Lin Shuge looked at Xie Chen, took something out of his bag and handed it to him, "Zhongxuan, I need you to help me with something."

Xie Chen nodded, his eyes changed slightly, and said: "Brother, please be careful, I will be back soon." After that, he stood up and walked out.

"Wait, you didn't rest yesterday. Rest for a while before going." Lin Shuge stopped him.

"Don't worry, brother. I'm in good health and not tired. Wait for me to come back." He looked at him with a smile on his face.

Lu Yuechuan smiled as he watched the interaction between the two without saying anything. He waited until Xie Chen left before speaking, "Sir, are you planning to keep this a secret from Lord Wei as well?"

Lin Shuge gave him a cold look and said, "Zhongxuan will definitely stop me if he knows."

"What does my Lord need me to do?"

"Accompany me in a play first." Lin Shuge said.

As noon approached, the county government office was very quiet.

There was a loud bang, and several teacups broke. "I told you that this place is like this. Why did you bother to make trouble with me? You just pissed off Zhongxuan and he left."

The servant who was sweeping the yard put away his broom and listened quietly.

A gentle voice came from inside, "I know you come from a rich family, and you came to this poor and remote place for me. Zhongxuan's original intention was to send me here and leave. You see, he turned against me when you made a fuss, and now he has just left."

There were a few more quarrels from inside, followed by soft voices of comfort.

The servant put down his broom and quietly retreated.

"Are we leaving?" Lu Yuechuan asked, feeling his goose bumps.

"It should be." Lin Shuge said with a smile.

"Master Lin, you are really good at writing legendary books, but will they really believe it?" Lu Yuechuan was a little tired from acting, so he sat down and poured himself a glass of water.

"In the confession Zhongxuan gave me, he said that the big boss is good at Longyang. He just needs to believe it. As long as we make them believe that Zhongxuan has left and is not asking for reinforcements, the show will be done." Lin Shuge handed him the confession.

If he hadn't seen that Yao Dajiang had this habit, he wouldn't have thought of this.

"Lord Wei is really capable. How come he even asked all these questions? Hmm? Second Master hates Long Yang's relationship so much?"

Can this copycat be any good? What's wrong?

"But sir, when Lord Wei comes back, you have to help me explain. This was your idea. I was forced to do it. I am completely innocent." Lu Yuechuan said with lingering fear as he thought about Xie Chen's skills.

Lin Shuge looked at him strangely, "What do you want to explain?"

Lu Yuechuan was very disappointed with his friend, "Sir, you are so smart in other aspects, why are you so smart in this aspect..." He then thought that some things still need to be figured out by the two of them themselves, so he would not join in the fun.

"What?" Lin Shuge was confused.

"It's nothing. I just want you to explain this matter after Lord Wei comes back, otherwise I'm afraid he will misunderstand." Lu Yuechuan said helplessly.

Seeing Lu Yuechuan's insistence, Lin Shuge thought that he was afraid that Xie Chen would misunderstand that he had some kind of hobby, so he promised to help him explain.

Seeing that he looked confused, Lu Yuechuan felt sorry for Xie Chen, thinking that he still had a long way to go.

"Sir, A-Da is here."

Xu Zhengcai was walking around the room. Hearing this, he said, "Let him in."

The servant told him everything he had just heard.

The corners of Xu Zhengcai's mouth twitched, and he looked incredulous.

The confidant beside him waved him to leave, and Xu Zhengcai said with a dull face: "Do you think this is credible?"

The confidant thought for a moment and said, "That Wei is very skilled. With him by Lin Shuge's side, it's really hard to attack him. Now that the two of them have broken up, it's the right time for Wei to leave in anger. It's a good time for him to leave, a good time for him to leave."

"But I always feel that this is too bizarre." Xu Zhengcai said, holding his head.

"Sir, look at the way those three look. If any young lady marries them, and sees her husband every day who is more handsome than herself, wouldn't it be... Oh! And, sir, have you forgotten the preferences of Master Yao? Maybe things in this world are just coincidences."

"Besides, I heard that Lin Shuge brought Lu Yuechuan, from the Weijun Lu family." The confidant whispered.

Xu Zhengcai was surprised. Why did the Lu family members come to this remote place? Is it really for Lin Shuge?

"My lord, think about it, who else could have brought a figure like Lu Yuechuan here if not for Lin Shuge? Could it be that he came for Qingquan County?" the confidant advised.

"Okay, let's do as you say. Pass the news to Huyashan and let them act accordingly."