"King You is still staying indoors and refusing to see us?" In the elegant courtyard, a white-faced, beardless man with a hooked nose curled his lips.
Then he looked at the middle-aged man in the crowd, wearing a lake blue robe and with a solemn face, "Brother Mei, King You is so disrespectful, are we going to let him wait like this?"
"In my opinion, there is no need for us to give him face. We should go back as soon as possible. Why should we worship him?"
As soon as he finished speaking, people around him kept echoing, "Yes, does King You still think that he is the crown prince who is second only to the emperor and above everyone else? Look at the way he puts himself on!"
"They met with the bureaucrats from three states, but left us out. They really don't know what's good for us."
"Doesn't he know whether it is the government or our family that has the final say in this southwest region?"
"Everyone, since he treats us like this, why don't we teach him a lesson?"
"Who are you trying to teach a lesson to?" The head of the Mei family, who was surrounded by the crowd in the middle, suddenly spoke with a slightly cold voice.
The people around suddenly became quiet.
"Of course it's for King You..." The hook-nosed man who first brought up this topic answered carefully.
The head of the Mei family glanced at him indifferently, with obvious disapproval in his eyes.
Then, he looked around again. The heads of the noble families sitting around him avoided his sharp gaze and did not dare to look him in the eye.
"Heh." The Mei family's patriarch chuckled, "Teach King You a lesson?"
"Have you all forgotten who raised our Prince You?"
The courtyard fell into silence.
Everyone realized belatedly that the current King You, formerly the Crown Prince, was raised by the wise and powerful late emperor and nurtured personally.
"If King You had received even a little bit of the previous emperor's true teachings, he wouldn't be as bad as he appears to be."
Patriarch Mei said, raising his hand and stroking his beard, "I am a little curious about what King You wants to do."
"Now, Tan, Qian, and Yi are the fiefs of King You. We will inevitably have to deal with King You in the future. It would be better to wait for two days and see how he behaves before deciding how we, the noble families, will treat him in the future."
The Mei family is the most powerful family among all the aristocratic families in the southwest. When the head of the Mei family speaks, no one will refute his opinion.
He immediately nodded in agreement, "Then we'll listen to Master Mei. We'll wait a few more days!"
…
"Master, Commander Qin of Yizhou sent someone to deliver a message."
When there were outsiders present, Feng Ping and others called Qi Xu "Prince", but in private they were more accustomed to calling him "Master".
Only one day had passed since he met with the governors, provincial judges and military commanders of the three states, when news came back from Yizhou.
"Let someone in." Qi Xu's voice came from the study.
Soon, Feng Ping came in from outside, leading a tall, dark and thin soldier.
"Greetings to His Majesty King You." The soldier kowtowed respectfully.
"Get up and talk."
"Yes." The military officer stood up, took out a piece of paper from his arms, and presented it with both hands, "Your Highness, this is what Commander Qin asked me to bring to you."
"Present it." Qi Xu's eyes fell on the letter.
Feng Ping took it and after carefully checking that there was nothing unusual on the paper of the letter, he handed it to Qi Xu.
Qi Xu looked down.
This letter mainly contains the issue of banditry mentioned by the Censor and the Governor of Yizhou yesterday.
The bandits were a group of flood victims who had been relocated from the lower reaches of Tanzhou. They robbed houses and committed all kinds of evil along the way. The garrisons in Tanzhou and Qianzhou were unable to catch them.
By the time the group reached Yizhou, they had recruited more than 800 people, 70% of whom were young and middle-aged men. Among this group of people were hunters, blacksmiths, and some sailors who had served in the fleet. They chose routes that were rarely traveled and difficult to track.
This time, it was also a coincidence that one of Qin Zheng's centurions accidentally discovered the clues they left on the waterway. He then followed the clues and found the latest whereabouts of this gang of bandits.
After Qin Zheng rushed back to Yizhou overnight, he personally led the forces of two thousand households to attack the bandits' lair and successfully surrounded all the more than 800 bandits.
However, just as he was giving the order to attack, the bandit leader suddenly had a dozen hostages who were tied up come forward.
This kind of delaying tactic is what is left over from the battlefield.
According to Qin Zheng's temper, he didn't want to pay any attention to it. However, his deputy beside him stopped him hurriedly after seeing the appearance of the kidnapped people.
Because, among the dozen or so hostages, there were several familiar faces of "noblemen". Among them were the young master of the Bai family who had been reported missing some time ago and the county lieutenant of Luo County on the Qianyi border.
As for the others, although their identities could not be determined for the moment, judging from their appearance and temperament, they were definitely not ordinary people. I think they were all people of considerable status in the three states.
Yizhou is already weak in the southwestern states. If it offends so many nobles at once, its situation will become even more difficult.
These hostages cannot be left alone!
In this way, Qin Zheng had no choice but to order a halt to the attack. The two thousand soldiers of Yizhou Garrison and the eight hundred bandits were stuck in a stalemate.
The bandit leader threatened Qin Zheng with hostages and demanded that he take his men away. Qin Zheng was trying his best to delay time, waiting for the final order from Prince You's Mansion.
"Who wrote this letter?" Qi Xu's gaze fell on the soldier's head.
"It's Sun Chenshi who works beside Lord Qin." The soldier reported truthfully.
Qi Xu secretly memorized the name, and then said: "I already know about this matter. Tell Lord Qin to delay it until midnight tonight. Then I will send people to rescue the hostages and help suppress the bandits."
"Feng Ping, arrange a few people to go back with him."
After the soldiers were taken away, Qi Xu calmed down and ordered: "Gather the men and set off in half an hour."
"Tonight, I will personally lead the team to suppress the bandits."
…
The night wind is howling.
More than a dozen thinly clothed men and women were tied to wooden stakes, and behind each of them stood a bandit with a knife.
When it was almost time for the night shift, the thieves and bandits talked to each other in low voices, taking naps while on duty to avoid falling asleep.
"The unshaven bearded man in front of Brother Hu is an official in the county government."
"The little girl that Old Li is staring at seems to be the daughter of a wealthy family."
"The man Biaozi is guarding is a man from the upper class..."
"The one of Lao Tian is..."
After all these things were said, the only one left was a handsome but pale young man who was tied to the northernmost pillar.
"What about this?"
"Looking at his appearance, he is probably a young master from a noble family, right? He just doesn't look like someone from our southwest..."
"Tsk, this one? That's not it."
"This is the pretty boy that the Third Boss picked up along the way. He made a mistake a few days ago and angered the Third Boss. Look, his skin is good for intimidating people, so I tied him up to make up the number!"
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