Chapter 113 Showtime
There is no other way at the moment.
Zhao Bantou led two tall and strong men, who straightened their official uniforms and checked the badges and documents again. They were afraid that something was wrong, so they simply abandoned their horses from a distance and walked slowly over.
Xu Qingying and others stopped a little further away.
The group watched helplessly as the escorts headed towards the city gate.
Miao was feeling very nervous and just stood behind Xu Qingying.
Huang Cui'e was a straightforward person. "Sixth girl, I don't know why, but I'm so panicked. I just feel like something's wrong. How about... let's just run away and not go in?"
The uncle glared at her. "What nonsense are you talking about? Didn't we just discuss this? Run? Where are we going? We're almost near the border of Qianzhou. It's all deep mountains and forests, and it's snowing. If we don't get into the city for supplies, we'll all starve to death!"
Huang Cui'e covered her chest and said, "I'm just saying it."
Huang sighed, her wrinkled face full of fatigue from these few days of fleeing. "I, an old woman, can't run any more. If you want to run, go ahead. You don't have to take me with you."
"Mother, what are you talking about? No matter how unfilial we are, we can't abandon you—"
The Xu family was about to express their filial piety in front of Huang, but Xu Qingying pressed her finger to her lips, silencing them. "Quiet."
have to.
Filial piety means failure.
Zhao Bantou and his companions had already reached the city gate. He looked up and was about to speak when a head popped up from the tower and demanded in a stern voice, "Who is it? Get out of here! Can't you see the gate is closed?"
Zhao Bantou bowed and saluted, his voice clear and resounding in the cold air.
"Sir, I am a bailiff from Bianjing City, ordered to escort a group of exiled prisoners to Qianzhou. We will pass through your precious land, and we need the county magistrate's seal of approval. I beg you to grant us permission to enter the city to carry out our mission."
"Bailiff?" The soldier frowned. "From the capital? Really?"
"Guaranteed to be genuine. If not, you can check my badge and documents. These things cannot be faked."
"Okay, wait for me to report to the higher-ups."
"Thank you very much."
When everyone heard this, their expressions relaxed and some even showed joy.
Xu Lezhi was relieved and said, "It's nothing. Sixth sister is just suspicious all day long. It's normal to close the city gates when it's cold."
"You dead girl, if you don't speak, no one will think you're dumb!" Huang Cui'e didn't tolerate these kids from the second house. She glared at Xu Lezhi fiercely and said, "If it weren't for the sixth girl, we would have died countless times. You heartless ungrateful bastard, I don't know who scared you to the point of nearly peeing your pants last night. If it weren't for Feng'er's courage to chop that person with a knife, you would have gone to see the King of Hell long ago—"
Xu Lezhi's face flushed with shame. Thinking of his embarrassment last night, he wished he could crawl into the ground, but he still insisted, "Humph, who asked her to save me? Did I beg her to save me? She wanted to curry favor with Xu Qingying and rushed to save me. Why should I remember her kindness?"
Feng'er twisted her mouth and sighed repeatedly, "Ah, I saved an ungrateful person! Everyone, listen to what Miss Xu Qi said. I saved her with good intentions, but she didn't appreciate it. With your character, are you worthy of having the same last name as my daughter?"
"Your daughter?" Xu Lezhi was immediately enraged and spoke bluntly, "When did you sell yourself to our Xu family as a maid? Why haven't I seen your indenture?"
Feng Er didn't care at all. Instead, she laughed and lifted her hair. "Believe it or not, if the young lady wants to be a servant, there are countless people in this team who are eager to get in. But Miss Xu Qi probably doesn't understand. If you want to be a good dog for my young lady, you must have extraordinary skills! For example, someone like you..."
Feng'er smiled and looked Xu Lezhi up and down, with contempt evident in her words.
"People like you... would be so stupid and wasteful to be my daughter's dog!"
"You!" Xu Lezhi was so angry that her eyes turned red. She had been pampered since she was a child and had never been scolded like this. What's more, Feng'er, who was scolding her, was a servant before!
"Okay, stop talking." Lian glared at Feng'er unhappily.
But Feng'er is not afraid of her.
After experiencing business wars, murders, and escapes, Feng'er is far from the timid girl she was more than a month ago. She has become more aggressive and bold. Not only does she get along well with the people in the team, she also treats the peacemakers as brothers. When she is angry, she dares to point at the other party's nose and curse. She has the aura of being the second-in-command under Xu Qingying.
Except for Xu Qingying and Qian Zhenniang, Feng'er doesn't listen to anyone and doesn't give face to anyone.
Even though Lian was Xu Qingying's second aunt, Feng'er still showed no mercy.
The Xu family is nothing but a bunch of leeches sucking Miss Xu's blood! Miss Xu has lofty goals and a broad mind, and she has no time to bother with villains.
Feng'er is not afraid. If anyone dares to say bad things about Miss Xu, she will slap them in the face to let them know how powerful she is!
Qian Zhenniang pulled Feng'er and said, "Let's go, let's go quickly. Don't keep the young lady waiting for too long."
While they were arguing, the heavy city gate was quietly opened, and a group of soldiers in thick armor rushed out. They were holding weapons and moved quickly, rushing out and surrounding them.
Xu Qingying soon discovered something was wrong!
The armor these soldiers wore was mismatched, crooked, and ill-fitting. Most of them were skinny and dark-skinned, and despite their terrifying aura, their eyes were dull and their movements were slow, like peasants wearing dragon robes.
No, these people are not soldiers!
They look more like refugees!
A bold guess instantly popped up in Xu Qingying's mind.
These people surrounded them in an instant, making it impossible for them to escape even if they had wings!
Everyone looked at each other and moved towards the center in panic. Some were so scared that they almost cried, some immediately hugged their children, and some immediately raised their hands in surrender.
"What's going on? What are they going to do?"
"Why are they pointing knives at us? What have we done wrong?"
"Squad leader, what's going on? Why do I feel like something's wrong? Should we run?"
The soldiers were pushed aside to the sides, and a middle-aged man in the official uniform of a county magistrate came out.
The man had a black mole on his lip with a wisp of hair growing on it, which looked quite funny.
The official uniform he was wearing was too big, and it looked even more empty on the thin body. There was no brilliance in his eyes, but he gave people an inexplicable sense of stupidity. His voice was extremely loud, "Are you an official?"
He pointed at Zhao Bantou and asked, "Are you their boss?"
Zhao Bantou was at a loss, but still nodded.
"Bailiff? Are they specialised in escorting exiled prisoners?"
Zhao Bantou nodded again, this time bowing politely and saying, "Excuse me, sir, but what's wrong with us?"
"Officials? I hate officials the most in my life. Brothers, chop off all these people in official uniforms—"
As soon as the fake county magistrate finished speaking, several men around him stepped forward and grabbed the escorts. Zhao Bantou and others were still in great confusion, and while they were hesitating, they had already lost the best opportunity to take action. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen escorts were subdued.
Someone pressed their shoulders and subdued their hands from behind, and they instantly knelt on the ground, unable to move.
Zhao Bantou immediately cried out for justice: "Excuse me, sir, what have we done wrong? We are all legitimate laborers in the Dali Temple in Bianjing City. Even if we have committed a serious crime, we should be taken back to the capital for trial. How can you abuse your power to punish us?"
"I have no business interfering in the affairs of the capital. To tell you the truth, Ye County was occupied by us a long time ago, and the county magistrate was killed by us. Now we have the final say in Ye County! We brothers are all honest farmers. Jinzhou had such a big flood this year, and the dog officials in Ye County forced us to sell our children to pay taxes. The common people can't survive! If we can't survive, you officials can't live either. You are all no good. I, Old Li, will enforce justice on behalf of heaven. From now on, I will kill every official I see! Brothers, kill all these officials! And use their dog heads to sacrifice to our dead brothers!"
Everything happened so fast that everyone felt like they were struck by lightning!
Ye County was occupied?
They had just escaped a disaster, and now they fell into the hands of bandits again?!
Seeing that their men were already drawing their knives and were actually preparing to kill people at the city gate, everyone was at a loss. Zhao Bantou treated them well, so how could they bear to let the escorts lose their heads like this!
What's more, if the escort died, who would prove their identities and how could they go to Qianzhou?
Then what is the difference between them and refugees?
Also, if the police officer is killed first in the first step, will it be their turn in the second step?
"Wait a minute!!!" a crisp voice rang out.
Seeing that this group of people were really planning to kill people as a sacrifice to the gods, Xu Qingying had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk out no matter how scared she was.
She couldn't just watch Zhao Qiaonian and the others die here in such a confused manner.
What's more, without the escort of the escort team, they would not have been able to reach Qianzhou safely.
Zhao Bantou and the others must survive!
They must all survive too!
Only as long as you are alive, there is hope!
Amidst everyone's eager anticipation, Xu Qingying's palms were full of sweat and her voice was even a little trembling, but there was no fear on her face. She only looked at the nondescript county magistrate opposite her.
Feng'er looked anxious and wanted to stand up to accompany Xu Qingying, but was stopped by Qian Zhenniang, "Feng'er, don't worry, let's see what's going on first."
"Who are you?" The man looked at her curiously. "Are you a man or a woman?"
Xu Qingying had been traveling all the way without washing her hair or face. She had worn this outfit to avoid rain, snow, and kill people. Her whole body smelled of fermented blood and sweat, and it was really impossible to tell her gender.
Xu Qingying ignored him and just wiped her tears in the direction of Zhao Bantou and cried, "Brother Zhao, just tell me the truth. Our lives are at stake now, so don't hide it!"
This speech not only confused the county magistrate, but also confused everyone else.
Zhao Bantou had no idea what Xu Qingying meant. He just stared with his eyes wide open, a look of clear stupidity on his face.
Zhao Bantou shouted in his heart: Sister, please give me one more look!
The county magistrate was completely bewildered and glared at her with a frown, "Don't try any tricks! These people must die today!"
"Big brother, hey!" Xu Qingying acted as if she wanted to say something but hesitated, and she was about to cry, squeezing out two tears.
"Actually, they weren't officials at all! Forget it, now that things have come to this, I'll just tell you the truth. We're refugees near Jinzhou. This summer, there was a flood that flooded several villages near us! Our fields and land were all washed away, and we had no choice but to flee. On the way, we heard people say that there was food in Jinzhou Prefecture and that wealthy families were giving out porridge, so we wanted to go there, but we got lost in the mountains..."
When the county magistrate heard that they were also refugees, his expression relaxed a lot. He quickly waved his hand and asked his men to let them go. "You said you are also from Jinzhou. Are you serious?"
"Of course it's true!"
"Then why are they wearing official uniforms?"
"Oh, stop talking!" Xu Qingying put on a brilliant performance, plopped down on the ground, and began to cry like her aunt. "What a miserable life! We got lost in the mountains, with no food or clothes, and several of our fellow villagers died on the way. We thought there was no hope, but then we ran into a group of exiles in the mountains. They said they were from Bianjing and were heading to Qianzhou. We were starving, and we thought that since we were government officials after all, they wouldn't let us starve to death, so we went to ask for some food. But those officials were such bastards, not only didn't they give us food, they even drove us away with knives!"
The county magistrate seemed to recall the days when he was a refugee, and he felt the same way. His eyes turned red. "See, I told you that officials are not good people! They eat and drink well, and don't care about the lives of us lowly people——"
Xu Qingying continued to perform while wiping her tears. "But we are so hungry, we are crying out in hunger. There is really no other way. We can bear it, but how can the old man and the child bear it? If they don't give it to us, we will snatch it!"
"Right! That's how it should be!" The county magistrate slapped his thigh, his eyes gleaming with ferocity. "I led my brothers into the city, and the county magistrate was so frightened he peed his pants and knelt on the ground begging me. I stabbed him and stole the food, and that's how my brothers survived. So what happened next? Are the villagers okay?"
At this moment, looking at the innocent look of this fake county magistrate, and even the hint of worry about them in his eyes, Xu Qingying was sure that this man was a piece of cake.
Good, very good.
Xu Qingying gradually became less nervous, and her performance even started to get better!
"We thought the escorts were powerful, but they were nothing more than empty talk. Seeing our superior numbers, they were so frightened they fled! The remaining prisoners were old, weak, and sick, and when they saw the escorts had fled, they just knelt and begged for mercy! We stole their horses, their clothes, their food, and then we held out in the woods for several days before we finally made it out."
The old man in the county actually sat down on the ground and listened to her story with great interest.
"And then, it snowed a few days ago, and it's very dangerous in the mountains and forests!"
"Yes, there wasn't even a piece of dry firewood. The villagers almost froze to death in the mountains!"
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