72 Bandit Leader
◎This person is the one who had a secret meeting with County Magistrate Han before◎
Watching the jailer approaching her step by step with the red-hot iron, the hot steam from the iron sprayed on Ye Yunzhao's face. She closed her eyes tightly, her body trembling uncontrollably, and her whole body pressed against the icy iron frame.
The branding iron was getting closer and closer to her, and when it was about to hit her shoulder, the cell door was suddenly pushed open.
The jailer stopped moving and saw the person coming was a small yamen runner. He leaned over and whispered something in Tian Tongpan's ear. Tian Tongpan snorted coldly, "Send her back."
After saying that, he turned around and followed the young yamen runner away. The jailer threw the branding iron back into the large charcoal basin. He loosened the chain, and Ye Yunzhao suddenly lost his strength and almost fell to the ground.
She followed the jailer toward the cell, unable to stop wondering what the message had just been. The branding iron was only half an inch away from her, yet she withdrew her hand...
Prefect?
Impossible. He had acted so arrogant today, how could he have spared me? He didn't seem to be seriously investigating, so he was probably just a idiot, using his family background to gain power.
Ye Yunzhao sneered in his heart, but then he became worried. If this prefect really wanted to fool around, he would probably die here.
But why did he arrest me instead of others?
"Go in!"
Ye Yunzhao came back to her senses after the jailer roared. She went into the cell on her own, sat back on the cold and damp straw stool, closed her eyes and thought.
The current situation seems to be that this incompetent prefect has really discovered something, but what exactly did he know?
Ye Yunzhao suddenly opened his eyes: Could it be that... he knew that I had disguised myself... and sneaked into the prefect's house?
The more she thought about it, the more certain she became. If this was true, only two people would betray her: Madam Liu from the dessert shop, and the thin madam whom she met at the side door in the backyard the day she sneaked in.
If it was Nanny Liu, I'm afraid Chen Jingshan would not be able to escape the blame, but Ye Yunzhao did not see him when he walked around the cell; if it was Nanny Shou, she didn't know his true identity, so how could she catch him so quickly?
Ye Yunzhao was puzzled and couldn't help but sigh. She thought that being reincarnated as a county magistrate was already a very lucky thing, but who could have imagined that she would be so unlucky to encounter such a situation!
A cold wind blew in through the small window. Ye Yunzhao rubbed her hands and huddled up in a ball. Her clothes, soaked with sweat from the afternoon, clung to her back. The cold wind froze every joint and every inch of her skin stiff.
He endured the whole night like this. When Ye Yunzhao woke up again, the jailer brought him a plate of food: a mixed flour steamed bun and a bowl of white porridge.
"Hey!" The jailer glared at him, "You! Eat quickly!"
Ye Yunzhao shook his head.
I thought he would turn around and leave, but the jailer picked up the steamed bun and smashed it hard, hitting her on the forehead.
The jailer was very strong. Although the mixed flour bun was soft, the blow still made her head dizzy.
Ye Yunzhao had been fuming over the past few days, so he frowned, grabbed the steamed bun, and was about to throw it back!
But he heard the fierce and burly jailer winking at him, his tone still fierce, and sarcastically said: "Don't be shameless! Eat quickly! Haha...you're going to have one less meal every time you eat!"
Ye Yunzhao was stunned and picked up the mixed flour bun that had rolled beside her. After shaking off the straw crumbs stuck on it, she broke it apart and put it into her mouth.
The mixed flour steamed bun had no taste. When she had eaten half of it, a small piece of paper tube suddenly appeared.
Ye Yunzhao sat up straight, looked around furtively, and then exerted a little force to pull out the tiny paper tube.
Slowly opening it, a tiny piece of ribbed paper bloomed in her palm, with only a short sentence on it: There is an insider in the yamen, don't worry, wait.
For some reason, immediately, her heart, which had been worried for two whole days, suddenly calmed down. Ye Yunzhao secretly stuffed the paper back into the steamed bun and swallowed it along with the bun.
A faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. Ribbed paper is very special because there are tiny ribs on the surface of the paper. This kind of paper is more flexible than rice paper and has the reputation of being worth a thousand gold.
Ye Yunzhao naturally couldn't afford it. She had only seen one person use ribbed paper - Chen Jingshan.
*
Outside Yuezhou City.
Although the business of the inns on the main roads is not as good as that in the city, it is now near the end of the year and there are many merchants coming and going, making it very lively.
A woman wearing a veil was sitting by the window, her face hidden by the white veil, but her tone was very anxious, as if something had happened to her.
The waiter quickly served the food and wine, and the woman whispered to the man beside her, "Boss, Honglang really can't wait any longer..."
The man she called "Big Boss" was the bandit leader outside Yuezhou City - Deng Ying. Now he was wearing a satin suit and did not look like a bandit at all.
He poured some wine into the two people's cups and said with some embarrassment:
"It's not that I don't want to look for it, it's... the person who used to provide Honglang with medicine is dead. You know this, and right now I don't have... any way..."
Upon hearing this, the woman beside her lifted a corner of her veil, revealing a beautiful face. If Madam Cuihua were here, she would definitely recognize this person as the one who had previously met with County Magistrate Han in Ruyi Tower!
"What do you mean? Don't you plan to save Honglang? Are you going to watch him die now?" the woman asked.
"Are you crazy?!" Deng Ying was shocked when he saw her action. Looking at the tattoo mark on her forehead, he immediately put down his veil. He looked around, fearing that others would see him.
After a while, Deng Yingcai whispered, "Have you forgotten that you are... the daughter of a guilty minister..."
A soft sobbing sound was heard from behind the veil, and the woman said, "Boss, tell me, is it true or not?"
Seeing that he was in great difficulty, the woman said, "Deng Ying, I'm afraid you've already forgotten that if I hadn't saved you, you would have died long ago. I have never made things difficult for you. I only have this one request! Only this one... I beg you..."
"Fei Jiu..." Deng Ying sighed deeply and lowered his head, "Don't worry, I will definitely find a way... I will definitely find a way..."
He raised his eyes slightly, only to find that the woman in front of him was very unfamiliar. Deng Ying closed his eyes in pain, his thoughts racing as he recalled the time when he first met Fei Jiu.
At that time, he was a soldier in the Northern Expedition Army. The general led his troops in a fierce battle with the barbarians for three days and three nights. Food and grass support was delayed, and his brothers who had enlisted with him were either dead or injured. Therefore, Deng Ying made an absurd decision - to desert.
Deng Ying never denied his cowardice. He was afraid of death, so he sneaked out of the military camp under cover of darkness. At the time, the northwest was covered in snow. He thought he was heading south, but he was wrong and fainted in the snow.
As for Feijiu's story, it happened after he woke up. Her father was corrupt and accepted bribes, and all the men and women in the family became military prostitutes. She escaped because of her young age and was exiled to a cold and bitter place.
But what puzzled Deng Ying was that Fei Jiu actually escaped from the hands of the jailer and saved himself.
The two later depended on each other for survival, calling each other brother and sister, and fled all the way south to the deep mountains near Yuezhou City. Over the years, there were already dozens of bandits in the village, and Deng Ying became the leader.
The "Hong Lang" that Fei Jiu mentioned was none other than her man. They had been married for only two years when Hong Lang needed medicine every day to stay alive due to health problems.
There were no expensive medicinal herbs in the village, so Deng Ying tried his best to get in touch with the rich people in Yuezhou City for these things.
Fei Jiu shed tears and said painfully: "Brother, I don't want to force you... It's just that Honglang's body can't wait..."
Deng Ying hardened his heart. She was his benefactor, and he couldn't remain indifferent. "You go back to the village later. I'll go to the city to think of a solution."
After hearing this, Fei Jiu stopped crying and nodded quickly. Deng Ying always brought back medicine when he went to the city before, and he would definitely be able to do it this time as well.
*
"Han County Magistrate is back?" Liu Mazi saw him and immediately stood up. He walked to his side and whispered, "Has there been any result on the matter with Ye County Magistrate?"
County Magistrate Han shook his head slightly wearily. Liu Mazi wanted to ask more, but he waved his hand and walked back to the yard with his head down.
County Magistrate Han was now feeling conflicted: Magistrate Ye, a rare and good official, had been imprisoned, and he feared he would never return. But if he didn't leave his position as Lingnan County Magistrate, he feared he would never be promoted.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and walked into the house as if he had lost his soul.
"Creaky..." As the wooden door opened, County Magistrate Han was frightened by the person standing in the room and broke out in a cold sweat. He suddenly closed the door and whispered an accusation:
"Are you crazy? How dare you come to the county government office in broad daylight to look for me? If someone sees us, I'm afraid both of us won't be able to live anymore..."
Deng Ying interrupted his rambling: "Where's the hundred-year-old ginseng I need? Bring it here."
Han Xiancheng sneered and shook his patched sleeves: "How can I look like someone who owns a hundred-year-old ginseng? I think you look like a hundred-year-old ginseng!"
Deng Ying said, "Ye Yunzhao is in jail and can't get out. I helped you solve a big problem. Shouldn't you thank me?"
County Magistrate Han suddenly realized what was happening and said in disbelief, "It was you? It was you! How could you send her to jail? Are you crazy?"
"After all this, why are you still pretending to be honest?" Deng Ying sneered. "If you don't want me to expose your dirty deeds to the public, I advise you to go find a hundred-year-old ginseng right away!"
Hearing this, County Magistrate Han staggered: "You are really crazy... crazy!"
The room fell into an eerie silence. After a while, County Magistrate Han asked, "So, it was you who killed the Yuezhou prefect and put the blame on Ye Yunzhao?"
"I didn't kill anyone." Deng Ying said as he pulled out the knife from his waist and wiped the blade carefully with the hem of his clothes.
"I told you to throw this knife away! If anyone finds it, they'll convict you without any further investigation!" County Magistrate Han looked at the official knife in his arms and glared at him with disapproval. "So—it was you who really pinned the blame on Ye Yunzhao for this!"
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