Chapter 2917 Collision
Inspector Song watched anxiously as Zhou Man and two teams passed by them.
A yamen runner couldn't help but urge, "Inspector Song, let's go back quickly. Brother Ping's leg still needs treatment."
Inspector Song glanced at him, then turned and said, "Let's go."
To get to Dongyu Village, you have to pass by the edge of Xiaojing Village and Dajing Village.
Because of Zhou Man's remarks, the villagers were very dissatisfied with Jia Lichang. Although he had several yamen runners behind him to prevent them from doing anything, verbal conflicts were still possible.
One villager complained resentfully, "Head of the village, we are all from the same clan. If the children do something wrong, you should tell us. What's the point of snitching?"
"That's right. Would it make you feel good if they became bandits?"
"This has brought shame upon both our villages. You shouldn't have informed on us."
The village head, exhausted after explaining all morning, said again in a hoarse voice, "I didn't tell on anyone. The county magistrate found out about it himself."
No one listened to him. "Then Mr. Zhou said that you were the one who informed on them. If it weren't for you, how could the county magistrate and his men know about the robbery?"
Jia, the village chief, was furious and shouted again, "Master Zhou clearly said that Jia Dalang and the others confessed on their own, and the bandit leader confessed. How can I, as the village chief, continue to conceal it for them?"
The villagers didn't listen at all. They only believed what they believed and chose to believe what they wanted to hear.
When the village chief was exhausted, Zhou Man led a large army and ran quickly past the road outside their village.
That’s right, more than two hundred people, it seems like a lot of people, and each of them is carrying a knife or a bow and arrow, which is very scary to look at.
The villagers who had gathered around the village head to ask for his opinion fell silent, silently watching Zhou Man and his group quickly run over from the road not far away. Seeing that direction, it was Dongyuzhuang...
Jia Lichang waited until they ran far away before he looked back at the villagers and said angrily, "See? This is reinforcements. Do you understand reinforcements?"
He asked, "Where can Beihai County get so many troops? Don't they have to be transferred from Qingzhou City? Do you know how long it takes to get from Qingzhou City to our place?"
Villager: “I don’t know!”
How would they know since they haven’t been there?
Many people have never even been to the county town.
Jia Lichang: "...At this rate, it would take at least four days. What does this mean? It means the county magistrate has already requested help from Qingzhou City. Maybe he even did so before coming to our village!"
"Do you really think they robbed Xiaoliu Village for nothing? The county government didn't say a word before, but maybe they've already received the news and are investigating this matter. The last time County Magistrate Bai and his men came, they were targeting Jia Dalang and his men, and when they left, they took them all away. Now that they've captured the bandit leader, how can the rest of them escape?"
Seeing their silence, Jia Lichang let out a sigh and said earnestly, "You just saw it too. The county government can mobilize a large army. If we resist stubbornly, they won't just besiege Dongyu Village, but our Dajing Village and Xiaojing Village."
He asked, "Are you really planning to follow your family and become a bandit in the mountains?"
Before the villagers whose families had been arrested could say anything, some other families were unhappy and immediately shouted, "We are innocent, Village Head, you can't let County Magistrate Bai really designate our village as a bandit's den. Our families are honest people."
Jia Lichang sneered, "You are honest? If you were honest, why did you make trouble with them last night?"
The villager choked, paused, and then turned and left, dragging his family with him. "Let's go back, let's go back. This has nothing to do with us."
Half of the crowd dispersed immediately.
Another half were reluctant to leave, and they kept asking, "Head of the village, County Magistrate Bai won't chop off their heads, will he?"
Others worried, "If we have a bandit in our family, what will our reputation be? What will happen to our remaining children?"
"Oh my God, I only have one son."
There was a lot of crying at the scene, and Jia Lichang's headache became even worse.
At this time, Bai Shan and his friends had already called all the young men on the list to the home of Village Chief Sun in Dongyu Village.
Of course, the reason given was that people from the county government had come, one to give them a warning, and the other to select yamen runners. County Lieutenant Dong and his soldiers hid outside the village and did not move.
Not all the people came, some of them were not in the village, Bai Shan did not mind, after calling everyone who could be called, he put down the tea bowl and stood up and said: "Let's go, go out of the village and try it."
A young man asked, "What are you trying to do?"
They looked Bai Shan up and down, wondering who he was.
Bai Shan said, "I'm the official who's selecting runners for the county yamen. Jia Dalang said you guys have brute force, and while you're not good at anything else, you're fine patrolling the streets and arresting people in the county, so I came here to try to select some."
Village Chief Sun's voice trembled slightly as he spoke, but he remained strong and calm as Bai Shan had taught him: "What nonsense are you talking about? Just go and try it if I tell you to."
The young men looked at each other, but seeing that Bai Shan had already taken his men out, they could only follow him with their hands waving.
The villagers would move away from these people when they saw them, especially since the one walking in front was an official in official uniform.
That’s right, except for Bai Shan, everyone around him was wearing official uniform.
Walking out of the village, there is a road in front of you, with woods on both sides and fields on both sides behind you...
Several young people felt something was wrong. Although the head of the village gave a reason, the reason seemed unreliable. They were very tempted at first, but when they got here, they felt something was wrong.
Especially the village chief's performance just now...
So the young men looked at each other and took a few more steps forward hesitantly. Bai Shan noticed that their pace was getting slower and slower. He did not stop, but instead quickened his pace and dragged Village Chief Sun along with him. Soon, he had distanced himself from them...
After walking a distance, Bai Shan turned around and looked at them, saying in a deep voice: "The county government is arresting the bandits. Everyone, squat down and obey orders—"
A young man heard this and shouted loudly before Bai Shan finished speaking: "Run!"
Most people turned and ran, but a few, bewildered, stayed where they were, hesitated for a moment, and then turned and ran...
As soon as they jumped down from the field, soldiers rushed out from the nearby woods and wheat fields and rushed towards them.
They passed over those who had just stood there in a daze and headed towards those who had moved first...
The young man who ran first jumped forward with his men, followed by a group of soldiers. Because they were familiar with the route and the soldiers hadn't rested well the previous night, they could only follow from a distance...
The young men jumped onto the road and continued running. As soon as they turned a corner, they bumped into Zhou Man and others on horseback. They almost couldn't stop and ran under the horses...
Zhou Man was so frightened that he reined in his horse. Just as he was about to speak, he heard faint shouting and cursing from the front, "Damn it, if you run again we will shoot arrows at you——"
If the county magistrate hadn't said these people were unidentified bandits, they would have shot them with their bows and arrows...
When Zhou Man heard this, his eyes lit up and he immediately waved to the soldiers behind him, "That's them! Capture them!"
Without waiting for Inspector Li and the other man to say anything, the soldiers behind them rushed forward to surround them, forming a siege with the people behind them.
Inspector Li and his partner: ...Who is the inspector after all?
See you at 10pm
(End of this chapter)
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