Gu Jiangli clicked his tongue. "Stop haggling. Just tell me what to say. As for how to deal with you, His Majesty has his own plans."
She knew the emperor had little patience for these things.
If these bandits still don't tell the truth, the emperor doesn't intend to give them another chance to speak.
Let him look it up himself; he'll figure it out eventually, it'll just take a little time.
The bandit leader immediately kowtowed and hurriedly said:
"Yes, yes, I wouldn't dare to hide it."
He tilted his head to glance at his second and third brothers, then, as if making a decision, said:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, a sudden heavy rainstorm hit Lucheng some time ago, causing a landslide. The brothers on the mountain had nowhere to go and had to come down the mountain to make a living."
"All the brothers from the four camps on the mountain have come down, a total of seventy-nine people."
"The Gu family was the first family we raided after arriving in the capital. Master Gu... oh no, the Emperor's father-in-law's house didn't have any special guards, only some servants, so we thought we'd just use the Gu family as our base."
"During the day, I would go out and steal or rob a little bit, and then go back home to rest at night."
"Today, only the three of us brothers are left to guard the Gu family. The rest of the brothers went out... to steal things."
The bandit leader suddenly raised his voice several octaves and continued:
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty the Empress! We were struck by a natural disaster, and our mountain camp was destroyed. We had no choice but to come down the mountain to do this!"
"We truly didn't know this was the Emperor's father-in-law's house! If we had known... we would never have..."
Gu Jiangli interrupted, "No matter what, you wouldn't rob the Emperor's father-in-law, but rather other wealthy families, right?"
Her face showed displeasure and disdain.
These bandits did indeed realize their mistake.
But they didn't feel they had done anything wrong by stealing; rather, they felt they had robbed the wrong person.
They managed to rob the home of someone they couldn't afford to offend.
Ultimately, I still didn't think their looting was wrong.
I've heard of the bandits in Lucheng before.
"Lucheng has only one large mountain, called Tiantai Mountain. There is an official road at the foot of Tiantai Mountain that connects the imperial city and Lucheng. Anyone who wants to reach the imperial city must pass through this official road."
"The mountain bandits in the mountains commit all sorts of evil deeds and often lie in ambush along the official road. Once someone passes by, especially a caravan carrying important valuables, they will definitely rob the caravan house of everything."
"The court had sent officials to suppress the bandits, but the mountain roads of Tiantai Mountain were treacherous, and the bandits in the mountains were adept at using the terrain to hide their camps and create traps."
"The soldiers who went to suppress the bandits often did not return, and this matter has been a headache for His Majesty for a long time."
"The heavy rain washed away your camp. Is this considered a natural disaster?"
"This is justice from heaven. The net of heaven is vast and its justice is inescapable."
The bandit paused upon hearing Gu Jiangli's words, immediately realizing he had said the wrong thing, and began to apologize.
"Your Majesty, we truly know we were wrong. Regardless of whether he is the Emperor's father-in-law or not, we should not have broken into someone else's home to steal their property. This is against the laws of the Great Jiang Dynasty!"
"It was a grave mistake for us to become bandits! We will remember Her Majesty the Empress's teachings and never again associate with those brothers... oh no, those bandits!"
The bandit leader spoke sincerely, appearing determined to admit his mistake.
Gu Jiangli had no intention of arguing with them and rolled her eyes, ignoring them.
Seeing her silence, the emperor continued, "When will your brothers return home?"
The emperor wanted to take this opportunity to wipe out this group of people in one fell swoop.
If successful, it will eliminate a potential problem.
The bandit leader wiped the sweat from his brow and said:
"Typical...returning at 9 PM."
They only got back after dark. Looks like I'll have to wait a while.
The emperor threw the paper and pen that the bandits had used to write letters to Gu Jiangli back onto the ground and said:
Write down the names, physical characteristics, and hometowns of all seventy-nine people.
The bandit leader's hand holding the pen and paper trembled uncontrollably.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, we can manage the names and appearances of these people, but their hometowns... we really don't necessarily know them all..."
His expression looked genuinely troubled, not like he was faking it.
He genuinely couldn't write it.
The emperor glanced at them and then said:
Write down as much as you know.
Seeing that the emperor had softened his stance, they dared not push their luck any further and immediately replied, "Yes, yes, we will write it down right away."
The second and third brothers brought out two more pens, and the three of them retreated to a corner, knelt on the ground, and wrote diligently.
Gu Jiangli said softly to the emperor, "Your Majesty, this group of people has probably been causing trouble in the capital for a long time. Have you heard anything in the court?"
The emperor pursed his lips, his expression serious. "No."
Gu Jiangli frowned slightly. "So, some officials have covered this up and haven't reported it to the authorities?"
The emperor did not deny it. "They thought they could handle the matter, and perhaps they also thought that if I found out about the bandits entering the capital, I would severely punish the officials who neglected their duties, so they kept it a secret."
Gu Jiangli nodded, the emperor's words made sense.
Within the imperial city, theft and robbery, unless they endangered too many lives, were generally not reported directly to the emperor.
If they knew these people were bandits, they would not have so easily let the emperor know in order to protect their own official positions.
He probably planned to resolve the bandit issue privately before submitting his report.
"Your Majesty is right."
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