The Huai Shuo border troops immediately drew their weapons and shouted in a show of force, "Don't come any closer! We were ordered by the Commandant to collect grain!"
Lu Tu pulled out a piece of yellow cloth from his pocket. It was the same cloth that Zhao Qingyao's maid had used to wrap the jade pendant when she gave it to him last time. It was clearly an item from the palace.
Lu Tu was too lazy to waste words with them and simply waved his hand, saying, "I have come here on His Majesty's orders to investigate the smallpox plague in Huai Shuo. Why don't you kneel down upon seeing the imperial edict?"
"Huh? This...this is an imperial edict?"
Clearly, the Huai Shuo border troops couldn't recognize what Lü Tu was holding and could only look at each other in bewilderment.
Lu Tu glared at them, and the surrounding soldiers immediately stepped forward, snatched all their weapons, and began to beat them mercilessly, causing them to howl in pain.
The villagers of Pangjia, who had been secretly watching the commotion from afar, cheered upon seeing this: "Well done! Sun Biao is a really wicked guy. Last time he came to collect grain, he insisted that my mother sleep with him. The worst part is that his thing is so short and small. He finished in no time, and I didn't even feel it before he hit me when he heard me muttering!"
Upon hearing this, Nie Yun and the others couldn't help but feel indignant, saying, "So your name is Sun Biao? And you're all talk and no action?"
Sun Biao, the thin, dark-skinned man on the ground, was suffering both physically and mentally from having his hidden ailment exposed in public. He didn't know whether the person holding the document was telling the truth or not, so he could only remain silent with a gloomy face.
Lu Tu announced loudly, "Kneel down to receive the imperial edict!"
Nie Yun and Xiang Ze, who were standing nearby, reacted immediately and knelt down on one knee, saying, "Yes, Your Majesty!"
"By the mandate of Heaven..." Lu Tu rattled off a whole bunch of phrases, all of which were the same old platitudes he'd heard countless times in his previous life watching TV dramas.
Although he didn't know how the imperial edicts of the Great Yu Dynasty were written, he was fine with them as long as they were roughly the same. As for such high-level documents as imperial edicts, a minor official like Sun Biao was not qualified to see them.
However, Lu Tu's wording was still quite rigorous, at least in terms of being elegant and refined.
Sun Biao and the others felt their scalps tingle upon hearing this. After Lü Tu finished reading the imperial edict, they hesitated for a long time before saying, "Lord Lü, are you saying that the Emperor has ordered you to investigate smallpox, and that's why he's conscripting us?"
"That's right! It's only because of the imperial decree, otherwise, based on the few words you just said to me, I could have confiscated your property."
Sun Biao then realized that he had indeed cursed a few times, but that was his catchphrase; he said it to everyone. He never expected it would almost cause trouble.
His subordinate asked in a low voice, "Brother Sun, what do we do now? Should we answer the call or not?"
"Brother, the imperial edict doesn't look real to me; there isn't even a dragon on it."
Sun Biao slapped his subordinate on the head and muttered, "Are you fucking stupid? Putting aside whether this imperial edict is real or fake, do you even dare to say it's fake?"
As they spoke, Sun Biao and the others looked around. Everywhere they looked, there were fully armed soldiers staring coldly at them. They had no doubt that if they dared to disobey the imperial order, death would be their only fate.
"Lord Lü, we accept the imperial decree!"
Lu Tu nodded: "Just understand. I can't give you this imperial edict. If it gets dirty, I won't be able to explain myself."
Sun Biao was speechless. He thought to himself that he would do whatever anyone said, as long as he could stay alive. He and his subordinates moved to a corner and squatted down.
Even Old Man Pang was dumbfounded. He never expected that Lu Tu would have such audacity to forge an imperial edict. He knew that if this got out, it would be a serious crime that would result in the execution of the entire family!
But now that he was already on Lü Tu's pirate ship, it was too late to back out. He couldn't help but hesitate. Was following someone as audacious as Lü Tu a blessing or a curse?
Lu Tu then approached Sun Biao, looked down at him, and asked, "Where is the grain you harvested today?"
"Uh...didn't they just come to collect it?"
"Does that mean you're only accepting this Pangjia Village?"
"And all the villages within a 30-mile radius."
Lu Tu nodded: "Then tell me about the smallpox situation in the surrounding villages. I need to record it in detail."
They had to go all the way with the act, since Lu Tu would need their help with something later.
Lu Tu pretended to take out paper and pen and made some notes for a while. In reality, he was comparing the information revealed by Sun Biao with the topographic map sent by Deng Lang and correcting some inaccuracies.
After Sun Biao finished explaining everything in one breath, he asked nervously, "Sir, I've told you everything I know. Can you let me go now?"
His subordinate exclaimed in surprise, "Brother, how can you say that about me now? You clearly said you were letting us all go together!"
"Oh right, let us go together."
Lu Tu stared at him with amusement: "You can leave if you want, but can you keep this a secret?"
Sun Biao patted his chest and said, "No problem!"
Lu Tu shook his head: "You came to collect grain but didn't get the required amount. How are you going to explain yourselves when you get back? And then you'll just leak my secret operation, causing His Majesty's plan to fail at the last minute?"
Sun Biao clicked his tongue in amazement. Why was this Lord Lü referring to the Emperor so often? Wasn't that a bit too much?
"Lord Lü, you are now an imperial envoy, so naturally I would not dare to disobey you."
"Hmph, I know you wouldn't dare, but words are no proof. You'd better think of a way to make me believe you so I can let you go back and report."
After thinking for a while, Sun Biao gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, I am willing to leave my brothers here and go back alone to report."
Before Lü Tu could even speak, Sun Biao's subordinates were already indignant.
They cursed loudly, "Sun Biao, you bastard! I lent you a tael of silver last month to go to a brothel, and you still haven't paid me back. Now you want to keep us here as hostages?"
"Exactly! You want to abandon us and go back alone? Everyone knows what kind of person you are. Betraying your brothers for money is something you do all the time."
Lu Tu found it amusing. He hadn't expected Sun Biao to have such a solid reputation. Almost all of his subordinates had suffered in silence at his hands. It seemed that testing him like this was indeed beneficial.
"You can't just leave me here and let you go back and report, can you?"
After thinking for a moment, Lu Tu shook his head: "That won't work either. They all hate you so much, they might not care about you. Why don't you all die together? That would be the safest thing for His Majesty."
Upon hearing this, Sun Biao and the others were terrified and burst into tears: "Sir, we are just commoners. The Emperor wants to investigate smallpox, why do you have to kill us? Can't we just stay here?"
"What if you can't deliver on your promise?"
Sun Biao then weakly said, "Actually, our superiors didn't force us to pay. We were just short of money, so we came here to try and get some..."
Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent.
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