Zhaoxian County is about 400 li away from Shangjing (Beijing), and is a medium-sized county town. Five li southeast of Zhaoxian County is Zhangjia Village, with a population of several hundred.
At the east end of the village, there was a pig farmer, an elderly couple, Mr. Zhang and his wife, Ms. Dou, both over sixty years old.
It was already past midnight, and the elderly couple were still awake. The noise coming from the distant military camp was keeping them awake.
Dou nudged Old Man Zhang and said, "Old man, do you think these people don't follow any military discipline at all? It's so late, and they're still making a ruckus."
Old Zhang, with his back to him, said, "Mind your own business. The village chief said this is an army escorting important criminals of the imperial court, and they'll set off tomorrow at noon. What's the big deal if we stay up all night?"
Seeing Old Zhang's nonchalant attitude, Dou couldn't help but get angry. She pinched him on the back and said, "You old fool, is it something that can't be resolved in one night? They took more than a dozen of our pigs and didn't even pay us. Tomorrow they'll just pack up and leave. Who are we going to ask for our money?"
Old Zhang slapped Dou Shi away, rubbed her back, and said, "Are you tired of living asking the army for money? Which family in the village hasn't been robbed by them? Old Zheng's chicken coop is empty, and look who's made a sound."
Dou said, "Didn't the county magistrate go to the military camp at noon? Didn't he keep an eye on things?"
Old Zhang turned around and said, "You think he went to manage things? He went to entertain the troops, and he's still drinking with Xie Maoliang over there."
Why would the county magistrate do this?
"I heard from the village chief that the county magistrate and this General Xie have a pretty good relationship. General Xie is a marquis if he brings a criminal to the capital. The county magistrate is too busy trying to curry favor with him to dare to interfere. He probably wants to build a connection and see if he can get transferred to the capital through Xie Maoliang."
Seeing that Old Man Zhang had turned around to speak, Madam Dou got out of bed, put on her clothes, lit a candle, and sat down at the table, angrily saying, "This Xie Maoliang is just leading a bunch of bandits to rob people everywhere. The county magistrate..."
Old Zhang quickly waved for her to stop and whispered, "Don't talk nonsense, they'll leave at noon."
"Let's go quickly, or they'll come and rob us again," Dou said. "We rely on these pigs to make money. If they take all our pigs, how will we survive?"
Old Zhang comforted them, "Aren't there still pigs? Besides, they're in a hurry to get to the capital, they won't stay."
Just as Dou was about to reply, there were a few knocks on the door of the outer room.
The sound wasn't loud, and the rhythm of the knocking was gentle, but it still gave the elderly couple quite a fright.
"Oh no, those soldiers probably haven't had enough to eat and are coming to ask for more pigs." Dou said to Old Man Zhang, "Old man, what should we do? We only have a few piglets left."
Old Zhang got up and started dressing, saying, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and open the door. We can't afford to offend these soldiers."
During the day, these soldiers would go from house to house in the village, robbing chickens, ducks, and pigs. If someone refused to give them up, the soldiers would kick them to the ground, breaking two of their ribs. Others would be beaten until their heads were bleeding. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them a group of ruthless bandits.
Dou didn't dare to open the door, and tugged at Zhang's sleeve: "I don't dare. You go, you go."
Having no other choice, Old Zhang shuffled along in his slippers, picked up a candle from the table, and walked toward the door, saying, "Please wait a moment, sir, I'm coming right away."
He walked to the door, cautiously unlatched it, and opened the door to find that instead of a fierce-looking soldier standing outside, there was a slender, handsome young man, who looked like a young master from a wealthy family on an outing.
He bowed and scraped, saying, "This old man greets you, young master."
"Hello, sir," the boy greeted with a smile, "I just arrived here and would like to buy two pigs."
Old Zhang asked in confusion, "What time is it? You... traveled here at night?"
The boy said, "Yes, my mount is a little hungry. I saw that your house seems to have a pigsty and the light is on, so I took the liberty of coming to bother you."
Before Old Zhang could speak, Dou popped her head out from behind and said, "I'm not selling. I don't have many pigs left; the soldiers took them all."
Old Zhang turned around and glared at Dou: "What are you yelling about? Go back inside."
The boy said, "You mean all the pigs in your house were taken away by the soldiers? Is that the military camp next door?"
Old Zhang shook his head repeatedly, pulled Dou Shi, who was anxious to speak, back, and laughed, "No, no... Hehe, my wife is just talking nonsense."
Not knowing the boy's identity, how could he possibly complain about the soldiers in the camp right away? What if this boy was related to Xie Maoliang? They could figure out what to do if the pigs were gone, but if a bunch of soldiers came and demolished their homes, they'd have nowhere to live.
The boy looked towards the noisy military camp not far away, his delicate eyebrows furrowing as he said, "So they're all birds of a feather..."
Dou chimed in, "That's right, they robbed the whole village, and no one gave them any money..."
Old Zhang said, "Don't shout, what if they hear us?"
Dou said angrily, "I'm going to say it. I've been holding back all day. Ask Old Zheng and the others. Who isn't full of resentment? The county magistrate is in cahoots with this Xie Maoliang. He doesn't treat us commoners like human beings."
The boy withdrew his gaze and said, "I understand, but could you two elders sell me two pigs first?"
Old Zhang said, "There are only piglets left in the pigsty, young master, would you like some?"
As he spoke, he peered behind the boy to see if there were any followers. Seeing no one, he was puzzled.
The boy said, "Either way, sell me both."
As he spoke, the young man took out a five-tael silver ingot from his pocket and placed it directly in Old Man Zhang's hand.
Old Zhang took the silver, weighed it in his hand, then chewed it between his teeth, a smile spreading across his face. He said, "Old woman, quickly let the young master into the house and make him some tea. I'll go to the pen to fetch the pigs."
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