Qinglian was so frightened that she broke out in a cold sweat and didn't know what to say. This man was obviously no good, and being his concubine wouldn't be any better.
Moreover, she hasn't avenged her family's death yet; how can she remain unscathed?
But seeing that Lu Baichuan and his group are also unreliable, what should she do?
Fatty Zhao didn't care about all that. He had been eyeing this fair-skinned beauty for a while now. She looked so good in men's clothes, he wondered how beautiful she would be in women's clothes!
He couldn't wait to hug Qinglian, but she dodged him.
"Don't come any closer!"
She took off the hairpin that held her hair up, pointed it directly at Fatty Zhao, and said, "I will kill you!"
Fatty Zhao, however, couldn't help but laugh out loud as if he'd heard a joke: "Come on, little darling, stab me here!"
As he spoke, he pointed to his chest.
Because Qinglian was disguised as a man, the hairpin in her hair was a regular men's wooden hairpin, not sharp, let alone capable of hurting anyone. Moreover, it was in the hands of a young woman, so it posed even less of a threat to him.
On the contrary, it's a different kind of fun~
Especially after Qinglian let her hair down, she became even more radiant and beautiful. Zhao Pangzi immediately felt his mouth go dry and couldn't wait any longer.
He rushed towards Qinglian without regard for anything else. Qinglian didn't expect that he wasn't afraid of her at all, and she didn't know how to react. She was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she screamed and was about to faint.
"Bang!"
The dilapidated door was kicked open, and Lu Baichuan and his group were standing outside. Several men stepped forward and pinned Fatty Zhao to the ground.
When Qinglian saw Lu Baichuan, she burst into tears and stumbled to him. She was about to lose her balance when Lu Baichuan quickly moved aside and nudged the guard next to him to help her up.
She almost fell, but Qinglian didn't care who helped her up; in her eyes, these people were her light.
"My lord, please take me with you. I'll do anything for you, even be your slave!"
After she regained her balance, she knelt down directly in front of Lu Baichuan and Qin Jian, tears welling up in her swollen eyes again.
"Get up, young lady. This matter has wronged you."
Qin Jian sighed. If he hadn't caught the fat man red-handed, Qinglian wouldn't have had to suffer like this.
Fortunately, on the way here, he told Lu Baichuan that since his family business was short-handed, he could take her back and let her live a stable life, thus offsetting his guilt towards her for this plan.
Lu Baichuan thought about it and agreed, after all, he had taken advantage of the other party.
"What are you doing! I am an official appointed by the imperial court!"
Seeing them return, the fat man stopped pretending and coldly snorted. He had powerful backing in the capital, and these people dared to mess with him!
"Behave yourself! Or I'll beat you up!"
A guard slapped the fat man on the head.
All his anger had to be vented on the fat man!
If the two generals hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't have known that this seemingly comical fat man was actually such a despicable villain. It would have been really unfair not to beat him up.
"Help! Help!"
After being beaten, the fat man shouted even louder. He felt that these people were bullying him because of their numbers. If he hadn't sent everyone away beforehand in order to get the Green Lotus, these people wouldn't have dared to barge into his house like this.
He shouted at the top of his lungs, but no one paid any attention to him.
A guard standing nearby grinned wickedly and said, "Even if you scream your lungs out, no one will come to save you!"
Everyone: ...
Well said, don't say that again.
Lu Baichuan had the fat man tied up, and then carried him out like a pig being carried out for the New Year. The fat man kept screaming, just like a pig waiting to be slaughtered.
After he went outside, the fat man's voice abruptly stopped.
His men were all lying haphazardly in the yard, and it was unclear whether they were dead or alive.
As for the soldiers assigned to guard each county town, they were still at their posts and had no chance of coming to rescue him.
The fat man then became frightened and begged loudly for mercy: "My lord, spare my life! I was just joking with Miss Qinglian, I meant no harm!"
"Stop talking nonsense and get to the teacher's question."
Qin Jian kicked him, his tone revealing impatience.
The fat man nodded repeatedly. Qin Jian asked, "Are you aware of the banditry in the mountains outside the city?"
The fat man was stunned for a moment, then shook his head repeatedly: "No, this humble official does not know!"
Qin Jian nodded: "Yes, then I understand."
Under the fat man's astonished gaze, Qin Jian continued, "As an official of the imperial court, do you know that associating with bandits is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family?"
The fat man's eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets. Was it really that serious?
"Tell me the truth, or you'll regret it!"
A guard stepped forward and kicked him again.
Being greedy and lustful is one thing, but daring to collude with bandits is another. No wonder the people of the city live such a life!
The fat man screamed in pain as he was beaten, but he refused to admit to having any dealings with the bandits.
Lu Baichuan was ruthless and didn't talk much. He pulled out a dagger and slashed the fat man's body without saying a word. After a few cuts, the fat man urinated in pain, and there was a foul stench from his body that was nauseating.
"I'll talk, I'll talk, waaaaah..."
He never expected these people to be so ruthless. He had never heard his backers in the capital mention this person before. Now that he had fallen into their hands, he had no chance to resist at all.
"I'll tell you everything, please don't kill me!"
He had just been kicked in the face by a guard, leaving a dark red footprint and two lines of blood from his nose. Coupled with his cowardly appearance, it was quite funny. The people around him had to try hard to hold back their laughter at such a serious moment.
Qinglian never expected that this fat man was connected with the bandits, which meant that the death of her family members was related to this fat man!
Realizing this, Qinglian could no longer hold back and went up to the fat man, hitting and cursing him.
Lu Baichuan's mind was also heavy. No wonder those bandits were so fearless and deliberately let Qinglian go. They knew that even if Qinglian reported to the authorities, the fat man wouldn't care and would even personally send Qinglian back to that wolf's den.
Such a thing can actually happen right under the emperor's nose.
This is absolutely despicable!
So he didn't stop her, letting Qinglian beat him up before continuing his interrogation: "You have no right to negotiate with me, speak."
The fat man cried loudly, and while crying, he confessed everything.
He did indeed collude with those bandits in the mountains. These were not ordinary bandits; they were soldiers whom the King had previously kept outside. They had escaped on the way to the capital, and after hearing that the King had been defeated, they settled down in the mountains and lived a carefree life.
At first, they were somewhat wary, but later they discovered that this place was remote and, although close to the capital, no one paid attention to it, so they became even more rampant.
"My lord, I was forced into this situation. There were so many of them, I had no choice... Waaaaah..."
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