Chapter 209 Escorts Profit from the Mischief, Convicts Rebel
The procession, led by Yan Wanshan and several other escorts in donkey carts, first entered Changlin County.
Old Liao led the group behind him and told the group in front to go to the inn to rest first.
Yan Wanshan jumped off the donkey cart and rushed into the inn. He came out again a moment later and stood under the eaves, shouting, "Superior rooms are ten taels a room, ordinary rooms are five taels a room, and dormitory rooms are one tael a room."
Upon hearing this, everyone exclaimed in surprise, "Ten taels? Are you robbing me? Even the most expensive inn in the capital wouldn't be worth that much, let alone in a small place like this. A hundred copper coins would be enough for a superior room."
“That’s right. When Master Liao asked about the price before, the most expensive superior room we’ve ever stayed in was only one or two taels of silver. Isn’t this obviously a rip-off? We’re not staying here.”
The innkeeper came out and said, "This is the price. Take it or leave it! Recently, a group of students have been traveling to the capital for the imperial examinations and happened to pass through Changlin County. The inns are almost full, and it has been raining for the past few days, so all the inns have raised their prices. If you don't stay here, you won't find this price anywhere else."
Those without raincoats or umbrellas went to take shelter from the rain under the eaves of the inn.
Upon seeing this, the innkeeper and his staff used brooms to shoo people away.
"Do you exiles want to become bandits? Only those who want to stay at the inn are allowed in. Anyone who doesn't pay to come in, get out! You're making a mess of our inn."
"The ground outside is already wet, so please, let us take shelter here for a while."
The innkeeper replied, "You can come in to take shelter from the rain, but you'll have to pay. Judging from your appearance, you can barely stay in the dormitory. It'll cost one tael of silver."
One of the escorts said, "You're not short of money, so hurry up and pay up, go to the private room, drink ginger soup, and take a hot bath. If you keep getting soaked like this, you'll all die."
"Exactly, it's not worth getting sick from the cold just to save a few taels of silver."
Some of the shrewd people present, hearing Yan Wanshan and the other escorts urging them on, guessed that they were colluding with the shopkeeper and trying to extort money from them. They weren't stupid either; there would be many more expenses to come later.
"No need, let's go to another inn."
They saw another inn across the street and wanted to go over there and ask about it.
As soon as he turned around, he heard Yan Wanshan's threatening voice behind him.
"Stop right there! Did I give you permission to go? Anyone who dares to run around, I'll whip them to death." With that, he lashed the door frame with a whip.
Yun Zhaoxue said, "Let's all go to the eaves over there to take shelter from the rain, and wait for Master Liao to come over before we talk."
"You're not allowed to go!"
Someone argued with him, saying, "We're just on the street, not running around, so why can't we go?"
Yan Wanshan lashed out with his whip, "Crack!"
"Hiss!" The man covered the bloodstain on his arm, trembling all over.
"You're all like dogs in front of Lao Liao, not daring to utter a sound. When he's not around, I'm the boss, how dare you disobey me?"
Yun Zhaoxue couldn't help but say, "Why does everyone listen to Master Liao and not you? Think about the reasons yourself."
Although Lao Liao has his share of tricks and doesn't hold back when it comes to hitting or cursing people, he wouldn't abandon them in a life-or-death situation, much less swindle their money at such a time.
Everyone nodded silently.
A woman rushed forward, pointed at him, and started cursing, "Yes! That's right! We just won't listen to you! You're a coward who led the way to run away, causing my son to be bitten to death by wolves. We're all about to be drenched to death, and you still want to make money off us? Even if my Wang family is rich, we won't let someone like you make money off us!"
Her son died so tragically; it's as if she can still hear him whispering in her ear, "Mom, I'm so cold..."
"Since no one else is staying here, then we won't stay here either." The man who had just wanted to spend a tael of silver to buy a large dormitory room for the whole family to live in had already handed the money to the innkeeper, but then took the money back.
The shopkeeper reached out to grab it, saying, "What are you doing? Once you've placed your order, you can't go back on it."
“We’re going to change our minds and not stay at your shady inn anymore. We’ll keep it for ourselves. Most of the scholars from the south who are going to the capital for the imperial examinations choose to travel by water, entering the capital from the Bian River. Where are all the inns in the county going to come from? You think you’re so smart, do you think we’re all fools?”
Yan Wanshan glared at Yun Zhaoxue, who had started the trouble. Damn it, she didn't take him seriously just because she had the Liao surname backing her up.
We can't beat them in a fight, so we'll deal with Lao Liao later and then kill them!
Gripping the whip tightly, he walked towards Zhou Yuhong through gritted teeth, "Damn it! You instigated them to cause trouble, I'll deal with you first."
Wang Youcai was so frightened that his legs went weak. He rushed forward to stop him, took out a silver ingot from his sleeve, and said with a forced smile, "Officer, my wife has been talking nonsense ever since my son died. Please don't pay attention to her. I'm apologizing to you on her behalf. This is a gift for you. Take it and have some wine."
Yan Wanshan weighed the silver ingot in his hand a few times. "You're the most sensible one! If a woman doesn't know any better, she needs to be properly disciplined. Go and slap her a few times. You can only stop when I tell you to."
"Master Yan, this... silver..."
They've already taken the money, so why are they still making him hit someone?
“Master Yan, she has lost her mind. Our whole family can testify to that.”
Other members of the Wang family also said, "Yes, Madam has been like this ever since she lost her son. The doctor said it's a heart ailment, and medicine can't cure it."
Zhou Hong spat at Yan Wanshan's face, "Pah! I'm not crazy, you coward, you greedy man, you deserve to die a horrible death! You killed my Zhou'er, give me back my son's life! He died so tragically, his neck was covered in blood, his whole body was covered in blood!"
She ran into the rain, opened her arms, looked up at the sky, and shouted, "God, if you have eyes, send down a bolt of lightning and kill him! Strike him to death!"
Yan Wanshan's face was gloomy, and he cursed in a deep voice, "You're sick. Why didn't you die in his place when your son was bitten to death? And you still dare to blame me."
"Master Liao said that if you hadn't run away and had stayed to fight off the wolves, I wouldn't have died. It was you, it was you, it was all of you who killed him."
Yan Wanshan gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and nodded vigorously. It was that damned old Liao again, deliberately making enemies for him.
Make an example of someone to warn others.
Wang Youcai stopped him, "No, no, no, Master Yan, I'll teach him a lesson for you."
Yan Wanshan is ruthless, and he's in a fit of rage; wouldn't he beat someone to death?
After all, she was his wife of over ten years, and he couldn't bear to watch her be beaten to death, so he raised his hand and slapped her across the face. "Smack!"
He pointed at her and cursed, "You crazy woman, what nonsense are you spouting? Zhou'er was born with a short life, his death was all the will of Heaven, do you understand?"
"I told you to beat him to death, and you're flirting here? Get out!" Yan Wanshan pulled Wang Youcai away and threw him into a corner, then walked towards Zhou Hong, cracking his whip.
Those around him felt it was unethical of him to take money and then hit someone, so they spoke up for him, saying, "Officer, there's no need to argue with a woman who's not in her right mind."
"Then you take the beating for her!"
The man shook his head in fright.
The people around them dared not utter a sound.
The sound of horses' hooves came from the end of the street. Everyone looked over and their faces lit up with surprise. "Master Liao, Master Liao and the others are here."
Yan Wanshan sneered and lashed out with his whip, "Crack!"
"Ouch!" Zhou Hong winced in pain.
"If you dare hit me, I'll fight you to the death."
Zhou Hong tried to resist, but before she could even touch Yan Wanshan, she was whipped several more times, "Crack! Crack!!"
She flailed her arms in the air, grabbing the end of the whip, trying to snatch it and strike back, but she was no match for Yan Wanshan's strength. He pulled her forcefully, causing her to fall heavily to the ground, get kicked, and roll several times before landing in the mud.
"Come on! Kill me!"
"Are you crazy? Don't you want to live? You crazy woman, if you want to die, don't drag us down with you."
"I've long since given up on living."
Wang Youcai stood to the side, clasping his hands in a pleading manner, "Lord Yan, please stop hitting him, or he'll die."
Yan Wanshan vowed not to rest until he had beaten Zhou Hong to death, and continued to lash her with the whip. "Crack!"
The people around couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to step forward to stop it, but they hesitated and retreated, afraid of being beaten.
I turned my head away, unable to bear looking at it.
A throwing knife sliced through the back of his hand. "Ah!"
The whip slipped from his hand, and a bloody welt quickly appeared on the back of his hand, mingling with raindrops as it fell to the ground.
"Who did this? Step forward!" Yan Wanshan glared at the direction from which the flying knife came, clutching his wound. It was the Xiao family again. He wouldn't be Yan if he didn't kill them.
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