A group of bandits knelt on the ground, staring at the wall in deep thought.

The village chief went up and slapped an earscraper in the face of the bandit leader, and said, "Do you remember? What are the words?

The bandit leader looked at the village chief aggrievedly and said, "I can't read."

The village chief suddenly became angry, went up and punched and kicked you, saying that you are illiterate, you are a bandit, you are illiterate, you rob women, you are illiterate, you kill people indiscriminately?

I was puzzled by the reason why the village chief beat him, and I was afraid that the bandit leader would be killed, so I quickly grabbed the village chief and glanced at Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan pulled out his sword, pointed at the throat of the bandit leader and said, If you can't remember what four words are today, hehe.

The leader of the bandits said that although I do not know this good man, no one of my men may know. Will you allow us to have a meeting together? I'll be sure to give you an explanation.

Zhang Xuan turned his head to look at me, and I nodded.

In addition to the bandits who had been killed, there were about three or four hundred remaining, and everyone sat cross-legged, and the beggars and villagers surrounded them like buckets.

The village chief copied the words on the wall with his own hands on big red paper, pasted them on the door panel, and inserted the door panel in front of the bandits.

The leader of the bandits asked me, what are you going to do with us if we can't remember these four words?

I snorted, and Zhang Xuan and the other four guards drew their swords together.

The bandit leader hurriedly shook his hand and said don't get excited, don't get excited, I'm just asking casually.

Then the chief asked me again, what if I could not remember, but I found the one who erased the words?

I said, "I'll hand you all over to the government."

The bandit leader smiled bitterly and said, The official government of Shangshui is heartfelt to King Yan and handed us over to them, how can we live?

After a pause, he asked, "What if we remember these four words in a meeting?"

I said, let you live.

When the bandit leader heard this, his spirits perked up, and he stood up and said to the bandits: "Brothers, have you heard what you said just now? As soon as anyone remembers these four words, we will be free in no time. Let's start recalling now, does anyone remember which four words they were?

The people below immediately whispered and discussed with each other.

Some bandits raised their hands and said that I remember that Cao Chong from the account room erased the words!

The bandit leader was so happy that his nostrils were thick, and he said what about Cao Chongren?

The bandit said that he was ...... by the beggars. Killed.

The bandit leader said that his mother was a bookkeeper, and the writing on the wall provoked him?

The bandit said that Cao Chong and I were drinking in the tower that day, and when Cao Chong was halfway through the drink, he saw the words on the wall, so he read them aloud, and after reading them, he said that these four words were too ugly, so he wanted to wipe himself and write again.

The bandit leader asked, what happened later?

The bandit said that later, after he finished wiping, he realized that he had not brought pen and ink, so he went to the cottage to get pen and ink.

The bandit leader asked again, why is the erased place still blank?

The bandit said that when he brought pen and ink to write, he forgot what four words they were.

The bandit leader was furious and said You give me me, I can't think of which four words, I will send you down to drink with Cao Chong immediately.

The bandit hurriedly said Boss, you are angry, I think about it carefully, I should remember which four words.

The whole audience stared at the bandit, and the bandit said: He will turn around every day... He turned around... Pregnant!

Speaking of this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said that he would return to the court one day, and he would like to be promoted!

The bandit leader clapped his hands excitedly and said yes! These are undoubtedly these four words! I have long thought that these four words came from, and there are not the words "Fengzhi" in front of them? It must have come from the imperial court and served the emperor's will. When he goes back, of course, he is going back to the imperial court! He has suppressed bandits here and made great contributions, and of course he wants to be promoted when he goes back.

After saying that, all the bandits cheered, and some even hugged each other and cried.

I pondered it and thought it made sense. Who else could be the assassin who assassinated Zhang Daoming at the Leisure Tourist Inn that day, besides the imperial court? Although it may not be Master Zheng Yan who made the attack, it is the most likely person from King Yan.

I turned my head and grabbed the arms of the county lord of Yong'an, and asked, Yuying, have you ever seen someone in the palace with a purple sword?

Yong'an County Lord, I have never seen anyone wearing a purple sword.

I asked, is that true?

Yong'an saw that I didn't believe it, so he stretched out his hand to the sky and said, if there is a deception, Yuying will not die well.

I frowned and let go of my hands.

Zhang Xuan leaned over and whispered, My lord, these bandits are very suspicious.

I casually asked, how suspicious?

Zhang Xuan said, the bandit leader before said that the official government of Shangshui was sincere to King Yan, and they would definitely die if they handed them over to the official government.

I said to Zhang Xuan, what do you mean that they are officers and soldiers, and it is likely that they are from the prince's forces?

Zhang Xuan said that it should be. Once the crown prince ascends the throne, he is worried that King Yan will not be good for him, so he will want to eradicate King Yan. This army of officers and soldiers is ambushed here, and it should be thought of to take Shangshui County and weaken the power of King Yan.

I said according to your guess, I'm afraid that there are many ambushes in all the Yan King's sphere of influence.

When the county lord of Yong'an heard this, he hurriedly took my hand and said that he had to let my father know about this as soon as possible.

I nodded and said yes. This is an easy thing to do, and I can ask the beggars to help you deliver a message to your father.

I saw that the bandit leader was eagerly pulling Wang Erdan, the king helmsman, and the king helmsman, and said to Zhang Xuan, you go and try it. If so, they must not be let go, and they must be allowed to defect to the beggars.

At night, we stayed at the village chief's house.

The village chief enthusiastically slaughtered chickens and ducks for me and the county lord, and set a decent dish.

The village chief had to ask the maids to go out to eat, and let some village women serve the county lord with tea and water.

The village chief picked up the wine, stood up and said Shaoxia, we still don't know that these bandits are actually officers and soldiers. Without you, we wouldn't be where we are today. Shaoxia, I salute you and your wife, I wish you good people and good retribution, and you will grow old with white heads. After saying that, I drank it all.

I glanced at the county lord of Yong'an, both blushed, and both raised their glasses and drank the wine.

After sitting down, I said that the village chief, you are polite, that day we entered the village, you helped the bandits to make money and kill Tuse, now that I think about it, you can't help yourself. I misunderstood the villagers before, and I will give you a glass in return as an apology.

The village chief held my hand alive and dead, and did not let me hold the wine glass, and said benefactor, you can torture us. We have done this to you, and not only have you not regarded your past suspicions, but you have come to your aid, and this glass of wine should be honored by me no matter what.

The county lord of Yong'an pursed his lips and smiled, saying that it is really interesting for you men to drink, you respect me, I respect you, and everyone has to push around.

The village chief smiled at me and said, "Madame's face is like a peach blossom, fresh and refined, but innocent, you are really a blessing, young man." After speaking, the village chief sighed.

The county lord of Yong'an was very happy when he heard the village chief praise her, and asked, why did the village chief sigh?

The village chief shook his hand and said that it was a pity that my wife was sent to the mountain three years ago, and only then did she ask the bandits, and when they learned that they were still alive, the villagers pressed the bandits to find the wife and daughter who had been sent up the mountain for the past three years.

I don't want to go. I said village chief, why don't you go and look for it? Drink with us here, we are uneasy.

The village chief shook his head and said, "No, no, you are our benefactor, how can I not accompany you?"

After three rounds of drinking, I asked the village chief, when did these officers and soldiers come to occupy the mountain?

The village chief said that it had been five years, and when we first came, it was similar to the bandits five hundred years ago, except that the villagers were restricted from entering and leaving. At first, the bandits just asked us to pay grain, grass and poultry every month, but our generation was much richer than our ancestors, and every family had a hoarding of grain. Unexpectedly, three years ago, the bandits went down the mountain to ask for a woman in the village, and asked us to hand over a young woman to go up the mountain every month, and if we didn't pay it, we would kill people. Who do you say is willing to hand over his wife or daughter to those godsends? In the first month, everyone did not pay it, and the bandits were a little annoyed, so they arranged for many people to enter the village, and when they entered the village, they killed the first family at the entrance of the village, and I was afraid that the bandits would continue to harm the villagers, so I had to hand over my wife to the bandits, and the bandits let everyone go. Seeing that the time for handing over people in the second month was coming again, everyone had no choice, so they discussed drawing lots, who was caught, and who handed over people. So far, more than 30 have been handed over. Everyone thought, if they continue to hand over their wives and daughters like this, they will all have to hand over their wives and daughters? They look forward day and night, hoping that every month a girl from a foreign land will pass by, so that they can be caught and handed over to the bandits, so as not to hand over their relatives.

I said so, no wonder they surrounded us that night.

The village chief knelt down and said that the benefactor, I really couldn't help it before.

The county lord of Yong'an suddenly fell on the table, and I hurriedly reached out to help, but I found that I had no strength in my hands at all. I shouted, Zhang Xuan!

The village chief said stop shouting, everyone outside should have fallen.

I said village chief, you...

The village chief did not get up, but still knelt down, and said, "Benefactor, I can't help it again."

I was dizzy, I wanted to get up, my feet went limp, and I fell on the table.

When I woke up the next day, I was lying in bed with the county lord of Yong'an, and the county lord of Yong'an had not woken up yet.

I got up and pushed the door open, there were all kneeling people outside the door, the village chief kneeling in the front, the village chief said benefactor, I really can't stand you.

I asked what was going on?

The village chief said that we saw that you wanted to merge these bandits with the beggars, so we drugged your diet, and last night we killed all the bandits and filled their bodies in the cellar of the burial post.

I asked why?

The village chief said that I lied to you last night, and the girls who went up the mountain had already been tortured to death. My wife, too... He's dead.

After saying that, he burst into tears.

I was a little angry, but when I heard the village chief say this, I helped him up.

After seeing off Wang Erdan's many beggars, the villagers crossed the river behind us by boat.

I said to the villagers at the helm, your village chief is amazing, if you were replaced by me, you would not take the initiative to hand over your wife in exchange for everyone's life.

The villager said that the village chief had no choice, Widow Sun forced him to pay it, and Widow Sun had secretly followed the village chief since the man died, and he had always been unjustifiable.

Isn't Widow Sun loyal and strong?

The county lord of Yong'an also said yes, I still remember the clear-eyed child Ergouzi.

The villagers said that the second dog was born to Widow Sun and the village chief. This little beast loves to steal a lot, and he has stolen a lot of things from my family.

I was stunned, and then asked, what about the honest and loyal Uncle Wang?

The villager said that you said that the village chief is his father, and the whole village was in an uproar about this old guy's picking up ashes, which made the village chief very shameless. The village chief took the initiative to hand over his mother-in-law, and I think that except for Widow Sun who forced him, most of them were because he held a grudge against his mother-in-law.