Chapter 36: Deadend
In the afternoon, it was still early before the break, and Shi Meng drank tea in a teahouse in the northern district of Yangwu County.
According to reason, at this time, he should stay in the county office in the southern district. But it was narrow and restrained, and it was occupied by Zhang Biao. He didn't want to be pickled, so he used the reason that it was too far away from the jurisdiction to deal with affairs, and he lingered in this teahouse all the year round.
The shopkeeper wished for this, but only symbolically received a little silver. Yan Wei also wished that he would go farther, and deliberately subsidized some meager tea expenses, but from this month onwards, he did not approve it.
A few days ago, Shi Meng simply rented a room on the second floor of the teahouse out of his own pocket. In this way, the North District Catcher has a place to rest after patrolling, and it is easy to discuss difficult matters.
Today's tea with Shi Meng is Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, and Wang Shuang, who are considered confidants.
These three people used to follow Shi Meng because he was bold and righteous and willing to take care of his brother, but in fact, he was not very loyal. On the rivers and lakes, shouting big brother in front of him, stabbing him in the back, there are many things. And they are now dead set on it, because of a person's appearance out of thin air, white servant Chu Fan.
Chu Fan also often comes here to drink tea, and he is familiar with everyone.
At the beginning, when Shi Meng introduced this distant relative, Zhongzhu tried his best to flatter, nothing more than to look at Boss Shi's face and for the sake of Yunmeng's son's money.
Within a few days, Fang City eradicated the Three Tigers. Chu Fan's methods are so powerful that everyone is speechless.
Zhang Long and Zhao Hu witnessed it with their own eyes, and added oil and vinegar when they came back.
Catching fast is not like white labor, as long as you have the strength, you generally have martial arts, and a few are even the second peak of the mud embryo realm. For example, Shi Meng and Zhang Biao, who were head-catchers, had reached the third middle stage of the mud embryo realm. If you go to join the army, you will at least be a captain in command of hundreds of people.
The world of martial arts is respected by force.
You have the right to listen to you, but not to admire.
You can listen to you if you have money, but don't admire.
And a transcendent martial arts, but everyone is impressed.
Knocking down more than a dozen strong men in an instant like Chu Fan, no one in Yangwu County could do it. I've only heard about it, but I've never seen it.
These words spread ten, ten to hundreds, and the more they spread, the more bizarre they became, rendering Chu Baiyi as if he was a martial god in the world.
Catching fast is a cheap business, and it has always been looked down upon. Due to Chu Fan's joining, a glimmer of brilliance suddenly appeared.
Recently, the North District Catcher and White Servant are in good spirits and walking with the wind.
Hmph, look down on us, why?
Do you have money, do you have a lot of Chu Baigong? He scattered hundreds of taels of silver in a few days......
You are a scholar, do you read a lot of Chu Baiji? He has read hundreds of books in a few days......
You are high in martial arts, are you as high as our Chu Baigong? He knocked down hundreds of people with a few punches......
Ah, you say it's impossible, how can it be impossible? What Lao Tzu saw with his own eyes, could it be wrong?
That day in Fang City, Chu Baigong punched out, and Zheng Tu, Zhou Caitou, and Li Yuhu fell down with thirty or forty crackles, like cutting wheat. If he threw a few more punches, wouldn't he fall down by hundreds? Later, he didn't want to hurt anyone, so he punched the sky. Immediately a large hole opened in the sky, and flowers fell down with a bang......
Those who speak are honored, and those who listen are dumbfounded.
At first, everyone thought that Chu Fan left Yunmeng and came to Yangwu to seek protection from Shi Meng. It just so happened that Yang Qi, the chasing thief, folded a fast hand, and someone patted on the back and suggested that Chu Fan add it, but Shi Meng was noncommittal.
Later, it was found that things were reversed, and Shi Zhutou made no secret of his respect for this eccentric distant relative, exuding awe from his bones. Some smart people thought that the county was preparing to merge the northern and southern districts recently, and only one head catcher was set up, and suddenly it dawned on them.
Yunmeng Gongzi didn't appear early, didn't appear late, but appeared at this juncture. and didn't do anything, but deigned to do white labor, and spread money to accumulate good karma, isn't it just to come to support his relative Shi Meng!
People do day labor to play tickets, and it is too cheap to be a head catcher.
Their habits have also been changed a lot by Chu Fan.
For example, eating tea like this is normal. Chu Fan occasionally drinks the tea soup boiled with ginger, garlic, and salt, and the end of the tea, and more often discards the high-quality tea that is ground into powder, and asks the shopkeeper to choose loose tea leaves and brew them with boiling water and drink them. Everyone drank too much with him, and gradually tasted the sweetness from the bitterness, thinking that the aristocracy and wealthy families were like this.
That afternoon, Shi Meng, Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, and Wang Shuang were sitting around eating tea and gossiping. A white servant hurriedly barged in and said, "Master Meng, the big thing is not good. Chu Baiji went to the southern district and was surrounded by Niu Ding......"
Upon hearing this, Shi Meng laughed and said, "You want to tell me that a group of rabbits surrounded the tiger, and the situation is not good?"
The three catchers are also happy.
The white servant scratched his head, followed by a smirk, understood.
"Little brother, after eating this cup of tea, let's go and find out what the reason is. ”
Shi Meng walked over and patted Bai Gong's shoulder, handing over a cup of turquoise tea. Bai Gong took it and drank it all, said goodbye, and hurried downstairs.
After only half a cup of tea, also known as a white servant, ran upstairs to report, saying that Chu Baigong drove Niu Ding and the other five down the river, and stopped the horse to go out of the south gate to chase the murderer.
Everyone was busy asking for the reason, and the white servant told Yan Yi about the misfortune that came to him.
Oh, I see.
There are always a few fights between the white servants in the northern and southern districts in a month. In the past, the southern district bullied the northern district with many people, but now that he has found Chu Fan, isn't it a tiger scratching the top of his head, and he is not bored?
Although the north and south districts are governed by rivers, there is no hard and fast rule that the southern district cannot control the case of the northern district. Chu Fan went out of the city to chase the murderer, which is considered to be a break of convention, but it is not a big deal, maybe it is just the taste of the new county magistrate.
Everyone was talking about it, and the white servants who had been listening to it turned around, and Dao Niu Ding climbed ashore and went to the direction of the county office, presumably to find Zhang Biao to complain.
Shi Meng still sat firmly on the Diaoyutai platform, unhurried, and beckoned everyone to sit down and eat tea together. The shopkeeper of the teahouse saw a lot of people, and diligently added a few plates of melon seeds and snacks.
After three rounds of tea, the footsteps outside shook the wooden building, and a catcher quickly strode in and roared in, panting and saying, "Brother Meng, it's not good." Zhang Biao personally took six horses out of the city to arrest the Chu brothers. ”
Originally, the county government office needed people to be on duty all year round, and generally left four people in the north district and six people in the south district. Catching fast is divided into fast horses on horseback and fast pace on foot. Yangwu County allocated a total of eight horses to the fast class, and Zhang Biao and Shi Meng had one horse, and the remaining six horses were temporarily arranged according to the situation.
Horses can't gallop around the city, but they only ride majestic, and they are often used when they go to the countryside. On weekdays, only two horses are allocated to the northern district, which has jurisdiction over the large area outside the city, but there are four horses in the southern district.
This time, Zhang Biao simply requisitioned the two horses in the North District and led the six catchers to arrest Chu Fan. In addition to coming out for Niu Ding, one is to be prestigious, kill chickens to show monkeys, and the other is to prevent Shi Meng from bringing people to chase him.
The arrester who came to report the news happened to be on duty, and when he heard and witnessed it, where was there any fake? He asked the remaining three brothers from the North District in the class room to act as cover, and as soon as Zhang Biao left, he ran out to find Shi Meng.
Shi Meng stood up, knocked over the tea cup on the table, and fell to the floor and shattered.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
The crowd looked at him intently, followed him and stood up, and there was a lot of discussion.
Zhang Long said: "Zhang Biao is so unreasonable, this is obviously a public weapon for private use, protecting the cow." ”
Wang Shuangdao: "Then I'll go and tell the history of the canon......"
"Alas, it's useless, Yan Wei wears a pair of pants with him. ”
"Then, just tell Lord Li Wen......"
"It's useless. Master Li is new to the scene, and I don't know what is going on. Zhang Biao is the head catcher, and it is within his scope to go out of the city to investigate the case. Although everyone knew that he was going to declare a personal vendetta against Brother Chu, it was logically tenable......"
Zhao Hu had a fiery temper, and "Cang Chang" pulled out half of the waist knife and shouted:
"It's useless, that's useless, can it be that you can't just watch Brother Chu being bullied by others? Brother Meng, you nod your head, I, Zhao Hu, will take a few brothers to stop it, it's a big deal to fight with Zhang Biao for three hundred rounds......"
Shi Meng was amused, pointed at Zhao Hu and said with a smile:
"Sample, can you beat him? I'm afraid I won't be able to hold out for three rounds...... Don't speak, let me think. ”
After pacing back and forth a few steps, he flicked his skull with the middle finger of his right hand.
This action was learned from Chu Fan.
After staying with Chu Da Shenzhu for a long time, not only did he begin to learn his action language, but even his thinking gradually changed. Shi Meng felt that he was much smarter than before and his horizons had broadened a lot.
Zhao Hu was worried about Zhang Biao's bullying of Chu Fan, but what Shi Meng was worried about was how to end up after Chu Fan bullied Zhang Biao?
With the ability of the "Immortal Master", Zhang Biao and the six catchers can be destroyed with a snap of his fingers. But this time, it was completely different from the last night when he quietly beat him.
Why do ordinary people get arrested and beat up quickly and dare not fight back, sometimes it is not that they can't win. But once you openly confront, you will be an enemy of the government, and you will be subjected to endless pursuit and revenge, and all your family, wife, children, and friends will be implicated.
Unlike the white servants, although they do not have an official status, they are also official staff members of the yamen, representing the government.
Shi Meng guessed that Chu Fan might not be afraid of the government or retaliation. But once Zhang Biao and the crowd were hunted out in public, the identity of the "immortal master" could no longer be hidden, and the "experience" failed.
So, at least on the bright side, he can't do anything to Zhang Biao.
But Zhang Biao's guy absolutely refused to give up.
So will Chu Fan be willing to be humiliated? No.
What to do?
It seems to be a dead end.
Shi Meng was still looking for a way to break the situation, and another catcher hurriedly climbed the stairs and shouted: "Brother Meng, Brother Meng, Lord Yan Wei wants you to rush back to the county office immediately, saying that there is something important to discuss." ”
This old fox wanted to use his official authority to suppress Shi Meng and tie his legs.
After hearing this, Shi Meng was like an initiation, and instantly sorted out his clue.
The ultimate goal of Yan Wei and Zhang Biao was to use this case to overthrow him Shi Meng and seize the position of the head catcher in a county. The funny thing is that they don't know that since following Chu Fan, the position of head catcher is no longer important to him. Moreover, Chu Fan is not an earthworm slaughtered in the soil, but a flying dragon in the sky that looks down on all beings.
After thinking about all this, Shi Meng suddenly became arrogant, ignored the order of his boss Dianshi, and said with a smile:
"You two are on duty, hurry back to the county government to stabilize Yan Wei, and say that I will wait for a while. Wang Shuang and Zhao Hu immediately called the other brothers to be neatly equipped, and hurried to Yunsheng Carriage and Horse Store to gather. Zhang Long, come with me to the carriage and horse shop to requisition horses. Isn't the southern district always bullying us with more people, and this time we are also bullying and bullying it, hahaha......"