NOVPUBChapter 639 Follow Me
The term "bandit official" was a novel one, and just as Lin Wanrong was about to inquire further, he heard Yilian's urgent voice: "Ah Lin Ge, hide here with the others, and don't move. We will return shortly! Father, let's go—"
The young lady's anxious nature was evident, and her father, elder Buyi, responded promptly. With worry etched on their faces, they swiftly traversed the perilous mountain path, rushing toward the village.
Lin Wanrong looked up to see, below the cliff, several Miao people dressed in black diagonal-placketed robes, together with dozens of imperial constables and runners, holding gleaming long sabers, escorting a young man in his twenties and continuously shouting as they made their way into the Miao village. Opposing them stood hundreds of the Miao people from Yingyue Hamlet, each with a hatchet at their waist, blocking the path of the constables, staring them down with fury.
"You dare to obstruct the imperial constables from carrying out the law, Kunshan? Is Yingyue Hamlet planning to rebel?!" A few Miao men who had entered the village with the constables were shaking their hatchets, pointing at a young man in the crowd and yelling loudly.
This young man, named Kunshan, in his twenties with a dark and sturdy appearance, stared at the speaker and spat out in contempt, "Nonsense! Sparrows are the ones that chirp incessantly, it's the orioles who truly sing! Zhuoze, do you Black Miao also consider yourselves constables? Pah!!"
Based on their settlement, the Miao had different branches such as White Miao, Red Miao, Green Miao, Black Miao, and Flower Miao, each distinguished by the color of their attire and each with their own village and chieftain.
After listening for a while, Lin Wanrong had a preliminary understanding. Judging by their clothes, Kunshan and the Buyi father and daughter were of the Red Miao, while this Zhuoze was of the Black Miao. There seemed to be a conflict between the Black Miao and the Red Miao.
Enraged by the mockery, Zhuoze retorted, "Though we are not official constables, we are here on the orders of our great leader to assist in the case! Yingyue Hamlet has not yet paid this year's taxes. We, along with Young Master Wu, have come to supervise the collection. Instead of being grateful, you wield weapons and surround us, a crime most foul!"
The Young Master Wu he mentioned was the young man of the Hua people, surrounded by the constables. With small eyes and fair skin, he nodded immediately upon hearing Zhuoze's words: "Exactly, Yingyue Hamlet has not paid the taxes for this year. The yamen has come to collect several times, yet you refuse to pay, and even threaten us with swords and spears, displaying barbaric and vile behavior—"
"Nonsense!" A crisp, pleasant voice rang out. A beautiful Red Miao girl and a lean elder hurried over. Kunshan called out excitedly, "Yilian, Uncle Buyi, you've returned?!"
Young Master Wu's eyes lit up, greedily eyeing the delicate body of the girl, his mouth watering: "Tsk tsk, Sister Yilian, you've grown even more beautiful in just a few days! Brother likes it very much! Oh, and Elder Buyi, you've returned as well, how perfect. Today we shall resolve all matters!"
Elder Buyi's eyes bulged as he strode forward, positioning Yilian protectively behind him: "Young Master Wu, the tax levy for this year has already been extorted from us twice by your honored father, the county magistrate! Once in the spring, and then again in the summer! He also claimed that due to the war with the Turks, the taxes would increase by thirty percent this year. Every family in the village broke their pots to sell as scrap metal, smashed their millstones, starved their children, all to scrape together enough money for the officials. We paid twice! And now, our poor village hasn't produced a single grain of millet yet, everyone, young and old, even newborns, have been boiling platycodon roots for meals, without a full stomach for years. Yet here you are, demanding a third payment—"
Young Master Wu chuckled, "Elder, you are not aware, but the tax levy has changed to a quarterly system this year. The payments you made were only for the first two quarters, there are still two more to go! Alas, it was an imperial edict from the Emperor himself, my father and I are also compelled!"
"Quarterly?!" Yilian exclaimed in a tremulous voice, visibly shaking with anger: "This is clearly designed to leave no livelihood for us Miao people! Young Master Wu, why was none of this mentioned when my father paid the taxes? If this is truly the Emperor's will, then please, present the imperial edict for everyone to see!"
Young Master Wu smiled smugly, "Sister Yilian, you wish to see the imperial edict?! No problem, as long as you return with me to the county office, where you can eat and drink well, I shall let you look at it every day and night!"
The young girl turned pale with rage, her hands almost crushing the Burmese jade she held!
"Shameless Hua dog!" Kunshan quickly stepped in front of Yilian, drawing his hatchet with a clattering sound, his eyes blood-red: "You dare insult Yilian, I'll kill you! Brothers, let's fight these Hua thieves!"
"Fight!!!" The young men of Yingyue Hamlet drew their hatchets in unison, charging forward like tigers descending a mountain. The constables and Zhuoze of the Black Miao were taken aback, hastily forming a circle around Young Master Wu.
"Stop!" Elder Buyi bellowed, his eyes red with rage, his frail body leaping to the forefront, halting Kunshan and the others in their tracks. After all, he was the chieftain of Yingyue Hamlet, and he knew all too well what a conflict with the government meant.
"Uncle, Chieftain!" Kunshan fell to his knees in tears, "They insulted Yilian, I must kill them! I must kill them!"
Seeing the chieftain stopping everyone, Young Master Wu became even more arrogant, rolling his eyes, and shouted, "Buyi, the tax levy is a rule set by the imperial court, an edict from the Emperor! If you defy it, that is rebellion! Let me tell you the truth, today is your final deadline. If you do not pay the taxes, my father will report to the court under the name of the Magistrate of Xingwen County, accusing Yingyue Hamlet of contempt for the court and harboring malicious intentions! Within three days, the imperial army will come to suppress Yingyue Hamlet, and you know the consequences better than I do!"
A commoner never battles with officials, much less a small Miao village! Elder Buyi's cheeks trembled rapidly, his teeth clenched, "Young Master Wu, even if you sell us, I cannot afford this tax! Please do not trouble the village any further, I will return with you to the office!"
"Father!" Yilian knelt beside him, crying out in pain.
"Chieftain!" Kunshan and the others were also petrified, crowding around Buyi, unwilling to move an inch.
Young Master Wu, overwhelmed with joy, made a sweeping gesture: "These are your own words, make sure not to renege! Come now, take Buyi back to the yamen!"
In the midst of his triumph, as he was about to give the order, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm. "What's this? Who dares pinch me with pincers?!" Young Master Wu bellowed, flailing about to free himself, only to find himself lifted into the air, his feet dangling. He had been hoisted up by a dark-faced young man with sinister brows, who was neither crying nor laughing. His hands, though, were like iron pincers gripping Young Master Wu's neck, lifting him up like a little chick: "What is your name?!"
Seeing the barely concealed murderous intent in the young man's eyes, Young Master Wu felt a chill run through him, his face turning deathly pale, hardly daring to breathe. "I-I am Wu Shidao! You-what do you want to do? My-my father is Wu Yuan, the Magistrate of Xingwen County! Someone, help me, save me!" His face turned crimson as he cried out desperately.
The surrounding constables snapped out of their stupor and brandished their swords, ready to charge, but then the fierce-looking dark-faced man beside the young man glared, slammed his palm onto a large rock next to him, and bellowed, "Come closer if you wish to die!"
Both men were seasoned killers from the battlefield, their hands stained with countless blood. Their wrathful presence was so commanding that no one dared meet their gaze. The constables, seeing the shattered rocks from the dark-faced man's strike, turned pale and bluffed with their long swords, none daring to approach.
"Wu Shidao?!" With a slap, Young Master Wu's face took a harsh hit, his front teeth flying far from his mouth. The young man, teeth gritted in anger, said coldly, "You dog's spawn, even your name is disgraceful, bringing shame upon your grandmother's house! Tell me, who ordered the increase of taxes by thirty percent and the quarterly collection?"
"The Emperor—the Emperor—" Wu Shidao stammered in terror, only to be interrupted by the young man's sinister smile.
Frightened, Wu Shidao quickly pleaded, "Spare me, hero, I speak the truth! It was the order of Governor Nie Yuanqing, sir! My father and I are merely following orders!"
The young man looked at him coldly, "I'll ask you once more, the imperial edict from the Emperor, decreeing three years of tax exemption throughout the realm, have you received it?"
"How-How could you know of this?" Wu Shidao responded, his face ashen, "We received it! But Governor Nie said that the Emperor having another grandchild was the Emperor's affair. Our collecting more taxes is our own affair, the two matters are unrelated!"
The dark-faced young man sighed deeply, shaking his head in disdain, "Si De, find a rock for me to punish this whelp with!"
"Right!" Si De cheerfully acknowledged, heaving a large rock over.
Wu Shidao's face turned black with fear, "Please, hero, spare my life!"
"Spare your grandfather!" With a smack, a brick struck Wu Shidao's face, blooming with red and white as blood and saliva mixed, and he collapsed limply, fainting on the spot.
The constables were initially stunned, then panicked, screaming as they fled, "Murder! Someone come quick! Yingyue Hamlet has produced a bandit, Young Master Wu has been killed!"
Lin Wanrong exchanged a knowing glance with Old Gao, who understood the cue and followed the crowd.
"This, this—" Looking at Wu Shidao collapsed on the ground, Elder Buyi's hands and feet trembled, his beard quivering uncontrollably, at a loss for what to do next.
"Ah Lin Ge, you must run!" Yilian urgently pushed him towards the outside, "Hurry!"
Lin Wanrong, puzzled, asked, "Why should I run?!"
Tears sprang instantly to the girl's eyes, "You've struck down an official, the son of a magistrate at that. If you don't flee now, are you waiting to be captured?! It's all my fault, I've brought this upon you!"
Yilian's strength was immense, frantically pushing him up the mountain. Lin Wanrong blinked, shaking his head, "No, if I leave now, wouldn't that bring trouble upon you all? I cannot leave!"
"Ah Lin Ge!" The girl, feeling moved and guilty, insisted, "We will be fine, they wouldn't dare do anything to us! Please, go now, or it'll be too late!"
She hurriedly took a bamboo basket from her back, pulling out a pile of dry rations and stuffing them into his hands. They were dry wild vegetable buns, and Yilian, with a mix of embarrassment and determination, said, "These are the dry rations for three days for me and my father. Before going up the mountain, my mother prepared them, and neither of us wanted to eat them! Take them quickly, don't let my father see, there's nothing left to eat in the village!"
Oh, this girl! Holding the dry, cold wild vegetable buns, Lin Wanrong's hands felt as heavy as lead, his heart too heavy for words.
Kunshan, the young man, was watching him closely. Seeing Yilian's push and pull with him, he became infuriated, striding over with a hatchet and red eyes, "Yilian, step aside, I'm going to split this Hua person!"
The girl, startled, quickly spread her arms to shield Lin Wanrong, scolding, "Kunshan, what are you doing? Ah Lin Ge is a good man! He helped us drive away the officials!"
"I have a hatchet; I don't need his help!" Kunshan roared in anger, his face red as a beet.
Yilian ignored him, pushing Lin Wanrong vigorously, trying to send him away, but the man stood unmoving as if rooted to the spot.
The girl looked at him, stamping her feet in frustration, "Father, please persuade Ah Lin Ge! He'll lose his life if he stays!"
Elder Buyi, looking at the fallen Wu Shidao, shook his head silently, "Guest, we are grateful for your kindness to our Miao village! The other officials are outside with their companions, and they will be coming in to arrest people any moment now, you better run!"
Lin Wanrong smiled, "Elder, don't worry, they won't catch me!"
Stubborn as an ox, Yilian was too angry to deal with him.
In the midst of the conversation, they suddenly heard the distant barking of dogs and saw the flickering of a hundred torches threading through the mountains, as if someone was rapidly approaching while shouting.
"The officials are here!" Buyi sighed silently.
It was too late to escape up the mountain now. Yilian, shocked and unsure of what to do next, looked at the approaching officials and the nonchalant Ah Lin Ge. Then, with a determined bite of her teeth, she tightly grabbed his hand and ran frantically towards the village, "Follow me!"
Hi, if you like the story, please rate and review this novel on novelupdates. Thanks!
Announcement
