Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 205

Chapter 205 Prisoner Below Rank
The soldiers surrounded him with guns in their hands. Yuwen Hongtai was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly, “Coincidentally, I’m worried that I won’t be able to find the Xiangyang County Government’s territory!”

The leader of the military academy was stunned for a moment, then looked at Qin Mubai and the others carefully. He took a few steps forward and asked in a low voice, “Who are you?”

Qin Mubai smiled and said, “Didn’t Lord Jun just think that we were from the same party as the Water Ghost? Why did he ask again?”

The military academy’s face twitched and he grinned, “Look at you, you are not ordinary and calm. I think you are not an ordinary person. To tell the truth, this lieutenant can think about it carefully.”

“Lieutenant?” Hearing this, Qin Mubai smiled and said, “May I know what title Master Jun will worship?”

“Zhao Chong is also a captain of the Zuoying Camp of a certain Xiangzhou Prefecture.” After the military academy finished speaking in a deep voice, its brows still furrowed. “Quickly tell me, who exactly are you?”

“A captain? I thought you were a surname!” Qin Mubai couldn’t help but laugh, “It’s the responsibility of the yamen to ask questions. What does it have to do with your military manor’s commandant? Stop gossiping and quickly take us away!”

“You! … You really don’t want to drink a toast, you really want to drink a punishment!” Zhao Chong was annoyed. He raised his eyebrows and a flesh-colored scar appeared on his left face.

At this time, Li Ke came out and laughed, “Captain Zhao, calm down!” We are just ordinary businessmen. We always make money with kindness and value kindness. People don’t fight with officials, since the captain has determined that we are water ghost accomplices, then we will hold to the county government or state government, when the secretariat or county magistrate ascension to inquire about the case, a question will be known. Why are you shouting and asking in such a large crowd? “Doesn’t it make outsiders think that Commandant Zhao has set up a private court?”

“You … you … you have a slippery mouth!” Zhao Chong became even angrier. He hatefully swung his horse whip and shouted at the sergeant behind him, “What are you waiting for? Tie them all up and take them away!”

“You dare!” Yuwen Hongtai roared, and Li Ke hurriedly pulled him back, “Forget it, it’s the Great Tang King who tied us up, not him, Captain Zhao. Let him go!”

‘”Hmph! The surname is Zhao! Hun Guan, dog Guan, foolish Guan! Remember it for grandfather today! If you dare to kidnap us, grandfather will drag you into the streets tomorrow, until death do us part-come, kidnap us!” Yuwen Hongtai threw his hands behind his back and shouted loudly.

This roar caused Zhao Chong’s entire body to tremble. His eyes turned suspiciously as he wondered in his heart, “Strange, how could there be such an unscrupulous person who is not afraid of officials?” Judging from the manner in which these people talked, they were definitely extraordinary figures. Just now, hearing this big black man’s words, he seemed to have no fear. Could it be that he really had a great background? Or pretend? Forget it, be careful that the Ten Thousand Year Ship is only responsible for taking people. How can I offend the people of the Yamen?

“This lieutenant is not as knowledgeable as you!” Zhao Chong sneered at Yuwen Hongtai, “Someone, bring them on horseback and head straight to the governor’s office. This is a big case, and they must be dealt with directly by the governor’s office. Since they are riding horses … there is no need to tie them up! You all should behave yourself! If you dare to escape or make a mistake, the horse spear and crossbow will not have eyes, hmph!”

Qin Mubai and Li Ke chuckled, thinking to themselves that Zhao Chong still had some eyesight, so they knew what was good for him.

Hence, a few soldiers stepped forward, pushed Qin Mubai and the others onto their horses, held them with knives, and rode behind them alone. More than fifty riders galloped away.

“Something’s wrong … Why do I feel that this group of people are in a hurry to go to the yamen than Zhao Chong? How could there be such a thief in the world? Damn it! This time, I’m afraid they’ve caused trouble and provoked someone they shouldn’t have provoked!” The yamen leader, Zhou Laojiu, muttered with puzzled eyes.

“Someone! Quickly go to the county government and inform this county prince of what has just happened!”

“Yes–”

Xiangyang County was the capital of Xiang Province. The county government and the prefecture yamen looked across the street, and it only took one cup of tea to walk. As for the Xiang Prefecture’s more than two thousand manor soldiers and warhorses, they were stationed in the western outskirts of Zhouyang City on the Maolin Plateau, less than fifteen miles away from the city. The Eight Ghosts Crossing was even closer to the Xiang Prefecture’s military mansion, only less than five miles away, so Zhao Chong and the others had arrived quite quickly today.

Running over, Qin Mubai felt a little leisurely. After carefully observing the cavalry skills of these soldiers, their skills weren’t weak. So he took a bold guess and asked the knight behind him, “Hey, brother, are you Yue cavalry from Xiang Prefecture?”

“Eh?” The sergeant was around thirty years old and was slightly stunned. “How did you know?”

“Heh! In the rivers of the Southern Harbor Road, it should be rare to see cavalry like you with excellent riding skills and well-equipped horses.” Qin Mubai said, “So I guess you should be one of the few mercenaries in Xiang Prefecture, the elite Yue Cavalry soldiers.”

The sergeant opened his eyes wide in surprise and shouted in a low voice, “Cut the crap!”

Qin Mubai smiled, knowing that she had guessed correctly.

The Great Tang of Zhenguan carried out the system of prefecture and army, and the main source of troops was peasants. Farmers work in their leisure time as soldiers in wartime and bring their own grain and ordnance to perform military service. Nowadays, the Great Tang Empire was full of martial arts, and the people had no worries about food and clothing. Therefore, the Great Tang Empire had never been short of soldiers. Even so, the Great Tang still hired a batch of elite soldiers, and the state provided food, pay, ordnance, and other items as a fixed source of soldiers. For example, the imperial guards like Baiji, the Thousand Bull Guards, and the left and right guards were mostly mercenaries. However, most of them were composed of Shi Clan disciples, so it was difficult for ordinary people to be selected.

Among the other twelve guards, there were generally several types of soldiers: Yue Cavalry, Wu Cavalry, platoon soldiers, infantry, archers, crossbow soldiers, and so on.

Among them, the Yue Cavalry were generally mercenaries, and they specifically chose people who were capable of riding, shooting, and fighting. In every military mansion, there must be a group of such people as the elite backbone. However, if they went into battle, Yue Qi would be the spearhead of the charge to destroy the city and uproot the stronghold. He was also the most precious weapon of the twelve guards of the Tang Dynasty.

In the southern border, the elite Yue cavalry were particularly noble.

In other words, this batch of Yue Cavalry in front of him would be the trump card in Qin Mubai’s hands.

Qin Mubai thought it was funny. He had just stepped onto the ground of Xiang Province and was captured by his subordinates before he took office …

Zhao Chong and the others “escorted” Qin Mubai and the others into Xiangyang County, that is, Xiangzhou City. The people in the city saw that the soldiers were rushing into the city, and they all came to watch. For a moment, the city was bustling with excitement.

More than fifty cavalry directly drove to the secretariat of the yamen, after entering the communication, came out of the secretariat of the manor Fa Cao to pick up people. Fa Cao, surnamed Wu, was in his forties and fifties. He was first shocked when he saw this formation. After asking about the reason, he announced on the spot, “Since the new governor, Sima, Changshi, and other Shangguan have yet to take up their posts, they should first send the prisoners to prison to guard them.”

Li Ke smiled and walked over to Fa Cao. He looked him up and down and said, “You are Fa Cao of Xiang Prefecture.”

“Exactly.” Wu Fa Cao was a little annoyed by a person who looked at him recklessly. He said angrily, “You are a thief who committed a crime, yet you dare to be so arrogant in the secretariat’s mansion and speak to me like this?”

“Then how should I talk to you?” Li Ke sneered, “If there is a big secretariat manor, why are you the only Fa Cao? Where are those individual drivers, military personnel, and doctors?”

“What does it have to do with you?” Wu Fa Cao scolded, but still said, “Everyone went to the Guandu Pier to welcome the new governor, His Highness the governor, King Wu. Could it be that they are still waiting to welcome you as a criminal? Cut the crap, just wait for the new governor to arrive and go to court for questioning-take him away!”

“Haha!” Li Ke laughed loudly and greeted Qin Mubai, “I’m tired after traveling for a few days. Everyone, it’s fine if we go to Xiangzhou’s cell.”

Qin Mubai also smiled and said, “I wonder if there is any excellent wine or meat?”

“I’ve never seen such a reckless prisoner!” Wu Fa Cao was furious, “Take it away! It’s easy to take care of!”

A group of yamen attendants came forward, brandished fire and water sticks, and drove Qin Mubai’s group into the prison.

Zhao Chong rolled his eyes and said to Wu Facao, “Brother Wu, I feel that something is wrong.”

“What’s the matter?”

“This group of people … is not very strong!” Zhao Chong said, “How have we ever seen such a fearless criminal? They’ve followed their family since they entered the yamen. They’re going to jail, but all of them seem to be mocking us with smiles on their faces. It seems that … their origins aren’t small!”

“How did you get these people?” Wu Facao was stunned.

Zhao Chong explained what had happened. Wu Fa Cao was stunned for a long time before blinking his eyes and saying, “Did you guys come here to take credit again?”

“Bullshit!” Zhao Chong was enraged, “Your subordinate yamen servants clearly identified them as members of the Water Ghost Party. They asked us to help capture them, but why blame them on us? Since that’s the case, don’t bother our military manor again if you encounter any trouble in the future!” After saying that, Zhao Chong was about to leave.

“Hey hey hey, don’t be impulsive, don’t be angry. If you have something to say, say it properly …”

…

Qin Mubai and the others waited for them to enter the prison, but they did not suffer any grievances. The two or three of them shared a cell. Apart from the smell, there was nothing else to suffer. Prisoners in the Great Tang Dynasty were unprecedentedly open and humane. Apart from a few abominations that turned a deaf ear to the law, there were very few incidents of abuse of prisoners in the Great Tang Dynasty. Prisoners who are not convicted do not have to be handcuffed.

Qin Mubai and Li Ke were separated by a cell, and they could talk with each other on their backs.

‘”Young Master, I didn’t notice anything strange. I thought they would kill Liang Liangru or collude with the water ghost to silence us halfway. We were safe along the way.” Qin Mubai whispered, “In that case, they are at most negligent or careless. The possibility of collusion between the official army and the government officials or between them and the water ghost is not very high.”

Li Ke nodded his head and said, “It is still possible to determine whether the government, the military, and the water ghost have colluded with each other.” However, there was one thing that was certain. At the very least, they did not do anything, and even indulged in the water ghost. Perhaps they were accustomed to these chronic illnesses and were too lazy to put in any effort to deal with them. If he could catch a few culprits and hand them over to the higher ups, he would randomly capture them without asking a single question. You’ve just seen it. These soldiers clearly don’t work hard. If they can waste less energy, they can waste less energy. Even if they catch the wrong person, they won’t bother with so much. Because it’s a matter for the yamen to try the case, they can push it clean. “In that case, the cooperation between the government and military offices in Xiangzhou is very poor, and they shirk each other’s responsibilities.”

“Young Master’s eyes are indeed as sharp as torches.” Qin Mubai nodded and smiled, “The water ghost has been rampaging around Xiangzhou for decades. There must be many reasons.” Earlier, we heard from the yamen attendant that the water ghosts were also secretly’supporting ‘them. Could it be that the inaction and negligence between the yamen and the military was a tacit understanding between them? They didn’t dare to openly collude against the imperial court of the Great Tang, so it was possible for them to secretly communicate with each other. “Who can guarantee that there will be any interest between them?”

“That’s why we need to calm down and wait for a while longer.” “Actually, being a prisoner is pretty good. At least we can see a lot of things that we don’t normally see. Now we are in this prison. Let’s see what kind of tricks they can play.” Li Ke smiled confidently as he raised the corner of his mouth.

“That’s good too.” Qin Mubai nodded and smiled, “Young Master, isn’t it fun to travel in this kind of mini-dress? I think you’re enjoying it very much.”

“Exciting!” Li Ke laughed heartily.

“You’re laughing so happily. You won’t be able to laugh again in a while.” Suddenly, a cold voice came from the side. It was still a female voice.

Qin Mubai and Li Ke were stunned at the same time, and they were shocked in their hearts, “Who has such outstanding ear power?” Did you hear us talking so quietly?

Xue Rengui, who was at the side, said in surprise, “I didn’t expect that there would be an expert in this cell!”

Qin Mubai’s expression was even more peculiar, “This voice is so familiar-hey, who is talking to us?”

After a moment of silence, he heard the sound of shackles coming from the left. In one of the deepest cells, a faint voice sounded, “It’s true that we meet everywhere in life, Mubai! I didn’t expect that half a year later, we would meet here in such a way.”

“Ah?” Qin Mubai was shocked. She sat up and looked at the other side. “Are you-Chen Yan?!” she asked in surprise.

“That’s right.” The voice said calmly, “It’s me.”