Chapter 99: Mistaking fierce bandits for gods of wealth

The rain that had been drizzling for two days stopped, and County Magistrate Village was about to wake up from the morning mist.

Lady Zhu got up before dawn, while the man beside her was still snoring like thunder.

Everything was quiet all around, and she carried a wooden bucket to the lake to fetch water. County Magistrate Lake was also calm today, and in the wild grass on the shore, gaura flowers were shyly blooming with pink and white petals. White mist curled between the water and the sky, making the lake scenery look like a fairyland.

Lady Zhu was dazed for a while, and it wasn't until a series of bubbles emerged from the nearby lake surface that she grabbed the water bucket and walked back with a stumbling gait.

If other village women were here, they would likely laugh at her for having too little strength, as the wooden bucket was only eighty percent full.

Passing by the County Magistrate Shrine, she occasionally glanced inside, and her footsteps stopped.

The County Magistrate Shrine was the most exquisite building in the entire County Magistrate Village, with white walls and blue tiles, the brick walls were built neatly, and the tiles were specially transported from outside; they were shiny and bright once washed by the rain.

At any time, only two spirit tablets were enshrined in the County Magistrate Shrine. But now she saw that one of the tablets was broken.

It was broken into upper and lower halves, with the upper half falling on the offering table.

Perhaps it was a prank by some child. Lady Zhu didn't go closer to look, but carried the bucket and left.

Returning home, she hurriedly lit the stove to boil water, kneaded dough to make pancakes, and went to the pen behind the house to feed the chickens and pigs.

Then, the two children woke up.

The babies were still small, one two years old and one four years old; dressing, putting on shoes, and washing faces all had to be done by her.

When the children cried, the parents-in-law also woke up, rubbed their eyes, and walked out, shouting at her to hurry up with the food.

She served salted fish, sauce pickles, pancakes, and porridge on the table, then brought a basin of warm water into the inner room to wake the man: "It's dawn; Father said we are to harvest the last batch of wheat today."

The man grumbled twice, very unhappy, and dawdled for more than a quarter of an hour before getting up.

After sending the father and son off, Lady Zhu finally let out a breath and sat down leaning against the door.

The mother-in-law walked over and threw two pieces of clothing at her: "Don't be lazy; mend them."

The children were playing on the side, and when she was mending the second piece of clothing, there was a sudden commotion in the village.

Lady Zhu didn't pay attention, but not long after, four or five people came to the door and dragged her away without explanation.

The mother-in-law was terrified and chased after them, only to see several villagers throwing her daughter-in-law in front of the County Magistrate Shrine. The village chief's face was livid, and he pointed to the spirit tablet in the shrine and asked her: "Did you do this?"

"Do what?" Lady Zhu was bewildered. "I didn't do anything."

"Did you break it? The spirit tablet was still fine last night."

"It has nothing to do with me." Lady Zhu protested. "Maybe it was done by the children in the village."

"Lao Qi."

As soon as the village chief called, a thin, small man stood out: "This morning, I only saw Lady Zhu walk past the shrine."

Lady Zhu said coldly: "You were also here; maybe it was you who broke it."

Lao Qi slapped her across the face.

The village chief said: "When your master returns, we want justice."

After saying this, two villagers locked her in the shrine.

The mother-in-law scolded her for causing trouble outside and soon left as well.

That evening, the farmers who had gone out to plow returned, and there was actually a merchant caravan traveling with them.

This merchant caravan had about thirty or forty people, driving ten large carts. The children in the village went up to beg for candy, but the other party spread their hands—there was none.

The village chief greeted them, and the leader of the other party raised his hand and produced several ten-tael silver ingots: "We want to borrow lodging here tonight and will set off early tomorrow morning."

This man was tall and sturdy, with a rough and loud voice. Lady Zhu looked at him through the hollow bricks of the shrine and always felt that he didn't match the silk clothes he was wearing.

The village chief was also muttering in his heart, but he felt at ease once he saw the large silver. The other party had money; what could they covet from them? So the merchant caravan settled down and dispersed to borrow lodging in each household.

With outsiders present, it was inconvenient for the village chief to deal with the matter of the shrine spirit tablet; as the saying goes, family shame should not be spread abroad.

The caravan captain asked him: "I thought the place where the High Ancestor raised his army would be very prosperous."

"Those who go out don't come back." The village chief sighed. "They are all ungrateful wolves!"

"This place is good, peaceful; and there are so many people, more than I expected." Other villages had two hundred people at most, but this County Magistrate Village had more than three hundred people, and the place was large. The captain smiled. "Along the way, I saw that the wheat fields were all harvested; you really worked hard today. Has everyone returned?"

"Yes, we can plant rice in two days." The village chief took a beat to react. How did these outsiders know they worked extra hard today? "How did you..."

The caravan captain suddenly whistled, one long and two short.

In the quiet little village, this whistle was especially loud.

The village chief felt something was wrong and shouted "Come here," but just as the word burst out, the caravan captain knocked him unconscious.

Immediately after, screams and wails sounded everywhere in the village.

The young and strong men in the village picked up tools to resist, but who knew that two hundred people suddenly emerged from the surrounding trees, surrounding them tightly. The other party then used the old and weak as hostages to threaten them, and the men put down their farm tools.

In about a quarter of an hour, the commotion stopped.

The men, women, and children of the village were all empty-handed and were driven to the open space in front of the village shrine, surrounded by two or three hundred people who were eyeing them covetously, each holding weapons, their eyes flashing with fierce light.

The County Magistrate villagers finally understood that they had mistaken fierce bandits for gods of wealth and welcomed them into the village.

The caravan captain was about to speak when a red-tailed peregrine falcon flew down from the sky and landed on his shoulder, speaking human words: "There are government soldiers coming here from the southwest, three or four hundred people, fifteen li away."

The group of bandits was startled, but the villagers were overjoyed.

The government soldiers are here; are we saved?

A bandit said: "General, the pursuing troops are here!"

"If they are pursuing troops, why would they come from the southwest?" The captain frowned and asked the red-tailed peregrine falcon, "Are you sure they are government soldiers?"

"They are government soldiers, but their uniforms are different from the government soldiers we fought at Woling Pass; they have green armor on their shoulders." The red-tailed peregrine falcon added, "By the way, there are women and children in that team!"

The captain's expression settled, and he even laughed: "How could pursuing troops bring women and children?"

His subordinates were still worried: "They are coming here; what should we do?"

The captain sneered: "They have people, and we have people; what are we afraid of? We can't let them spoil things; find someone to report to the town first."

A confidant leaned in and whispered two sentences, and he nodded: "This method is not bad."

Then he ordered the villagers:

"Those who do not have children under eleven years old at home, step out."

Everyone hesitated, not daring to step forward.

The captain laughed: "Those who don't come out will be the ones in trouble."

So a large group of villagers stepped out.

The captain wanted these people to walk to the water's edge, and then with a flash of his knife, he chopped off the head of the nearest person.

"Kill them all!"

The villagers screamed, and some fought back desperately.

But with women, children, the old, and the weak in the group, how could they be the opponents of the fierce bandits who were like wolves and tigers? This was a one-sided massacre.

By the time the last person's cry for help was cut off, the lake water was dyed red with blood.

Corpses lay in disarray, with more than a hundred of them.

(End of this chapter) ===== CHAPTER 100 =====