Chapter 31: Snakes and Rats in the Same Nest

After General Xia Duo led his men out of the inn, the place was a complete mess!

The floor was covered with food scraps and spilled wine, emitting a foul stench.

Uneaten dishes scattered across the floor from the tables gave off a rotting smell.

Almost every table was stained with food and wine, making it look nothing like an inn anymore.

Some parts of the walls were splattered with wine, others were cracked from blows, and some carved decorations in the corners had fallen to the ground.

Some of the railings upstairs were already broken, leaning dangerously to one side.

The dilapidated scene inside the inn gave people the illusion that a disaster had just struck this place.

The chaotic environment and heavy stench were as if a catastrophe had just occurred.

Outside the main gate, passersby were unaware of what had happened inside, while the innkeeper and the waiter stood miserably at the entrance, staring at each other.

They thought to themselves that restoring everything to normal would depend entirely on themselves. This psychological burden far outweighed the losses caused by the mess on the floor.

Li Li Xuanren's own temple was also injured; the wound was deeply split, with a streak of blood sliding past his eye, blurring his vision.

His nose was also beaten crooked, but it was not broken.

There were several bruises on the back of his hand, which had already swollen up.

His legs also had abrasions, but these were not considered very important.

At this moment, Li Li Xuanren ignored his own injuries all over his body and, enduring the pain, first checked Jiang Jiang Mingyu's wounds.

Compared to Li Li Xuanren, Jiang Jiang Mingyu's injuries were more severe; his face was swollen like a pig's head, covered in bruises, with nosebleed constantly flowing and dripping onto the ground!

His eyes were slightly swollen but could still be opened with difficulty. The wound at the corner of his mouth was still bleeding, and his lips had also swollen slightly.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu had never suffered such hardship; he let out cries of sorrow and groans.

But fortunately, these were all flesh wounds, with no damage to bones, tendons, or internal organs.

After Li Li Xuanren checked carefully, he felt slightly relieved.

Although the injuries were terrible, as long as they were treated, they were not fatal.

The state of the two men at this moment was extremely miserable, especially Jiang Jiang Mingyu's facial injuries, which made people unable to bear looking directly.

These soldier ruffians indeed fought without holding back, as if they had to beat people into serious injury before stopping.

At this moment, besides physical pain, Jiang Jiang Mingyu and Li Li Xuanren felt more psychological humiliation and resentment.

Tuke Tuke Siluo on the side was more resistant to blows, showing no signs of being injured anywhere.

He clasped his hands in a fist, knelt on one knee, and apologized to Jiang Jiang Mingyu, saying: "This subordinate failed in his duty and caused Lord Jiang to be injured; please punish me!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu waved his hand and said weakly: "This is not your fault; it is because my Wu Gong is not skilled enough that I have come to this!"

Hearing this, Tu Tu Kesiluo looked up excitedly: "How can Lord Jiang say such a thing! The mandate Tu Tu Kesiluo received was to protect Lord Jiang completely; how could this time be..."

Speaking to this point, Tu Tu Kesiluo could no longer hold back and said hoarsely: "Lord Jiang, Tu Tu Kesiluo has let you down and also let down the Heavenly Majesty; Tu Tu Kesiluo deserves to die!"

Looking at this Imperial Guard in front of him who was so excited he was almost collapsing, Jiang Jiang Mingyu felt both gratified and reluctant: "Lord Tu, the fault is not yours. You have been loyal and dutiful; it is just that those thieves... were too ruthless! This is not your fault."

Li Li Xuanren moved a chair over, first helped Jiang Jiang Mingyu sit properly on it, and then returned to the guest room to fetch his personal medicine box.

Tu Tu Kesiluo looked at the inn, then looked out the window; it was already night.

"This place is not suitable to stay long!" Tu Tu Kesiluo said with slight anxiety: "Just now, that thief leader threatened 'we will meet again'; this subordinate believes they will definitely come back!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu nodded, also expressing agreement.

Then he said: "How about... we go to the county yamen to report to the authorities? I am the Imperial Envoy; the county magistrate must kneel and bow when he sees me; at that time, I will order the county magistrate to punish these thieves!"

Li Li Xuanren carefully applied ointment to Jiang Jiang Mingyu's wounds and then wrapped the injuries layer by layer with clean bandages.

Although Jiang Jiang Mingyu's facial injuries were shocking to the eye, fortunately they were not fatal; as long as the medicine and bandages were replaced daily, the wounds could slowly heal.

Tu Tu Kesiluo assisted on the side, his eyes full of heartache and self-blame.

After bandaging Jiang Jiang Mingyu properly, the three returned to the guest room to pack their luggage, intending to shake off these soldier ruffians under the cover of night and report to the authorities only when it was safe.

But just as they walked out of the inn, the outside was already surrounded by layers of militia wearing armor!

They held nearly a hundred torches, illuminating the street in front of the inn completely!

The light illuminated the ill-intentioned expressions on their faces, as if they intended to capture the three alive.

General Xia Duo had returned to the militia camp a little earlier, immediately gathered troops, put on armor, prepared bows, crossbows, swords, spears, and shields, returned to Ru Meng Xiao Ye, and then surrounded this entire block with three layers inside and three layers outside, making it impossible to escape!

General Xia Duo, wearing a red long robe over padded armor and holding a five-foot horse-chopping sword, stood not far from the inn door and shouted loudly: "Jingcheng dogs, whatever skills you have, just bring them out; this military commander will personally accompany you to the end!"

Seeing the array of thieves before him and then looking back at the injured Jiang Jiang Mingyu and Li Li Xuanren, Tu Tu Kesiluo knew clearly that they were doomed tonight!

"We are outnumbered... a brave man does not suffer immediate loss; it is better to temporarily humiliate Lord Jiang and surrender with hands tied!" Tu Tu Kesiluo suggested in a low voice.

"How can that be!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu said indignantly: "With your skills, these scum are not even your match!"

Tu Tu Kesiluo nodded and said: "If we fight them with bare hands, even if a hundred come, this subordinate would not put them in his eyes! But..."

Jiang Jiang Mingyu: "But what?"

Tu Tu Kesiluo pointed to the row of archers behind General Xia Duo and said dejectedly: "With their kind of arrows, without armor, without hitting vital points, being hit by two arrows is barely bearable, but if the third arrow hits... I will die!"

With no choice, Jiang Jiang Mingyu and the others could only walk out of the inn.

Seeing this, General Xia Duo laughed loudly: "Aren't these three beatable Jingcheng dogs from just now? What, were you having too much fun fighting just now? Now you've dropped your tails and are hiding in the house?"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu said in a deep voice: "General, wait; we are not here to oppose you. Today we merely passed through here, but unexpectedly were beaten like this by you, and we were only acting in self-defense; yet you are so aggressive, which is somewhat unkind, is it not!"

Hearing this, General Xia Duo's face changed abruptly: "A mere Jingcheng dog dares to speak of unkindness to this General? I will make you die without a place to bury!" Saying this, he raised his sword and slashed at Jiang Jiang Mingyu and the others.

Tu Tu Kesiluo blocked in front of Jiang Jiang Mingyu and intercepted the incoming sword; seeing this, General Xia Duo's face became even uglier: "A mob from Jingcheng dares to be arrogant before this General? Watch me cut off your arms and teach you ignorant people a good lesson!"

Seeing this, Jiang Jiang Mingyu said calmly: "General, do not get so angry; we are not here to fight you. If you want to fight, we can only beg for mercy."

After saying this, the three directly knelt on the ground, holding their heads and submitting.

Originally, Xia Duo thought he could duel Tu Tu Kesiluo again, exchange a few moves, knock him to the ground, and regain some face in front of his brothers!

But he never expected that Jiang Jiang Mingyu and the other three would directly kneel on the ground and surrender, with hands tied!

Their kneeling actually stunned General Xia Duo!

General Xia Duo's bewilderment and helplessness were all displayed on his slightly pouting lips and his increasingly fierce eyebrows and eyes.

According to the temper of the people beyond the pass, this should not be the scene; seeing only a face full of surprise, he stood before the formation for a long time, not knowing what to do.

He had intended to severely teach Jiang Jiang Mingyu and the others a lesson, but who knew the other party suddenly knelt down, leaving him momentarily unable to figure it out, unsure if it was the other party's trick or if they were truly submitting to capture.

Although General Xia Duo was arrogant and domineering by nature, he also knew he was in the wrong; if the other party truly submitted and surrendered to justice, he could not harm them without cause.

But if this was the other party's strategy, he would lose all face.

The sharp blade in his hand had not yet been sheathed, as if ready to deal with the other party's counterattack at any moment.

Just at this moment, a subordinate came over and suggested tying them up and sending them to the county yamen to be punished.

Xia Duo did not expect that the problem he thought would make him scratch his head could be solved by such a good method.

He could use others' knives to kill people, and without getting blood on himself.

Moreover, the people inside the county yamen were all his own people; once Jiang Jiang Mingyu and the others were escorted there, he could still interfere from within, achieving multiple benefits with one move.

So he ordered his subordinates to bind the three of Jiang Jiang Mingyu's group tightly with ropes and escort them directly to the county yamen.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu, escorted to the yamen entrance, saw the drum for appealing injustice and almost laughed out loud!

He thought: I was just thinking of coming to the yamen to find the magistrate to punish you, and now this is great; they sent me here directly, and I don't even need to ask anyone for directions!

This sudden change gave Jiang Jiang Mingyu a feeling of not knowing whether to be happy or worried.

General Xia Duo grabbed the drumstick, struck the drum a few times, and not long after, the yamen's main gate opened.

A Yamen Runner came out, saw General Xia Duo and the hundred or so people behind him, and was stunned!

He asked directly: "General, what play are you putting on this time?"

The Yamen Runner saw Xia Duo bringing a hundred people with fierce momentum, and his face was also full of confusion, completely unaware of what play was to be performed today.

The Yamen Runner's confused expression was truly ridiculous; Jiang Jiang Mingyu wanted to laugh but felt this absurd situation made one want to laugh and cry at the same time.

"Don't worry about so much..." Xia Duo strode over the threshold and shouted at the top of his voice: "Quickly invite 'Second Uncle' to hold court!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu heard the bandit leader shout out "Second Uncle"; he, who had been secretly rejoicing, immediately panicked!

He thought: It's over, it's over; this Shangmu County is actually a family of officials and bandits!

Just a moment ago he was thinking of finding the magistrate to punish the bandits, but now he discovered the bandit wolf resides above the government; this dramatic reversal left Jiang Jiang Mingyu momentarily unable to figure it out.

Thinking of this, Jiang Jiang Mingyu felt he was simply speechless; he had fallen back into a bandit's den in an instant. This absurd scene made him both angry and amused, and he didn't know what to do.

The person General Xia Duo called "Second Uncle" was named Liu Liu Ershou; he was the sworn brother of Xia Duo's father. In his youth, he had participated in the militia and served under Xia Duo's father.

Not long after Xia Duo's father died, Liu Liu Ershou also left the militia, and later, under the protection of the militia's connections, he engaged in a business of smuggling under the guise of escorting caravans for a few years.

When Liu Liu Ershou was doing the business of escorting caravans and smuggling, he often ordered his subordinates to transport goods in the dead of night. When the journey reached the mountain roads, Liu Liu Ershou would send people to spread rumors in advance, luring the government to investigate and arrest.

By the time the government sealed the carriages and escorted the prisoners, Liu Liu Ershou had already sent troops to lie in ambush. Acting in collusion with the government, they staged a play, seized the goods on the carriages for themselves, and thus made a lot of money.

After he gained a certain strength in the local area, he began to transform, changing to operate casinos, brothels, and usury businesses.

At that time, the two largest casinos in the local area closed down one after another, and the casino business was taken over by Liu Liu Ershou.

Some people suspected Liu Liu Ershou was secretly causing trouble; otherwise, how could those two casinos go bankrupt at the same time?

But no one dared to speak, and no one could find concrete evidence.

And Liu Liu Ershou proudly merged the two casinos, becoming the foremost casino tycoon in the local area.

He used the casinos and brothels to make huge profits, and with this, he preyed on many wealthy families' sons in the local area.

When a wealthy young master entered the casino and could not extricate himself, the steward would come to demand his release. Liu Liu Ershou would then demand an exorbitant price to rescue the person, and then demand double, until the family was ruined and destroyed.

For anyone who owed usury, Liu Liu Ershou would send Xia Duo to collect the debt.

If the debtor could not repay the silver, Xia Duo would order that they be beaten until they could not get out of bed in minor cases, or have their hands and feet broken in major cases, as a warning to others.

A fat shopkeeper who owed thirty taels of silver; Liu Liu Ershou ordered people to chop off one hand and one foot, literally chopping him into a cripple, and that thirty taels of silver finally fell into Liu Liu Ershou's pocket.

The romantic socialite Bai Bai Zhiruo, due to her father's business failure, also owed Liu Liu Ershou three hundred taels of usury.

Liu Liu Ershou saw that Bai Bai Zhiruo was quite beautiful, so he ordered her to enter a brothel as a prostitute. Every day, wealthy young masters would go to squander money; half of the silver earned was turned over to Liu Liu Ershou, until the three hundred taels of principal were repaid.

Bai Bai Zhiruo lay with her jade body exposed day and night, exhausted in both body and mind, and finally died of illness in the brothel.

Liu Liu Ershou used human weaknesses and material desires to acquire local brothels and lend money at usury, making huge profits year after year.

Those wealthy young masters who entered the brothels and those who owed usury either had their families ruined and destroyed, or had their hands and feet chopped off, living worse than death. Liu Liu Ershou's cruel methods were hair-raising, yet no one could do anything about it.

Three years ago, Liu Liu Ershou, dissatisfied with the status quo and wanting to become an official, spent a huge sum of money to donate for the position of County Assistant, which was equivalent to the magistrate's deputy.

One year later, the Shangmu County magistrate, who was in the prime of life, died in office from an unknown illness, and the position of magistrate was temporarily assumed by the County Assistant.

The position of magistrate should have been filled by an official appointed by the Emperor, but after Liu Liu Ershou learned the news, in order to continue acting as the magistrate, he immediately sent people to the superior Prefect, offering a huge bribe, requesting the Prefect to cover up the magistrate's death and allow him to continue acting as the magistrate, arguing that appointing a new magistrate at this time would disrupt local administration.

After receiving the bribe, the Prefect quickly agreed to Liu Liu Ershou's request.

Upon taking office, Liu Liu Ershou immediately ordered the sealing of the news, forbidding officials from revealing the magistrate's death to the outside world.

At the same time, he donated money everywhere to win over officials and unite them under his command.

Those officials who wanted to report the truth soon died unnatural deaths, and no one knew the truth.

Thus, he sat upon the greatest government power in the local area.

The common people of this place suffered unbearably, yet they could do nothing about it.

At this time, Liu Liu Ershou, dressed in home attire, arrived at the court hall with a servant holding an oil lamp beside him. He saw three people kneeling in the hall, tightly bound with ropes!

Seeing their clothing and appearance did not resemble locals, he asked: "Who are these people below the hall? And who struck the drum?"

"I am the one who bound them, and I am the one who struck the drum!" Xia Duo said without hesitation: "These three, who claim to be 'Old Hai' (men of the Jianghu) from inside the pass, injured and crippled several of my brothers! I originally thought of killing them on the spot, but after thinking carefully, it is more appropriate to first send them to your court for trial, Second Uncle."

After hearing this, Liu Liu Ershou felt confident, so he changed into the green official robe of a County Assistant, directly held court, and began the interrogation!

Liu Liu Ershou sat at the official desk, slapped the warning block once, and asked: "Who are you below the hall? State your names!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu, who was being forced to kneel on the ground, looked up at Liu Liu Ershou and replied solemnly: "This official's surname is Jiang, given name Jiang Mingyu, courtesy name Jiang Xingqiu. I am a Fifth-Rank Imperial Censor and Imperial Envoy, sent by the Emperor's decree to investigate the case!" Immediately following, Tu Tu Kesiluo and Li Li Xuanren introduced themselves.

After the three had successively stated their names, everyone in the hall drew a sharp intake of breath!

Even Liu Liu Ershou, sitting behind the official desk, was so shocked he was dumbfounded and almost slid off his chair!

"Why would the court send an imperial envoy to our poor backwater?" Xia Duo leaned close to Liu Liu Ershou's ear and whispered timidly, "If they are indeed an imperial envoy, why didn't they first call on the county yamen, but instead went straight to the inn?"

Liu Liu Ershou: "Then what do you think..."

Xia Duo General: "Could they be frauds?"

Liu Liu Ershou: "What makes you say that?"

Xia Duo General: "A short while ago... I crossed paths with them at Ru Meng Xiao Ye. They know the underworld slang; they must be people from the Jianghu!"

Then, Liu Liu Ershou struck the gavel again and asked, "An imperial inspector with no proof to back his words—how can you prove it?"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu replied, "In my luggage, I have a token and official documents. My lord, please take them and look; you will know."

The Yamen Runner took the luggage the militia had searched from the inn and presented it before Liu Liu Ershou; upon opening it, there was indeed a golden token, an official document, and a pair of diamond-tipped maces.

Liu Liu Ershou held the golden token up to his eyes, squinting at the characters on it, looking left and right, muttering to himself: "Is this character 'South'? Or 'North'? And what character is this... It looks like 'Court', and the one following it seems to be 'Dynasty'?" Liu Liu Ershou wore a look of utter astonishment, his fingers gripping the token turning white; clearly, he had never imagined encountering such a problem with official documents.

Seeing this, Xia Duo General hurried over to study it together, equally baffled.

He pointed at the characters on the document, barely managing to recognize the character 'Chang', but the characters following it, he recognized none, and nearly misidentified 'Chang' as well.

These two illiterates studied for a long time, recognizing only a handful of characters, their pain evident on their faces.

Liu Liu Ershou and Xia Duo General had spent their lives rolling around in the Jianghu; their education was not high to begin with, and having not dealt with official documents for a long time, they immediately exposed their illiterate nature upon encountering the token and document; this helplessness and embarrassment was almost enough to make one laugh.

Although the two were accustomed to applying pressure on others with ease, the moment they encountered reading and writing, they became at a loss; the contrast in their image was truly amusing.

"Quick... go quickly and fetch 'Mr. Wu'." Liu Liu Ershou instructed.

"Th-that... um..." Xia Duo stammered, "Mr. Wu... this afternoon, one of my men whipped him; he is still lying in bed and cannot get up, I'm afraid he cannot come!"

"What?!" Liu Liu Ershou widened his eyes and asked in astonishment, "You whipped the man until he was crippled!"

For these past two years, Liu Liu Ershou had relied on an old scholar from the county, a teaching Mr., and a Physician to help him read and write official documents. But unfortunately, the old scholar passed away from illness at the beginning of the year, and the Physician "San Mu" happened to be practicing medicine in a neighboring county, not in the county; at this moment, the only literate person in the entire county, Mr. Wu, had been crippled by Xia Duo and his men!

Liu Liu Ershou said with great regret, "It was only a debt of ten or twenty taels of silver; was it necessary to beat the man into serious injury?"

Liu Liu Ershou immediately felt his head swelling; the golden token and official document before him made his already dull mind even more unable to turn.

And the person who could solve the current predicament: one died of illness, one went on a long journey, and the only one they could rely on, Mr. Wu, had been beaten into a cripple.

Now, what exactly is written on this token and document, and what should I do? It truly left Liu Liu Ershou at a loss, his head aching.

Xia Duo also had grievances he could not speak. He said, "Nine out, thirteen back, interest on interest; now it has reached two hundred and eighteen taels!"

Xia Duo also felt as if he had fallen into the mud left behind after a bout of fighting passion; the problem before him truly left him in a state of extreme anxiety.

He really could not understand how they had injured Mr. Wu; now his embarrassing act seemed to have added trouble for Liu Liu Ershou as well, and Xia Duo did not know how to begin explaining to the other party.

They were usually very good at being high and mighty, applying pressure on others, but now, the problem before them was simply pressing down on them until they could not breathe.

The two looked at each other; for a moment, both were at a loss, truly absurd to the extreme.