Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 131 No Next Time
Cui's village.

This is where the second branch of the Cui family lives. Master Cui is currently happily playing games with his pets.

But a servant came running over in a hurry and interrupted his interest.

"Young Master, it's bad, it's bad, the Xianbei people broke into the main house, and now the sky is full of fire."

Cui Renshi was stunned for a moment, then asked slowly, "Big Wife? What trouble has Big Wife caused again?"

The servant said hurriedly, "It was the new county lieutenant who led the Xianbei people to attack the Dafangwu Fortress and has already broken through the outer courtyard gate."

At this moment, Master Cui suddenly burst into laughter.

"Didn't Cui Shuren always claim to be the eldest son of the family, and talk about self-cultivation and loving the world? How come he was still separated from his family by the Xianbei?"

The servant was also shocked when he saw Master Cui's attitude, "Young Master, we are from the same clan after all."

"Heh, what kind of relative is he?! They have already separated!!"

Cui Renshi was very excited, his face flushed, "Besides, what ability does their eldest branch have? They were defeated in the war and failed to stop the bandits, which brought shame to our Cui family! In the end, they were just appointed as governors and made no progress! They are still called the eldest branch? I think they should be called the ex-branch branch!"

Looking at the excited Master Cui, the servant was hesitant to speak.

Master Cui cursed for a long time, then calmed down and said angrily: "And there is Liu Taozi. When he was in Cheng'an, he seduced Fei Zongxian and made my elder brother innocently implicated. He was able to become a county lieutenant! I think he got there by flattering his superiors and doing dirty things. And these Xianbei, oh, I don't know what he did to make them follow him. I will definitely chop this guy into ten pieces, no, twenty pieces, to sacrifice to my brother!! "

He suddenly became quiet and pondered for a long time. Suddenly, an inexplicable light flashed in his eyes.

"Cui An, come here."

The servant hurried forward, and Master Cui lowered his voice and asked, "Can Cui Jishu sit still when something like this happened in the first house?"

"Well, I guess I can't sit still."

"Then send someone to inform him and ask him to go to the eldest house to mediate."

"Arrange another shooter, a sharpshooter, to shoot Liu Taozi to death when the two sides meet. If he is wearing heavy armor and cannot be shot, then shoot Cui Jishu to death."

The servant trembled all over, "Young Master?! What are you doing..."

Cui Renshi glared at him and said, "Why are you panicking? Liu Taozi has recaptured the Xianbei and his power has greatly increased. It will not be easy to kill him in the future. This is the best opportunity. Besides, it can also let my uncle take the blame. If those Xianbei people get angry and kill my uncle, it will be even better. There will be no evidence!! Hahaha~~ Of course, Liu Taozi has always been timid. If he is wearing armor and it is difficult to shoot him, then we can shoot Cui Jishu, the same result."

"Although Cui Jishu was dismissed, this is only temporary. The government will promote him sooner or later. If he dies in the confrontation with Liu Taozi, hehe..."

The servant wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Young Master, Mr. Cui is a great sage in the clan and holds the highest rank in the government. How can he..."

"What do you know?! Does he have the final say in this second house or does my family have the final say?!"

Cui Renshi sneered: "When my brother was in trouble, he could have asked to save him, but he remained unmoved. Why? Isn't it because he is worried that my brother's reputation will be too great and will overshadow his stupid sons in the future?"

"Do it if you're told to."

"I have the final say at home now."

"only"

"Remember to do it cleanly and use outsiders you can trust."

"only."

Master Cui waved his hand and ignored him. He just kept his head down and continued to tease the hungry wolf lying in front of him. The wolf was skinny and covered with wounds. It lay on the ground, twitching from time to time. Master Cui put his hand into the beast's mouth and slapped its face triumphantly, his expression becoming more and more excited.

"Mr. Cui! Please go and take a look. The first house was attacked by the Xianbei people, and they burned, killed and looted."

The servant knelt in front of Cui Jishu and cried loudly.

Although Cui Jishu was born in the second branch of the family, he did not live in the Wu Castle of the second branch. Although his family was called the second branch, they were actually quite distantly related to the second branch and could only be considered as clan relatives. Originally, they could only live in the outer courtyard of Wu Castle. However, after Cui Jishu became successful, he was valued by the second branch and enjoyed the same treatment as the main branch.

After becoming rich, Cui Jishu never moved to Wubao of the second wife's house. Instead, he moved to a village outside the second wife's house and built a house there. The house was of standard size, neither too big nor too small, and his children and relatives lived there.

Cui Jishu usually stays in Yecheng or Jinyang and rarely comes back here.

When the servant burst into tears, Cui Jishu was shocked. He seemed to have just seen a fire in the distance and murmured, "Oh, I just thought that the first wife had a fire. I didn't expect that the Xianbei people would attack the first wife."

The servant cried and explained, "Mr. Cui, you don't know that these Xianbei people have always been rude and unscrupulous in Anping, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of evil. The people inside and outside the city all hate what they have done, but the powerful and wealthy protect them, leaving the people helpless!"

"There's a new county lieutenant named Liu Taozi. He colluded with the Xianbei people and led them to slaughter the Han people! His crimes are truly heinous!"

Cui Jishu uttered an "oh" and said angrily, "I didn't expect that there would be such a villain in Anping!"

"Don't worry, I will write to the government right now to impeach them for their evil deeds!"

The servant in front kept nodding, but when Cui Jishu finished speaking, he suddenly raised his head.

Write to the temple???
By the time the government replied, the whole house would have been burned to ashes, right?

The old servant said in astonishment: "Mr. Cui, those people are still committing crimes, we must stop them. You are a well-known sage in the world, and I am sure that Liu Taozi will not dare to embarrass you. You just need to step forward..."

Cui Jishu sighed and wiped his tears. "I have lost my official position now. I am just a commoner. How can I have any prestige? There are only four or five people around me. How can I stop the Xianbei people? Oh, my nephew can go and persuade them!"

He immediately grabbed the servant's hand and said earnestly: "Although they are the eldest wife, we are from the same clan after all. How can we stand by and watch them die? The Master must go and save them. Don't waste time. Go back and tell the Master to take people over! If you delay for a while, who knows how many people will die! Go! Go!!"

He called his son and forcibly pushed the servant out.

The old slave stood at the door, stared blankly at Cui Jishu's house, and then led everyone away quickly.

Cui Gang looked very impatient. He changed his clothes in a hurry and said, "Father, I will go stop them!"

Cui Jishu glanced at him, his face gloomy, and snorted coldly.

Cui Jishu was usually very friendly to others and rarely made enemies. Even with his own children, he was relatively lenient and rarely scolded them.

It was the first time that Cui Gang saw his father look so unhappy.

"Father."

Cui Jishu shook his head. "Your cousin is not a good person. He seems honest and loyal, but he is actually cunning and vicious. The reason why he has not taken office is because his father is worried that he will cause trouble for the clan, so he let him study hard at home. When something happened to the eldest wife, he sent someone to urge me to go. What good intentions could he have? Who knows how he wants to harm people!"

"You, even though you have read a lot of books, if you can't apply the principles in the books to yourself, then what's the point of reading these books?"

Cui Gang was a little confused. He whispered, "Master Ren does like to bully people, but he won't hurt you. After all, you are his elder."

"Ah."

Cui Jishu shook his head and said nothing more. He took out a book and began to read. What he read was not a classic, but a medical book. Cui Jishu liked reading medical books very much and also liked to treat people. Sometimes, he would simply go to the streets to treat people. No matter the other person's status was noble or humble, he would treat everyone equally and would never make any distinction. Therefore, he had a very good reputation here.

Cui Gang watched his father become obsessed with medical books again, and asked helplessly: "Are we just going to let those Xianbei people do evil?"

"No hurry. Wait until the matter is concluded. It won't be too late to come forward."

"Gang, let me tell you, no matter what your status, rank, or reputation is, it's all fake and useless in front of a knight holding a steel knife."

"what!!!"

Cui Shuren looked at the open door in front of him and the raging flames inside, which made a sharp roar.

County Magistrate Zheng and Cheng Zhe, who were standing on both sides of him, were also startled.

However, the expressions of both of them at the moment were not very good.

The entire Rong'enli was in a mess at this moment, with the bodies of guards everywhere. Crying and shouting could be heard from inside. The smoke and fire spread all the way, and County Magistrate Zheng even saw smoke coming out of the deepest backyard.

County Magistrate Zheng swallowed and his face stiffened.

He really didn't expect that the new county lieutenant would be so vicious. He was really slaughtered!
It’s only been a short time, not even an hour!

What kind of idiot is this person guarding Wubao? Facing a group of cavalry, he can't even hold out for an hour? !

This was a serious matter. Cui Shuren jumped off his horse, knelt on the ground, and cried loudly.

His crying was very loud, but he didn't dare to rush out.

Soon, the Xianbei knights discovered the people outside. Dozens of cavalrymen suddenly rushed out, holding their longbows, and surrounded them from three sides. They had arrows in their hands and could shoot at any time.

Cui Shuren was so frightened that he quickly stood up, stopped crying, and hid behind County Magistrate Zheng.

County Magistrate Zheng could not help sweating profusely at this moment. He did not dare to speak, for fear that these Xianbei people would really let go.

Cheng Zhe was better. He was not very scared and shouted, "We are county officials and we are here to see Commandant Liu! Please go in and report!"

The knights looked at each other, and Cheng Zhe repeated his words in Xianbei language before some of the knights rushed into Wu Castle.

After a long time, Liu Taozi rode a green lion and slowly appeared in front of everyone. Both sides of the green lion were hung with human heads. He came in front of everyone, covered in blood, and turned into a devil again, staring at the people in front of him. This time, even Cheng Zhe felt fear and did not dare to look him in the eye.

Cui Shuren was so frightened that his face turned pale. Not to mention going up to question him, he couldn't even stand steadily.

County Magistrate Zheng took a deep breath and finally spoke, "Mr. Liu, what are you doing?"

"I asked you to collect food by force, but I didn't ask you to lead troops to massacre the people."

Liu Taozi pulled out a large crossbow from behind his back and showed it to the county magistrate. "You secretly stored armor and a powerful crossbow with the intention of treason."

County Magistrate Zheng immediately shut his mouth and looked at Cheng Zhe who was standing beside him.

Cheng Zhe rode forward and came to Liu Taozi's side, lowering his voice, "Brother Liu Gong, you did a great job!!"

He glanced behind him secretly again, "That old thief was quite arrogant just now, but now he is so scared by you that he dares not stick his head out to look at you."

He flattered her a few times, and then said, "Look, you were ordered by the county magistrate to collect military pay from the Cui family. The Cui family failed to pay you on time. We have already reported this to the state. Well, the Cui family is at fault, but you led the troops to attack their family, which is a bit too much. Let your people come out and don't kill them anymore. The Cui family is not easy to mess with. There are two first-rank officials alone, and there are countless others!"

"What you need now is food, right?"

"How about this, I'll come forward as a witness and ask the Cui family to give out food, and you can just collect your troops, and then there's no need to put away the crossbows and other things, right?"

As Cheng Zhe was speaking, County Magistrate Zheng rubbed his forehead and looked at Cui Shuren who was standing beside him.

"Mr. Cui, what do you think we should do now?"

Cui Shuren's lips were trembling. He didn't even dare to cry, let alone speak.

County Magistrate Zheng said, "I think this man is very fierce and difficult to deal with. If we don't deal with him now, I'm afraid he will kill us too. What's more, you see, he also found a powerful crossbow. This is dangerous. What kind of crime is it to secretly keep a powerful crossbow? You know, this is treason, and treason is punishable by the execution of the entire family!"

"Look, why don't we find a way to suppress them first? I'll be a witness, and you can give them some food so they can put away their crossbows. This matter should be suppressed if possible, and don't spread it outside. What do you think?"

Cui Shuren nodded stiffly, "Send them away first, send them away first."

After a while, he saw Cheng Zhe and Liu Taozi walking towards here. Cui Shuren subconsciously took a few steps back and hid further away.

Cheng Zhe smiled and said, "Mr. Liu agreed, he agreed!"

County Magistrate Zheng also breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly dismounted, holding Cui Shuren's hand, and walked towards Liu Taozi, saying with a smile: "I have also discussed it with Mr. Cui. How about you send the cavalry out first?"

Liu Taozi shook her head. "We haven't agreed on the amount yet."

Cui Shuren raised his head and asked tremblingly, "How much do you want?"

"I want three million shi of grain."

"What???"

At this moment, Cui Shuren felt that he was hallucinating. "How much?"

"Three million koku."

Cui Shuren almost burst into a curse. He looked at the magistrate Zheng who was standing beside him with grievance, "How can my family have so much grain? Even if I searched my house thoroughly, I still couldn't get three million shi!!"

Liu Taozi was very calm, "Your family doesn't have one, but there are still second and third wives, right? Just now Cheng Jun said that the second wife is the largest and the richest, so why don't you let them join together?"

"No, I can't figure you out. You don't want to make peace at all. You are..."

Cui Shuren was so angry that he couldn't speak.

At this moment, another flash of fire rose up, and the shouting and screaming in Wu Castle gradually subsided.

Liu Taozi turned her head and looked at Cui Shuren again, "It's too late now. Come on, take down the traitor Cui Shuren."

Immediately a knight rushed out, dragged Cui Shuren over, pressed him to the ground, and began to tie him up.

Cui Shuren was horrified, "Save me! Save me!!"

Magistrate Zheng wanted to speak, but found that several knights had aimed their arrows at him. He swallowed and said nothing.

The knights began to evacuate from the Wu Castle in an orderly manner. They pulled out cart after cart, which was full of money and food.

Neither the county magistrate nor Cheng Zhe dared to speak. At this moment, a team rushed towards this place at an extremely fast speed.

I saw the group of people moving faster and faster, raising a cloud of dust, and a moment later, they appeared here.

Governor Lu rode his horse angrily to the front of the crowd, surrounded by dozens of knights to protect him.

Governor Lu looked at the tied-up Cui Shuren, and then looked at the burning Rong Enli behind them. At this moment, he felt his scalp tingling.

He suddenly drew out his sword, "Liu Taozi! Do you want to rebel?!"

Liu Taozi raised her head and looked at him, "The Cui family is plotting a rebellion and secretly storing armor and crossbows."

Governor Lu was furious. "Nonsense! It's obviously you who framed me! The Cui family has always been kind and upright, how could they rebel? It's all your fault. You led the troops to rob the people, burn and kill innocent people, and framed me! Someone, come here! Take down the traitor Liu Taozi!"

Just as the knights around him were about to move, they were surrounded by Liu Taozi's knights, and arrows were aimed at them.

Facing these cavalrymen, Governor Lu was not afraid at all. He laughed loudly, then looked at Liu Taozi and patted his chest.

"Come on, come on, shoot here!!"

"I want to let you know what happens if you shoot a governor. No matter who is behind you, try shooting me! "

"If I die here today, your entire clan will die with me!"

"Come"

"Whoosh!!!"

An arrow flew past Governor Lu's cheek, cutting a small cut on his face.

Governor Lu stood there in a daze, still pointing at his chest, without moving an inch.

He was petrified.

He really didn't expect that this man would actually dare to shoot him.

His whole body was stiff and his mind was blank. He couldn't even feel the pain. His whole body didn't respond to his commands and he couldn't move.

Not only him, everyone was stunned at this moment. County Magistrate Zheng and Cheng Zhe were both stunned. Even Cui Shuren stared at Governor Lu in disbelief with his eyes wide open.

This is really lawless!!!
Everyone looked at Liu Taozi, but found that he was not the one who did it. Yao Xiong put away his bow and looked at Liu Taozi, "Mr. Liu! I am not good at archery and I almost killed the governor. Please kill me according to military law!!"

Liu Taozi looked at the people in front of him calmly and said to Yao Xiong:

"I'll forgive you this time, but not next time."

(End of this chapter)