Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 34: The Heroic Emperor
The donkey lowered its head, pulled down a handful of weeds, and began to chew them, making loud chewing sounds.

Next to the donkey, several men sat on the ground. Surrounded by green trees and a fresh air, it was truly a great place for a banquet.

Wang Fu smiled and poured some wine for Qilounan.

He picked up the wine cup himself, bowed, and drank it all in one gulp.

Qi Lou Nan did not hesitate and drank it all in one gulp.

"Wang Jun, if you have anything to say, just tell me. I have some things to do in my village."

"Oh, well, I'll just tell you straight out then."

"Mr. Qilou Nan, logically speaking, I shouldn't meet you directly. I'm sure you can see that I'm from Zhou."

Qilou Nan nodded.

"But we have known each other for a long time. After thinking about it for a long time, I decided to come here in person and be honest with you."

Wang Fu poured wine for the other party again.

"You have martial arts, strategy, courage and carefulness, you are a capable official! Over the years, you have made countless contributions, and the thieves in the city tremble when they see you."

"I admire and respect you very much."

"It's just that I personally feel that someone like you won't get any promotion in Qi."

"You don't have a good background. This pseudo-Qi is different from Zhou. In Zhou, only talents are valued. As long as a person is talented, he will be promoted. But in Qi, Xianbei is valued and other tribes are despised."

"No matter how much you do here, no matter how well you do it, what good will it be if you don't have someone to promote you?"

"Like the two county magistrates of Cheng'an and so many other officials, what did they do wrong? They worked diligently, but in the end they ended up like this!"

"Even if he became an official as powerful as Yang Yin, what would that do? Gao Yang jokingly called him Yang Dadu, made him pass toilet paper, and whipped him with a horsewhip until his back bled! He even threw him into a coffin and wanted to bury him alive several times!"

"Where is the way out?"

The more Wang Fu spoke, the more excited he became, and the louder his voice became.

"I really feel it's unfair for you! You've done so much for Qi, but what kind of reward have you gotten?"

"Two years ago, your wife was forced to go out of town to watch Gao Yang's horseback archery, and she never came back. Don't you know what happened?!"

"I don't mean to humiliate you, but Gao Yang is a pervert. Even the prince of Yecheng can't protect his family! How can you do that?"

Wang Fu stood up suddenly and looked at the masked man beside him.

The man walked quickly forward and dumped a package directly in front of Qi Lou Nan.

With the sound of rustling, all kinds of golden products piled up in front of Qi Lou Nan.

In the sunlight, these golden products sparkled, and Qi Lounan's face was dull.

"Mr. Qilou Nan, is this Eastern thief still worth your efforts? As an official, you can't even protect your first wife, suffer all kinds of humiliation, and lose your life innocently from time to time!"

"Even though I have made contributions, I have not received any reward or promotion. I am living in fear all day long!"

"A man will die for his best friend, and a woman will dress up for the man who pleases her!"

"Why don't you abandon the dark and join the light to accomplish something great?"

Qi Lounan looked at the golden pile of gold in front of him, then looked at Wang Fu.

"Wang Jun is trying to bribe me?"

"No, no, a talent like you cannot be bought with these money-grubbing things. This is just a small token of our appreciation. If you are willing to turn from evil to good, the general will definitely reward you handsomely!"

Qi Lou Nan didn't say anything and remained silent.

Wang Fu continued, "Today, I have taken off my mask to see you, which is enough to show my intentions. Whether you agree or not, I will not harm you."

"Even if you report it to the authorities now, I will have no complaints."

"If a man doesn't eat from five cauldrons while alive, he will be cooked in five cauldrons after his death!"

"Today I am risking my life to be honest with you. I wonder if Mr. Qilou Nanjun is also willing to follow me to do something big?!"

Qi Lou Nan picked up the wine cup in front of him and began to drink in big gulps.

After finishing eating, he wiped the corner of his mouth casually.

"Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

"Actually, I won't ask you to do anything more."

"You just need to help look after the people we send and let them do some small things in Zhang Village."

.........

Soon, Qilou Nan rode away on his donkey.

However, he had two more guards beside him, who were carrying large bags and walking beside Qi Lou Nan with their heads down, looking quite strenuous.

The servant stood beside the shopkeeper and watched them walk away.

"Master, can this person be trusted?"

"Let's take a gamble. If it's really him, it would be a great achievement if we can hold his family hostage. If not, we will just die."

The servant nodded.

Walking on the road, Qi Lou Nan said nothing, and the two "guards" following behind him were equally silent.

"What should I call you two?"

"Since the master has bought us, you can call us whatever you want."

"Well, since you are two brothers, let's call them Da Lang and Er Lang."

"Yes."

After crossing the path, the village slowly appeared in the distance.

Dark broken eaves and walls stood on both sides, and looking into the distance, there was not a single person in sight.

Qi Lou Nan walked all the way to his own house, got off the donkey, and walked into the house surrounded by the two men.

The whole Zhang Village was silent, not even a dog barking could be heard.

The sky gradually darkened, and the whole village was gradually covered by darkness.

Deep in the peach forest, it is even darker and quieter.

Inside the courtyard, torches were hung on the wall, emitting a faint light. Liu Zhang was sitting in the courtyard, pounding rice vigorously.

This is preparing tomorrow's meal. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, it was very tiring.

At some point, two figures appeared in the courtyard and slowly approached Liu Zhang, who had her back to them.

A cold wind blew, and the torches shook and twisted again.

Liu Zhang stopped pounding rice and slowly turned around.

There were two figures standing in the shadows. They threw something in their hands, and it rolled in front of Liu Zhang.

There were two bloody human heads.

"Madam, these two strangers came into the peach forest at night and have been killed by us."

Liu Zhang stared at the two heads for a long time, then let out a long sigh.

"Alas, I told him not to name the child this, but he didn't listen. What a stubborn bastard! Both of them are like this!!"

"You two too, you didn't want to capture him alive, so why did you kill him?"

"These two are both deadly warriors. They cannot be captured alive."

Hearing the answer, Liu Zhang waved her hand and said, "Just take it and deal with it. I'm just a woman, you don't need to tell me about this."

The two men lowered their heads, slowly backed away, and disappeared into the night.

The peach forest was still quiet, except for the flickering shadows of people, the flying dust, the startled birds, and the occasional shrill cries.

Gradually, the peach forest became peaceful again and everything was back to normal.

The peach trees were very tall, with lush branches and leaves, intertwined with each other. When the cold wind blew, the branches and leaves made sounds, neat and loud.

The villagers were right, the peach trees in this orchard are indeed growing very well.

The sky gradually turned white, and a bird took off from the peach forest, flapping its wings and flying away into the distance.

In the eyes of the flying bird, peach groves, roads, cities and houses flashed by.

Finally, an extremely tall city wall appeared in its eyes.

A tall warrior, fully armed and wearing a mask, had one foot on the arrow rack and one hand stretched high.

The bird flew straight into his palm.

The bird pecked at the wheat in the big hand, while the soldier took the letter from its ankle and scattered some wheat on the ground, and the bird hurriedly flew to the ground to peck at the wheat.

The soldier opened the letter, read it for a few seconds, and then tore it to pieces.

He turned around and looked forward.

Within the city walls are endless palaces, majestic, magnificent and splendid.

The glazed tiles sparkled in the sun, painted with auspicious patterns. Emerald dragons were inlaid between the continuous palace walls, emitting green light. The many courtyards were connected, with jade buildings, green tiles and red pillars, which were extremely spectacular.

The soldiers lowered their heads and quickly walked down the city wall, walking on the exquisite road. From time to time, they could encounter fully armed soldiers on both sides.

After passing through a series of winding roads, we started climbing a long flight of stairs.

The soldiers kept their heads down all the way and didn't look at the scenery on both sides.

Four warriors struggled to open the huge palace door.

The hall was pitch black, with all the windows closed. A foul smell of corruption filled the air, making one feel uncomfortable.

There was a vague light flickering in the distance, barely indicating the direction.

The soldiers then slowly advanced in that direction.

"what!!!!"

There were howling sounds in the distance, but the soldier did not slow down as he gradually approached the vague light.

In the very center of the hall, torches were hung on a large pillar carved with a golden dragon, dimly illuminating the surroundings.

The soldier saw a man squatting on the ground with his back to him.

The man had his hair loose and was naked. He was squatting on the ground, not knowing what he was doing. Suddenly, he stopped and turned his head sharply.

What a terrifying face it was, with eyes wide open and bloodshot, face stained with blood, and the corners of the mouth raised, revealing sharp white teeth.

"Hahahaha~~~"

The man suddenly jumped up and rushed over with a strange smile.

That terrifying face gradually enlarged!

The soldier shuddered all over.

The man ran up to the soldier and threw the ball of flesh in his hand onto the soldier's head.

Where the man had just squatted, there lay an incomplete person, torn into pieces.

The soldier spoke tremblingly.

"Your Majesty, a warrior has reported that the pseudo-Zhou spies have begun to move around the capital again."

The naked man was stunned, and his expression instantly became solemn.

"Of course, my stupid brother only knows how to frame others and randomly found some common people to take the blame... Of course, the Zhou people will be even more outrageous."

The man put his hands behind his back and raised his head. If he was not naked, if his body was not covered in blood, and if the place was not so gloomy, one could still see the majesty of an emperor.

He said seriously:

"These bastards are just waiting for me to die so they can seduce my good-for-nothing son to bring disaster to the world!!"

"It would be fine if such a traitor was framed and punished... But, as the Son of Heaven, how can I allow myself to be laughed at by the Western thieves?"

"Taozhi! You take the people there yourself!"

"Find out the matter thoroughly and send those spies to me. Hehehe."

"only!"

ps: Whenever he was drunk, he would kill people for fun. He would dismember the people he killed, burn them in fire, or throw them into water. ———Zizhi Tongjian

ps: I caught a cold just as I started writing the book. I had a low-grade fever for several days, my ears were buzzing, and I felt listless. If there are any typos, please forgive me and I will definitely correct them.

(End of this chapter)