Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 211 Zhao Yu: How come there are so many rooms?

The attendant set off cursing, and the guard and the pavilion master stood on the watchtower and bowed to see them off apologetically.

The carriage had only traveled a few miles when suddenly sparse arrows flew "whoosh!" "whoosh!" towards them from the woods and mountains.

Even the carriage that Chen Deng was riding in was hit by several arrows. The arrowheads pierced the side of the carriage, causing the horses to neigh in fright.

The attendant driving the car reacted quickly and whipped the horse whip, driving the car out of the range of the rain of arrows.

Some of the remaining people relied on their good riding skills, dodged the arrows and picked up bows to shoot arrows back.

"These people are not the followers of powerful people. They are probably bandits and thieves from nearby. How dare they ambush officials!"

The bearded man observed the number of people and their clothes in the chaos and made an inference through gritted teeth.

"Go and protect Chen Jun and move to the right. I will lead the others to cover you. Quick!"

When the many followers heard their leader's shout, they reacted instantly and naturally split into two groups. Most of them went to protect the carriage and escape, while a small number stayed behind and shot arrows to hold back the other group.

Seeing that this group of bandits had no armor and used various weapons, some even held wooden sticks, there were no more than 20 or 30 of them on horseback. Judging from the last round of rain of arrows, they had at most 50 bows, and their archery skills were very poor.

They ambushed them in the jungle at a distance of nearly eighty steps, and only shot and wounded two of their men. Another man was hit by an arrow in the horse's leg, and the horse galloped away in pain, throwing him to the ground and injuring him.

The bearded man turned his head and looked at the carriage in which Chen Deng was riding. Although the carriage was hit by two or three arrows, the arrowheads all fell to the ground due to the fast speed of the carriage. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the arrow did not penetrate, otherwise even death would not be enough to atone for my sin, and I would not have the face to return to Xia Pi.

Seeing the rest of the followers escorting the carriage further and further away, the bearded man immediately shouted to the people around him, "Let's go, let's retreat too."

The most urgent task at this moment is to escort Prefect Chen safely to Guangling County, rather than fighting the bandits here. After escorting Mr. Chen to Guangling County, we will come back to settle accounts with these bandits.

Besides, there are bandits entrenched here, and the Qingzhou army will surely come to strangle them in the future. Whether it is their turn to take revenge is another matter.

The bearded man drew out an arrow, held the longbow in his hand, and shot it while galloping. The arrowhead pierced the chest of the bandit in front, scaring the bandits nearby so much that they screamed and reined in their horses, not daring to chase too fast.

Damn it! Thieves come out to steal money, not to be living targets. If there is a good shooter on the opposite side, who dares to chase him?

The bandits looked at each other, cleverly pulling the reins to slow down, and no one was willing to ride in front to chase.

Anyway, Guangling is in chaos everywhere now. If you can't grab it here, just go somewhere else to grab it. Why bother chasing after a target? Just now I was just testing the waters. Since I can't get it, forget it.

On the other side, the bearded man saw that the other party was not catching up with him, so he ordered the others to help their injured companions and chase after Chen Jun.

Chen Deng, who was sitting in the carriage, was also frightened by the shouting and screaming. When he heard the sound of arrows hitting the carriage, he immediately leaned over and lay inside the carriage.

Fortunately, the attendant driving the car reacted quickly, reined in his horse, whipped it, and ran in the other direction. The shouting and screaming gradually became inaudible.

Chen Dengcai felt slightly relieved, sat up straight, brushed the dust off his sleeves, and was glad that he was safe.

At this time, the attendant driving the car asked anxiously, "Mr. Chen, are you injured?"

"I'm fine. Are you injured? How about the others?"

Chen Deng's voice came from the carriage, and the followers immediately breathed a sigh of relief. They put down their worries and shouted, "Don't worry, Mr. Chen, we are all fine. These thieves are probably taking advantage of the rebellion of the powerful against Lord Xuande to rob the people. Although there are nearly a hundred of them, they are just a mob." "Once we put down the rebellion of the powerful, it will be easy to wipe out these people."

Chen Deng in the carriage sighed, "In a peaceful era, we can teach the common people and the nobles etiquette, but in a chaotic era, it is of little use. We need the strict rules of law to eliminate the serious abuses."

After three days of urgent travel, they finally arrived at Guangling County. Under Zhao Yu's surprised gaze, Chen Deng took out the document sent from Yuzhou, announcing the appointment of Lord Xuande, and took over the post of prefect in front of many county officials such as Guangling County Gongcao, Zhubu, Duyou, Wuguan, and Shangji.

Although Zhao Yu was dismissed from his position as prefect due to his lack of knowledge of military strategy, which led to the rebellion of the powerful people in Guangling County being difficult to contain, Liu Bei still thought that he still had some ability, so he transferred him to Hailing County as the county magistrate.

Zhao Yu listened to Chen Deng reading aloud his many faults in the Huangtang, thinking that at this time in Xuzhou, the Legalists were rampant. The most famous cruel officials were Pengcheng Gongcao Man Chong and Langya Gongcao Mao Jie. Countless clan leaders and officials had fallen at their hands.

Prime ministers and commanders-in-chief who held great power in other counties and kingdoms, such as Xiao Jian, Xue Li, Zuo Rong, Zhang Kai, Cao Bao and others, were either dismissed or imprisoned. Even worse was the case, where Xia Pi Prime Minister Zuo Rong was captured and killed in a Buddhist temple by the cavalry led by Liu Shijun in a lightning speed.

When Zhao Yu heard that almost all of these people had a bad end, he was mentally prepared to be imprisoned by Lord Xuande. After all, he could not resist.

Li Dian and Gao Shun of Yanzhou took control of the county troops as soon as they arrived, and the soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp were also brave and good at fighting, and they stationed troops in the city and watched covetously.

Previously, some rebellious tyrants had secretly written to him, asking him to join forces to capture Guangling County. Zhao Yu thought about it all night and couldn't sleep. Finally, he handed the letter to Li Dian the next day.

I still remember that Li Mancheng smiled at him and bowed to him, saying, "Sir, please stop before it's too late."

He couldn't help but shudder when he heard this. He didn't expect that his every move was being watched by others. If he didn't report the letter, he would be held accountable and killed.

After Li Dian left the mansion, Zhao Yu's wife came in from the side door. Seeing him stand up on trembling legs, she hurried forward to steady him and asked, "Why are you so in awe of this man?"

Zhao Yu's knuckles turned white from clenching his fists, and he said in a trembling voice, "I...I almost got my whole family killed last night. I almost replied to the traitor's letter."

When Zhao Yu's wife heard this, her scalp tingled, because the person who handed in the letter was her brother.

Was it his brother who set up a spy, or was it his brother's close confidant who was bribed to report the matter?

When the couple thought about it carefully, they were terrified even in the daytime.

This elaborate trap would not be completed in a short time. Lord Xuande must have known how many powerful families would rebel and had placed people everywhere in advance.

Zhao Yu suddenly thought of the anti-Liu manifesto that Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, had sent to various places. It said in the manifesto: Liu Xuande of Zhuo County is good at secretly raising assassins... The knights-errant from all over the country vied to attach themselves to him.

Now that I think about it, Liu Gongshan was indeed foresighted, as Lord Xuande had even bribed people to come to his house.

Chen Deng noticed from the corner of his eye that Zhao Yu looked increasingly dejected, so he announced to everyone that Zhao Yu would be transferred to be the magistrate of Hailing County.

Zhao Yu was awakened immediately, tensed his body, and tremblingly bowed and said: "I thank Lord Xuande for his kindness, and I will definitely live up to your trust."

He was the one who received the lightest punishment among the officials who were questioned in Xuzhou, and he might be able to become a prefect again in the future.

Zhao Yu expressed his gratitude sincerely and earnestly.

Without counterexamples to compare with, I wouldn’t know how fortunate I am at this moment.

(End of this chapter)