A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 121 Five Beheadings
The dusk is falling,

"Brother, I'm going back," said the five-year-old doorpost.

The seven-year-old Menshuan shook his head. "Ah Lang loves Zhaocai the most. If I can't find Zhaocai, how can I go back with the face?"

"Lihua might have gone back on her own."

"Yes, then I'll go home and look for it."

The two brothers, one holding two pots of potato seedlings, the other holding two pots of onion seedlings, left the thatched cottage. Men Shuan also carried a willow basket filled with a tabby cat fortune.
As a result, at the gate of Feng's manor, there were too many people, pushing and shoving, and someone lifted the lid of the basket to look, and the catfish ran out.

The two brothers chased after him.
After chasing the cat, it disappeared.

The two of them kept searching.
"It's getting dark, and my mother can't find me. She's going to be anxious." said Menzhu.

"I'll go home and have a look. If I can't find anything to attract wealth, I'll go back to find my mother." Mensuan said.

Xiuzhi was looking for the two brothers. She went back to Caotang first, but couldn't find them after searching around. She then searched all over Luojiabao Village, went to Guozhuang, and then returned to Fengjiabao.

After searching around for a while and still not seeing anyone, and seeing that it was getting dark, she became even more anxious and ran to the gate of Feng's South Garden to see if the gatekeepers had seen her son. When they said they hadn't seen him, she turned around and went looking again.

At dusk,
A Qiang cavalry scout team moved towards Luojiabao.
They went up the He River.

As Xiuzhi was going downhill from Guozhuang to Luojiawan Bridge, she ran into this Qiang cavalry scout team.
Her face turned pale instantly and she ran away, but the Qiang cavalry on the opposite side had already seen her, whistled, and rushed over on horseback.

Xiuzhi hadn't run a few steps when she felt herself lifted into the air and someone grabbed her from behind.
Pressed down on the horse's back.

She struggled and screamed, but it was no use. The Qiang cavalry laughed.

The Qiang cavalry behind also surrounded her and commented on Xiuzhi.

Since being brought back to Luojiabao from Sanqiao by Li Yi, Xiuzhi has had a rare period of stable and well-fed life. On the one hand, Li Yi also took her and her son to see a doctor and dewormed them. The work in Caotang was not hard, but some easy work, and they had three meals a day.
The child was also treated well by Alang.

Xiuzhi was only in her twenties. She was no longer displaced and no longer worried day and night. She had grown better, her skin gradually became rosy, her hair was not so dry, and she even had some flesh on her body and became plumper. Her clothes were also clean and tidy.

The Qiang cavalry looked at this clean and plump woman with shining eyes.

I want to execute the law on the spot.

He reached out and pulled Xiuzhi's clothes.
Suddenly, there was a sound of arrows flying.
A Qiang cavalryman who was watching the excitement was shot in the neck with an arrow. He opened his eyes wide and wanted to say something, but blood was gushing out. He grumbled a few times and fell off his horse.
It landed with a thud.
The Qiang cavalry scout team was shocked.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh,
Three more arrows were shot almost simultaneously.
Three more Qiang cavalrymen were shot by arrows.

Two people were shot dead on the spot and one was injured.

"There's an ambush," a Qiang cavalryman shouted.

The Qiang cavalry who caught Xiuzhi didn't care about being happy, and hurriedly lowered their heads to urge their horses to run away.

Behind him, there were continuous sounds of arrows breaking through the air.
quickly,

The remaining Qiang cavalry rushed across Luojia Bridge and ran to the other side.
In a short while, half of their ten-man squad were killed, and two of the five people who ran across the bridge were injured.

Standing on the other side of the bridge, they looked at the other side of the bridge in shock.

Still no one was seen,
Silent,

Several people seemed to have seen a ghost.
But I didn't have the courage to go over and find out.
"withdraw,"

Without caring about the bodies of their companions or even their horses, the five of them turned around and ran away.

When they ran away,

Four figures emerged from the darkness.
He was also a Qiang, with his legs tied up, a felt cape on his body, a felt hat on his head, and a bow in his hand.

But they were Li Yi's four great Vajras, Li Cunxiao and his four companions.

The four of them came to the north bridge head,
The usually bustling thatched hut at the bridgehead is still there.
But there were no customers at this time, only five fallen bodies and the warhorse left beside its owner.

Li Cunxiao stepped forward with his knife, first stabbed each man in the chest, then called on his companions to cut off the five heads.
Their movements were skillful and natural, without any discomfort.

After cutting off the heads, continue searching for spoils.

Bows, arrows, knives, even their clothes and armor were stripped off, even the boots on their feet were not spared.

All hung on their war horses,
"Walk,"

Li Cunxiao did not look at the five naked headless corpses again, and was about to lead his horse back to exchange for his freedom.

He raised his hand for silence.

"There's someone in that room over there."

Four people surrounded and touched the past,

When the Menshu brothers came out of the gate, they saw a bow pointed at them.

"Cun, Cun," Menshuan couldn't tell which one of Alang's four Qiang slaves this was, they all seemed to look the same.

"Keep filial piety,"

Li Cunxiao looked at the two brothers, each holding two clay pots, and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"We lost Alang's tabby cat Zhaocai and came back to look for it,"

Menzhu said from the side: "I seemed to hear my mother's voice just now. Did you see my mother?"

Li Cunxiao naturally saw it,
But I hesitated and didn't tell the two brothers.

"Come with me,"

The four men took the two brothers, led five horses, and returned to the gate of Feng's South Garden with the heads and spoils.

Their appearance caused the servants above to panic.

After confirming that it was Li Yi's servant, he did not dare to open the door and quickly sent someone to invite Li Yi over.

Li Yi came to the top of the wall and was a little surprised to see the four people and the two Mensuan brothers.

Li Cunxiao pointed at the horse behind him, then raised two heads.

"Rebel Qiang, head, freedom."

Li Yi took a long breath.
These four great warriors are truly fierce. They were sent on patrol and reconnaissance missions, yet they managed to kill the enemy. "Open the door."

The gate of the manor opened, several people came in, and the servant quickly closed the door.

Li Yi used the twilight to illuminate the figures.

There was no wound or blood on the four of them.
But those five war horses and five sets of armor and equipment are correct.

Even those five heads, if you look closely, can be seen as Qiang people. Not only do their faces look different, but their hair is also styled differently.

"Hurry up and prepare a meal for our four brave men and give them a good reward."

Li Yi patted Cunxiao happily, "Tell me what happened. Where did you find these two bastards? Have you seen their mother?"

"Does exchanging heads for freedom count?" Li Cunxiao asked.

"Four heads in exchange for your freedom. I'll give you contracts and take you to the government office to register for your release.

And I said that I will ask for credit and reward for you, and I will keep my word.

I just told you that if you kill one enemy, you will be rewarded with a cow. For every extra head you take, I will give you another cow. I keep my word."

Li Cunxiao looked towards Li Cunli,

They couldn't fully understand such a long speech, so Cunli helped translate it.

Li Cunxiao and the others were very happy, "Thank you, Alang,"

The noodle soup was cooked and served. The four of them wolfed it down and enjoyed it very much.

Li Yi asked the Menshuan brothers to eat together. Seeing that the brothers were still holding two bowls of potatoes and two bowls of onions, he didn't say much to the brothers.

"Su Jun, please keep an eye on these two children and don't lose them again."

"Where is Xiuzhi?" Ji asked.

"I'll tell you later."

After Li Cunxiao and the other three had eaten their fill, Li Yi pointed at the five sets of armor they had recaptured and said, "Each of you pick one and put it on. This will give you more protection when you fight later."

Cunxiao spoke Qiang dialect to Cunli, using gestures to communicate, and Cunli could roughly understand what he was saying.

"Alang, he said Xiuzhi was taken away by Qiang bandits. At that time, they were at the bridgehead of Luojiabao. They attacked and killed five of the ten Qiang scouts, and injured two.
They didn’t pursue.”

Li Yi did not blame Li Cunxiao and his four companions for not chasing them. The enemy had armor, bows, arrows, spears, etc., which were also better. Although Cunxiao and his four companions were elite soldiers before, they only had simple equipment such as the security group's hunting bows, red tassel spears, and Shedao.
If it weren't for an ambush or a sneak attack, there wouldn't be much chance of winning in a head-on fight.

Unexpectedly, Xiuzhi fell into the hands of the enemy.

This poor woman,

When they first met at Sanqiao Market, she was selling herself with her two children in exchange for a coffin to bury her husband.

Good people have become pariahs.

Meeting him was a blessing in disguise. After a few days of peace, I fell into the hands of rebel soldiers.

If a young woman falls into the hands of bandits, generally speaking, she has little chance of survival.

Looking at those suits of armor,
Li Yi hesitated.

"Cunxiao, do you think the five of us, wearing these five sets of Qiang armor, can catch up to those five people?"

"They may have returned to the Qiang bandits."

"Give it a try. I didn't say we were going to break into the enemy camp at night."

"The four of us can go," Li Cunxiao patted his chest, but he made another request, "One head and one cow, does that still count?"

“Of course, if you can kill more enemies, I will reward you with a cow for each head, and I will also ask the court for your merit and reward.

Where's the warhorse, where's the armor?"

"We will also ask the court for rewards for these, and we will not treat them unfairly."

To show his sincerity, Li Yi gave each of the four of them a large ingot of gold.

"Each of you will receive three ounces of gold, worth twenty-four thousand coins, which can be exchanged for six and a half cows. This will be considered my advance reward to you."

After Li Cunxiao took it, he put it in his mouth and took a bite. Seeing the clear teeth marks, he smiled with great satisfaction.

"Wait for our good news."

After the four of them took a short rest,
He replaced the looted Qiang cavalry scout equipment, changed his armor, put on a cloak, and it was as if he had changed.

The four set out again.

Disappeared in the vast night,
Several village chiefs surrounded the five Qiang cavalry heads, expressing their astonishment.

"Those four Qiang slaves of yours are truly fierce."

"They are just a little greedy and money-hungry. They are your slaves, and it is their duty to obey your orders. But they want both freedom and money. They are like dogs that can never be tamed."

Li Yi interrupted the discussion of the village chiefs and said, "Loyalty and bravery deserve to be rewarded, and they should be rewarded. Otherwise, who would be willing to risk their lives for them? At this time, I am very pleased to have four such subordinates."

Dong Xiucai nodded and said: "This reward cannot be paid by Wuyi alone, we will pay it together later."

There were also some young sons of wealthy families who felt that the Qiang bandits were nothing special. If they took their servants with them and brought bows and arrows with them, they might be able to hunt down a few of them.

As a result, their thoughts were immediately suppressed by their parents.

after dark,
Liu Heizi came back and didn't find Xiuzhi. Li Yi told him the situation privately.

"There's one set of armor left. Put it on and don't go out again. Just help guard the manor."

I hope his four great warriors can bring good news again, and hope for a miracle.

(End of this chapter)