Top Scholar

Chapter 148 There really is one...

The common people were already filled with fear and anxiety, and You Muyou felt a chill run down his spine. Just then, he saw the gatekeeper guarding the east gate appear nearby, so he quickly called out to him.

Upon seeing that it was You Muyou, the city gatekeeper quickly bowed and scraped, saying, "Sir, you've also been alarmed?"

"What's going on?" You Muyou asked with a dark face.

"I don't know. This huge group of people just showed up out of nowhere. Before the brothers could even react, they were already inside the city," the city gatekeeper said helplessly.

"Why didn't you stop them?" You Muyou questioned.

"With only a dozen or so old, weak, sick, and disabled men under my command, do you think they dare to stop us?" the city gate official said with a bitter face. "It's the New Year, and nobody wants anything to happen to them."

"It's still the New Year, but if something happens, no one will have a good time!" You Muyou said irritably.

“Friend You, don’t be nervous, they’re not bad people.” At this moment, Scholar Cheng walked up to him, leaning on his cane. “They’re all like me, from Erlangtan.”

"What?" You Muyou asked incredulously, "You mean these are all members of the Su clan?"

"To be precise, they are all members of the Su family," said Scholar Cheng.

"Are they crazy? Are they going to rebel?" You Muyou exclaimed in shock.

"Why do you say that, Friend You?" Scholar Cheng said unhappily, "Shouldn't his family come to visit him if his horse is injured by the government?"

“Of course, but it’s enough for family members to come and visit. Is it necessary for the whole clan to come?” You Muyou said, becoming even more excited.

“These are all his family members,” said Cheng Xiucai.

"You have three hundred people in your family?" You Muyou's forehead veins throbbed.

Cheng Xiucai gave him a look that said, "You're so ignorant." He continued, "Friend You, don't you know that the founding emperor forbade military households from separating their families? The entire Su family is listed on the same household register."

"..." Upon hearing this, You Muyou paused, then said in a muffled voice, "But they can't all come at once, and with weapons at that..."

“We’re all family, it wouldn’t be right for anyone not to come, we have to come together.” Scholar Cheng argued, “They’ve crossed mountains and valleys to come to the county town from our place, there are wild beasts and wild animals on the way, wouldn’t it be suicide if they didn’t bring weapons? Besides, they’re not wearing armor, carrying shields or muskets, so they’re not violating any laws of the court.”

"Stop talking nonsense!" You Muyou, no longer caring about being polite, snapped, "Do you think I don't know what they're here for? Get them out of here right now, or if they cause trouble, even the master won't be able to protect you!"

"I don't like what you're saying, Mr. You," Cheng Xiucai said coldly. "Why should the government turn a blind eye to bandits killing and robbing? You all get so nervous when good people pick up weapons?!"

A probing question left the eloquent and capable You Muyou speechless. After a long while, he burst out laughing, "Well done! Today I've finally experienced firsthand the power of Luzhou's top lawyer."

"I don't think this is a compliment. I've spent my whole life teaching, just trying to avoid this title," Cheng Xiucai said calmly.

"Alright, I take back what I said. And please take the person away, brother." You Muyou naturally changed his form of address, proving that strength truly earns respect.

"They have both men and women, and they're not a real army. Relying on them to suppress bandits is a losing proposition; killing eight hundred enemies while losing a thousand of our own is too costly."

Before Cheng Xiucai could answer, another commotion erupted in the street. The city gatekeeper, shading his eyes with his hand, looked up and said in a tearful voice, "Mr. You, this time it really is an army..."

"..." You Muyou was numb. He turned his head stiffly and saw a fully armed regular army coming from the street corner.

These one or two hundred soldiers were fully armored, wearing standard studded cotton armor, iron-studded helmets, and leather boots; they were clearly the elite of the garrison.

The shield bearers carried long shields made of jujube wood and cowhide, and slung long red-tasseled spears. The musketeers had pouches of gunpowder and lead pellets hanging from their waists, and bronze-tubed muskets slung over their shoulders.

There were even twenty cavalrymen clad in fish-scale armor, their breastplates gleaming, with bows and arrows and sabers hanging from their saddles.

The leading officer was particularly striking with his scarlet helmet plume and the lion-shaped pattern cast on his shoulder. He sat upright on a large blue horse, his hand resting on his sword, looking truly majestic.

Even after entering the city, the musketeers and shield bearers remained in three horizontal columns, with the cavalry at the rear in groups of five, maintaining a distance for charging. This allowed them to be readily deployed into battle while simultaneously giving the impression of a larger force than they actually were.

You Muyou immediately recognized that the arrogant officer was none other than Commander Ma, who had given the old man the miraculous ointment...

"Holy crap, are they really going to take the county town?" After losing control of his facial expressions, You Muyou also completely lost control of his speech.

"Mr. You, is it enough for them to suppress the bandits?" Cheng Xiucai asked with a reserved expression.

"Well..." You Muyou was full of profanities and didn't know how to answer him politely.

"Master, please stop. If you keep talking, even the Embroidered Uniform Guard will be summoned..." The pageboy wished he could shut Mr. You's jinxed mouth.
At this moment, there was finally movement from the direction of the county government office. Magistrate Lu and Clerk Jiang, surrounded by three shifts of yamen runners, came to try to suppress the 'rioters'...

Upon seeing the well-dressed regular army, Magistrate Lu cursed under his breath at Clerk Jiang, "Didn't you say that armed mountain people were coming? Here you are, with muskets, armor, and shields. Are your mountain people so elite?"

"The report I received indicated that there were two or three hundred armed mountain people. How did they turn into government troops?" Jiang Dianshi was also completely baffled.

"You'll get me killed sooner or later, you bastard!" Magistrate Lu cursed again, but he was actually a little more at ease. At least the government troops were safer than the rioters, at least for him.

At this moment, You Muyou rushed over, sweating profusely and panting heavily, to report to him. Only then did Magistrate Lu understand what had happened…

"You don't even know who's come to your house? How can you be such a useless clerk?" He scolded Clerk Jiang again to regain his composure, then straightened his official hat and said in a deep voice, "Please invite Commander Ma over to speak."

"Yes." The squad leader accepted the order and left.

Before long, Commander Ma rode his tall horse through the twilight and appeared before Magistrate Lu.

"Hahaha, Magistrate Lu, we meet again!" Commander Ma's laughter sounded much more hearty than last time. "Have you finished the ointment I gave you?"

"How could it be so fast..." Magistrate Lu bowed helplessly and forced a smile, "What brings you here, Commander?"

"I received a report that several hundred mountain people, armed, were heading straight for the county town. To prevent a major disaster, I immediately led my troops to try and intercept them. But they moved too fast; damn it, we couldn't catch them at all," Commander Ma said, looking frustrated.

"We followed them all the way into the county town, but then we lost them again."

After saying this, he asked the people in the county in a rough voice, "Have you seen any trace of them?"

"Oh, so Commander Lu is here to help." Magistrate Lu and You Muyou both breathed a sigh of relief. Inwardly, however, they cursed, "It's such a long way, and they have both men and women. If they really wanted to stop them, surely they could have?"
Even a double act wouldn't be sung like that; the acting is so clumsy!

But he still had to say thank you verbally. You Muyou pointed to the two inns in the distance and said, "They've all taken refuge in 'Tongfu' and 'Youjian'."
"Excellent! Surround them!" Commander Ma gave the order, and his soldiers surrounded the two inns and blocked the main street in front of them as well.

The problem is that this is Dongmen Street, and Hejiang County is built against the mountain, so this is the only convenient city gate for entering and exiting...

Commander Ma then ordered, "Commander Zhou, go and ask those guys what they're up to!"

"Yes!" Commander Zhou then rode his horse to the front of the inn and asked in a serious tone.

Magistrate Lu knew they were putting on an act, but he could only let them continue. He pulled Commander Ma aside and, barely suppressing his anger, said, "Old Ma, what are you doing? If this gets out of hand, neither of us will escape unscathed!"

"..." Upon hearing this, Commander Ma's face darkened, and he said in a muffled voice, "I'm not happy with what Magistrate Lu said! I came here to help you out of kindness. If it were someone else, I wouldn't bother with them!"

Magistrate Lu thought to himself, "If it were anyone else, you would never dare to pull this stunt." But on the surface, he still had to force a smile and say, "Brother Ma, you're really kind. If you had come by yourself, I would have definitely opened the main gate to welcome you and insisted on keeping you for the New Year. But you brought so many soldiers, all fully armed, which will make the people uneasy, and if word gets out, the consequences will be unpredictable."

"The journey is so dangerous, I must bring plenty of guards, right?" Commander Ma said, "Didn't I make arrangements for you when you came to inspect our area back then?"

“Indeed.” Magistrate Lu nodded. At that time, Li, the centurion of Tucheng, escorted him with his troops the whole way.

“Besides, those mountain people number three hundred or so, and they’re all armed! If I bring fewer men, can I control them?” Commander Ma continued, arguing, “What if the negotiations break down and they beat us up?”

"Is that so..." Magistrate Lu nodded, feeling a surge of disgust. Was this guy trying to fool a fool? He decided to be blunt:

"Old Ma, Brother Ma! Let's be frank, did you come here because of the Erlang wine?"

"Absolutely not, I just came to help! I haven't heard anything about what happened to Erlangjiu!" Commander Ma displayed the cunning and shamelessness of a military officer dealing with a civil official to the fullest. He looked hurt as he said:

"I didn't expect that Magistrate Lu would be just like those civil officials, harboring such deep prejudice against us military men. Fine, since you don't appreciate it, we'll head back now."

He was about to give the order to sound the retreat.

"No, no, please don't..." Magistrate Lu quickly stopped him.

"Look at you, you complain about me as soon as you see me, but you won't let me leave." Commander Ma looked annoyed, but he felt better than if he had taken a betel nut to soothe his stomach.

The humiliation they suffered in Taiping Town has now been paid back tenfold.

Magistrate Lu thought to himself, "Isn't that obvious?" Of course, he hoped that Commander Ma would leave as soon as possible, but he had to take those mountain people with him!
If Commander Ma only takes his soldiers with him, what will happen if the three hundred mountain people rebel?
According to the regulations of the imperial court, the county magistrate could directly mobilize one hundred strongmen and fifty archers, which was less than half of the three hundred mountain people.

P.S. I haven't checked the next chapter yet.

(End of this chapter)