Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

It has to be said that Liu Bang was a natural fit for playing the role of a street ruffian, or rather, it was a natural performance of his own personality.

He stood in the alley, shrugged, hands on hips, and raised his eyebrows. His roguish and unruly demeanor was natural, as if he were just dangling a blade of grass in his mouth. At first glance, he seemed to be just like any other thug.

These local thugs, already less wary of "one of their own," were now completely swayed by Liu Bang's passionate and eloquent accusations.

Everyone secretly sighed, thinking how pitiful these three brothers were; even after working as thugs and scoundrels, they still got scammed.

The look in their eyes as they looked at Xiao He and Cao Can had completely transformed from the smugness of being able to make a quick buck into naked disgust and contempt.

The leader of the local thugs, in particular, squinted his triangular eyes and looked the two men up and down in their neat long robes. It was hard to tell whether his eyes held more contempt or envy and sourness.

He curled his lip in a vicious sneer and spat heavily on the ground: "Pah! I knew those two pretty boys were no good all along. Dressed all prim and proper, what are they pretending for? Two cowards, what a bunch of trash!"

Xiao He stood there expressionless, not even lifting his eyelids, while Cao Can's lips twitched, but he stubbornly kept quiet.

"Brother, brother!" The henchman beside him quickly tugged at his sleeve, leaned closer, and whispered a reminder, "They're the younger brothers of the magistrate's favorite concubine. We shouldn't offend them too much, should we?"

I thought I had lowered my voice as much as possible, but I still couldn't avoid Xiao He's ears.

Xiao He already understood what Liu Bang was up to. He suddenly raised his eyelids, adopted the posture of a fox borrowing the tiger's might, and spoke with feigned anger:

"You utter such foul language and insults to me so wantonly. Aren't you afraid I'll immediately send a message to the city to inform my elder sister and have her give her a good talking to the magistrate?"

Upon hearing this, the thug leader froze, his arrogant expression instantly turning tense. His previous arrogance vanished, and the panic in his eyes became impossible to hide.

The pillow talk from the county magistrate was no joke to someone like him.

But in front of his men, he wasn't about to lose face for his local tyrant. His eyes darted around, and he immediately straightened his back, put his arm around Liu Bang's shoulder, and deliberately raised his voice to bluff, while also subtly finding a shield for himself:

"What are you afraid of! Didn't you hear my two brothers cursing too? He's just a concubine's brother, not his wife's brother. Do you think you, as the county magistrate, would acknowledge these two poor, destitute relatives?"

He spoke with great bravado, but in reality, he had no confidence whatsoever. He could only secretly glance at Liu Bang with a hint of probing.

Liu Bang, being extremely astute, immediately understood the ruffian's intentions. Seeing Xiao He's cooperative performance, he promptly and tacitly followed suit:

"That's right, two swindlers. Others might not know, but do you think I haven't investigated you after suffering a loss in secret?!"

He glanced at Xiao He with disdain, "You two cowards, you don't dare to send your sister to the magistrate to make a scene just because you were scolded, do you? Otherwise, what will you do when she offends the magistrate and falls out of favor!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao He immediately understood and followed Liu Bang's lead, abruptly turning his head away, feigning guilt and a hint of unease, his tone carrying a strained yet forceful tone:

"Tch, you don't need to worry about it! My sister is doing just fine in the magistrate's office. You've ruined her good time for no reason. This isn't over yet, we'll see!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly grabbed Cao Can, who was staring at him in a daze, turned around and left. His steps were fast and hurried, and he looked exactly like someone who was fleeing in a guilty conscience.

This coordinated performance, so well-acted, completely dispelled the last shred of hesitation the thug had.

Watching the two men flee in panic, he felt a sudden sense of relief, completely forgetting that he was the one who had stopped and threatened them. His embrace of Liu Bang even seemed more genuine as he patted him on the shoulder.

"Good brother, I really owe you a lot for pointing this out today! Otherwise, I would have been completely fooled by those two swindling cowards! You're a true friend!"

He tucked the short stick behind his back, raised his hand and waved it at his henchmen behind him, declaring with boundless pride:

"From now on, when you guys walk around this area, just mention my name, Lai Laoliu, and I'll protect you all! Come on, let's go for a drink and have a good chat!"

"Alright, alright, thank you for your generosity, Sixth Brother. Then I won't stand on ceremony. Let's drink!" Liu Bang replied with a beaming smile.

The two men put their arms around each other's shoulders and had only taken a few steps when Lai Laoliu suddenly stopped.

As if suddenly remembering something, he reached down to his lower back, pulled out the money pouch he had just taken from Xiao He, casually weighed it in his palm, his fingertips rubbing the edge of the pouch, a hint of hesitation flashing across his face.

He was reluctant to part with the money he had just received, fearing that he would lose face by returning it in front of his underlings. Yet, he was also afraid that keeping the money would only bring trouble upon himself if those two "cowards" retaliated against him later.

He glanced at the backs of Xiao He and the other man who hadn't gone far, then looked at Liu Bang, and finally gritted his teeth and turned around.

"Hey—stand up!"

Xiao He paused slightly, but deliberately did not turn around. Cao Can's sleeve twitched silently as he became on guard.

Liu Bang's eyes suddenly sharpened, as if Lai Laoliu had seen through some flaw. He subtly took a half step to the side, secretly giving Fan Kuai a warning look, while one hand quietly rested on his waist, ready to draw his dagger at any moment.

Fan Kuai immediately understood, took half a step forward, his fists clenched silently, his whole body tense, ready to strike.

Lai Laoliu didn't even look at them. As if throwing away a hot potato, he slapped the money bag at Xiao He's feet.

The bag fell to the ground with a dull thud, and the copper coins rattled inside.

"Take it! Take it! I find it dirty!" He retorted, his neck stiff with disdain, as if he hadn't been the one snatching the money pouch at all. "I don't care about money earned through women's connections!"

After saying this to save face, he raised his chin, put his arm around Liu Bang's shoulder again, and strode out of the alley as if nothing had happened.

Liu Bang quickly echoed and followed suit, his face plastered with a smile, but inwardly he was cursing and feeling incredibly frustrated.

This kind of cowardly person who only cares about the weak and fears the strong used to be someone who would feel ashamed to even carry his shoes, but now he has to put on a smiling face and call him Sixth Brother.

If it weren't for the fact that you still have some use to me, Liu Bang looked at Lai Laoliu and gritted his teeth in his heart—I'll chop you into six pieces sooner or later!

The group of thugs behind him exchanged glances, not daring to utter a word. They quickly put away their wooden sticks, lowered their heads, and followed closely behind.

Once the group had gone far away and the alley had become completely quiet, Xiao He slowly stepped forward, bent down to pick up the money bag from the ground, casually brushed off the dust, and slowly put it into his pocket.

Cao Can hesitated before speaking, "Brother Xiao, what about us..."

Xiao He raised his hand to interrupt him, his expression calm and indifferent: "It seems that it is not safe for us to go out and investigate the clues. Let's turn back for now and wait for news from Liu Ji."

Cao Shen nodded slightly: "Very well."

It must be said that to get firsthand information about the lives of ordinary people, one ultimately has to rely on someone like Liu Bang to mingle among them, infiltrate their circles, and extract information from these thugs.

In the following days, Liu Bang, along with Lu Wan and Fan Kuai, spent his days with Lai Laoliu and his gang. These local ruffians, after drinking too much, became very talkative—splurging on details about which alleys had "business" at night, which docks had "goods" coming and going, and which officials came every few days to collect "tribute." These bits and pieces of information, when they came out while boasting, pieced together a chilling picture.

Liu Bang and his men sneaked back at night and discussed the matter with Xiao He and Cao Can. Several heads huddled together under the dim oil lamp, sorting out the fragmented information one by one and verifying each piece of evidence.

Xiao He stared at the paper covered with messy handwriting, remaining silent for a long time. Finally, he brought the paper close to the lamplight, watching it slowly curl, turn black, and turn into a clump of ash.

"Xiao Yuan?" Cao Can was taken aback.

"The plan has changed." Xiao He dusted off his hands and swept his gaze over the crowd with a deep look. "Investigate the treacherous officials instead. There are still a few relatively clean officials in Chen County."

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Before I knew it, it's reached 300 chapters, and exactly 800,000 words! Hooray! (❁´◡`❁)*✲ﾟ*

Thank you all for your continued support, love you all! (๑•ᴗ•๑)♡

I can change the cover again soon! Lately, there's probably been a lot of people hoarding books, so the sales are a bit bad. I'd really appreciate a 5-star review. Thank you everyone, please help me out! (∩ᵒ̴̶̷̤⌔ᵒ̴̶̷̤∩)