Thief Emperor

Chapter 106: Fighting Thieves with Thieves
The Gu family was very efficient, and on the next day they began to organize fundraising.

While Li Yun was still resting in the inn, he was approached by the runners from the Shidai County Office. After seeing Li Yun, the two runners bowed their heads and asked politely, "Are you Li Dutou from Qingyang?"

Although Li Yun had been to Shidai and had "joint actions" with the officials of Shidai, the only people who actually communicated with him on that day were the officials of Shidai, such as Guo Dianshi and others.

And those people who were familiar with him had already gone on a long journey.

Um...never coming back.

Therefore, these yamen runners did not recognize Li Yun.

Li Dutou looked at the two men and said with a smile, "You Shidai are well-informed. I have only been in Shidai County for a day or two and did not inform anyone in advance, but you knew I was here."

"Captain Li doesn't know anything."

The yamen runner smiled and said, "It was Master Gu who gathered some gentry today and said that he wanted to raise funds for Li Dutou to suppress the bandits. This alarmed the county magistrate, and the county magistrate asked us to find Li Dutou as soon as possible."

Li Yun was stunned. He looked around and whispered, "Brother, the county lord of your county is not..."

Shidai has been in a state of chaos in the past year or two.

The previous county magistrate was killed by the rebellious Hexi bandits. The new county magistrate was stabbed by the Hexi bandits as soon as he took office. The concubine he brought with him blocked the knife and was stabbed to death on the spot.

He himself was also seriously injured. At least, I heard that Li Yun was seriously injured when he was in Qingyang.

The yamen runner coughed and said, "The old man, the county magistrate, was stabbed in the shoulder by the rebels. He has been resting for a month or two and is much better now."

Li Yun nodded and asked with a smile, "So you came to Guixian to see Li, right?"

"The county magistrate heard that Captain Li was going to suppress the bandits, so he wanted to meet Captain Li."

Li Yun nodded readily, turned around to look at Li Zheng, and said with a smile: "You and your brothers, wait here for me, I'm going to meet this guy from Shidai..."

He looked at the yamen runner with a questioning look, and the latter immediately understood and lowered his head and said, "The county magistrate's surname is Zhang..."

Li Yun then continued, "I'm going to see County Master Zhang."

Shidai County is not a big city. Li Yun followed the yamen runners from Shidai and soon arrived at the county government office. He met the magistrate of Shidai County in the back hall.

To Li Yun's surprise, the magistrate was very young and looked to be in his twenties.

At this age, it is very rare to be appointed as a county magistrate unless one is a son of an aristocratic family.

In fact, the aristocratic families do not think highly of the position of local magistrate.

Li Yun clasped his fists, bowed slightly, and said, "Qingyang Li Zhao, I pay my respects to the county lord."

Zhang Xianzun was shorter than Li Yun, with fair skin. Perhaps because of the previous injury, his face was pale. After seeing Li Yun, he forced a smile on his face: "Li... Captain Li, you're welcome."

"I've admired my name for a long time."

Li Yun quickly shook his head: "I don't deserve it."

County Magistrate Zhang motioned Li Yun to sit down and talk. After Li Yun sat down, County Magistrate Zhang had someone pour tea for Li Yun. Then he said, "Forgive me for being so rude. Captain Li, could you show me the document from Governor Cui to suppress the bandits?"

Li Yun directly took out the documents from the state from his arms. After reading them, County Master Zhang handed them back to Li Yun and forced a smile on his face: "In this world, banditry is rampant everywhere. Captain Li is brave enough to take up the banner of suppressing bandits and do practical things for the people. This county admires him very much."

He paused, coughed again, and said, "Shidai will fully cooperate with Captain Li in suppressing the bandits."

The last time he was assassinated, he was seriously injured. Although he was only injured in the shoulder, the assassin stabbed him in the heart, missing his chest by only two inches.

Therefore, until now, although he has saved his life, he has not yet recovered.

Originally, for an injury of this severity, the imperial court should have sent another official to take over Shidai and fill the vacancy after he recovered. However, after Zhang Xianzun regained consciousness, he wrote a letter to the imperial court, requesting to continue staying in Shidai.

It would take at least one or two months for the court to send new officials, so they simply agreed to his request.

This incident was widely spread in Shidai. People in Shidai County said that it was because this county magistrate Zhang was of humble origins and had spent a huge amount of money to be appointed as the county magistrate. They were afraid that he would not be able to get a real vacancy after recuperating for a few years.

After drinking a sip of tea, Zhang Xianzun looked up at Li Yun and said slowly: "But in Shidai County, compared to the bandits, there is another group of bandits who are more hateful and more harmful!"

Li Yun took a sip of tea and asked, "Is it the Hexi bandits?"

"good."

A blush appeared on Zhang Xianzun's pale face. He slammed the table hard, and his hands were shaking slightly, perhaps because of excitement.

"This county had just arrived in Shidai and had never had any contact with these rebels, but they suddenly attacked us. That day, that day..."

Zhang Xianzun said in a trembling voice: "If Qingping hadn't blocked the knife for me..."

He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "This county and these traitors will never reconcile!"

After being seriously injured in the assassination, the first thing Zhang Xiaoyu did after he regained consciousness was to write a letter to the court, requesting to continue staying in Shidai.

Outsiders thought he was obsessed with power, and some people even said that when Zhang Xianzun was assassinated, he pulled his concubine over to block the fatal knife. Few people knew that it was the concubine named Qingping who took the initiative to block the knife for him.

No one in Shidai County knew how many ups and downs the woman named Qingping and her husband Zhang Lang had experienced over the years.

It was also after that day that the still young Zhang Xianzun made up his mind to completely wipe out the Hexi bandits, even if not for the imperial court, to avenge his beloved woman!
After a long while, Zhang Xianzun calmed down. He took out a handkerchief from his arms with shaking hands, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and forced a smile to Li Yun: "I lost...I lost my composure."

Li Yun was also infected by his emotions. He carefully looked at the county magistrate, who should be only about 25 or 26 years old, and felt quite touched.

After coming out of Cangshan, he came into contact with many officials, from the county magistrate to the governor, and then to Mr. Pei who came from the court, and Gu Wenchuan.

These people in official circles rarely have such intense emotions. All their actions are based on their own interests, and they hide their emotions behind masks.

Even County Magistrate Xue was like this most of the time.

But the county magistrate in front of me is too emotional.

Li Yun sighed: "The girl named Qingping."

County Master Zhang lowered his head and drank his tea.

"If I hadn't married early, she would have been my wife."

After he exhaled a breath of foul air, he continued, "Since we recovered a little, our county has been tracking down the whereabouts of these Hexi bandits. Recently, we found that they were also hiding in the deep mountains within Shidai."

"Captain Li, the mountain bandits are only causing trouble on one side. These rebels are the key to the country and the biggest threat to the court. Captain Li, when you come to Shidai to suppress the bandits this time, you should focus on eliminating these rebels!"

Li Yun sighed and said, "Don't worry, County Master. As long as there is accurate information, I will do my best to wipe out these rebels and avenge Miss Qingping."

Perhaps these words hit the mark in County Master Zhang's heart. He stood up and bowed to Li Yun.

"Thank you, Mr. Li!"

………………

Five days later, at the Seven Tigers Village in Xianyu Mountain.

At this moment, this large village in Shidai has been taken down by Li Yun, his anti-theft team, some people from Shidai, and the "village militia" he brought with him.

In this battle, Li Yun's troops together had nearly a hundred people. In addition, the local militia were familiar with the mountain roads, and Li Dutou himself was in the lead, so the battle went relatively smoothly.

In total, it only took one day and one night to capture the Qihu Village.

At this moment, except for the twenty or so people who died in the battle, the rest of the people in Qihuzhai were already kneeling on the ground, tied up tightly.

Li Yun looked at the runners of Shidai and said with a smile: "Brothers, you can take these thieves back to Shidai to report. I will handle the rest."

These people from Shidai really didn't contribute much effort. Moreover, when the fight broke out, Li Yun, who was able to defeat ten people alone, performed too brilliantly. They didn't dare to say anything more. They could only return to Shidai with a few bandits to report.

Li Yun and others sat in the lobby of Qihuzhai. Li Yun sat in the main seat and looked at Zhou Liang who had brought people from Qingyang. He smiled and said, "Uncle San, what do you think should be done with the remaining people?"

Zhou Liang touched his chin and whispered, "It would be better to subdue them if possible. After all, you, the village chief, will have to suppress bandits in the entire Xuanzhou in the future, and you can't keep transferring people from Qingyang."

"And now, the village chief can use the government's name to support him..."

"That's what I mean too."

Li Yun said slowly: "Send the thieves to the government to report, and the others."

"It may be useful."

"This attempt will begin from Qihuzhai."

At this point, he slowly said, "Skinny Monkey, go and tie up those people and take them to the open space."

Li Zheng responded and quickly gathered the remaining bandits in the village in the open space of Qihu Village. Li Yun, dressed in a black robe, walked in front of everyone with his hands behind his back. After a quick glance, he slowly said, "Do you know what a crime it is to be a bandit?"

"Those who were taken away might be sent to the front on the battlefield if they are lucky."

"If you are unlucky, you will be beheaded immediately."

Li Dadutou said righteously, "You all will end up like this!"

"But now, the imperial court wants to suppress bandits and is short of manpower!"

"Captain Bendu, I'll give you a chance to mend your ways!"

Li Dutou was full of energy.

"Either, follow Bendutou and attack other strongholds, or!"

"Throw him into jail and wait for your punishment!"

(End of this chapter)