Thief Emperor

Chapter 178: Face-to-face attack!

The next day, Li Yun, Li Zheng, Chen Da and other former members of the Qingyang County Anti-Theft Team packed up their things, each rode a horse, and prepared to rush back to Qingyang to deal with Qingyang's affairs.

Qingyang is the hometown of Li Yun and Li Zheng, and also their original base. Moreover, they also have to give an explanation to Magistrate Xue, so they have to go back no matter what.

When the group arrived at the gate of Yuezhou City, Li Yun turned around, looked in one direction, and said, "Thin monkey, look."

Li Zheng quickly followed Li Yun's gaze and saw two women being escorted by a group of soldiers towards the city. One of the women had a bulging belly, while the other was not yet pregnant, but they should both be pregnant.

Li Zheng was startled and whispered: "It was that day when I let go..."

Li Yun waved his hand, signaling him not to continue.

Li Zheng took a deep breath and looked at the group of excited officials around the two women. After a moment of silence, he said, "Brother, what will happen to these two women?"

"will die."

Li Yun said slowly: "Plotting against the government is a grave crime for the imperial court. Qiu Dian will definitely be exterminated along with his entire clan. It will be difficult for these two women to survive."

Li Zheng clenched his fist.

“But they didn’t do anything wrong.”

Both of them were women from Yuezhou. The government first forced Qiu Dian to rebel, and then failed to defend the city, allowing the rebels to break into the city. The two of them were forced to give themselves to Qiu Dian.

From beginning to end, the two women had no choice.

As Li Zheng said, they did nothing wrong.

But that's the way the world is. Sometimes you haven't done anything wrong, but you will still be sentenced as an unforgivable criminal.

Seeing Li Zheng in a daze, Li Yun patted his shoulder and said softly: "Maybe, they won't necessarily die."

"However, now that they have become the credit of certain people, they will definitely be escorted to the capital. As for the future fate of these two people."

Li Yun had a blank expression on his face: "Neither you nor I can ask about this now."

Li Zheng looked up at Li Yun and asked, "What about the future?"

Li Yun smiled.

He patted Li Zheng on the shoulder and whispered, "Once we return to Yuezhou from Qingyang and General Su's army leaves, we will have the final say here."

"From now on, I can ask about any injustice in Yuezhou."

If Li Yun returns to Yuezhou again, it means that his position as Sima of Yuezhou has been confirmed. When the imperial army leaves, he, Li Yun, will have the final say here.

What made Li Yun even more ambitious was that he had looked at the map of Yuezhou in detail during this period. Yuezhou...

It's by the sea!

Seeing that Li Zheng was still in a daze, Li Yun patted his shoulder and reminded him, "Let's go."

Everyone was born as a bandit, so naturally they wouldn't be fussy, let alone be a saint. Li Zheng immediately came to his senses, took a deep breath, and said, "Let's go!"

Everyone rode horses and rushed back to Qingyang along the official road. Almost all of them were from Qingyang and had not been back for several months, almost half a year. They were all homesick, and except for eating and sleeping, they basically spent the rest of their time on the road.

It was almost dusk on the third day when the group returned to Qingyang County. After entering the county town, Li Yun shouted "disband", and the members of the anti-theft team responded with a smile and then dispersed back home.

Li Yun looked at Li Zheng and said with a smile: "Whose family is that girl from? Do you want me to ask for you?"

Li Zheng quickly shook his head: "I don't even know them, so please stop interfering. I will handle this myself."

Li Yun smiled and nodded, saying, "Then go back to our place and rest for a while."

At this point, Li Yun touched his chin and said thoughtfully: "Shouhou, do you think I should go to Lingyang Mountain, or let Lao Jiu come to Qingyang to see me?"

"Let Lao Jiu come over first."

Li Zheng replied, "After we have discussed what to do, you can go to Lingyang Mountain again, second brother."

Li Yun nodded and was about to speak when Li Zheng said, "I'll run errands tomorrow."

"That's not necessary."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Didn't Meng Hai come back with us? This little guy is quite clever. Let him run errands from now on. You can take a break."

Li Zheng was stunned for a moment, then nodded and sighed: "I have always been the one running errands for my second brother, and I almost forgot about him."

Meng Hai is only fourteen or fifteen years old this year, five or six years younger than Li Yun and Li Zheng. In the eyes of the two brothers, he is still a child.

However, Meng Hai is already the oldest among the young men in Hexi.

After him, as those young men from Hexi grow up, Li Yun will have more useful people under his command.

The two brothers discussed briefly, and Li Yun stretched his waist and said, "Let's do this. You take Meng Hai back to your residence first. Remember to bring him something delicious to eat in the evening. I will go to the county government to find County Master Xue and explain the situation to him."

Hearing what Li Yun said, Li Zheng squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "I'm afraid that Second Brother is not just going to look for Master Xue, right?"

"It's almost dark." Li Yun said unhappily, "Who else should I go to if not County Master Xue?"

Seeing that Li Yun was about to kick him again, the skinny monkey quickly twisted his waist and dodged the kick, shouting strangely: "Xiao Meng, let's go!"

Meng Hai responded and hurriedly followed Li Zheng. While looking around the county town which was very unfamiliar to him, he followed Li Zheng closely, not daring to fall behind at all.

Li Yun watched the two people's backs gradually walking away, and a smile appeared on his face.

Qingyang County is not very big, with only a few streets in total. Li Yun soon arrived at the gate of the county government.

Although he had not been in Qingyang for several months, the yamen runners in Qingyang still recognized him. After seeing Li Yun, they all forced smiles and even showed some surprise.

"The heads are back."

"Boss, when did you come back? Is the war over?"

Li Yun glanced at these people and said with a smile: "The fight is almost over."

"Not only me, Li Zheng, Chen Da and Huang Yong are all back. Tomorrow you can call the brothers from the county government. Every one of them will be welcome. I will treat you at Huifulou."

Mr. Li is very generous.

"all come!"

At this moment, five or six yamen runners had gathered beside Li Yun, and they all cheered loudly when they heard the words. Li Yun pushed the crowd aside and said with a smile: "Brothers, I will go to see the county lord first, and we will talk later."

This was serious business, and the other yamen runners did not dare to stop them. They quickly made way and invited Li Yun in. Some even took the initiative to run to the back yamen to report to Li Yun.

A moment later, Li Yun sat in Mr. Xue's study.

Mr. Xue was annotating a book, and now he put down his brush. He looked up at Li Yun for a while, and then said with some emotion: "I heard about your meritorious service on the front line. It was very impressive."

"I heard that you are now a general in General Su's army?"

"Yes."

In front of acquaintances, Li Yun was much more relaxed and said with a smile: "General Su made me a captain in the army. Now, he is going to take me to the Central Plains to continue suppressing the rebellion. When I get to the Central Plains, he will promote me to a general."

Mr. Xue lowered his head to drink tea, and suddenly smiled: "The thief has made progress."

Hearing the word "thief leader", Li Yun was stunned and looked up at County Magistrate Xue. County Magistrate Xue was also looking at him at this moment. Their eyes met, but no one spoke.

In the end, Li Yun pretended not to hear these two words and forced a smile on his face: "But I can't bear to leave the county lord and our Jiangnan Road, so I rejected General Su. Now, I'm going back to Qingyang to see the county lord."

Magistrate Xue frowned when he heard this. He looked at Li Yun and said, "Really?"

"of course it's true."

Li Yun said with a smile: "How can this be false?"

Master Xue's face turned red. After a long while, he put down his teacup and sighed, "Forget it. The army is very dangerous. It would be good for you not to go."

Seeing the old man sighing, Li Yun smiled and said, "However, the general is about to leave Yuezhou, but the remnants of the rebels in Yuezhou have not been cleared, so the general has already written a letter to recommend me to be the Sima of Yuezhou."

Mr. Li was very proud: "The general said that the imperial court's appointment document will be issued before the end of the year. County Master, I don't know much about official positions in the officialdom. What do you think... is the rank of this Yuezhou Sima?"

Mr. Xue's face immediately darkened.

He was a county magistrate of the seventh rank, and the Sima of Yuezhou was neither more nor less, which was exactly a sixth rank military position!
"you…"

Mr. Xue slammed the table fiercely and cursed, "Asshole, asshole!"

Li Yun laughed and said, "Don't be angry, County Master. You'll get sick from being angry. I'm afraid Miss Xue will cause trouble for me."

Seeing Li Yun mention his daughter, Magistrate Xue's expression eased a little, and he snorted, "You are lucky, Qiu the thief's rebellion unexpectedly gave you a chance to advance."

Although he said so, Mr. Xue felt quite emotional in his heart.

He struggled in the officialdom for so many years, but in the end, he was not as successful as Li Yun in suppressing the rebellion over the past six months.

Who can I talk to to explain this?

but…

He was also a little worried.

Official positions have become worthless...which is one of the manifestations of the end of a dynasty.

Thinking of this, Master Xue looked at Li Yun and said calmly: "You can stay in the county government office today. There is a woman in the back office who has been waiting for you for several months."

Li Yun naturally didn't expect that the woman Mr. Xue was talking about was not Miss Xue, so he nodded happily and said with a smile: "Okay."

"I've wanted to come back to see her for a long time."

(End of this chapter)