Thief Emperor

Chapter 4 Why didn’t you say it earlier!
Although he was not quite sure what kind of world this was, or which dynasty or generation it was, Li Yun could keenly sense from the performance of these yamen runners that this was not a peaceful and prosperous age.

The reason for this feeling is not because the yamen runners are extorting money from these villagers. After all, it is normal for the yamen runners to extort money.

The real reason is that these yamen runners... didn't even have the intention of destroying the Cangshan stronghold!

You know, the person who was arrested was not the daughter of a commoner, but the daughter of a county magistrate!

Although the county magistrate is only a relatively grassroots official among local officials, an official is an official. Logically speaking, he should be a god-like figure in the local area.

Even if the county's runners can't handle it, the provincial government can send troops, or find a higher-level local garrison to send troops to eliminate the bandits.

And judging by the behavior of those yamen runners just now, it seems... they are not planning to wipe out these bandits.

That is to say...

The grassroots of this country has lost, at least partially, the ability to maintain local law and order!
In a world like this, it only takes a little spark to fall into chaos.

It was after midnight that Li Yun jumped down from the tree. He had been on the tree for more than two hours and felt sore all over. Fortunately, he was in very good health. After stretching his muscles, he prepared to go back to the mountain.

As it stands now, the black-skinned people...or should I say the yamen runners, probably won't dare to go up the mountain in the short term.

After jumping off the big tree, the moonlight shone down. Li Yun glanced at the road up the mountain and prepared to return to the village first and then make a long-term plan.

After all, it is now basically certain that the village is safe in the short term, and since the world is not very peaceful, Li Yun also needs a place to settle down.

He was about to go back up the mountain, and just after taking two or three steps, he heard someone calling him from behind.

"Little pockmarked boy..."

Village leader Li suddenly turned around and saw a skinny old man with mostly white hair standing not far from the tree.

It was none other than the village chief of this small mountain village.

When Li Yun turned around, the village chief saw Li Yun's appearance clearly in the moonlight and said, "It's really you."

Li Yun took two steps back cautiously, but he vaguely felt that he knew this old man. After hesitating for a moment, he stepped forward and looked at him warily: "Father-in-law..."

The village chief glanced at him, shook his head and said, "You don't recognize the old man?"

"Your father is pockmarked, but he still calls the old man Third Uncle."

Li Yun frowned and was about to speak when he heard the old man continue, "Although your father has been a mountain bandit for so many years, he has never robbed the village at the foot of the mountain. During the famine years, he also borrowed food and other things from the village. Although he has gone astray, at least he has not forgotten his roots."

"you…"

The old man sighed and said, "Why don't you do something else? Go and rob the official's daughter? The leader just said that the county magistrate of Qingyang will spend all his family wealth to find someone in the state capital to wipe out your village."

Li Yun raised his eyebrows.

He lowered his head and thought for a while, then asked, "When did the old man find me in the tree?"

The skinny old man looked at him and said in a muffled voice, "Of course it was after those yamen runners left. If they had seen you when they were still there, would my son have to suffer that?"

Hearing him say this, the village chief Li heaved a sigh of relief and grinned, "My father-in-law is an honest man. I've made note of what happened today. After a while, I'll return all the money lost by the village today to you."

The old village chief was a little surprised and said, "Why do you speak so differently from the last time I saw you..."

Village Chief Li smiled and said, "Then let me put it another way."

"No matter how much money those black people took away, I will definitely return it to you!"

After saying that, he turned around and strode towards the mountain.

The old man looked at his departing back, sighed slightly, then turned and walked towards home.

The night wind blew through the big tree, and I could clearly see a sign hanging under the tree. On the sign were three crooked words written in extremely ugly handwriting.

Lijia Village.

………………

When we returned to the village, it was already dawn.

It might be because the great leader Li had accumulated great prestige. After he went down the mountain for a day and a night, no one in the village dared to approach his residence, and no one dared to approach his "new wife".

Li Yun suppressed his sleepiness, washed his face with a basin of water, and then pushed open the door of his room amid the woman's screams.

"What's the ghost's name?"

The great leader Li sat in his room with a big horse and a golden sword. He began to look carefully at the young wife he had robbed.

This woman looked only fifteen or sixteen years old and was only as tall as Li Yun's shoulders, but she had a well-proportioned figure, a fair complexion, and was very pretty.

Even though she is now lost in the mountain village, without makeup, it is difficult to conceal her beautiful face.

After staring for a while, Li Yun finally came to his senses when the woman screamed again.

He coughed to cover up his embarrassment and said, "Girl, can we... communicate?"

The woman glared at Li Yun, clenched her fists, and her whole body was shaking.

Half of her was fear, and the other half was anger. Moreover, she didn't know what the bandit in front of her meant by "communication".

But she still didn't speak. After a while, she gritted her teeth and lay directly on the simple bed, with her hands and feet spread out in a "big" shape, then closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth and said, "Beast, come here!"

Village Chief Li was speechless for a while.

Are women of this era... so open-minded?
He was wrong about this too.

At this time, the bride-to-be had been captured on the mountain for four days. After receiving the vicious threat of being stripped naked and thrown into Qingyang County if she committed suicide, she had lost the will to die.

If you don't die, you can only face reality.

She knew what she would face if she was caught in the mountain village, so she had been preparing herself mentally for more than a day.

Now, this evil bandit leader is finally going to do something beastly. She can't resist and can only express her protest in this way.

Village leader Li sat beside the bed, quietly looking at the woman in the shape of a "big" character.

A little silly.

Li Yun looked at it for a while and gave his own evaluation in his mind.

Looks a bit deceptive...

After a while, seeing that Li Yun had not moved, the woman carefully opened one eye. Seeing that Li Yun was still sitting on the edge of the bed, she quickly closed her eyes again and remained motionless.

Village Chief Li sighed and said, "If you lie down any longer, you will fall asleep."

"Girl, what's your name?"

"Humph."

The one who responded to Li Yun was the half face that turned away.

Village Chief Li frowned.

"If you don't reply, I'll take off your clothes..."

"Surname... Surname Xue..."

Li Yun smiled: "What's your name?"

The woman surnamed Xue opened her eyes and glared at the head of the Li village fiercely: "Yun..."

"Xue Yun'er..."

Li Yun muttered and praised: "What a good name."

Miss Xue raised her head and gritted her teeth: "No, it's really disgusting when you read it..."

Village Chief Li turned a deaf ear and continued speaking.

"Miss Xue, I'm sending someone to take you back now, but you don't want to?"

"What's the point of going back?"

Xue Yun'er stopped lying down. She sat on the bed, hugged her knees, and cried, "You ruined my life..."

Village leader Li was speechless.

There are wanted portraits of me posted everywhere. I’ll never be able to pass the civil service exam in this lifetime!

My life is ruined...

Thinking of this, he sighed and said, "Miss Xue, how about this? You write a letter and send it to your father, saying that we have kidnapped you, and we will release you immediately if you pay us two hundred taels of gold. In this way, our matter will start with kidnapping the bride..."

"It turned into pure kidnapping."

"When you go back, your innocence will be preserved."

"How do you like it?"

Miss Xue slowly raised her head and stared at Li Yun with wide eyes: "You...what did you say?"

Village Chief Li blinked his eyes and said, "Wasn't what I said clear enough?"

Miss Xue was furious.

"That day, in front of so many people, you shouted that you wanted to take me up the mountain and make me your wife!"

She glared.

"Why didn't you ask for money?"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

(End of this chapter)