Han official!

Chapter 137 Doubts
"An inconsistent villain."

Zhao Tingzhang followed behind, watching Guo Jie and the others leave the Yama Gate. He cursed Su Jian, calling him a villain: "In the early years, you were just a sergeant of the county soldiers. If you hadn't had your cousin's recommendation, would you have been able to serve as a thief hunter in Gao City?"

He was very disgusted with Su Jian's behavior, and when he met Chong Huangrou, who was of higher status, he turned around and became a guest of Gonghouzi.

He even helped Gonghou Zi Chonghuang Rou to gain benefits for the host Zhao family.

He is truly a dishonest and mean person.

Zhao Tingzhang cursed Su Jian as a villain, completely forgetting that Zhao Tuo recommended Su Jian to find a scapegoat for the counterfeiting of coins.

"That yard is one of the weaving yards."

Chong Huangrou knelt in the sun-shaped house inside Yanmen, holding back Zhao Tuo, Zhao Tingzhang, and Zhao Shiyuan who had rushed over after hearing the news.

Zhao Bu and Zhao Meng knew a shortcut that saved them a few steps on the loess slopes and allowed them to return to Wushili half a day earlier.

Guo Jie walked out of the inner Yanmen Gate and began to look for Su Jian's wife Ying and two sons Su Jia and Su Wu in the larger outer area under the pretext of verifying the household registration.

In order to prevent Zhao Tuo from being cautious, he threatened Guo Jie to leave Wushili by threatening the lives of Lady Ying and her two children.

In Guo Jie's eyes, the confiscated millet brought by ten five-soldier men was not as important as Su Wu's life.

"At the beginning of June, I came with a few guards to transport a batch of coarse linen. At night, I stayed at Yizi House near the bomb room. In the middle of the night, when no one was around, I sneaked out to look for my wife Ying, Su Jia, and Su Wu. I accidentally came across the weaving yard."

Every household in Wushili is weaving, but they are just trying to hide it from others.

Someone who actually weaves a lot of burlap.

Zhao Tuo used his childhood friend to recruit a group of women from nearby villages, originally to build houses.

They hastily built one or two thatched huts and took the women to a secluded house in Wushili, where they began to weave day and night.

Anyway, Zhao Tuo would send corn to the woman's home every month, so no one reported her to the authorities.

The delay was never discovered.

Su Jian walked in front, holding the two-foot sword at his waist tightly, and wandered around in the alleys outside. Guo Jie, who had a good memory, was almost dizzy and came to the door of an ordinary house.

There are ten mulberry trees planted in front of the gate, blocking the gate of the residential courtyard and preventing entry from the main gate.

Su Jian had already found the way. He turned to the side and saw a narrow back door that he could walk directly into.

"Pah, you're so tired! This little girl looks so thin, how could she be so heavy?"

"It's not her body that's heavy, it's you who's been drinking all day and draining it out. Drink less in the future, or you'll die young."

Two villagers wearing linen jackets and trousers carried a young lady out of the house and carried her to a small house not far away. They threw her inside and locked the door.

One resident yelled, "If you dare to talk about going home again, I'll throw you into the ditch and feed you to the wolves."

"warbler!"

Su Jian was agitated. "My wife is a strong-willed woman. She's the only one who dares to resist. The girl locked up in the little room must be my wife. I beg you, General Guo, to rescue Ying."

Guo Jie nodded slightly.

When the two villagers returned to the house cursing, they slammed the back door shut with a bang, and the alley fell into silence again.

Only the sounds of gambling could be heard from the houses on both sides of the outer road, and there was no sound at all in the winding alleys.

Guo Jie walked out of the straw stack and looked around vigilantly. Seeing that there was no one at the alleys on either side, he immediately walked towards the small room where Xijun was imprisoned.

The small house is a thick rammed earth house, very sturdy. There is only a small window the size of a palm in the rammed earth wall, which is located near the roof. It can only allow air to flow in, and it is impossible to climb out through the small window.

It doesn't look like a house where people live, but more like a county jail used to hold criminals.

"boom!"

Mang Tong smashed the door lock of the small house with the iron hammer in his hand.

Su Jian rushed in anxiously, holding Xijun, whose hair was disheveled, and said sadly, "Ying, you've suffered so much. It's all your fault. I wasn't able to rescue you. It took us half a year, from the beginning of February until today."

"Go away! Go away!"

Xijun screamed and stepped back repeatedly: "I don't know you, go away quickly, take your dirty hands away, don't touch my body!"

Su Jian was startled when he heard Xijun's screams. He hurriedly loosened his hand and carefully looked at Xijun's disheveled face.

Guo Jie's heart trembled, and he turned his head and gave Wei Guang a look.

The house opposite was just one of the weaving houses in Wushili. If Wushili became alert and the women from the other weaving houses were taken away and moved to the loess gullies, the women would never be found again.

Wei Guang took off the eight-stone bow from his back, stood at the door of the small house with a happy face, and estimated the distance between the small house and the weaving house.

Just a few dozen steps.

Wei Guang reached into his quiver, took out a feathered arrow, and stared at the back of the weaving house, his face full of eagerness to try.

"Ever since I received the eight-stone bow from Princess Pingyang, I haven't seen blood."

Wei Guang was eager to see the villagers come out of the weaving house. He said happily, "Today, I will let my brother-in-law see my archery skills. If one person comes out, I will kill him. If two come out, I will kill a pair. Princess Pingyang has many riding slaves in her large house. The reason I am favored by the princess and can feed Stanley is because of my archery skills of shooting an arrow through a willow leaf from a hundred paces!"

A hundred meters away, the carriage and horses will become a small black dot, not to mention the thinner poplar tree trunk.

At a distance of one hundred meters, whether you can hit the poplar tree trunk depends entirely on luck.

Whoever can shoot an arrow into the trunk of a poplar tree a hundred meters away.

It is a kind of magical archery.

shoot with great precision.

Wei Guang was disappointed.

Xijun's screams seemed to be drowned out by the sounds of weaving in the weaving house. No one heard her screams, and no one walked out of the weaving house.

"Go get a bucket of water."

Guo Jie warned, "Madam Ying may have been beaten and lost her mind for a moment, so she doesn't recognize you. Don't panic. There's a well right at the door of the cottage. If you help her clean her face, you'll know for sure."

Su Jian nodded repeatedly, hurried out of the small room, and came back again with a bucket of clean water in his hand and placed it in front of Xijun.

When Xijun saw a bucket of well water, she rushed over and drank it in big gulps instead of washing her face.

Obviously very thirsty.

The well water splashed on Xijun's face. As she stretched out the sleeves of her skirt and wiped her face, she could see the face clearly.

Su Jian was surprised to find out: "You are not Ying!"

"Zhao Bu."

Zhao Tuo knelt in the guest room, feeling uneasy. He frowned and said, "Take a few of the five men and serve food and wine to the guests of Lord Chong. Lord Chong rarely comes here, so we can't neglect him."

He was worried that Chief Zhao might not understand the implication, so he reminded him again, "Remember, arrange for Guo Gongcao and his men to stay in the house near the locust tree. The house there is larger, and we must not let the guests of Lord Chong suffer."

There were no residential houses near the locust tree, only the largest weaving yard in Wushili.

He hid many women, who were counterfeiting coins and weaving one piece of bad cloth after another.

Zhao Tingzhang understood what Zhao Tuo meant.

Instead of delivering wine to Guo Jie, he quickly took the weaving woman out of Wushili and hid her in a loess gully.

Zhao Tingzhang will not be back for a while, so stay in the loess gully together and go back to Wushili after a few days.

While counterfeiting coins to avoid being discovered by Guo Jie, Zhao Tuo also had an excuse to pay less profit.

Most of the women who wove cloth were hidden, leaving only a small portion. Zhao Tuo could then say that not much bad cloth was woven each time, and could only give Chong Huangrou a small portion of the bad cloth.

"Get back!"

Chong Huangrou's face darkened. "No one can leave until the distribution of the evil cloth is settled. You must remain in the guest room and not go anywhere else."

Zhao Tuo and Zhao Tingzhang looked embarrassed.

He thought that his little thoughts were seen through by Chong Huangrou.

In fact, Chong Huangrou just wanted to delay Zhao Tuo and Zhao Tingzhang, and didn't care about the so-called bad cloth business at all.

Chong Huangrou is not Sang Hongyang who is only interested in making money.

In the past, swordsmanship was all he had in mind.

Now, I feel that it is quite interesting to be with Guo Jie, and I cherish these rare friends who are not greedy for the body of the Insect Emperor.

"Acacia tree?"

Guo Jie waited until Xijun, who had been acting a bit crazy, calmed down and heard her mention another weaving house: "Where is the weaving house with the locust tree in front of the gate? Outside? Or inside the Yama Gate?"

Su Jian was extremely anxious and took a few steps closer, wanting to grab Xijun's thin arm and ask about the situation in the other weaving house.

"Get away! Get away!"

Xijun screamed again and backed away repeatedly, not daring to let the strange man get close to her. She seemed to be stimulated.

Whenever a strange man approaches her, she will scream and step back in panic to avoid the strange man's approach.

Guo Jie knew that she was often beaten and had a stress reaction, and she would feel afraid when she saw strangers approaching.

He stretched out a hand to stop Su Jian and carefully observed Xijun's exposed skin.

Xijun was thin, with a dry and yellow bun on her head, and looked severely malnourished. Her skirt was tattered, and it didn't look like it had been washed frequently, but more like it had been torn by a rattan whip.

Her thin arms, exposed outside, were covered with crisscrossing scars.

shocking.

Apparently he was often beaten with a cane.

"brute!"

Su Jian's eyes turned red. Seeing Xijun suffering, he instantly thought of Madam Ying who would also be subjected to such abuse. He clenched his fists and said, "Zhao Tuo! I will kill you!"

When Xijun heard the word Zhao Tuo, she was horrified: "It's him! It's him!"

She clutched her hairpin with both hands, her tender face full of pain as she recalled all the abuses she had suffered when she resisted.

Guo Jie consoled him, saying, "Don't be afraid. I'm an official from the Chang'an Temple. I've been sent by my superior, Zhang Tang, to investigate the crimes of Zhao Tuo and his family, which have violated Han laws."

The two words Zhang Tang.

When the powerful heard this, they trembled in their hearts, gnashing their teeth and wishing they could eat Zhang Tang alive, but at the same time, they felt an indescribable fear.

The common people felt differently when they heard Zhang Tang's name.

Zhang Tang, who never protected nobles and powerful people.

Not a cruel official.

In the eyes of the common people, he is the only good official who can bring justice to the common people.

"You are an official beside Zhang Wei."

Xijun was so excited that she not only woke up but also took the initiative to grab the stranger Guo Jie's arm and said, "Please, you must save me."

She escaped once.

Xijun ran to a nearby pavilion for help.

Unexpectedly, the headman and the powerful people were in cahoots with each other. They said they were saving her, but secretly sold her to Zhao Tuo.

What makes Xijun most desperate is.

It’s not that no one saved her, but the pavilion chief who, in her eyes, should have saved people, a military officer who was supposed to capture bandits, actually sold her out.

I don’t know who to trust anymore.

Guo Jie's face turned grim. He could tell something was wrong from the fact that Xijun placed her hopes on Zhang Tang, who was far away.

The guards around Wushili are no longer trustworthy.

Guo Jie said solemnly, "My brother Su Jian's wife and children have also been taken to Wushili and imprisoned. I will definitely rescue you."

When Xijun heard that Guo Jie's brother had the same experience, she felt completely relieved.

Even if Guo Jie didn't do it for her, he would still save her for his brother.

"I have seen Ying."

Xijun thought for a moment and said, "Ying was the most stubborn of all the weavers. We used to weave together in the largest weaving house in Wushili, with a locust tree at the gate. Ying was the only one who dared to resist and refused to weave. I don't know why, but Zhao Tuo didn't beat her. He just let her live in a separate house with her two sons."

She glanced at Su Jian and suddenly realized, "Perhaps she didn't dare to provoke Captain Zhang. The official next to you is also one of Captain Zhang's officials. The first time I escaped, I was caught again. If it weren't for Ying protecting me, I would have been beaten to death by Zhao Tuo's eldest son, the local official."

Su Jian was excited when he heard the news from his wife: "Do you know the location of the largest weaving house?"

Xijun nodded her hairpin.

"good."

Guo Jie pressed his ring-handled sword and said in a deep voice, "Let's go immediately to the house with the locust tree and rescue Madam Ying, Su Jia, and Su Wu first. Then we will go to the gate of the storehouse and wait for Yi Zong to bring the thief catcher and the prison officer."

Before a conviction is reached, we can only send a few thief catchers to investigate.

We cannot send a large number of thief catchers and prison clerks to arrest people.

Like thief catchers, prison clerks and prisoners, they are all county soldiers in the government.

Without a legitimate excuse, Chang'an Magistrate Zhao Yu could not arbitrarily mobilize a large number of county soldiers.

He arbitrarily mobilized a large number of county soldiers.

It means arbitrarily mobilizing troops.

The crime of treason!
Only after the crime is proven can there be a legitimate excuse to mobilize a large number of county soldiers.

The leader of the group that Guo Jie killed last time also dared to use the excuse of conscription for labor service. He passed by the village of a powerful person and temporarily rested in the village for a day.

But still can't stay overnight.

"What are you doing?!"

At the back door of the weaving house, two villagers came out again carrying a young woman. When they saw the door of the small house was smashed open, they immediately threw the woman down and drew the daggers at their waists.

Several more villagers rushed out from the open back door. Five or six of them stared at Guo Jie angrily, with a bit of panic in their expressions.

These people know that counterfeiting money is a capital crime!

(End of this chapter)