Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 29 Little Fang La

"Young patriarch!"

The curtain was lifted, and the Li merchant walked into the house and said to the young man who was playing with weapons: "I went into the post house and saw the totem!"

The young man pretended not to hear and stroked the strangely shaped arrows.

The bows and arrows used by the Ming army were about two feet and three inches long, with flat, sharp triangle arrowheads and small top angles. The arrow shafts were made of wood or bamboo.

The arrow in the boy's hand was only a foot long, with a crescent-shaped front and two sharp blades protruding forward, faintly emitting a strange luster.

The Li merchant said in a deep voice, "Those evil officials are saying that a high-ranking official from Guangzhou was abducted by our people! The chieftains are also in a tizzy, saying that we are using General Fu's totem to provoke the government and that there will be a big chaos! But this is not what we did at all!"

The young man stroked the arrow in his hand without saying a word.

The Li merchant was anxious: "Young Chief, someone is trying to harm us. What should we do now?"

The young man finally spoke: "Are you afraid of the government?"

The Li merchant was startled and quickly shook his head: "Don't be afraid!"

"Isn't that done?"

The young man said coldly, "The imperial court's oppression of our Li tribe is not a temporary phenomenon, and this isn't the first time our 100,000 people have rebelled against the imperial court! Shouldn't we have anticipated any evil that would befall us? Instead of worrying about it, we should practice martial arts diligently, emulating General Fu's example, defeating the government troops and making a show of strength. Only then will those corrupt officials be deterred from exploiting us and sucking our blood out of us!"

The Li merchants were quite convinced: "Young Chief, you are right. We all respect you!"

"This is what my brother taught me when I was a kid..."

The young man's excited voice faded. "My brother is talented. Without his guidance, I would be nothing but brute force. How could I possibly command the respect of my people? But he read too many Han books and believed too much in Han doctrine, so he decided to take the imperial examination. Unexpectedly, the examiner treated him as a 'native' and deliberately made things difficult for him, so he couldn't even pass the county exam... Otherwise, with his talent, why would he have succumbed to the deceptions of those Annan bandits and pretended to be a prince?"

At the end of his speech, the boy's eyes were red and he gritted his teeth: "I will kill that bastard official... Oh no! Someone followed you back!"

In the blink of an eye, he threw the arrow, which disappeared in an instant, pierced the window and flew out.

"go!"

The young man rushed out, his hawk-like eyes instantly locked onto the enemy - Hai Yue, who spun the spear head and deflected the flying arrow.

"Swish swish swish!"

Without him making any movement, five sharp rays of light shot out like lightning and broke through the air.

They seem to be shot at the same time, but in fact their speeds are staggered. Each arrow is predicting the space for the previous one to dodge, weaving a net that covers people.

The tip of Haiyue's spear drew a semicircle, as if generating a strange pulling force, pushing away the five arrows one by one. The whole movement was clear and distinct, and indescribably pleasing to the eye.

"Internal strength?"

"Li archery?"

The two looked at each other from a distance and saw the seriousness in each other's eyes.

Hai Yue intercepted the flying arrow, held her spear horizontally, and retreated with the force of the attack. She was the first to speak: "My name is Hai Yue. I came here alone. Are you a close relative of Na Ying?"

"Really a person?"

The Li boy glanced around the streets and alleys, and finally returned to Haiyue.

When he rushed out, he was already prepared to be surrounded by soldiers and officers, and he was not afraid of it.

He had already been aware of the quality of the officers and soldiers in the Qiongzhou Garrison. Now it was dark, and with his martial arts skills, he was confident that he could break through the encirclement and even buy time for his people to retreat.

But he was quite surprised that there was only one person on the other side. After hearing the introduction, his eyes also became strange: "So you are Haiyue! We Li people are not ungrateful. Considering that you set up a mourning hall for my brother and hired people to pray for his soul, you can go!"

Hai Yue looked at the dark-skinned, lean and sturdy young man. "So you are Na Ying's younger brother. You do want to avenge your brother, but you weren't the one who kidnapped the Imperial Inspector Wu Lin at the post station, were you?"

The Li boy snorted, not bothering to argue. Hai Yue continued, "Just today, a threatening letter was delivered to the government office, threatening to kill sixteen Annan prisoners in prison in exchange for Inspector Wu's life. Did you do that?"

The Li boy's face darkened and he immediately retorted, "We would never do such a thing!"

Hai Yue nodded. "If you were in my place, if you really wanted to do anything, you would just rush into the government office and kill people! The current threat seems to be in line with the Li people's bold and reckless style of defying the imperial court, but if the government disagrees, the number of guarding officers and soldiers will increase. Wouldn't that backfire and prevent us from taking revenge?"

"Not bad!"

The Li boy's expression softened, but his tone remained stern. "Since you know that the high official isn't in our hands, why are you following my people here? Do you want us to kneel down at the government office and tell those corrupt officials about our grievances?"

Hai Yue said calmly, "You wouldn't do that. The real murderer saw this and dared to pin the blame for this crime that caused unrest in Qionghai on you, the Li people!"

"Young patriarch!"

At this time, the voice of the Li people merchant came from behind: "This person named Haiyue is very famous. He has been talked about on the streets these days. Since he is willing to trust us, please ask him to go and explain it to the government office..."

"You want me to beg him?"

The young man glared at his tribesmen fiercely and said word by word, "My Yan will never wag his tail and beg for mercy from the Han people!"

"That Yan? Little Fang La?"

Haiyue's eyes moved.

Historically, from the 18th year to the 27th year of the Jiajing reign, a full ten years, popular uprisings broke out one after another. The leaders of the uprising, such as Na Hong, Na Huang, Na Qian, and Fu Menqin, repeatedly clashed with the government troops and were never at a disadvantage.

The most shocking rebellion was the Yan Uprising, which forced the entire Guangdong Province to be helpless and mobilize heavy troops from other provinces to quell the rebellion.

Na Yan led the various Li tribes and swept across most of Hainan Island, almost capturing Qiongshan, which shocked the south. If Hainan had not been confined to one island and difficult to move north, his influence would have been no less than the Fang La uprising in the Northern Song Dynasty.

The uprising would not take place until twenty years later, and Na Yan at the moment was just a teenager who had not yet reached adulthood.

Or Na Ying's younger brother...

Hai Yue's heart was filled with emotion, and her tone was heavy. "I am deeply saddened by your brother's tragedy. In the case of Prince Annan, the incident happened suddenly and was difficult to prevent. By the time the truth came to light, it was already too late. Although the murderer in this case kidnapped the censor and left behind a blood totem in an attempt to frame someone else, there is still hope. I am willing to help."

Na Yan clenched his fists and said coldly, "I don't want your sympathy or help!"

Hai Yue's face darkened. "Don't be so conceited! Do you know that even if the Han-Li conflict on the island continues, with blood flowing like a river, no one can stay out of it? Yan, if you truly want to lead your people in rebellion against the imperial court, I will turn around and leave without a word. But if you drag the Li tribe into this bloodbath for your own selfish reasons, I despise you, and your brother's spirit in heaven will not rest in peace!"

The Li merchants were horrified when they heard this, and Na Yan gritted his teeth, but was speechless.

He was very hostile to the local court, but he did not have the determination to rebel directly.

The environment doesn't allow it either.

After the Fu Nan Snake Rebellion, the government reduced its exploitation of the people a lot and did not dare to force them too much. It was not until the scars healed and the pain was forgotten that there was an opportunity to raise an arm and attract responses.

If they rebel now, no one will follow them except their own tribe, and that will really put their people in a desperate situation.

"Let me say one last thing. The truth of the case isn't just for you, but there are too many innocent people who will be implicated!"

Haiyue saw through the other person's character. It was useless to talk nicely, so she turned to provocation: "I originally wanted your people to be my eyes and spies to find out the whereabouts of the real murderer. I also wanted you to come with me and participate in the investigation. But now it seems that you are unwilling and dare not go with me..."

"What's there to be afraid of?"

The swallow raised its head, its clothes fluttering, revealing the quiver slung diagonally across its waist. "I'm not afraid of you luring me into an ambush. Those incompetent officers and soldiers can't trap my 'Sky Bow Chasing Shadow'!"

This time it was his tribesmen who changed color: "Young Chief! No way!"

"Go gather everyone in the streets and alleys and find out who has seen that high-ranking official!"

Na Yan made up his mind. After instructing his clansmen, he looked at Hai Yue and said, "I'll go with you to rescue the official. You can go to the government office to claim your reward. I'll keep my clansmen safe. We'll owe each other nothing!"

(End of this chapter)