Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 352 You are that Hundred-Rider Killer!

The three of them walked along the dirt road in the east of the village, asking two farmers along the way, and finally found Chen Erniu's house.

A small courtyard enclosed by a fence, with some dried firewood piled up in the yard, and a few hens pecking at food in the corner, looks simple and ordinary.

Upon hearing the knock, a burly, dark-skinned man opened the door; it was Chen Erniu.

He saw that Wen He and the other two were unfamiliar faces, and his brows furrowed slightly, his eyes showing a hint of doubt, but he still politely asked, "Who are you three? Is there something you need from me?"

"We've come to inquire about two traveling scholars. We heard they stayed at your house before?"

Wen He smiled and explained her purpose, trying to keep her tone gentle so as not to arouse Chen Erniu's suspicion.

Upon hearing "traveling scholars," Chen Erniu was immediately taken aback and quickly stepped aside to let them into the house: "Are you here to see Mr. Zhao and Mr. Wu? Come in and sit down, it's sunny outside."

Once inside the courtyard, Chen Erniu brought over three long benches and poured three bowls of cold water before sitting down opposite them. He let out a long sigh: "Alas, this is all my fault... That morning I went to wake the two gentlemen up, and when I opened the door, they were already gone, without even their luggage. I thought they had left because they thought the village was too poor, but I never imagined they had disappeared."

As he spoke, his face was full of self-reproach, and his hands unconsciously rubbed the hem of his clothes.

Upon hearing the word "missing," Meng Zhou became agitated and leaned forward, eagerly asking, "Brother Chen, did they mention where they were going or who they met before they disappeared?"

Chen Erniu shook his head, his brows furrowing even more: "They never mentioned it. Besides teaching the children to read, they usually just read books in the house. Occasionally they'll chat with me about everyday things, but they've never mentioned going anywhere else, and I've never seen any strangers come looking for them."

Wen He pondered for a moment and asked, "Brother Chen, could you take us to see the house they lived in? Maybe we can find some clues."

"Of course!"

Chen Erniu immediately stood up and led them to a small mud-brick house in the corner of the courtyard.

"This is the room. I haven't dared to touch anything inside, thinking that they might come back."

As I pushed open the door, a faint scent of ink wafted out.

The room was small, but very clean. A wooden bed stood against the wall, covered with faded white bedding, neatly folded.

On the wooden table beside the bed were several books, a calligraphy brush, and half a bottle of ink. There was also an unfinished wheat cake on the corner of the table, which looked like it had been left behind when the person left in a hurry.

Wen He looked around, her gaze falling on the bed and the doors and windows.

The bedding was not disheveled, and the doors and windows were intact, showing no signs of being pried open or fought.

He pointed to the room and said, "It's very clean here, there are no signs of a struggle, and the bed isn't messy, so it shouldn't be a forced abduction."

Wen He suddenly turned around and looked at Chen Erniu standing at the door, asking casually, "Brother Chen, is there any special story about the bamboo forest at the west end of your village? Like, has it been haunted by monsters or ghosts?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Erniu quickly waved his hand, a hint of nervousness on his face: "Young man, don't scare me! That bamboo forest is just an ordinary bamboo forest. We used to go in there often to cut bamboo, weave baskets, and make farm tools. There are no monsters or ghosts there."

"before?"

Wen He caught the key words in his words and pressed for more information.

"Why 'in the past'? Can't we go now?"

Chen Erniu scratched his head and said with a smile, "It's because the new village headman came that we can't go there casually. The village headman said that too many villagers go in to cut bamboo and it's easy to trample the bamboo forest. So from now on, he will arrange for people to cut bamboo in a unified manner and then distribute it to everyone. Speaking of which, this new village headman is a good person. He takes good care of us villagers and often helps us solve difficulties."

He paused, as if suddenly remembering something, and added, "By the way, the day before Mr. Zhao and Mr. Wu disappeared, the village head specially came to my house and invited the two gentlemen to drink, saying that he was thanking them for coming to the village to teach the children to read."

"New Satomasa?"

Wen He narrowed her eyes slightly, a hint of doubt rising in her heart.

"When did he arrive? What about the previous village head?"

"He's a newcomer after the New Year, and he came with the newly appointed county magistrate."

Chen Erniu explained.

"The previous village head was too old and resigned, so the county magistrate recommended the current village head. The new village head is kind and knows the rules, and everyone in our village respects him."

Wen He stroked his chin, a meaningful smile playing on his lips: "Interesting."

……

As evening approached, Wen He and his two companions had just reached the gate of the village head's courtyard when Xiao, the village head, came out of the house to greet them. Seeing that they were unharmed, his eyes widened in surprise, and his voice was full of astonishment: "Why are you back?"

Wen He stopped and looked at him with a half-smile: "Xiao Lizheng, you seem quite surprised that we're back?"

He emphasized the character "萧".

After learning from Chen Erniu that the village head's surname was Xiao, he took note of it and deliberately pointed it out to see the other party's reaction.

Xiao Lizheng was about to explain, "No, no, I was just worried you'd get lost."

Upon hearing Wen He call out his surname, he immediately reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his face changing drastically: "You! How do you know my surname is Xiao?"

He deliberately kept a low profile in the village. Apart from a few familiar farmers, few people knew his full name. How could these two teenagers, who had only been in the village for a short time, know him?
However, he quickly forced himself to calm down and comforted himself.

It's just knowing a surname, it's nothing.

He chuckled twice and quickly changed the subject: "Hehe, it's nothing, I was just being rude. The three of you have been out shopping all afternoon, you must be hungry, right? I'll go and have my wife prepare some food."

After saying that, without waiting for Wen He to ask any more questions, he turned around and quickly went into the kitchen, his back view showing a hint of panic.

As Wen He watched his retreating figure, the smile on her lips turned colder.

Sure enough there is a problem.

Not long after, Xiao Lizheng's wife came in carrying a large plate of vegetable dumplings and a bowl of pickled vegetables, with an unnatural smile on her face: "The three of you, please eat quickly. The conditions in the village are poor, and there's nothing good to eat."

Meng Zhou's stomach was already growling with hunger. Before Wen He could speak, he picked up a vegetable dumpling and took a bite, saying indistinctly, "Thank you, Auntie, it's already very good."

Wen He was about to raise his hand to stop him, but it was too late. He looked at Meng Zhou wolfing down his food and could only laugh awkwardly, "It's okay, you eat more, we're not hungry."

Meng Zhou paused for a moment, then said somewhat embarrassedly, "That's not a good idea. Two are enough for me. I'll leave some for you."

"No need, no need, we brought our own food, you eat yours."

Wen He quickly waved her hand, but her eyes secretly swept over the plate of vegetable dumplings.

It's obvious that something was added to it.

Meng Zhou didn't think much of it, assuming Wen He was just being polite. He picked up another vegetable dumpling and started eating, devouring five in one go. As soon as he put down his chopsticks, he felt dizzy, his eyelids heavy as lead, and muttered, "Why... am I so sleepy..."

Before he could finish speaking, he slumped onto the table with a thud and fell into a deep sleep.

"gentlemen!"

Upon seeing this, Li Chengqian exclaimed in surprise and reached out to push Meng Zhou, but was stopped by Wen He.

Wen He chuckled and said, "Don't worry, it's just a little trick."

He had long suspected that Xiao Lizheng would make a move.

Seeing no signs of a struggle at the residences of the two scholars when he saw them at Chen Erniu's house, he suspected they had been drugged. He didn't expect Xiao Lizheng to be so hasty and dare to take action in the evening.

"Back at Chen Erniu's house, I guessed that the two scholars might have been drugged and kidnapped, but I never expected that there really was such a thing as sleeping potion in this world."

Wen He said softly, pondering to herself.

The ingredients of this sleeping potion might be similar to those of Hua Tuo's Mafeisan and the folk remedy of stinky hemp soup, all of which work by numbing the nerves and causing people to lose consciousness.

As he was speaking, a faint noise suddenly came from outside, followed by a rough, hoarse middle-aged man's voice: "Isn't it about time? That scholar should be fast asleep. Should we make our move?"

"Don't panic."

Another voice came from inside; it was Xiao Lizheng.

“There’s something wrong with those two kids, especially the one surnamed Wen. His speech and behavior don’t seem like those of an ordinary family’s child. We need to wait and confirm that they’ve also been infected before we can say anything.”

Hearing this, Li Chengqian, who was inside the room, secretly looked up at Wen He with a hint of mockery in his eyes, as if to say, "Look, sir, they are praising you."

Wen He rolled her eyes at him, then reached out and covered his mouth, signaling him to be quiet.

The good show is yet to come.

The middle-aged man outside was clearly impatient, his tone full of accusation: "You old fool, I can tell you're just trying to shirk responsibility. I told you to lure them into the bamboo forest, but you wouldn't listen. Now you're resorting to drugging them, dragging your feet. If the higher-ups find out, you'll be in big trouble!" Xiao Lizheng's voice carried a hint of helplessness: "I have no choice. Those three lads are stubborn. I've already devised a plan, but I didn't expect them to be so cautious."

"Anyway, we're going to arrest them, so it doesn't matter where we arrest them. We'll lock that guy surnamed Meng up with those two scholars from before. As for the two younger ones... we'll find a human trafficker later and sell them to the south. We can get some money from them, and then we'll split it in half."

"Hmph, you know what's going on."

The middle-aged man snorted coldly.

"Stop talking nonsense, open the door quickly and drag that scholar away first, lest things get complicated."

"I'm coming."

Xiao Lizheng responded, and then the door creaked open, and Xiao Lizheng and a middle-aged man dressed in shorts walked in, carrying a hemp rope in their hands.

As soon as they entered, Xiao Lizheng and the middle-aged man froze on the spot, their faces full of astonishment.

"I heard you're going to sell us to the south? How about Jiankang? I've heard that the scenery there is beautiful, it's a good place to go."

Inside the room, Wen He sat on the edge of the bed, protecting Li Chengqian behind her. Her face showed no panic, but rather a smile as she slowly spoke to Xiao Lizheng and the middle-aged man.

Not only did the two children not faint, they also heard everything they said clearly.
"You...you didn't faint!"

Xiao Lizheng pointed at Wen He, his voice trembling. He had clearly added enough sleeping potion to the vegetable dumplings. Not to mention two children, even a strong man should have been knocked unconscious. How could it not work?
"You think you can fool the master with such a simple trick?"

Li Chengqian peeked out from behind Wen He, snorted, and his tone was full of disdain.

His husband had warned him not to eat the vegetable dumplings, and he had just pretended to want to eat them to lure the two of them into a trap.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man glared angrily at Xiao Lizheng: "You old geezer! Can't you keep an eye on things? You can't even handle two kids!"

Xiao Lizheng had a bitter face, his heart filled with resentment.

Little did he know that these two teenagers were more vigilant than the old fox.
"So what! Even if we're discovered, so what?"

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and suddenly drew a short knife from his waist, the blade gleaming coldly under the oil lamp.

"I could easily handle you two brats by myself. Now that you've stumbled upon this, don't even think about leaving Chenjia Village alive!"

Upon seeing this, Li Chengqian instinctively tried to rush forward to protect Wen He, but Wen He grabbed him.

"Wait a minute!"

Wen He raised her hand and calmly stopped her.

The middle-aged man sneered, tightening his grip on the knife: "What? Now you want to beg for mercy? I admit, you little brat are indeed clever, not like an ordinary child. But no matter who you are, you're going to fall into my hands today!"

Wen He didn't reply, but instead slowly extended a finger, her voice clear: "One."

The middle-aged man frowned, a sense of unease creeping into his mind.

What is this kid up to?

Xiao Lizheng also stood there, looking at Wen He with a puzzled expression.

"two."

Wen He extended a second finger, her tone still calm, as if the dagger and the thugs in front of her did not exist.

"Pretend to be a ghost!"

The middle-aged man finally lost his temper, roared, and lunged at Wen He with his knife raised high, the blade aimed directly at Wen He's chest!

At this critical moment, Wen He slowly uttered the third word: "Three!"

"Snapped!"

With a sharp crack, the wooden frame by the window suddenly broke, and a dark figure rushed in from outside the window like an arrow. The black iron short sword in his hand flashed coldly and accurately blocked Wen He's way.

"clang!"

A piercing metallic clang rang out, and the middle-aged man's dagger was forcefully knocked away. The immense force made his hand go numb, and the dagger nearly slipped from his grasp.

Before he could react, the dark figure suddenly lunged forward and delivered a powerful knee strike to his chin!
"Ugh!"

The middle-aged man cried out in pain, his body flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily against the wall. The short knife clattered to the ground, and he instantly lost consciousness.

Just in case, Zhang Wenxiao picked up the dagger from the ground, walked to the unconscious middle-aged man, and kicked him hard in the chest several times.

Seeing that the man only groaned a few times and still didn't wake up, confirming that he had completely lost the ability to resist, he sheathed his knife, quickly walked to Wen He and Li Chengqian, bowed and asked, "Young masters, are you injured?"

"It's nothing." Wen He shook her head gently, her eyes showing more satisfaction as she looked at Zhang Wenxiao.

Zhang Wenxiao acted decisively just now and even knew to check whether the enemy was completely incapacitated. His previous teachings were not in vain, and he can be considered a qualified student.

At the same time, hurried footsteps came from the doorway, and two black-armored guards dressed in coarse cloth walked in quickly.

They spotted Xiao Lizheng, who was still in a daze, and before he could react, they rushed forward, pinned him to the ground, and tied his hands behind his back.

One of them was extremely strong. He pressed down on Xiao Lizheng's shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Don't move! If you dare to struggle again, I'll break your arm!"

Xiao Lizheng was pinned down, unable to move, his cheek pressed against the cold ground. Terrified, he still struggled and roared, "Who are you?! How dare you commit violence in broad daylight! I'm going to the county government to report you!"

Wen He looked up at the window. The sky had already darkened, with only a few stars dotting the night sky. He couldn't help but shake his head with a smile: "Xiao Lizheng, it's already night. What do you mean by 'bright daylight'?"

He walked slowly to Xiao Lizheng's side, looking down at him with a hint of sarcasm: "Besides, don't you know who really committed the crime? They kidnapped the students, tried to drug us with sleeping pills, and now they're accusing us of committing the crime? Are you trying to shift the blame?"

Xiao Lizheng was speechless when asked the question, but as he looked at Zhang Wenxiao and the others' sharp skills, a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

These two children are definitely not ordinary scholars traveling abroad. With such elite guards by their side, their identities must be extraordinary.

He suppressed his fear, looked up at Wen He, and asked in a trembling voice, "Who...who exactly are you?"

Wen He squatted down to look him in the eye, a faint smile playing on her lips. Her tone was calm yet carried an undeniable weight: "Let me introduce myself, my name is Wen He."

"Wen He?"

Xiao Lizheng murmured the name repeatedly, then suddenly seemed to remember something. His eyes widened instantly, his body trembled uncontrollably, and his voice changed tone, "You...you are that 'Hundred Riders Killer' Wen He?!"

Wen He raised an eyebrow, deliberately dragging out her "Oh," and looked at him with a half-smile: "I didn't expect that Village Chief Xiao would still recognize me? It seems that my 'reputation' has spread quite far."

Upon hearing Wen He personally confirm his identity, Xiao Lizheng felt as if all his strength had been drained away.

Wen He walked slowly to him, looking down at him with a cold glint in her eyes and an unquestionable certainty in her tone: "It seems that the person behind you is indeed from Chang'an."

In those days, news was scarce, and Chenjia Village was located in a remote area. Ordinary farmers didn't even recognize all the officials in the county town, let alone know the name of the "Hundred Riders Killer" in Chang'an.

Xiao Lizheng was so terrified when he heard the name "Wen He" that he must have heard rumors about him beforehand.

Only those in the officialdom or powerful circles of Chang'an could spread such news to remote and impoverished areas.

"Your surname is Xiao, and you're from the Guanzhong region?"

Wen He squatted down, her gaze falling on Xiao Li's face, which was tense with fear, and slowly asked.

Xiao Lizheng pursed his lips tightly, lowered his head even further, and remained silent, but his hands, placed at his sides, clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Seeing this, Wen He slowly nodded and continued to ask, "It seems not. Then it must be a noble family? Or one of the Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families?"

This time, Xiao Lizheng could no longer hold back. He suddenly raised his head, his eyes darting nervously away from Wen He's gaze, his body trembling even more violently, and his breathing becoming rapid.

Those evasive eyes were undoubtedly an admission.

Wen He understood immediately. He stood up, turned to Zhang Wenxiao who had just returned after arranging the guards, and asked in a deep voice, "Zhang Wenxiao, what is the surname of the county magistrate of Zheng County? What is his background?"

Xiao Li was appointed along with the new county magistrate, and now that Xiao Li is involved with the gentry, the county magistrate will probably be implicated as well.

Zhang Wenxiao immediately bowed and replied respectfully, "Young Master, the magistrate of Zheng County is from the Lu family of Fanyang. His name is Lu Gui. He just took office after the New Year. I heard that he was directly appointed by the Ministry of Personnel. Since taking office, he has been very low-key and has not left the county office much."

"The Lu family of Fanyang?" Wen He frowned slightly, then smiled and said, "Interesting."

(End of this chapter)