Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

"So it's Brother Xue."

Li Chengqian quickly controlled his emotions and fabricated an identity.

"My name is Li Ming, a native of Chang'an. My family runs a cloth business. I came to Hedong to collect debts, hoping to take a shortcut, but I never expected to stray into this deep mountain forest and encounter such a ferocious creature."

After saying that, he pointed to Cheng Chumo behind him, who was grimacing in pain:

"This is my family's bodyguard, Old Cheng."

Cheng Chumo, who was used to acting arrogantly in Chang'an, looked at Xue Rengui with a mixture of awe and fear.

He didn't think he was more resilient than that tiger.

Xue Rengui waved his hand憨厚ly and casually wiped the tiger blood on his patched coarse cloth clothes.

"Manager Li, you're too kind. I'm just a simple farmer from the countryside."

The family was so poor they were barely able to afford food, so they thought they'd try their luck in the mountains, hoping to hunt some wild game to exchange for a few bushels of rice. Who knew they'd stumble upon this beast going berserk.

"I will never forget Brother Xue's life-saving grace."

Li Chengqian looked around and continued.

"Our group has been traveling for days, and we have long since run out of food and water."

"Brother Xue, where do you live? Would you do me the honor of letting us come to your door for a bowl of water and a rest? I, Li, will be eternally grateful."

Xue Rengui was a straightforward person and didn't think twice before agreeing immediately.

"No need for a big thank you, a few bowls of water will suffice, my family has plenty. I just hope Manager Li doesn't mind my humble abode. Go through this forest, and walk south for about ten miles, and you'll reach our village."

As Xue Rengui spoke, he turned and walked to the front of the tiger's corpse.

He grabbed the tiger by the scruff of its neck.

"rise."

A deep shout.

He actually managed to lift that enormous creature, which weighed several hundred pounds, up with his bare hands.

The enormous tiger's body hung in mid-air, its tail dragging on the ground.

Xue Rengui carried it on his back and led the way.

Cheng Chumo nudged Fang Yi'ai, who was standing next to him, with his elbow in alarm.

"Old Fang, am I seeing things? That thing... is it made of paper?"

Fang Yi'ai's face was still somewhat pale, and he shook his head repeatedly, saying:

"Don't ask me, my legs are weak right now."

Li Chengqian followed behind, watching Xue Rengui's broad, mountain-like back, and was overjoyed.

He never expected that his trip to Hedong would lead him to find such a priceless treasure.

The group followed Xue Rengui through the woods and onto the bumpy dirt road.

About half an hour later, a dilapidated village appeared before everyone's eyes.

The village was lifeless, with only a few sallow-faced and emaciated villagers occasionally squatting against the wall, basking in the sun.

When they saw Li Chengqian and the others, their eyes were fixed on them.

Xue Rengui led the group all the way to the end of the village.

Li Chengqian stopped and frowned as he looked at everything before him.

Three dilapidated thatched huts.

Several large cracks appeared in the mud-plastered walls, and the thatched roof was sparse, rustling in the wind.

The courtyard was even more rudimentary, with only a few withered branches haphazardly forming a perimeter, and not even a proper gate.

Is this the home of that peerless warrior?

"Honey! I'm home."

After Xue Rengui entered the courtyard, he casually threw the dead tiger on the ground.

With a creak, the dilapidated wooden door of the thatched hut was pushed open.

A woman dressed in coarse linen clothes came out.

The woman's clothes were covered in patches and faded from washing, yet they were still very clean.

Her long hair was simply tied back with a wooden hairpin. Although she looked haggard, her features were very regular. In her every move, she had a dignified air that ordinary farm women did not have.

It was Liu, Xue Rengui's wife.

When Liu saw the bloodied and mangled tiger in the yard, she was terrified.

He hurriedly ran forward and pulled Xue Rengui up and down to check him over.

"Honey, what are you doing...?"

"I'm fine, not a hair on my head."

Xue Rengui pointed to Li Chengqian and his entourage behind him.

"This is Manager Li from Chang'an. He encountered danger in the mountains, and I helped him out. They are very thirsty and have come to our house to ask for a bowl of water."

Upon hearing this, Lady Liu quickly bowed to Li Chengqian and the others.

"Please come in, distinguished guests. My home is very simple, please forgive my lack of hospitality."

Everyone followed them into the house.

Besides a broken wooden bed and a chipped iron pot, there wasn't a decent table or chair in the room.

Li Chengqian and the others could only follow their master's example and sit cross-legged on the earthen bed covered with tattered straw mats.

Liu found several large, rough porcelain bowls with chipped rims, scooped up some water from the water vat in the yard, and brought them up.

The water was murky and turbid, with a few withered yellow grass clippings floating in it.

"Manager Li, brothers, I'm really sorry. The village well is almost empty, and this is the kind of water we draw up. Please bear with it to moisten your throats."

Liu's face was full of apology.

Li Chengcheng picked up the bowl, didn't even look at it, and poured more than half of it down her throat.

Seeing this, Cheng Chumo and Fang Yiai had no choice but to grit their teeth, pinch their noses, and force the liquid down their throats.

Li Chengqian put down his bowl, looked at Xue Rengui sitting opposite him, and asked:

"Brother Xue, with your abilities, you shouldn't be in this situation. How did your family fall into such dire straits?"

Xue Rengui sighed:

"Manager Li is unaware of this."

The taxes in Hedong these past two years have been so high they could drive people to their deaths.

After paying the regular taxes, there are still taxes for river repairs, bandit suppression, and even the chickens that lay eggs at home have to pay a fee.

My wife borrowed five strings of cash from the Wang family's pawnshop in the city to pay for my mother's medical treatment.

Only half a year had passed, and with interest compounding, it had grown to fifteen strings of cash.

All the money I earned before went into it, and I still owe them five strings of cash.

Li Chengqian's face instantly darkened.

It was the Wang family of Taiyuan again.

These bastards really think of Hedong Road as their own independent kingdom.

Liu came in carrying a worn-out wooden plate.

There were several dark, unsightly things on the plate.

"My dear husband, there's not a single grain of rice left in the house. These are pancakes I made this morning with rice bran mixed with tree bark and wild grass seeds. Our distinguished guests must be hungry after their long journey; please have something to eat first."

Liu placed the plate on the earthen bed, her head bowed so low it was almost buried in her chest.

She felt too ashamed to entertain others with such things.

Li Chengqian's gaze fell on the "cakes" on the plate.

Can this thing really be called a pancake?

The surface is so rough it can be used as sandpaper, and you can clearly see the unground grain husks and dried grass leaves inside.

Let alone eating it, just looking at it makes my throat ache.

Cheng Chumo peeked out and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Even the beggars on the street in Chang'an have better food than this.

Li Chengqian reached out and picked up a piece of bran cake, then forcefully broke it apart with both hands.

There was no aroma of grain at all, only a pungent earthy smell and a lingering bitterness.

He looked up at the man in front of him who could lift a 500-pound tiger with one hand.

Even someone as sudden as him was living such a miserable life in Hedong, worse than a pig or a dog.

This shows what kind of life ordinary people lead.

If these parasites of the Taiyuan Wang clan are not eliminated, the Tang Dynasty's empire will sooner or later be reduced to an empty skeleton by their erosion.

"Brother Xue."

Li Chengqian put the bran cake back on the plate.

"If the local government in Hedong doesn't take action, is there no one else who can?"

Xue Rengui gave a bitter smile:

"Manage? Who dares to manage? The governor of Hedong Circuit is a member of the Wang family, the magistrate of Longmen County is a protégé of the Wang family, and even the constables in the yamen are dogs raised by the Wang family."

What can we peasants do to fight them?

If my wife hadn't been holding me back, I would have grabbed a knife and gone to the county government office long ago, chopping off that damned magistrate's head to use as a chamber pot.

Before he could finish speaking...

Suddenly, a shout of cursing came from outside the courtyard.

"Xue Li! Stop playing dead in there, you son of a bitch. Get out here!"