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

Outside the courtyard, several men dressed in dark brown constable uniforms walked in.

The leader was carrying an account book and picking his nose with his little finger as he walked.

"Xue Li! I know you're home, get out here and pay your taxes."

Xue Rengui clenched his fists tightly in the room, took a deep breath, and finally suppressed the anger in his chest.

"Gentlemen, my family paid our autumn harvest in full to the county government last month, not even shortchanging them by a single penny. Why do we still have to pay taxes today?"

The lead constable rolled his eyes and casually flicked the booger he had picked from his nose onto Xue Rengui's shoe.

"Autumn grain is autumn grain, but have you paid the other taxes?"

He opened the account book in his hand and read aloud:

"Departure tax: two strings of cash; bandit suppression tax: one string of cash; bridge toll: five hundred cash..."

After finishing reading, he raised his head, glanced at the dilapidated thatched hut behind Xue Rengui, and sneered.

"By the way, the county magistrate just issued an order yesterday that all houses with roofs must pay a gate tax. Given how dilapidated your house is, I'll give you a discount and ask you to give me another string of cash."

Xue Rengui was stunned on the spot.

Gatehouse tax?

Our house doesn't even have a gate, just a few broken tree branches around it, why should we pay gate tax?

"Officer, you're leaving no way out for us!"

At this moment, Liu ran out of the house with red eyes.

"We can't even find a single grain of rice in our house right now, where are we going to get the money to pay these taxes?"

She knelt down with a thud and reached out to pull at the trouser leg of the leading constable.

"Please grant us a few more days, sir. We'll make it up to you after we sell the game we hunted..."

"Get out of here! Don't get my official uniform dirty."

The lead constable kicked Liu Shi directly.

Liu groaned and fell to the ground, scraping a large patch of skin off her hand.

"daughter in law."

Xue Rengui's eyes instantly turned red.

His terrifying aura suddenly erupted.

Several constables were so frightened by his imposing manner that they took two steps back.

The lead constable pointed at Xue Rengui's nose and roared:

"Xue Li! What are you trying to do? Rebel?"

I'm a constable in the county government. If you dare lay a finger on me, you're committing treason.

Not only will you lose your head, but your wife and your sickly old mother will both get stabbed.

Xue Rengui never raised his fist.

He could kill a tiger with a single punch, and crushing these scoundrels would be easier than crushing ants.

But he couldn't move.

The laws of the Tang Dynasty were strict. Beating up constables and refusing to pay taxes were serious crimes punishable by confiscation of property and extermination of the entire family.

His status as a law-abiding citizen cannot be ruined like this.

It doesn't matter if he dies, but what about his mother and wife?

Xue Rengui slowly lowered his fist, and his tall body instantly hunched over.

"Officer... I'll go borrow it, I'll go borrow it right now."

"Borrow? What the hell are you going to borrow? Everyone in the entire Longmen County knows you, Xue Li, are a penniless pauper."

Seeing that he had given in, the leading constable started to gloat again.

His lecherous gaze swept over Liu Shi's body for a couple of moments, and he stroked his chin with a lascivious grin.

"It's okay if you can't come up with the money. I think your wife, though dressed in rags, is actually quite clean."

The county government's brothel happens to need a few courtesans to wash feet and empty chamber pots. Arrest her to pay off the debt, and I'll waive the five strings of cash for you."

After saying that, he waved his hand behind him.

"What are you waiting for? Put the rope around it and take it away!"

The two constables chuckled, took out hemp ropes, and headed towards Liu.

"You dare!"

Xue Rengui, his eyes bloodshot, stood in front of his wife.

inside the house.

Cheng Chumo looked at the commotion outside, so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged out.

"Damn it! Is this still Tang Dynasty territory?"

Just as he rolled up his sleeves, ready to rush out...

Li Chengqian, expressionless, pressed Cheng Chumo to the spot.

"Master! These bastards are bullying us too much. Let me go and chop them up."

Cheng Chumo said anxiously.

"If you go out now, under what guise will you be able to attack?"

Li Chengqian's tone was frighteningly calm.

"If a merchant's bodyguard kills a government official in the street, Xue Rengui's family will still be implicated. The Wang family of Taiyuan is just looking for a pretext to deal with the displaced people, and you've handed them the knife."

Cheng Chumo was stunned. His grip on the knife tightened and loosened, and he gasped for breath in frustration.

Li Chengqian released his grip and walked out.

Xiao Shunzi and Fang Yi'ai quickly followed.

"Wait a minute."

The constables stopped and looked at Li Chengqian and his companions.

The head constable looked Li Chengqian up and down a few times. Seeing that he was dressed in ordinary silk and had several attendants behind him, he deduced that he was a passing merchant.

"Where did this blind scoundrel come from? Can't you see the officials are on duty? Get out of my way."

Li Chengqian ignored him and walked over to Liu Shi, helping her up.

Xue Rengui said from the side:

"Manager Li, this has nothing to do with you. The common people can't fight with officials. You should leave!"

Li Chengqian patted him on the shoulder, signaling him to relax.

He then turned to look at the leading constable.

"Sir, I have traveled all over the country and have read several volumes of the laws of the Tang Dynasty."

The imperial court explicitly stipulated that, apart from the autumn and summer taxes, local governments were not allowed to set up any other taxes.

"These departure taxes, bandit suppression taxes, and this absurd gate tower tax—which article or clause of the Tang Dynasty law stipulates these?"

The lead constable was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.

The constables behind him also burst into laughter.

"The Tang Dynasty Law? You nouveau riche from out of town, coming here to talk to me about the Tang Dynasty Law?"

Today, I'll teach you the rules here.

In Longmen County, Magistrate Wang's word is law!

The Wang family of Taiyuan is the law!

The head constable pointed an arrogant finger at Li Chengqian's nose.

"Don't even mention collecting a few measly taxes from him. Even if the Wang family wanted Xue Li dead, he would have to obediently wash his neck clean and wait."

Who do you think you are? Daring to meddle in the Wang family's affairs? Believe me or not, I'll lock you up too and throw you in jail to make you suffer.

Cheng Chumo and Fang Yi'ai had already closed their eyes.

That's a really formidable person.

Wang Gui did all the things he wanted to do but dared not do.

Pointing his finger at the crown prince and cursing him?

Who gave him the courage?

Is it the Wang family of Taiyuan?

After hearing what the constable said, Li Chengqian burst out laughing.

He was smiling very happily.

He had never been this happy since his rebirth.

The lead constable was so startled by Li Chengqian's laughter that he froze on the spot.

He had served in Longmen County for so many years, and anyone who mentioned the names of the Prince's Mansion and the County Government would be terrified.

Today, this nouveau riche from out of town not only didn't kneel down and beg for mercy, but instead dared to point at his nose and laugh loudly.

Where does this leave my pride?

"You son of a bitch! What are you laughing at?"

Enraged, the lead constable drew his sword from his waist.

"You dare to laugh at even Magistrate Wang's rules? I think you're tired of living."

"Brothers, lock up all these goods."

Several constables immediately surrounded him, and it looked like they were about to arrest him.

Xue Rengui coldly stared at the leading constable, who was already in a fighting stance.

Liu threw herself on Xue Rengui, crying, fearing that his impulsive act might bring about the destruction of their entire family.

Li Chengqian lazily raised his hand and said:

"Alright, put away your junk."

My name is Li Ming, and I'm from Chang'an. I don't have much else, but I have plenty of cash.

"You dare to brandish swords and spears here without even knowing which deity is enshrined in the temple?"

These arrogant words stunned the leading constable.

Li Chengqian then gave a wink to the person behind him.

Xiao Shunzi pulled a money pouch out of his pocket.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, Xiao Shunzi raised his arm upwards.

The money bag hit the leading constable squarely in the chest.

The bag wasn't tied tightly to begin with, and with that impact, it came undone.

A few gold coins mixed with a pile of silver coins rolled all over the ground with a clatter.

The constables stared wide-eyed.

The lead constable hurriedly picked up the money bag and glanced at it.

Goodness! This bag must contain at least a hundred strings of cash.

He usually followed the county magistrate to extort money from the land, charging taxes on gate towers and river repairs, and only by beating and scolding him could he squeeze out a few copper coins.

I've never seen such a divine scene where gold beans just pop out of your hand.

His arrogant demeanor vanished without a trace in an instant.

"This...this Mr. Li."

The lead constable didn't know what to do with his hands, and looked at Li Chengqian with a grin.

"Your hand gesture is simply too extravagant."

Xue Rengui stood there dumbfounded.

This Manager Li is incredibly wealthy!

He can just throw away a bag of gold and silver?