Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 35: Unjust Injustice
Deng Gui's sinister eyes were like knives, moving across the faces of the laundry woman and the two clerks who were on duty in the front hall of the yamen today.
The large suitcase that had been pulled out with the iron wedge was moved to the middle of the bedroom. Deng Gui had already looked through the clothes inside. Except for the small bag of gold and silver, the secret letter and other clothes in the suitcase were still there.
Jin Longquan, Tang Tiande and others stood beside Deng Gui with expressionless faces. They had no idea what was lost, but they also understood why Deng Gui was so angry.
No matter how insignificant the inspector Deng Gui was, he was the only one representing the imperial court in Huaiyuan Town. Not only had the Hutouling bandits robbed and killed merchants and travelers, but now a thief had even broken into his room. How could he not be furious?
"Except for that idiot from the Xu family, is it true that no one else has come in?" Deng Gui asked again in a low voice.
"The government office is very deserted today, with not many people coming in and out. Wang Fu and I did not leave the front hall at the same time, so we could see who was coming in and out. Except for Xu Huai who came over and said he wanted to stay with Mr. Deng for a while, everyone else came over and told me and Wang Fu what they were doing and then left without staying. After Xu Huai left the government office, he went out of the military camp and has not returned yet." said a clerk with a dark face.
"Wang Fu also thinks that Mr. Deng is the most urgent matter, so he should quickly send someone to capture Xu Huai." Another clerk echoed.
They had heard Xu Huai's mutterings when he left the government office. Even when Deng Gui came back and found his room robbed, they had no doubt that it was Tang Tiande who sneaked in and did it.
However, Xu Huai had been missing since he left the military camp in the afternoon. If they confessed the truth now and there was no one to cross-examine him, Deng Gui might not be able to do anything to Tang Tiande.
They thought that instead of offending Tang Tiande and the Tang family behind him, it would be better to put the blame on Xu Huai first.
"Don't bully me too much!"
Seeing these two clerks looking at each other while talking, as if they were afraid that the other party would let the cat out of the bag, Deng Gui was almost furious.
If these two people were not related to the Jin, Tang, Qian and other big families, he would have slapped them in the face. But now he could only suppress his anger, pointed at the top of the courtyard wall on his left hand with some trembling, and asked,
"Are you trying to say that these traces were deliberately created by that idiot from the Xu family so that I would mistakenly think that someone climbed over the wall to get in and out?"
"I also find it very strange." The black-faced clerk said with a stiff face.
"So when you saw him coming in and out, you never asked why he came?" Deng Gui asked in a low voice.
"Lord Deng, send someone to capture Xu Huai, and we'll know everything," said the black-faced clerk.
Just when Deng Gui was about to lose control of himself, a soldier came running over to report: "Xu Huai has returned to the military camp. Sir, do you want to arrest him for questioning?"
"What else do you have to say now? Do you still want to bully me at this time?" Deng Gui could no longer control the anger in his chest. He raised his foot and kicked the black-faced clerk. He grabbed the sword at his waist and glared at the clerk, as if he would draw his sword and chop him into pieces if he dared to tell a lie again.
He is usually good-tempered, but at this critical moment, he has no temper at all. Everyone in the world would think he is a sick cat.
"Xu Huai said that Tang Dutou sent him to find you, but when he left he said that Tang Dutou was already in the yard. But we didn't see Tang Dutou in the yard." The black-faced clerk knelt on the ground and said in fear.
"You're talking nonsense." Tang Tiande, who was looking forward to a good show, did not expect that things would suddenly turn to him. He immediately flew into a rage and scolded the clerk.
Deng Gui gave Tang Tiande a cold look and asked the black-faced clerk, "Why didn't you say anything just now?"
The black-faced clerk wanted to slap himself twice. If he had told the truth at the beginning, he would have been able to face it frankly now. How could he defend himself now?
Did he tell Deng Gui that the reason he didn't say it just now was because he thought Deng Gui couldn't defeat Tang Tiande who had the support of the Tang family?
"Are you deliberately hiding this from me as well?" Deng Gui looked at another clerk named Wang Fu with an uncertain expression.
"I am hard of hearing. Xu Huai seemed to have said something when he left, but I didn't hear it clearly!" Wang Fu didn't care about his companions' resentful eyes at this time and completely pushed the matter away from himself.
"Go and capture that bastard Xu Huai, pry open his fucking mouth, and ask him which eye of his dog saw me in this yard!" Tang Tiande shouted angrily . He didn't want to take the blame for no reason.
Deng Gui took a few deep breaths, then suddenly waved his hand and said calmly, "Okay, nothing is missing from my room. It's just that everyone is panicking because of the banditry these days, so I was just joking with you all! Don't take it to heart, Tang Dutou. I'll treat you all to a drink to apologize some other day."
Deng Gui's transformation surprised many people.
Tang Tiande suddenly realized that Deng Gui had always believed that he was the one who sneaked into the courtyard, but he didn't want to break up with the Tang family, so he just lightly exposed it. He was so angry that his heart and lungs were about to explode, and he shouted: "How can this be..."
"Tian De, since you said it was a joke, you shouldn't keep pestering me." Jin Longquan grabbed Tang Tian De's waving hand and calmed him down.
"I..." Tang Tiande's face turned red when he saw Jin Longquan like this.
"Come on, let's go out and talk." Jin Longquan pulled Tang Tiande out.
Deng Gui also signaled everyone else to leave: "Okay, I'm a little tired today, I'll treat everyone to a drink another day."
Tang Tiande was dragged out of the corridor, feeling very angry. He said, "If I don't bring that bastard Xu Huai here to ask for justice, how can I wash away this shit that has been put on my head?"
"Tian De, let me ask you, how many people in this military camp can pull out the copper wedge?" Jin Longquan asked.
"That bastard Xu Huai was born with supernatural powers, so why can't it be him?" Tang Tiande asked.
"I have no doubt that Xu Huai could smash the suitcase to pieces with one punch, but he pulled the copper wedge out bit by bit, and there was no sign of digging or prying. It couldn't be him. I mean, Tian De wouldn't even confuse the difference between exerting force and exerting strength, right?" Jin Longquan said, "No matter who planned it, the person behind the scenes let Xu Huai go back to the military camp, so he must be sure that we can't get the truth out of him. If you keep pestering him, what good will it do except for forcing Lord Deng to turn against you?"
"I..." Tang Tiande felt extremely aggrieved and wanted to pull out his knife and chop around to vent his anger. However, Jin Longquan's words made sense. This matter was too strange. Even if he wanted to find out what was going on, he should not be so reckless.
"Come on, I'll treat you to a drink!" Jin Longquan pulled Tang Tiande out of the military camp, fearing that he would run into that idiot from the Xu family and lose control of his temper again.
Deng Gui stood behind the courtyard wall holding the ladder, looking gloomily at Jin Longquan and Tang Tiande as they walked out of the military camp. He said to an old servant who had followed him for many years, "Follow Jin Longquan and Tang Tiande and see who they meet when they go out. Do you really think I, Deng Gui, am weak and can be bullied?"
…
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When Xu Huai returned to his residence, Su Di was talking to Wang Xuan. Su Di found an excuse to send Wang Xuan away, tiptoed over and said, "You bastard, how come you act like nothing happened? Did you see Xu Wuliang?"
Xu Huai glanced at the setting sun over the western hills and said, "If Uncle Seventeen doesn't send someone to deliver the letter in another hour, we will leave the military camp! Uncle Wu Liang and his men will prepare the horses and wait for us at the south of the military camp. Then we will go south along the Baijian River and wade across the river to Yuhuangling at Huangshitan!"
"You really didn't tell old husband Wang?" Su Di only found out about all this last night. When she saw Xu Wujiang and the others off in the morning, she managed to control her panic. She didn't dare to step out of the house the whole day, for fear that someone would find out. She didn't expect that Xu Huai not only sneaked into Deng Gui's room and stole the secret letter, but also ran to find Xu Wuliang and Liu Qiong'er to discuss the plan of retreating to Yuhuangling. By then, she could walk back to the military camp as if no one was around.
However, this matter was caused by Wang Bing. Xu Huai discussed everything with Wang Bing and Lu Xiong, but he hid it from them in the end. Su Di always felt uneasy.
"As long as we leave the military camp and wait for the news from Uncle Seventeenth, Old Master Wang and Master Lu will guess everything, and they will not be implicated by us at all. What can we say to them now, saying that we are going to become bandits? Does Aunt Seventeen want them to keep the secret for us, or does she want them to be loyal to the court and go to Deng Gui to report us now?" Xu Huai said.
"Yes, I was panicked, my mind was in a mess, I had no idea what was going on! I don't know what kind of heart you have. You have deceived us for so long, but you are still acting as if nothing happened." Su Di smiled bitterly, raised the sword in his hand, and said, "I haven't used this sword for two years, and my hand is rusty."
Su Di fled with her parents to Tongbai Mountain and settled there. She was not a delicate lady. Before she married Xu Wujiang, she did all the rough and tiring work at home and also learned some martial arts.
In Tongbai Mountain, it is not shocking for girls to practice martial arts.
However, after marrying Xu Wujiang, Su Di thought about taking care of her husband and children. There were two people in the house, Xu Huai and Xu Xin'an, who were particularly greedy. There was no extra money to hire servants or maids. Su Di had to take care of all the tedious chores in the house by herself, so she gave up the matter of practicing martial arts.
Su Di's reaction was much better than Xu Huai had expected. He did not say anything at the moment. They lit a fire in the house as usual to prepare for afternoon meal (dinner), and secretly made final preparations to sneak out of the military camp.
In addition to the straight-backed long sword, waist sword, bag sword and crossbow that he could carry with him, Xu Huai certainly could not just carry the longbow that Xu Wujiang left for him on his back.
If someone saw this, it would be inexplicable.
A longbow is more than four feet long, and it needs both a bow and an arrow. Su Di prepared a large bamboo basket and put two bundles of iron arrows, climbing ropes, iron hooks and other items in it. The longbow was wrapped in cloth so that its head could stick out of the bamboo basket.
After dinner, when it got dark, Xu Huai walked around the military camp, mainly to make sure there was nothing unusual. Then he returned to the house, took his things with Su Di and walked out of the back door.
The military camp of the Inspection Office was 250 steps deep and 1,000 steps in circumference.
The Inspection Office usually has no local soldiers to help guard it. Even if no soldiers are sent out, there are only 120 soldiers. At night, at most 30 to 40 soldiers can be arranged to patrol. Usually, the manpower is concentrated at the east and west gates of the village.
In order to save firewood, people would not even light bonfires in other sections of the village wall. It was only after two bloody robberies and killings occurred on the horse trail that the guards would patrol at regular intervals according to the rules. But in the eyes of Xu Huai and others who were familiar with the internal situation, such a warning system was full of loopholes.
The village wall was made of rammed earth and was only about ten feet high. Xu Huai hooked his fingers on the cracks in the wall and quickly climbed up the wall to bring up the bamboo basket. Su Di didn't need his help either, as he climbed up the wall more flexibly than him.
Outside the southern wall was a flat land, and there was no moat separating it from the outside. Hearing Xu Wuliang's disguised bird calls in the distance, Xu Huai and Su Di walked through the tall weeds, met up with Xu Wuliang hiding under an elm tree, and then sneaked together to where the horses were hidden...
