Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 40: Others Will Explain the Truth
While Su Di was entangled with Tang Tiande, Xu Wufu and others, Xu Huai hurried back to Xu Wujiang's house to get the longbow.
Liu Qiong'er also ran back to help, helping Xu Huai put on Xu Wuliang's old armor, and at the same time helped to tie the quiver diagonally behind his back; this is the fastest way to take out arrows.
Liu Qiong'er was standing in the crowd just now, watching the reactions of Xu Wufu and Xu Heng. She was worried that today's matter would not be easy to end , so she asked worriedly, "Will it make them more unscrupulous if you stand alone? Should we ask Xu Wuliang to stand up as well?"
"Uncle Wu Liang needs to keep an eye on the dark places, so we can't come out now," Xu Huai said, "But they are not ready to fight with their lives, so I am enough to shock them!"
Liu Qiong'er didn't know where Xu Huai got his confidence from, but she could only trust him at this time.
After Xu Huai got dressed, he led out a horse, rode on it, and slowly walked towards the village gate.
The sound of horse hooves came from behind. The people gathered at the village gate turned around and saw Xu Huai wearing leather armor, a long sword on his waist, a quiver on his back, and a longbow in his hand, like an unparalleled warrior standing in the alley of the village.
"What are you doing here, you bastard?"
Although Xu Zhongyu is the head of the Nanzhai Village, he usually follows Xu Wufu's lead. Just now, he was sticky and refused to express his opinion, and was very embarrassed when he was caught by a group of family members.
When he saw Xu Huai like this, he thought that this idiot had come here to cause trouble again, and was even wearing armor and holding a bow to pretend to be a military general. He jumped over and reached out to pull Xu Huai off the horse.
"Get out of here, you old dog!" Xu Huai kicked Xu Zhongyu so hard that he made him feel like a dog eating shit. He was afraid of kicking him to death, so he didn't dare to use too much force.
"How dare you be rude to your fifth uncle? You're really rebelling! Xu Wukun, go and take that bastard down and punish him according to the family rules!" Xu Heng's thigh was still aching slightly, and when he saw Xu Huai's lawless behavior, he jumped up and shouted.
"Who dares to arrest people?" Xu Huai stopped his horse, drew an arrow from his quiver, put it on the bowstring, and stared at everyone coldly.
"Xu Huai, put down your bow and arrow and apologize to your fifth uncle." Xu Wukun thought Xu Huai was making a fuss and pretended to scold him.
"Swoosh!" The arrow flew out of the string. The mud in front of Xu Wukun's feet was hard and he was hit by the arrow, splashing a little mud and sand.
Xu Huai knew that Xu Wukun had no intention of harming him, and he even stood up because he was worried that he would have no place to stand in Lutai Village in the future, but he couldn't let anyone get close to him at this time.
"Uncle Wu Kun! Don't force me to kill anyone."
"Xu Wukun, Xu Wufu, Xu Heng colluded with Deng Gui to frame my husband. Can't you see it? Are you going to be an accomplice to the crime?" Su Di screamed without losing the opportunity.
Xu Wuqi stretched out his hand to stop Xu Wukun and said gloomily: "Let's see what this bastard can do!"
Xu Wukun did not move forward, and said to Su Di in a hateful voice: "Don't harm Xu Huai."
Xu Heng shouted angrily, "What do you mean by collusion and frame-up, Su Di Niang, can you explain it clearly?"
"Deng Gui raped my husband. As the eldest son of our clan and an official in the provincial government, you did not think of redressing my husband's grievances, but allowed the officials to bully women and children. How can this not be collusion and harm? You are powerful and wealthy, and I cannot defeat you. Just take my life. I have nothing to fear." Su Di pointed the finger at Xu Wufu and scolded him.
While Su Di was "reasoning" in front, Xu Huai calmly took out another arrow from behind him and put it on the string.
At this time, Xu Zhongyu was groaning and trying to get up, but he didn't expect that his hand would land on a pile of dog shit. He became even more angry and embarrassed, and his hair and beard were about to explode. He cursed, "You little dog", and stood up as if to pounce on him again.
Xu Huai said nothing. He swung the longbow sideways, pointed it at Xu Zhongyu's face, and looked at him coldly.
Xu Zhongyu's nephews hurriedly stepped forward to drag him away, and advised: "Fifth uncle, why are you angry with this fool?"
"What's the matter with this idiot holding a longbow and wearing leather armor?" Tang Tiande saw that Xu Wufu, Xu Heng and others did not show a tough attitude, and thought he had won the battle. He squinted at the longbow in Xu Huai's hand inside the village gate, stared at Xu Wufu and asked him questions, urging him to hand over the person quickly.
"There are still three heavy crossbows and six sets of heavy armor in Lutai Village. Do you want to ask what's going on, Captain Tang?" Su Di asked coldly.
Tang Tiande had to swallow the words back and said nothing more.
Rural militia can be equipped with ordinary bows and arrows and leather armor during training, but crossbows and heavy armor are prohibited. However, heavy crossbows and heavy armor can be used to attack and defeat the enemy, which can be very effective.
Not only does Lutai Village have hidden weapons, but the Tang family also has some hidden weapons.
"Xu Wukun, arrest this bastard and take him to the ancestral hall to be punished by the family law!" Xu Heng was still unyielding to Xu Huai and urged Xu Wukun to arrest him.
"Young Master, why do you have to let outsiders laugh at you?" Xu Wukun said to Xu Heng with a wry smile.
If Xu Huai had not been stubborn, Xu Wukun might have asked two people to detain Xu Huai first, thinking that he would find someone to intercede for him after Xu Heng, Xu Zhongyu and the others had calmed down.
But now that Xu Huai was getting too stubborn, Xu Wukun was worried that forceful detention might hurt someone, so he refused to do it.
"You..." Xu Heng didn't expect Xu Wukun to ignore his call , and he was so angry that he urged others to come forward.
"Heng'er, stop talking." Xu Wufu sternly stopped Xu Heng from giving any more random orders.
He knew very well:
Xu Wukun and others followed Xu Wuxuan in becoming bandits and were incorporated into the Jingsheng Army together. If Xu Wuxuan had not died early and Xu Huai had not been stupid and incompetent, Xu Wukun and others might not have been used by him.
At this time, all the tribesmen were angry and indignant. How could they add fuel to the fire and force Xu Wukun to do something they didn't want to do?
Xu Wujiang and his twenty-odd soldiers had families that were not all women and children. They also had brothers, cousins, and even many of them had parents and uncles who were still in their prime.
If no one took the lead, Tang Tiande might have been able to capture a few people from Yuhuangling today for "cooperative investigation."
However, now Su Di was blocking the gate of the village, looking for death, and Xu Huai was wearing armor and holding a bow, looking like he would kill anyone who caught him. Everyone's blood was ignited.
At this moment, there were already twenty or thirty people coming over from their homes with carrying poles, kitchen knives, hoes and other items. Su Laochang also found a large guillotine from somewhere and was ready to give the fight a try.
Does Xu Wufu dare to order the farmhands to suppress these people?
Isn’t he afraid that the farmhands will also join in the noise?
It is not realistic to let Tang Tiande bring his men in to capture people by force. Will Xu Wukun and others sit back and watch Tang Tiande kill people in Nanzhai and make a river of blood?
Putting aside the friendship between Xu Wuxuan and the old soldiers of the Jingsheng Army, how many people in Lutai Village are not related?
Thinking of this, Xu Wufu knew that he had no other choice today. He stared at Tang Tiande with a gloomy face and asked:
"Captain Tang, you said you came here on the orders of Lord Deng. Do you have Lord Deng's warrant? Also, even if Xu Wujiang really surrendered to the bandits, Lord Deng should have reported the matter to the county, and County Magistrate Cheng should have sent runners to inquire about it. Why did Lord Deng inquire about this case privately?"
As an inspector, Deng Gui led the military troops to guard against banditry. He also served as the governor of Huaiyuan. He could organize troops to kill and capture bandits, interrogate merchants passing through, and investigate tax evasion and smuggling.
Deng Gui could inquire about ordinary cases and common disputes on the streets.
However, it was unreasonable for the prefectures and counties to continue to delegate power to Deng Gui to handle such serious cases as the surrender of soldiers from the Inspection Office to bandits.
"Why, Mr. Xu, are you going to deal with Tang impartially today? You should think clearly about what crime Xu Wujiang is involved in!"
Tang Tiande was usually afraid of Xu Wufu, fearing that Xu Wufu would talk to him about the "rules". However, he was certain that Xu Wujiang had surrendered to the bandits, especially since the Hutouzhai bandits had committed major crimes one after another, and the prefecture and county would never tolerate this.
At this moment, he wished he could implicate the entire Xu clan, so why would he be afraid of Xu Wufu using "rules" to pressure him?
Although there are many cattle-raising families in Tongbai Mountain and the conditions are not too restrictive, if you want to raise good horses, the Yuhuangling grassland has natural advantages that are not available elsewhere .
There are only a few dozen good horses produced in Lutai Village every year, but the rich and powerful compete for them, so the price of good horses is high.
There were only a few places in the entire southwest of Beijing that could produce good horses. With dozens of good horses as their signature every year, the mule and horse market run by the Xu family became famous.
This is the key to the Xu family’s financial strength being able to rival the Tang family in Tongbai Mountain.
Tang Tiande couldn't help but think that if the Xu family was implicated in this case, the Tang family might not be able to seize Yuhuang Ridge, but as long as they could seize the mule and horse markets in Huaiyuan, Biyang and other places, it would not be a small profit of a few hundred taels of silver a year.
Xu Wufu had no way out today, so he could only be tough and said in a cold voice: "No matter what the crime is, it is not your turn to make decisions, Tang Dutou!"
"Mr. Tang insists on arresting someone today?" Tang Tiande asked.
No matter how Xu Wujiang's matter is to be dealt with later, the big families in Tongbai Mountain have been fighting openly and secretly in recent years. How could Xu Wufu let Tang Tiande climb on his head to shit and piss? He said coldly: "Tang Dutou is big enough, you can give it a try, don't blame Xu for being rude."
"Arrest Xu Wujiang's parents and his wife Su to assist in the interrogation. Anyone who dares to stop them will be considered as collaborating with the bandits..." Before Tang Tiande finished giving the order, a whoosh sound was heard breaking through the air.
Tang Tiande had been a bit neglected in recent years, but he had not lost his vigilance as a warrior. At that moment, his face was twisted back several inches. An iron arrow flew past his nose like a meteor, and the wind brought by the arrow made his face numb.
Tang Tiande was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He turned around and saw that Xu Huai had already held three feather arrows in his hand at the same time. The bowstrings snapped continuously, and the three feather arrows flew towards his face like meteors.
"ah!"
Tang Tiande didn't dare to show off his bravery didn't care about his embarrassment and rolled off his horse. However, he was a little slow. A feather arrow pierced his scalp and his bun was torn off along with a strand of hair.
Tang Tiande touched his head and saw blood on his hands. He hurriedly snatched a shield from the soldier behind him before he dared to stand up.
Tang Tiande knew that he could not reason with Xu Huai, a fool, so he cursed at Xu Wufu: "Xu Wufu, you bastard, we are here on behalf of the Inspection Office. If you have the guts, surround and kill us here. I'll see if Mr. Deng will kill all nine generations of your Xu family after he reports this to the prefecture and county!"
"Xu Huai, stop it, you idiot!" Xu Wufu shouted angrily.
If Tang Tiande really died here, no matter how the lawsuit was fought in the prefecture and county, how many people would be killed or injured in the large-scale armed fight among the Xu and Tang clans in Tongbai Mountain?
"Master, you said we shouldn't be polite!" Xu Huai said in a muffled voice.
Xu Wufu was about to drive this idiot crazy. I was just bluffing, and you, a stupid ass, took it seriously?
Oh my God, he was afraid of irritating Xu Huai, so he didn't dare to ask anyone to snatch the longbow from Xu Huai's hand.
Xu Wukun stared at the longbow in Xu Huai's hand in a daze for a long time, then looked at Xu Wuqi beside him with some uncertainty: Did Xu Huai just draw his bow and shoot three arrows in succession, or was he dazzled?
At this moment, Xu Wuqi's hawk-like eyes suddenly narrowed and stared at the longbow in Xu Huai's hand.
