Chapter 15: Kill the Chicken to Warn the Monkey

  Liu Xin helped Ma Yun to the bedside, and today she was obviously frightened, still breathing rapidly. Liu Xin looked at the person kneeling in front of the bed, it was Er Ya. Earlier, when Liu Xin said he would send her back to the dental clinic, she fainted on the ground, after waking up, she had been kneeling here all along, seeing Liu Xin and Ma Yun return, crying and saying: "Master, madam, please don't drive me away, I will do my best from now on, and never dare to be like this again."

  Ma Yun looked at Liu Xin, Liu Xin's face was calm and unruffled, saying: "Er Ya, no matter what, a person without credibility cannot stand. You have already lost the trust of me and my wife, there is no place for you to stand in this mansion anymore. Let's do it this way, originally wanted to send you back to the pawnshop, but looking at your pitiful state, go home instead."

  Liu Xin said, and then took out the stack of slave contracts, lit them with the lamp in the house, burned them into a pile of ashes, and slowly told the children in the house: "From now on, you are no longer slaves of my family, you are all free people, go home."

  The children had just eaten their fill for two days, and no one was willing to leave. Ma Yun saw this scene and said to Liu Xin: "Husband, why don't you keep them? They are all poor people's children, it's really pitiful. Didn't you say you wanted to use some of the lower-ranking servants?"

  "Alright, since that's the case, you can all stay. However, from now on, you are no longer household slaves, but rather employees of my household. Work hard during your free time and learn to read, and each month you will receive some wages." Liu Xin thought for a moment, then turned to Er Ya and said, "However, you cannot stay, leave immediately!"

  The second girl Er Ya knelt down and kowtowed three times to Liu Xin and Ma Yun, saying "Master and mistress take care." Then she turned around and left.

  Ma Yun, though reluctant in her heart, knew that Liu Xin's mind was made up and did not try to persuade her further. She took out a string of copper coins from the head of the bed, pulled Er Ya over, stuffed them into her hand and said: "Go back and live a good life, you can go."

  Tears streaming down her face, she couldn't say a word, gritted her teeth and left.

  Liu Xin sighed and said to the other children: "You all go out too."

  Only the two of them were left in the house, and Ma Yun's mood also calmed down. She asked, "Husband, fortunately you came back quickly. If we had to wait until dawn for Li Cheng to bring people over, I really didn't know what to do. By the way, did you find Zhao Yun?"

  Liu Xin gently wrapped her slender waist and said, "Yes, it's all my fault for not considering thoroughly, almost causing a big disaster. From now on, wherever I go, you'll follow me. Zhao Yun has already been found, and he will arrive here in a few days. At that time, I felt a little uneasy, so I decided to rush back overnight, didn't expect something really happened. As for what's next, I don't know how to end it either."

  Ma Yun leaned her head on Liu Xin's shoulder and said, "You don't have to worry about me, I'm not a weak woman who can't even tie up a chicken. Dealing with one or two small thieves is no problem for me. You should focus on thinking about how to deal with these officials. I think they are in cahoots with Li Cheng, so you should be careful."

  Liu Xin comforted him, "Don't be afraid of them. As the saying goes, the soft are afraid of the hard, and the hard are afraid of those who don't care about their lives. Look at those people Li Cheng brought, they came with a fierce attitude, but were scared off by Dian Wei and all ran away with their tails between their legs. This time when I went to Zhaojia Village, I coincidentally encountered some bandits robbing the villagers' food. What I'm worried about now is whether there are such bandits in Hejian Prefecture. If there are, then these common people under my rule will be in trouble. Forget it, let's not think about him for now, we'll talk when those officials arrive. You haven't slept all night, go rest first. The sky is almost bright, I'm going to practice some boxing."

  Liu Xin and Ma Yun lay down, walked into the yard, and threw a punch. Li Lin had woken up, with a rag stuffed in his mouth again, staring at Liu Xin with terrified eyes. Dian Wei had also wiped clean the bloodstains on the large iron halberd, standing guard at the door with spirit and vigor.

  Liu Xin walked over and patted his shoulder, saying: "How is it, tired?"

  Dian Wei grinned: "I'm not tired, this body of mine can go three days and nights without sleep. It's just that I haven't had enough killing."

  Liu Xin looked up at the red clouds on the horizon, the sun was about to rise, thinking of the impending chaotic era, shook his head and said: "Evil, you stay here and protect Madame, I'll go ahead and meet those officials."

  Dian Wei said: "Sir, no one else dares to come here anymore. I'll go with you to meet them."

  Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "No need, you can rest in this yard for a while. I don't believe it, are they even more fierce than the ferocious tiger in Chenliu?"

  As he entered the front hall, Zhang Jun and other officials were all waiting there, one by one rubbing their sleepy eyes, yawning continuously, obviously they had just been called out from their beds. Liu Xin looked at the people present and said: "Liu has disturbed everyone's good dreams."

  All officials saw Liu Xin come out and quickly stood up to salute: "Your subordinate has seen you, sir."

  Liu Xin waved his hand, signaling everyone to sit down, and he himself walked to the top seat, sat behind the table and said: "Everyone almost never saw me again."

  Chang Jun, the usually taciturn Zhang Jun, looked around and noticed that only County Magistrate Li Cheng and his nephew, Captain Li Lin, were absent. After hearing Liu Xin's words, he sensed something was amiss and unexpectedly stood up to say: "Sir, what makes you speak like this?"

  Liu Xin said: "Zhang Chang Shi, please sit down and let me tell you slowly. Just at midnight today, the school lieutenant Li Lin sneaked into my mansion with ulterior motives towards my wife, but was discovered by my wife and captured. At dawn today, the county magistrate Li Cheng led a group of people to forcibly break into the governor's mansion, intending to put this official to death. Zhang Chang Shi, I ask you, what crimes should these two be guilty of?"

  Zhang Jun heard, and indeed something unexpected happened. The opportunity was rare, but he didn't know how Li Cheng and his nephew were doing now, and whether he should make a move or not. He hesitated for a moment, saying: "This... this..."

  He didn't know how to answer, but one of them suddenly stood up and rushed towards Liu Xin, saying: "I don't know where the county magistrate and Li school lieutenant are now?"

  Liu Xin looked at him coldly and asked: "Who are you?"

  "That man replied: 'I am Mai Ke, a military historian. Please, sir, answer my question first.'"

  Liu Xin nodded and knew that this person must be Li Cheng's trusted confidant. Pretending to be nonchalant, he said: "So it's Magistrate Ma, I wonder what duties does the Military Affairs Historian have?"

  Ma Kei did not respond and instead continued to press him, saying: "Please, sir, answer my question first."

  Liu Xin snorted and said: "Hmph, you also know to call me sir, but in this hall, who is the governor, I or you? Do you still have me, your superior, in your eyes?"

  Magistrate Ma burst out laughing: "What is the Magistrate? The previous two were also driven away, I think you will not be able to hold on for a few more days." Several snickers came from below.

  Liu Xin slapped the table: "How dare you, Ma Ke! You have no respect for authority! Do you know your crime?"

  Ma Ke said: "I just want to see County Magistrate, what crime is there?"

  Liu Xin sneered and said to a soldier behind him, "Go, ask General Jian to bring Li Cheng over."

  The soldier responded and walked to the back, and the front hall suddenly fell silent. After a while, Dian Wei carried a package and walked in with big strides, shouting loudly: "Bring Li Cheng!" After finishing, he shook the package, and a bloody human head rolled out, rolling straight to Ma Ke's feet.

  Liu Xin said: "Ma Kai, this is the Li Cheng you wanted to see. He plotted to assassinate his superior and was killed on the spot. Zhang Changshi, Ma Kai just showed contempt for his superior and yelled in the court, according to the law, how should he be dealt with?"

  Zhang Jun saw that Li Cheng had been killed, let out a breath of relief, regained his composure, stood up and said: "Your Honor, Ma Kai is a military officer, according to the law he should be given thirty military lashes."

  Liu Xin glanced at the soldiers on both sides and shouted: "Take him down with me and execute him on the spot."

  Ma Ke flew into a rage: "I dare anyone!"

  The soldiers on both sides were indeed unwilling to move forward. All the officials looked at Liu Xin, waiting to see how he would handle it, but unexpectedly, Liu Xin smiled and said: "Well, since you don't want these soldiers to fight you, let my guard, General Tianwei, take care of it personally."

  Dian Wei heard the words and took a step forward, Ma Chao saw this fierce big man, his heart trembled, and he had to harden his scalp to welcome him. His right hand was about to punch Dian Wei when Dian Wei stretched out a large hand and grasped Ma Chao's fist with one hand. Ma Chao couldn't withstand Dian Wei's divine power, the phalanges and metacarpals of his right hand were all crushed, and he let out a loud cry before fainting.

  Dian Wei's hand relaxed, and Ma Chao collapsed to the ground like a lump of mud. Dian Wei grabbed a military club, ready to strike, but Liu Xin stopped him, saying: "Wait, let's revive him first."

  The soldiers on both sides had seen Dian Wei's brutal and terrifying appearance, and they didn't dare to hesitate anymore. They fetched a basin of cold water and splashed it onto Ma Chao's face. Ma Chao woke up, still shouting and yelling. Dian Wei ignored him, stepped on his back with one foot, and gave him a heavy blow on the buttocks, counting "one!"

  With this stick, all that could be heard was the crisp "crack" sound accompanied by Ma Ke's mournful cry, his buttocks split open and his legs broken. Dian Wei paid no attention to him and struck again, Ma Ke's body shook twice but he didn't make another sound.

  Dian Wei stopped his hand, and said in surprise: "This guy is even more arrogant than before." He used his stick to flip Ma Chao over, but saw that he was bleeding from all seven orifices, and had been beaten to death by Dian Wei's two sticks.

  General Dianwei tossed his halberd aside and muttered to himself, "This guy can't take a beating, he's done after just two blows."

  Liu Xin turned to the soldiers on both sides and said, "Take Mai Ke out and clean up this place." Liu Xin looked at Dian Wei who was still standing in the center of the hall, thought for a moment, and still felt a bit uneasy about Ma Yun who was taking a nap in the back house, so he ordered, "Erlai, you go back to the back first, if there's anything, I'll send someone to call you." Dian Wei nodded and retreated.

  There were two soldiers who wanted to lift Ma Kei's corpse, but as soon as they pulled it, Ma Kei was torn into two pieces, and his internal organs spilled all over the ground. Some timid officials didn't dare to look at it and turned their faces away. Even Liu Xin, who had seen Tian Wei kill Li Cheng in a more brutal scene, couldn't help but shake his head secretly. It seemed that Tian Wei really didn't know how to control his strength, and it looked like he needed to find an opportunity to have a good talk with him. Moreover, the death of so many people in the Taishou Mansion at once was too bloody, perhaps it was time to consider moving to another place to live.

  The soldiers simply cleaned the ground, and bloodstains could still be seen. Liu Xin looked at the trembling officials and thought to himself that this was probably what they meant by "killing a chicken to scare the monkeys".