Chapter 1: Perplexity

  "Master, don't believe him! I've heard of this scoundrel's name before. He's a notorious rascal in the Yangxin area, with a gang of followers who specialize in robbery and murder. They've brought disaster to many places, killed countless people, and even spare no children! He's truly deserving of death! Never has he shown any regard for morality! Who would have thought that today he'd fall into your hands? The authorities are currently offering a reward for his capture, and now you can rid the people of this great evil!" At this point, Xue Yan heard this and immediately shouted from the donkey cart.

  Gao Huaiyuan heard this and didn't plan to let him off, so he slapped the scoundrel's mouth with the back of his knife, scolding: "You dare to deceive me? I see you're not going to give up until you die! Today you fell into my hands, it's your bad luck. Who told you to listen to that sly guy and come find trouble with me? Get up, or I'll kill you right now!"

  Jin Heihu was beaten by Gao Huaiyuan, and then he was beaten until he was covered in bruises, so scared that he almost shit and pissed himself, and hastily scrambled to his feet, begging for mercy repeatedly like a pig being slaughtered.

  Gao Huaiyuan didn't bother to reason with him, and kicked the remaining few awake. He made them stand up, then twisted a rope, tying these guys together with the rope. With a big kick, he said: "Be honest for once, let's go! Go to Daye County government office yourself to beg for mercy! If you don't behave, I'll kill all of you scum right now!"

  So these guys had no choice but to follow Gao Huaiyuan on the road, Gao Huaiyuan took a look at the dead guy on the ground, it's not a good idea to leave him here like this, so he cut down a few tree branches, made a stretcher, put the corpse on the stretcher, and used ropes to drag it behind the donkey cart, driving the cart himself, escorting a group of scum on the road towards the old mansion.

  After these guys returned to the old mansion with Gao Huaiyuan, they first dealt with their own and Xue Yan's injuries. After careful consideration, they felt that sending these guys to Daye County was a bit too showy. At this time, he wasn't in the mood for showing off, it was better to do things low-key, lest they attract resentment from some nearby villains!

  He immediately ordered that no one was allowed to reveal the capture of Jing Heihu and his men, and immediately sent someone to Daye County to invite Xing Captor over. Only then did he hand over these scums to Xing Captor, telling him all about the cause and effect of the matter, and told him to deal with these guys!

  Xing caught his head off guard, only to find out that Gao Huaiyuan actually had such great kung fu skills. He captured the notorious Jiang Heihu, who had been a constant thorn in the side of the authorities but always managed to evade capture. What's even more astonishing is that Gao Huaiyuan almost single-handedly took down Jiang Heihu's entire gang!

  Then, Xing Bu Tou looked at Gao Huai Yuan with even more admiration and repeatedly praised him. Gao Huai Yuan didn't want to take credit for this, so he simply attributed all the merit to Xue Yan, saying: "Xing Bu Tou misunderstood, I'm just a young man, how could I have such abilities? This is all due to the efforts of my loyal servant! My servant has some martial arts skills and risked his life to save me after encountering this situation. He's now seriously injured and almost lost his life! Even I got hit a few times, but fortunately, my injuries aren't severe. Now, let's leave it to Xing Bu Tou to handle the matter!"

  "Wow, Lord Gao has such a formidable loyal servant! I must say, I'm truly impressed! However, no matter what, you also have a share in this matter, Lord Gao - it's a great achievement! Young Master Gao being able to eliminate the evil for the people is a wonderful thing for the reputation of the Gao family! I'll take these guys back and go to County Magistrate to request rewards for Lord Gao!" Xing the captain said immediately.

  "Hold on! Didn't I say so before? From now on, don't call me High Commissioner again, just call me Brother from now on! This matter is not something I want to make a big show of. As the saying goes, 'a tall tree attracts strong winds.' It's better not to draw attention to this kind of thing. Otherwise, those thieves around here will remember their grudge against me, and it won't be easy for me to get along with them in the future!"

  I'd appreciate it if you could help me cover this up, and make sure not many people find out. As for the reward, just consider it a drink on me!

  However, this time Xiang Er still had a thief escape, and I'm afraid my family won't be peaceful from now on. Little brother has another request, wanting to ask Captain Xing to persuade him to get some self-defense tools. From this matter, it seems that little brother's previous actions have offended a group of petty people, and it won't be easy to live a peaceful life in the future! It's still better to be prepared! I don't know if older brother can help little brother with this? Gao Huaiyuan quickly stopped Captain Xing and took the opportunity to bring up this request again.

  Gao Huaiyuan said this, and Xing Boutu also understood the reason behind it. Gao Huaiyuan did this, indeed, he had his own reasons. In recent years, there have been constant frictions between Song and Jin, and many refugees from the north have fled here. The situation on the ground is not calm either, with bandits roaming around, and even if they were caught, it would be impossible to catch them all. Gao Huaiyuan was able to consider this, which made him feel admired, showing that he had thought things through carefully. And in this way, as long as he communicated with the county magistrate, after the reward came down, he could take a large share of it, which was equivalent to Gao Huaiyuan giving it to them for free. How could they not be happy about it?

  Such a good thing, Xing the captain naturally wouldn't give it up, and readily agreed: "Since Young Master Gao is so kind to us rough men, then I, Xing, will also be courteous! This matter can be left to me, Xing, and I'll make sure it doesn't get out. As for what Young Master Gao wants, I don't know what you want? Just say it, as long as we can do it, we'll definitely get it for Young Master Gao!"

  Gao Huaiyuan took the opportunity to say, "There's not much of a requirement, just a few knives and guns, and casually get me a few bows! If I have these things here, at least I'll feel more at ease."

  "Alright! This is easy to handle, there are still some at the county yamen, I'll have someone send them over to Young Master Gao another day. No big deal! It's just a few knives and guns, a few bows, right? The rural military has plenty, and besides, these years haven't been peaceful, we've also organized an archery club here, now the requirements for archery aren't strict either! This is easy to say! Leave it to me to handle!" Deputy Captain Xing readily agreed, he was now essentially taking someone's money, so of course he had to help them out of trouble. Besides, as a martial man in charge of capturing and investigating in the county seat, he naturally had to have some control over these things, so this matter wasn't difficult for him either.

  After Xing the captain took away Jin Heihu and his men, there was no more news about it. However, the county government issued a warrant for Gao Hua's arrest, and Jin Heihu and others were sentenced to death after autumn. The news on the street did not spread that Gao Huai had captured Jin Heihu and his gang, but instead said that Captain Xing led the capture of Jin Heihu, catching them all at once, and received a reward, completely covering up Gao Hua's matter this time.

  Gao Huaiyuan wouldn't care about this empty reputation, on the contrary, he felt very relieved that Xing Boutu did so. He didn't want to become a target and deal with those bandits' harassment for no reason. Now it's perfect, Xing Boutu took over, everyone is happy!

  Xing caught the head and did not eat his words. As soon as he returned to the county government office, he immediately sent someone to send a batch of weapons to Gao Huaiyuan, which was considered a return for Gao Huaiyuan. After Gao Huaiyuan received these things, he checked them out and found that there were more than a dozen single knives, a pile of gun heads, more than a dozen bows, and a large bundle of arrows.

  Gao Huaiyuan picked up a bow, pulled it once, and roughly felt that it was about the size of a seven-dou bow, which was just suitable for his young men to practice shooting. With this, Huang Yan and others were satisfied.

  This New Year, due to Gao Huaiyuan and Xue Yan's injuries, the festive atmosphere at the Gao family's old mansion dissipated a lot. Liu'er had to take care of Gao Huaiyuan every day, cleaning his wounds and changing his dressings. This actually made Gao Huaiyuan feel the warmth of his loved ones. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he rested well for several days, being lazy for once. Since arriving in this era, he had never been so idle before!

  Moreover, in the previous year, Gao Huaiyuan also received a letter from Shaoxing, which included Gao Jian's handwriting and Zhao Yujue's. Gao Jian was very satisfied with Gao Huaiyuan's proper handling of the old house affairs at the old residence.

  Especially after Gao Huaiyuan cleaned up the attempt to embezzle by Gao Laogen, and also changed the rent, Gao Jian was full of praise. He didn't care about collecting more grain money, but rather felt that he had done the right thing in sending Gao Huaiyuan back to the old house initially. So he was also relieved. In the letter, he also instructed Gao Huaiyuan to get along with his neighbors, and if possible, read a few more books. He even sent someone to deliver some clothes to Gao Huaiyuan, as a way of showing his paternal love.

  After receiving Gao Jian's letter, Gao Hua yuan knew that from now on, he had already stood firm in the old house! As for Zhao Yu and Ju's letter, there was nothing special, just Zhao Yu and Ju expressing their thoughts of missing Gao Hua yuan, reporting his own safety, saying that those little brothers in Shaoxing Prefecture took good care of him, and asking Gao Hua yuan to rest assured.

  After reading Zhao and Ju's letter, Gao Hua Yuan also felt at ease. This little Comrade Zhao is still quite sentimental! He has been thinking of me all the time since I left, he's a pretty good friend!

  In the New Year, Gao Huaiyuan did not go out because of his injuries. The remaining henchmen of Jin Heihu, including Xie Er, also disappeared and were likely frightened away. As a result, the Gao family's old mansion was quiet and nothing else happened. However, Gao Huaiyuan still instructed Huang Yan and others at the mountain villa to be more careful and sent all the weapons to the mountain villa with Li Tong.

  Because of Gao Huaiyuan's order, the servants on this side of the old house knew that Gao Huaiyuan and Xue Yan had captured Jing Heihu, but because of his instructions, no one dared to go out and show off, so this matter was controlled within the range of people who knew about it in the Gao family. The surrounding people only knew that Gao Huaiyuan was ill, as for what was loaded in the two large carts taken away by Xing Captor from here, they were not clear. When the tenant farmers heard that Gao Huaiyuan was ill, they came to visit him with some gifts, which moved Gao Huaiyuan very much. Although the gifts were all light, it was also a kind intention!

  Although Gao Huaiyuan was injured, he didn't idle around. He cleared out the original kitchen in the backyard and started tinkering again.