Chapter 43: Killing the Tiger

  Lu Qi originally wanted to get close to the newly appointed Hu Jun County Wei, but when he saw that they looked down on him with the same dog-like eyes, he naturally wouldn't make a fool of himself.

  This time, although three county guards welcomed the escort together, the troops provided by the county government were very different. Lu Qi only brought 100 self-trained soldiers, while the other two led 150 regular official soldiers each. The military might of the armor and helmet was so strong that it suppressed Lu Qi's team into a follower.

  Lu Qi did not argue or show any dissatisfaction. He quietly and intentionally kept a distance from the others who were waiting, and secretly ordered his soldiers to rest in place, which made their military appearance even more disorganized.

  It wasn't until noon that the high-ranking officials from the imperial court arrived, and Lu Qi knew that the official was Rong Jian, the Minister of War, who was also the future father-in-law of Xiao Si. He had come to Fuzhou to inspect military affairs. Minister Rong had 200 guards, and at a glance, Lu Qi could tell they were all agile warriors. The county government's dispatch of soldiers to escort them was just for show; if there really were assassins, the local troops would only add to the chaos.

  Lu Qi thought Lord Rong would summon the three county guards, but only one central army lieutenant came, ordering the county soldiers to lead the way and beheading anyone who approached the guard. After receiving the order, the county soldiers hastily led the way, and Lu Qi led his troops to clear the road. To avoid misunderstandings, he specially sent two people to see Lei Song and others, stating that the military discipline of the Brave Army was not regular, so Lord Rong would see it as a misunderstanding that the officials of Shitou County did not take the escort seriously.

  He was the first to return to the county town, and when he arrived at the county town, he saw that the city gate was filled with officials and soldiers. He also met County Magistrate Sun and the county lieutenant for the first time.

  County Magistrate Sun's appearance really made Lu Qi stunned, he was a 26 or 27 year old, handsome and elegant young scholar. When Lu Qi went forward to pay his respects, Magistrate Sun asked about the situation in a very gentle manner, after asking, he also praised him with a few words, making Lu Qi have a good impression of Magistrate Sun.

  The two county lieutenants in charge of the city's defense, Lu Qi didn't know them, but today he saw them, both were tall and sturdy military men. One had a big beard and a square face, with a solemn expression. The other had a round face with a slight mustache, with a gentle complexion. Lu Qi politely stepped forward to pay his respects, but the two county lieutenants merely raised their hands in a slight bow before looking straight ahead, leaving Lu Qi feeling somewhat embarrassed by their coldness.

  He walked to the side of Wang Zhubu and paid his respects, but Wang Zhubu was solemnly saying: "Lu sir, after you escort Rong sir out of the county tomorrow, when you come back, go to the county government office to find me, I have some things to tell you. Now disperse the soldiers and let them return home to rest."

  Lu Qi's heart sank, knowing it wouldn't be good news. He bowed and said, "Alright, I'll go to the county government office tomorrow to find Magistrate Wang." After finishing speaking, he turned around and left.

  As he walked towards the brave soldier, Lu Qi's heart grew heavier. He understood what Wang Zhongbo had said that morning, hinting that someone was going to replace him or that Lei Yang, the military general, had taken over as the protector of the county, and Wang Zhongbo no longer wanted to use him, this excellent bow. It was unthinkable that his dismissal would come so soon, he knew that if he were removed from the position of protector of the county, it would be almost impossible to get back to basics.

  Returning to the front of the army, he looked at the soldiers with a complicated heart. He was reluctant to give up this opportunity for autonomous military operations, and the rise of the Lu family also needed an official backing. However, dismissal was imminent, and there was no time for him to make waves to keep his position.

  Looking at the bravery of the soldiers, thinking about the benefits of the Lu family, Lu Qi's heart moved, and he coldly thought to himself: "If I'm going to be dismissed from my duties tomorrow, then going to escort him would be completely meaningless. Well, this official position can't be held in vain, it must be used at least once."

  He made up his mind, immediately ordered the dispersal of the soldiers and braves, but called back ten messengers, secretly ordering them to go to the drill ground to fetch three quivers of arrows each and wait for him. He said he was going to carry out a task, and the ten messengers went as ordered.

  Arrangements were made for the errand boy to handle matters, and Lu Feng mounted his horse and galloped off towards the West City Gate. Upon entering the city, he found a shop and immediately asked his brother to hand over the prepared list of medicines to him. He was now going to San Yuan County to purchase medicine. Lu Tian Hua listened and hastily pulled out the list to double-check it one more time.

  Lu Qi and others waited in the middle, looking outside, suddenly asked: "Brother, have you seen Chen Hu?"

  Lu Tianhua was taken aback and replied in a harmonious tone, "I've seen him before. This morning, I coincidentally ran into Old Man Chen Hu as he was leaving the city. At that time, I saw those dozen or so people riding horses with great fanfare, and only after asking around did I find out who it was. You wouldn't believe it, but Old Man Chen Hu's appearance is quite elegant and refined - truly not what you'd expect from a local tyrant."

  Lu Qi's eyes flashed with a fierce light, he knew that once the position of Protector County Lieutenant was lost, Chen Hu, the evil tyrant of West Main Street, would likely send someone to cause trouble for the pharmacy business. No need to smash the shop openly, just scaring away customers would be enough to make the pharmacy lose all its old capital.

  At first, he had an idea to kill Chen Hu when he heard the carriage driver mention him outside the city. He wanted to take advantage of the chaos caused by the evil tyrant's power struggle and let the Lu family buy another shop to venture into business on West Main Street. However, after hearing that Chen Hu's backer was Niu County Magistrate, he gave up the idea, because killing Chen Hu would allow Niu County Magistrate to immediately support another big shot, and Lu Qi would not have the opportunity to enter the business world of West Main Street with a heavy punch.

  Lu Qi took the list of medicines to buy, and asked Chen Hu and his men about their clothing and appearance in detail. Leaving the shop, he estimated roughly and went home to take 1,500 taels of silver. He told his mother that someone had come to ask questions, and honestly told her that he was going to sell medicine, and would be back soon. His mother reminded him to be more careful.

  Lu Qi took two short spears from his home, carried some silver and rode a horse out of the city. On his way to Wangjiangbao, he changed into casual clothes and headed east towards Dongliu Village. He had made up his mind that if he encountered Chen Hu on this trip, he would rob and kill him. If not, it would be Chen Hu's good fortune. By killing Chen Hu, Lu Qi could not only resolve some of the crises at the pharmacy on West Main Street but also intimidate the big shots in the county town with a show of force, making them aware of the terror of the bandits. Perhaps he could even salvage his job that was about to be lost.

  The cavalry was very fast, and the tens of miles of road were passed in a short time. Lu Qi looked far away at the direction of the county town, found the main road leading to Dongliu Village, perhaps due to the banditry, there were no human footprints on the main road, Lu Qi slowly advanced towards Dongliu Village under the scorching sun. At this time, he was worried about his official position and family interests, and did not consider the consequences of his reckless military adventure. If he failed to kill someone or let someone escape, it would be a disaster that would cost him his head.

  He advanced about half a mile, and Lu Qi's eyes locked onto a group of horsemen approaching from the front. He gritted his teeth and urged his horse to gallop forward. If this group was Chen Hu's party, relying on his rich experience in battlefield charges, he could quickly fight off several people.

  The crowd in Lu Qi's eyes became clearer and clearer, his eyes filled with a strong killing intent. From their clothes and appearance, this group of people was indeed Chen Hu and his entourage. Chen Hu had brought eleven subordinates, but these eleven people were not surrounding Chen Hu. One of them walked alongside Chen Hu, while the others followed behind him in pairs, forming a long line like a horse team.

  Chen Hu Chang was indeed elegant, in his thirties, wearing brocade clothes and a jade belt. Alongside Chen Hu was a man with sword-like eyebrows and tiger-like eyes, dressed in black tight-fitting attire. Lu Qi knew it must be Zhao Er Ye, and he was the primary target of the attack.

  Chen Hu and his party were not walking fast, and they didn't notice the lone horseman galloping towards them. They were on guard against mountain bandits, but a single rider didn't arouse their vigilance. Before they knew it, the lone rider was only five meters away, just as he was about to pass by, he suddenly pulled out two short spears from his back and threw them out with incredible speed.

  "Ah, no good!" Zhao Er Ye, dressed in black, suddenly shouted loudly, but unfortunately it was too late. The short spear arrived in the blink of an eye and pierced his heart. Chen Hu, who was beside him on horseback, didn't even have time to react, and stared blankly as the short spear passed through his chest.

  Kill! Lu Qi struck twice, immediately let out a loud roar, the long knife flashed out of its sheath and rushed towards the riders in the back, the horse was like a strong wind and the knife was like lightning, one by one their necks were cut down by the blade, some people's heads directly rolled off, this group of lazy rascals under the scorching sun didn't react until the killing reached near, then they panicked and drew their weapons or turned their horses, one by one they were beheaded like targets.

  Lu Feng reined in his horse and looked back, a string of fresh blood dripping from the tip of his long knife. He breathed lightly, his eyes filled with a hint of incredulity as he gazed at the corpses. These people were too easy to deal with, he thought, it was almost too smooth sailing for him on the battlefield.

  After calming down for a while, Lu Qi realized that this was completely the result of a surprise attack. The two armies were facing each other, but these people never thought that a lone rider would kill them, and they were just a mob of thugs, how could they be compared to a well-trained army? Of course, if Lu Qi stopped and shouted to announce his presence, he might not have been able to escape, because this place was only a dozen miles away from the fortress city.

  Lu Qi dismounted his horse and quickly searched the bodies, finding two large packages of silver and debt contracts. It seemed that Chen Hu had been collecting debts. He packed up the silver and contracts, then skillfully set up a fake scene of bandits killing each other, beheading all the corpses and arranging them together to create a gruesome sight. He also used arrows to leave fatal wounds on the bodies.

  He then shot and killed the three horses that had not run away with arrows, after which he took off his bloody clothes and put them along with the broken bloody spear into a captured horse bag. He then took out another set of robes from his own military bag and changed into them. After changing his clothes, he checked the horse's body again for any bloodstains before mounting up and galloping towards Wangjiang Pavilion.