Chapter Fifty-One Behind the Scenes

  He pulled out his knife and touched the corpse again, but still found nothing. He stood up and took another look around, then walked quickly towards the door of the hut where the bandit had come from. As soon as he entered the hut, he was hit with a strong fragrance that made his eyes widen immediately, and his whole body felt hot.

  He entered the house not to catch thieves, but because he had a military occupational disease and wanted to take advantage of the situation. However, after entering the house, he saw a woman standing in front of the bed, her upper body bent over on the bed, her snow-white buttocks and legs exposed outward. Lu Qi took one look and couldn't help but feel hot-eyed. This woman was obviously raped by the thief and didn't dare move even after the thief left.

  He saw Lu Qi and had an urge to grab him, but he clearly understood that this was not a place for chaos. The consequences of acting impulsively would be terrible. He turned around, intending to leave, but suddenly stopped and walked behind the woman, gently patting her buttocks.

  "Hey, I'm the government army, the bandits have escaped, hurry up and get dressed." Lu Qise's heart was filled with a hint of sensuality as she softly called out to wake him.

  The woman suddenly sat up with a start, turned around and saw a young man standing behind her, his body covered in blood, holding a bloody knife in his hand, which scared the woman so much that she retreated and sat back on the bed.

  He took a glance at the woman, who was twenty-three or four years old, with a melon-seed face, willow-leaf eyebrows, bright eyes and red lips. She was a beauty. He suppressed his evil thoughts and asked seriously: "What is your position in the Chen Mansion?"

  The woman exclaimed in surprise: "I am the wife of Chen Qi's eldest grandson, are you a government soldier?"

  Lu Qi Zheng said, "I am an official soldier, I shouldn't have called you, but if the people of Chen Fu saw your posture just now, your life would be ruined. Quickly put on your clothes and hide under the bed, I won't say anything, and you don't need to mention seeing me either, take care of yourself." After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked out.

  The woman was stunned, looked down and saw her delicate face changed, hurriedly grabbed the clothes to put them on, and then drilled under the bed as Lu Qi said. She was extremely grateful to this official soldier Lu Qi.

  Lu Qi rushed out of the house and hurriedly joined forces with two groups of soldiers to start searching for the bandits together. This was his wise move, as he had already gained a great advantage, and being greedy would only bring disaster.

  After Lu Qi led the Yongying Army to storm into Dongliu Village, more than 200 local soldiers also gathered. After a chaotic battle against the bandits, 42 bandits were killed and 2 were injured and captured.

  Lu Qi took the two captured bandits to a house, leaving only Wang Dao and Du Meng inside. Without saying a word, he raised his knife and cut off one of the bandit's left feet. The bandit let out a blood-curdling scream in pain. Du Meng and Wang Dao saw this and their faces changed slightly, both feeling a chill run down their spines, shocked by Lu Qi's ruthlessness.

  "Tell me, what gang are you from? Where is your hideout? Who sent you to rob the Chen estate? If you don't speak, I'll chop off one foot after another." Lu Qi chopped off the left foot of a bandit, but pointed his bloody knife at another bandit and asked coldly.

  That bandit's face turned pale as earth, and he trembled with fear, saying: "I've said it, give me a quick death."

  "Speak." Lu Qi's icy voice spat out a single word.

  "We are from the Eight Kings Temple, and we heard that it's Zhao County Wei of Shizai County who told our Mountain Master to raid Chen Manor." The bandit's face turned pale as he spoke, Lu Qi's expression changed, and Wang Dao and Du Meng were also shocked.

  "How dare you!" Lu Qi shouted in anger, swinging his knife towards the bandit's left foot.

  "I'm not talking nonsense, it's true. The beacon tower in Qili Township was indeed destroyed by us on the orders of Zhao County Wei. The goal was to lure the main force of the government army to Qili Township." The bandit spoke hastily with a look of terror, and before he could finish speaking, two flashes of knife light appeared, and two bandits' throats were cut open, their lives lost in an instant.

  "Alright, these two bandits are talking nonsense. Don't spread rumors outside, the crime of slandering an official is severe." Lu Qi killed the two bandits and said to Wang Dao and Du Meng with an unchanged expression. Wang Dao and Du Meng nodded in shock.

  "This time, the suppression of bandits was secretly ordered by Lord Wang, and we were just following orders to rush to Dongliu Fortress to suppress the bandits. Do you understand?" Lu Qi's eyes fixed on the two men as he spoke seriously, and they nodded in unison after a moment of stunned silence.

  "You search the bodies of these two bandits, if you find any silver, take it for yourselves, don't bother me with it, I'll go and settle things outside." Lu Qi said as he walked out of the house. Wang Dao and Du Meng exchanged a glance, hesitated for a moment, then busied themselves searching the corpses, soon finding two gold bars and some loose change, which they quickly divided between them before leaving the house together.

  In front of the mansion, the bodies of bandits were laid out in the front yard. The Chen family had also lost 23 people, but not a single soldier or militiaman was killed, although most were injured. The surviving men and women, old and young, of the Chen family wailed loudly. Chen Qi, over sixty years old, was lucky to have survived, his round face with a kind and benevolent expression deathly pale.

  "This noble sir's surname is, old me thanks sir for saving life great kindness." Chen Qi old trembled body gave Lu Qi a courtesy.

  "Governor Chen needn't be polite, I am Lu Tianfeng, the Protector of the County. This time I came to suppress the bandits on the orders of Master Wang, the Chief Scribe. You should thank Master Wang."

  Lu Qi was busy being humble and yielding, while pointing out that it was Lord Wang who led the suppression of bandits. He had seen a lot in the army and knew that when subordinates achieved merit, they had to say that their superiors were the main contributors, otherwise, even if they achieved merit, they would not get the greatest reward. Moreover, this matter involved County Magistrate Zhao, so Lu Qi was even more unwilling to take credit for himself. He pushed the main plot of suppressing bandits onto Wang Zhongbo and let County Magistrate Zhao go blame Wang Zhongbo instead, while he himself retreated to seek peace and quiet.

  Chen Qi's old face was stunned, and he nodded as if he had realized something. Lu Qi hurriedly said: "Director Chen, this time the officials under his jurisdiction made a lot of efforts to suppress the bandits, and I hope Director Chen can reward them with 300 taels of silver. Many of them were seriously injured."

  Chen Qi nodded hastily and said, "It should be."

  Lu Qi immediately ordered the troops to line up, and the soldiers helped each other to form a neat queue. Lu Qi said seriously: "Everyone, this time the official is very satisfied with the suppression of the bandits, and Mr. Chen is also grateful for your great kindness in saving him. He wants to reward you with 300 taels of silver. Now I warn you that whoever took the Chen family's property must hand it over immediately. If not, once you leave the Chen residence, you will be considered a criminal and bear the consequences yourself."

  The brave soldiers looked at each other and shook their heads, they really didn't have many people who dared to take it, and many of the killers were stunned by the sight of blood, that Lu Qi was an old hand at thievery.

  "Orderlies, listen to the order and line up for a body search. Anyone with more than five taels of silver must hand it over." Lu Qi ordered, and the seven orderlies went to search. Some soldiers looked frightened and hastily handed over their valuables to the orderlies. About thirteen people had secretly hidden goods, which were all silver, totaling over 300 taels when collected together.

  Chen Qi Lao hastily said: "This silver, Mr. Lu doesn't have to give it to me, consider it a reward."

  "Thank you, Lord Chen." Lu Qi was polite and waved his hand, and Du Meng stepped forward to collect the silver.

  Lu Qi left Wang Dao and another messenger, ordering Du Meng to lead the soldiers back to the training ground. He instructed that the wounded soldiers be reported, with those seriously injured receiving 10 taels of silver each and those lightly injured receiving 3 taels of silver each. The remaining silver was to be divided equally among the soldiers by Du Meng. The soldiers withdrew happily, having received silver again this time.

  The brave soldiers had just left, when Wang Zhu Bo hastily led fifty officials and soldiers to arrive. Lu Qi hurriedly took a step forward to welcome them, bowed his hands and invited Wang Zhu Bo to one side. Wang Zhu Bo saw the corpses all over the ground, the strong smell of blood made him hard to bear, Lu Qi let him follow the momentum and walk to a clean place.

  "Sir, I told Lord Chen that this time's suppression of bandits was carried out under your orders." Lu Qi said in a low voice.

  Wang Zhubu looked at Lu Qi with a strange gaze and said calmly, "This isn't right, I've always been one to not take credit from others, this time the merit of suppressing the bandits belongs to Lord Lu."

  Lu Qi said in a low voice: "Sir, this time the credit is not mine to take. According to one of the bandits, it was the Eight Kings Temple gang, who colluded with County Magistrate Zhao to first kill the officers and soldiers at the Qili Township outpost. The goal was to lure the main force of the officials to Qili Township, and then rob Chen's mansion. Sir, although the bandit's words may not be entirely true, I know that even if they are not true, it will still implicate a certain official. So please, sir, take responsibility for me, I just want to live in peace as a humble protector of the county."

  Wang Zhubu's face changed color, his triangular eyes flashed with a hint of ferocity, he remained silent for a moment before responding in a deep voice: "You're good, I'll remember today's matter."

  Lu Qi smiled faintly and said: "Thank you, sir. Please go and comfort Old Man Chen Qi."

  Wang Zhubu nodded and took a handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose, walking towards Chen Qiulao, while Lu Qi followed calmly behind.

  Wang Zhubu immediately spoke in a harmonious tone: "Let Uncle Chen be startled, it's all because his nephew noticed it a bit late."

  It turned out that Wang Zhubu was a junior of Chen Qilao, and Chen Qilao shook his head in sorrow, sighing: "It's not too late yet, the main trunk of the Chen family is still here, thanks to you."

  Wang Zhubu and Sheng Dao said: "Uncle Ping'an is the best."

  Chen Qi's old man nodded thoughtfully and suddenly said, "Zhongliang, the bandits actually knew about the silver vault. You should investigate thoroughly. If it weren't for Mr. Lu bursting in and startling the bandits, your uncle would have been crippled under duress."

  Wang Zhubu furrowed his brow and coughed lightly, hastily saying: "As long as Uncle's family didn't suffer any losses, let someone handle the aftermath quickly."

  Chen Qi Lao was taken aback and looked at Lu Qi, thinking he was Wang Zhongshu's confidant. Lu Qi's expression remained natural, as if he hadn't heard anything.