Thirty-six, suspected of being an old trick

  "You two useless things, if you weren't following Guo Zhen, I'm afraid you would have been sold by others without even knowing it!"

  Yu Yiqin scolded Yu Guoning and Yu Guoan severely, the two brothers knew they had indeed performed poorly, shrinking their necks to listen obediently. When Yu Yiqin finished scolding, Yu Guoan smiled apologetically: "Dad, we know our mistakes now, we'll definitely learn from them and never do it again."

  "Yes, yes." Yu Guoning also had a sincere look on his face.

  "Are you two really mistaken?" Yu Yiqin was somewhat unexpected, as these two brothers had never been obedient before.

  "I really know I was wrong."

  This attitude made Yu Yiqin feel a bit comforted, he nodded and was about to say something else when a servant came in from outside and said: "Second Master, Zhen Ge has sent Er Zhuang to say that there is something he wants to talk to you about."

  Yu Yiqin knew that Gao Jia father and son were Yu Guozhen's trusted followers, and he had just returned to Xiang'an, not even half an hour after parting with Yu Guozhen, when Yu Guozhen sent Gao Erzhu over, which only proved one thing.

  Something big has happened!

  This made him lose the mood to scold his two sons again. After a brief explanation, he hastily rushed to the front yard. Looking at his back, Yu Guoan stuck out his tongue: "Guozhen is right, as long as we admit our mistakes and change our ways, Father will not be angry!"

  "It was originally intended to ask Guo Zhen not to mention the Suzhou incident, haha, but he gave us this idea and let us admit our mistakes, thanks to his idea."

  "Alas, however, Guo Ning, you say how come Guo Zhen is so smart?" Yu Guoan scratched his head: "In the past, it wasn't obvious either, but now it seems that we are far inferior to him..."

  They hadn't finished speaking, when Yu Yiqin returned with a strange expression on his face. He looked at Yu Guoan and Yu Guoning, originally with a stern face as if he was about to scold them again, but after thinking for a moment, he let out a sigh instead.

  "What's wrong, Father?" Yu Guoan asked.

  "These two days, you both stay at home and don't go out." Yu Yiqin saw that the two sons had an expression of discontent on their faces, so she said even more sternly: "This is what Gu Zhen let Er Zhu say, in the town... it seems there are people with malicious intentions lurking around, they have a foreign accent!"

  The people of Suzhou didn't know that Yu Guozhen treated Xiang'an Town as his first base to operate, although he himself lived in another courtyard, but he never relaxed his control over the various situations in the town. As soon as their men entered the town, they were noticed by someone with a keen eye because of their unfamiliar faces, and when they inquired about Yu's family situation, they revealed their foreign accent. These messages quickly reached Yu Guozhen.

  The night was already deep, and Liu Ruo, who was temporarily squeezed together with Xiaolian, had not fallen asleep yet. Occasionally, she would open her eyes to look at the light outside, and the shadow of Yu Guozhen under the light.

  It was around midnight when a voice came from outside, "Sir, those guys have disembarked."

  "Is it? Gather people and prepare to set off."

  Liu Ruxi felt that the fine hairs on her body suddenly stood up, and from Yu Guozhen's words, she heard determination again - the last time she heard such determination was when Yu Guozhen ordered the execution of that swindler from Suzhou Prefecture!

  Then she saw Yu Guozhen get up, seemingly put down the book, and took a knife from the wall. With the sound of footsteps, Yu Guozhen's shadow went out, and Liu Ruo couldn't help but sit up, then she saw a pair of shining eyes in the darkness.

  She was taken aback for a moment, then Liu Ruo thought of it, that was Xiaolian.

  "Little official, he..."

  "Don't worry, it was the same last time the water bandits came. They were just a bunch of foolish thieves. Young Master will be back soon with Gao Da Shu and Da Zhuo Er Zhuo, as well as Jiu He and Wu Ya, and they'll clean them up in no time."

  Xiao Lian had an extremely strong faith in Yu Guo Zhen, and Liu Ru Shi was also infected by this faith, and her uneasy heart calmed down.

  "Keep your voices down, we're here to kill and set fires, not to have fun at the temple fair!"

  He Shan scolded in a somewhat annoyed tone, and the laughter of the crowd subsided slightly, but soon returned to its original state.

  He Shan was also helpless about this, these people, to put it nicely, were sworn brothers who shared a common spirit, but to put it bluntly, they were just a motley crew. On major issues, he as the leader could keep them in line, but on minor matters, he couldn't control them.

  Fifty or sixty men disembarked and headed in the direction of the town. In order to avoid alarming the townspeople, they did not light torches but instead walked quietly under the starlight, inevitably stepping into muddy ditches along the way, which was met with laughter and curses every time it happened.

  It was originally just two or three miles away, but it took half a time!

  "He Ge, if we do it this way... won't we alert them?" He Shan heard someone whispering behind him.

  Xie Fei, whose surname was Xie, was considered to be somewhat cautious among this group of people. He Shan knew he was worried and lightly laughed to comfort him: "Brother Xie, don't worry, even if we alert them, what's the big deal? What kind of people are we? You're not unaware!"

  Xian Fei thought for a moment, He Shan was right, they were sometimes the green-skinned thugs of Suzhou Prefecture, and sometimes the lake bandits and water thieves of Taihu Lake, but they were all murderous men who bullied the countryside villagers, what's there to worry about!

  "Don't mention it, just a group of muddy legs. Last time we overturned the official army at Suzhou Wei's garrison, have you forgotten?"

  "Heizi said, I had forgotten... among us, there is Taihu's top ten heroes."

  The surname Fei didn't really forget, the Taohu Ten Heroes were their own self-proclaimed title, but these ten people were all fugitives with several lives under their belt. Like He Erge, he could gather his followers because of his ruthlessness. However, in Surname Fei's heart, he still felt somewhat uneasy. He had investigated in Xiang'an Town during the day and found out that... the Yu family had once annihilated a group of water bandits from Chaohu Lake.

  But the Taihu pirates didn't really put the Chaohu pirates in their hearts, in their eyes, the Chaohu pirates were not considered to be pirates at all, but just some stupid thieves who robbed single travelers.

  "After this is done, I'll set up a banquet in Suzhou city and invite all of you brothers to drink for three days. Then, I'll call over 180 courtesans to keep everyone entertained." He Ga said in a low voice.

  This remark roused everyone's spirits again. The pirates' eyes widened one by one, and they were no longer drowsy at all.

  Xiang'an town didn't have a wall, they rushed into the town, and it was quiet all around, not even a dog barking. This smoothness made He Shan very happy, and also let that surnamed Fei's hanging heart fall down, they surged towards Yu Family Alley.

  "How strange! This town doesn't even have a single dog?"

  There was a thief walking along and suddenly asked, at first there were no barking dogs that could be said to be lucky, but now there are still no barking dogs, that's a bit strange.

  He Shan was originally excited because of the smooth progress, but now he became alert: "Stop, stop!"

  "What's wrong, leader?"

  These bandits knew that walls have ears, so after entering the town, they called each other by nicknames. They also called He Shan directly as the leader or head. He Shan hesitated for a moment, he still had some doubts. If this town really didn't have any dogs, and he retreated now because of his suspiciousness, wouldn't that be laughable?

  "It's just some muddy-legged village men, what is there to worry about?" someone said.

  "Zhì Duō Xīng, you tell me, it's so quiet here... is there an ambush?" He Shān asked the one surnamed Fèi.

  Xing Fei stroked his beard thoughtfully for a moment, then suddenly had an idea: "Leader, we can pretend to be Ti cavalry, and the Ti cavalry will take people. Which surrounding area dares to come out and stop us?"

  "What's with the fake cavalry?" He Shan was taken aback for a moment.

  "Yes, wasn't there someone who impersonated the Grand Commandant of the Western Depot during the Xianzong era? And during the Jiajing era, someone even impersonated a Brocade Guard and had a county magistrate arrested! The one surnamed Fei, with some insight, said excitedly at this point: 'Leader, if we say we're mounted scouts, who dares to stop us from taking action?'"

  "Good, indeed worthy of Zhidao Xing!" He Shan was overjoyed when he heard this, it was indeed a good idea. In the marketplaces of Suzhou City, they had also heard rumors of people impersonating Jin Yi Wei to swindle others. Even among their own ranks, there were those who pretended to be Jin Yi Wei and extorted money from traveling merchants!

  With this backing, he was no longer afraid of anything. He ordered: "Did you all hear that? We are now the Imperial Guards! Everyone, cheer up and look like the Imperial Guards!"

  "What does Tiqi Laoye look like? What's his appearance?"

  "It's ten times more vicious than your usual city, it's just like that!"

  "Haha, I like it this way...... Leader......"

  "Stop calling me 'Leader', call me Bai Hu, from now on I am the Jin Yi Wei's Bai Hu. You are all my subordinates, small flags and soldiers. Quick, quick, make way for your superior!"

  This gang of bandits was originally reckless and lawless, now they have the audacity to be even more unscrupulous. They passed by Yu Yixuan's residence and went straight to the residence of the clan leader Yu Yiqin, kicking open the door and shouting: "Open the door! Open the door!"

  "Squeak——"

  With a single kick, the door opened, and Yu Yiqin's courtyard gate was not even locked!

  "In, in!" He Shandao shouted loudly, feeling extremely pleased in his heart. When he used to be a bandit, breaking into a house required careful and stealthy movements. Now that he was impersonating an official, why did he suddenly become so bold?

  Several people rushed in, and suddenly the surrounding torches lit up, with white wax sticks shining coldly under the light of the torches, forcing those who had rushed in to retreat. Dozens of strong men looked at them with strange smiles on their faces: "Indeed there are thieves, Master said it was right, kill the thieves!"

  This scene shocked He Shan and stunned the originally very relaxed outlaws, just as they were in a daze, that white spear had already stabbed over, the five people who rushed to the front screamed and fell down.

  The gate of Yu Yiqin's mansion was not spacious, so the first row of water thieves who entered, that is, these five people, were pushed by the second row who also wanted to go in and loot. As a result, the front five people didn't even have the chance to retreat or dodge!

  The mournful cry and the bloody scene shocked He Shan awake, he knew things were not going well, the other side was not only prepared but also had an ambush, and they struck with such ferocity. For now, his only option was to rely on the infamous Jin Yi Wei!

  "Brocade-clad Imperial Guard Bai Hu's subordinate He certain is handling the case here, you dog slaves, how dare you kill an official and rebel!" he shouted hoarsely.

  Perseverance is the dividing line between victory and defeat

  (Ranked 13th on the new book chart, although there is a big gap with the top few gods, but there's some good news, one of the gods will be dropping off the chart soon...... So what we need to do is hold onto our current position and not let the gods behind us catch up. Persistence is victory! Everyone please keep clicking and voting! Thanks to Wang Sun Wuyang, Guessing Chess, Li Guangyan, and Longyi Piaopiao for their rewards!)