Chapter 1: The Wedding Night (New Book...)

  It was already past the fifth watch, and Liu's father and son were escorted into the great prison of Longxi County Government by Pang Feihu and Guo Ye. They would be brought to trial soon.

  They had been busy for a whole night, and although the Liu family father and son were caught and taken into the great prison by them, Qin Wei didn't get ahead of them, but thinking about it now, they were actually outmaneuvered by Qin Wei, who took over the lucrative task of confiscating property, which was truly disheartening.

  It is worth noting that since ancient times, confiscating property has always been a most delightful and sought-after task for officials.

  Damn it!

  Whether it was Pang Feihu, Cheng Erniu, or Ruan Lao San, they all had a disappointed look on their faces, not having the slightest bit of excitement after capturing Liu's father and son.

  After a sleepless night, the sky was slightly bright, and Pang Feihu saw that his brothers were all downcast, so he encouraged everyone: "Brothers, don't be discouraged. Didn't we capture Liu's father and son and recover the taxes? The people and goods are both obtained, and when Liu's father and son are interrogated, they will definitely reveal Qin Wei, the mastermind behind the scenes. When Qin Wei falls, County Magistrate will reward us, the constables. In this way, we also have gains, right?"

  After Pao Fai Hu's explanation, even if people had misgivings in their hearts, they wouldn't show it on their faces, lest they embarrass their good squad leader Pao Fai Hu.

  Then under Pang Feihu's repeated urging, the yamen runners all left the main house to head home and catch a few winks before doing anything else.

  At this time, the big house suddenly became quiet and still, very calm.

  Pang Feihu saw that in the empty big house, only Guo Ye hadn't left, and with a somewhat apologetic tone said: "Guo Ye, why are you still staying here? Hurry up and go back to rest. This time you did very well, unfortunately I leaked the news while I was in town, which allowed Qin Wei to arrive on time. Originally, when I planned to raid the Liu family..."

  "Head, you don't have to feel guilty. Qin Wei is cunning like a fox. Even if you were more careful, you couldn't outsmart him with his many eyes and ears."

  Kuo Yeh immediately interrupted Pong Fei Hu's speech, comforted him slightly, smiled mysteriously, and then walked to the door of the main house, stuck his head out, looked around, and said: "How come Zhu Peng Chun, that rascal, is so slow with his legs, he hasn't returned yet?"

  Zhu Pengchun?

  Pang Feihu suddenly realized that he hadn't seen Zhu Pengchun since entering the Liu's house, and even when escorting Liu's father and son back earlier, he wasn't accompanied by this guy. Where did he go?

  He looked at Guo Ye with a puzzled expression. This kid was mysterious and secretive, could it be that he still had something to hide from Zhu Pengchun?

  Guo Ye saw Pang Fei Hu's face was puzzled and opened his mouth to explain.

  Bang!

  A big ball of flesh rolled in, stumbling and staggering, and crashed open the large gate, rolling into the house.

  At a glance, his face was flushed and he was panting heavily. Who else could it be but Zhu Pengchun?

  Speak of the devil and he appears.

  As soon as Zhu Pengchun came in, he excitedly shouted with his hands and feet: "Guo Xiaoge, it's issued, really issued. Damn, old Zhu has never seen so much silver in his life."

  Zhu Pengchun's words made Guo Ye's face turn joyful, while Pang Feihu became even more puzzled and perplexed. Silver? What silver? What is going on here?

  Guo Ye walked over to Zhu Pengchun's side, pulled him over and sat him down on the stool, then said with a smile: "Old Zhu, you'd better explain things clearly to our class head, they've all been confused."

  Zhu Pengchun was still in a state of excitement, and even when he sat down on the stool, his buttocks couldn't sit still, moving back and forth.

  Bang!

  Kuai Ye slapped a palm on Zhu Pengchun's meaty shoulder and shouted: "Old Zhu, can't you have some dignity? You're the one who should be talking!"

  Zhu Pengchun's shoulder was aching, but he had calmed down. He swallowed his saliva and looked at Pang Feihu with inquiring eyes, saying: "Boss, we really can't help but admire our brother Guo. He's just like Zhuge Kongming of the Three Kingdoms. With a flick of his fan, he can strategize from within his tent and win victories thousands of miles away. He's...

  "Shut up, you're finally getting to the point, stop talking nonsense."

  Just as Zhu Pengchun continued to flatter Guo Ye's stinky feet, Pang Feihu shouted loudly, interrupting Zhu Pengchun's shameless and despicable flattery.

  Guo Ye listened to Zhu Pengchun's high praise, and his heart was also delighted. Being shouted at by Pang Feihu, his mind suddenly cleared up, and he dryly smiled, being praised by others is indeed a wonderful thing.

  Zhu Pengchun saw that the class leader was somewhat annoyed and dared not say more nonsense, so he told him what Guo Ye had instructed him to do earlier in the Liu family's courtyard.

  At the time when Zhao Ban's brother broke into Liu's house, Guo Ye had already thought of a plan. The family was going to be searched, but in case something unexpected happened, he still let Zhu Pengchun sneak into Liu Lao's bedroom while the backyard was in chaos, and carefully search for any hidden silver or other things.

  With Liu Lao's rural tyrant temperament, he would definitely hide some silver in his bedroom as a safety net. This is to prevent the possibility that one day, a group of mountain bandits suddenly broke into the Liu family, and the silver in the warehouse was looted, at least there would still be some reserve silver for the Liu family to fall back on.

  This is a summary of the living habits of those landlords and local tyrants in various film and television dramas after Guo's comprehensive review.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, after Zhu Pengchun snuck into Liu Lao's bedroom, rummaged through boxes and cabinets, pried open the bed board, and dug several feet with a hoe, he finally found Liu Lao's life-saving silver. They were all saddle-shaped ingots of pure white silver, stored in large ceramic jars, totaling twenty or so large jars.

  These large ceramic jars were carefully buried by Liu Lao Lai in the soil under the bed, more than two feet deep. If not for Zhu Pengchun's persistent digging spirit, they would be hard to find.

  Guo Ye listened and counted on his fingers, the silver ingots in the shape of a horse saddle were at least ten taels each, and one jar could hold at least ten ingots. So twenty jars would have around two thousand taels of silver?

  My goodness, the Liu family is indeed wealthy. A single life-saving silver ingot has over 2,000 taels hidden away. So, doesn't that mean the Liu family's treasury should have around 3,000 to 5,000 taels of silver stored?

  Hmph, it's indeed a wealthy family that has been accumulating wealth for generations, just like his cheap father-in-law, they're good at saving money.

  Unfortunately, the silver in those warehouses was out of reach for the Zhao brothers, and instead benefited Qin Wei, County Lieutenant Gu Dezhao, and others. However, they must have only taken a small share; since neither the county magistrate nor the chief clerk spoke up, how could they possibly dare to take more?

  Everyone gets a share of the profits, and even Gong Zuo's assistant will get a cut. But when you calculate it all out, it's still not as good as the 2,000 taels of silver I got from my own soap business.

  Whether Guo Ye's arrangement was intentional or unintentional, Pang Feihu couldn't help but feel excited and moved.

  It's really a case of gaining in the east and losing in the mulberry fields. If Guo Ye hadn't arranged for Zhu Pengchun to dig up Liu Lao Lai's life-saving silver, Qin Wei's sudden attack would have truly made this trip to Dongliu Village a complete waste.

  Twenty taels of silver!!!

  Not only Guo Ye was calculating, but also Pang Feihu and Zhu Pengchun were counting on their fingers. Even the head of the yamen had only ten taels of silver for a year's salary, so when could they get two thousand taels of silver?

  If this yamen position can be passed down from father to son, and then to grandson, it would take at least two hundred years of loyal service to the yamen to earn enough silver to pass down for four generations.

  Zhu Pengchun's eyes were dizzy, and Pang Feihu's whole body was trembling with excitement.

  Suddenly, Guo Ye grabbed Zhu Pengchun's shoulder and asked: "I told you to secretly transfer these silver coins to the Wu family, did you do it?"

  Zhu Pengchun nodded like a little chicken pecking at rice, saying: "Brother Guo's orders, how could old Zhu not listen? I've already secretly moved the twenty ingots of silver into the Wu household. I lied to Wu's steward, Fu Bo, that it was your stuff, Brother Guo, and carefully put it in your study. And didn't you say before that under no circumstances should your father-in-law see it?"

  Kwok Yip let out a hum, of course, he couldn't let Ng Mo-chi see him, or else he would open his mouth wide and ask for a share.

  This old man will dare to do anything for money.

  Moreover, Liu's family affairs also made a lot of efforts, and he knew quite a few things. If he brings up the issue of dividing the spoils, it can't be ignored.

  But given this old man's temperament, it's impossible to get rid of him with just a few words. Rather than doing so, it would be better to deceive him as well.

  Anyway, Guo Ye had no good feelings towards this old man in his heart, and he didn't want to let him have such a good thing easily.

  At this time, Zhu Pengchun suddenly thought of something and asked with a twisted expression: "Guo Xiaoge, do you still remember the promise you made to me that day?"

  Kuo Ye was taken aback, what's going on?

  Seeing Guo Ye's unexpected expression, Zhu Pengchun couldn't help but hurry up and shouted: "Guo Xiaoge, don't deceive old Zhu, old Zhu risked his life to sneak into the Liu family that day, pretending to be a merchant. You promised me that after the matter was successful, I would get half of the Liu family's hidden silver."

  Guo Ye suddenly remembered after hearing this.

  That day, I did say that, as the saying goes, "A great reward must have a brave man". If I hadn't promised Zhu Pengchun that way back then, would this scoundrel dare to take such a huge risk to win the Oscar for Best Actor?

  Guo Ye was calculating in his heart, adding up the numbers with Pang Fei Hu, a total of twelve people. Two thousand two silver coins would be approximately one hundred and seventy taels per person; if they followed the previous agreement with Zhu Peng Chun, it would be thirteen people sharing, so each person would get around one hundred and fifty taels.

  Yes, one's words must be followed by actions; one cannot betray others' trust.

  Guo Ye nodded and glanced at Pang Feihu, asking: "Squad leader, this matter was decided by me on my own initiative, I promised Old Zhu, what do you think..."

  Pang Feihu waved his hand hastily and said, "This silver was all obtained by you and Old Zhu's efforts, how you divide it is up to you, our boss will never interfere."

  This is what Pang Fei Hu admired most about Guo Ye, no matter what happened he always had such a broad mind.

  If placed in the military, Guo Ye had reason to believe that with Pang Fei Hu's personality and style, he would be 100% loved by the soldiers and was definitely a great general material.

  "But..."

  Pang Feihu then shifted his tone, saying without hesitation: "This two thousand taels of silver is a huge sum of money, how could Liu Lao Lai forget? Tomorrow in the court, under the intimidation of the stick and various torture instruments, not to mention these life-saving silvers, even the eighteen ancestors will be confessed one by one. At that time, once this sum of money is exposed and known by the county magistrate, it will be a hot potato."

  Hiss...

  Kuang Ye's body tensed up involuntarily after hearing this, and he hadn't thought of this possibility in his haste. If what Pang Feihu said was true, the situation would be tricky.

  When the time comes, it will inevitably involve Zhang San's head.

  Just now still laughing with eyes buried in his cheeks, Zhu Pengchun's body also shook, and his face suddenly turned pale.

  Bang!

  A sudden crash of the door!

  The big door of the soap house was pushed open again by a figure in a hurry.