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

  It was the fourth watch of the night, and every household had already closed their doors and windows, blown out the candles and entered the land of dreams. The entire Dongliu village was quiet and dark, except for a few barks from dogs, there were no other sounds.

  Dongliu Township is not like Longxi County, on ordinary nights there isn't even a watchman sounding the hours, and you can't see a single shadow on the small paths between villages.

  However--

  Although the front gate of Lao Lai's house was tightly closed, the backyard was bustling with people and flames were soaring into the sky, a bright scene.

  The slaves of the Liu family, under the command of Liu Amang and Liu Laolai, were carrying out bag after bag of grain from the cellar, with Liu Laolai's low voice shouting from time to time: "Be quieter, be quieter, don't disturb the neighbors."

  Liu Amang stood beside Zhu Pengchun, smiling and asking: "Boss Zhu, you said your grain transport team would arrive at Dongliu Township soon, but it's already the fourth watch of the night, why haven't they arrived yet?"

  Zhu Pengchun secretly counted the taxes and grains being carried out of the cellar, while reassuringly responding: "Young Master Liu, don't worry, this grain transport team will take some time to come and go, just wait a bit longer, it'll arrive soon, rest assured."

  Zhu Pengchun's words were light and easy on the surface, but in his heart he was anxious and secretly urging, "Guo Xiaoge, you must come quickly, if Liu's family discovers something is amiss by dawn, all our previous efforts will be for nothing."

  It's all right if all the previous efforts are wasted, but what if these rural bullies find out that Old Zhu has cheated them and, in a fit of rage, beat him to death with sticks? That would be a disaster.

  Now that things have developed to this point, Zhu Pengchun can only stabilize the emotions of Liu's father and son, delay time as much as possible, and wait for Guo Ye and Pang Feihu to break in and directly give Liu a personal gain.

  At this time, Liu Amang, who had already lost his mind due to the silver coins covered in white flowers, had no time to think about other things. Anyway, they had all reached this point, and it didn't matter if they waited a little longer.

  He then chuckled and started a conversation with Zhu Pengchun, promising to invite him to drink at the Man Yue Lou in Longxi City after selling the grain.

  Guo Ye and Cheng Er Niu, who were in charge of keeping watch outside the Liu family's compound, gazed at the flames rising into the sky from the Liu family's backyard not far away, and couldn't help but feel anxious. They both thought to themselves, "Where are Pang Ban Tou and Gan Zhu Shou with their reinforcements?"

  Cheng Er Niu, who had long been grinding his patience, suddenly stood up from the haystack and urged Guo Ye anxiously: "Guo Xiaoge, listening to the movements coming from Liu's house, it's likely that Zhu Pengchun has succeeded. Shall we rush in now? Otherwise, if something goes wrong, our efforts will be wasted."

  Guo Ye crouched in the haystack, pulled Cheng Er Niu down with one hand, and then continued to crouch beside him, shaking his head: "It's not good, it's not good. Now there are dozens of servants in the Liu family, and we're completely unfamiliar with the Liu family's mansion. The Liu father and son have been tyrannical in Dongliu Township for a long time, this theft of tax grain is a capital offense, how could they not know? What if they come to a desperate end and openly confront us?"

  Cheng Er Niu listened to Guo Ye's words, and suddenly felt displeased. He cracked his knuckles and snorted: "If they dare to resist, I, Cheng Er Niu, will beat them to death with my fists."

  Kuo Yebai gave a cold glance at this roughneck who only knew how to think with his fists, and softly scolded: "You numbskull, can your two fists contend against four legs? Even if we let Cheng Er Niu fight alone against twenty people, the fact is that neither of us are familiar with Liu's large courtyard. What if things get messy at the time and the Liu father-son duo gets away? If the Liu father-son duo escapes, who will be left to testify against Qin Wei, that damned scoundrel?"

  Guo Ye's words were just right on target, and Cheng Er Niu was stunned, realizing that he had been foolishly assuming things all along.

  Yes, what's the point of Liu and his son struggling anymore? The ultimate goal of their gang is to slap Qin Wei, that annoying big tiger, to death with one palm.

  Hush...

  Suddenly, a noisy footsteps came from behind.

  Guo Yi, with keen hearing, was the first to hear the noise. He was startled and immediately turned his head to look around.

  Sigh...

  As the figures approached, Guo Ye finally put down the sudden panic in his heart. It turned out that Pang Feihu was leading Ruan Lao San, Zhang Xiao Qi and Gan Zhu Shou to arrive at last.

  As soon as he saw Pang Fei Hu and others approaching, Guo Ye signaled to Cheng Er Niu to shut up and not make a fuss. Then he waved his hand at Pang Fei Hu and others and called out in a low voice: "Squad leader, over here, quick."

  As soon as they arrived, Pang Feihu and others surrounded a circle and squatted beside the haystack. Guo Ye carefully counted the number of people secretly, including Pang Feihu, totaling twelve people. The constable team had fully mobilized this time.

  However, looking at everyone's equipment again, except for Pang Fei Hu who had a Tang knife hanging from his waist, the others, including himself, all had iron rulers inserted into their waists, and several people held iron chains in their hands.

  Uh... this combat power is really pathetic.

  No choice, who let Tang Dynasty control knife weapons exceptionally strict?

  Ordinary households are allowed only kitchen knives and axes for daily use; all other instruments that can pose a threat to human life are strictly prohibited by the imperial court.

  This article was explicitly stipulated in the Tang Code, and it had been promulgated and implemented by Emperor Taizong of Tang's predecessor, his father Emperor Gaozu of Tang.

  It's no wonder that Li Yuan is being overly cautious, after all, the Li family's imperial court was founded by rebelling against the Yang family's Sui dynasty with knives and guns.

  Guo Ye touched the iron ruler at his waist and pointed to the Tang knife hanging from Pang Feihu's waist, sighing: "If I had known earlier, I would have borrowed a few hatchets from my father-in-law to use."

  Pang Feihu understood the meaning behind Guo Ye's words. He was worried that without the intimidation of Tang's knife, bow and crossbow, Liu's family would go crazy.

  He shook his head and chuckled, "Brother Guo, you're overestimating the Liu family. What are we? We're just yamen runners, representing the county yamen's dignity and the imperial court's face. Ordinary people see us in these official uniforms and they're already intimidated, let alone when our dozen or so men suddenly burst into the Liu residence and catch them off guard."

  Then, with a wave of his hand and a soft command, he prepared to take action to exterminate the Liu family.

  Guo Ye listened to Pang Feihu's confident words and felt slightly relieved in his heart.

  Then he muttered to Pang Fei Hu: "Squad leader, it's almost time. If we don't charge in now, Old Zhu will probably not be able to deceive that old fox Liu Lao Lai for much longer."

  Pang Feihu's face turned stern, and his right hand made a motion as if drawing a sword.

  Ding~~

  The Tang knife emerged from its scabbard, and Pang Feihu held up the only knife in the Zhāo Bān group, facing the crowd and shouting: "Brothers, follow our leader into the Liu family's house, and we'll finish off this bunch of bastards. We'll seize back the tax grain, capture the Liu family father and son, and County Magistrate will surely reward us for our merits."

  Charge!

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  At this moment, Pang Feihu shouted loudly to boost morale, took a steady step forward and charged towards the Liu family gate with his knife.

  Guo Ye followed closely, Cheng Er Niu, Gan Zhu Shou, Ruan Lao San, Zhang Xiao Qi and others were not willing to fall behind, shouting in their mouths, rushing towards the Liu family's gate.

  Before long, the sound of crashing doors shook the air.

  Bang! Bang bang!

  Hey, heh heh!

  The Liu family's gate was struck by about ten people, making a creaking sound and emitting a sour resonance.

  The crashing sound grew louder and louder, the gate shook more and more violently, breaking in was inevitable.

  BOOM!!!!!

  The gate fell with a loud crash, and Pang Feihu and Guo Ye led a cheer as they charged straight into the Liu residence.

  The Liu family members who were still moving grain in the backyard immediately panicked and shouted loudly when they heard the earth-shaking loud noise coming from the front gate.

  Liu Lao Lai's face suddenly turned pale, with a look of utter despair as if the sky was about to collapse. He muttered repeatedly: "What's going on? What's going on?"

  Liu Amang, who was indulging in a grand dream of wealth and drinking flower wine, suddenly woke up with a start, and involuntarily grabbed Zhu Pengchun's plump arm, exclaiming: "What's going on? What's happened?"

  Whoosh!

  Zhu Pengchun suddenly shook off Liu Amang's hand and kicked him in the abdomen, sending him tumbling to the ground, clutching his stomach and unable to get up.

  Liu Lao Lai, like a startled bird, saw his son being kicked down by Zhu Pengchun and shouted: "Zhu, do you want to die?"

  Zhu Pengchun saw that Liu Amao was temporarily unable to move, and he sneered as he took a few steps back, distancing himself from the old rascal to ensure his own safety. Then, in a cold voice, he said: "You really think I'm just a tax collector? Let me tell you the truth, I am Zhu Pengchun, a constable of the yamen!"

  "You're actually from the government? You son of a bitch..."

  Liu Lao Lai saw that his subordinates were fleeing in all directions, and he had already lost control of the situation. He could only rush forward himself to grab Zhu Pengchun.

  Before Liu Lao Lai could even move, his body suddenly felt as if it was being restrained and he couldn't budge. In that instant, he felt a massive weight of ten thousand kilograms crushing him, directly sending him tumbling to the ground.

  Before he came to his senses, a man had already pinned him to the ground. The man on top of him placed a dark, icy iron ruler around his neck and shouted: "You old thing, with me, Cheng Er Niu, here, you still dare to harm my fellow brother?"

  It was Cheng Er Niu who had nimble legs and feet.

  Zhu Pengchun saw Cheng Er Niu and tears burst forth, his heart aching as he said, "Luckily you guys have finally arrived. If you were any later, old Zhu wouldn't have been able to hold on."

  Zhu Pengchun was just about to go forward and greet Cheng Erniu when he saw Guo Ye and Pang Feihu leading a group of people into the backyard.

  Kuo Yeh took advantage of Pong Fei Hu's distraction in ordering the servants to control the backyard, and pulled Zhu Peng Chun to his side, whispering secretly in his ear.

  Zhu Pengchun listened with a series of nods, the previous feeling of grievance and emotion swept away, replaced by overwhelming joy and excitement.

  Then, taking advantage of Pang Feihu's inattention, he sneaked into the bedroom where Liu Lao and his son lived.

  Cheng Er Niu subdued Liu Lao Lai, and Zhang Xiao Qi took the opportunity to put an iron chain around Liu's neck, locking him up. He slapped Liu twice and scolded: "Damn you, you almost got me beheaded! See if I don't cut you dead!"

  Bang, bang, bang, bang bang.

  A crisp slap landed on Liu Lao's high and protruding cheekbones.

  If it weren't for Pang Feihu pulling Zhang Xiaoqi back, Liu Laozhai might have been beaten to death on the spot, which shows how deep Zhang Xiaoqi's resentment was.

  Gan Zhu Shou and Ruan Lao San then picked up Liu Aman from the ground, directly locking him in with iron chains.

  Liu Ah-mang was already frightened by the sudden and successive events, and he stammered: "You bunch of bastards, do you know who I am? I have people in the government, let me go quickly."

  Guo Ye listened to his nonsense, and couldn't help but feel a wave of disgust. He glared at Liu Amang, who was struggling like a dying man, "Can't you come up with something new? All you ever say is the same old phrase!"

  He immediately walked up and stood in front of Liu Amang, looking at him with disdain and said: "Liu Amang, do you still remember me?"

  Liu Amang saw the situation and cursed: "You're a toad, you're courting death! You're just a tenant's son, I have... in my yamen"

  "Crack!"

  Before the cliché was finished, Guo Ye directly took a ruthless move and dislocated his jaw, then said disdainfully: "Shut up, you'll have your chance to speak in court."

  Looking at the Liu family's backyard again, those Liu family servants who had been wary of Guo Ye outside had already fled in all directions.

  It's really like the collapse of a tree and the scattering of monkeys.

  Guo Ye looked at this scene and thought to himself, it seems that I really overestimated these bastards' sense of professionalism.

  Pang Feihu saw that the main culprits, Liu's family father and son, had been captured, so he didn't care about those small fry. He was in a great mood, laughing loudly at Guo Ye, then blinked his eyes several times.

  This is telling Guo Ye, see, your worries are unnecessary, the folk customs of the Great Tang Dynasty are still very simple and honest, and the credibility of the officials of the Great Tang Dynasty is still sufficient.

  Guo Ye saw that even Pang Bangtou, with his thick beard, had a cute side, and he couldn't help but pucker up in protest.

  Just as everyone was about to cheer and prepare to move house, a soap-class officer in charge of guarding the entrance of the Liu family rushed in hastily.

  One side ran hastily, while the other rushed to Pang Fei Hu and beckoned with his hand, shouting urgently: "Squad leader, squad leader, Guo Xiao Ge, something big has gone wrong..."