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

  Guo Ye humiliated the leader of the Catchmen, Qin Wei, with his sarcastic remarks at the Drunken Immortal Building, thoroughly offending him and causing a complete rift between them, making their relationship irreconcilable.

  But how did Sui Wen know it wasn't a blessing in disguise when he lost his horse?

  He timely helped Pang Feihu to save face, and for the sake of his fellow soap-making apprentices who had been suffering from the bullying of the white-eyed Ba Dan, he vented his anger. Not only did he greatly increase his points in Pang Feihu's heart, but also made Zhu Pengchun, Cheng Erniu, Zhang Xiaogui and other soap-making officials feel grateful and admiring, while at the same time generating a subtle ripple, making them form an illusion.

  This misunderstanding is that Guo Ye is actually Pang Bangtou's trusted brother, otherwise why would Pang Bangtou protect him so much.

  Similarly, Zhu Pengchun was also increasingly convinced in his heart that behind Guo Ye must be County Magistrate Gu, otherwise how would this small official dare to touch the tiger's butt of Qin Wei, the first-class detective.

  In the following days, Guo Ye spent his time in a mix of happiness and anxiety.

  Happiness is because all the brothers in the soap class regard him as a brother, and respect him as the second-in-command of the leader of the soap class, Xiao Er Ge.

  He was apprehensive because he knew that the new and old hatreds were intertwined, and Qin Wei, who had to avenge his teeth, would not let go easily. However, this revenge did not come until much later.

  They say the days of waiting are the hardest to endure, but in fact, the days of waiting for revenge are even more unbearable.

  They say that the weather before a storm is the most oppressive, but in fact it's the darkness just before dawn that's the most unbearable.

  Guo Ye had no other high tricks, and the only way that was most effective was to wait.

  Even if he came from the future and had seen many sinister tactics, heard many conspiracies, but now he was penniless and without a foundation, unable to even fight back, having to resort to intimidation, apart from waiting, he didn't know what else he could do.

  This morning, Guo Ye still followed his old habit and got up and went out under the knock of Cheng Er Niu. He passed by "Zhen Niang Bean Flower Shop" to take a glance at the beautiful and unparalleled boss Zhen Niang, satisfying his eyes. After eating and drinking enough, he grasped the iron ruler and stepped onto the main street to head to the East Gate to open the city gate and start his tax collection work for the day.

  Ke Ren hadn't even reached the East Gate when he was found by Zhu Pengchun, who had a pale and sweaty face.

  Zhu Pengchun panted heavily, blocking the way of the two people, then hastily shouted at Guo Ye: "Brother Guo, something's happened, something big has happened."

  Hummm...

  Guo Ye's mind was in a daze, his heart sank, and before he could react, Zhu Pengchun hastily said: "Pang Ban has already arrived at the county government office, gathering all the brothers of the constabulary to return to the government office for an emergency meeting."

  Something's wrong?

  Guo Ye was already apprehensive about Qin Wei's revenge, and now hearing the three words "something big has happened", he suddenly became flustered and rushed to the county government office without even saying goodbye to Cheng Er Niu.

  Cheng Er Niu was still standing there in a daze, and asked foolishly: "What's going on? The city gate isn't opening?"

  Zhu Pengchun glared at him and said irritably, "The other brothers who went to urge grain taxes in the countryside returned to the county town last night. Pang Ban has arranged for other brothers to guard the east gate, so you don't need to worry about it. Hurry up and go back to the county government with me."

  As he spoke, he didn't pull Second Brother Niu, but instead chased after Guo Ye's back with a whoosh.

  Before long, Guo Ye rushed into the government office, panting heavily.

  The front foot stepped into the soap class of the big house, and the back foot followed by Zhu Pengchun and Cheng Erniu also rushed to catch up.

  As soon as he entered the main hall, apart from Pang Feihu with a gloomy face, there were also Gan Zhushou, Zhang Xiaosi, Ruan Laosan and several other yamen runners who were all members of the constabulary, presumably brothers of the constabulary who had completed their mission last night.

  Guo Ye couldn't even greet the others or introduce himself before hastily asking Pang Feihu: "Squad leader, what's going on?"

  Pang Feihu waved his hand listlessly, then turned to look at Zhang Xiaogui, who was squatting on the ground with his face covered in regret. He sighed angrily and said, "You're asking this good-for-nothing thing."

  Nowadays, Guo Ye has gained a lot of respect from Pang Fei Hu, and among the dozen or so people in the soap opera class, his reputation is rising rapidly, and what he says naturally carries some weight.

  He walked up to Zhang Xiaoqi's side and patted him on the shoulder a few times, asking in a soft voice: "Brother Xiaoqi, what's going on?"

  Zhang Xiaogui knew that Guo Ye had a lot of ideas, so he immediately put on a sad face and said to Guo Ye: "Previously, the class leader sent me to Dongliu Township to collect grain taxes. I thought that since I had completed my task ahead of time, I would first return to the city to report back. So, I temporarily stored the collected grain in the drying field in Dongliu Township and planned to pull it back to the county later. But who knew that when I returned to the city less than a week ago, yesterday when I went back to Dongliu Township, I found that all the grain on the drying field had disappeared."

  After finishing speaking, Yan's face cried and wailed: "It's all over, this time it's really all over. The government rules that every year, the countryside is urged to collect taxes once, and losing tax grain is a serious crime."

  Guo Ye's heart tightened inexplicably as soon as he heard the three words "Dong Liu Xiang".

  Moreover, Zhang Xiaoqi wasn't wrong either. Losing tax grain isn't a trivial matter. He's been working in the government office for quite some time now and has become somewhat familiar with the laws of the Tang Dynasty.

  If a government official loses tax grain or silver, it's a matter that shakes the foundations of the country. According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, this is punishable by beheading!

  Even if there is a reason for the matter and the emotions can be justified, at the very least, one should be exiled to the border and flow 3,000 miles away.

  This is to be exiled to the border areas beyond the Great Wall, which is to be banished to the distant land of Jiaozhou at the edge of the sky and sea, three thousand miles away. What's the difference between this and being beheaded? Both are just a death sentence.

  It seems Zhang Xiaoxi is in big trouble this time.

  Just as Zhang Xiaoqi covered her face and wept, Pang Feihu's face turned gloomy, and several colleagues in the yamen let out long sighs. Suddenly, Guo Ye seemed to have thought of something.

  Later, Dongliu Township, Dongliu Township, could it be that Qin Wei this son of a bitch is behind the evil?

  The village chief of Dongliu Township is Liu Lao Lai, and Liu Lao Lai and Qin Wei are also in a father-in-law and son-in-law relationship.

  In these peaceful times, ordinary people wouldn't dare to touch the government's taxes except for mountain bandits.

  Moreover, the entire Dongliu Township had no banditry within a hundred miles, and only the Liu and Wu families with many servants had the strength to move all the taxes from the drying field overnight.

  His father-in-law, Wu Maocai, had a full granary at home and was a stingy miser who would not take risks or do something that could cost him his head.

  The tax grain of the drying field is not just one hundred and ten catties, at least there are more than one hundred dan. One dan is equal to ten dou, about one hundred catties, one hundred dan is about ten thousand catties. Ten thousand catties of grain piled up like several small hills, ordinary families can't even move it, let alone store it.

  There is only one explanation: Qin Wei secretly instigated Liu Lao to take advantage of Zhang Xiaogui's absence from Dongliu Village and steal all the grain from the drying field overnight.

  The answer is on the tip of one's tongue!

  It's all Qin Wei's doing behind the scenes.

  And that also explains why Qin Wei didn't counterattack after being ridiculed by himself.

  This kid isn't just taking revenge, but is directly plotting a poisonous scheme to make all the brothers in the gang suffer.

  It's certain that Zhang Xiaoqi can't escape death, and the entire soap-making class will also be punished by County Magistrate Gu. Even Pang Feihu, the head of the class, can't shirk responsibility.

  Cruel, really cruel, Qin Wei's move is simply a revised version of the killing move.

  The more Guo Yeyue thought about it, the more he was convinced that this was Qin Wei's doing.

  After analyzing it in his heart, Guo Ye told his guesses to Pang Feihu and the yamen brothers in Fangzhong.

  Guo Ye's analysis was spot on, and Pang Feihu and the others present nodded in agreement, the more they listened, the more it seemed to be true.

  After Guo Ye finished speaking, Zhang Xiaogui wiped his nose and ran out of the house. Pang Feihu shouted: "Where are you going, you little devil?"

  Zhang Xiaogui choked back a sob and exhaled, saying: "I'm going to confront Qin Wei, that damned scoundrel. This black-hearted thief is always on guard, day and night, but family traitors are the hardest to prevent. I must expose this scoundrel's sinister plot in public."

  "Nonsense!"

  "Not allowed!"

  Pang Feihu and Guo Ye simultaneously blocked Zhang Xiaoqi's path, then Guo Ye shouted at Cheng Erniu: "Erniu, go, pin down Xiaoqi for me, don't let him ruin everything."

  Cheng Er Niu had always gotten along well with Guo Ye, and after several events, he truly listened to and followed Guo Ye's words.

  Listening to Guo Ye's instructions, Cheng Er Niu didn't say a word and pounced forward, directly pinning Zhang Xiaoqi to the ground and holding him down.

  Before Zhang Xiaoqi could even ask, Guo Ye explained to the people in the house: "Whatever you do, don't alarm Qin Wei. On the contrary, we need to pretend to be very panicked, otherwise this batch of grain will never be returned."

  Pang Feihu waved his hand at Cheng Erniu, then pulled Zhang Xiaogui up and said: "How can you be so impulsive? Now it's clear that Qin Wei wants to harm our group. You still rush to him, think about it, what's the use of your actions except for letting Qin Wei know we already know he's the mastermind?"

  Zhang Xiaogui calmed down after a while, his mind was in a mess, and he was about to lose his head, how could he go on with ease?

  He let out a deep sigh and found a corner of the wall to crouch down in, holding his head in his hands and constantly sighing.

  Several other officials stared at Pang Feihu, waiting for him to make a decision.

  Cheng Er Niu said with a silly tone: "Boss, what do you think we should do?"

  Gan Zhu Shou continued to look like a hanged ghost, glanced at Pang Fei Hu, then lowered his head and didn't speak. Anyway, the leader let him do what he wanted, and he wouldn't come up with any other ideas.

  As for Zhu Pengchun, he was even more calm and composed than all the other officials present, looking at Guo Ye with a relaxed expression, as if he knew some great secret. With an extremely confident tone, he said: "What's the big deal? If it doesn't work out, let Brother Guo go find County Magistrate Gu to plead for leniency. Once County Magistrate Gu gives the order, would Qin Wei still dare to cause trouble?"

  As soon as these words came out, Guo Ye immediately knew that something was going wrong.

  He didn't know County Lieutenant Gu Dezhao anywhere, and before it was just borrowing power.

  Let him go find County Magistrate and order Qin Wei to return the grain, isn't this making a fool of himself?

  In his heart, he cursed Zhu Pengchun for being garrulous, while also scanning the eager eyes of Pang Feihu and the yamen attendants present, especially Zhang Xiaogui's eyes that were full of hope.

  The thoughts in his mind were spinning rapidly, and finally he gritted his teeth and explained: "This matter is absolutely not suitable for County Master."

  "What's going on?"

  Kuai Yue shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "Isn't this telling the county magistrate that our constable brothers are incompetent and lost the tax grain?"

  Pang Fei's face stiffened, and he involuntarily nodded his head. In his heart, he sighed, "Yes, I was promoted by County Magistrate, if I ask him for help, isn't that telling him that I'm not capable enough, and the constables are a mess under my leadership?"

  Not good, indeed not good, extremely very not good.

  But is there another way?

  "Guo Ye asked: 'How many days are left before the deadline for transporting grain into the government granary?'"

  Pang Feihu looked at Zhang Xiaoqi, who had already lost hope, and raised two fingers, sighing: "There are still two days."

  Guo Ye cracked his fingers and said to Pang Feihu in a low voice, "Perhaps this is the only way. If we're lucky, we might even be able to recover the lost grain."

  A sound fell, and the scene was silent for a moment!

  Huh?

  Pang Feihu and the officials present once again focused their attention on Guo Ye, especially Zhang Xiaogui, whose eyes burst forth with hopeful light once again...