Volume 1: Before the Yellow Turbans Chapter 29: The Mountain Bandits Arrive

  When they arrived at the county government office, the envoy from Hu Xiaozhai had been waiting for a long time.

  "Sorry about that! Mr. Chen has been detained by some business and kept our honored guest waiting!" Chen Chu said loudly as he walked into the hall.

  The envoy of Tiger Village was a very thin guy, with a pair of eyes rolling around, obviously a bad water belly.

  The Hu Xiaozhai envoy stood up, smiling neither warmly nor coldly: "Magistrate Chen is indeed very busy when he first takes office. Isn't it often said that a new official has three fires to put out? Moreover, I think Magistrate Chen has just arrived and may not be familiar with the rules of Le Ping County yet." As soon as his words fell, the Hu Xiaozhai envoy was stunned. It turned out that he saw Zhang Rui following closely behind Chen Chu. At this time, Zhang Rui was wearing a light armor, with a long sword at her waist, and her black hair was casually tied back, looking energetic and lively. With her beautiful face, it was a fatal attraction to any man.

  The Hu Xiaozhai emissary looked at Zhang Rui with unbridled audacity, his eyes filled with desire like a wolf seeing a lamb.

  Being stared at by a lewd man with an undisguised gaze, Zhang Rui felt extremely angry. If it weren't for considering not ruining Chen Chu's affairs, Zhang Rui would have definitely stabbed that guy to death with one sword.

  Chen Chu sat down in the main seat, and Zhang Rui stood elegantly beside him with her hand on the hilt of her sword.

  Chen Chu looked around and found that Wang Han was standing with more than a dozen bailiffs on both sides of the main hall, looking as if they were facing a great enemy. It was clear that Wang Han and his men were worried about their own safety.

  Chen Chu shifted his gaze back to the Tiger's Den envoy and smiled: "I wonder how this gentleman is called?"

  The emissary of the Tiger Roar Fort casually saluted Chen Chu, clenched his fist and said: "I am ranked third in the Tiger Roar Fort, Lord Chen can call me Third Master." His tone and manner were extremely arrogant.

  "What brings the three masters here?" Chen Chu asked with a smile. He still had this psychological quality, thinking back to when he was a salesperson, he hadn't encountered fewer difficult faces than this, and years of tempering had made Chen Chu absolutely able to face any attitude with a calm heart.

  The three masters were very satisfied with the other's attitude, and said in an even more arrogant tone: "I didn't come here for anything else, just to ask Lord Chen for this year's first half of grain money."

  Bandits came to the government office to demand money and grain. Hearing such an absurd request, Chen Chu did not feel surprised, because he had already been surprised. On his way here, Chen Chu had learned about the whole story from the yamen runners. It turned out that since its establishment, Tiger's Lair had been looting and causing trouble everywhere, and the local county magistrates reported to the imperial court, hoping for troops to be sent to suppress the bandits. However, every memorial was like a mud cow entering the sea, without any response. Later, the county magistrates also tried to use their own strength to suppress the bandits, but after the most active county magistrate was killed, others and his successors were frightened and dared not mention suppressing the bandits again. Tiger's Lair also did not dare to go too far, so three years ago, Tiger's Lair negotiated with the county magistrates of Le Ping, Bai Ma, and Shou Yang, promising that as long as each of the three counties paid 100,000 kilograms of grain and 1,000 gold every half year, Tiger's Lair would not disturb the local areas. However, merchants traveling north and south were not protected by this promise. As a result, in these three counties, there appeared a strange phenomenon where the government paid money and grain to the bandits.

  "Oh, then I wonder how much I should pay?"

  "Not much. The usual rules, 100,000 kilograms of grain and 1,000 pieces of gold."

  Chen Chu pretended to be shocked and then begged in a negotiating tone: "Is this, isn't it a bit too much? Can you give some leeway?"

  The Third Master's eyebrows furrowed, and just as he was about to scold, his gaze suddenly fell on Zhang Rui beside Chen Chu. This guy rolled his eyes, then revealed a sinister smile: "Lord Chen, I can take charge of reducing the grain by half, but you must agree to one condition." As he said this, the Third Master deliberately paused, his gaze even more brazenly sweeping over Zhang Rui's body.

  Zhang Rui was furious at the sight and immediately wanted to draw his sword. However, as soon as the precious sword came out of its scabbard by an inch, the slender hand holding the sword was pressed down by a powerful hand.

  Chen Chu turned his head to look at Zhang Rui, gave her a signal with his eyes and shook his head slightly. Zhang Rui had no choice but to hold back and lower her head, for she was afraid that if she saw that disgusting face again, she would lose control and ruin Big Brother's important matter.

  At this scene, San Dangjia had another idea, he thought Zhang Rui was shy! Suddenly burst out laughing, the tone was full of complacency.

  Just as he was laughing with joy, a voice interrupted him.

  "The third master just said that I can pay half of the county's grain, but there is a condition. What is this condition?" Chen Chu asked calmly with no expression on his face.

  "It's simple, as long as Lord Chen takes the beauty beside him as a substitute, I'll take charge and exempt your county from half of its taxes." As he spoke, San Dangjia's eyes were fixed on Zhang Rui, his expression extremely sinister.

  Although Chen Chu had expected it, the other party's words still made him furious. At this moment, Chen Chu's psychological quality that he had cultivated for many years completely lost its effect, and Chen Chu simply wanted to rush up and strangle the bastard to death.

  Normally, Zhang Rui's personality would have led her to rush up and kill the bastard who dared to insult her at this time, but the large hand holding hers tightened in a timely manner, calming her enraged heart once again.

  Wang Han and others standing on both sides all looked at Chen Chu, grasping the hilt of their knives, looking as if they were waiting for Chen Chu's order.

  "No way, absolutely not!", Chen Chu almost yelled out, at this moment Chen Chu looked extremely angry. At the same time, Wang Han and others had already drawn their knives halfway out of their sheaths.

  The three masters' faces changed instantly, and they stood up, staring at Chen Chu with a fierce gaze: "Master Chen, what do you mean by this? Do you want to oppose us, the Tiger's Roar Fortress? Do you think that with just a thousand soldiers who have just put down their hoes, you can rival us?"