Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 328: Overwhelming wealth
A village somewhere in the Taihang Mountains.

The hall was noisy, a group of bandits were eating and drinking meat, having a great time.

Suddenly, a skinny bandit ran in from outside and shouted, "Boss, there's an incredibly fat sheep coming out of Jingxing Road and heading towards Yangquan County."

A bald man sitting on a tiger-skin chair shouted, "It's huge! Is it a coal caravan?"

The skinny monkey bandit said, "It doesn't look like it. There are many soldiers accompanying them."

"how many people?"

"I guess there are tens of thousands?"

The bald village chief suddenly spit out the wine in his mouth and cursed, "Damn it, that's the army! What a fat sheep! We have only a few hundred people, but we're not enough for them to fight with!"

The skinny bandit said, "But there are more than 200 carriages in the team, and the ruts are very deep. They must be carrying valuable things!" His eyes flashed.

The bald man muttered, "Could it be soldiers escorting military rations? I haven't heard of any war going on anywhere recently."

One of the bandits asked, "Boss, could it be that the imperial court secretly sent an army to attack the northern barbarians on the Mobei grasslands?"

Another person said, "It could also be aimed at the Eastern Turks. They've been acting rogue lately and have been secretly robbing coal caravans!"

The bald man narrowed his eyes and said, "Go and find out more!"

A man who looked like a scholar was startled and said, "Captain, since they are government troops, we can't afford to offend them!"

The bald man touched his head and said with a smile: "I'm not crazy, why would I provoke the government troops? But if the news is confirmed, maybe I can sell it for a good price on the Bingzhou Road!"

On the Green Forest Road, not only property is valuable, but information can also be sold for money, especially information related to the government.

The bald man immediately sent a small village chief under his command and the skinny bandit to scout Yangquan County.

This vast mountain road was like a back garden to these bandits. The two men walked along the mountain road with ease and soon caught up with the team.

The two men were lying behind a mountain wall and looked up.

I saw that the fairly wide road below was completely blocked by a moving convoy, like a long dragon with no end in sight.

The skinny monkey bandit saw the other bandits turn pale after seeing the team, and said proudly: "Qizhaitou, I was right, wasn't I? This fat sheep is incredible!"

Qizhaitou bit a piece of grass in his mouth and said in a low voice, "Something's wrong, something's wrong with this team..."

The skinny monkey bandit was stunned and asked, "What's wrong?"

Qizhaitou said in a deep voice: "Let's go, don't let them find us." Then he turned and left.

The skinny monkey bandit cursed inwardly: "What a coward! No wonder he deserted the battlefield."

The two of them quickly returned to the village. The bald village chief asked curiously, "Why did you come back so quickly? Did you find out everything?"

The seventh village chief said in a deep voice: "Master, that's not an ordinary army, it could be the Jinwu Guards!"

The other strongholds immediately started to make a commotion, shouting, "Nonsense! Why are the Jinwu Guards here?"

The bald village chief raised his hand and cursed, "Shut up, everyone! Old Seven has been in the army for a few years, doesn't he know more than you?"

He touched his chin and asked, "Seventh Brother, tell me, why are the Jinwu Guards here?"

The leader of the Seventh Village was silent for a moment, then said, "They must be guarding those two hundred carriages. There must be important people in them!"

The bald village chief narrowed his eyes and said, "Oh, what kind of big shot could it be?"

The leader of the Seventh Village said, "Look at the pomp and ceremony. I'm afraid it's either the envoy of demotion or the prince of a vassal state!"

The bald village chief rubbed his big bald head and scolded with a smile: "My goodness, such a big shot has come to our Hedong."

The seventh village chief said, "Village leader, quickly get all the brothers back. Don't provoke them and bring disaster to the village."

The bald village chief snorted and said, "The brothers outside are just responsible for stepping on the plates and not doing anything, so it shouldn't be that serious."

The seventh village chief said, "We're not afraid of a thousand things, but we're afraid of the one that happens. If we accidentally offend that important person, he'll kill us as easily as crushing a bug!"

The skinny monkey bandit groaned, "I don't think so. Our village is located in a dangerous area. It's not like the government hasn't come to suppress us before. No matter how many people there are, they can't all go up the mountain!"

Just as the bald village chief was lost in thought, another bandit rushed in, shouting, "Village chief, there's a weirdo out there, demanding to see you. He's injured several of our men!"

The bald village chief was stunned for a moment and said, "Damn it, why are there so many strange things happening today? Where is he?"

"Just outside the Loyalty Hall, the brothers surrounded him!"

"how many people?"

"On a."

The bald village chief snorted and said, "Let's go and take a look!" He took his men out of the Loyalty Hall.

When I looked up, I saw a man dressed like a gangster standing in the open space outside. He was wearing a conical hat and holding a sword in his hand, with half of his face covered by the hat.

Several bandits were lying around him, wailing miserably, and another seven or eight bandits surrounded him, their faces full of shock.

The bald village chief, carrying a large ring knife, asked the man, "Good boy, you have the guts to come hunting bounties alone!"

The Jianghu man said in a low voice, "I am not a gold hunter. I am not here to capture you for a bounty."

The bald village chief snorted, "Then what are you doing here?"

Jianghuzi lowered his head and said, "I'm here to do business with you."

The bald village chief smiled and said, "That's interesting. What kind of business do you want to do?"

With a "pop", Jianghu Zi threw out a bag, which hit the ground with a crisp sound.

The skinny monkey bandit walked over quickly, opened the bag and looked inside. He cried out in surprise, "Village leader, these are all gold cakes!"

The bald village chief was shocked. He walked over quickly and snatched the bag from the skinny bandit. Sure enough, the bag was full of gold cakes, twenty of them in total.

The bald village chief had also partnered with others to commit kidnapping, but he had never seen anyone so generous in his life!

"What kind of business do you want to do?" The bald village chief's voice was a little weak.

He knew that those who could afford such a price were all engaged in big business, and he didn't know whether his small village could handle such huge wealth!

Jianghuzi said, "It's easy. A team should be coming out of Jingxing Road in the next few days. Help me keep an eye on their movements, and the money will be yours."

The skinny bandit suddenly said, "Hey! Are you talking about the group of soldiers who just came out of Jingxing Road today?"

Jianghu Zi asked, "Have you seen them?" His originally calm voice became a little more excited.

The skinny monkey bandit puffed out his chest and said, "Yes, I found them."

Jianghuzi said, "Very good. It seems that coming to you was the right choice. How about this deal? It's a good one, isn't it? After the deal is done, there will be thirty gold cakes."

The bald man's eyes widened and he asked, "Just by staring, there are fifty gold cakes?"

Jianghuzi said, "That's right, but there is a condition."

The bald man asked, "What?"

"You must be extra careful and must not be discovered by them, otherwise, you will all die!" Jiang Hu Zi said in a stern tone with a cold light flashing in his eyes.

The bald man has several lives on his hands and is a complete desperado.

However, at this moment, after making eye contact with the other person, he actually felt a hint of fear.

At this time, the seventh village head suddenly said: "Village leader, we can't agree to him!"

The bald man turned and looked at him. "Why?"

The leader of the Seventh Village said, "There is no gold that falls from thin air in this world. If we take this gold, we may not be able to spend it in our lives!"

After hearing this, a fierce light flashed in the bald man's eyes.

This matter is indeed weird. It would be better to kill this kid and take the twenty gold cakes. It won’t be a loss!
He sneered and was about to order his men to take action when he suddenly saw Jianghuzi raise a hand and point at Qizhaitou.

"You talk too much, just shut up forever."

"Whoosh!"

There was a sharp sound of breaking air, and an arrow came through the air and hit the head of Qizhaitou in the neck.

The powerful impact sent him flying eight feet away, leaving him lying on his back on the ground.

Blood bubbles gurgled out of his mouth, he raised his hand and wanted to say something, but finally his head tilted and he died.

The bald village chief was shocked and furious, and roared, "They are still hiding people! Brothers, grab your weapons and attack!"

The man from the Jianghu said, "I don't want to do business with you, but you want to die!" He drew his sword.

Before the bald village chief could see the other party's movements clearly, he felt a pain in his chest and flew out.

When he got up, rubbing his chest, he was stunned.

The gangster was like a wolf among a flock of sheep. In the blink of an eye, all the bandits fell to the ground.

The bald village chief blew a whistle, and the bandits in the village ran towards him from all directions.

However, the martial arts of that Jianghu man were too terrifying and his movements were too fast. Even though everyone was surrounding him, they couldn't hurt him at all.

Several bandits hid in the dark, ready to shoot arrows with hunting bows.

With a "whoosh" sound, before the arrow was shot out, he was hit in the neck by an arrow flying from a distance. Like Qizhaitou, he died instantly on the spot.

The bald village chief then noticed that eight men were walking towards the open space in the distance.

They were dressed similarly to the Jianghu people, except that they did not wear hats on their heads. Each of them wore a sword and carried a bow and arrow.

"Stop, stop fighting, we surrender!" The bald village chief knelt on the ground and shouted loudly.

However, the other side did not stop. After the eight people joined the battle, the battle ended quickly and all the bandits were knocked down.

Fortunately, the other party showed mercy. Except for Qizhaitou and others who were shot to death, the rest were only injured but not killed.

The man in the bamboo hat came to the bald village chief, squatted down and looked at him coldly.

"What do you say now?"

The bald village chief regretted his decision and said in a trembling voice, "My dear, I was wrong. I will do business with you!"

The man in the bamboo hat narrowed his eyes and said, "You just provided me with useful information, which saved your life."

The bald village chief was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

The news he was referring to should be the discovery of the team that had left Jingxing.

The man in the bamboo hat continued, "Now that there's no business, you still have to help me keep an eye on them. If you do a good job, you can survive. If you don't..."

"Yes, yes, I will definitely see to it." The bald village chief agreed without waiting for his threat.

But he was also wondering in his heart, if these strong men were so powerful, why didn't they go and watch them in person, but came to find them instead.

The man in the bamboo hat said grimly, "Remember, you must not let them find out you are following us, otherwise you will all die miserably!"

After saying that, he raised his knife and chopped off the bald village chief's ear, with blood dripping all over the place.

The bald village chief covered his ears and agreed while crying. After being a bandit for half his life, this was the first time he cried like a child.

The man in the bamboo hat left eight of his men behind to supervise the bandits in completing their mission, while he himself left the stronghold and headed towards Chang'an City.

It is now November, and the princes of Chang'an City and envoys from various countries are slowly gathering in Chang'an City.

King Han Li Yuanjia came to Chang'an at the end of November every year, punctually and without any change.

After he entered the city in a carriage, he began to observe the changes in Chang'an City.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed that the city of Chang'an remained in order even without the emperor.

This shows that people's hearts are settled, and the court officials left by the emperor to assist the prince are also very capable.

"Is the fate already determined?" he sighed in his heart.

Now we can only wait for news from Hedong.

King Han soon arrived at his palace in Chang'an City.

Just as he was about to go in, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves and someone calling him. He turned his head and saw that it was King Li Zhen of Yue who came with his men.

"Uncle Wang, you are finally here. I have been waiting for you for a long time." Li Zhen dismounted from his horse in a neat manner, bowed and said with a smile.

Li Yuanjia said calmly, "Could it be that I have committed some fault that has caused you, the Minister of the Imperial Clan Affairs, to come to me personally and bring charges against me?"

Li Zhen laughed and said, "Uncle Wang, you're joking. You're a renowned and virtuous king, how could you possibly do anything wrong? I'm young and inexperienced, so I've come to ask for your advice."

Li Yuanjia shook his collar and said with a smile, "Let's go in and talk. I've been in Shu for so long that I'm a little unaccustomed to the cold wind in Chang'an."

Li Zhen suddenly looked behind King Han.

"Uncle Wang, why isn't your personal guard captain Meng Lei here? If I remember correctly, he always followed you closely whenever you came to the capital."

Li Yuanjia's expression remained unchanged as he replied calmly, "His mother passed away two months ago. So I gave him three years' leave to go home and observe the mourning period."

Li Zhen narrowed her eyes and said, "That's right."

Li Yuanjia said, "I'm a little surprised. I never thought the King of Yue would pay so much attention to a guard beside me."

Li Zhen laughed out loud and said, "I've also heard that Uncle Wang's guard is highly skilled in martial arts and is known as the best martial artist in Shu. So I'm quite interested in him and was thinking about sparring with him someday."

Li Yuanjia smiled and said, "You have always been fond of martial arts, no wonder."

The two of them immediately entered the house and sat down as host and guest.

King Han ordered someone to serve tea. After the tea, Li Zhen asked him many questions about the internal affairs of the royal family.

The King of Yue answered patiently, and after more than half an hour, he had answered all the questions.

Li Zhen stood up and bowed, saying, "Uncle Wang has just arrived in the capital and must be tired from the journey. I will not bother you any further. Goodbye."

King Yue stood up and escorted him out of the hall. Looking at his receding back, a cold light flashed in his eyes.

He had long known that the King of Yue had been secretly investigating him since he became the Minister of Zongzheng Temple.

This was probably the emperor's instruction, which meant that the emperor had become suspicious of him.

Although Li Zhen is young, he is very capable. He has even investigated the situation of the guards around him clearly.

Fortunately, he has always been cautious in his actions. He chose Meng Lei to go to Hedong because he had just lost his mother and it was not easy for others to find anything wrong with him.

But from now on, he must act more carefully.

(End of this chapter)