Pick up a princess to be your wife

"Oh, isn't this Young Master Zhou? What a rare guest! What brings you here today?" Li Ertie, who was about to leave, saw Zhou Feng and immediately fawned over him.

"The government has ordered us to collect 200,000 catties of grain to be used as military pay," Zhou Feng said.

"I see. Well then, Young Master Zhou, you're busy. I'll head out now." Li Ertie sensed something was wrong and immediately tried to slip away.

"Don't rush off, you haven't given us any food yet," Zhou Feng sneered.

"Oh, Young Master Zhou, don't you know me? I eat out every day. When have I ever stocked up on food at home? That would just be feeding the rats. Come on, Young Master Zhou, let me treat you to a couple of drinks at the restaurant."

Li Ertie chuckled and tried to pull Zhou Feng away.

But Zhou Feng shook his hand, patted his sleeve with a look of disgust, as if Li Ertie had dirtied it with a single touch.

"Go in and look for them." Zhou Feng gave the order, and the group entered Li Ertie's house.

Shortly afterward, two men came out carrying a bag of rice.

"Young master, we've found thirty catties of rice," the subordinate said.

"You still say you have no food?" Zhou Feng sneered.

"what?"

Li Ertie pretended to be enlightened.

“Oh, this must be something I stockpiled a long time ago; I’d completely forgotten about it. I’d guess the bugs ate it all. Why don’t we keep it? I’ll treat you to a drink, young master,” Li Ertie said.

Zhou Feng opened the bag, and inside was clearly fresh rice.

"Li Ertie, don't try to use your cleverness on me, it won't work."

“But I still need to feed dozens of people with this grain,” Li Ertie said.

Zhou Feng waved his hand, and his men took the bag of rice away.

He clapped his hands, tilted his head, stared at Li Ertie, and asked, "If I remember correctly, your men bought about 300 jin of rice yesterday, right? What about the rest?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ertie immediately cursed every woman in Zhou Feng's ancestors in his heart.

He now understands why Zhou Wanfu opened the granary to sell grain yesterday.

It turns out he had already prepared a backup plan. He sold the grain yesterday, and today he used the government's name to rob the grain.

Moreover, he even found out how much rice he had bought yesterday.

The Zhou family completely disregards the lives of ordinary people; their behavior is truly appalling.

He suddenly wondered why the rebels hadn't breached Yao Pass yet.

Once the rebels arrive, landlords and powerful families like Zhou Wanfu will surely be slaughtered by the rebels.

He knew he had no room for negotiation with Zhou Feng. The other party was Zhou Wanfu's son, and wouldn't take someone as insignificant as him seriously at all.

"That's all, that's all," Li Ertie said.

"That's all the 300 jin of rice left. Even if you were a pig, you couldn't eat that much in one night. Hand over the rest now," Zhou Feng threatened.

“It’s really gone. You can search again if you don’t believe me,” Li Ertie said.

“Young master, we only found thirty catties of grain,” one of the men said.

"You dare to try and outsmart me? Li Ertie, you just wait, let's go."

Li Ertie was so angry that he wanted to tear Zhou Feng and his son to pieces.

He exchanged all his remaining money for grain, and as a result, he lost both the money and the grain.

Soon after, Li Ertie's men arrived one after another.

"Master, the grain you distributed to me yesterday was forcibly taken away by Zhou Wanfu's son!"

“Master, he even stole my last two taels of silver.”

"Zhou Feng not only stole my family's grain, but also broke my elderly father's leg!"

Everyone came to tell each other that, without exception, Zhou Feng had stolen all the grain that everyone had received yesterday.

"It's just too much!"

Li Ertie was furious. He suddenly remembered what Li Mu had said earlier.

Li Mu wanted to find him to deal with Zhou Wanfu, but even if they joined forces, did they have the strength?

But they've been bullied to this extent by the Zhou family. If they continue to tolerate it, wouldn't they become cowards? How can these subordinates be expected to follow him wholeheartedly in the future?

"Brothers, don't worry, wait for my message. I promise you won't go hungry."

Li Ertie gave a brief instruction and then hurriedly left.

He found Li Mu and took him to a secluded place to talk.

"Brother, you said before that you wanted to deal with that fat bastard Zhou Wanfu. Do you have a plan?" Li Ertie asked bluntly.

"Why does Brother Ertie suddenly want to go against Zhou Wanfu?" Li Mu asked suspiciously.

"It's not that I want to go against him, it's that he's gone too far! Yesterday I bought about three hundred catties of rice from Zhou's rice shop and divided it equally among a dozen brothers. But this morning, the Zhou family robbed it all. If I were to suffer a loss myself, I could tolerate it. But for the sake of my brothers, I can't stand it." Li Ertie said indignantly.

"Zhou Feng also stole your grain?" Li Mu asked, somewhat puzzled.

“It’s not just my family. These scoundrels sold grain yesterday, and today they’re using the government’s name to steal all the grain they sold yesterday,” Li Ertie said.

Li Mu originally thought that Zhou Feng had found a reason to deliberately target the Li family.

But to everyone's surprise, the Zhou father and son actually did such a thing.

Yesterday they sold grain, today they're robbing grain; they're worse than animals.

“With the Zhou family putting on such a show, I’m afraid a civil uprising will break out in Luyang County before the rebels even break through Yaoguan,” Li Mu said, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Of the tens of thousands of people in Luyang County, only a very small number have enough to eat and wear.

When people run out of food, famine occurs.

If the famine spreads out of control, Luyang County will become a living hell even before the rebels arrive.

Given the way the Zhou father and son behaved, even if a famine broke out immediately, they would not release their grain; they would only sell it at a higher price to those who could afford it.

"Brother, tell me, is there any way to deal with Zhou Wanfu?" Li Ertie asked.

“If Brother Ertie is willing to lend a helping hand, I naturally have a way to deal with Zhou Wanfu,” Li Mu replied.

What Li Mu lacks is manpower, especially trustworthy people.

He was just worried about having no one to help him when the Zhou father and son suddenly offered their helpers to him.

“Brother, I trust you. I’ll work with you. Just tell me, are you going to do it openly or covertly? I’m not afraid,” Li Ertie said with a determined look in his eyes.

"Do you know how much grain Zhou Wanfu still has stockpiled?" Li Mu asked.

"It's said that he bought several hundred thousand catties of grain this year, and with his harvest, it's at least a million catties. He's sold quite a bit recently, so there are probably still several hundred thousand catties left," Li Ertie replied.

"The two of us alone are far from enough. I'll take you to meet someone; if she's willing to lend a hand, we can achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Who?"

He Xianzhi.