get married first, fall in love later

After laughing happily for a long time, Ouyang Xi suddenly raised his head and saw Qian Xiaobao's master and servant staring at her intently.

"What are you looking at?" Ouyang Xi stared at Qian Xiaobao: "Have you never seen a beautiful woman?"

Qian Xiaobao glanced at her with a half-smile: "I don't see the beauty, but there is a crazy woman."

"Who are you talking about?!" Ouyang Xi gritted his teeth and was about to jump forward to argue, but at this moment Qian Xiaobao turned around and walked to the bandit leader, looking up and down seemingly unintentionally, and asked: " Tell me, who sent you here?"

The bandit leader raised his head when he heard the words, and replied rather arrogantly: "I have been king here for a long time, and I have never listened to orders!"

"Oh?" Qian Xiaobao responded with a light smile, took out a folding fan from his bosom and opened it, leisurely paced around him and said: "If I remember correctly, before going up the mountain, your subordinates seem to have said that' Someone said that this kid is difficult to deal with, right? If he didn't obey someone's orders, where did this guy come from?"

Before the bandit leader could answer, Ouyang Xi asked suspiciously: "Qian Xiaobao, do you have a good ear?"

Qian Xiaobao said with a smile: "I told you about it when I proposed marriage. My husband has very good ears. Didn't my lady forget it?"

"This..." The bandit leader probably wasn't one to hide his thoughts. Hearing what Qian Xiaobao said, his heart suddenly became a little confused.

Qian Xiaobao glanced at him indifferently, then closed the folding fan in his hand and pressed it against his chin frivolously, and continued: "If you guess correctly, that person must belong to the official family, right?"

"Why do you..." The bandit leader almost blurted out the words, but then he stopped urgently as if thinking of something.

Qian Xiaobao didn't seem to be eager to know the answer, but continued to ask with a sense of guidance: "What benefits did that person promise you, gold, silver and treasure? A hundred hectares of fertile land? High officials and rich salary? Or ecstasy?" beauty?"

The bandit leader had some rare self-control this time, and he didn't say a word until Qian Xiaobao finished speaking.

"Let me guess what he asked you to do. Grab some money to make a show, and then rob me and my wife up the mountain. He should have a special account not to neglect me, and as for my dear lady My lord," Qian Xiaobao looked at Ouyang Xi who was not far away while speaking: "is it just the opposite, not only does it not need to be treated well, but can even be 'specially taken care of'? Or in his original order, only Daoming Jie Is a 'Mrs. Yazhai' enough?"

The bandit leader looked at Qian Xiaobao in disbelief, and even wanted to write the two big characters "admire" on his forehead.

Qian Xiaobao smiled lightly, and while slowly backing away, looked up at his eyes and said, "Why, did I hit everything?"

The bandit leader finally couldn't hold back the doubts in his heart, and asked, "How do you know?"

"It doesn't matter where the news comes from. What's important is that once this matter is exposed by me, it means that your plan has failed. If this is the case, do you think that the tempting conditions that that person promised you will be paid according to their words? ?"

"The old eunuch only said to do as ordered, but he didn't say that he wouldn't pay if he failed!"

"Oh?" Originally, Qian Xiaobao only saw a familiar face among the robbers. She vaguely remembered that the person was one of Mu Huaijin's guards. The guards came over, and it was all right to vent their anger on Ouyang Xi, but he didn't want him to send out even the most trusted and capable prince around him. It seemed that he really took Ouyang Xi to heart!

Qian Xiaobao thought about it carefully, and then said: "I don't know if he will regret it, but I heard that officials are always ruthless and straightforward in their actions. If you haven't revealed any clues, it's okay to say, now the plan has been exposed. , according to their habits, it would be a good way to deal with it by killing the perpetrators."

"You...you nonsense! They won't do that!"

"Listen to you, don't tell me you have worked together many times and are well aware of each other's habits?"

"That's not true," the bandit leader replied truthfully: "It's also the first time I've cooperated with them, and they came to me on their own initiative."

"In this case, how can you be so sure that they will not kill you all as I said?"

"This……"

"Since they bought you to deal with me, they specifically stated that they want to treat me kindly. Doesn't this just mean that I have an extraordinary status in their hearts? Then, naturally, I know them better than you, right? "

The bandit leader bowed his head and thought about it carefully, and immediately felt that what Qian Xiaobao said was very reasonable, so he didn't care about other things at the moment, and asked anxiously: "Then what should I do? I promised to cooperate with that person. I just wanted to make some money to improve the lives of my brothers, but now that I haven’t made any money, I’ve even put my brothers’ lives into it. How can I feel sorry for them?!”

Before Qian Xiaobao had time to answer, Ouyang Xi, who was quietly listening to their conversation, couldn't bear it anymore, stepped forward and grabbed Qian Xiaobao's wide sleeves and said, "Xiaobao, you must help them! , look how pitiful they are!"

Qian Xiaobao rolled his eyes silently when he heard the words: Do you feel sorry for others?Just now, when you were hugged like a little chick and did whatever you wanted, you were so scared and shouted for help, why didn't you say that they were pitiful?Let’s not say whether what this person said is true or not, even if it is true, it must not be wrong to say that poor people must have something to hate. They have become kings for so many years. You must have done a lot, and now some retribution is due.

Even though he thought this way in his heart, his expression remained unchanged, he just looked at the bandit leader indifferently and said, "It's not impossible to save your life, it's just..."

"Young Xia has any orders, just ask, as long as it can save the lives of the brothers, I will do whatever you ask me to do!"

This answer made Qian Xiaobao a little surprised. It seemed that the person in front of him was quite affectionate, and he couldn't be some kind of treacherous and evil person.It's just that a person with such a temperament is not too bad in his heart. How could he be reduced to the point where he wants to take over the mountain as a bandit and buy others to commit crimes?

Qian Xiaobao didn't hide anything at the moment, he just told the people in front of him the doubts in his heart.The bandit leader's face was gloomy when he heard the words, and he was silent for a long time before replying in a low voice: "If it wasn't for the fact that the original life was so unsustainable, who would have given up on a good life, but came here to do these wicked things..."

It turned out that the original name of the bandit leader was Wang Hu, and he was an ordinary villager in Fushou Village, fifty miles east of Jiangzhou Prefecture. , but the days of happiness and contentment.But I never thought that just a year ago, the government of Jiangzhou City suddenly increased the tax of the year, and also stated that if the tax was not paid on time and in accordance with the amount, then the house would be seized and the land would be seized to make up for it.

Wang Hu's family is an out-and-out farmer. They rely on the sky to eat and the land to support their family. If the land is really confiscated by then, there will be no way for this family to survive.In order to pay huge taxes, he had no choice but to go out to work together with some young and middle-aged people in the village.

In order to see the young and old at home earlier, he and the other fellow villagers worked day and night outside, not daring to slack off, but never would have thought that after being away for more than a month, fellow villagers in the village would come forward with a little faith to say that the government did not obey As promised, the deadline has not yet been reached, but they have already entered the village to collect the fields of various families, and drove all the people out of the village.

The migrant workers hurried back home when they heard the news.When Wang Hu returned to the village, he found that not only the fields had been confiscated, but even his humble house had been burned down by the government.The wife and son disappeared, and the elderly mother was already weak, and now she was frightened and frightened, and she died before she saw him for the last time.

Everyone in the room listened to his detailed explanation, and their hearts were covered with a thick layer of sadness. Ouyang Xi felt sad and angry, and said angrily: "This government is too shameless, right? Why don't you go to them to argue Woolen cloth?"

"Why didn't you go?" Wang Hu smiled bitterly: "Otherwise, all of us would not have fallen to the point where we have become bandits!"

Hearing this, Qian Xiaobao frowned and asked, "How do you say that?"

"After briefly dealing with my mother's death, I gathered the people in the village and went to the state government office to sue the county magistrate in charge of our village, but for some reason, the court has not been promoted, and the case has not been resolved. We people are inexplicable We were labeled as mobsters, and the government even issued a warrant to arrest us all and go to jail. As a last resort, we were forced to come here."

"It's so unreasonable!" Ouyang Xi was so angry that he didn't even realize that his tone had the tone of this era.

Qian Xiaobao was a little puzzled: "According to what you mean, your tax suddenly increased a year ago?"

"Yes."

"But Jiangzhou City is only a hundred miles away from Yong'an County, so how come our taxes haven't increased?"

"We have also heard about this since we came here. We really feel very strange in our hearts, but we can't understand it. However, what I said is true. If you don't believe me, you can go to Jiangzhou City to find out for yourself. I will know."

Qian Xiaobao frowned and thought for a while, but didn't answer.However, Ouyang Xi couldn't restrain her curiosity, she stepped forward and pressed her ear and asked, "Xiaobao, do you think he is lying to us?"

Qian Xiaobao shook his head lightly, and after glancing at her, he looked at Wang Hu again and asked, "Since you are wanted by the government, why do you dare to cooperate with the government?"

Wang Hu showed a hint of helplessness when he heard the words, and said: "If it wasn't because we were wanted by the government, how could we easily cooperate with the government, which is not good for you? Speaking of which, we have occupied the mountain as bandits this year, and only occasionally went down the mountain to rob. As long as the other party cooperates with the money of some passing wealthy businessmen, we usually will not do anything, let alone hurt people's lives. However, when the old eunuch came to the door a few days ago, he said that if we agree to cooperate, not only will the government be cancelled. He will also give us a large sum of money to find another way out. But if he does not cooperate, he will immediately bring officers and soldiers to arrest us. As a last resort, I agreed to him."

Qian Xiaobao nodded lightly after hearing what he said, and said, "So that's how it is."