The Devil's Tribulation

Sun Dutou rolled his eyes and hesitated for a moment. Pan Chengfeng snorted coldly: "What? Are you afraid that I will take your copper coins? I said before that 500 copper coins can be exchanged for one tael of silver, and the exchange rate is still valid now!" Sun Dutou immediately replied: "I have copper coins, I have copper coins! You guys, go back immediately and bring all the copper coins in my house!" Twenty men, holding their stomachs, hurried back to get the copper coins. They dared not neglect it, because this money was to buy Sun Dutou's life. Seeing that those big-headed soldiers had left, Pan Chengfeng said: "Get up, sit down and talk." Sun Dutou hurriedly flattered: "In front of the adults, there is no place for a villain, I will just kneel down." Pan Chengfeng slapped the table: "Sit down if I tell you to, why are you talking so much nonsense!" Sun Dutou shuddered and immediately found a chair to sit down obediently, but he only dared to sit on half of his buttocks.

Pan Chengfeng shook his head helplessly. He was not used to others kneeling to talk to him, so he asked Sun Dutou to sit down. He wanted to ask Sun Dutou something, so he asked, "How long have you been in Li County?" Sun Dutou hurriedly replied, "Five years." Pan Chengfeng asked in confusion, "Five years? Haven't moved?" Sun Dutou replied, "I don't know. A few years ago, the Great Zhou and the State of Chu were at war. That war lasted for more than two years. I and some brothers were lucky enough to survive, so I was transferred to Li County to be a county lieutenant. Until now, I haven't received any transfer orders from the Ministry of War." Seeing Pan Chengfeng's puzzled face, Sun Dutou continued, "Before, in the Imperial Guards, my military position was a Dutou, so the brothers below were used to calling me that." Pan Chengfeng nodded and said, "Since you have contributed to the country, why do you exploit the people like this when you are in the local area? And you forcibly rob women? And oppress your subordinates?"

Sun Dutou was nervous for a while, and explained quickly: "I have no choice. We have been here for five years, and many brothers have married and had children here. The court provided food and wages except for the first year, and basically owed them for the next four years. The brothers below have to eat and support their families, and some have to marry wives... I can only think of a way myself. As for the saying that they forcibly robbed women, it is completely false." Pan Chengfeng was stunned, and Sun Dutou continued: "In fact, those women are concubines of those wealthy families. They want to get close to me... They and their families are also willing. As for the rumors of robbing women, they are all spread by those wealthy families for their own face."

Pan Chengfeng thought of a common saying: "Being a whore and a saint" and then asked: "Why did I hear that if I don't give you a gift, you will make things difficult for me?" Sun Dutou sighed and said: "There are always some people under my command who don't listen to me, and there are also some people under Magistrate Wu. I found an excuse to get rid of them. Somehow, the rumor spread that if you don't give me a gift, you will be made to suffer." Seeing that Sun Dutou didn't seem to be lying, Pan Chengfeng was silent for a while, and finally asked: "Do you know how to get to Fancheng?" Sun Dutou replied: "From here to Fancheng, it's about 900 miles to the southwest. It takes three days to ride a horse. There are only two post stations along the way. There are no other county towns or villages. Moreover, most of the roads are difficult to walk on. There are many bandits along the way. But for adults, small bandits are naturally no problem."

As he was speaking, a soldier outside reported, "Captain, the copper coins have been brought in." Captain Sun immediately shouted, "Hurry up and move them in!" Pan Chengfeng waved his hand and said, "Go out and take a look." The two walked out of the inn and saw a carriage carrying eight large boxes. Pan Chengfeng opened a box and took a look, nodded and said, "Not bad." Then he threw a hundred taels of silver to Captain Sun and said, "I have exchanged all of these. Lend me your carriage." Captain Sun hurriedly said, "Please be as you please, sir." Pan Chengfeng moved the other three boxes of copper coins onto the carriage, took the knife and silver, and went to the blacksmith shop.

When they arrived at the blacksmith shop, Pan Chengfeng jumped off the carriage and said to the blacksmith, "Are these copper coins enough?" The middle-aged blacksmith was so surprised that he couldn't close his jaw: "How long have you been out, and you've brought back so many copper coins?" Pan Chengfeng said, "Don't worry, they were all exchanged for silver." Then he threw another hundred taels of silver to the blacksmith: "Can the tripod be made in two days?" The blacksmith was happy, but when he heard what Pan Chengfeng said, he hurriedly said, "Two days? It can't be done in two days, brother, give me a few more days." Pan Chengfeng frowned slightly: "How many days will it take?" The blacksmith thought for a while: "Seven days, at least seven days! The tripod you want is too big, and it will take a lot of time just to melt the copper coins." Pan Chengfeng thought about it and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll come to get the tripod in seven days." After that, he got on the carriage back to the inn.

After arriving at the inn, he found Sun Dutou still waiting here, so he asked, "Sun Dutou, is there anything else?" Sun Dutou hurriedly said, "I'm fine, I'm fine." Pan Chengfeng asked curiously, "If you're fine, why don't you go back?" After hearing Pan Chengfeng's words, Sun Dutou felt relieved. Just as he was about to leave, he heard Pan Chengfeng say, "Sun Dutou, please help me look after the blacksmith shop these days. My things are being made there. I hope nothing unexpected happens." Sun Dutou immediately replied, "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely keep an eye on it for you." Seeing Pan Chengfeng enter the inn, Sun Dutou was completely relieved.

It's no wonder that Sun Dutou was so cautious. If it were any mortal, seeing twenty people being knocked down in one or two seconds, wouldn't he be scared? This was a man who could kill him at any time, how could he not respect him? Pan Chengfeng knew that Sun Dutou was afraid of him, but he still needed this kind of deterrence, otherwise he would be in trouble.

Back in the guest room, Pan Chengfeng was worried: "It will take seven days, I can't wait that long. There is no way, I will go back tomorrow and come back seven days later." After a night's rest, Pan Chengfeng left the inn early in the morning. Passing by a small stall selling step-shaking ornaments, he suddenly stopped and looked at it. He found a beautiful jade rabbit, and Liu Yuexin seemed to like rabbits very much. Then he pointed at the jade rabbit and asked, "How much?" Seeing that people really wanted to buy, not just look at it, the stall owner immediately said enthusiastically, "Sir, you have good eyes. This is a top-grade jade, and it is..." Pan Chengfeng didn't waste time talking to him. He was better at this kind of sales talk than him. He immediately waved his hand and said, "Just tell me how much silver?" The stall owner looked at Pan Chengfeng's outfit and asked tentatively, "Sir, how about two taels of silver?" The stall owner was waiting for Pan Chengfeng to bargain, but he felt something heavy in his arms. Looking down, a five-tael ingot of silver was already in his arms. Pan Chengfeng was about to leave when he seemed to remember something and pointed at a peacock hairpin and a yellow warbler hairpin and said, "I want these two too. Pack them for me." He threw another five taels of silver to the stall owner. He bought the hairpins, some cloth and needlework, and then walked out of the county gate, heading west first, and then went east to Panjia Village after a circle. "Although they will definitely not be able to catch up with me, safety comes first."

As soon as Pan Chengfeng left the city, someone from Sun Dutou's place reported, "Dutou, the man is gone!" Sun Dutou stood up nervously and asked, "Did you see it clearly? Where did he go?" The soldier replied, "I saw it clearly. He left the inn, bought a few hairpins, went to the fabric store, then went to the west gate of the county town, and finally went west." Sun Dutou breathed a sigh of relief, then thought of the blacksmith shop, and asked hurriedly, "Didn't he go to the blacksmith shop?" The soldier replied, "No, he just went to the fabric store." Sun Dutou's heart, which had just been relieved, was lifted up again, "He said that there was something being refined in the blacksmith shop. Judging from his appearance, it should be something very important. It is impossible that he left without taking anything." After thinking for a while, he muttered, "So he will come back!" The soldier listened to his captain muttering, not knowing what he was talking about, and asked carefully, "Do we need to keep an eye on the blacksmith shop?" Captain Sun glared and said, "Keep an eye on him! Keep an eye on him, that man is likely to come back to the blacksmith shop to get something!" The soldier took the order and left, but Captain Sun was still very nervous, "When will this evil star leave? How could a small place like Li County attract such a strong man?" Captain Sun could never have imagined that such a strong man not only came to Li County, but was also his neighbor.

Sun Dutou was still worried about when Pan Chengfeng would come back to Lixian. Pan Chengfeng had already arrived at the entrance of Panjia Village. Pan Chengfeng, who was exhausted, wiped his sweat and said, "It's not easy to run more than a hundred kilometers. The speed is okay, but my endurance seems to be a little worse. It seems that I need to practice more in this aspect in the future. If I can't beat him, at least I have to run faster." He looked up at the sun. It was noon. Uncle Niu should be at home. He walked to the door of Uncle Niu's house and shouted, "Is the master at home?" After a while, Sister Niu came out in an apron: "Gou Wa? Your master took Niu'er to the creek to catch fish. You come in and wait for a while." Pan Chengfeng smiled and replied, "Okay, is the master's wife cooking? I'll help!" Sister Niu: "No, it will be ready soon."

Pan Chengfeng had not been sitting in the living room for a while when Uncle Niu came back with Niu'er. Niu'er rode on Uncle Niu's neck, holding a bucket in one hand and supporting Uncle Niu with the other, and shouted from a distance: "Mom! Look, I caught a fish! I caught a fish!" She looked very happy. When Niu's wife saw the father and daughter coming back, she also said happily: "Niu'er's father, your apprentice is here to see you, Niu'er, come down quickly." Niu'er was wet from playing, so Niu's wife hurriedly took her back to the room to change clothes. Uncle Niu turned around and asked: "Is the matter done?" Pan Chengfeng said guiltily: "Master, there was an accident, and the tripod will take seven days to make. So I came back to tell you first, and I will go again in seven days." Uncle Niu asked in confusion: "Ding?" Pan Chengfeng nodded, and then roughly told the story of Li County, but omitted the matter of Sun Dutou.

After listening to him, Uncle Niu asked, "Why do you need such a big cauldron? Just to stew meat?" Pan Chengfeng said seriously, "How is that possible? I will need the cauldron in many places in the future, so this time I plan to solve the problem once and for all and get a big and sturdy one to avoid breaking it next time." Uncle Niu felt that he really couldn't control this apprentice, and said helplessly, "It's up to you, but remember, don't deal with people from the government." Pan Chengfeng nodded guiltily, thinking, "I'm dressed like that, and others won't recognize him, so it doesn't count as dealing with him, right?"

Uncle Niu was about to get up when Pan Chengfeng stopped him and asked stealthily, "Master, you should have never given anything to Master's wife, right?" Pan Chengfeng saw that there was only a simple hairpin on Sister Niu's hair. That thing couldn't have been given by Uncle Niu. In this era, gifts for women are nothing more than hairpins, earrings, bracelets and necklaces. Pan Chengfeng saw that Sister Niu had nothing, so he concluded that Uncle Niu, a blockhead, must have never given anything to Master's wife! The highest level of flattering the master is to flatter Master's wife! !