Bastard's Counterattack [Rebirth]

"Hey--"

Rong Youtang was taken aback, caught off guard, he immediately turned his head sideways, and instinctively raised his hand to cover his eyes.

Fortunately, Qi Zhiyang wrapped Shang Fangjian before the pigeon took off. He got up and walked to his companion. Before he could say anything, the pigeon struck like lightning!

"Be careful!" Qi Zhiyang quickly grabbed his companion's arm and carried him back, both of them were startled.

"Cuckoo~" The pigeon turned flexibly when it was two feet away from Rong Youtang, flew half a circle around the guest room, landed on the table, flapped its wings, stretched its neck, its eyes were bright and sharp, and it paced back and forth gracefully .

"Who raised it? The innkeeper?" Rong Youtang was shocked, he mistakenly thought that the bird wanted to peck his eyes.

Qi Zhiyang watched it intently for a long while, then said in a low voice, "It's a carrier pigeon."

"Carrier pigeon?" Rong Youtang hurriedly bent down to take a closer look:

Sure enough, under the pigeon's smooth silver-gray wings, there was a thin ring on its left leg, and a small coil was attached to the thin ring.

"Coo coo coo ~" The pigeon was pacing faster and faster, it seemed a little anxious, its posture was no longer elegant, it tilted its head to look at Rong Youtang, muttering.

"It seems to know me?" Rong Youtang blurted out with a thought.

Qi Zhiyang said cautiously: "The pigeon is spiritual and very smart. It flew here on purpose, we might as well untie it and have a look."

"Okay." Rong Youtang nodded.

Qi Zhiyang approached slowly, stretched out his hand, and tentatively grabbed the pigeon——

"Coo coo coo!" The pigeon screamed in surprise, turned around and took off, circled a few times in the small guest room, and finally landed on the beam.

Qi Zhiyang raised his head, whistled a few times, and stretched out his arms, but the pigeon was indifferent, standing on the sorghum proudly; he put the stool on the table again, trying to reach out to grab it, but the pigeon was so startled that it flew to the end of the beam to hide.

Rong Youtang also whistled twice, stretched out his hand, and coaxed: "Come down, we'll give you something to eat and drink."

"Can it understand?" Qi Zhiyang was delighted.

"I'm expressing my sincerity, who told us that we can't speak bird language?" Rong Youtang replied helplessly.

"That's right." Qi Zhiyang hurried over to close the window, and said seriously, "Don't let it go until you find out."

"Ah."

Due to the strange arrival of the carrier pigeon, the two were very cautious and treated it as a business.

Rong Youtang raised his arms and waited for a while, but the pigeon on the beam stood like a pine. He couldn't help guessing: "Maybe it got lost? Or rested after flying tired? Hungry and want to ask for food?"

"It's all possible." Qi Zhiyang walked away a few steps, went to get the leather rope on the table, tied the wrapped Shangfang sword around his waist, and tied it tightly.

"It's very shy, so it probably came in to rest." Rong Youtang lowered his hands, took out the remaining dry food from the bag, broke off half of it, crushed it and sprinkled it on the table, poured another half a glass of water and put it on, and said seriously: " Time is running out! Brother Qi, let's discuss it first, I only know Sun Qi and Sun Qi, the prefect of Guanzhou."

"Oh?"

"When the bandits were suppressed at the beginning of the year, Master Sun led the civilian food security team to support Shun County. However, they withdrew before the Guanzhong Army surrounded the mountains to search for the bandits."

"So that's the case." Qi Zhiyang regretted, "No wonder we didn't meet."

The two were full of energy, and they sat facing each other to discuss for a while, and Rong Youtang was startled by the sound of flapping wings behind his head——

"Cuckoo!"

The pigeon jumped down the beam without warning, fluttered and swayed for a while, grabbed Rong Youtang's shoulder and clothes with its claws, and kept chirping.

"Hey, this pigeon is... so naughty!" Rong Youtang couldn't laugh or cry.

"You catch it." Qi Zhiyang reminded, he was vaguely aware that the bird was afraid of him, so he was just on guard and held back without making a move.

"I'll try." Worried about being pecked, Rong Youtang covered his ears, slowly raised his left hand, and touched the pigeon's back as gently as possible.

"Grab the wings." Qi Zhiyang pointed out.

"it is good."

After a while, Rong Youtang unskilledly untied the wooden tube that was tied to the pigeon's leg, which was thinner than the little finger, unscrewed it, and poured out a small paper roll.

At this time, the pigeon seemed to have rested its heavy burden, walked to the edge of the table with its head held high, first drank water, and then "ducked" to eat the pastry crumbs.

"Open it quickly." Qi Zhiyang urged nervously.

"En." Rong Youtang held his breath and concentrated, and carefully unfolded the scroll:

The half-palm-sized scroll was filled with petite characters, and the two of them recognized the familiar handwriting with just one glance!

Surprised and delighted, Rong Youtang took a deep breath.

"His Royal Highness King Qing—" Qi Zhiyang hurriedly stopped, and in the blink of an eye, he bounced up, and said awkwardly: "Look, you should read it first." Is the letter a business or a private matter?Could it be His Highness's greetings to Brother Rong?Then I can't watch it.

"...Okay." Rong Youtang was also thoughtful, and he was inevitably embarrassed. He quickly glanced at ten lines, and saw King Qing wrote with a small wolf pen: "I know that everything is fine, don't read it. If you arrive in Guanzhou, you can use it." When this pigeon is in contact, don't look forward and backward in times of crisis, you should use your sword and purpose to dispatch help from the nearest place, take care."

Letter from His Majesty!

He should know the news I reported. Bai Qiongying's alias is Zhu Xiaoying, and I hope she can provide valuable clues to His Highness.

Rong Youtang finished reading in a hurry, his heart was surging, excited, the corners of his mouth and eyes couldn't help but curl up.But Qi Zhiyang was present, and he hurriedly greeted him: "Brother Qi, this is written for us by Your Highness, please read it quickly."

"Oh?" Qi Zhiyang turned around quickly, holding the small scroll in both hands, read it carefully, breathed a sigh of relief, and said happily: "Excellent! I am worried about the lack of communication channels with the capital. It is not sure whether the report will arrive in Beijing smoothly, but the pigeons are fast and stable, so I feel much more at ease."

"Exactly." Rong Youtang smiled.

Qi Zhiyang was used to being steady, and only now did he reveal: "Brother Rong, that's just a military pigeon. I've seen many in the military. It's a special breed called 'Cloud Pigeon'. It's hard to train! Smart and capable, money is hard to come by. Fly hundreds of miles a day."

"Oh, it's amazing!" Rong Youtang was in awe, his eyes changed when he looked at the pigeon, he liked it very much, and asked anxiously: "Is there anything special about its food? I fed it some snacks."

"Let's go back and feed some grains such as millet and wheat to satisfy the hunger." Qi Zhiyang pointed out.

"Okay!" Rong Youtang turned half a circle on the spot, and happily said: "Let's let it rest for a day and a night, and reply at night."

"It should be." Qi Zhiyang planned ahead and said worriedly: "We have to report the progress of the investigation back to the capital, and talk about certain situations in a cryptic manner, so as not to be murdered by those who are eager to jump over the wall and die in vain."

"Hmph." Rong Youtang sneered: "This morning when Zhu Di saw that we had made an appointment with Shopkeeper Pang and their fleet, his face turned pale with fright."

"When passing Yingzui Cliff, I found him looking behind the vine curtain on the cliff twice." Qi Zhiyang's eyes were terrified.

"It seems that they really want to kill people to silence them." Rong Youtang sighed.Out of thorough consideration, he read the letter several times over and over again, and burned the scroll reluctantly.

"For some officials, as long as they can save their lives and black hats, they dare to do anything." Qi Zhiyang said coldly.

"Brother Qi, why don't we go to the scene of the crime first?" Rong Youtang got up and carefully opened every window to make it easier for the pigeons to come in and out.

"Okay." Qi Zhiyang frowned with a headache, and said in disgust, "Don't waste time in the yamen again, and don't bother to listen to their lip service."

After a while, they finished their discussion and were ready to go out.

"Doves don't fly around?" Rong Youtang was a little worried.

"It won't leave until it gets a reply. Put your baggage next to it. It must be familiar with the route and recognize the smell." Qi Zhiyang smiled and said with relief: "The three brothers who were watching the night last night stayed to rest. , look at the baggage and look at the pigeons."

"It depends on Judy." Rong Youtang added.

"Let him stay." Qi Zhiyang pouted contemptuously.

Half an hour later, a group of seven imperial envoys appeared on the streets of Guanzhou, all wearing ordinary clothes.

There are many shops, there is an endless stream of pedestrians, and the sound of yelling and selling is one after another, making it lively and noisy.

"I don't see anything unusual," Qi Zhiyang said.

"It's been more than a month since the incident happened, life is always going to pass." Rong Youtang said with emotion.

They walked forward slowly, turned their heads from the main street, and saw hawkers with baskets and loads appearing in the alleys on both sides of the side street from time to time.

The peddlers dare not leave the alley, and crowded at the entrance of the alley, poking their heads vigilantly, like thieves, soliciting customers in a low voice, selling vegetables and fruits from their own fields, woven baskets, fish and shrimp caught in the river, etc.

"Let's go and have a look!" Rong Youtang's eyes lit up.

"Walk."

In an instant, the imperial envoy and his party came to the entrance of the alley.

Rong Youtang took a closer look and couldn't help being surprised: every narrow alley was crowded with peddlers carrying baskets and burdens, both men, women and children, but they didn't make much movement.When they saw seven strange men coming together, they immediately panicked and packed their goods in a hurry, showing fear and resentment uncontrollably.

Qi Zhiyang and the guards were tall and strong with sabers, and although they tried to smile kindly, they failed to appease the frightened birds.

With an idea, Rong Youtang squatted down in front of a gray-haired old man, pointed to the fruit in the bamboo basket and asked, "Master, how do you sell these peaches?"

"Fifteen cents a catty. I grow it myself. It's very sweet." The dark and thin old man replied tremblingly. He leaned his back against the wall and was nervous. Surrounded by seven or eight people, he was too frightened to look up.

Some of the other peddlers quickly carried their burdens and hid in the depths of the alley, while some were from the same village, standing anxiously not far away to watch.

Rong Youtang took out a piece of broken silver and handed it over, and said cheerfully: "I want it all!"

"Ah?" The old man looked up in surprise, and was stunned at a loss, holding the bamboo basket tightly with both hands.

"We brothers are thirsty from shopping and want to taste the local fruit." Rong Youtang explained with a smile.He simply stuffed the broken silver into the palm of the old man, picked up half of the basket of sweet peaches, and handed it to the guards behind him.

"Wait, wait!" The old man stood up, holding the broken silver as if it was hot in his hands, and shouted anxiously: "Master, I don't need so much money, I don't have to look for it!" Seeing that Rong Youtang was born fair and handsome, gentle and polite, It was determined that his family was wealthy.

The guards did their duty, and after quickly inspecting the peaches secretly, they threw one to Rong Youtang.

"This basket is very interesting to weave. I want it too. If there are too many, just buy a basket." Rong Youtang smelled the peaches, and praised: "This fruit is really fragrant."

"It's quite sweet." Qi Zhiyang ate half of it, very easy-going.

The old man relaxed a little, and proudly said: "Isn't it sweet? I grow it in the mountains behind my house, and fertilize it several times every year!" After speaking, he handed the broken silver to Rong Youtang, and said with a bitter face: "Master, really You don’t need so much, the basket is for you, and 150 money is enough.”

Qi Zhiyang said solemnly: "You must accept it, our family has strict rules, and the elders are not allowed to beg for other people's things for nothing."

Hehe, it turned out to be a wealthy young master who grew up without knowing the sufferings of the world!

"Thank you, young master, for the reward." The old man believed it, thanked him cheerfully, and solemnly collected the money.

Young Master Rong waved his hand generously: "Thank you? I only buy it if I like it."

"A few distinguished guests are thirsty from shopping. Although the peaches are delicious, it's a pity that they don't quench their thirst." The old man rambled. He ordered a small handful of copper coins, and ran to buy melons from other people's houses. Insisting on stuffing it into the bamboo basket carried by the guard, he urged: "Take it, eat this to quench your thirst."

"Thank you." Rong Youtang swaggered, pretending to be a son who doesn't discriminate grains, and walked all the way to the depths of the alley. He looked at every hawker's bamboo basket and asked a few questions curiously.Qi Zhiyang and the others co-ordinated to pretend to be elder brother and servant, and followed leisurely with arms folded.

——In the common people's perception, an imperial envoy should be 50 to [-] years old, with his nostrils facing the sky, stepping squarely, beating gongs to clear the way, riding a horse and sitting in a sedan chair, which is in line with the status of a high official in the capital!

Rong Youtang has a tender face and a bookish air, no one thinks he looks like an imperial envoy.

The hawkers gradually relaxed, no longer vigilant against hatred.Among them, the old man who sold half a basket of peaches for a piece of silver had a guilty conscience. He followed the whole process and voluntarily acted as a guide, patiently explaining various vegetables, fruits and game to the distinguished guests.

"what is that?"

"Zaoli." The old man whispered in his ear, "It's not too sweet, it's crispy."

"Oh." Rong Youtang nodded, raised his hand and pointed again: "What about that?"

"The black fish caught in the river looks ugly, but the soup is delicious."

"Huh? Yingtao?" Rong Youtang was in high spirits.

"That's right." The old man hurriedly reminded: "I heard that rich and noble people love to eat it, but it's a pity that they can't keep it, and it will go bad in a day or two. Master, the tiger cubs are from my village. He just picked them in the morning. They are very fresh. You can try them." !” As he said that, he counted a few copper coins, grabbed two handfuls of thumb-sized Yingtao from the bamboo basket, and stuffed them to Rong Youtang.

"Okay, I'll do it myself." Rong Youtang hurriedly took out the copper coin and put Yingtao into the bamboo basket casually, sighing at the enthusiasm of the old man.

A bold middle-aged man asked: "Master, how many of you are from the capital?"

Rong Youtang nodded: "We come here to visit the mountains and rivers." He smiled and asked: "Have you been to the capital?"

"Hehehe, the accent sounds like it. I've never been to the capital, it's too far away." The middle-aged man was surprised and proud when he saw that the young master was willing to talk to him.

"It's not far away. You can go straight from the river to the Grand Canal. It takes at most ten and a half months by boat." Rong Youtang informed.

The middle-aged man shook his head again and again: "Our farmer's family, in addition to farming the land, sells vegetables to earn a few pennies throughout the year. How can we go sightseeing?"

"Your local scenery is very good, you don't need to travel far." Qi Zhiyang said slowly.

The hawkers onlookers laughed kindly and said in one go:

"We watch it every day, and we're tired of it."

"Hey, what's the point of traveling in mountains and rivers?"

"Is it dirty? That's Fengya! Do you understand Fengya?"

"I don't understand, do you understand? That's what rich people like when they have money and leisure."

……

The alleys are narrow, and everyone squeezes the place tightly.

The time is ripe!

Rong Youtang frowned, turned his head and looked around, and asked belatedly: "The street outside is so bright, why are you all crowded here? Don't you feel too nervous?"

As soon as this remark came out, the joyful atmosphere disappeared, and all the peddlers lowered their faces, daring to be angry and dare not speak.

"It's true that I'm panicking, but there's nothing I can do about it. I won't show it outside." The old peach seller said bluntly.

"Why don't you show it?" Rong Youtang followed suit.

"Oh, I heard that the emperor sent imperial envoys to inspect, and the government didn't sell them out, for fear that we would offend the high officials." The old peach seller explained helplessly.

"..." The imperial envoy and his party looked at each other in blank dismay.

Qi Zhiyang frowned, and said in a deep voice, "What an unreasonable rule! How can you hinder the imperial envoy by selling vegetables and fruits? Which foolish official thought of a bad idea with his toes?"

it is good!

That's right, it's just a bunch of confused dog officials!The hawkers were very relieved when they heard it, and they couldn't wait to clap their hands and applaud.

The old peach seller muttered in a low voice: "Oh, it's not because of the tax collection last month that people were beaten to death."

"Beat someone to death?" Rong Youtang's spirit was shaken, he frowned and asked: "Isn't it? If you collect taxes, you will collect taxes. How could you beat someone to death?"

"You don't believe it?!"

The old peach seller got a little anxious, and raised his voice slightly: "Fortunately, you guys came late. If you came last month, you would have been frightened! Alas, the people from Qingniu Village got into a fight with the tax collectors. It's over a hundred years old. People, with knives and sticks, risked their lives to beat them, that's miserable, thirty or forty people died on the spot, and nearly twenty were arrested."

Rong Youtang shuddered all over, but did not move his expression. He still shook his head and said briskly: "Lang Lang Qian Kun, what you always said is too scary. Could it be the strange tales you heard from the teahouse?"

"No, no, no!" The old peach seller kept waving his hands, and said with a stamp of his feet, "It's true, it's true! There were hundreds of people present that day, and the black-hearted beasts took turns to plunder them twice a day. The man from Qingniu Village gave him The money I get for buying medicine, not the money for selling vegetables, the beast is not reasonable at all, just take it away!"

"That's why we started fighting?" Rong Youtang looked serious.

Qi Zhiyang questioned objectively: "Even if there is a dispute over tax collection, it won't turn into a life-and-death struggle for hundreds of people, right?"

The onlookers must have been holding back hard, and you vented your words:

"The man in Qingniu Village was robbed of half of his money one after another. It was his mother's life-saving money."

"There are four brothers in his family. Alas, young people are so impulsive."

"There is also a younger sister in his family, who was born with water and water. Those beasts are greedy, their mouths are not clean, and they move their hands and feet."

"The little girl was dragged by three hooligans and cried like something. Her brothers were so angry that they quarreled first, then fought, and finally killed the three beasts on the spot with a hatchet."

"The magistrate sent a lot of officials, and those with knives beat and arrested people indiscriminately!"

……

The crowd talked about it for a long time, and the old peach seller sighed and said sadly: "The life of the poor is cheap, and the life of the poor is cheap!"

"Then, what happened to the captured little twenty villagers?" Rong Youtang concentrated on collecting clues.

"Dead, all dead."

"How can I get out of the prison in the governor's yamen alive?"

"I heard that the corpses were not returned."

"When they were arrested, did they have serious injuries from the fight?" Qi Zhiyang asked seriously.

"No. They didn't catch the seriously injured ones. They survived for a long time before they died." The old peach seller sighed and shook his head.

The two of Rong Qi looked at each other solemnly; the imperial guards secretly thought that in addition to protecting and supervising the imperial envoys, they might also face the emperor's inquiries when they return to Beijing, and the scale of their answers is extremely difficult to determine.

Just as they were discussing softly, the two ends of the alley were suddenly blocked by seven or eight bastards holding sticks, and they shouted arrogantly: "Don't even try to run, whoever runs will break his legs!"

"Stand up, stand up, stand up, everyone."

"You haven't paid the money this afternoon, hurry up and take it out yourself, don't ask me to do it."

Rong Youtang and the others were shocked, and they hid in the crowd, taking the opportunity to observe:

I saw all the peddlers standing in place with their heads downcast. Some were reluctant to count the copper coins, and some spread out their empty purses to show that they had no income.

"No?" The leader of the bastard screamed strangely. He grabbed the collar of the talkative middle-aged man just now, and scolded: "Your Wangjiacun is getting more and more shameless, and you can't pay a few big sons a day! How dare you hide your income or Those who refuse to pay taxes, think about Qingniu Village!"

"Brother, I just went to the city in the afternoon, and I haven't sold a single egg in half a day. I really have no money—hey don't! Brother, don't snatch it." The middle-aged man guarded half a basket of eggs in pain.

"If you don't have money to pay taxes, you can use eggs to pay for it."

"Give it to me!"

The two bastards were unscrupulous and forcibly snatched half a basket of eggs.They walked and collected money all the way, swearing when they couldn't get the money, and snatching the goods that looked good, taking fruit from the hawker basket as they wanted, and throwing it away after two bites, because they couldn't eat it.

"It's a bandit!" Qi Zhiyang frowned.

"Those are yamen officials?" Rong Youtang was furious, and asked others in disbelief.

"Officials are too busy, so we don't know if it counts if they ask their relatives to help collect taxes." The peddler explained through gritted teeth.

At this moment, the old peach seller panicked, looking around, clutching a handful of copper plates and the broken silver in his palms, but before he could figure out a way, the two bastards came to him.

The bastard approached arrogantly, and asked with sharp eyes: "Old man, what are you holding in your hand?"

"No, nothing." The old man squeaked and backed away.

"Hmph, it seems that you have a good income today, pay your taxes quickly!" As he spoke, the bastard snatched it with force, ignoring the pleadings of the other party, and took away the broken silver and most of the copper coins, leaving only five or six coins.

"Don't, don't take so much, I beg you, there is no salt at home, I have to buy salt back." The old man pleaded humbly, wanting to cry without tears.

"Go away, old man!"

"It's none of my business if you don't have salt in your house?" The two bastards walked away.

"Stop!" Rong Youtang yelled, and squeezed out of the crowd unbearably.

With a dark face, Qi Zhiyang stepped forward quickly without saying a word, grabbed the bastard by the back shoulder and yanked him forcefully, knocking him to the ground, and then stomped on his right hand!

"Ah—" The bastard twitched in pain, screaming and struggling.His companion immediately drew out his short stick, and struck Qi Zhiyang's head with the first blow, with such viciousness that he wanted to kill him.

"Brother Qi, be careful!" Rong Youtang rushed forward instinctively, reaching out his hand to keep the stick away.

How can the imperial guard stand by and watch?The head of the guard sneered: "You're courting death!" He lifted his foot and kicked the person flying a foot away on the spot, curled up covering his stomach, and cried bitterly.

Rong Youtang pulled up the sad old peach seller who was crouching on the ground with his head in his arms, snatched back the broken silver and copper plates that were snatched by the bastard, and returned them to the original owner, announcing loudly: "The imperial court's new policy, the collection of overtaxes in commercial taxes, is now stipulated [-]%. You only need to pay taxes if you have sales and income, and there is no such thing as 'tax deduction with things'!"

Qi Zhiyang stomped the bastard so hard that he couldn't turn over with one foot, and said loudly: "These people oppress the people and rob them of their wealth. They are extremely abominable! But they are definitely not ordered by the imperial court. Please don't misunderstand."

"Help, help! You meddle in my own business, are you tired of working? I was hired by the government to work for the court, and I will make you kneel and beg for mercy later—ah!"

Qi Zhiyang didn't bother talking to the hooligans, he tiptoed hard, and easily made the other party stop shouting.

"Masters, don't be impulsive, don't do stupid things!" The old peach seller was terrified, trembling with fright, and pushed Rong Youtang desperately: "Young Master, you run quickly, run quickly! They are numerous and powerful, and they are ruthless."

Rong Youtang reassured: "Don't be afraid, we will solve this matter, we must not let the bandits run rampant and ruin the prestige of the imperial court."

As soon as the words were finished, there was a sudden movement of swords coming out of their sheaths at the entrance of the alley, and the sound of footsteps was chaotic, and someone shouted angrily: "Brothers, go! Arrest all these troublemakers who make trouble every day!"