The Ming Dynasty: Starting with bandits, it swept across the land.

Chapter 44 Acting

After seeing Li Hongji off, Li Chengye returned to his shop.

Inside the shop, several yamen runners were wolfing down the mutton in their bowls, splashing broth all over the table; Liu Ye, Han Sanhu and others were also eating, but as they picked up and put down their chopsticks, their eyes were always fixed on those yamen runners.

Su He ate without tasting his food, aimlessly picking at the food in his bowl with his chopsticks, his gaze frequently glancing towards the door. When Li Chengye's figure reappeared in the light and shadow, he lowered his eyelids and quickly looked away.

Li Chengye returned and sat down in front of Su He.

"Officer Su, is this mutton not to your liking?"

Suhe responded repeatedly, "No, no."

"In that case, let's eat quickly so we can get things done."

Upon hearing this, Su He was stunned.

But seeing that Li Chengye across from him had already picked up his chopsticks, he had no choice but to follow suit.

Li Chengye finished eating and had just put his bowl down when he heard Su He across from him plead in a low voice, "Master Li, can I ask you for a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Before you get down to business, why don't you tie us all up?"

"what?"

Li Chengye immediately became interested.

"If I let you take the prisoner away so brazenly, I'll be accused of treason when I get back, and the court will surely behead me. If you're willing to let me go this time, then... then whatever you command, I, Suhe, will go through fire and water for you without hesitation!"

After hearing his words, Li Chengye thought that having an inside man in the government to pass on messages at any time might really come in handy in the future.

Li Chengye nodded.

"Alright. Then I hope you remember what you said today, Officer Su. Otherwise, we'll only be able to meet again sometime in the future."

Su He understood the threat in Li Chengye's words and repeatedly said that she dared not.

Finally, Li Chengye gave Liu Ye and the others a wink.

Immediately, the men stood up and, while the constables were still unaware of what was happening and were drinking soup, put knives to their necks.

"Don't move!" Han Sanhu hissed.

"Officer!" a constable cried out in alarm.

Then Suhe suddenly jumped up.

"Li Erlang! I never expected you to become a thief!"

He looked angry, but his eyes pleaded, hoping that Li Chengye would cooperate with him.

Li Chengye complied with his wish and recited a few lines from the play.

"The court is corrupt and the officials are incompetent. Our uprising is to act on behalf of Heaven!"

Then, a scabbard struck Su He, hitting him in the corner of his eye and drawing blood.

Su He was filled with shock; this was not something he had expected.

But Li Chengye didn't answer, and just let Han Sanhu tie them all together with rope.

Old Sun, standing nearby, was dumbfounded.

He didn't understand why the two groups of people who had been eating together had started fighting.

But he simply shrank into the kitchen and dared not move.

Li Chengye pretended not to see him.

Finally, Li Chengye left the shop and saw a prison cart parked at the door, with five or six prisoners crammed inside.

He thought to himself, "These yamen runners are really bold. They didn't even leave anyone here to guard the place. They all went in as soon as they heard there was mutton. Now look what happened, they've all been caught and eaten."

The afternoon sun was scorching, shining brightly on the lone prison van parked at the entrance. Inside, five or six prisoners were crammed, listless in the small, stuffy wooden cages, showing no reaction to Li Chengye's appearance, treating him as just another officer passing by.

It wasn't until Li Chengye took out his key, clicked open the heavy iron lock, and creaked open the prison van door that the heavy lock came to a stop.

"Come out, everyone."

The prisoners froze, unable to believe it. Only when they saw that the door was really open and the "officer" in chainmail had made way did some of them tentatively crawl out on their hands and feet. Seeing this, the others also rushed out, collapsing in the shadows beside the vehicle, panting heavily.

"Who is Tao Lao Er?" Li Chengye asked.

"...I am." A middle-aged man with a dark complexion and a simple, honest look timidly emerged from behind the crowd.

"Your father begged me to come and save you."

Tao Lao Er's eyes widened in disbelief: "You...you are?"

Before Li Chengye could answer, a prisoner suddenly called out in a hoarse voice, "Is this... Brother Li?"

Li Chengye looked in the direction of the sound and saw a disheveled man with blood scabs on his face struggling to stand up. He looked closely and finally recognized him from the dirty face and familiar figure: "Hotu?"

"It really is Brother Li!" Huo Tu exclaimed excitedly, wanting to step forward but his legs went weak. His clothes were tattered, and his exposed skin was covered with whip marks, clearly indicating that he had suffered a lot of torture.

Seeing this, Li Chengye asked Han Sanhu to go to the kitchen to scoop out a bowl of leftover mutton soup and a few cold sesame cakes.

Huo Tu drank three large bowls of soup and ate four sesame cakes in one go before stopping. Patting his round belly, he thanked Li Chengye, saying, "I can't thank you enough. From now on, Brother Li, if you ever need my help, my life is yours!"

Seeing that he had eaten enough, Li Chengye then asked about the important matter.

After Wang Er's defeat that day, they entered Huanglong Mountain, and after that, they knew nothing about what happened outside.

As soon as Li Chengye asked the question, Huo Tu recounted everything he knew.

"When the cavalry launched their surprise attack that day, I was fighting the remnants of the government troops on the east side of the camp. It looked like I was about to break through the last bit of the government troops' defenses... Before I even knew what was happening, someone outside shouted, 'We've lost! We've lost!' Then everyone scattered."

"When I saw those cavalry sweeping over, I went with the flow and ran south with the fleeing people, hoping to find a gap or ditch to hide in. The government cavalry chased after us. Several times the cavalry passed by me, but they didn't manage to cut me down."

Finally, I found a small ditch and hid inside. I waited until it was dark and quiet outside before coming out. When I emerged, I saw corpses everywhere.

"I figured I definitely couldn't go back to Yijun City, and since going north wouldn't work, I decided to keep heading south."

When I left, I didn't dare to walk on the main roads anymore, so I chose to walk on the hilly paths and loess slopes.

The next morning, they encountered a group of people who were also fleeing for their lives.

They said they saw Brother Wang heading southeast. They discussed it and decided they should stick together and search for Brother Wang in that direction.

"On the way, because they were so hungry, the people who hadn't eaten gradually dispersed."

In the end, only I and seven or eight other people were left.

Upon reaching the foot of a hill, we encountered Black Scorpion's gang again.

Upon hearing the name "Black Scorpion," Li Chengye asked with some curiosity, "How are they?"

"They're doing well, at least much better than me."

Most of his old buddies are still around.

When we met him, they had somehow acquired a cow and were slaughtering and roasting it there. Although the black scorpion was wary of us, it still shared a piece of meat with us. After we finished eating, I asked him if he wanted to come with us to find Brother Wang Er, but he said no. He wanted to go back to his mountains and be his mountain king again.

But he told us that Brother Wang was no longer in the southeast; the government troops were in hot pursuit and had already headed west.

"Upon receiving this news, the few people who originally wanted to go with me to find Brother Wang Er lost their enthusiasm."

My spirits had broken. I thought, "Even if I die, I have to get back home." So I went to my hometown, Huojia Village, on my own.

Upon arriving in the village, before even seeing his family, he was restrained by several constables and yamen runners.

Because I was on the government's radar when I attacked the county town, they thought I was a bandit leader. They came to my hometown to investigate and caught me there.

"Do you know where Brother Wang is now?"

"When I was at the county government office, I heard the constables say that Brother Wang Er had gone to Pucheng. They said that there was also a rebellion there, and it was quite a big one. I guess Brother Wang Er wanted to join forces with him to fight against the government troops."

"Pucheng?"

Hearing this, Li Chengye walked to a corner, patted Su He's face, and said, "Someone in Pucheng has rebelled. Who is it?"

"A gang of salt smugglers."