Shen Xingluo looked at her with dark eyes, asking for advice, "Charcoal is needed to melt iron. Our family is the only one in the village to have it. This matter requires your wife's nod."
Cheng Xi was startled, "Don't you know where the charcoal is? Just keep what we use and let the patrol team bring the rest."
"good."
Shen Xingluo had a smile in his eyes.
Cheng Xi glanced away uncomfortably, and the tips of his ears gradually turned red.
Invisible temptation is the most deadly.
What's even more fatal is that someone doesn't seem to know how deep his eyes are.
Cheng Xi changed the subject, "Why didn't I see Scarface and the others? Weren't they arranged to be together?"
"They were taken up the mountain by Uncle Zheng Shan to cut down trees."
Although both parties were bandits, and there was only a two or three day time difference when they came to Shenjia Village, their moods were completely different.
Scarface was now treated obediently, and when he saw the Shen couple, he was like a mouse seeing a cat, and he didn't even take a breath.
But the latecomers headed by Zhuang Kun are different.
I'm still holding my breath.
Cheng Xi was completely convinced when he heard this.
"You really make the best use of everything."
Originally, the job of felling trees was for the patrol team. Every time I came down from the mountain, I was exhausted. It was a strenuous job.
Now it's all in the hands of Scarface and the eight people, and all the villagers breathed a sigh of relief.
Isn’t it easy to be a supervisor?
A world where only bandits were harmed was achieved.
"Whose idea was this?"
"mine."
"."
Sure enough, there are eight hundred tricks.
Cheng Xi coughed lightly, "I think your husband can talk to the third master."
Encountering such a monster who would trick people into killing people without paying for their lives, even the bandits' brain trust would have to be willing to give in, right?
Maybe they are completely tamed.
While the two were talking, a group of people came down from the mountain. The leader was Zheng Shan. He was holding a whip he found somewhere and looked very imposing.
Behind him were eight desperate bandits who not only had to endure the whips that fell from time to time, but also had to carry wood thicker than their waists.
At the end of the team, Lian Hu was holding a rabbit that had been shot through by an arrow.
The impact of this scene is really quite big.
Cheng Xi twitched the corner of his mouth silently.
So Shenjiacun is the real bandit den.
***
Shen Xingluo actually went to chat with the third master.
There was only a table and chair standing on one side of the small wooden house, and a rather strange set of pen, ink, paper and inkstones were placed in front of the table.
Zhuang Kun slumped in the corner of the wooden house and glanced at it without paying attention, focusing more on the man.
Shen Xingluo was sharpening his ink.
The slender fingers held the ink stick and slowly turned it in circles, adding a little water to the inkstone to smudge small ink stains.
Neither of them spoke, and it seemed that a game called "Whoever speaks first loses" started the moment they entered the cabin.
Silence is still silence.
Zhuang Kun, who was staring at the ink spindle in circles, almost fainted. His body, which was already tired from moving stones for a long time, was "overwhelmed" and his stomach was churning violently.
"I heard the villagers call you Ju Ren Gong?"
He stared at the scar with malice, "It doesn't feel good to have your future ruined. It's really pitiful that you only have the ambition to serve your country, but the only way forward is completely blocked."
Zhuang Kun knew well the truth of killing people and killing people's hearts, so he decisively used his trump card.
However, the other party remained unmoved at all.
"Is this why you became a bandit?"
Shen Xingluo's attention was still on grinding ink, and his movements were unhurried and unaffected.
"Zhuang Kun, a native of Hufeng Town, Lin'an Prefecture, was deprived of his imperial title due to cheating on scientific examinations in the 16th year of Jingyou's reign, and was banned from serving as an official for life."
The low and steady voice slowly sounded, but the content made the person in the corner feel turbulent.
Zhuang Kun straightened up suddenly, his eyes bloodshot from excitement.
"Who are you?"
"How do you know about me!"
Zhuang Kun never mentioned his past to anyone since he became a bandit. Even the first and second bosses in the village did not know about these things.
He originally thought that he would be put in a coffin for the first half of his life, but he never expected that one day his scars would be revealed.
How could he know?
This young man is definitely more than just a disfigured scholar in the village!
It is now Jingyou's 22nd year, and it was six years ago that he was convicted of cheating on the scientific examination.
How old was he six years ago?
Just a child!
“It doesn’t matter who I am, what matters is who you are doing things for.”
Seeing that the ink had been fully ground, Shen Xingluo put it down gently, "As the third head of Qingshan Village, you have done a lot of things for Zhou Lesong over the years, right?"
Zhou Lesong, the name of the prefect of Lin'an Prefecture, Zhou Xuzhi's father.
Zhuang Kun's pupils shrank when he heard the name. The figure that had straightened up due to excitement slowly fell back to its original position, and the excited expression was no longer there.
"I do not know what you're talking about."
"No, you know better."
Shen Xingluo stood up, and every step seemed to be stepping on the other person's heart.
"In the 16th year of Jingyou's reign, Zhou Lesong met you who was penniless and expelled from your clan on the way to his appointment as magistrate, and he became his confidant."
"."
"Later I learned that you were a bandit, so I asked you to work for him."
"."
"He provided information about passing merchants or officials and used the help of Qingshan Village to eliminate many unsightly people."
"."
"Do you think this is the whole truth?"
What?
This time Zhuang Kun no longer remained silent, he raised his head and looked directly at him, with a bit of confusion in his red eyes.
Shen Xingluo's eyes mocked, "Do you know the relationship between Zhou Lesong and the capital's Prime Minister Zhou?"
".I don't know."
"Zhou Lesong is from the outer office of Prime Minister Zhou. He has been taking care of him since he entered and left officialdom."
"This is just your one-sided statement."
"Lin'an Mansion is an important city in the Yan Dynasty. You must know this very well. Zhou Lesong stayed in such an important place for six years. If there is no one in the officialdom, will he be able to do it safely?"
Zhuang Kun subconsciously shrank his limbs, "So what? I don't know them, so what do they have to do with me?"
"Prime Minister Zhou has disciples all over the world, and most of the officials in the court receive his favor, and this favor"
Shen Xingluo paused, "Exam questions from previous scientific examinations."
"."
"Six years ago, someone discovered fraud in the scientific examination and wanted to find out who was behind it. However, you and several other students were expected to take the imperial examination, but you became the scapegoat."
Zhuang Kun felt cold all over his body!
"Zhou Lesong was on an outing at that time. He recognized you on the road. He originally wanted to introduce you to Qingshan Village to kill people with a knife, but unexpectedly you stayed in the village with your extraordinary talents."
Zhuang Kun suddenly felt that all the strength in his body left him in an instant.
Yes.
That day, the nobleman gave him five taels of silver and "kindly" showed him a way to go south.
Although he was from Lin'an Prefecture, he only knew how to read when he was young. How could he know about the dangerous place where bandits were rampant?
Memories of the past six years flooded into my mind, and there were traces of many things.
He is not a fool, he just didn't think about it because he wanted to repay his kindness.
So what now?
Zhuang Kun felt that his eyes were completely dark.
"H-how did you know?"
Who is this man?
And why do you live in a small village?
Is he really just a scholar who has just passed the provincial examination?
Shen Xingluo didn't answer, but stepped out of the wooden house with his right foot.
"Write it down. You should still remember the souls who died in vain at the sword of Qingshan Village."
There was silence in the wooden house for a long time.
Finally, there was a rustling sound from the corner, and a pair of trembling hands picked up the pen and paper on the table.
Counterattack, get!
(End of chapter)
