"Brother, brother." Someone shouted and ran away from Liu Ji's house.
This person was Fan Kuai. After he entered the door in a hurry, he said to Liu Ji: "There is news."
Liu Ji asked: "What?"
Fan Kuai said breathlessly: "Thirty miles away, a group of people came to our Peixian County. I saw that they drove more than thirty ox carts. He must be a rich man. If he robbed this man, it would be enough for us. Years spent.”
The little brothers around Liu Ji nodded repeatedly.
Liu Ji thought for a while and said to Fan Kuai: "Such a rich man probably has some servants to protect him, right?"
Fan Kuai said: "There are only about ten people. As far as I can see, those people have never seen blood, so they are easy to deal with. As long as one arrow is shot and two people are killed, they will definitely disperse."
Liu Ji nodded slightly, and then said doubtfully: "He is a rich man, not a businessman? This rich man wants to move his family for no reason? Why did he come to our Peixian County? I always feel that there is something wrong with this matter. Weird."
Lu Wan next to him said with a smile: "Brother, why are you worrying so much this time? The reason why he moved is that he must have offended someone and been ostracized. It can be seen that this person's strength is also average. Others can bully him, Of course we can also bully him."
Liu Ji thought for a while and said: "However, he did not go anywhere else, but came to our Peixian County. What does this mean? Could it be that he has a backer in Peixian County?"
Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, but they all stopped talking.
Suddenly, Liu Ji slapped his forehead and said, "I remembered."
Everyone stretched their necks and waited.
Liu Ji said: "A few days ago, I heard Mr. Xiao He say something. He said that the magistrate of Pei County has a good friend named Lu Taigong who wants to move here."
Fan Kuai nodded repeatedly from the side: "Yes, this person is an old man."
Liu Ji sighed: "This person is a good friend of the county magistrate, so it's hard to touch him. Forget it, let's leave this person behind and wait to rob the merchants."
Fan Kuai scratched his head and said anxiously: "Why don't we cover our faces? He doesn't know who did it anyway. At worst, we can continue to fight against the bandits."
Liu Ji thought for a while and suddenly looked at Fan Kuai in confusion: "Why are you so eager to rob this person this time? Could it be that you two have a grudge?"
Fan Kuai chuckled: "There is hatred, but not hatred. Maybe there is a relationship."
The people around looked at Fan Kuai with good looks on their faces: "You want to rob your own relatives? This is really hard-hearted."
Fan Kuai chuckled: "We are not relatives now, but maybe we will be after the robbery. I saw with my own eyes that there were two beautiful women in that group. Alas, at my age, I haven't gotten married yet, and now I have made some money. Money, now that my stomach is full, it’s time to think about continuing the family lineage.”
Liu Ji cursed: "It's ridiculous. If you kidnap that woman back, how can we hide our identities?"
Fan Kuai was slightly startled: "That's true."
Seeing that this matter was about to get ugly, Fan Kuai said to Liu Ji again: "Brother, I look at those two women. The older one is more beautiful than the younger one. Why don't we have one after the robbery? You want the older one, and I want the younger one." Young one?"
Liu Ji kicked him: "Go away. Now that we have gold and silver, what kind of woman do we need? Why take such a risk?"
Fan Kuai sighed and said with some reluctance: "What a pity. I wonder who this beautiful young lady will take advantage of in the end."
While several people were talking, someone outside shouted: "Is Liu Jike at home?"
Liu Bang immediately recognized the voice as that of the clerk next to Xiao He.
He was originally leaning on the low couch, but then he immediately jumped up, put on his shoes, and hurried out. He held his hand to the clerk from afar and said, "Oh, why are you here, sir? Please come in and have a glass of wine." .”
The clerk waved his hand and said, "We have important matters today. Liu Ji, someone from Xianyang is here. He is the emperor's envoy, and he is asking the county magistrate about you."
Liu Ji was a little confused: "Messenger of the Emperor? Questioning me?"
If it were anyone else, he might feel that he was going to rise through the ranks and enter Xianyang City. But Liu Ji knew how much he had, and he began to think about whether he had done any big case recently, which would alarm the emperor.
The clerk then said: "Master Xiao said that the envoy looks evil. He is probably here to arrest you and wants you to hide immediately."
After the clerk finished speaking, he was about to leave. Liu Ji quickly stopped him and asked anxiously: "Did Mr. Xiao say, why is the envoy looking for me?"
The clerk waved his hand: "I don't know, the envoy didn't say."
Liu Ji asked again: "Only looking for me? Where are the brothers around me?"
The clerk said, "I'm only looking for you."
Then he jumped on his horse and left.
Liu Ji stood blankly in the yard and said to himself: "I just robbed a few merchants. Did it alert the emperor?"
Fan Kuai said from the side: "Could it be that those merchants are buying goods for the palace?"
Liu Ji shook his head: "The things we looted are certainly worth some money. But I'm afraid it's not enough to send to the palace."
Lu Wan said from the side: "Did someone sue us? The government knew that we were robbing merchants?"
Liu Ji said: "This is impossible. Those who knew the truth took our things. They are all guilty. Even if someone wants to take advantage of the crime, aren't they afraid of our revenge?"
He thought for a while, shook his head and said, "That's all, I can't care about that much anymore. Time is urgent, let's go out and hide for a while before talking."
The group of little brothers behind him all expressed their willingness to follow Liu Ji.
By following Liu Ji, you can show your loyalty and avoid being arrested by the government. Why not?
Liu Ji thought for a while and said to Lu Wan: "You stay in Surabaya Pavilion. Tell everyone that I disappeared a month ago. Maybe I encountered a beast and died in the mountains. In this way, Surabaya Ting's robbery of merchants has nothing to do with me."
"By the way, you secretly observe these people. If anyone dares to talk nonsense, wait for me to come back and do it together."
Lu Wan responded, and then asked, "Where do you plan to escape, brother?"
Liu Ji answered vaguely: "I'm just hiding nearby. After the wind has passed, I will come back naturally."
Later, Liu Ji and his people hurriedly escaped from Sishui Pavilion.
Liu Ji trusted Lu Wan, but he didn't tell him where he was going. This has nothing to do with being suspicious, it's just Liu Ji's instinct.
Lu Wan didn't think much and went to do her own thing.
A quarter of an hour after Liu Ji left, Lu Wan had already explained everything to everyone. These villagers expressed that they would never dare to betray Liu Ji.
These people have benefited from Liu Ji, and since they want him to be safe, they naturally dare not say nonsense.
Half an hour later, Xiao He slowly arrived at the Surabaya Pavilion. He asked around briefly, then went back to resume his life.
The envoy was not surprised to see Xiao He coming back alone. He asked slowly: "Where is Liu Ji?"
Xiao He bowed and said very sincerely: "My lord, just now I have conducted a serious investigation. This Liu Ji has been missing for some time."
"His neighbors said that a few days ago, he went into the mountains to cut firewood, and there happened to be a mountain fire at that time. He may have been burned to death in the mountains."
"Oh?" The messenger raised his eyebrows, looking suspicious.
Xiao He coughed dryly and added: "Some people said that they heard the howling of wolves that night. Maybe he encountered a hungry wolf and was eaten."
"Huh?" The messenger looked half-smiling.
Xiao He said bravely: "Some people say that a group of thieves have been in the mountains recently. Maybe Liu Ji accidentally bumped into them and was killed with a knife."
"Oh." The messenger sneered and nodded.
The attitude of the envoy made Xiao He nervous. He said repeatedly: "If you don't believe it, you can investigate it yourself. I am definitely not making it up."
The messenger nodded and asked Xiao He: "Then when did Liu Ji disappear?"
Xiao He thought for a while and said: "This person is idle, lazy, has a bad reputation in the village, and has no friends. Therefore, no one pays much attention to him. It has been about a month."
The messenger sneered in his heart: "Of course he has been missing for a month. He arrived in Xianyang City exactly a month ago."
The purpose of his trip was to follow His Majesty's order to see if Liu Ji was a traitor and if he had any evil motives.
Accompanied by Magistrate Pei and Xiao He, the envoy arrived at Sishui Pavilion and met the villagers.
The villagers were dressed in rags and had dark faces, and looked very simple.
The envoy found a more sensible person and asked him about Liu Jiping's behavior.
This person said something, which was basically the same as what Xiao He said. Liu Ji is said to be shameless and idle. He is considered an outcast by the villagers and has never had any friends.
This man certainly has his reason for saying this.
It was true that the villagers had indeed collected Liu Ji's things, but when a disaster was approaching, they still wanted to distance themselves from Liu Ji. They didn't have the guts to report Liu Ji. But to say the least, I was not familiar with Liu Ji.
As long as you are not familiar with Liu Ji, you can answer the envoy's questions without knowing anything. In the future, if someone knows about Liu Ji, he will be less guilty.
If possible, the villagers would even say that they have never met Liu Ji a few times, let alone express love.
The messenger nodded lightly and asked about Liu Ji's figure, appearance and age.
The villager's answer was even more vague: "The villain is not very familiar with Liu Ji. This person may be in his twenties, less than thirty, or early forties."
The messenger was a little speechless. This sentence was more than twenty years old.
Xiao He, who was standing next to him, smoothed things over: "I know, Sir, these villagers work in the fields all day long and are exposed to the wind and sun, so their skin is dark. And because they don't have enough to eat and don't wear warm clothes, they have a rickety figure. The family is poor and humble, and they have to worry about everything, so they are full of energy. Their faces are wrinkled. Therefore, it’s hard to tell their age.”
"My lord, please make a guess. How old is the villager in front of you?"
The messenger looked at the man with great interest and said, "About fifty years old, right?"
The villager gave a bitter smile and said, "Sir, I am only twenty-seven years old."
The messenger opened his mouth in surprise.
The villager gave a bitter smile and said: "As the little adult said, we age very quickly and have insufficient food to fill our stomachs every day. How can we have time to care about others? What's more, Liu Ji has always been lonely, and we are the same as him. unfamiliar."
Xiao He also said with a smile: "These Guizhou people are very stupid. Some of them can't even count. I can't figure out my own age, let alone Liu Ji's?"
The messenger nodded, and then asked Xiao He: "The household registration says, how old is Liu Ji?"
Xiao He could only check it out and said, "Thirty-five years old."
The messenger frowned: "Thirty-five years old? It doesn't look like it."
The envoy met the Damai team at Shangjun Courtyard. Liu Ji had fair skin and a young appearance. He did not look like a man in his thirties.
The envoy frowned and asked the villagers, "Has Liu Ji done anything that violates the law?"
The villagers' hearts tightened: We really need to ask these questions.
He scratched his head and said: "This person is a little different from us. Although he is idle, he has not made any big mistakes. By the way, this person is the director of the Surabaya Pavilion."
The messenger suddenly realized: "That's it."
As a pavilion chief, you naturally need some force. This can be explained by his outstanding performance in the martial arts field of Shangjun Courtyard.
This person is more or less an official and does not have to work hard. So it makes sense that I have fair skin.
As the chief of the pavilion, he would more or less have conflicts with these villagers when enforcing the law. Therefore, it is possible for these villagers to feel resentful.
The key is that his official position as the chief of the pavilion is not so high that the villagers dare not speak. Therefore, these villagers used slander to retaliate against Liu Ji.
The envoy thought for a while and felt that his overt and covert investigation was quite effective.
Then he went to Liu Ji's house and met Old Madam Liu.
Old Mrs. Liu was not very good at lying, but he cleverly started to pretend to be deaf.
The envoy asked ten questions in a loud voice, but Taigong Liu only answered three questions, and they were all wrong.
Finally the messenger gave up.
After dark, at the county magistrate's residence, the messenger went to great lengths to write a letter to Li Si.
Although he claims to be the emperor's messenger, Chu Di and his party were arranged by Li Si after all. Therefore, he reported everything he saw here to Li Si, who then forwarded it to the emperor.
In the letter, the messenger said that Liu Jinai was the head of the pavilion in Surabaya and had a mediocre reputation in the local area and did not have many friends. This person disappeared a month ago. Around that time, he secretly entered Xianyang City.
Some local people said that this person was in his twenties, while others said that he was in his forties. However, the Chudi household registration is confusing and contains many errors and omissions, so it is difficult to tell exactly how old he is.
As for whether this person is a rebel, it is not yet certain. There was no sign of him from local officials and people.
Or maybe he didn't want to n*ga at all, but he just heard that the guards at Shangjun Courtyard had a high status, so he sneaked into Xianyang City.
As for whether he knows the banished immortal. Villagers near Sishui Pavilion said that they had never heard that Liu Ji and the banished immortal were good friends. It was mostly a coincidence that he was appreciated by the banished immortal.
In the letter, the messenger made it very clear that Liu Ji was just a low-ranking official with some minor flaws, but he should not be a rebel.
Of course, it’s hard to say whether this letter will undergo secondary processing once it reaches Li Si’s hands.
After the messenger finished writing the letter, he handed it to the postman and asked him to send it to Xianyang City overnight.
As for himself, he planned to rest for one night at the magistrate's residence and left.
This time after he entered Peixian County, he always felt strange, especially in Surabaya Pavilion, where he felt uncomfortable all over. But what was wrong, the messenger couldn't tell.
Therefore, he just wanted to leave as soon as possible and go back to recover his life. Apart from anything else, the food here is too hard to eat.
