novelSusiti Chapter 015 Decision
Chapter 015 Decision
Compared to Li Wanqing's anger, Zhou Lun was not only furious, but also felt a deep sense of self-reproach.
He never expected things to turn out this way, and he underestimated the evil in people's hearts. He originally thought that he would take responsibility for his own actions, and he deliberately did not tell Li Wang Village about his plan before the prison break, because he did not want to involve everyone else.
But who could have imagined that Magistrate Fan Zhengren, this corrupt official, would be so vicious and ruthless, completely disregarding the lives of the people? In order to cover up the truth about the prison break and at the same time curry favor with his superiors to collect taxes, he actually took such a cruel approach against the villagers of Liwang Village, even implicating the innocent shopkeeper Liu.
Zhou Lun took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He asked Manager Liu if he knew who was currently imprisoned in the county jail.
Manager Liu was also imprisoned inside at the time, so he naturally knew a thing or two and immediately named a few people. Upon hearing these names, Li Wanqing and Zhou Lun could no longer contain themselves. These men, like Li Shoutian and Wang Tieniu, were all able-bodied young men from the village, and even Li Wanqing's brothers and relatives!
At this moment, Li Wanqing could no longer contain himself. He gripped the knife tightly in his hand, wishing he could immediately rush back to the county town, rescue them all, and then cut off the head of the corrupt official Fan Zhengren to vent his hatred.
"Big Brother!" Zhou Lun, fearing that he would act impulsively, raised his hand and grasped Li Wanqing's right wrist, squeezing it firmly and giving him a look that said, "Take it easy."
Seeing that Li Wanqing had calmed down a bit, Zhou Lun beckoned two men to escort Manager Liu to rest. He also instructed them not to be rude to Manager Liu and not to touch his or his family's belongings.
After Manager Liu left, Zhou Lun asked Li Zhong to call Li Shoutian and Wang Tieniu over. A short while later, the two arrived excitedly, smiles on their faces.
"Big brother! Lun-ge!"
After exchanging greetings, the two began to talk animatedly about their harvest. They had just tallied it up and found that there were more than 19,000 catties of various grains, as well as a lot of valuables. The silver, gold and jewels that Zhang Xiuren had brought with him had now become their spoils of war.
The weapons left behind by the guards were also a pleasant surprise. Besides that, there were the thirty-one carts and the mules and donkeys. These large animals weren't cheap; a donkey was worth at least ten taels of silver, and a mule was even more expensive, around fifteen taels. Even if they couldn't be sold, taking them back to slaughter and eat the meat would be enough to feed them for quite some time.
The two men were excitedly gesturing their names, their joy barely concealed. But as they talked, Zhou Lun and Li Wanqing's faces showed no sign of happiness; instead, their brows were furrowed with anger and worry. Li Shoutian was the first to react, asking in confusion what had happened.
Zhou Lun didn't beat around the bush; he had called them here precisely to discuss this. He then recounted to them in detail the information he had obtained from Manager Liu.
Upon hearing this, the joy on Li Shoutian and Wang Tieniu's faces vanished instantly. They stood frozen in place, then a surge of anger welled up within them.
"How could this happen... how could this happen?" Li Shoutian seemed unable to believe it was real, his face flushed red, his fists clenched tightly.
Wang Tieniu was furious and jumped up and down, cursing the corrupt official. He wanted nothing more than to rush over and fight him to the death.
"Alright! Stop shouting!" Zhou Lun said in a low voice, "Things have come to this point, further cursing won't hurt this corrupt official in the slightest. I called you here to discuss what to do next."
"What else can we do? Go back to the county town and save them!" Wang Tieniu blurted out without thinking.
"Yes! Save people! Not only save people, but also kill that corrupt official!" Li Shoutian echoed through gritted teeth.
"Big Brother!" Zhou Lun turned his gaze to Li Wanqing. Li Wanqing didn't speak, but simply nodded, his expression clearly conveying his attitude.
"Alright! Let's save them!" Zhou Lun said solemnly.
Seeing Wang Tieniu and Li Shoutian's eager expressions, he added, "But this matter needs careful planning. The county town is not like here. It won't be easy for just the few of us to break into the county town and rescue the people from the government."
"Second brother, do you have something on your mind? Speak your mind!" Li Wanqing had spent a long time with Zhou Lun and naturally knew that his second brother was different from Li Shoutian and Wang Tieniu. Zhou Lun was not only literate but also very knowledgeable. Although he came from the Western Regions and his speech and behavior had a slightly exotic flavor, he often made surprising remarks in conversations, which made Li Wanqing value him highly.
Moreover, Zhou Lun was bold, meticulous, and decisive. It was his plan that got me out of the county jail. Although the incident with Constable Zhao happened later, it was just an accident, and Zhou Lun reacted quickly to the unexpected. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to escape so easily.
Upon hearing from Manager Liu about the situation in Liwang Village and the fact that his brothers had been imprisoned in the county jail, Li Wanqing had already conceived the idea of returning to the county town to rescue them. However, he was not Li Shoutian, nor was he the stubborn Wang Tieniu. Although he was furious, reason told him that things were not so simple.
The county town was no ordinary place; the entire town was under the control of the government. Their escape from prison was due to meticulous planning and surprise. If they had tried to confront them head-on, they wouldn't have been able to rescue anyone, let alone even get through the city gates.
Don't be fooled by the fact that they currently have nineteen able-bodied men, plus the four of them, making a total of twenty-three. But how easy is it for a mere twenty-three people to accomplish such a great task? Not counting the four of them, the remaining nineteen able-bodied men have only been training for half a month. Although they are somewhat better than before, they are passable in following along and fighting when things are going well. But when it comes to real combat, they are still far from being ready.
Oh, and there's that half-grown Li Zhong. He'll only ever gather information; he's definitely not going to take action. The county town alone has over thirty officially employed yamen runners, plus many more unofficial ones, and there are also garrison soldiers stationed there—over a hundred people in total. For twenty-three of them to charge in like that is like throwing eggs against rocks.
"Brother, this is what I'm thinking," Zhou Lun said without keeping her in suspense, "We definitely need to rescue her, but we can't rush it. We need to carefully plan how to do it. With our limited manpower, it's simply unrealistic to storm the county town and prison. Once the authorities realize what's happening, not only will we fail to rescue her, but we'll all be in trouble..."
"Brother Lun, what are you saying? If this isn't urgent, what is? Aren't we going to rescue them quickly? Are we just going to sit idly by and do nothing?" Li Shoutian couldn't help but retort from the side.
"Shut up!" Li Wanqing glared at him, then said to Zhou Lun, "You continue!"
Zhou Lun didn't take Li Shoutian's words to heart. Given the magnitude of the incident, it was only natural for Li Shoutian to speak rashly in his anxiety.
"To save them, we need to get into the city first," Zhou Lun continued. "We definitely can't get into the city normally. Manager Liu made it clear before that our portraits are now posted at the city gate. If our faces are exposed, things will definitely go wrong."
"So we need to be careful about how we get into the city. Brother, what do you think..." Zhou Lun raised his hand and pointed towards the direction of the caravan, indicating to Li Wanqing.
Li Wanqing's eyes lit up, and he vaguely understood Zhou Lun's meaning: "Second brother, you mean to impersonate someone from the Zhang family and sneak into the city?"
"Exactly."
"That's one way. But will it work? What if someone finds out?" Li Wanqing thought for a moment and asked.
"Generally speaking, it wouldn't work. But I just got some news, brother, do you know who the Zhang family member leading this time is?"
"Zhang Xiuren? Hehe, hahaha! Good! Good!" Li Wanqing instantly came to his senses. He hadn't thought of this for a moment, but Zhou Lun's reminder made him realize it immediately.
Yes! It would indeed be difficult to simply impersonate a servant or waiter of the Zhang family. But if we bring Zhang Xiuren along, it would be a completely different story.
You should know that Zhang Xiuren is the younger brother of Zhang Xiuguo, the county magistrate, the second master of the Zhang family, and the manager of the Zhang family business! Although Zhang Xiuren is just a businessman, he has Zhang Xiuguo standing behind him.
Zhang Xiuguo was the deputy county magistrate, the second-in-command of the county. With this background, they disguised themselves as servants of the Zhang family and had Zhang Xiuren negotiate on their behalf. What would the yamen runners and garrison soldiers guarding the city dare to stop them? In this way, entering the city would not be a problem.
More importantly, as long as they have Zhang Xiuren under their control, they can take the opportunity to get close to Zhang Xiuguo and find a chance to capture him.
With such a person in hand, dealing with the county's yamen runners and soldiers would be much easier, no matter what method was used. Once that was done, whether it was storming the county government office and killing the corrupt official Fan Zhengren, or tricking people out of prison and rescuing them, it would no longer be a difficult task.
The more Li Wanqing thought about it, the more reliable the plan seemed. His second brother was truly capable! He'd come up with a solution so quickly. If his brother hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't have even realized it yet.
As for whether Zhang Xiuren was willing to cooperate, Li Wanqing didn't even consider it.
Zhang Xiuren is nothing but a nobody; he has no choice but to comply! He doesn't believe Zhang Xiuren would risk his life. With his methods, he can make him "willingly" cooperate, crying and begging.