Chapter 1543: Kill the Ugly Woman
Chapter 1543: Chapter 1543: Kill the Ugly Woman
Ma San, responsible for distributing the silver, glanced at Jin Bafu with a sneer. This young man, though not much older, was truly a money lover; when he asked the question, his eyes gleamed green with greed.
Indeed, Ma Da, Ma San, and Ma Wu are brothers, and their entire family are members of the Eagle Food Gang.
"Rest assured, our Eagle Food Gang keeps its word. One tael of silver, take it." Ma San handed the silver to Jin Bafu.
Jin Bafu took the silver, weighed it, and after confirming it was the right amount, smiled and said, "Thank you, good sir."
He asked again, "Good sir, I have several young nephews and nieces at home. Can I bring them to see the tunnel and earn some silver?"
Jin Bafu was indeed Jin Fu’s younger brother. The Jin Family had a prosperous lineage, but none turned out well, relying solely on deceiving passing merchants to get by.
Before Qin San Lang and his group left, they sent Jin Fu and his crew to the government office. Now, Jin Fu and the others are held in the government prison.
Jin Bafu, being young, was left by Jin Fu and the others to look after the young children at home, thus escaping disaster.
However, with Jin Fu and the others caught, Jin Bafu had to take on the responsibility of supporting the family. If he could earn some money by viewing the tunnel, he would have enough silver to support his nephews and nieces this year.
The Eagle Food Gang has undercover agents both within and outside the city. Therefore, Lord Ying was aware of Jin Fu’s intention to cheat and extort Qin San Lang, and he was furious!
Such audacity to bully Qin Laoyao! If he had been present, he would have chopped Jin Fu and his group to pieces.
Yet, at this moment, Jin Bafu still thought of his nephews and nieces, showing that he might still be salvageable. Lord Ying said, "You can. As long as you’re brave enough to go down to see the tunnel and honestly explain to others when asked, anyone can earn a tael of silver as compensation."
Upon hearing this, Jin Bafu was overjoyed and hurriedly made a fist salute to Lord Ying, saying, "Thank you, Lord Ying. I will bring people right away!"
The Jin surname is truly a major family name in Beicang Prefecture. Jin Bafu’s family has not only many siblings but even more nephews and nieces. In just thirty minutes, he brought over twenty people.
Ma San twitched the corner of his mouth; twenty taels of silver were gone in a flash.
After Jin Bafu’s nephews and nieces saw the tunnel and received their silver, all the remaining hesitant people in the city flocked to the northern part of the city to see the tunnel for the whole day, taking away quite a lot of silver from the Eagle Food Gang.
By the next day, the city was abuzz with talk: "Fierce bandits have turned good, really turned good! Not only did they save the Yan Family People but also gave us silver. During the two days they occupied the Prefecture, they didn’t commit any evil, allowing us to carry on with business as usual!"
"Isn’t it so? Who’d have thought the fierce bandits of the Eagle Food Gang were so kind? Not only did they refrain from committing evil, but they also killed a bunch of evil tyrants and wealthy villains who had done wrong in the city, helping us rid a pest!"
Moreover, when the Eagle Food Gang was executing the evil tyrants and wealthy villains, they were quite principled. They first presented evidence of the evil tyrants and wealthy villains’ murder, kidnapping of innocent girls, and farm land seizures to the government for the Lord Magistrate to see before pulling them to the government gate and beheading them.
"Lately, there have been a lot of evil tyrant and wealthy villain executions, and the government gate has been washed every day without a dry spell. Even the Government Officials in charge of cleaning are nearly cursing, although they have to hold back and dare not curse."
"You haven’t seen anything yet. I heard the Eagle Food Gang captured over four hundred Rong people alive, and they plan to bring them to the government gate for execution soon."
"What, Lord Ying plans to kill all the captured Rong people? So many prisoners should be handed over to the court for them to trade with Da Rong for benefits!"
"Ah, nonsense! You still want to trade them with Rong people for benefits? Will Rong people allow Great Chu to gain advantages? Moreover, Rong people are fierce and more capable in battle than our Great Chu soldiers. I heard Rong people can kill ten for every one of themselves. If we let these over four hundred Rong people go, once they’re on the battlefield, we’ll lose over four thousand soldiers, making a huge loss! It’s better to kill them clean!"
...
Luo Ying thinks the same; the Rong people captured being hit by poison arrows are from the Witch Army, indeed possessing the ability to kill ten for every one. So Luo Ying won’t let them live, deciding to kill them all.
Only, they’re not going to kill them now—they’ll wait until Wu Mang arrives and kill them in his presence.
"When is that old man Wu Mang arriving?" Luo Ying asked in the Yang Mansion study, glancing at the confiscated ledger of the Yang Mansion and the evil tyrant’s house’s assets handed over by Lord Ghost.
Without waiting for Lord Ghost to respond, he flicked through the ledger with a smile, "These Beicang Prefecture people are indeed wealthy; they’ve confiscated quite a lot of goodies. Once we’ve issued compensation silver to the families of brothers who died in battle and rewarded those who executed the Rong people, we’ll have a large fortune left over; this trip wasn’t in vain."
He continued, "I heard Brother Mu was mocked for living off a woman? Which insolent fool said that? With us here, how can Brother Mu ever lack silver for feeding his troops?"
Luo Ying pointed at Lord Ghost, "Think of a way to quickly send a batch of gold over to Brother Mu, along with weapons, supplies, and other essentials. Don’t let anyone say such things about him!"
Lord Ghost listened with resignation and said, "Lord Ying, we know you’re fond of Brother Mu, but sending him these things would hurt him. Better to wait for later. Besides, Brother Mu isn’t short on money; apparently, he’s secretly running some profitable businesses. The living off a woman tale is probably a distraction he put out intentionally."
Luo Ying, upon hearing this, was delighted and praised, "Our Brother Mu is indeed smart; this distraction was played well!"
Then he remembered an issue and asked with a grim expression, feeling urgent, "City folks say Brother Mu’s wife isn’t very attractive, is it true?"
Lord Ghost’s heart stirred; he had feared this exact scenario and planned to keep it from Lord Ying until they returned to the Northwest. But now, Lord Ying asked.
"Speak up, are you mute? Hurry and clarify this for me!" Luo Ying got angry, pounding the table and yelling at Lord Ghost, "Speak truthfully. If you dare hide it, don’t blame me for turning hostile!"
Lord Ghost knew Luo Ying was genuinely worried and had no choice but to recount what he had heard.
"What, what did you say? Brother Mu’s wife is both ugly and smelly?" Luo Ying was bewildered, refusing to believe it, chuckling, "That’s false, definitely false. Although Brother Mu doesn’t talk much, he’s quite picky. Even Qin Da Ge’s fiancée he commented as merely average looking; could he ever fancy an ugly woman?"
After saying this, his expression shifted, he suddenly stood up, flipped the table with a thud, and hacked at the nearby bookshelf with his blade, his eyes blazing with fury, roaring, "Slay that ugly woman for me! Brother Mu can’t spend his life with such an ugly wife!"
Covered in boils, reeking of rotten eggs—how could one even sleep?
Qin Laoyao, a child cherished by several families, Young Marquis of the Qin family, should never settle for an ugly wife even in the severest of setbacks!
Everyone in the room was startled by Luo Ying’s sudden rage. Pang Hai quickly said, "Calm down, Lord Ying..."
"Shut up, calm for what calm? If your younger brother married an ugly wife, would you tolerate it?!" Luo Ying was genuinely upset, recalling Qin Er’s utmost care for his little brother before his tragic death, his eyes reddening, almost shedding tears.
After holding back tears for a moment, he said, "I’m not joking—arrange it, kill that ugly woman quietly, don’t let Brother Mu find out."