Chapter 1779: Exposed
Chapter 1779: Chapter 1779: Exposed
After listening, Qiu Troop Commander took out the medicine bag given by Company Commander Tong, opened it, and indeed saw a note inside.
Where did the note come from?
Qiu Troop Commander frowned and was about to ask when Company Commander Xiao Yue said, "Sir, quickly take the antidote. Once you’re done, we’ll attack Gu Family Village, kill those rebel soldiers, and rescue County Captain Tang!"
This statement was made rather loudly, interrupting Qiu Troop Commander’s intention to speak, while also making him feel... Xiao Yue was acting a bit strange today. Usually, he was the one who disliked Second Brother Tang the most, so why was he in such a hurry to rescue him now?
Qiu Troop Commander was not foolish. Seeing Company Commander Xiao Yue like this, he knew there must be some important news on the note. Instead of asking more questions, he spread the note open and read it by the light of the torch.
It read: Sir, County Captain Tang, the Bian Family, and the Qian Family intend to use you to eradicate the Kangrong Soldiers to cover up their misdeeds. For your sake and the lives of your brothers, please do not engage in internecine conflict. Go into the village and find out what truly happened first!
Qiu Troop Commander was a person who valued feelings and treated his brothers especially well, otherwise, he wouldn’t have entrusted so much faith in County Captain Tang. Likewise, when it came to the lives of his underlings, he took it very seriously.
After hesitating for a moment, he decided to find out the truth first.
So when Company Commander Jia and Company Commander Qian came to say that everything was ready and they could attack the village immediately, Qiu Troop Commander surprisingly did not agree but instead ordered, "Stand by, I’m going to meet the Company Commanders in the village."
Company Commander Jia and Company Commander Qian were greatly alarmed and hurriedly tried to stop him. "Sir, you can’t do that. Those Company Commanders are ruthless. They’ve poisoned County Captain Tang and the others. You are the Troop Commander, responsible for the safety of the entire Gaoshui County. What will we do if something happens to you? How will we explain to Daokou Gully? You can’t go!"
Qiu Troop Commander frowned upon hearing this... These two subordinates had the best relationship with Second Brother Tang, unlike Xiao Yue, who was extremely dissatisfied with Second Brother Tang. He often urged Xiao Yue to learn from the two of them and not always oppose Second Brother Tang.
Yet, after reading Company Commander Tong’s note and listening to their words, an unusual sense of dissatisfaction arose in him.
Are they really concerned about his safety, or are they worried he won’t fight with the Company Commanders in the village?
"I have taken the antidote, no need to worry," Qiu Troop Commander said. "We are all comrades. General Xu detests internecine conflict. To avoid giving others a handle against us, I will go in first to take a look. If they persist in being unreasonable, there will be time to deal with it."
Having said that, he pointed to Company Commander Jia. "Lead the troops and follow me into the village, act as guards, that should put your minds at ease."
Company Commander Jia was stunned and displeased. He didn’t want to go into the village. If he did, he couldn’t cooperate with Company Commander Qian, and Xiao Yue would be in charge outside the village.
But since Qiu Troop Commander gave the order, he had no choice but to obey, leading a hundred soldiers under his command to follow Qiu Troop Commander into the village.
Bu Fang had gone back to rest, and now it was Zhang Zhong guarding the village entrance. Seeing a large cavalry charge towards Gu Family Village, he immediately sent someone back to report.
When Qiu Troop Commander and Company Commander Jia’s troops arrived at the roadblock at the village entrance, saying they wanted to enter, Zhang Zhong didn’t stop them. He opened the roadblock and sent Zhang Tu to guide Qiu Troop Commander and his men.
After Qiu Troop Commander and his men walked for a while, they encountered Qin San Lang, Zhang Yan, Xie Cheng, Niu Dabao, and others who had come out upon receiving the news to see what was happening.
Looking at Qiu Troop Commander, Qin San Lang saw that he only brought about a hundred soldiers and was in a casual stance, without any signs of preparing to fight immediately. Understanding that Qiu Troop Commander wanted to talk, Qin San Lang dropped his guard and cupped his hands towards Qiu Troop Commander. "The low-level general pays respects to Qiu Troop Commander."
After the formalities, he explained where their soldiers were from, which battles they had fought, which generals they knew, and other basic information.
Qiu Troop Commander was greatly shocked, never expecting, "You are the He’an Prefecture’s Qin San Lang who slayed Leimuqin?!"
Lord, he had unexpectedly met such a hero.
In the light of the torches, indeed, he was a young man full of heroic spirit and a righteous aura surrounding him, and he was quite handsome too.
Company Commander Jia and others were also shocked. There were many with the surname Qin; there must be at least eight or ten Company Commander Qin in the Northwest, so how did they end up running into this one?
Company Commander Jia’s legs went weak, knowing this incident tonight was probably going to be disastrous.
While pondering on how to turn the deadlock around, Qiu Troop Commander had already called out to him, "Xiao Jia, why are you standing stunned? You all admire Hero Qin so much, and here he is. Go ahead, go into the village with Hero Qin, and let’s have a good chat!"
"...Yes~" Company Commander Jia’s voice trembled, and he followed into the village.
Qin San Lang knew what Qiu Troop Commander was there for, so without wasting words, he directly led Qiu Troop Commander to the punishment room courtyard and also brought in children like Wen Rong, even carrying over Wen Qiong’s coffin.
Starting from when Qian Qiwen brought people to extort a thousand taels of silver, all the way to County Captain Tang colluding with the Qian and Bian families to bribe Company Commander Jia, Company Commander Qian, and others, using his reputation to harm passersby and exploiting fallow lands. Finally, he said, "Qiu Troop Commander, that Tang has great ambitions and almost wants to become the local tyrant of Gaoshui County. You must not be deceived by him anymore."
With those words, all the property deed contracts of the Qian Family and Gu Family, and the county government’s contract archives were all laid out.
Qiu Troop Commander was dumbfounded hearing all this, unable to react for a moment, and couldn’t believe that his sworn brother, who once took a knife for him on the battlefield, could be this kind of person!
"Is this evidence?!" Qiu Troop Commander asked, not needing Qin San Lang’s answer, immediately picking up the contracts and archive booklets of the two families to look them over.
Both families’ contracts were real, and they matched the archival booklets, but the problem was...
"According to the Great Chu Criminal Law, land and houses that have been unguarded, uninhabited, and uncultivated for ten years can be reclaimed by the government office and resold. But it’s only seven years since Jingyuan six years, and the lands in Gu Family Village are far from reaching the time for repossession and resale, and when the Gu Family moved to He’an Prefecture, they registered with the government office saying they wouldn’t abandon the old land and houses, and would find someone to come back to manage and cultivate them."
Qin San Lang pointed to the contract archive booklets: "Qiu Troop Commander, look at the price for which the Qian Family bought the land and houses in Gu Family Village. One tael of silver for a house, does such a cheap deal for a green brick and tile house exist in the world?"
And the lands, a mu of good land priced at two hundred cents, even though the Northwest is war-torn and many have fled, leaving much land uncultivated, it still shouldn’t be sold so cheaply. No one would believe there’s no trickery involved!
Hearing this, Qiu Troop Commander looked at the evidence laid out by Qin San Lang, and cold sweat started to form. He clearly realized that Second Brother Tang had indeed deceived him, and once this thing broke out, he would surely be implicated, and his position as Troop Commander would be lost!
What to do?
What should he do?
Qiu Troop Commander was no Saint; for a moment, he considered attacking Gu Family Village and silencing Qin San Lang and others. However...
"Lord Troop Commander, I beg you to uphold justice for me, to seek redress for my sister, to kill that Tang! If it weren’t for Tang nurturing a band of scourges, my sister wouldn’t have been defiled to death!"
"..." Qiu Troop Commander had long noticed that coffin in the punishment room courtyard, knowing County Captain Tang and others must have killed someone, but he dared not ask.
Yet Wen Rong was relentless, continuously kowtowing, begging him to open the coffin and see Wen Qiong’s corpse.
Qiu Troop Commander had not completely lost his humanity, and he eventually stood up, went to the coffin, and said to an old military doctor he brought with him, "Examine the corpse, see how she died."
"Yes." The old military doctor responded and went to examine Wen Qiong’s corpse. Two moments later, he reported his findings to Qiu Troop Commander.
What Qiu Troop Commander heard left him staggering, she had been defiled, and after becoming pregnant and miscarrying, she fell ill and died, suffering unbearable abdominal pain for more than half a month... and this corpse was not even thirteen years old!