Chapter Eighty-two

  Tang Yin escorted the two brothers, Shangguan Yuanwu and Shangguan Yuanbiao, back to Hengcheng. Instead of throwing them directly into the prison cells within the city walls, they were detained at the county governor's mansion. Immediately afterwards, a notice was posted stating that the government troops had eliminated the bandits at Santao Ridge, and the local people no longer needed to fear the banditry when passing through Santao Ridge.

  This news is of no concern to ordinary people, but it's a great piece of good news for the merchants. The Shangguan brothers have been subdued, and they will no longer have to worry when passing through Santao Ridge in the future. To express their gratitude, the merchants flocked to the county government office to visit Tang Yin, bringing many gifts with them.

  Tang Yin smiled and nodded, still being polite to these merchants. Whether Pingyuan County could recover its prosperity soon depended on these people. Just as he was socializing with the crowd, a young servant in his early twenties rushed in from outside, came to Tang Yin's face, bowed down and saluted, then said respectfully: "Sir, Officer Yuan Yi is requesting an audience!"

  It's said that Shangguan Yuange has arrived, and Qiu Zhen, who was standing beside Tang Yin, suddenly showed a smile on his face. He lowered his voice and whispered in his ear: "Shangguan Yuange can't sit still and has come to our door."

  Hehe, Tang Yin smiled lightly. He glanced around at the merchants present and said with a smile: "I have received your kind intentions, gentlemen. If there's nothing else, please take your leave first!"

  Shangguan Yuanji arrived, and without asking, it was clear that he had come for the sake of his two brothers. The merchants were all astute individuals, and at this time, who would still be willing to stay behind and cause trouble? Everyone stood up in unison to bid farewell to Tang Yin.

  After all the merchants had left, Tang Yin let his servants invite Officer Yuan Yiji in.

  In Tang Yin's imagination, Shangguan Yuange should be a cunning and sophisticated middle-aged man with great power in Pingyuan County. However, after meeting him, he found himself wrong. As for what kind of person Shangguan was, it was still hard to tell for the time being, but he looked much younger than Tang Yin had imagined.

  Shangguan Yuánjí looked to be in his early thirties, with a slender and tall build, a pale face without a beard, and a dignified appearance. His eyebrows were thick, his eyes large, his nose straight, and his mouth square, with clear-cut facial features that made him look like a handsome young nobleman. Wearing a white robe, he had an elegant demeanor and exceptional temperament, which far surpassed those of his twin brothers, to the point where it was hard for people who didn't know them to believe they were biological brothers.

  Tang Yin was sizing him up, and Dugu Qianyuan was also sizing Tang Yin up.

  As for the newly appointed county guard, he had not taken it to heart. To tell the truth, none of the previous county guards were worthy of his attention. As for Tang Yin, he was younger than the previous county guards and relied on Wang Ting's power to rise to prominence. Magistrate Ouyang didn't even put him in his eyes, and on the day Tang Yin took office, he didn't even come to pay his respects.

  But he never dreamed that this young county guard would be able to capture his two brothers in a flash and annihilate the bandits' lair, while worrying about his brothers' lives, he was also amazed by Tang Yin's outstanding ability and swift style.

  At this time, he saw Tang Yin and took a deep breath quietly.

  Tang Yin's appearance was outstanding, with sword-like eyebrows and tiger-like eyes. His nose bridge was high and straight, his mouth corners were naturally upturned, making him look like he was smiling even when his face was stern. His clean and fair complexion didn't have any blemishes, he wasn't the kind of man who was stunningly handsome, but the natural wildness and evil aura emanating from him made people unforgettable, especially those eyes, jet black, with flashes of cold light whenever they moved.

  This person is not simple! Without needing to converse, just by looking at his appearance, the hairs on Shangguan Yuanyu's body involuntarily stood up, and a sense of vigilance arose in his heart.

  "Your Excellency is indeed Officer Shang, I have long admired your great name!" Tang Yin narrowed his eyes and said with a smile.

  His words were very polite, but his attitude was extremely arrogant. He sat in the chair, not even getting up to greet us, let alone bowing. When speaking, he held his teacup and didn't even look at the other person straight in the eye.

  "In the presence of Tang Da Ren, Shangguan Yuanguo paid his respects with a bow, hands clasped together and body bent to the ground."

  Motoki didn't mind at all, and as he spoke, he clasped his hands together and bowed deeply.

  Logically, Tang Yin should have invited the other party to sit down at this time, but he had no intention of letting him sit down. He slowly put down his teacup, raised his eyes and glanced at Shangguan Yuange, smiling: "Brother Shangguan is a busy person, I don't know why you are so free today, can take time out from your busy schedule to come to my house?" His words were full of sarcasm.

  It was clear that Tang Yin was secretly resentful because he couldn't come to visit on the day of his appointment, and Xiang Guan Yuanyi smiled wryly in her heart, thinking that Tang Yin had a narrow mind. No matter how strong his abilities were, this kind of temperament would make it difficult for him to achieve great things.

  He felt both disappointed and suffocated, just as he was about to speak, Tang Yin said: "Officer Shang please sit down! When using someone, they are treated with respect in the morning, but when no longer needed, they are discarded by nightfall. The world is full of such superficial relationships, I've seen it all before."

  Shangguan Yuanyi's face turned somewhat unsightly upon hearing this.

  Tang Yin is indeed arrogant, and he himself is no exception. If Tang Yin were a mediocre talent, Yuan Ji might not have even bothered to pay attention to him. Now that Tang Yin has demonstrated exceptional abilities and brought his two younger brothers along, Yuan Ji can only swallow his pride and come forward, and it's understandable that he would be ridiculed.

  The atmosphere was a bit stiff, Qiu Zhen hastily came out to mediate, chuckled and said: "Brother Shangguan's family is big and prosperous, it's understandable that he can't usually take time off, so there must be something important for him to come today?"

  It wasn't until then that Shangguan Yuange finally noticed Qiu Zhen's existence. Qiu Zhen was average in build, average in looks, and wore ordinary clothes, making him completely unremarkable and easy to overlook.

  "Excuse me, who is this gentleman..."

  "Really?" Qiu Zhen replied with a smile.

  "Oh, it's actually Brother Qiu!" Magistrate Shi smiled politely (reading on computer: 16kxs) and then bowed to Tang Yin, saying: "Lord Tang, I have indeed come this time with a matter of importance!"

  "Officer, you have something to say?"

  "I'm doing this for the sake of those two useless brothers!" Shangguan Yuange's heart was filled with pride, but his brothers were in someone else's hands. Even if he didn't get along with Tang Yin, at this moment, he could only grit his teeth and endure it. "Yuanwu and Yuanbiao are naturally hot-headed, but they're not inherently bad people. I hope that this time, Lord Tang will magnanimously spare their lives and give my two brothers a chance to live."

  "Oh! So it was for this matter?" Tang Yin said in a low voice: "I have something unclear, I don't know if Upper Official Brother can enlighten me?"

  "Mr. Tang, may I ask?"

  "Governor Brother has always strongly supported the official army's grain and grass in Pingyuan County, he is definitely a kind and generous person who is willing to help others, I am also very grateful for this. However, his two younger brothers have become bandits, robbing people on the road, causing harm to many, this is really hard to understand. Is it that Governor Brother has never tried to stop his brothers, or is he actually condoning their behavior?"

  "Mr. Tang is unaware that I am not indulging my two younger brothers, nor did I fail to dissuade them; it's just that they refused to listen and insisted on doing things their own way..."

  Before he finished speaking, Tang Yin smiled and interrupted: "Since Officer Shang can't stop his brother, now if I let him go, wouldn't that be letting the tiger return to the mountain, giving them another chance to continue causing trouble?"

  "Uh..." Shangguan Yuanguo was momentarily at a loss for words, unsure of how to respond.

  Tang Yin secretly smiled to himself, intentionally let out a sigh and said: "Your younger brother is naturally cruel and overbearing. In order to eliminate future troubles, I can only bear the pain of taking his life. Tomorrow at noon, I will behead these two men as an example to the public. I will remember the contributions you, Officer Shang, have made for Pingyuan County's official army, but please do not plead on your younger brother's behalf again!"

  In his tone, he heard his determination. Upper official Yuan Yigong's heart trembled. No matter how much the two brothers Yuan Wu and Yuan Biao had annoyed him in the past, no matter how many times they had disappointed him, after all, they were his own brothers. He couldn't just sit back and watch them die.

  At this time, he also became somewhat anxious and said: "To donate grain to the military, I am willing to do so with all my heart. I think it is also my duty as a citizen of Da Feng to do so. From now on, I only ask that Tang Gongzi can spare their lives and release Yuan Wu and Yuan Biao, the two brothers. If they become bandits again, without needing Tang Gongzi to take action, I will personally go and capture them and hand them over to Tang Gongzi for punishment!"

  "This..." Tang Yin furrowed his brow, hesitating for a moment before responding, his face showing discomfort.

  Seeing a sign of relaxation in his tone, Upper Official Yuan Ji immediately said: "If Lord Tang does not believe my words, I can now set up a written guarantee. If that day really comes, even if Lord Tang wants the head of Upper Official Yuan Ji, I will have no complaints!"

  "Haha!"

  Tang Yin smiled and stood up, pacing back and forth in the hall.

  It can be seen that he is now considering what Shangguan Yuanguo said.

  Shangguan Yuangei didn't say another word, his gaze fixed on Tang Yin's face, his heart also rising to his throat. The lives of the two brothers now hung in the balance, dependent on a single word from Tang Yin.

  After a moment of movement, he stopped in his tracks, turned around and smiled at Shangguan Yuanji: "Shangguan brother, your words are too serious. I believe you, and I can consider releasing Shangguan Yuanwu and Shangguan Yuanbiao, but I also have a condition."

  Conditions? Shang Guan Yuánjí was taken aback at first, then immediately understood that there was nothing on his body that could make Tang Yin take him seriously, except for money.

  He said: "Mr. Tang, please rest assured that I will never let Mr. Tang help in vain. As long as Mr. Tang's request is acceptable to me, I will unconditionally accept it."

  "You can certainly afford it!" Tang Yin smiled slightly and walked up to Shangguan Yuange, saying: "I have a plan, in Pingyuan County set up two deputy county guards, one to help me manage military affairs, and the other to help me manage government affairs." As he spoke, he pointed to Xia Qiu Zhen, saying: "Qiu Zhen is good at strategy, in charge of military affairs, I am very reassured, but who should be in charge of government affairs, I have been hesitant for a long time."

  He stopped here on purpose and didn't continue speaking.

  Qiu Zhen and Shangguan Yuanyi were both stunned at the same time. The former was stunned because he didn't expect Tang Yin to give himself the position of deputy county guard, and his heart was both surprised and delighted. The latter was stunned because he didn't understand what Tang Yin meant by suddenly saying this.

  "What Mr. Tang means is..."

  "I think it's best if the deputy county governor, who is in charge of government affairs, is done by Upper Officer Brother!" Tang Yin narrowed his eyes, raised the corners of his mouth, and said with a smile.