Chapter 139

  That afternoon, the sun was shining brightly.

  Li Ru moved a recliner under the eaves, lazily basking in the sun. A maid stood beside her, handing her dried fruits and pastries whenever she wanted them.

  "Little sister." Li Da Tou came running: "I've already helped you find the person."

  Li Ru sat up straight, like a green bamboo in front of the courtyard: "How's that, got skills or not? Don't try to trick me with some useless thing again like last time."

  Li Ru had been searching for someone who could be of use, but there were not many talented people in the Su family. When Cheng Da Lei burst into the Su household, no one was able to stop him, which made her feel the urgency of the matter even more. She had asked Li Da Tou to look several times, but top-notch individuals were hard to find.

  "This time he looks like a capable person, but his temper is very bad." said Li Datou.

  Only those with ability have temper, without ability there is no way to have temper. Those who are both capable and not short-tempered are hard to find in the world.

  "Please ask him to come in and take a look." said Li Ru.

  Li Datou invited someone from outside the courtyard in. From the moment the other person walked into the courtyard, Li Ru's line of sight never left them.

  He was over seven feet tall, with a battered leather hat on his head and a grey, greasy leather coat wrapped around him. He didn't look particularly out of the ordinary, except for a pair of eyes that were somewhat unusual, and made people afraid when they looked at them.

  "What's your name?"

  The other party did not respond and stood still in the middle of the courtyard.

  Li furrowed her brow, slightly puzzled.

  "He's called Gong Yang'ai, he doesn't like to talk much. He's a hunter from outside the city, his parents starved to death, and he came into the city to find a way out."

  A master, after all, doesn't like to talk, and Li Ru was not dissatisfied. She got up from the recliner, walked down the steps, came to Gong Yang's face, pinched his arm, and looked up at him.

  A faint sense of unease flashed across the ram's eyes.

  Li Ru suddenly felt a little proud in her heart: "It's actually grown into a good figure, how old is it?"

  "Twenty-two." The ram spoke up for the first time.

  "It's just right for the season." Li Ru's gaze fell, noticing Gong Yang's feet: "On such a cold day, why are you still wearing straw sandals? Tao'er, go get my new shoes and see if they fit."

  The goat felt a bit embarrassed and awkwardly waved his hand: "No need, no need, I..."

  "Hey, from now on you're one of mine, so I'll naturally treat you a bit better."

  ……

  Qiao Ye is busy with everything, catching Cheng Da Lei can be said to be a great achievement, the city master has already prepared to report to the higher-ups. Today, he pulled Qiao Ye and talked for an entire morning, nothing but words like "pillar of the country" and "tiger general".

  The reward has not been given yet, and it's estimated that it won't be less. In the afternoon, I was pulled by several colleagues to drink a banquet, and during the wine and dinner, they said something like: Qiao Jiang made great achievements this time, and in the future, when flying high, don't forget brothers.

  Of course, it was Qiao Ye who paid in the end. But this money was spent willingly, and it seemed that after leading troops for so many years, he hadn't felt so relieved in a long time.

  The moon is above the willow branches, Qiao Ye reluctantly leaves the green building, riding a horse swaying and walking home.

  If it were usual times, he would have stayed in the brothel himself. But his third wife had just given birth to a son, and Qiao Ye cherished him like a treasure, and if he didn't see him for a day, he would be anxious.

  Getting promoted and wealthy, having children and grandchildren, how come all these good things have been missed by myself. Could it be that I burned incense in the temple before the new year and used it up, so I need to go burn some more when spring begins?

  "Fu Zi, come and lead the horse."

  He shouted as he entered, but no one responded. Qiao Ye cursed in his heart: These servants are getting more and more unruly, where have they all gone at this time?

  Qiao Ye patted his face, feeling that the courtyard was a bit quiet. In the past, when his official career was not going well, he couldn't afford to hire many servants. When this batch of silver is issued, he will definitely buy a few more maids for himself.

  "Baby, Daddy's back."

  Dizzy and confused, Qiao Ye rushed into San Niang's room, opening his arms to hug his own son.

  As soon as he pushed the door open, Qiao Ye's intoxication instantly dissipated. He saw that his family members were all tied up in the house, with cloth stuffed into their mouths, and several masked men holding glittering knives against them.

  Qiao Ye subconsciously went to grab the dagger at his waist, but grabbed nothing. Only then did he remember that he had gone out drinking with Hua Jiu today wearing casual clothes and hadn't brought any weapons.

  "It's a friend on the road, if you want silver just speak out, don't harm my wife and children." Qiao Ye spoke, his eyes searching around the room for something that could be used as a weapon.

  "How much silver can General Qiao's account take out now?"

  One bandit turned his head around, his face was also covered with a black cloth, but somehow, as soon as he saw his eyes, Qiao Ye felt particularly sad.

  "General Qiao is just a nominal centurion of the city master, this position doesn't have much benefit. Usually General Qiao loves to gamble, but he loses more often than wins, and he also borrowed high-interest loans from wealthy families in the city. Can General Qiao take out ten taels of silver now?"

  Qiao's heart skipped a beat, his official position in the city was not high, as a hundred-man commander like him, the city master had countless ones. This time catching Cheng Da Lei, he also mobilized many soldiers who didn't belong to him.

  "Since you've investigated so thoroughly, you should know that I don't have any money. Then why are you still coming to my home?" Qiao Ye didn't dare look at his wife and children again, but his heart was tightly clenched.

  "To be honest with you, we didn't come here today to take money from Qiao, but to give you the money."

  The leader of the bandits clapped his hands, and someone pushed out a wooden chest. When it was opened, it was filled with stacks of silver, roughly estimated to be over a thousand taels.

  "No work no pay, I don't dare to take this money." Qiao Ye's account didn't look good, he stared at the silver in the box for a few more seconds.

  "We've come this time to make a deal with General Qiao." The bandit said: "If you agree to our terms, we'll give you 1,000 taels of silver. If General Qiao doesn't agree, then prepare for the worst."

  The bandit suddenly pulled out a knife and chopped it heavily on the table. The several children in the house were frightened and cried loudly.

  Qiao Ye's heart skipped a beat, just as he was about to speak up and stop him, he saw the other person's eyes filled with amusement, staring straight at him.

  "Are you people from Toad Village?" Qiao Ye suddenly realized something.

  "General Joe is indeed brilliant!"

  "I'm afraid I won't be able to let Cheng Dairen go, no matter how much more silver is offered. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I can't."

  "General Qiao misunderstood. Our village head temporarily took a wrong step and fell into the Leaf City, was caught by the soldiers as a thief, and we didn't mean to blame General Qiao either. It's just that our village head is delicate and can't bear hardships, so please ask General Qiao to do us a favor and take care of him in prison."

  "He's not under my care, even if I want to help you, there's nothing I can do."

  "Don't worry, this thousand taels is for General Qiao, and here's another thousand taels to grease the wheels for General Qiao." As they spoke, they pushed out another trunk.

  Qiao Ye took a deep breath and exclaimed, "Is Laodao Village really that rich?!"