There were at least hundreds of Horse Gangs in Qiwu Mountain, and there might even be more than a thousand of them. These Horse Gangs had strong fighting power and were familiar with the local terrain. There were many small paths and hidden ditches that only they knew. When the imperial army entered the mountain to encircle and suppress them, they might be very close to them, but they couldn't find their traces. Thus, they couldn't be found and annihilated.
Relying only on more than a hundred elite guards, it seemed that it was really impossible to fight against the Horse Gangs, and it couldn't guarantee Ang Lee's absolute safety. However, Ang Lee had a secret weapon in his hand, so he didn't worry about the Horse Gangs, which totaled more than a thousand people. Even if these guards couldn't resist the sneak attack of the Horse Gangs, with the secret weapon in his hand and his own martial arts, he still had a great chance of winning against the Horse Gangs.
In addition, there was a saying since ancient times that to catch bandits, first catch the leader. As long as the leader was killed, the people below would naturally be obedient. With the secret weapon in Ang Lee's hand, it was still very easy to kill the leader of the Horse Gangs. As long as he moved his finger gently, the leader of the Horse Gangs would be killed without any chance to resist.
"Madam, you worry too much. Qiwu Mountain is so big. How can it be so coincidental to meet the Horse Gangs? Even if we meet them, don't worry. I have enough strength to deal with these Horse Gangs. I won't let Madam suffer the slightest harm."
Ang Lee said confidently.
Li Hanlu was not a timid person. Since Ang Lee was so confident, she didn't object. Anyway, her martial arts were also good. She was not afraid of the Horse Gangs at all.
"Ladder, Cui Dahai is sensible. Before leaving, he specially left the ladder. However, we don't need the ladder to go down."
Ang Lee went to the gap and saw the ladder left by Cui Dahai. He said with a smile.
"Since there is a ladder, it would be a waste not to use it."
Li Hanlu went down the ladder, and Ang Lee jumped down in two or three steps. His movements were swift and agile, reflecting his good body flexibility.
After gathering the troops, Ang Lee and his group set off for the Old White City in the west.
This Old White City was an abandoned city. It was also called Qiwu City because it was located to the north of Qiwu Mountain. However, it was called Old White City in the history books.
After returning to the county government, Cui Dahai felt that many parts of his body hurt terribly. He first took off his dirty official robe and then lay on the chair to rest. He seemed to be in a bad mood.
The continuous climbing of the Great Wall had caused him great pain. Most importantly, he had lost face. He knew that he must have looked very ugly when he was climbing, and all of this had been seen by his subordinates. This made him very angry.
"Uncle, Assistant Minister Li and the others have already left. They should have gone to Gu Bai City. Should we take the ladder back?"
Cui Er asked.
"Ladder? You only know about ladders. How dare you ask me about a broken ladder?"
Cui Dahai reprimanded angrily.
Today, he had lost a lot of face in front of Cui Er. If Cui Er hadn't used all of his strength to lift him up, he would have made an even bigger fool of himself. However, he didn't know how to be grateful. Instead, he felt very angry because this was a matter of face. He didn't have the face to see Cui Er anymore. Every time he saw Cui Er, he would think about how he had made a fool of himself today. How could this make his heart calm down? This Cui Er was really stupid.
"Uncle, why are you angry? After all, he is a high-ranking official from the capital. It's not a loss of face to be embarrassed."
Cui Er said.
He knew that his uncle, Cui Dahai, must be holding a grudge because Ang Lee had made him climb the Great Wall and make a fool of himself. Even he himself felt that the high-ranking official from the capital shouldn't have let the fat Cui Dahai climb the Great Wall.
"Cui Er, tell me, did this Li guy do it on purpose? Doesn't he know how difficult it is to climb the Great Wall? Isn't he deliberately making fun of me? "
Cui Dahai said angrily. The corner of his mouth was trembling. It could be seen that he was really angry.
"Uncle, Assistant Minister Li also climbed up by himself. He didn't use a ladder. Uncle is not good at climbing. Assistant Minister Li doesn't know about this either!"
Cui Er said.
Although he felt that Ang Lee was doing it on purpose, he still tried his best to put in a good word for Ang Lee in order to persuade Cui Dahai. However, this caused Cui Dahai to be even angrier.
"He did it on purpose. This Li guy did it on purpose. He did it on purpose. I'm so angry, I'm so angry."
Cui Dahai was even more furious. He always felt that Li An was deliberately messing with him, and this made him very angry. He was so angry that he wanted to hit someone, and this was a very clear contrast to his respectful image just now.
"No, I can't let this Li guy get away with it. I must teach him a lesson and let him have a taste of his own medicine."
Cui Dahai was so angry that he started to plan revenge. It could be seen that he was also a ruthless person.
When Cui Er heard this, he immediately became nervous. Ang Lee's official position was not small. If something really happened to him in Dejing County, it was very likely that these small officials would be implicated. This was not a joke.
"Uncle, you can't do this. Assistant Minister Li is not an ordinary official. If something happens to him in our Dejing County's territory, it will be difficult for us to escape the blame! If His Majesty is angry, he might bury us with him. At the very least, we will be exiled! "
Cui Er said nervously.
Although he wasn't very smart, he was at least a person with a brain. He wouldn't do things that would harm others without benefiting himself. Doing things that were disadvantageous to himself for the sake of revenge was something that Cui Er wasn't willing to do.
"Er Lang, who said that Old White Town is our territory? Old White Town is at least a hundred miles away from our Dejing County. It is under the jurisdiction of Shuofang County. If something happens to Li Dahai near Old White Town, it has nothing to do with our Dejing County. Aren't you too cowardly to be scared out of your wits by the officials from the capital?"
Cui Dahai said angrily.
He was clearly the most cowardly today. When he was climbing the abandoned Great Wall, he was so anxious that he almost peed his pants. It was Cui Er who helped him up. At this moment, in order to show his ability, he actually said that Cui Er was a coward. This was also to cover up his embarrassment.
At the same time, Cui Dahai also felt that if something happened to Ang Lee, the provincial officials would very likely be punished. Then, as the County Magistrate of Dejing County, Cui Dahai would very likely be promoted to the Provincial Governor. At that time, he would be able to gain more benefits and gain more benefits.
Cui Er thought about it and felt that it made sense. If something happened to Ang Lee in Old White Town, it would really have nothing to do with their Dejing County. After all, that place was not under the jurisdiction of Dejing County. If anyone were to be unlucky, it would be the officials of Shuofang County and Xiazhou County who would be in trouble.
However, Cui Er always felt that it was very irrational to harm a high-ranking official of the imperial court just to vent his anger. It was simply looking for trouble. He was very opposed to it, even if it seemed to be beneficial to them to some extent.
"Uncle, let's forget it! It's better to avoid trouble. If something really happens to such a high-ranking official, the imperial court might investigate thoroughly. When the time comes, they might find something. "
Cui Er said.
Cui Dahai sneered and said, "Er Lang! You're still too inexperienced. Do you really think that he's here to see the ruined Great Wall? Such a high-ranking official, his brain must be flooded with water! He specifically came to our Dejing County to see the ruined Great Wall. He's deliberately probing us. Perhaps he has already sent his subordinates into our Dejing County. If they find something, we'll be in trouble. That's right, you have to strictly inspect them. Focus on the newcomers in the city. After you find them, monitor them closely and see what they're doing. See if they're investigating us. "
Obviously, Cui Dahai was a little suspicious. He felt that Ang Lee had come to Dejing County to investigate him, but in reality, Ang Lee had not come to investigate him at all. He had only come to see the ruined Great Wall. However, for a high-ranking official to come to Dejing County to see the ruined Great Wall was somewhat strange. It was easy for people to misunderstand.
Seeing Cui Dahai's analysis, Cui Er also became nervous. Although he had not done anything too bad, he was Cui Dahai's loyal follower. He had relied on Cui Dahai to prosper. If something happened to Cui Dahai, he would suffer as well. It would be difficult for him to protect himself.
"Uncle's words make sense. Assistant Minister Li is such a high-ranking official. Why would he specially come to see the ruined Great Wall? This doesn't make sense. Is he really here to investigate us? But we haven't committed any serious crimes! Is it worth the imperial court to send such a high-ranking official to our Dejing County? Isn't this like using a sledgehammer to kill a chicken? "
Cui Er said doubtfully.
"Er Lang! We've committed a lot of crimes! Although these are not serious crimes in our eyes, if the imperial court finds out, it won't be a small crime. Just concealing the true living conditions of the people is the crime of deceiving the emperor. Privately collecting protection fees from merchants is also not a small crime. As for accepting benefits from horse bandits, if the imperial court finds out, it will be a serious crime. None of these are light crimes! "
Cui Dahai said.
These crimes weren't minor, but in Cui Er's view of the world, these weren't major crimes. They weren't crimes like murder or arson. Concealing the living conditions of the commoners was also to make the imperial court happy, so no one would lose anything. The amount of protection fees collected from the merchants wasn't very large either. His brothers' salaries were too little, but the merchants could earn a lot. How could he not make them bleed? As for receiving benefits from the horse bandits, it was a fair trade. They provided the horse bandits with information about the merchants, as well as information about the movements of the imperial court. This was also done to teach those ignorant merchants a lesson. For example, the merchants who weren't willing to pay protection fees were the target of their betrayal.
Cui Er did not want to persuade Cui Dahai anymore. He asked directly, "Uncle, do you mean to tell the people in the mountains that Assistant Minister Li and the others went to Old White City? Let the people in the mountains set up an ambush on the way, and then …"
After he finished speaking, he made a killing gesture.
Cui Dahai sighed and said, "It will be too late to set up an ambush on the way. Li has already set off. Even if we send a letter by pigeon, we might not be able to make it in time. However, they will definitely stay in Old White City for a long time. They might even spend the night there. You should have noticed just now that they all brought tents with them. This means that they have no intention of returning to Summer State City tonight. These tents are probably prepared for camping in Old White City. This is great. After they fall asleep at night, the people in the mountains will suddenly attack and annihilate them in one fell swoop. This move is called killing with a borrowed knife. No matter whether it succeeds or not, it has nothing to do with us. "
Obviously, Cui Dahai was a crafty person. He would not leave his name on the letter. Therefore, even if the letter was found in the end, it had nothing to do with him. He could completely deny all responsibility. Even the handwriting was not his, so there would be no evidence.
"Uncle, it is better to be cautious about this matter. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave."
Cui Er did not want to get involved in this mess and found an excuse to slip away.
Cui Dahai did not ask him to stay. He had already thought it through. He wanted to tell this news to the horse gangs in the mountains. As for what would happen after that, he did not care. In any case, he felt that he had done enough to hide it. No one could find him.
The horse gangs had spies in every county in Summer State. If not, they would not be able to accurately know the situation of the merchants' transportation of goods. They would not be able to carry out accurate robberies.
Cui Dahai had long grasped the way to contact the horse gang spies. However, he had never shown himself. The one who showed up was his housekeeper. However, the horse gang spies knew very well that the information must have been provided by him.
The transmission range of a carrier pigeon was more than a hundred miles. Therefore, in Summer State, the horse gangs used carrier pigeons to transmit information. This method of transmission was faster and more reliable. It was the horse gangs' favorite method of transmitting information.
Pigeons flew very fast, much faster than horses. Therefore, they could use a shorter time to transmit information.
Cui Dahai had eaten a bear's heart and leopard's guts. He actually revealed the news that Ang Lee was going to Gu Bai City to the horse gang spies. Moreover, he even exaggerated and told the horse gang spies that Ang Lee came to Summer State to eliminate the horse gangs. This made the horse gangs hate Ang Lee so much that they chose to sneak attack Ang Lee in Gu Bai City.
After the news was spread, Cui Dahai felt much better. He had been a local tyrant for many years and had become more and more daring. As long as someone offended him, they would not have a good ending. He was very vengeful, and his only redeeming quality was that he did not easily make enemies and did not force women. He was a lecherous and moral person. He was very bad in other aspects.
Ang Lee's group traveled very fast. They were almost rushing to Gu Bai City at the fastest speed. Only in this way could they guarantee that they would arrive at Gu Bai City before dark. They could avoid traveling at night and also enjoy the beautiful scenery of Gu Bai City at dusk.
Along the way, the scenery changed frequently. Sometimes, it was a jungle with green trees. Sometimes, it was a desolate area with almost no vegetation. There were even more desolate areas.
"What a godforsaken place. There is not even a bird."
Li An opened the sunroof of the car and sighed.
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