Great Tang Idyll

Chapter 131 Hurry Up And Find Someone To Save Your Life

After waiting for the old man to hide, Li Xun thought of Zhang Xiao'bao's idea, and immediately followed Zhang Xiao'bao, Wang Juan, and the three children from the manor to play in the passages made of straw stacks. They popped their heads out from time to time as they played hide and seek with others.

Magistrate Jia and the others could now see the Zhang Manor. At this time, they were no longer able to maintain their original calmness and they started running. They were going to catch the Zhang family first, but when they reached the Zhang family's main courtyard they found that no one was there and the door was open.

"Oh no, they may have run away. Hurry up and chase after them." The first thing that came to Magistrate Wen's mind was this. He hollered to the people and they ran towards the Little Bridge. They came from the other direction, and they happened to pass the Zhang Manor first.

These people did not delay and continued to chase down the path. When they reached the main courtyard of the Wang family, they found that it was the same there too. Now they were uncertain about the situation so they could only continue chasing. Once they ran a certain distance, they saw several people building houses in the distance. There were also little children playing in the field. Now, they finally felt relieved.

"It looks like they are doing something? Assign fifty people to catch those little children. Maybe the little masters of the Zhang and Wang families are there. The remainder, charge ahead with me."

Magistrate Wen had a horse. He shouted, and slowly urged the horse. The other men gathered around Magistrate Wen and they charged over.

The old man, who didn't know what was going on just earlier, understood now. The people who were rushing over were wearing the clothes of bailiffs, and the other two were wearing the clothes of county magistrates. His first thought was that these people were going to rebel, and Li Xun found out ahead of time so he deliberately set up an ambush.

Seeing this situation, he had no choice but to step back. Next to him were the guards and the bailiffs who were hiding behind wooden boards.

The people on Magistrate Jia's side were not clear about the situation. They just wanted to catch people quickly. The first to arrive were the 50 people who were supposed to catch the children. The 50 people rushed over and kicked the children with their feet when they saw them or tossed them into a pile with their hands.

As soon as they started taking action, crossbow arrows flew out from the other surrounding haystacks. This was not the bailiffs' doing; the bailiffs were not equipped with such a thing. They were all Li Xun's guards. Originally, they didn't intend to use the crossbows, but they prepared them anyway. However, those people began attacking after they came over, so of course they couldn't act polite.

The 50 people were not prepared at all. Thirty people were shot on the spot and the rest were frightened for a while. Looking at the hundreds of people around them, they did not dare to move. Li Xun's guards rushed over immediately. They first beat them, and then tied them up.

As soon as the shouting sounded here, the Magistrate and others felt that something was wrong. They turned their heads and saw that there were three or four hundred people gathered there. Their chest became tense at the same time. In particular, seeing people holding crossbows made them feel even more afraid.

"Oh no, retreat." Seeing this situation, Magistrate Wen's first thought was to run. He yelled out as he pulled onto the reins.

At this time, those wooden boards all fell over at the same time. The people behind the boards saw that the people in the field were using crossbows already so they were worried about the Young Prince. They did not hold back anymore. They shot directly with their crossbows, and pulled out their sword-knives. The bailiffs were stunned. At the beginning, they agreed to just scare the people, so how come they were actually fighting now.

The bailiffs didn't know what to do for a while. The old man saw the guards he brought with him look over. He pointed his hand over there, "Charge. If anyone resists, kill."

Magistrate Wen was shot off the horse on the spot. The crossbow arrow did not hit his vital point. He laid on the ground and shouted loudly, "Don't attack. We're on the same side. I am the magistrate of the Hua'yuan County."

The bailiffs and the others he brought were also stunned. They have never seen this kind of battle before. First, there was shooting crossbows, and then people charged over. Just by looking at the clothes those people were wearing, they knew things were grim. The sword-knives they used and the look in their eyes and their movements were the same as those in the battlefield. These kinds of people were not people they could fight against.

At the beginning, someone threw away their weapons and ran around uncoordinatedly. The bailiffs and guards on the other side of the field also surrounded them, blocking off the back road and the side roads. In the front was a group of Li Xun's guards, and on the other side were the remaining 300 bailiffs. Anyone who was equipped with a weapon or wanted to escape was cut down immediately.

Li Xun's guards, who came over from the field, had already put arrows on their crossbows again. They were ready to shoot another round of arrows.

"Stop. The people of Hua'yuan County, drop your weapons." Magistrate Wen now had the desire to die. He found that those who threw their weapons away were not killed, so he shouted loudly.

The people he brought over heard his voice. They threw their weapons, and stood there with a look of horror on their faces.

Magistrate Jia was slightly better off. Surprisingly, he was not shot by the arrows. He looked at the people around him. His eyes were dull. It was not known what he was thinking about.

He came back to his senses only after he was pushed down and tied up. He shouted loudly, "Zhang Yong'cheng. How could you use such evil tactics? You raised your own private army, and attacked officials of the court. Wait for your family to be executed."

As soon as he finished shouting this sentence, someone kicked his head. Magistrate Jia thought that these people were raised by Zhang Yong'cheng. He was full of fear and hatred. He turned his head to see who was kicking, and happened to see an old man walking over. He was suddenly stunned and asked tentatively, "You, are you Lord Minister?"

"Yes. You are Jia Shan. I saw you when the Emperor personally appointed the magistrates. You tried to murder Li Xun, and now you are caught. What else can you say?" The old man asked with a sullen face.

"Murder Li Xun? Who is Li Xun? Li Xun? Ah, the Young Prince. My lord, I am wronged. I didn't do that." Magistrate Jia now knew where the guards around here came from; they were the Young Prince Li Xun's guards. He cried injustice while thinking, why did he come here and not go home for the New Year?

"Hmph, wronged? Who left the mark on my body?" Li Xun also came over at this time, followed by Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan. He pointed to the ten centimeter shoe mark on his body and questioned.

Magistrate Jia looked at the shoe print on Li Xun's body, and was stunned, and said stupidly, "The shoe print is too small. I didn't kick you."

"Hmph, you dare to argue? The person who kicked me is one of your people. He has small feet." Li Xun couldn't help laughing as he spoke to the magistrate. The shoe print was left by Zhang Xiao'bao. Just now, he discussed with Li Xun and decided to use this plan. It didn't matter if the foot was big or small. He was kicked regardless. He was kicked when those people were kicking the children.

Magistrate Jia immediately understood that the Young Prince wanted him and his family dead. How did he offend him? Could it be that he didn't send money to the Young Prince after taking money from the Han and Yuan families?

No, I can't die.

"Lord– Lord Minister. Save me. I didn't know that the Young Prince was here. I'm here to arrest the criminals– to arrest the Zhang family. You need to help me speak up." Magistrate Jia cried and begged the old man.

The old man looked at the footprint on Li Xun's body and listened to Magistrate Jia's words. He now understood; Magistrate Jia wanted to take down the Zhang manor in one go. He decided to help the Zhang family. Just when he intended to make his crime more serious, Housekeeper Zhang stepped forward and pointed at the Magistrate and said,

"You are talking nonsense. Why don't you use San'shui County's bailiffs to arrest people? Where did these people come from? You are the magistrate of the San'shui County. Could it be that you use people from other places to arrest the officials of San'shui County?"

"Lord Minister, I have evidence. Let me show the evidence and you will know." Magistrate Jia was afraid that others would not ask for evidence and directly kill him instead. No one would speak for him at that time then. He heard the housekeeper's words and scolded Housekeeper Zhang for being stupid in his mind while shouting out his words.

"This..." The Minister didn't know what to do. At the same time, he resented Housekeeper Zhang a little bit. Why did he step forward?

"My lord, since he said he has evidence, let him present it." Housekeeper Zhang was not in a hurry at all.

"Alright.Take it out." The minister had no choice but to say this after hearing Housekeeper Zhang speak.

"Quick, quick, my son, take out what you brought with you and let them see." Magistrate Jia hurriedly urged his son.

Jia Wei'ran was shot with an arrow in the leg, and it was in pain. When he heard what his father said, he didn't dare to neglect, and immediately took the letter out of his robe. He took out a few pieces of paper and said, "They were only awarded four thousand mu of land. My lord, look at it. They have encircled six thousand mu."

Jia Wei'ran said and handed it forward. The minister took it over and looked at it. He suddenly snorted, and threw back the paper that he scrunched into a ball, "Open your eyes and see how much has been circled. It's obviously four thousand mu. You are not a person from the Administrative Office, but you possess an item from the Administrative Office. What crime is this?"

Without waiting for Jia Wei'ran to pick it up, Magistrate Jia used an undiscovered strength to crawl over from someone else's feet, picked up the paper and unfolded it. After the first glance, he heard a buzzing sound in his head, his eyes darkened, and he almost fainted.

That was the original document he replaced at the Administrative Office. Why did it appear here? That's not right. My son obviously took the fake document that I made.

Li Xun stepped forward at this time, "Jia Shan, what else do you have to say? Framing your colleagues, privately leading soldiers from another Prefecture to intend to kill people. When you were discovered, you wanted to kill me, the Young Prince, to silence me. Come, take him away. These people too. Send them to the capital.

I will also write a letter to my uncle. I can't believe I was almost killed and seriously injured within the borders of the Great Tang. This is unreasonable. Perhaps, one day when some magistrate is happy, he would invite foreign troops to attack the capital. Jia Shan, what other evidence do you have?"

"Young Prince, forgive me, I don't dare, I don't dare anymore. Not anymore. Yes, yes, I framed my colleague. I plead guilty. Young Prince, show mercy. I'm only greedy for the Zhang Manor's money. I didn't think of killing the Young Prince. I have confessed."

Magistrate Jia knew that if his punishment was based on the two crimes he mentioned, then it would be nothing more than dismissing him from office or killing him. If it was according to what Li Xun said, then not a single person from his family could escape.

"Really?" Li Xun asked.

"Really." Magistrate Jia replied.

"Someone, come. Write it down, and let him seal it with his thumbprint. Lord Jia, go find someone to vouch for you. I don't really want to kill people during the New Year. Maybe you can save your life." Li Xun didn't dare to say that someone was going to kill him. His Uncle would definitely tell him to return, and he didn't want to go back. Furthermore, killing an entire family is really cruel.

As for who he ws going to look for, it didn't matter. Regardless, he would not be able to be an official anymore. It would be good enough if he could keep his life. The San'shui County is stable now.