The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

When Heifu heard that Baijiang said that they would be punished for "failure to meet deadline", he was shocked!

He really dared to kill me! ?

But then he heard Baijiang add: "Twenty lashes!"

Ha, it's beating with a stick, not beheading for failure to meet deadline? Heifu was stunned.

The county soldiers grinned and rubbed their hands, picked up the bamboo sticks beside them, and prepared to beat Heifu.

Heifu closed his eyes, he was weighing the pros and cons, since he was going to be beaten with twenty sticks, should he resist against the humiliation? Or should he bear it silently, a gentleman's revenge is never too late after ten years?

However, at this moment, he heard another sound of footsteps in the distance, followed by a loud shout: "Stop!"

Hei Fu opened his eyes and saw a young military officer dressed in the same manner as Baijiang, trotting over with a few people, and shouted to the county soldiers who were about to take action: "What are you doing! Don't stop!"

"General Chen, what do you mean?" The officer who ordered Hei Fu to be arrested said coldly.

"I should ask General Bin about this." The military officer called "General Chen" was not tall, with a small mustache under his chin. His physique and momentum were not as good as that of the officer, but he did not show any weakness at all.

He pointed at Hei Fu and the other man and said, "General Bin, what crime did these two commit? Should they be flogged?"

General Bin said angrily, "If they are late, they should be punished."

General Chen laughed, "That's not right. According to the "Corvée Law", corvée and night guards who are late for one to five days will be punished with a slap; if they are late for six to ten days, they will be fined one shield; if they are late for more than ten days, they will be fined two armors. These two were late for a few hours, and at most they should be scolded in public. Which law stipulates that they should be beaten with twenty boards?"

"This..." General Bin said something wrong.

Chen Baijiang walked closer and said with a smile: "Besides, I heard that Heifu and Jiying met the bandits on the road, arrested them and brought them to justice. Later, they assisted in the trial in the county prison, so they came late. The county magistrate has informed the county lieutenant's office about this matter, and the county right lieutenant personally told me that they can be allowed to report again tomorrow... Bin Baijiang, you arrested him without asking the reason. Could it be that you want to vent your anger for the Huyang Pavilion Chief who broke the law and became a ghost? I heard that he is your cousin's brother-in-law!"

Bin Baijiang's face froze after being exposed: "Chen Baijiang, you and I are colleagues after all, don't frame me! I directly obey the county left lieutenant, how can I know what order the county right lieutenant issued?"

"So that's it." Chen Baijiang said meaningfully: "Since it's a misunderstanding, please let him go!"

Seeing that General Chen Bai had used the law and could not fight anymore, General Bin Bai glared at Hei Fu, waved his hand, and told his men to let him go. Then he whispered in Hei Fu's ear, "Little brat, you are lucky today!" and left angrily.

Heifu stood up, rubbed his sore arm, stared at Bin Baijiang for a long time, and then saluted to Chen Baijiang with a mustache, saying, "Thank you for saving me!"

Ji Ying was also still in shock, and bowed, saying, "If it weren't for Baijiang's stop, I'm afraid I would have broken a leg."

"Not to this extent."

Chen Baijiang was polite, but he accepted the two men's gift with great enthusiasm, then looked Heifu up and down, and praised, "The rumors these days are really true. He is tall and strong, and can fight against several people. Now he has become a public official because of his merits. Good! Anlu County has another strong man!"

"You are too kind, my humble contribution and courage are not worth mentioning."

Heifu asked carefully, "The official just said that Bin Baijiang is a relative of the head of Huyang Pavilion?"

"That's right..." Chen Baijiang said meaningfully: "Bin Baijiang is the son-in-law of the county's left lieutenant, and Huyang Pavilion Chief Zhen is the nephew of the county's left lieutenant. They often interact with each other. Now that Huyang Pavilion Chief has been severely punished, he is naturally indignant."

Hei Fu suddenly realized that there was such a relationship. No wonder the merchant couldn't stand the pressure in the county prison today and helped the pavilion chief to give false testimony.

After that, General Chen pointed at Heifu and said with a smile: "So in the next month, you should be careful, be cautious in what you say and do, and don't make mistakes. If he really gets hold of me, I can't protect you..."

"Thank you for your advice, General Bai. Heifu will never forget your kindness."

Heifu bowed again knowingly. General Chen accepted their greetings calmly, nodded, and said with a smile: "I'm glad you understand..."

...

General Chen asked the county soldier beside him to take Heifu and the other two to where the night watchmen lived. Along the way, Ji Ying sighed and said that this was almost the second time he was beaten today, and it was twenty times. Fortunately, he was rescued, otherwise his butt would have been broken.

Heifu seemed to be thinking about something. In addition to thinking about what happened just now, he muttered in a low voice: "It turns out that the punishment for failing to serve is not as severe as not saving someone from death. What about the agreed beheading for failing to serve? Is there something wrong? Or have I been deceived by the history textbook again..."

He couldn't figure it out for a while, so he let it go. At this time, Ji Ying had already used his special ability of being talkative to get close to the county soldier who led the way.

It turned out that the county soldier was also from Yushui Township. His name was "Zhao". Although he was called a county soldier, he was no different from Heifu and his men except for the spear in his hand and the armor on his body. Because they were fellow villagers, Zhao started chatting with Ji Ying in the Yushui dialect after walking a few steps. When they were halfway there, the two were already quite familiar with each other.

Heifu saw it and was secretly surprised that Ji Ying had some social skills. He pulled Ji Ying over and whispered a few words to him. Ji Ying nodded in understanding.

"Brother Zhao." When they were about to reach the night watchman's residence, Ji Ying suddenly asked, "Are General Chen and General Bin at odds?"

Zhao smiled and said, "Didn't you see it just now? It's obvious! General Bin was originally a public official. He followed the county's left lieutenant to fight on the battlefield and rose slowly by beheading people on the battlefield. General Chen inherited his father's title and became a night watchman as soon as he came of age. He was also a student of the school and was promoted by the county's right lieutenant to serve as an official in the army. The two of them couldn't sit together from the first day they worked together. We have seen a lot of similar things."

Hei Fu nodded silently after listening. No wonder General Chen talked about laws and regulations in a set way. It turned out that he was from the "school", that is, the cadre training class of Qin.

So it seems that he saved himself to make General Bin unhappy? He was too honest. If it were me, I would definitely watch from the side for a while, and then come out to stop the punishment when the board hit me. This way, I could impeach General Bin for abusing the punishment. Even if I couldn't dismiss him, I could still get a fine to disgust my opponent. In addition, it would make Hei Fu and the other two hate General Bin even more, and be more grateful to General Chen. It was like killing two birds with one stone...

Hei Fu suddenly felt that compared with the simple people of this era, modern people were really black-bellied. Of course, he couldn't compare with Zhao Gao, Li Si and other outstanding people.

But Ji Ying asked again: "Then the right lieutenant of the county and the left lieutenant of the county are not in harmony!?"

Zhao was shocked when he heard this and quickly denied it.

"I didn't say that. The two county lieutenants usually look harmonious..."

He then looked around suspiciously, and only a team of patrolling county soldiers with blades passed by from a distance. After they walked away, he lowered his voice and said, "But now the orders of the two county lieutenants are often issued to their subordinates, without knowing each other, which makes us, the little soldiers, suffer. We don't know who to listen to..." Hei Fu understood this. The two leaders of the Anlu County Public Security Bureau were probably not in harmony. He had guessed that the reason why General Chen saved them was not to enforce the law impartially like Doctor Xi, but for his own purpose, which was to make General Bin unhappy and make Hei Fu, a "strong man" who had just become famous in the county, grateful to him. Looking deeper, this also involves the open and secret struggles between the two lieutenants in Anlu County! It seems that not only the follow-up of the Huyang Pavilion Chief case has not been resolved, but he has also accidentally been involved in a more troublesome "political struggle"... Although the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau is not a big official, he is also the fourth in command of Anlu County. He can make Hei Fu suffer with just a flick of his finger. Even if the county lieutenant was not able to deal with him personally due to public opinion and the law, he could let General Bin find an excuse to make things difficult for Heifu.

"It seems that this month's service will be more difficult than I thought."

Heifu shook his head helplessly, sighing that he had a bad fate. He had just won the lawsuit and got into trouble again.

At this time, a light drizzle suddenly fell from the sky, and Zhao Liandao, who was unlucky, stopped and pointed to a row of low and dilapidated houses in front, and said to them: "We have arrived at the residence of the night watchman! You can go there by yourselves. The one on the far left is it!"

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