Chapter 23 Unexpected misfortune to hidden dangers
The officers and soldiers took the hotel manager and three or four waiters out of the ground with knives pointed at their necks. When they revealed Mr. Lei and his men behind them, the officers and soldiers were shocked. One of the officers and soldiers saw, He quickly rushed out of the kitchen door and shouted loudly: "They are here, come quickly,"
At the moment, the officers and soldiers were searching for people from house to house. When he heard such a sudden shout over there, He Tao's heartstrings suddenly tightened, and he quickly appeared in front of the back kitchen door of the hotel with a large team of people. , nearly a hundred officers and soldiers pulled out their knives and were on guard with caution. The officers and soldiers who had just discovered this group hurriedly came over and reported to He Tao: "Sir, dozens of suspicious persons were found in the cellar. They How should we deal with the businessman who claims to be here to do business?"
At first glance, all the shopkeepers saw were official servants. He immediately remembered that Patrolman Lei had written a rescue letter to the Yamen. He must have sent officers and soldiers to protect Shuangfeng Town. At that moment, the shopkeeper's panic disappeared and he felt that as long as there were officers and soldiers here, Those horse bandits would not be able to do anything, and Shuangfeng Town would be much safer. However, seeing that the officers and soldiers just now misunderstood Lei Sanye and others as Liangshan bandits, they immediately came forward and said to He Tao: "Sir, they are really They are all merchants in my shop, and they are hiding here because they are escaping from being hunted by horse bandits."
He Tao ignored the shopkeeper, looked at him suspiciously, and then said to the officer and soldier: "Bring the leader up to me."
"You, the one who answered just now, come out." After listening to He Tao's instructions, the officer and soldier went into the back kitchen and shouted into the cellar: "Stop using tricks, or I will kill you."
When businessmen met the officers and soldiers, they would feel inferior to them, but Lei San stood in the cellar and felt even more inferior. Originally, Lei San had never interacted with the officers and soldiers, and he only knew that they were arrogantly tight, but just now he used all his strength to defeat them. He did not make those officers and soldiers believe that he was really not a bandit. He was really a scholar meeting a soldier. He could not explain why.
As soon as Lei San climbed out of the cellar under the light of scorching torches and bright swords, he was grabbed by his collar and dragged to He Tao by the officers and soldiers on both sides.
"Sir, the young one is really from Xiangzhou. He just arrived at Shuangfeng Town today. He is really not a Liangshan bandit." Lei San saw the shopkeeper and the waiter and pointed at them quickly and said, "Sir , they can testify,"
"You can't say that you are all in the same group. Take them all away and take them outside the town," He Tao said, while sending dozens of officers to tie up Lei San and his men and take them outside the town. He sent people to continue the search, but after digging three feet into the ground, there was no sign of the Liangshan gangsters except the common people and businessmen. There was no way to do it. Seeing that this time they failed again, He Tao became a little impatient. He couldn't leave empty-handed. Go back, he couldn't afford to lose this person, so He Tao immediately asked his subordinates to kidnap some businessmen with "suspicious behavior" and escort them out of Shuangfeng Town.
At this time, Lei Heng and General Pi were fighting together outside Shuangfeng Town. Lei Heng wanted to give in to this guy, but instead of letting him stop, this guy not only didn't know how to stop, but intensified his attack, with the big sword whirring. The sound was like a tornado, all the killing moves went straight to Lei Heng's head to greet him. Lei Heng had been fighting for so long, and his patience had long been worn out. At that moment, he saw the officers and soldiers in the town rushing out with knives. Many common people and merchants came here out of curiosity and couldn't help but take a second look. However, they didn't expect General Pi to seize this opportunity and pick up his sword and kill fiercely, cutting a big gap in Lei Heng's patrol robe.
Lei Heng's clothes were all washed and mended by his old mother, and this robe was also made by his own mother. But now this guy made a big hole for no good reason. How could this make Lei Heng not angry? Now Lei Heng will pull Pu The sword slashed across the general's head, and then he drew the sword horizontally, cutting through the waist belt of the general. However, this still made Lei Heng angry, and he didn't wait for that guy at the moment. After reacting, he added a kick and kicked the general fiercely away, rolling down into the loess. Just when the general stood up with his pants lifted, the officers and soldiers on the left and right had already rushed forward, drew out their swords and killed Lei. The horizontal group is at the core.
The general Pi was so angry that he wanted to order all the officers and soldiers to go up and chop Lei Heng into pieces, but the general in charge stopped him and said, "Let them go."
The officers and soldiers who were fighting for Lei Heng immediately withdrew from both sides of the surrounding circle and retreated to the foot of the formation. The commander pointed at Lei Heng with a horse whip and asked: "For a while, I asked you, who is your name, and who is well dressed?" How come you are taking a temporary job here despite your abilities?"
Seeing that he had room to speak, Lei Heng clasped his fists and said politely: "I, Lei Heng, was framed because I offended a villain in the government, so I was assigned here. I just arrived today, but I didn't expect to encounter a horse bandit." swing,"
"Then let me ask you, besides the horse bandits, has there ever been a group of people here?"
Lei Heng muttered in his heart, there is another group of people, isn't that the Liangshan Qingqi brought by Shi Jin? By the way, they are looking for those twenty Qingqi. It seems that this group of people is not here to rescue, but to attack the Liangshan people. Come, it's bad, it's bad. Under the siege of these officers and soldiers, how can Shi Jin take the opportunity to escape? He must create an opportunity to get out.
At that moment Lei Heng said: "What you are talking about is a troop of more than ten people."
The commander-in-chief frowned and said with interest: "Yes, you won't hide them, will you?"
"My lord, you are joking. Once those Liangshan bandits become more powerful, the first one to be unlucky will be our Yuncheng County. My whole family is there. For the sake of safety, how can we protect the bandits? Besides, there is a balance between government and banditry. Our Yuncheng County I also want to deal with this group of thieves as soon as possible, and I also want to make contributions and receive rewards. If nothing else, at least I have to leave this place where no one can shit," Lei Heng said.
The commander-in-chief heard what Lei Heng said was impressive, and he appreciated Lei Heng's skills very much, so he did not make any further difficulties at the moment. Just when the commander-in-chief was about to ask more questions, He Tao came galloping over. He stopped in front of the general who commanded the army and said, "I don't know where that group of people has hidden. I dug three feet into the ground and found no trace. I found many people acting suspiciously. Sir, would you like to take a look?"
The commander-in-chief ignored He Tao, but looked at Lei Heng and said, "Where are those people?"
Lei Heng clasped his fists and pretended to be very serious and said: "They came quickly. At that time, I was fighting with these horse bandits. When I heard the sound of horse hooves, I thought they were their successors, but I didn't expect that group. When people saw that I had killed these horse bandits, they turned their backs on their horses and headed west, not knowing what they had done."
"Going to the west," He Tao repeated, and immediately changed his face and said: "Nonsense, we scouted the horse to report that the group of people clearly dismounted in front of this town, and there was no fighting at that time, how could they go west? He Tao turned around, clasped his fists with both hands and said to the commander of the army: "Sir, please don't believe him. This guy's words are full of flaws. He must be trying to lead us somewhere else. Okay." Let those Liangshan thieves escape,"
The commander-in-chief didn't say anything. He just looked at Lei Heng and then at He Tao. After thinking about it, he still felt that what He Tao said made sense. So he asked He Tao: "Then what do you think we should do?"
"Since the thieves have entered Shuangfeng Town, they will definitely be discovered by us if they try to escape when we come. Most of them are still hiding somewhere in Shuangfeng Town, but I don't know. But, no matter where they are hidden, After all, there is support from the local people, otherwise it would not be so clean. The people in Shuangfeng Town are simply no more than a hundred households. We might as well start with these people and ask, come on, bring everyone here."
After He Tao said one word, the officers and soldiers under the archway escorted a group of people to the feet of the officers and soldiers.
The commander-in-chief looked at the hundreds of people surrounded by officers and soldiers without saying a word, and tacitly allowed He Tao to continue his method.
He Tao dismounted and walked up to them and said: "According to our scouting reports, a group of thieves from Liangshan have entered Shuangfeng Town, but there is currently no trace. I am sure that one of you must have hidden them." , This is a capital crime, but now I still have a chance. If I hand it over, I can plead with the superiors. Not only will I be innocent, but I will also receive a heavy reward."
When He Tao said this, there was a lot of discussion among the people, but no one came forward to identify it.
He Tao paced back and forth for two times, but still no one came forward to admit it, and there was no one to respond. He Tao snorted coldly and said: "You don't want to cooperate, okay, okay, then I will." Just set a fire and burn it all. I don’t believe that this Liangshan bandit can’t be burnt clean.”
An old man stood up and said: "Sir, we are all innocent people, why are you so hard on each other? We are all neighbors of Changshu. How can there be any internal intelligence in Liangshan? Please investigate clearly."
After the old man said this, the young people also stood up and said: "Burn it clean. Our Shuangfeng Town is already desolate. Your government has never taken care of it. The cost of these houses is all earned through our own hard work." How could you use a fire to destroy all the accumulation of our generations in vain?"
"You're right, are you an official or a gangster?"
"The horse bandits also know how to leave a way to survive. If you burn down Twin Peaks Town, you will trap me and die. Instead of doing this, it is better to fight with you,"
This stone stirred up thousands of waves, and the people were immediately stirred up with public indignation, and they were shouting and shouting with great excitement.
Seeing that the situation was on the verge of getting out of control, the commander-in-chief knew that He Tao was just bluffing, but what he said was really wrong, so he shouted loudly and said: "We are also thinking about your safety. If anyone sees a large group of people coming from the neighborhood, report it and we will find out later."