Obviously, these people in the government should be looking for someone.
Who are they looking for? Why among the villagers?
Zhuge Nan also thought of this and frowned: "Are they looking for someone?"
Uncle Li Bashu hummed: "Who can understand what those officers and soldiers did?"
"Later, when Fengzi and the others learned about this, they rescued us under the leadership of a man named Zhang Gou."
Wu Chengsi's heart moved and he asked: "Who is Zhang Gou?"
Uncle Li Ba said: "It seems to be a person rescued by Fengzi and the others. Ah Lang is very knowledgeable. He led Fengzi and the others to defeat the army and rescued us."
Wu Chengsi's face moved slightly and he said: "How many officers and soldiers are there?"
"There seem to be eight hundred or thousands of people."
"How many villagers does Zhang Gou have under his command?"
Li Bashu raised his head and said: "There should be seven or eight hundred young people from dozens of nearby villages."
Even Zhuge Sanyuan's expression changed. He took a deep breath and said, "He defeated a larger army with only seven or eight hundred villagers?"
Uncle Li Ba nodded and said, "That's right, otherwise we wouldn't be rescued!"
"How did he do it?" Zhuge Nan asked anxiously.
"This old man doesn't know."
"What happened next?" Zhugenan asked again.
Uncle Li Ba's expression darkened, and he said: "Later I heard that the government troops came with reinforcements, but Fengzi and the others still couldn't defeat them. After a group of people died, they all ran to the sea."
"Fengzi, he died in that battle!"
Wu Chengsi understood clearly.
Sea Gouzi's group of pirates must be Zhang Gou's group, so Li Si saw people from his own village among the pirate corpses.
From the current point of view, Zhang Gou is no ordinary person. The Hangzhou government sent troops probably just to capture him.
Li Si lowered his head and sobbed: "It was me... who killed Brother Fengzi, it was me... who killed him!"
After Uncle Li made this call, he was reminded of something sad and his eyes turned red.
"It was those hateful officers and soldiers who killed my Fengzi. I will kill them to avenge Fengzi."
After saying that, he picked up a shovel from the wall and rushed out of the small courtyard.
At this moment, a person rushed out of the room and grabbed Uncle Eighth's waist tightly. It was Aunt Eighth.
"You don't want your life. Geng Xiucai finally saved the lives of a whole village of us. How can you have another conflict with the government?"
Uncle Li Bashu became stubborn and said angrily: "Then I won't live anymore. I'll fight them!"
Li Sidai was stunned for a moment, then wiped his tears and asked, "Uncle Eighth, did something else happen later?"
"Yes, you tell us everything first, and we will help you go to the Yamen to seek justice later!" Zhugenan said loudly.
"There is no justice in the yamen!" Uncle Li sighed, but he couldn't break his wife's hand for a while, so he had to say:
"After something like that happened, how could those in the government be willing to let it go?"
"Although the young people have all gone to sea, how can we, the old, weak, sick and disabled, escape? They directly sent officers and soldiers to arrest us and prepare to send us to Yangzhou Canal to repair the dam!"
"They...they went too far!" Li Si stamped his feet.
Ba Shen said hurriedly: "Xiao Si, please stop irritating your Eighth Uncle. You should go to the back mountain to see your parents."
Li Si lowered his head and didn't answer. He didn't ask clearly. How could he leave?
Moreover, he was counting on Wu Chengsi and the others to uphold justice for the village.
"Old man, who is the Geng scholar you just mentioned?" Wu Chengsi suddenly asked.
Mentioning Geng Xiucai, Uncle Li's expression softened a lot and said: "Geng Xiucai was a good man. After he found out about our villages, he went to the county government to find the county magistrate, and the people in our villages were released.
"
Wu Chengsi frowned and was silent in thought.
When Ba Shen saw that Uncle Ba had regained his composure, he also let go of his waist, snatched the shovel from his hand, and took it into the house.
Li Si peeked at Wu Chengsi from time to time, hoping that he would do justice to the village.
Wu Chengsi didn't say much, he just said: "Brother Li, a few of us want to stay in the village. Is there any place to stay?"
Li Si hurriedly said: "Of course, my parents are gone, why don't you just stay at my house."
Uncle Li Ba followed: "If Xiaosi's family can't live in it, you can stay at our house. Fengzi's room is still vacant."
Wu Chengsi cupped his hands and smiled and said: "Thank you, Eighth Uncle. Let's go to Brother Li's house first and have a look. If we can't live there, we will come and bother Eighth Uncle."
When I arrived at Li Si's house, I saw that the small courtyard was full of dust and cobwebs. It could be seen that no one had lived in this house for a long time.
Li Si was moved by the scene and couldn't help but feel sad. He said goodbye to Wu Chengsi and went to the back mountain, intending to pay homage in front of his parents' graves.
Wu Chengsi did not enter the house either, and wandered around the village with Zhuge Nan and Zhuge Sanyuan.
After walking around the village, Wu Chengsi found that indeed there were only some old, weak, sick and disabled people left in the village, and the expressions on everyone's faces were somewhat numb.
It is a kind of numbness that only comes after great sorrow.
It was already the beginning of autumn, and it was time for a good harvest. However, the fields were deserted, and the autumn wind swept away, leaving only a bit of desolation and loneliness.
Zhuge Nan thought for a long time and didn't understand why Wu Chengsi didn't take action. He couldn't help but said: "Your Highness, why don't we go to the county magistrate and seek justice for the villagers?"
Wu Chengsi stopped in front of an abandoned earth wall, looked at the abandoned fields in the distance, and said slowly: "Zhuge, why do you think the Hangzhou government imprisoned Li Si's parents to death?"
Zhuge Nan frowned and said, "I think Li Si and others were imprisoned on Changye Island. When someone saw them, the officials thought they had become pirates, so they imprisoned their parents to pay for their crimes."
Zhuge Sanyuan glared and said: "Silly boy, can't you see? Those words from the Hangzhou officials are all lies. They are probably colluding with the Fire Phoenix Society!"
Zhuge Nan was unconvinced and said: "How do you know they are colluding?"
"The Huofeng Society was able to abduct three hundred Hangzhou people so easily." Zhuge Sanyuan narrowed his eyes and said, "Without the government turning a blind eye, they would never have been able to do it."
Although Zhuge Nan is sometimes stubborn, he always admits his mistakes quickly as long as others can give him a convincing reason.
He immediately nodded and said, "That's right. Huofeng Society has a relationship with King Pei. It's not difficult to collude with local officials."
Wu Chengsi said in a deep voice: "The actions of the Hangzhou County Government must have been directed by the Huofeng Society. There is only one reason why they covered up the whereabouts of those stonemasons."
"What reason?" Zhugenan asked.
"The involvement of these masons is very confidential and they don't want anyone to find out!"
Zhuge Nan said blankly: "Didn't they just build a stone monument? What's more important?"
Wu Chengsi said slowly: "This shows that the stone monument they built must have some special function."
Zhuge Sanyuan twisted his beard and said: "Your Highness, if this matter involves King Pei, it will definitely not be a trivial matter. They probably already know that we broke the Huofeng Society's main altar, and they will definitely react."
Wu Chengsi knew that Zhuge Sanyuan was worried about his safety, so he nodded and said: "This is why I chose to come to Hangzhou by sea."
Zhugenan was shocked. Wu Chengsi's words meant that King Pei and the others might be unfavorable to him.
After thinking about it, given the current situation, it is not surprising that King Pei sent someone to assassinate Wu Chengsi.
He finally understood why Wu Chengsi did not seek justice for the villagers. Now their situation was not safe and their whereabouts must not be exposed at will.
"Your Highness, what should we do now?" Zhugenan asked seriously.
Wu Chengsi looked into the distance and said slowly: "Wait!"
Zhugenan frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly his heart moved and he said: "Are we waiting for General Wang Fangyi's Thousand Niu Guards?"
Wu Chengsi shook his head and said: "Qianniu Guards can't suppress those princes of the Li family now."
Zhuge Sanyuan smiled and said: "The Thousand Niu Guards are naturally not as good as the Zuowu Guards brought out by His Highness himself."
Zhuge Nan immediately understood that Wu Chengsi was waiting for his Zuo Wuwei army.
Wu Chengsi added: "But we don't have to wait. Before the army arrives, we can secretly investigate the situation in Hangzhou."
"It's best to collect some evidence. Then it will be easier to take down these corrupt officials."
Zhuge Nan wondered: "Isn't it enough to have the testimony of villagers like Uncle Li Ba?"
Wu Chengsi said in a deep voice: "Although the villagers' testimonies are useful, they can only prove the Hangzhou County Magistrate. Do you think the person behind this incident will be a small Hangzhou County Magistrate?"
"Of course it's impossible. How can a Zhizhi County magistrate have such ability?" Zhugenan said without hesitation.
"So during these days, what we have to do is to find the official involved in this matter behind the scenes. No matter who he is, I will deal with him!" Wu Chengsi's eyes flashed with sharp light.