funbook-pk Chapter 144 Justification
Chapter 144 Justification
Nangong Min stepped on Zhao Dazui's back again and shouted angrily, "Just answer whatever we ask you. If you say one more word of nonsense, don't blame me for taking your life now."
"I was wrong, I know I was wrong, please spare my life, young men." Zhao Dazui begged for mercy quickly.
Mu Jin squatted down and looked at Zhao Dazui who was lying on the ground under Nangong Min's feet and asked.
"Where is your cottage?"
Zhao Dazui cried bitterly and said, "Two heroes, please let me go. I will ask one of my brothers to go back to the village and bring the woman back to you unharmed. Is that okay?"
Mu Jin stood up, raised his foot and stepped on the finger of Zhao Dazui that was injured by the poison needle. Zhao Dazui screamed again because of the pain.
Mu Jin sneered, "I'll say one more thing. You should answer whatever we ask you. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll pull out your tongue and chop off your limbs. Anyway, there are plenty of your people outside. I can just catch another one and ask him."
Zhao Dazui nodded in fear and said, "I'll tell you, I'll tell you! It's on Shiling Mountain, thirty miles outside the city."
Mu Jin sneered, "But is it the truth?"
"It's the truth. I dare not lie. Please let me go. I promise I will never cause trouble to you again."
Thirty miles outside the city is not far. It would only take the two of them half a day to rescue the mute girl from the bandit’s den and return her to the old woman’s home.
Mu Jinru thought that since he had found out where the mute girl was going, there was no need to waste time here.
She squatted down, pulled out a poison needle from Zhao Dazui's nails, shook it in front of Dazui, and laughed.
"Tell me! How do you plan to die?"
Zhao Dazui stared at Mu Jin in shock and fear: "You said that as long as I tell you the whereabouts of that mute girl, you will let me go~"
Mu Jin sneered: "I never said I would let you go. I just said that if you don't, you will die with regret."
It’s too late to regret. Isn’t Zhao Dazui regretting so much at this moment?
He thought he had met a handsome man today who came to him for pleasure, but he didn't expect that he was here to take his life. How could he not regret it?
Seeing that Mu Jin was about to kill him, he immediately cried out for mercy.
"My two heroes, I was not able to recognize a great man today and I have offended you. I hope you can show mercy and let me go. I am willing to offer you all my property and food in the mountains. You two are both very skilled in martial arts. If you don't mind, I am willing to lead my brothers and serve you as the masters of the mountain stronghold."
Nangong Min didn't want to listen to Zhao Dazui's nonsense. Just when he was about to twist Zhao Dazui's head off, he was interrupted by Mu Jin.
Mu Jin and Zhao Dazui said, "Food? Are you kidding us? In this world, even the border is out of food. How can a small Liangcheng like yours have food?"
Zhao Dazui noticed that Mu Jin was interested in the matter of food, so he spoke hurriedly.
"Really, I'm not lying to you. I have 50,000 shi of grain. If you don't believe me, I'll take you to see it."
Fifty thousand shi of grain and grass! Even people like Zhao Yefan and Su Yi could hardly find so much grain and grass in Dongyue. Even if this little grain and grass bandit plundered the people of Liangcheng, it would be impossible for him to have so much grain and grass.
"How do you have so much food? You have to know that in the current Dongyue Kingdom, even if the emperor asks the Ministry of Personnel to raise 50,000 shi of food, it is not easy. If you lied to us just to save your life, then I will let you know how it feels to live a life that is more painful than death. Do you understand?"
Zhao Dazui shook his head desperately and said he didn't dare.
"I can assure you that these grains were looted by Li Quangui and I."
Mu Jin asked: "Where can you get so much food and grass?"
"There is the disaster relief grain that the court has distributed to various places in recent years, as well as the grain from passing merchants. This is absolutely true. If you just come back to the mountains with me, you will know that I am not lying to you."
It turns out that Liangcheng has always been one of the poorest counties in Dongyue State because of its barren land and inconvenient transportation, and has always needed relief from the court.
Many years ago, Li Quangui was just a poor scholar who dreamed of changing his fate through the imperial examination.
However, fate tricked him so that he could never achieve his wish. He encountered repeated setbacks in the imperial examinations and could not even afford rice.
Faced with the hardships and disappointments of life, he felt that the world was unfair. Li Quangui chose a completely different path - he went up the mountain and became a bandit.
Despite the change in his identity, Li Quangui quickly stood out among the bandits with his past knowledge and flexible mind.
More importantly, he successfully colluded with the magistrate of Liangcheng County at that time and conspired to rob the imperial court of grain and fodder, which was a capital crime.
At that time, whether it was a caravan passing through the Liangcheng Escort Agency or a convoy escorting relief grain from the imperial court, the officers and soldiers of Liangcheng would change into bandit attire and ambush on the mountain with the bandits waiting for the passing grain convoy.
When the convoy loaded with relief grain from the imperial court slowly drove in, the officers and soldiers and the bandits rushed out from their ambushes like hungry wolves, robbed and killed the officers and soldiers transporting the grain, and successfully stole the grain.
Mu Jin looked at Zhao Dazui fiercely, "What happened next?"
Zhao Dazui said tremblingly: "Later, they sold the looted grains and got a lot of silver. The former Liangcheng County Magistrate gave him a lot of silver and became the prefect of Yicheng. Then he supported Li Quangui to become the current Liangcheng County Magistrate and continued his bandit activities."
Mu Jin and Nangong Min looked at each other. They couldn't believe that they were just meddling in other people's business and wanting to save a mute girl, but ended up implicating the corruption in Liangcheng.
"Why didn't you sell the food this time?"
Zhao Dazui said, "Dongyue is short of food right now, and the price of food is rising day by day. We plan to keep it for another half a month and then sell it to Beiqi. It will make more money than selling it to the people."
"You two are so skilled in martial arts. If you could stay and work with us, we would be even more powerful. The wealth you would receive would be even better than being a high-ranking official."
As soon as Zhao Dazui finished speaking, Mu Jin's face immediately darkened and a chill filled the air, as if the temperature in the entire room had dropped by several degrees.
Her voice was filled with murderous intent and anger, as if every word contained the gleam of a sharp knife: "You still want to sell food to Kitazaki?
"Beiqi has always been hostile to our Dongyue. Are you going to send food to the enemy and help them harm our Dongyue people?" Mu Jin asked harshly, his voice as cold as ice.
Zhao Dazui was intimidated by Mu Jin's aura. He was speechless for a moment, with a hint of fear on his face.
Zhao Dazui tried to remain calm and defend himself: "Since we did this, we went wherever we could for profit. The grain is in our hands, and Beiqi can sell it for a high price, so why not sell it?"
Mu Jin heard this, a cold light flashed in her eyes, she laughed sarcastically: "You only think about how to benefit yourself, but ignore the interests of the country and the lives of the people?"