Chapter 368
Were these the same brutal bandits that had been terrorizing everyone?
The common people could hardly believe their eyes.
"Ah!! Brother, is that really them? Are you sure you've got the right people?"
"Can't be wrong. See that one walking behind the horse's rear, the one with the fat mouth? I remember him. He was the one who led the gang bursting out of the woods to rob me back then. Lucky for me, there were enough people around that they didn't notice me, so I managed to get away. Otherwise, I'd probably be a pile of bones by now. It's him, I'll never forget that face."
The crowd was dumbfounded.
This gang didn't just stop people on the road—they were tyrants in their daily lives too. They would put on masks, rob the pork butcher, and barge into shops to grab grain and rice whenever they felt like it. The yamen runners could do nothing to stop them, so they grew bold and lawless. When they'd eaten through everything on the mountain, they'd come down to "pay the villagers a visit" and loot their homes.
The people had been so terrified of being robbed by them that now, seeing these very men tied up, bruised and swollen, they felt a rush of relief and excitement—and started hurling vegetable leaves at them.
Why not rotten eggs?
Because they were poor!
They barely had enough eggs to eat, so how could they let any go bad?
One man, perhaps having been robbed before, had no vegetable leaves to throw. So he pulled off his shoe, charged forward, and started slapping the bandits over the head with it.
Everyone followed suit. Slaps and howls of pain mixed together, and the scene quickly descended into chaos. Even the soldiers couldn't calm them down.
The spies the bandits had placed in the city saw things going wrong and tried to slip away. But Fang Zichen had already warned the imperial guards on the way: any normal person, upon seeing such a scene or having suffered at the bandits' hands, would be filled with righteous fury. Even those who hadn't been wronged would want to join the commotion—no one would choose to run away.
So, whoever tried to run—they muat arrest them.
These spies were beyond redemption too, and had to be rooted out and executed on the spot.
Now, as the three spies turned to slip away, they ran straight into a wall of flesh. Looking up, they met a pair of cold, piercing eyes.
"Trying to run?"
"Who are you? I don't know what you're talking about. Hey—hey, what are you doing? Why are you grabbing me? In broad daylight, under the clear sky—don't you dare! Let me go, or I'll call for help and report you to the authorities!"
The imperial guard said nothing. He pressed them forward, keeping them with the group, all the way into the yamen.
Yu Daniu and his gang of underlings were thrown into the prison cells. Through his swollen, blackened eyes, he scanned the other cells. He didn't see his brothers from Qiuling Mountain or Xishan. He let out a breath of relief.
Damn it.
I knew it—that prefect looks like a kid who hasn't even grown his peach fuzz yet. What skills could he possibly have? He just got lucky, stepped in dog shit and stumbled onto us.
But dog shit—you step in it once, how could you step in it again and again?
Now that he knew his second and third brothers would come to rescue him, Yu Daniu felt hope again, and his heart settled back into his chest. The others seemed to think the same. After Yu Daniu reassured them a bit, they walked into the cells as if they were coming home. Apart from the dozen or so who were badly injured, the rest found a spot and lay right down to sleep.
It wasn't until the afternoon that a commotion broke out outside the cells. Everyone got up to look—and there were their brothers from Qiuling Mountain and Xishan, being led in too.
At last, they were all reunited.
"Big Brother?? Big Brother, how did you end up in here too? This is it—who's going to save us now?!"
Yu Daniu's eyes went wide with terror. Fang Zichen's words echoed in his mind: Pull up the roots, clear out the whole nest in one sweep.
His eyes rolled back, and he fainted again.
News traveled fast. The common people cheered, shouted, and ran to tell each other. Even the villages below, where information was usually scarce, heard the word.
The great cancer of Shunan had been wiped out.
"Who did it?"
"The prefect."
"Huh? Really? The prefect came to Shunan? And he helped us commoners wipe out the bandits? That... that can't be possible, can it?"
"It's true! I happened to be in town that day. The prefect was on horseback, and there was a young young master with him too."
"Didn't they say the new prefect is very young?"
"He is very young. And handsome too, I tell you. This old woman has lived a long life and I've never seen anyone like him—his skin was glowing white. I didn't dare look him straight in the eye!"
"And how old is the prefect's little young master? Why would he bring a child along to fight bandits?"
"Judging by his looks and size, he must be about four years old." Just as the old woman was speaking, the few beside her suddenly shot to their feet, staring in terror toward the village entrance.
More than a dozen soldiers were jogging straight toward them.
"Auntie, do you know where Yu Daniu and Su Xiaotian live?"
The old woman trembled with fear. "Y-yes, I do."
How could she not? They were the wealthiest families in the village—thirty or forty mu of good farmland, a large house built of green brick and tile, and several maidservants too! They carried themselves more like lords than the actual lords in town.
"Then please, show us the way."
The Yu and Su houses were easy enough to find. It was already past the noon meal hour. Most villagers ate only twice a day and had already finished their breakfast. But the Yu and Su families were better off and ate three meals a day. They'd woken late since they didn't have to work the fields, had breakfast, and hadn't done much since, so they weren't very hungry. They'd just sat down to eat when the main door was suddenly kicked open. Soldiers split into two groups and swarmed in, quickly detaining everyone in the Yu family—servants included.
As the old matriarch of the Yu family was being pushed out of the courtyard, she was shouting and cursing, demanding to know who they were and telling them to let her go if they knew what was good for them. Otherwise, when her eldest son returned, he'd make them pay. Spotting the old woman who'd led them there, she hurled threat after threat, vowing that she'd never let her off when she got back.
The old woman who led the way was so scared that she tucked her neck in.
The villagers were terrified not just of officials, but even of lowly yamen runners. The old matriarch of the Yu family had long been accustomed to throwing her weight around.
How could the soldiers tolerate such insolence? Old or not, one of them gave her a hard slap right across the mouth.
Her arrogance was even worse than their own lord's—truly lawless.
The villagers followed along to watch the excitement. At first, they didn't dare come near, afraid the Yus would take revenge on them later. But once they saw the old matriarch get slapped until her mouth bled, their courage grew. Someone shouted, "Officers! The second Yu son is still out in the fields—you haven't caught him yet!"
The old woman was furious.
The soldiers headed out immediately.
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