Cao Thief

Chapter 127

The battle at Gaoyang Pavilion was almost over.

Seeing that everyone else had stopped fighting, Zhou Cang was the only one who hadn't settled the fight yet, and couldn't help feeling secretly anxious.

He and Wang Meng have different ambitions!
After going through the world, Wang Meng grew from an ordinary hunter to Qu Shuai of the Yellow Turban Army; and then from a Qu Shuai to an ordinary hunter.To a certain extent, Wang Meng completed a reincarnation.I have been mediocre, I have also experienced glory, I have fallen into the bottom, and then I will return to mediocrity.He no longer has the idea of ​​fighting for power, and only hopes that Wang Mai will not repeat the suffering he has experienced in the future.

Therefore, Wang Meng chose the Huben Army.

One is that there is a bright future, and the other is that there is a backer on the head.

A salary of six hundred shi is enough for him to support his family.Moreover, in the Huben Army, Wang Meng didn't need to be on the battlefield, and relied on his military exploits to gain promotion.

Zhou Cang is different, he is still passionate.

Although he has also experienced tragic failures, and even almost lost his life.

But he still hopes to be able to fight on the battlefield and gain fame by relying on his martial arts.Therefore, he didn't want to go to Huben Army, but chose to stay in Cao's house.Don't look at Zhou Cangmang, but his thoughts are very meticulous.Speaking of which, he has put in a lot of effort towards the Cao family.

Deng Ji beheaded Cheng Yao in Runan, and then served as a member of the Huben army, and had close contacts with Guo Jia.

Cao Ji studied his skills intensively, and his knife-making skills are superb, and he will be reused sooner or later.And what made Zhou Cang make up his mind was that Cao Peng was in prison, sworn to Jinlan with Cao Zhen and others, and achieved the name of Xiaobayi... A family is not easy, and Cao Peng's future is equally bright.Zhou Cang felt that if he stayed in Cao's mansion, he might have more opportunities.Sure enough, Cao Ji became the supervisor, and Deng Ji also worshiped as the head of a county.This makes Zhou Cang more confident!He knew that as long as he followed in the footsteps of the Cao family, he would surely be able to achieve great success in the future.

But now, even a small horse thief can't solve it.

And the people around have already resolved the battle, and even Cao Peng killed two of them.This makes Zhou Cang, how can he be so embarrassing?

"Xiahou, Hugh has to intervene."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xia Houlan approaching him with a two-foot silver spear in his hand.

Zhou Cang panicked immediately, and quickly let out a tiger roar, stopping Xia Houlan's actions.

In fact, Zhou Cang is also considered unlucky.There were so many horse thieves, but he chose the one with the best skills.The opponent's martial arts are slightly inferior to Zhou Cang's, but the difference is not much.And judging from the situation before the battle, this horse thief has experienced many battles.

Zhou Cang is angry!

The figure suddenly retreated, but at the moment of retreating, the other foot took a big step forward.

The moment he stamped his feet, his waist and hips exerted force.

After all, he is a master of Yijin level, retreating and advancing, calm and unhurried.

In the palm of his hand was a wide-backed machete, and the knife went with him, slashing out in a very strange way.The opponent was caught off guard and was almost hit by Zhou Cang.In addition, he was the only one left. Although his fists and feet were not messy, he was still a little flustered.This panic revealed a flaw.

Zhou Cang waited for this moment for a long time!

He shook his dantian, and suddenly let out a loud roar.

The broad-backed machete was struck out with the force of thunder, and the force of the knife completely enveloped the horse thief.The horse thief wanted to retreat and dodge, but he didn't want Xia Houlan to stand behind him, and the moment Zhou Cang drew his knife, he took a small step.Don't underestimate this small step, it will make the horse thief very confused.

After half a year of practice, Xia Houlan calmed down and made great progress in martial arts.

Especially watching Cao Peng and others practice martial arts, and later when Cao Peng, Wang Mai and others explained the principles of boxing and kicking, Xia Houlan was also listening.In terms of martial arts, ten Cao Pengs might not compare to Tong Yuan's one finger.But when it comes to explaining the principles of boxing and kicking, Cao Peng is ten times better than Tong Yuan.He often teaches Wang Mai Dengfan in an easy-to-understand way.Xia Houlan listened from the side, and also gained a lot.In half a year, even Xia Houlan himself didn't expect that he had entered the Yijin level without knowing it.

The strength increased greatly, and the martial arts skyrocketed.

A two zhang silver spear seems to have connected with him.

Therefore, he took a small step, which was enough to make the horse thief frightened.

Faced with two tendon-changing masters at the same time, no matter how brave the horse thief is, he will feel afraid.

His mind was in a mess, and he was full of flaws.Originally, there was nothing unusual about Zhou Cang's knife, it was all due to a strong aura.

Normally, the horse thief can easily dodge.

But this time...

There was a clang, followed by a scream from the horse thief, who was cut in half by Zhou Cang's oblique knife.

In an instant, there was complete silence in Gaoyang Pavilion.All the horse thieves closed their mouths, no matter how painful they were, they did not dare to speak out at this moment.

These guys are obviously not ordinary passing merchants.

Leaning on a bamboo stick, the white-haired old man walked up to the young horse thief.

"You scoundrel, you usually just steal chickens and dogs, but now you dare to steal horses... I will kill you, I will kill you, you unfilial son!"

The bamboo stick covered the face and hit the young man.

Cao Peng stood aside and did not stop him.

At this time, Deng Ji and Puyang Kai also came out under the protection of Wang Mai and Deng Fan.

Seeing the situation, the two of them immediately yelled regret, and missed a good opportunity to practice their skills for no reason.

The old man beat the young man until his nose was bruised and his face was bruised, then he dropped his bamboo stick, staggered to Deng Ji and the others, and knelt down with a plop.

"My lord, please forgive my son, he just, he just doesn't know the seriousness, and was deceived by the bad guys."

"Old man, please get up quickly."

Deng Ji hurriedly asked Wang Mai to help the old man.

This old man is the head of Gaoyang Pavilion.Although he is old, he is very clear in his heart.

People like Deng Ji are not ordinary businessmen, but court officials.In other words, their horses are called official horses.According to the law of the Han Dynasty, those who steal officials and horses get their faces tattooed, and then they are sent to the frontier army as hard labor.The old man could also see that Deng Ji was the leader of this gang, so he knelt down and cried bitterly.

"This one……"

Deng Ji hesitated.

It is inevitable that he has some old-fashioned temper.

It's just that this old man is gray-haired, over sixty years old, and still works in this small Gaoyang Pavilion.

Logically speaking, since he is the head of the pavilion, he should also have handymen under his command.Seeing Gao Yangting's dilapidated appearance, he probably did it all by himself.

"Deng Haixi, wait a minute!"

Cao Peng stood up suddenly and stopped him in a deep voice.

The old man looked at Cao Peng with tears in his eyes.

He was a little puzzled, why did this handsome young man come out to stop him?
"Afu, what's wrong?"

"Stealing official horses is a serious crime.

Deng Haixi is about to take office, is it necessary to put Han law in a trifling matter? "

You are going to be an official, you should know that the law is strict.If you can't do this yourself, how can you govern the place and convince the people?

"If you are in charge of the law, you should know that law enforcement must be strictly enforced, and violations must be punished. As the saying goes, poor people must have something to hate. You are soft-hearted today and let this dog go. Do you know how much disaster this dog will cause? You Temporary soft-heartedness will inevitably bring endless troubles to the people of Gaoyangting."

Enforcement must be strictly enforced, and violations must be investigated!
Deng Ji's heart moved, and he couldn't help but nodded slightly.

There was a soft smile on Pu Yangkai's face, but he didn't speak from the beginning to the end.

"My son has never done anything harmful to nature...Little son, you have a lot of adults, please hold your hand high."

"Have you ever done anything against nature?" Cao Peng suddenly sneered, "A person who can gather more than ten people to accompany and steal horses, dare to say that he has never done anything against nature? Let alone others, I dare say that dead ghost, During his lifetime, Bi killed many people and committed many things."

"what?"

Ting Zhang Gao Yangting couldn't help being taken aback.

Zhou Cang said to Deng Ji: "My lord, this guy is very skilled, and he knows how to advance and retreat... His moves are fierce and not at all sloppy. If he hadn't killed someone, it would never have been like this. If we hadn't gained the upper hand today, he would have It may not be so fast. In normal times, if I want to win, I need at least thirty moves. What the young master said is right, this guy is definitely not an ordinary person."

At this time, Deng Ji couldn't help but pay attention to it.

"Old man, get up first, let me ask you about this matter."

Gao Yang stood up tremblingly, pointed at the young horse thief's nose and yelled, "You scoundrel, where did you hook up with such a thief?"

"Old man, first check to see if this person is a local."

While talking, Cao Peng winked at Wang Mai.

Wang Mai nodded, and helped the old man walk towards the corpse.

Cao Peng looked at the young horse thief with burning eyes and said nothing.

The young man felt guilty, and quickly lowered his head...

"Back to young master, this person is definitely not a local!"

Gao Yang Tingting answered loudly after examining the corpse.

Deng Ji frowned when he heard this.Accompanied by Deng Fan, he walked over.

And Cao Peng stood where he was, his sharp eyes swept over the thieves in the courtyard.He noticed that there were a few horse thieves with flustered expressions.

"Old man, please identify again. Among these people, which ones are locals and which ones are unfamiliar faces?"

"Oh!"

At this time, Gao Yang Tingting chief wanted to rescue his son, so he did what Cao Peng said.He has been a petty official all his life, greeted and sent him all his life, so he still has this insight.Although Cao Peng is the youngest, he seems to have the highest status among this group of people.The head of Gaoyang Pavilion even had an illusion that Cao Peng was a descendant of a noble family, and the rest were followers.

He walked forward tremblingly, and those horse thieves became visibly nervous.

"This is Xiaowu from the neighboring village...he is Wang Ergou...you..."

Tingting Master Gao Yang identified them one by one. When he came to a horse thief, he held up a torch and was about to go over to identify them.Ting Zhang Gao Yang was startled and almost fell to the ground.

"Ninth brother, that's my father!"

The young horse thief exclaimed.

The sound of exclamation, accompanied by this violent shout, echoed over the courtyard.

The horse thief jumped out, wanting to do it.But his figure was still in the air, but his chest suddenly felt cold.

A two zhang silver spear shot out through the chest.

The horse thief looked at the gun head dripping blood on his chest in horror, his eyes widened.

Xia Houlan said coldly: "Anyone who dares to mess around will be shot to death!"

Before the words were finished, a group of followers drew out the steel knives in a swish, staring at each other, and the steel knives were placed on the necks of the horse thieves.

Xu Yi stepped forward to deal with the young horse thief, but was stopped by Cao Peng.

"Brother Hutou, help the old man back." He yelled, and then slowly walked to the side of the young horse thief, smiling slightly, "You still have a little conscience, otherwise your head will fall right now."

He was half a head lower than that young man.

But the coldness revealed during the speech made the young man tremble and give him a chill.

"Second brother, pull out this, this, and the few thieves on the far side, and cut them off!"

"what?"

Xu Yi was startled, and looked at Cao Peng.

Cao Peng smiled and said to the young man: "What, is there a mistake in my point?"

The detective's instinct made Cao Peng pay close attention to the horse thief's expression all the time.The appearance of those horse thieves was obviously different from the others.

There was a look of horror on the young man's face.

And Deng Ji looked at Cao Peng curiously, looking a little weird.

Xu Yi smiled and waved her hands. With the Xu family's entourage, she dragged the horse thieves outside.

"How can you kill people?"

"Han criminal law, whoever steals the official horse, tattoos his face, travels three thousand miles, and loses to the frontier army. If it is serious, it can be killed on the spot and reported to Dali."

Deng Ji spoke suddenly.

"As for what is considered serious, Da Dulu said that it is serious to touch official horses without permission; but it is serious to steal three or more horses for Xiao Dulu. You steal your official mount, after all, according to Big Dulu, or should I use Little Dulu?"

The head of Gaoyang Pavilion at the side immediately shouted: "Little Dulu, we should take Xiaodulu as the standard."

"That depends on whether your son cooperates or not."

"You evil son, whatever the young master asks you, you just answer!"

Ting Zhang Gao Yang roared loudly, and at the same time, a series of screams came from outside the courtyard.

With the sound of footsteps, the Xu family's entourage walked into the courtyard carrying three bloody heads.All the horse thieves suddenly turned pale.

It's okay to sneak around, but where have you seen such a tragic situation?
Cao Peng looked at the young man, "You, name!"

"His name is..."

"Old man, I'm asking him, if you are talking too much, don't blame me for being rude."

Cao Peng suddenly turned his head and stared.

Gao Yang Tingting long, immediately closed his mouth.

"Little man, the name of the villain is Hu Ban."

Huban?

This name sounds familiar.

Has it appeared in Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
Cao Peng suddenly remembered that the name Hu Ban seemed to have appeared in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.I remember that there was such a person when the second brother Guan rode solo for thousands of miles, passed five passes and killed six generals.However, Hu Ban in the Romance seems to be a son of an official, or a general of Cao Jun.

Subconsciously, he turned his head to look at Ting Zhang Gao Yang.

"Old man, what's your name?"

"Little old man, the name of the little old man is Hu Hua...Young master, the little old man has never been a thief. It has been more than 37 years since he was the head of the pavilion at the age of [-]. Even when the Taiping bandits made trouble, the little old man No... If you don't believe me, you can ask the people around you."

Deng Ji asked in a low voice, "Ah Fu, what's the problem?"

Cao Peng scratched his head, and quickly comforted him: "Old man, don't get me wrong, I'm just asking casually."

Cursing secretly in my heart: You Luo Dayou...a pavilion chief, how dare you call it Yilang?
Hu Hua in Romance of the Three Kingdoms was Yilang during Emperor Huan's time!However, it is probably a coincidence, because in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it seems that it did not happen in Chenliu.

Hu Hua, on the other hand, was in a cold sweat from fright, and also cursed in his heart.

This young man scared the old man to death!
"age!"

"The villain is 22 this year."

"Ancestral home."

"Local... oh, it should be Yu County."

Cao Peng asked: "What is the origin of that dead ghost?"

"This one……"

Hu Ban swallowed, and suddenly plopped on the ground, "My lord, I'm not a villain who refuses to answer, it's really... If I wait to answer, I'm afraid my life will be in danger."

"Uh?"

Cao Peng couldn't help being startled, and turned to look at Deng Ji.

Deng Ji showed a dignified look, walked to Puyang Kai's side, and the two talked in a low voice.

Cao Peng thought for a while, walked up to Hu Ban, and patted him on the shoulder, "There are some things that I have to explain to you. Actually, I didn't need to ask so many questions, but because of your white-haired father, It's just for Ting Zhang's face. You don't need to answer, but I will send you to the government office. I believe that you will not last long under the three trees in the government office...you will end up in a miserable end.

For the lighter ones, you will be sent to the frontier army, and you will not be allowed to return home for three years;

If you cooperate with me, I will keep your life safe.

Did you see that he..."

Cao Peng pointed at Xu Yi, "He is my sworn brother, his name is Xu Yi. Maybe you haven't heard of his name, but his father, you may have. Xu Chu, Xu Zhongkang; I have three more, not here right now...Speaking of which, you may be more familiar with my third brother. Because he is from Chenliu, and his home is in Chenliu, not too far from here.

His father was Dianwei Dian Junming, the general of the imperial court Huben Zhonglang.

If you cooperate honestly, I guarantee you nothing to worry about.There is a sentence, you should think about it carefully: be lenient when confessing, and be strict when resisting! "

When Hu Ban heard this, he was immediately frightened.

Xu Chu, he had heard of it, but he was not very familiar with it.

But Dianwei's name is like thunder.Back in the day, Dian Wei broke into Xiangyi alone to avenge his friend, and blood flowed like a river.

Ten years later, Dian Wei's reputation is even more prominent now, almost everyone in Chenliu has heard of Dian Wei's name.

Hearing Cao Peng tell the story of Xu Yi and others, Hu Ban was stunned and speechless.

Deng Ji turned around and couldn't help laughing.

"This Ah Fu is full of new things."

Pu Yangkai nodded lightly: "What he said is not wrong, he is lenient when he is frank, and strict when he resists... These eight words seem to fit the essence of Xiao Dulu."

He didn't practice criminal names, but he knew a thing or two.

Xiaodulu's sentencing pays more attention to the combination of reason and law, rather than blindly seeking strictness like Dadulu.

According to the law of Dadu, if you commit a crime, it is a crime, and there is no human feeling to speak of.But Little Duli is relatively gentle and more humane.

After Cao Peng finished speaking, he turned his head and left.

He walked to Xu Yi's side and said softly, "Second brother, it seems that things are a bit complicated."

Xu Yi nodded, "What are your plans?"

"Judging from Hu Ban's tone, this matter is probably not a trivial matter. So it's best to contact the government office here... By the way, General Xiahou, it seems to be stationed in Chenliu."

"You mean General Miaocai?" Xu Yi replied, "He is the prefect of Chenliu, so he is naturally stationed in Chenliu.

However, there seems to be a little distance between Chen Liu and here... It will take at least a day to go back and forth, and our itinerary will be delayed. "

"It depends on the situation."

At this time, Deng Ji walked up to Hu Ban and said, "Hu Ban, I will ask you again. You can choose not to answer, and I will send you to see the official immediately. Including you folks, I can also help them.

Answer or not answer, your own choice! "

"His name is Lei Cheng!" Hu Ban shouted without hesitation, "his brother is named Lei Xu, and he has 300 people under him, hiding in Lutaigang."

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Lei Xu supported tens of thousands of troops with Chen Lan and others in Huainan.After Liu Bei captured the four counties in the south of the Yangtze River, Lei Xu led more than 5 soldiers and their families to defect to Liu Bei.Liu Bei appointed Lei Xu as partial general.Later, he beheaded Xia Houyuan.

(End of this chapter)