eighty-one
"My benefactor, have you really forgotten me?" Liu Tiezhu was so excited that he completely forgot that he was being threatened with a knife at his neck. He said excitedly, "Last year, outside Huaizhou City, I led my brothers to rob a car. It was you who was so generous that you let us go and gave us money to live on."
"We brothers have always remembered it!"
Although You Shu didn't want to listen to his excuses, he remembered that something like that happened last year. He looked at Liu Tiezhu's face carefully for a long time, and finally got a vague impression with his excellent memory.
From this perspective, it seemed that Liu Tiezhu was a bit like the bandit who robbed people on the road that day. However, the bandit in his memory had a yellow face, untidy beard and tired eyes, while the big man in front of him had a radiant and energetic look, and had gained a lot of weight, so he didn't recognize him at first.
"It's you?" After You Shu recognized him, he moved the dagger in his hand slightly away and questioned him, "Didn't I ask you to be good people and stop doing bad things? Then why did you rebel and cause trouble again?"
Liu Tiezhu felt a little ashamed when he heard this. He lowered his head and whispered in a rough voice: "Isn't it that I... can't live anymore?"
"At that time, I used the money that the benefactor gave me to buy coffins for the burial of my brothers' families. Later, the prefect of Huaizhou distributed grain, and we also went to receive it. We all planned to go back and live a good life on the land and never go out to cause trouble again. But just after the New Year, the court imposed heavy taxes again, and the few acres of thin land we had were snatched away by the gentry and landlords. We made trouble several times but no one cared."
"Brothers, there is really no way out."
You Shu felt a little relieved after listening to his explanation. Since ancient times, the lower classes of people have been the easiest to satisfy. Generally speaking, they are willing to live a law-abiding life. If they really wait until the day of uprising, they will basically have no other options.
However, although You Shu could understand their helplessness from the bottom of his heart, his position was different from Liu Tiezhu's after all. No matter how much he sympathized with them, it did not mean that he could empathize with them. He was silent for a while before saying, "But even so, you are still a member of the rebel party."
Liu Tiezhu also felt a strong threat of death at this time. He knew that he might really die, but he did not beg for mercy. He just asked in a low voice: "Benefactor, are you from the emperor's side?"
"Yes and no." You Shu replied coldly, "I am here on the orders of my master to wipe out the leaders of the rebels. Please forgive me for not showing mercy."
"Then..." Liu Tiezhu was distracted for a moment, but did not resist. Instead, he continued, "After I die, can you release my brothers?"
"They came down the mountain with me just to make a living because of my stuttering. Can you spare them because I asked for mercy?"
You Shu frowned, looked down at Liu Tiezhu's honest and sincere eyes, and suddenly hesitated. He loosened his hand holding the dagger and asked again: "Since you have such awareness, why did you collude with the military advisor?"
Liu Tiezhu lowered his head and said nothing more.
You Shu thought for a while and said, "You don't look like a bad person, so I can let you go. But you have to tell me who that military advisor is. If you tell me the truth, I might consider letting you go."
Liu Tiezhu also wanted to live, and he never forgot You Shu's life-saving grace. He was also a simple man by nature. After hearing his question, he quickly replied, "I really don't know where the military advisor came from."
"At that time, I had just led my brothers to turn the tide and had gathered thousands of people. We were worried about what to do. He came to me and insisted that I had the appearance of an emperor and would achieve great things in the future. He wanted to follow me to do great things."
"I don't understand the reasons, but I just thought what he said made sense, so I joined him in the rebellion."
"My benefactor, I really just want to make a living and bring some benefits to my brothers so that everyone can have food and marry a wife. I have no bad intentions. But the military advisor said that since we have chosen this path, we can't turn back, otherwise the court will definitely not let us go. We can only bite the bullet and go on."
"I only know that the military advisor's last name is Chen, and his accent sounds like he's from the south, but I don't know anything else. The military advisor is very mysterious on weekdays, and often disappears every now and then. No one knows where he goes, but he always comes back when something happens."
“I won’t tell anyone when I come or go.”
After hearing his words, You Shu was even more certain that the military advisor must be Prime Minister Xia's man. "Then did you know that he secretly built a military camp outside Huzhou City?"
"What?" Liu Tiezhu was confused. "Of course I don't know. The military advisor never told me that."
You Shu knew that he was telling the truth. Since they were not on the same side, the so-called military advisor naturally could not tell him so many secrets. He could not get anything out of Liu Tiezhu, so he put away his dagger, looked at him helplessly and said: "You have been used."
"The military advisor just wants to use you as a cover to use you and your brothers to rebel. In fact, they have other intentions. When the plan is exposed, you will be the first to die."
Liu Tiezhu's brain was not very good. After hearing You Shu's words, he was a little stunned and still couldn't figure it out: "But, but why does the military advisor want to harm me?"
You Shu said coldly: "Because the people behind him want to get rid of the emperor."
Liu Tiezhu's eyes widened. He was just a wild man from the countryside, and he had no political sensitivity to such things. But he was willing to believe You Shu. After all, the benefactor had really saved him. Compared with the mysterious military advisor who never talked to him, he was inclined to You Shu in his heart. He was a little flustered after hearing his words, and muttered to himself:
"Then, what should I do?"
You Shu crossed his arms and thought for a while, then asked, "How many troops can you mobilize in the army now?"
"Not many." Liu Tiezhu had a sad face, "Most of the soldiers under my command were brought by the military advisor, and only a few thousand of them listen to me."
"Tsk." You Shu thought to himself, "As expected, you have been sidelined to this extent and you still don't realize it. I think your brothers will eventually die. Even if they don't die at my hands, they will die at the hands of your military advisor."
Liu Tiezhu's face turned pale, he had never thought about this kind of problem. The military advisor said he could achieve great things and wanted to assist him wholeheartedly, but he foolishly followed him without knowing anything. He never thought that there could be such a conspiracy.
Liu Tiezhu himself was not afraid of death, but when he thought of the many brothers on the mountain who had been implicated, his heart felt extremely heavy. He felt that he had harmed them, and he covered his hands and cried.
You Shu looked at such a big and sturdy man sitting there crying like a helpless child, feeling a headache and a little funny. Who would have thought that such a big man could be such a naive person? How could such a good person not have a better brain? Any normal person would be a little suspicious of such a thing. If anyone catches you and says that you have the aura of a real dragon, most people will not be fooled easily. How can there be good things delivered to your doorstep
But maybe it was because he was stupid that he was chosen by the so-called military advisor. Otherwise, someone who was a little smarter would have noticed something was wrong and would have been difficult to control.
You Shu had originally wanted to kill him right there, but now he saw that killing him or not made no difference, so he put away his dagger and said, "If you are willing to cooperate, I can ask my prince to give you a chance to live when I return."
"Really?" Liu Tiezhu raised his head halfway through crying. His face was so ugly from crying, and he looked at him with hope in his eyes: "Can you really give us a way out?"
You Shu nodded: "As long as you cooperate."
"I will definitely cooperate!" Liu Tiezhu nodded frantically.
Normally, a person with brains would have considered it. If the military advisor is not trustworthy, how can a benefactor whom he has only met once be trusted? What if he goes back on his word later
But Liu Tiezhu was born without that kind of brain, and he had a natural trust in his benefactor. When he heard that he could let him go, he was immediately happy to cooperate, and he sold out the military advisor very happily, embodying the word "naive" to the fullest.
When You Shu came out of the camp, he still felt like he was dreaming. It was the first time he met such a fool. With that kind of IQ, how could he even think of rebelling
He walked back along the same route and just happened to pass by Xiao Weijing and Ying Qi who were locked in cages outside. He and Ying Qi exchanged glances silently, indicating that they had handed over the information to each other, and then You Shu left without saying that he would take them away.
Xiao Weijing watched You Shu disappear so easily, as if he had never been there. She stood up in disbelief and pointed in the direction he left and said to Ying Qi, "That guy just left like that?"
"Isn't he here to pick me up?"
Ying Qi remained silent for a while before saying, "Your Highness, please be patient."
Xiao Weijing knew that Xiao Weixin, the man who was cheating his brother, had no good intentions and was deliberately making him suffer!
Seeing Xiao Weijing squatting back and sulking, Ying Qi stood back silently.
With this comparison, Prince Yong is indeed worthy of being the prince's brother, as their tempers are similar.
When You Shu returned to his camp, Xiao Weixin met him at the door, "What do you mean?"
"I didn't kill him." You Shu said bluntly, "Who would have thought that Liu Tiezhu was such a fool? I persuaded him to rebel with just a few words. He believed me without any doubt and didn't ask any more questions."
Xiao Weixin was also a little puzzled, "People like this are really rare in the world."
When Xiao Weixin thought about how he had fought with such an idiot for such a long time and still let him take advantage, he felt that he didn't seem to have much ability. He shook off those thoughts and asked again: "Didn't he say where that so-called military advisor came from?"
"He probably really doesn't know." You Shu shook his head. "It's a pity that he has so few people to mobilize. Otherwise, we might be able to end this matter earlier."
Seeing him frown, Xiao Weixin raised his hand to smooth out the melancholy between his brows, "This is something I should worry about, Xiaoshu, don't worry."
You Shu sighed softly, "I don't know what Xia Maoan wants to do."
I really hope he can get offline soon. He just wants to have a good love relationship with the prince and doesn't want to go through such a complicated plot.