Gao Shang said this and did not force these wealthy gentry. Anyway, what Xue Bai wanted was their profit and it had nothing to do with him.

"The situation is like this. If anyone wants to go to the county office, I won't stop you. You can do whatever you want..."

At this time, Cui Jun got the news, waved to Gao Shang and whispered to Gao Shang: "Fan Lao is on the dock and wants to give Gao Langjun an explanation."

"You're really here? You're too honest."

Gao Shang seemed to find it funny, then he sighed slightly and went to see him in person. Cui Jun was worried about his safety and sent a team of servants to protect him.

…

At this time, many people in the city had gathered at the county office, and the streets and alleys were much deserted. Gao Shang walked all the way out of the city gate and saw the water workers gathering at the dock ahead. He stopped moving forward and asked Kang Bu to call Fan Lao over.

Fan Lao also brought four people, but the Diao brothers were not included, which made Gao Shang a little disappointed.

"Mr. Gao."

"I haven't seen you for a long time. You have gone through a lot of hardships." Gao Shang looked at Fan Lao's white hair on his temples and said, "Have you lived a poor life?"

"Without suffering, you will be very rich." Fan Lao said with a smile.

Gao Shang shook his head and said: "Those small pieces of money are not worthy of you... Let's get down to business. I have to avenge my sworn brother. Can you understand?"

"Gao Chong was not killed by my men."

"Who is that?"

"The man is already dead. If he dared to smuggle iron weapons, he should have thought of the consequences. If I die, I won't want my brothers to avenge me, because this is the fate of people like us..."

"You are still like this, too rigid, you know?" Gao Shang said: "If it wasn't the Diao brothers who killed him, it was Xue Bai who killed him. There are only two possibilities. You said that you would hand over Xue Bai to me."

"I did detain Xue Bai, but he was rescued."

Gao Shang obviously didn't believe it and asked: "Who rescued him?"

"Aunt Gongsun and her disciples."

"We have known each other for many years, and this is the explanation you gave me?"

Fan Lao looked bitter and said: "The Song family sent a steward to me. At that time, Xue Bai persuaded me to do things with him. Without saying a word, he had the Song family steward hacked to death. I took Xue Bai into custody because I wanted to repay you for what you had done for me.

The kindness of interceding. But that night, Aunt Gongsun came to the mountain and rescued Xue Bai... Do you believe it?"

Gao Shang asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"If I say that I tried my best, you can stop causing trouble to the Diao brothers, okay?"

"It's the Diao brothers again. When they resisted taxes and killed police officers, I asked you to kill them for meritorious service. Look at you now... A pariah like me is already an official of the court. What about you? A child from a poor family, you can't even register a household.

You are neither, hiding in the mountains like mice. If I listen to you again and let them go, what will you become in the future? A beggar? Do you know how miserable it is to be a beggar? I have been one, but you have not. If you talk too much, I will kill you.

They, I will guarantee your future."

"Why can't we let them go? They didn't kill Gao Chong."

"They took my sworn brother's head to receive the reward in public. This is my face."

"Those items are very important to the people in the mountains. We need so much fabric..."

Gao Shang said: "I thought you were a hero, and I interceded for you back then. Now you only care about the cloth? I am still busy, so I took the time to come here because you said you would give me Xue Bai's head."

Fan Lao still had a lot to say, his throat rolled, and he swallowed.

"Back then, I thought you were standing with us. But now it seems that I am not a hero, and you only care about yourself... I don't know how to make friends with people. If you want to level Erlang Mountain, just come."

Gao Shang looked at the back of this old acquaintance, feeling a little disappointed.

But he didn't look for long, and quickly looked away, because there were already ships coming from the upper reaches of the Luo River. They were Xue Bai's forces, and they had the momentum to take over Yanshi.

It's a pity that Yanshi still belongs to Henan Prefecture and is under the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty...

~~

The big boat sailed down the Luoshui River.

On the deck, two young ladies were holding hands and looking in the direction of Yanshi Pier.

"Will he pick us up?"

"Definitely not."

Li Tengkong answered very firmly, but his voice was very low, and he even looked back, hoping that no one would hear him.

Where his eyes fell, Du Jin, who was wearing a robe and looking impressive, was walking over.

"Actually, we really shouldn't have come to Yanshi to make people think we were here to see him." Li Tengkong then said to Li Jilan, "It's my brother-in-law who wants to investigate Zhang Sanniang's case."

The brother-in-law she was talking about was Yang Qixuan, Li Shiniang's husband. The couple also came this time. Because too many things happened in Yanshi, Li Linfu also wanted to confirm the truth, so he asked them to come and take a look.

After completing this errand, Yang Qixuan will be promoted to the supervisory censor.

"I know it was your brother-in-law who asked you to come."

While talking, Du Jin came over and sighed slightly: "But Xue Bai really doesn't want you to come at this time."

She was telling the truth. In Xue Bai's plan, it was enough for Yang Qixuan to come, which would make Yanshi officials and gentry both fearful and underestimating the enemy. As for whether these two young ladies would come or not, it actually didn't matter.

Du Jin still expressed Xue Bai's concern for Li Tengkong and said softly: "He is afraid that you are in danger."

Li Tengkong couldn't bear such a tone. He turned his head slightly and said calmly: "Traveling around and meeting old friends, what's the danger?"

The big ship is going smoothly and is ready to dock.

They stopped talking and turned back to the cabin.

When the ship docked at the shore, Du Youlin, Yang Qixuan and other officials got off first, followed by their female relatives.

…

This situation was very similar to when Xue Bai was wooing the canal workers, so all the big families were extremely vigilant, and felt uneasy when they saw Du Youlin with Jinwu Guards behind him.

Until you reach the point of being noble, go forward calmly and calmly.

"Brother Yang."

"Brother Gao." Yang Qixuan hurriedly pulled Gao Shang over, turned around and said, "Does Mr. Du know Brother Gao? He is a great talent introduced to me by General Wu."

"I don't dare to be called a 'great talent'. I don't dare. Come, I will introduce Brother Yang to Yanshi County."

"Brother Yang," Song Mian said with a salute, "Brother Yang has come all the way, but the county magistrate came to greet him. It is really rude..."

"I didn't tell others, saint, that the Right Chancellor asked me to come on inspection. Naturally, it's not appropriate to make a big show of it. You must not match your official position."

Not being worthy of his official position naturally left Du Youlin in the cold.

This was the result of Du Youlin's rapprochement with Xue Bai last time and using the county's money to pay the canal workers, and he was despised by others.

Gao Shang, Yang Qixuanze had a lively conversation with the disciples of the gentry in Yanshi.

"By the way, is Linghu Shaoyin on board?"

"No." Yang Qi announced: "But Linghu Shaoyin is also here, on a boat behind. The county magistrate can't neglect it. There is still an hour to prepare to welcome him."

At this point in the situation, the superior official from Chang'an had already sided with the gentry, and the high-ranking official from Luoyang came soon after.

Everyone breathed a long sigh of relief and felt relieved.

"Send someone to ask for the county magistrate. Let the county captain come. What other cases are there to be tried?"

"That's right. What other cases are there for trial?"

~~

County Court.

"Of course my man refused to let go and was beaten to death..."

There was a woman crying in the hall, and the clerk was writing furiously, and there was a thick stack of papers on the case.

Xue Bai glanced at the court and found that none of the high-ranking people had come.

It was already past noon, and various arrangements outside the courtroom must have been underway.

Before one of the accusations was heard, a clerk hurried over, whispered in Xue Bai's ear, and said: "County Lieutenant, the ship has arrived..."

Xue Bai nodded. Although some personal matters were beyond his expectation, they did not affect his plan. They only distracted him for a moment, and then he began to give instructions.

"If you don't come, don't wait. Let's do it."

"Here."

The man retreated, left the county office, went to find Jiang Hai who was waiting near the city gate, and passed a few words to him.

After listening to the order, Jiang Hai got on his horse and followed the man straight out of the north of the city. He ran all the way to a farm at the foot of Shouyang Mountain and was greeted by Hu Laishui.

"Has the old man come down the mountain?"

"Of course not." Hu Laishui responded.

Jiang Hai said: "They probably think they won."

"Hey."

"Where's the stuff?"
To be continued...