Chapter 96: Crushing the Greed of Men

“What’s going on here?

How dare you hit people like that?”

Wei Lan asked with a frown.

The young man in the blue brocade clothes looked Wei Lan over.

She was wearing a green dress, with a brown cloak, the edges of which seemed to be trimmed with gold thread.

The young man then looked at the guards accompanying Wei Lan.

He withdrew his foot from the man’s back.

A middle-aged woman next to him cried as she went to help the man up.

“Husband, are you okay?”

“I’m…

I’m fine.

Hurry, hold the child tightly.”

“Yes, yes.”

The woman quickly picked up the little one again.

The family huddled together, looking timidly at Wei Lan and her group.

“Oh, you must be mistaken.

I wasn’t hitting anyone.

I’m conducting official business on the orders of the court.

Miss, I can see from your bearing that you must be a young lady from a wealthy family.

You should head back soon.

Don’t wander around in these poor, remote places.”

The young man straightened his clothes and said casually.

“What are you doing here?”

Wei Lan asked again.

The young man saw that Wei Lan’s expression was unpleasant, and the guards beside her all looked very strong.

So, they didn’t want to cause trouble.

He said, “We are here to collect grain on the orders of the court.”

“Heh, the orders of the court?

Which court?”

Wei Lan sat upright on her horse, her gaze coldly fixed on the young man.

The man felt uncomfortable under her stare, but then thought that he and his men had brought over twenty workers.

There was nothing to be afraid of.

So, he continued to answer proudly, “Naturally, the Dazhao court.

Miss, I advise you, some things are not your business to meddle in.

Do you know who I am?”

Hearing this, Wei Lan became interested.

“Who?”

“My name is Liu Yucheng.

My father, Liu Wanli, is a famous wealthy merchant in the capital.

Qin Tai, the clerk of the capital magistrate’s office, is my father’s sworn brother.

This time, we are here on the orders of Minister of Revenue Kong Qirui to collect grain in the outskirts of the capital.

I advise you not to be ungrateful.”

The more Liu Yucheng spoke, the more confident he became, as if his status was incredibly impressive.

“Is that so?

I wasn’t aware that His Majesty had the Ministry of Revenue collecting grain in the outskirts of the capital.”

Wei Lan said calmly.

“Nonsense.

Those are matters for the big shots.

Miss, at best you have a decent family background.

You couldn’t possibly know about such important matters.

But it doesn’t hurt to tell you.”

Liu Yucheng continued, looking very pleased with himself.

Wei Lan sneered.

For the past few months, she and Lu Zijin had been helping Fan Chuan handle matters and were almost exhausted.

All important decrees were discussed by the four of them together, and ultimately decided by Fan Chuan.

Fan Chuan had indeed had the Ministry of Revenue purchase grain, but she had specified that they were to buy it from the south.

She had never said to buy grain in the outskirts of the capital.

Seeing that Wei Lan and her group were not being cooperative and just stood there, Liu Yucheng grew a bit angry.

He shouted at the village head nearby, “What are you standing there for?

Continue to take my people to collect the grain.

I’m buying their grain at sixty wen per unit.

I’ll give you a five-wen commission.

Don’t worry, I won’t shortchange you.”

The village head grinned, showing his blackened teeth.

“Thank you, Young Master Liu, thank you, Young Master Liu.”

It was at that moment that Wei Lan nimbly dismounted.

She swept her gaze over these unscrupulous merchants who were snatching grain from the mouths of the common people.

Her expression was terrifyingly dark.

“Miss, I have already warned you about the seriousness of this matter.

The Minister of Revenue is an official as high as the heavens.

It’s not someone like you or me who can afford to offend them.”

Liu Yucheng saw Wei Lan dismount and continued to threaten her.

He had been throwing his weight around for a long time now.

The Liu family had the protection of the Minister of Revenue.

His father was sworn brothers with the clerk of the capital magistrate’s office.

He was not afraid at all.

Moreover, Liu Yucheng didn’t believe Wei Lan would dare to provoke him.

Wei Lan signaled to Xi Ye.

Xi Ye immediately stepped forward.

Without another word, she kicked Liu Yucheng directly in the shin.

A crisp crack was heard.

Liu Yucheng fell to the ground, clutching his leg in pain.

“My leg!

My leg!

How dare you hurt me?

I’ll kill you!”

Liu Yucheng’s face was covered in cold sweat from the pain.

He shouted loudly, “What are you standing there for?

Grab your weapons!

Beat them to death!”

The few guards by Liu Yucheng’s side finally snapped out of it and charged at Xi Ye.

Xi Ye didn’t even use her large ring-pommel sword.

With a few flying kicks, Liu Yucheng’s guards fell to the ground one by one, crying and cursing.

Wei Lan instructed the guards beside her, “Go and subdue all those people.

Return the grain they looted.”

“Yes.”

Over a dozen guards moved quickly.

These were all well-trained Fan family soldiers.

Liu Yucheng’s workers were naturally no match.

Wei Lan had the guards on the ground, along with the village head, tied up with hemp rope.

The village head glared at Wei Lan and cursed, “I may only be a village head, but I am still an official appointed by the court.

You cannot treat me like this!

Release me!

Release me!”

Wei Lan’s gaze turned cold.

Without her needing to instruct, Xi Ye slapped him.

The village head’s mouth immediately bled from the slap.

He tried to say something more, but Xi Ye slapped him on the other cheek as well.

Wei Lan walked into the house.

Inside, another worker seemed to have heard the commotion outside.

He didn’t know whether to go out and help or continue bagging the grain.

Now, he was still holding a small jar, pouring half of the grain into a rice bag.

The man seemed not to have expected Wei Lan and the others to come in.

Seeing the large ring-pommel sword behind Xi Ye, he immediately lost his nerve.

He quickly put the rice bag and the small jar aside and knelt down to beg for mercy.

“It’s not my fault!

The young master made me do it!

It was all my master’s idea!”

“Tie him up.”

Wei Lan said indifferently.

“Yes.”

Immediately, guards tied the man up and took him outside.

Wei Lan looked around the house.

The walls were made of yellow earth.

There was a simple clay bed, a worn-out wardrobe, and a broken cabinet for storing things.

In the middle was a crude table pieced together from wooden planks.

The home was truly bare, with nothing but the barest necessities.

Just then, the middle-aged couple, holding their young child, timidly entered the room.

Their eyes unconsciously fell on the small grain jar.

It was called a grain jar, but it was actually about the size of a larger vase, just without the mouth.

It was probably something they had found.

The two were so frightened by the scene just now that they didn’t dare speak.

The woman held her child even tighter.

The little girl looked to be about four or five years old, but she was extremely thin and frail.

Tears still in her eyes, she was timidly wiping them away.

Mother had said that if the little grain jar was taken away, their whole family wouldn’t survive.

Children of the poor mature early.

Although this child was very young, she already knew the hardships of life.

Wei Lan opened the rice bag and poured the rice back into the small jar.

She turned to look at the young girl who was still secretly crying.

She walked towards her.

The two adults were so frightened they knelt directly in front of Wei Lan.

“Sir, if you want to hit someone, hit us.

The child is still young.

Please don’t hit the child, sir.”

“Yes, yes, hit me.

I’m tough and thick-skinned.

Please, sir, spare my wife and daughter.”

The middle-aged man was quite responsible.

Wei Lan sighed.

The wealthy households in the capital certainly didn’t lack grain.

Collecting this grain was simply an excuse to resell it at high prices.

Wei Lan now felt that these people truly deserved to die.

After thinking for a moment, she took a small gold pig tied with a red string from her waist pouch.

This little gold pig was originally intended as a decoration for her bracelet.

But later, when she put the bracelet together, she found that the gold pig would bump against the jade beads, which was inconvenient.

So, Wei Lan had taken it off.

She had a red braided cord in her pouch.

Wei Lan threaded the little gold pig onto the red cord and tied a knot at the other end.

Then she put the cord directly around the still-crying little girl’s neck and said softly, “This is for you.

I hope you will have a safe and peaceful life in the future.”

Then she looked at the middle-aged couple.

“This little pig is made of gold.

If things get truly desperate, sell it.

But don’t let people see it; don’t flash your wealth around.”

The couple was stunned.

Not only had their grain been returned to them, but this official, who looked like a celestial being, had also given their baby a little gold pig.

The young girl held the little gold pig in her small hands, staring blankly towards the door, tears flickering and falling.

After Wei Lan went outside, the guards had already tied up all of Liu Yucheng’s men.

But there were over twenty of them, and the guards she had brought were too few.

Wei Lan took off her own token and tossed it to a guard.

“Go and mobilize three hundred Fan family soldiers.”

“Yes.”

The guard immediately mounted his horse and soon disappeared from the roadside.

Liu Yucheng’s lower leg was broken, and he was in so much pain he was near fainting.

He shouted as he asked, “Who… who are you people?

My father… my father won’t let you get away with this!

Minister Kong of the Ministry of Revenue won’t let you get away with it either!”

“Beat him.

Just leave him breathing.”

Wei Lan stood casually to the side, calmly giving the order.

Soon, Liu Yucheng’s screams rang out.

He was beaten until his face was covered in blood, and several of his teeth were knocked out.

Before long, three hundred soldiers in armor arrived in the village.

The leading commander immediately dismounted with his soldiers and bowed to Wei Lan.

“This subordinate greets the Prince of Ning.”

Wei Lan nodded to everyone.

“Rise.

Take all these people back to the palace with me.

Oh, and then come with me to arrest a few more people.”

“Yes, this subordinate accepts the order.”

The commander immediately said.

Liu Yucheng was dumbfounded.

He stared blankly at Wei Lan.

“You… you are the Prince of Ning?”

He wished he were dead.

Who else could he provoke but the Prince of Ning?

This person was the only prince of Dazhao, said to be as close as a sister to the female emperor.

Why was he practically begging for death?

“Prince of Ning, Your Highness, spare me!

This lowly one had eyes but failed to see!

I won’t dare do it again!

I truly won’t dare do it again!”

Liu Yucheng quickly cried.

The village head, seeing even Liu Yucheng was afraid, immediately joined in, crying with tears and snot running down his face.

“Spare me!

Please spare me!”

Wei Lan glanced at the two and said coldly, “You know your own lives are important.

But when you were collecting this grain, why didn’t you think about the lives of these villagers?

Take them all away.”

“Yes.”

Wei Lan remounted her horse and said to the commander of the Fan family soldiers, “Take fifty men to escort these people to the palace.

The rest will follow me into the city to make arrests.”

“Yes.”

The soldiers immediately responded.

Wei Lan now understood.

It seemed Fan Chuan hadn’t killed enough people lately.

Some people were again colluding with officials and merchants, scheming for their own benefit while ignoring the lives and deaths of others.

These people all deserved to die.

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