The people of Jiannan State are truly suffering, with Guo Huaimu imposing taxes at more than double the court’s standard on one side, and issuing multiple Recruitnt Orders on the other, sending all the young and strong n to Yun Pass.
At the sa ti, they also have to guard against the possibility of being harassed by mountain bandits.
"Little brother, you’ve worked hard, you go ahead and finish up, we’ll co back for it later."
Lin Yi was thinking of taking Ouyang Qian for another walk to let her get more familiar with the life in You Country.
At that mont, a sharp-eyed vendor suddenly saw a group of soldiers rushing over from not far away, and he imdiately stopped Lin Yi and Ouyang Qian.
"Dear guests, please co in and hide, otherwise it will be too late?"
Lin Yi was puzzled, everything was fine, he had done nothing wrong, why should he hide?
"Little brother, I’ve already collected the tribute silver, they won’t see it."
"Ah, if we don’t hide now, it will be too late." The kind-hearted vendor was anxiously stomping his feet, walking out and pushing Lin Yi and Ouyang Qian Inside forcefully.
Unbeknownst to Ouyang Qian and Lin Yi, without understanding the situation, they did not cooperate at all and waited rigidly for the governnt’s people to arrive.
Indeed, the people who ca were Guo Huaimu and his subordinates.
Upon seeing Guo Huaimu, the vendor imdiately nodded and bowed, saying: "Lord Guo, you finally arrived, take a look at these Shu brocades, I will pack whichever one you choose."
However, Guo Huaimu stared fixedly at Lin Yi and Ouyang Qian wearing the strange Human Skin Masks and asked in a deep voice.
"Report your ages, nas, and the locations of your household registrations."
Lin Yi’s eyes widened, wondering if this Inspector Guo lived by the sea, as even a simple walk around the street attracted such scrutiny?
"Hmph! Why should we?" Ouyang Qian coldly snorted, seeing the slap mark she had left on Guo Huaimu’s face, which was quite satisfying.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Guo Huaimu was actually being challenged by a commoner, which he could not tolerate.
"You are rebelling, do you know who you are talking to? Guards, arrest him!"
At Guo Huaimu’s command, the soldiers behind him glared at Ouyang Qian and them, drawing their swords.
"Wait, Lord Guo, it’s all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."
The vendor imdiately ca forward, secretly pulling Lin Yi to the side, whispering: "Lord Guo saw that you two are young and strong, he wants to enlist you in the army."
"Goodness, I originally thought you were mountain bandits, even if Lord Guo ca, you wouldn’t need to be afraid."
"Don’t you see the Recruitnt Orders posted on the wall when you leave the house? Eligible young n can’t escape."
"Ah, you better pray for your own luck, but could you please just agree to Lord Guo’s request and don’t fight in my small shop, otherwise, I, I would be really dood."
Lin Yi gently patted the vendor’s shoulder, then took out one hundred taels of silver from his pocket, not tribute silver, and stuffed it into the vendor’s hand.
"Alright, I understand, thanks for the heads-up, let’s not go out shopping these days, and take more care of the family."
Having said that, Lin Yi walked straight toward Guo Huaimu.
"Alright, we’ll go with you."
This made Guo Huaimu utterly delighted, without wasting words or needing to draw swords, he easily recruited two strong n.
Before leaving, Guo Huaimu did not forget to have the vendor pack up five rolls of fine Shu brocade.
Lin Yi watched the scene, unable to help feeling heartache.
"Ah, the vendor barely makes a few coins a day, you, the Inspector, took so much at once, how can people live like this, absolutely exploiting the people."
And so, Lin Yi and Ouyang Qian were led by Guo Huaimu to an empty ground, where dozens of people were already waiting.
When they saw the elegant and neatly dressed Ouyang Qian, they were all instantly dumbstruck.
"Did you two go to the wrong place?" A butcher over forty approached Lin Yi and his companion.
Lin Yi also just snapped back to reality, too focused on watching for any tricks from Guo Huaimu and completely forgetting that his attire was clearly that of a wealthy young master.
’It’s true, Guo Huaimu was about to ask my age and hotown, but stopped questioning when we arrived.’
"We are not locals, we don’t know why Lord Guo brought us here." Lin Yi feigned ignorance, wanting to gather more information from their interactions.
Throughout the afternoon, many more people kept coming in.
From the old butcher, it was learned that this ti Guo Huaimu urgently recruited 500 strong n. They needed to train intensively tonight, then don the governnt soldiers’ attire to demonstrate their military strength to the Inspector.
At that mont, a frail scholar with a pained expression cried out.
"Hmph, I don’t believe a word from Lord Guo. Every ti it’s said to be temporary, and yet, out of my three brothers, my two elder brothers were sent to Yun Pass."
"We’ve already more than fulfilled the requirent by contributing two strong n from our family, and now even I, a weakling, am being taken. Is there no justice, no law?"
Stirred by these words, a rebellious sentint was instantly ignited among the crowd.
"That’s right, my only son also went to Yun Pass, the whole household depends on slaughtering pigs to make a living. If they send to Yun Pass too, how are we, the common folk, supposed to survive?"
As everyone was uproariously protesting about a rebellion, the soldiers brought in another group of people.
Lin Yi took a closer look, and, to his surprise, a peddler who had been selling Shu brocade was also captured.
"Oh no, soone is injured!" Suddenly, soone amidst the crowd shrieked in terror, drawing everyone’s attention.
It turned out that the frail scholar had forcefully cut off his own left pinky finger with a dagger.
Lin Yi felt very sorry for him; clearly, the scholar resorted to this desperate asure to avoid military service.
[Ding ding ding, the host has successfully purchased a multi-functional dical kit and a mini all-in-one surgery pack, paying 200,000 Heavenly Bead Coins.]
"Make way, everyone, let help reattach his finger."
Lin Yi, carrying two dical kits, strode forward, striving to not miss the optimal ti for surgery.
At that mont, Guo Huaimu’s subordinate Tan Lu, leading several fierce dogs, approached nacingly.
"Are you clamoring and causing a ruckus thinking about rebelling? Or trying to avoid the Recruitnt Order by cutting off a finger?"
"Just a re finger, it’s not even enough to fill the gaps between a small dog’s teeth!"
"Heh, if you really have the guts, then go ahead and chop off your entire thigh; these fierce dogs haven’t tasted human flesh for a long ti."
"Woof woof woof—"
The fierce dogs, scenting the faint sll of blood in the air, suddenly beca extrely agitated and excited.
Everyone was terrified and stepped back.
Inspector Guo was notoriously known for his fondness for raising fierce dogs; anyone who dares defy his orders would be thrown into the dog pen as an extra al for the dogs.
"Soone, go fetch that severed finger, I want them to clearly rember what it looks like when a dog eats human flesh."
Listening to the barking that was intensely grating, Lin Yi stood up and warned.
"You better keep your dogs away from us or else don’t bla for being rude!"
... End of the Chapter ...
PS: Third update today! Will continue updating later!
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