The Ming Dynasty: Starting with bandits, it swept across the land.

Chapter 48 Public Trial

Li Chengye, who had been trailing Zhou Qiwen by half a step and seemed to be looking up to admire the carvings on the lintel, suddenly moved forward without warning.

In an instant, his left hand gripped Zhou Qiwen's right shoulder tightly, while his right hand flashed with cold light, and the blade of the goose feather knife was already pressed against his neck.

"Don't move." Li Chengye's voice was low, but it carried a chilling killing intent.

Zhou Qiwen trembled all over, his throat gurgling, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Almost simultaneously, Han Sanhu outside the door drew his sword and slashed down the servant closest to the door. Liu Ye and Li Luo then dealt with the servants beside them, and the remaining servant scrambled forward in a panic. The group didn't give chase, but simply assumed a defensive stance, guarding the gate.

"The soldiers are fake! They're thieves! They're trying to break down the gate! Close it now..." A quick-thinking head servant standing at the front of the courtyard, after a brief moment of mental blankness, realized what was happening and roared out the order.

However, Li Chengye and his group acted all too quickly.

The front yard fell into an eerie stillness for a moment, then erupted into a chaotic cacophony of exclamations, curses, the scraping of weapons as they were drawn, and footsteps.

Several servants instinctively wanted to rush forward, but they were at a loss when they saw Zhou Qiwen being held at knifepoint by Li Chengye.

Many more people were thrown into chaos, some turning to run towards the inner courtyard, others frantically trying to call for the master in the main hall.

"kill!"

At that moment, a roar, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, exploded from the direction of the village entrance!

Then came the heavy, dense, and rapid sound of running, like the beat of a drum, and the continuous "whoosh" and clanging sound of the armor plates colliding violently with each other!

Yang Chongwang took the lead, leading more than a hundred armored soldiers who were already ready to fight. Without any pretense, they charged directly toward the Zhou family compound!

The head servant, who was trying to organize a resistance, had eyes wide with rage. He pointed his knife at the door, his voice distorted by extreme fear and anger: "Block them! Even if it kills us..."

"Whoosh—Pfft!"

A slight tremor of the bowstring was almost drowned out by the noise.

Standing to the side and behind Li Chengye, Han Sanhu had somehow drawn his bow and nocked an arrow, and shot it at the head of the enemy.

Everyone only saw a dark shadow flash in the corner of their eyes, and the leader's subsequent roar came to an abrupt halt.

A black-feathered arrow pierced its wide-open mouth with perfect accuracy, the tip protruding more than an inch from the back of its neck!

This precise arrow, like the last straw, completely crushed the already shattered fighting spirit of the servants in the courtyard.

"Kill!" Yang Chongwang's burly body, carrying the immense force of a charge, slammed into the front yard. The fish-head knife in his hand cleaved a servant who was thrusting at him with a spear, sending him staggering backward along with his spear.

The soldiers who followed surged in like a tide, their flashing blades overwhelming any sporadic resistance.

The remaining servants either knelt down in terror and begged for surrender, or dropped their weapons and fled to the inner courtyard crying for their parents.

The battle began abruptly and fiercely, and ended cleanly and decisively.

Li Chengye pushed the limp Zhou Qiwen to Li Luo beside him and told him to tie him up, then strode into the inner courtyard.

The sporadic shouts and sounds of fighting quickly subsided in various corners.

Before long, several soldiers dragged out a disheveled, fat old man from the most elaborately decorated main room.

This man was Zhou Chongli, who hadn't had time to dress properly in his panic.

He was roughly slammed onto the bluestone slab in the center of the courtyard, his face filled with unbelievable humiliation.

"Search! Every room, every inch of ground, dig three feet deep! Grain, gold, silver, cloth, ironware, documents—everything—clear it out and gather it in the front yard!"

Li Chengye's voice echoed in the suddenly quiet courtyard.

The crowd responded in unison.

For the rest of the day, the Zhou family compound was thoroughly ransacked, leaving no corner untouched.

Hidden cellar entrances were found under the bed and behind the cabinet; sturdy partition walls were violently broken open with a hammer; secret rooms under the artificial hill, hidden compartments beside the well... Bags of heavy grain (mainly millet, wheat, and beans, with some white rice) and jars of pickled vegetables and cured meat were moved out and piled into several unsettling small mountains in the front yard; heavy chests were pried open, and the yellow and white contents reflected an alluring light in the sunlight; silk, coarse cloth, salt, medicinal herbs, and even well-maintained long and short weapons, bows and arrows in the storeroom were all counted and moved out one by one.

Liu Ye was particularly meticulous when cleaning Zhou Chongli's study.

He found a stack of letters in a locked rosewood box on the bookshelf.

Liu Ye quickly glanced at the top few emails, his expression suddenly turning serious.

He didn't dare delay, and quickly walked over to Li Chengye, who was supervising the inventory, with the wooden box in hand: "Team leader, something big has happened, look at this."

Li Chengye accepted the letter.

The paper was of the finest quality, Xuan paper, but the signature was clearly "Hu Tingyan, Governor of Shaanxi".

The letters mostly consisted of casual conversation, inquiries about health, and discussions of trivial rumors from the court, all conveying a sense of familiarity.

But the key point is that at the end of one letter, it says, "The Shaanxi region is not peaceful. If I encounter bandits or other emergencies while I am in the countryside, please inform me immediately."

There was also a letter that Zhou Chongli had written but had not yet sent, in which he stated directly:

"...Recently, there has been some unruly behavior in the village, and rumors are rampant. If any troublemakers dare to invade, I earnestly hope that Brother Hu will remember our past friendship and quickly send troops to pacify the area. My family and I will be eternally grateful for your kindness..."

Li Chengye's pupils contracted slightly.

This week, Chongli and Hu Tingyan, the governor of Shaanxi, turned out to be longtime friends with such deep personal ties that their relationship was far beyond that of ordinary local gentry and officials.

Destroying Zhoujiabao was tantamount to slapping Governor Hu Tingyan hard across the face.

Given the practices of the Ming Dynasty officialdom and Hu Tingyan's status as a high-ranking official, this matter could not be easily let go.

The encirclement and suppression by the large government troops will likely come faster and more fiercely than expected.

Li Chengye was silent for a moment, then casually tossed the wooden box and the letters inside into the pile of IOUs and land deeds that had been unearthed, and said to Liu Ye:

"Brother Gangfu, don't worry about these people. They're just dying men."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ye knew that Li Chengye was trying to comfort him, but he still felt relieved. His worries about the government army's increased encirclement and suppression efforts in the future disappeared by more than half.

After all of Zhou's belongings were inventoried, Li Chengye had people beat drums and gongs to gather all the men, women, and children of Zhoujia Village together.

In front of everyone, he burned the pile of IOUs and land deeds.

Many villagers initially couldn't believe it, but once they confirmed it was true, they knelt on the ground and wept with joy.

Subsequently, Li Chengye brought Zhou Qiwen and Zhou Chongli in front of the villagers.

"If any of you have a grievance, sue me directly, and I will stand up for you!" Li Chengye shouted as he stood in front of the villagers.

But no one dared to step forward.

The Zhou family held considerable power in this area, and although they saw them pinned to the ground, no one dared to step forward.

After waiting for a while, there was still no movement.

Li Chengye continued, "Does that mean all those IOUs I burned were reasonable? Wouldn't that mean I've harmed good people?"

At this moment, Zhou Qiwen raised his head and said, "My Zhou family has always been benevolent, righteous, and kind, and we care for our neighbors. Everyone in the village knows this."

The villagers, who had been completely silent, suddenly erupted in a commotion after hearing what Zhou Qiwen said.

A man who looked to be in his early twenties rushed out, pointing at Zhou Qiwen and shouting, "You beast! Last winter you insisted my father owed rent, beat him to death in the snow, and you even called yourself benevolent and righteous!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qiwen still craned his neck to argue, "Who killed him? He was just careless and fell to his death in the snow because he was weak. Besides, your father did owe my family rent."

Upon hearing this, the young man became even angrier and kicked Zhou Qiwen hard. Li Chengye did not stop him.

Once this young man started it, the crowd became restless.

"My daughter was kidnapped by them to pay off their debts, and now we don't know if she's alive or dead!"

"My family's land, the land passed down from my ancestors, was taken away by them with a tattered IOU!"

"Fellow villagers!" Li Chengye shouted, seeing his opportunity. "The Zhou family has committed numerous evils. What should we do with them today? What do you say?"

"Kill him!"

"To be torn to pieces!"

"Make him pay with his life!"

Looking at the enraged crowd, Zhou Qiwen's face turned ashen, his crotch soaked with sweat, knowing that he was doomed.

Li Chengye looked at Zhou Chongli, who was being held aside, and asked, "Mr. Zhou, what do you think?"

Zhou Chongli closed his eyes, and after a long while, he said hoarsely, "This wicked son has committed evil... and deserves this retribution. I only beg you heroes to spare the other innocent members of my Zhou family. What has this child done to deserve this..."

"Innocent?" An old farmer stepped shakily out of the crowd. "When my son starved to death, your grandson was feeding dogs with steamed buns! Which member of your Zhou family hasn't had our blood on their hands?"

Seeing this, Zhou Chongli knew the situation was beyond repair, and with all his might shouted, "The imperial court will not let you off!"

Immediately afterwards, both Zhou Qiwen and his son Zhou Chongli were beheaded with a single blow.

But then, looking at Zhou Qiwen's seven or eight-year-old children, the executioner hesitated and looked at Li Chengye.

"Since he has benefited from his father's kindness and lived a life of luxury for so many years, it is time for him to repay the favor."

"Eliminate evil completely."

Following Li Chengye's orders, the soldiers showed no mercy and slaughtered all the remaining male members of the Zhou family, as well as Zhou Qiwen's children.

After calculating how much he could take with him, Li Chengye distributed the rest of his belongings to the villagers.

This prompted the people to kneel and worship, and many even wanted to join Li Chengye's ranks.

However, after Wang Er's major defeat, Li Chengye stopped accepting people indiscriminately and started selecting only the most capable.

He raised his hand, facing the villagers:

"Our future is uncertain, fraught with danger. We only accept able-bodied men who can keep up and wield swords to kill!" His voice was clear and cold. "Those with families to support will not be accepted! Those who are weak or sickly will not be accepted! Those under sixteen or over forty years of age must be exceptionally strong and pass a test!"

In the end, only a dozen or so people remained, including the man who was the first to step forward and kick Zhou Qiwen, named Zhang Yuanwu.