Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 556 - 0517 Lou Chengye Shows His Skills (2)
Some people held shoulder poles, some held hoes, and some held iron shovels.
Each of them glared fiercely at Lou Chengye and his party.
A tall, middle-aged man holding a shoulder pole rushed to the front of them, angrily demanding, "Where are you from? What are you doing here?"
Lou Chengye slightly furrowed his brow, about to speak, but the Second Young Master Lou spoke first, "Uncle, we are merchants passing through, stopping here for a rest."
He politely clasped his hands in greeting to the people.
The middle-aged man waved his hand at everyone, "Our village does not welcome outsiders, you’d better leave quickly."
A Deputy from the Prefecture Government Office, Liu Tongzhi, emboldened by his fifth-rank official status, did not take these villagers seriously. He sneered, "Though this road passes by the village, it is a government road, and this bridge is also built by the government. How can outsiders not pass?"
"Nonsense! This road belongs to our village, and so does this bridge. It has nothing to do with any government!" the middle-aged man shouted angrily, "Are you leaving or not? If not, we will not be polite!"
Liu Tongzhi sneered, "Such a troublemaker, daring to block the road in broad daylight. Men, arrest them for me!"
"Yes!" Two government officials disguised as guards immediately charged towards the middle-aged man.
Just as a fight was about to break out, the Second Young Master Lou said, "Stop it! We went the wrong way, not intending to linger here, please, Uncle, grant us some convenience."
The Second Young Master Lou fished a handful of money from his purse and handed it to the middle-aged man.
Money smooths all matters. The middle-aged man glanced at Liu Tongzhi, snorted coldly, and said to the Second Young Master Lou, "Oh, you got lost, why didn’t you say so earlier?"
The middle-aged man impolitely took the money, "Where do you need to go? I’ll point the way for you."
The Second Young Master Lou glanced at the sky, "It’s getting cloudy again, it might snow. It’s getting late and the mountain nights are freezing cold. May I ask, Uncle, if there’s a household with extra space where we might stay overnight?"
The middle-aged man sized up the party, "Where are you coming from? Where are you heading? What do you do?"
The Second Young Master Lou smiled, "Our family runs a north-south dry goods business in the prefecture. My father sent a few of my brothers and me, along with the accountant, to Qingyang County to settle accounts with traders and check new goods. Unexpectedly, the guide we hired led us astray, and we found ourselves unable to find our way out here. As we hesitated to cross this stone bridge, you came along."
The direction ahead was indeed not towards Qingyang County where Li Lixing lived, but in the opposite direction to Qingyang County.
The middle-aged man took another look at the party, noticing their affluent attire resembled those in business.
"There are ten of you, it’s one tael of silver to stay for one night," the middle-aged man said.
"One tael of silver, so expensive?" the Third Young Master Lou exclaimed.
"If you don’t want to stay, you can head to the inn at the market eighteen miles away, where it’s dearer, two hundred wen per person per night," the middle-aged man sneered.
"Goodness, is this robbery? It’s more expensive than lodging in the county. A regular room in the county only costs one hundred and fifty wen per person per night," the Fourth Young Master Lou exclaimed in surprise.
The middle-aged man chuckled, "Stay if you like, or leave if you don’t."
As the leader of this outing, the Second Young Master Lou stopped his two brothers, "Alright, that’s it then; detouring to the market in the morning will take longer and delay things further."
He signaled to everyone, and they said nothing else, following the middle-aged man to a farmer’s house.
The farmhouse was occupied by only a middle-aged couple.
The Second Young Master Lou gave a tael of silver to the homeowner.
A tael of silver covered only lodging, not meals.
The Second Young Master Lou also handed over five hundred wen, asking the wife to prepare dinner for ten people.
Dinner was stewed goose.
While others were warming themselves around the fire, the restless Lou Chengye went to the back kitchen to watch the wife of the household slaughter the goose.
The wife, noticing his attention, kept urging him, "Oh dear, young master, it’s dirty here, please take a seat indoors."
Being persistently shooed away, Lou Chengye had no choice but to return to the house.
After he entered the house, the wife commented about the back door letting in a draft and suggested it would be better to close it.
Lou Chengye said nothing, allowing her to close the back door.
Just as Lou Chengye sat down, being the closest to the back door, he noticed through the door crack the middle-aged man who had previously guided them was furtively handing a package to the wife of the household.
The wife glanced towards the house before tucking the paper package into her waist pouch. She waved to the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man also glanced towards the house before leaving through the fence gate in the back yard.
Lou Chengye frowned in thought, what were they doing, being so secretive?
He approached the back door, pressing his face to the crack to watch. When he saw the wife enter the kitchen, he gently opened the back door, stepped outside, and closed the door behind him.
Being eccentric in behavior, Lou’s other brothers couldn’t be bothered with him, and since they were accompanied by subordinates of Prefect Lou’s, they dared not question him.
Lou Chengye arrived at the backyard and quietly walked to a kitchen window to peek inside.
He saw the lady of the house taking a paper packet from her waist pouch and pouring it into a wine pot.
Lou Chengye squinted his eyes; is this drugging?
To harm them?
Lou Chengye continued watching the lady’s actions and noticed she only put the powder in the wine, not in the stewed goose.
Still, Lou Chengye wasn’t reassured and kept squatting under the window watching her work.
He stayed there until the lady had cooked the goose, packed it into a clay basin, and carried it into the main house.
Then he quietly slipped away, circled to the front door, and entered the room.
The lady placed the goose on the table and smiled at everyone, saying, "It’s cold today, so I’ll bring you some wine."
"Much appreciated," Second Young Master Lou nodded.
The lady went to the back kitchen, and Lou Chengye immediately whispered to Second Young Master Lou, "Second Brother, don’t drink that wine."
Second Young Master Lou asked in confusion, "Why?"
Lou Chengye glanced at the front and back doors and quietly told Second Young Master Lou what he just saw.
Second Young Master Lou was shocked; is this family trying to harm them for money?
"We can’t stay here; we need to leave quickly," Second Young Master Lou stood up.
Lou Chengye pushed him back to sit down, "Second Brother, listen to me."
He quietly explained his plan, "We’ve been targeted and lured into this trap. Can we escape? It’s better to feign drunkenness and act unaware, then catch them when they make their move."
Second Young Master Lou didn’t quite like this Fifth Brother, nor did he trust his abilities, "Don’t act rashly; this won’t work."
Lou Chengye walked to the main door, glanced outside, and then returned, saying, "Second Brother, we can’t leave."
Second Young Master Lou squinted, "What do you mean?"
"Look at the main gate," Lou Chengye raised his chin toward the door.
Second Young Master Lou followed his gaze and gasped.
Outside the main gate, the villagers who surrounded them earlier were sitting in the courtyard, talking with the homeowner. Since they dared to lure them here with drugs, they wouldn’t easily let them leave.
Second Young Master’s expression changed, quietly asking Lou Chengye, "Are you sure you can get us out?"
Lou Chengye said, "Second Brother, I’m here with you. If you can’t escape, I’ll be captured too."
Second Young Master Lou looked at him for a while, nodded, "Fine, let’s do as you say."
Lou Chengye said, "Second Brother, instruct everyone according to the plan; let’s strike back."
"Agreed," Second Young Master Lou replied.
The brothers quietly shared the plan with everyone.
Everyone was shocked.
"Stay calm; otherwise, no one can leave. These people are fearless due to the remote location; they have the advantage in numbers, so we must be strategic, not confrontational," Lou Chengye advised.
At this stage, what else can be done?
They could only follow Lou Chengye’s arrangement.
Once agreed upon, they pretended as if nothing happened, continuing to chat casually.
Talking about the weather and horses.
The lady returned from the back kitchen, carrying a pot of wine and several bowls and chopsticks, "The wine is warmed; enjoy."
"Much obliged," Second Young Master Lou accepted the wine and placed it on the table.
The lady glanced at everyone and smiled, "I’ll pour wine for you." She poured a glass for each person and urged them to drink while it’s warm.
Lou Chengye drank first, but, using his sleeve as cover, he spit it back into his sleeve.
In the dead of winter, with thick clothing, layers in the sleeves could hold not just one glass but even a pot of wine without a problem.
Seeing him spit out the wine, everyone demonstrated their skills, either spitting into their sleeves or handkerchiefs.
Not wanting to arouse suspicion, after pouring the wine, the lady also served goose soup, unaware that everyone had quietly spit out the wine.
