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墨書 Inktalez
However, after taking a couple of glances, it still felt a bit lacking, not enough to place another bet at the Yongle Gambling House, and certainly not enough for a visit to Yanhua Tower, which was a must-visit place in Tokyo's upper class!
Li Ba looked at the old man with disdain, as if he were looking at an old dog, revealing his large yellowed teeth; in fact, he resembled a dog that bites everywhere.
He said, "Zhang the Elder, this is rebellion! This is different from the protection fees of the past; it won't just be this little amount! Search his body; if he has more money, we might consider letting you off."
Zhang the Elder was originally a tall and thin old man with a rough complexion, shaking his head continuously. He knew he wasn't rebelling.
He was clear in his heart that this tyrant had no money left, so he casually made up an excuse to extract more money for himself. What a great nuisance!
The two Soldiers nearby understood the implication and began to search him all over his coarse clothing.
Their movements were very familiar; they quickly searched from top to bottom. They had done this countless times before, being dogs that oppressed the common people.
Qin Feng, who was sitting there, also understood what was happening. He initially thought they were really capturing rebels! It turned out they were just collecting protection fees and looking for an excuse to extort more money from the old man.
He felt that he was at least a third-rank High Official. While he couldn't deal with those treacherous ministers in court, dealing with these Soldiers was enough. How dare they oppress the common people in front of him? They truly had a death wish!
As someone from the future with a sense of morality, he had to punish these greedy Soldiers and make them remember not to oppress their own people anymore!
Qin Feng stood up from his chair, clenching his right fist tightly. If he beat them up, these dog Soldiers wouldn't dare retaliate!
However, Qin Fu tightly grabbed his right arm with a cautious look. He had already eaten his fill and sensed Qin Feng's intentions.
Leaning close to his ear, he whispered, "My lord, the leading Soldier is the nephew of the current Prime Minister Li Bangyan. Although he's not capable, in Tokyo City, he walks around arrogantly. Not only does he collect protection fees from performers but also from many large restaurants and brothels. You can't afford to provoke him!"
His implication was clear: it would be better to pretend not to see! They truly couldn't afford to provoke him; after all, his backing was none other than Prime Minister Li Bangyan.
Currently, there were two prime ministers in the Song Dynasty: Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan. Both held positions just below the emperor.
If one of them decided to remove a second or third-rank official, it would be as simple as saying a word; there would be no need to attend Morning Court or receive any salary afterward.
Although Qin Feng had that intention, he could only swallow it down! Indeed, this arrogant fellow had a powerful backing behind him.
Slowly sitting back down, his heart felt heavy. That old man was one of the Song people; these individuals only knew how to bully Song People but dared not confront the Jin people in battle—what a bunch of useless cowards!
The two Soldiers were seasoned veterans; their movements were very skilled as they rummaged through every pocket on him and found a round jade pendant that appeared entirely green and seemed quite old—a truly good treasure!
They quickly handed the jade over to Li Ba with an obsequious demeanor.
Li Ba's face revealed an expression of surprise upon seeing the round jade. Although he had been idle for several years, he still recognized good jade when he saw it; it could definitely be worth several dozen taels of Silver.
This jade was entirely green and emitted a green light; it was undoubtedly good jade and didn't seem like something produced in recent years—it must have some age to it and could definitely fetch a good price.
Although Zhang the Elder looked poor and destitute, unexpectedly having such a valuable item meant they had to take everything!
"Quickly search again and see if there are any more good items! If there are good things, bring them all to me! I didn't expect this Zhang the Elder to be wealthy too!"
The group moved closer again and began searching him wildly for more valuables. They stripped off his upper clothing and even took off his pants.
Zhang the Elder appeared extremely pitiful; facing these strong Soldiers, he had no strength left to fight back.
"Grandpa Li, that's my family's heirloom! It's been passed down for over two hundred years; please return it to me! I thank you on behalf of my descendants—please return it!"
He acted as if he hadn't seen anything while laughing loudly; how could he care about the old man's plight? Anything taken by him became his own property. Even if he felt pity for an old man like that—how could one survive in Tokyo City? It was a place filled with fish and snakes.
The Scholars nearby mostly showed expressions of anger, glaring fiercely at Li Ba and those Soldiers. These individuals were truly too rampant; they often robbed others' belongings.
In Tokyo City, they were notorious; ordinary people would avoid them upon sight but dared not intervene.
Some people simply left without bothering to watch; such occurrences were too common. They came merely to listen to stories but didn't expect such events would unfold again.
Others remained watching with amused expressions—they were just here for entertainment.
After some time rummaging through Zhang the Elder's belongings without finding anything else valuable, they finally let him go. In this cold winter weather, his upper body was completely bare while only wearing long trousers and shivering uncontrollably.
Zhang the Elder knelt down again, appearing very sorrowful while caring deeply about that piece of green jade—it was passed down by his ancestors and couldn't just be discarded!
"Grandpa Li, please return that piece of jade! It's my ancestral heirloom—I can't just lose it! If I die without it, how will I face my ancestors?"
Li Ba coldly looked at him; this old fool indeed only had one good item on him—he thought there might be one or two more treasures hidden away but turned out to be just a poor wretch's fate.
But that's fine; this jade alone could be worth several dozen taels of Silver—much more than those copper coins in that wooden basin!
He spat at the old man viciously feeling much better afterward—he wanted to go back for another round next time!
"Zhang the Elder, consider yourself unlucky for running into me today! This counts as your protection fee—I'll come by every month from now on to collect it. Have your money ready; otherwise get out of Tokyo City and beg for food elsewhere."
Qin Feng stood upright with eyes full of hatred—this truly lacked any sense of law; it was outright robbery!
As someone with morals, he had long wanted to teach this fellow a lesson but was stopped by Afu beside him. He truly couldn't afford to provoke them; if he fought back now, he'd likely end up beaten to death by them.
He had almost acted several times but kept being restrained—it was unbearable to watch.
Zhang the Elder trembled from cold while still kneeling there.
He said, "This month's protection fee has already been collected yesterday—how can you count it again? Please return my jade! I promise I'll pay the protection fee again!"
Li Ba glared at him angrily as he stuffed the jade into his pocket and spat at him harshly with disdain: "Old fool! Don't push your luck! I've already counted three times—you keep babbling on about nonsense! If you say another word, I'll beat you to death right here! No one will care—you understand?!"
Zhang the Elder was genuinely frightened and understood what that meant: there was no way he'd get back that jade now. If he continued making noise about it, they'd really beat him up.
Those Soldiers not only took away the jade but also stuffed all the copper coins from that wooden basin into a cloth bag before rolling it up and putting it away as if they were taking their own belongings.
Each one laughed joyfully after making some extra money as they pushed through the crowd of onlookers while leaving.
Li Ba glanced over at Qin Feng who looked furious as if wanting to take action against him. He spat on the ground dismissively before striding away without giving Qin Feng another glance.
The Soldiers behind him weren't as arrogant; they bent slightly towards Qin Feng before following suit because after all—he was a third-rank High Official whom they couldn't afford to offend.
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