Chapter 5

Ding Baojun was inquiring about the details of the incident when Liu Yitie came out of the room and startled him. Upon hearing that the Third Young Master was not seriously injured, Old Ding generously handed over a leather bag of silver dollars. These were rare items, more valuable than silver ingots, brought back by the Yang family's caravan from Guangdong.

Liu Yitie thanked him without hesitation, took the leather bag, and left without looking back. The county office was now a place of trouble, and staying there would only invite more trouble.

Ding Baojun had no intention of paying attention to him. As long as the Third Young Master was fine, he needed to go inside and check on him, and then deal with the troublemakers later.

"Third Young Master, are you alright?"

Seeing Yang Meng wearing only a silk shorts, Ding Baojun also went up to show his concern. It was just after the New Year, and being hit by those foolish bandits was very inauspicious!

"Uncle Ding!"

The person who entered was the former Yang Meng, one of the few people he remembered, who called him Uncle Ding.

"What do you call me, Third Young Master?"

Ding Baojun was surprised. In the past, when this person was in a good mood, calling him Old Ding was a great honor. When his mood was average, he would just mumble a few words, and when he was in a bad mood, Ding Baojun had to follow his every command.

His father treated him the same way. His eldest brother had waited sixteen years to be called "Father," but this person could not be hit or scolded, and even the gods could not help. Could a blow to the head have opened his mind?

"Uncle Ding?"

Yang Meng asked in confusion, wondering if he had done something wrong.

"Good! Very good! Third Young Master! Let's kill those poor men and head back to Kunming right away!"

The Yang family had risen to wealth in just a dozen or so years, and their leader was a ruthless person. A dozen or twenty lives were nothing to him.

Yang Meng's heart raced at these words. One call of "Uncle Ding" and he wanted to kill people. Could the Yang family be involved in criminal activities?

"Kill poor men? Which poor men?"

Yang Meng did not want to return blindly. He had a second chance at life and wanted to be more careful. Killing people right after waking up was not a good omen.

"The foolish bandits who hit you with a stick."

The Yang family had bought tea mountains and run caravans, and the number of murder cases they were involved in was countless. Yunnan had become increasingly chaotic in recent years, and killing a few poor men was not a big deal.

What made Ding Baojun happiest was that the Third Young Master had come to his senses. This was great news, and he needed to inform the eldest brother as soon as possible.

"Those damn people beat me all the way, Uncle Ding. Let me rest a bit, and I'll deal with them."

Thinking of the stinky foot that had hit him, Yang Meng was filled with hatred. He had never suffered such a humiliation before, and not avenging it would be a disgrace to the name of the Third Young Master.

"Alright, as you wish!"

Ding Baojun was overjoyed. The eldest brother led the caravan, the second brother was studying elsewhere, and the eldest brother only had the Third Young Master by his side. In recent years, the Third Young Master had been more restrained, but after becoming proficient in martial arts, he had been involved in many murder cases. Although those he provoked were all deserving of death, the eldest brother was very worried about him at sixteen.

Now, a blow to the head had opened his mind. The eldest brother would be overjoyed to hear this news. If he wanted to play, let him play!

The magistrate of Yiliang County, Jiang Yuanyi, who was behind Ding Baojun, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. The matter was mostly over, and it seemed that the Third Young Master was indeed a significant figure in the Yang family.

"Get some clothes and wash them! They stink and can't be worn."

Yang Meng, seeing that he had not been exposed, relaxed. The silk robe on the ground was covered in mud and stank. In his previous life, he was a billionaire and had never suffered such a fate.

"What to wash? Magistrate Jiang, get someone to prepare some clothes for the Third Young Master!"

With Yang Meng unharmed, the matter was mostly over. The Yang family had land in Yiliang and needed to show respect to the local official.

"Third Young Master, what kind of clothes do you want? I'll have someone prepare them for you."

The Yang family was not to be provoked, and Ding Baojun had given him a way out, so Jiang Yuanyi naturally took it.

"His clothes will do."

Yang Meng pointed to a constable behind Jiang Yuanyi. The clothes looked good, better than Ding Baojun's silk robe and Jiang Yuanyi's long gown, and even the Qing officials' uniforms.

"Master Ding..."

The constable's clothes? Was this Third Young Master not going to let him off? Jiang Yuanyi began to worry.

"Silk will do."

Yang Meng's personality was unpredictable, and Jiang Yuanyi, accustomed to the bureaucracy, found it strange. To give him some face, Ding Baojun decided to comply.

"Not silk, but cotton. The short pants are too cold and uncomfortable. Get me a pair."

The weather was not too cold, but wearing silk shorts was uncomfortable. Yang Meng made his request.

"Follow the Third Young Master's instructions."

To avoid misunderstanding, Ding Baojun took the lead, or else Magistrate Jiang would not sleep well tonight.

The county office had ready-made clothes. The constables' uniforms were a bit large, but they fit Yang Meng well. However, there were no suitable shoes, so they had to clean his original boots for him to wear temporarily.

Braiding his hair was a problem. None of the people present were skilled, and with Yang Meng's injury on the back of his head, no one dared to touch it. Jiang Yuanyi had no choice but to have his wife's maid braid Yang Meng's hair.

The maid was about 1.5 meters tall, and her appearance was not pleasing to Yang Meng. After her hair was braided, Yang Meng had mostly recovered, but his head still hurt. It was time to settle the score with those bandits.

He stretched his body, enjoying the vitality of his new body, and then, under the cautious gazes of the people around him, walked out of the room.

The place was nice. Outside the room was a small courtyard with mountains, water, flowers, and grass, a pleasant place to be. However, the group of ragged men in the courtyard was somewhat off-putting.

It was probably around ten degrees Celsius. Only two or three of the men were fully dressed, five or six wore cloth shoes, seven or eight wore straw shoes, and the rest were barefoot.

Some were bare-chested, some wore half-shirts, and some only had a pair of tattered pants. He had been taken down by these people?

"Who hit me with that stick?"

Yang Meng still remembered clearly. He had never been hit like that before, and it was excruciating.

"Third Young Master, it was me!"

A young man, relatively well-dressed, spoke hesitantly. He did not mind his own suffering, but he could not bear to involve his fellow villagers.

"There's nothing good about the Hui people. Ma Qinghu is a Hui, and without him, the Third Young Master wouldn't have been injured."

The Yiliang county clerk spoke up, and both Yang Meng and Ding Baojun frowned.

Realizing he had said something wrong, the clerk缩着脖子慢慢退走了。

在云南，要说谁最不是东西，头一个就是满清朝廷，回强助回以杀汉，汉强助汉以杀回，不断在云南挑拨是非，让汉人回回互相残杀，现在云南汉人实力强了，满清又开始挑事了。

对于这些，丁保钧深有体会，他也算是半个江湖人，与云南的各族都打过交道，没有什么难相处的民族，当然这是不涉及自身利益的时候，涉及上利益，哪个族群也不好相处。

杨家的马帮和回回是长久的合作，不管是护庄的刀手，还是跑马帮的刀手，都有不少回回，宜良典史这熊玩意，就是在拨弄是非，这样的祸害等有机会还是做掉的好。

“我没招你没惹你，你那一棍子打的狠呐！”

杨猛之前是干什么的，金三角大毒枭，那位典史的话，还真说不到他的耳朵里，先弄明白自己是怎么挨打的，这些人看样子也不是什么恶人，轻易就宰了太不吉利。

“三爷，都是我的错，是我把你当人贩子了。”

马青虎真是害怕了，自己一扁担放翻了杨老三，昆明杨家要是能放过他，就不叫杨家了。

“人贩子？为什么把我当人贩子？”

听了这话，加上宜良典史的歪话，杨猛觉得里面有事，杨家是个什么样，自己还不清楚，别一来就把自己安身的地方给弄没了。

“三爷，因为我妹子前几天，被人掳走了，寨子里有人远远的看到了，说是穿了一身好衣服，这不我就瞎了眼，把您当人贩子了。”

马青虎胆战心惊地说完，自己这回是闯了大祸了，死他不害怕，他害怕自家的妹子遭罪。

“这么说来，是那人贩子让爷挨了棍子，你们说是不是啊？”

杨猛摆明是在为这些穷汉开脱，可他们一个个早被昆明杨家的名号吓破了胆，这一路上哪个没揍过这位杨三爷？

“是就是，不是就不是，都愣着做什么？不想回家了？”

还是老丁有眼色，杨猛的话头一出，他就品出了味道，这三爷了不得啊！都知道变通了。

“是！”

一帮人二三十个，说出来的声，还不如丁保钧的大，看来这杨家在云南实力非凡啊！

“丁叔，这人贩子让我挨了一棍子，你说该咋办？”

现在这老丁和自己最近，还是听听他的主意吧！

“抓出来！抽筋扒皮、点天灯，五马分尸、栽荷花。”

杨家人不能白挨揍，既然老三不愿拿这群穷汉出气，就该着那帮人贩子倒霉，反正自己带了三百好手，就当是为民除害了。

“就该这么办！”

姜元吉也是无奈，人家丁爷狠话都撂出来了，该是他这个宜良父母说话的时候了，这人贩子也是没眼色，什么时候拐带不好，单在这个时候，差点把自己也给害了，杀了他们也不解气。

“那就去找呗！这些人穿得寒酸，弄些衣衫，别败了三爷的名号。”

自己这也算是为之前的杨猛报仇了，马青虎算是自己的恩人，不能杀，那就找人贩子吧！

“三爷！老爷子在家里还挂念着呢！咱们先回家不好吗？”

找人贩子，宜良县一二十万口人，现在都快天黑了，上哪找去？丁保钧决定先把这位爷带回昆明，留下百十人对付人贩子就成了。

“那一棍子白挨了，跑回家哭吗？”

这里面还涉及马青虎的妹子，就当是报恩了，现在回去，万一再生出什么事端，也是不美。

“那就找吧！”

这话丁保钧是对宜良县说的，到了你的地头，你最熟悉情况，最不济也要找几个替罪羊，好让三爷回家啊！