I was a conman in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 232 All-Desert

Chapter 232 A Desperate Gamble

Dayangou Village is located between Hezhou and Hanshan.

Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and others, the so-called righteous army, were, in modern terms, just a larger number of bandits. Wherever they went, they generally implemented the "Three Alls" policy: burn all, kill all, and loot all.

Ordinary people either joined the bandits or were killed. Because of this, although the Ming Dynasty suppressed bandit rebellions many times, as long as one or two leaders escaped, the bandits would quickly rise again.

Dayangou Village had completely changed by this time. Some villagers were dead, some had joined bandits, and the hoarse cries of women could be heard from time to time.

Wang Wenzhou arrived at the village entrance under the protection of 100 sedan chair carriers.

Li Zicheng personally greeted them, and with a wave of his hand, several soldiers stepped forward to block Wang Wenzhou's troops.

"Please enter the village yourself, Lord Wang. The rest of you, wait outside the village."

Wang Wenzhou smiled, took Gao Guilan's hand, and stepped down from the sedan chair.

"My lord, you mustn't!" Zhu Yi quickly stopped him.

Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "It's alright, we're all family, don't worry, you guys wait for me here."

Zhu Yi immediately knelt on one knee and pleaded, "My lord! When we came here, the ladies instructed me not to leave your side under any circumstances!"

"Alright! It's nothing!" Wang Wenzhou patted Zhu Yi on the shoulder.

Zhu Yi had no choice but to stand up.

"Brother-in-law!" Gao Guilan smiled happily at Li Zicheng.

Wang Wenzhou quickly cupped his hands to Li Zicheng and said, "Your younger brother Wang Wenzhou greets brother-in-law! Brother-in-law is indeed a handsome and elegant man. He will surely conquer the world one day."

Li Zicheng frowned. What did Wang Wenzhou mean? Was he trying to sow discord between him and his father? He was aiming for the throne, but where was his father? Everyone said Wang Wenzhou was a fool, but he didn't seem foolish at all.

"Please, Lord Wang!" Li Zicheng said, gesturing with his hand.

Wang Wenzhou patted Li Zicheng on the shoulder as if they were old friends and said with a smile, "Brother-in-law, you're too kind!"

Wang Wenzhou, holding Gao Guilan's small hand, walked forward under the guidance of several guards.

Li Zicheng frowned deeply. Looking at Lan Mei, she didn't seem like a hostage; she seemed more like someone walking with her beloved. Could it be that Lan Mei had really fallen for Wang Wenzhou? No way! For the past year, Lan Mei had been constantly talking about Lei Feng and Lei Gongzi!

Wang Wenzhou may look quite dashing, but with his hair so short, he's clearly a frivolous person. How could Lanmei possibly be interested in him? Besides, they've only been together for a maximum of two days and two nights! It's simply unbelievable!

Wang Wenzhou walked into the best house in the village. This house originally belonged to the wealthy Li family in the village. When the bandits attacked, all 10 men in the Li family were killed, and the women were captured and raped by the bandits. The house temporarily became Gao Yingxiang's temporary command post.

Wang Wenzhou walked into the hall and saw a middle-aged man sitting in the center with piercing eyes.

Wang Wenzhou immediately bowed and said, "Little Xu Wang Wenzhou greets my father-in-law!"

"Haha!" Gao Yingxiang laughed bitterly. Wang Wenzhou, how shameless can you be? You, the dignified Prefect of Hanshan, a high-ranking official of the fourth rank, want to marry my daughter? I am the number one rebel of the Ming Dynasty!

"Father!" Gao Guilan frowned and looked at her father, Gao Yingxiang, with a mournful expression. "Hurry up and make Uncle get up. It's not good for him to keep kneeling like this!"

"Sigh..." Gao Yingxiang sighed, looking at Gao Guiying questioningly, "Daughter, is your sister out of her mind? What's going on? Is Lan'er really going to marry Wang Wenzhou?"

Gao Guiying also looked helpless. "Father, I don't know what happened either!"

“Father-in-law, you can’t do this to me! Please give me a seat!” Wang Wenzhou said with a smile.

Gao Yingxiang shook his head with a wry smile and quickly said, "Lord Wang, please rise. My daughter is not worthy of you! Someone, bring a seat!"

Gao Guilan pouted and said angrily, "Dad! How am I not good enough for Uncle? Uncle likes me very much!"

Gao Yingxiang whispered to Gao Guiying, "Take Lan'er to the back room and ask her what's wrong."

"Hmm!" Gao Guiying nodded, beckoned to Gao Guilan, and said softly, "Lan'er, come inside with me, I have something to tell you."

"Uncle!" Gao Guilan looked at Wang Wenzhou, her eyes questioning.

Wang Wenzhou pulled Gao Guilan into his arms and kissed her.

"Pfft..." Gao Yingxiang spat out a mouthful of tea!

"Lord Wang! Please have some self-respect!" Gao Yingxiang roared angrily! Wang Wenzhou, you've gone too far! In front of his father, you, a complete stranger, kissed his daughter?

Wang Wenzhou gently patted Gao Guilan's head and said softly, "Your sister wants to talk to you, go ahead. I also have something to say to your father."

"Mmm!" Gao Guilan skipped and hopped into the inner room with Gao Guiying.

"Bang!" Gao Yingxiang slammed his fist on the table in anger and shouted, "Men, tie Wang Wenzhou up!"

"Hey, hey..." Wang Wenzhou quickly said, "Father-in-law, you can't do this, can you?"

"Slap!" Li Zicheng slapped Wang Wenzhou across the face and said angrily, "Lord Wang, since you're so eager to die, we'll send you on your way!"

"Little Lanlan, your father is going to kill me!" Wang Wenzhou shouted immediately.

Hearing Wang Wenzhou's call, Gao Guilan quickly ran back.

"Get out of the way! All of you get out of the way!" Gao Guilan shouted, pointing at the guards.

"Lan'er, stop fooling around! Go back to your room right now!" Gao Yingxiang said angrily.

"Swish!" Gao Guilan suddenly pulled a dagger from her bosom, held it to her neck, and said, "If any of you dare to hurt Uncle, I'll die right here!"

Gao Guilan winked at Wang Wenzhou, "Uncle, how was my acting?"

Wang Wenzhou nodded. "As expected of my little Lanlan, her acting is quite good!"

"Lan'er, have you gone mad?" Gao Yingxiang was furious. His daughter, whom he hadn't seen for two days, was like a completely different person. She was actually threatening suicide!

"Dad! Uncle is Lei Feng, Lei Gongzi!" Gao Guilan said mournfully.

Gao Guiying shook her head with a bitter smile. What a tragedy! No wonder Wang Wenzhou dared to be so bold as to bring Lan'er to the appointment. So that's how it is!

Gao Guilan walked to Gao Yingxiang's side and said softly, "Father, as you know, Lanmei loves Young Master Lei to the point of obsession. Since things have come to this, why not grant Lanmei's wish and let her marry Wang Wenzhou?"

Gao Yingxiang said with a wry smile, "Ying'er, Wang Wenzhou is an official appointed by the imperial court, while we are all rebels! Do you think Lan'er can be happy marrying Wang Wenzhou?"

Gao Guiying glanced at Wang Wenzhou, thought for a moment, and then said, "Father, since Wang Wenzhou dared to bring Lanmei here, it means he has given up the only bargaining chip he has to blackmail us. To be frank, if it were you, would you be willing to risk your life to come to this appointment for a woman?"

Gao Yingxiang nodded and said, "Release Wang Wenzhou! Lan'er, you and your sister go back to your room. I'll have a good talk with your husband. Men, bring wine and food!"

Wang Wenzhou winked at Gao Guilan, "Little Lanlan, stop acting."

Gao Guilan nodded and skipped back to her room.