Chapter 242: Come on, follow me and get that person!
The place where Li Hu hunted was the royal hunting ground, which was not only used for the emperor’s entertainment and hunting, but also had military and political functions.

During the reign of the retired emperor, he held autumn hunts here many times to review the troops stationed in the capital and demonstrate military power to intimidate enemies in the north.

On the hunting observation deck at the entrance of the hunting ground, several officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were stunned by the scene before them, their eyes wide open.

Teams of soldiers from the Ruishi Battalion came with horses, and the horses’ backs were loaded with bloody prey.

The open space was filled with prey, piled up like a hill.

“Bang!” Another elk was thrown on the hill.

The hunting ground officers made a sound of disgust.

The expressions of several officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were not very good, and they looked at each other.

After a long while, an official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs spoke up: “If we let them continue to hunt like this, we will lose everything. It’s okay to let more elks and musk deer go, but tigers and black bears may be hunted by Your Majesty on a whim.”

He hadn’t finished speaking, but everyone understood what he meant. The emperor could not blame the Earl of Loyalty and Bravery. The ones who would be unlucky would be the officials of the Imperial Household Department who were in charge of the hunting grounds.

Another official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs said: “It’s getting late. Soon the sun will set and it will be dark in the forest. It will be hard to see clearly and the road will be difficult to walk on.”

Another official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs said: “Blow the horn.”

One trumpet after another was blown.

Zhang Cheng came back, followed closely by his personal soldiers carrying the prey.

The generals and their personal soldiers returned covered in blood, carrying the prey.

Looking at the prey, the expressions of several officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs became even uglier.

At this moment, a tiger roar came from the forest, powerful, heavy, majestic and low, which startled the birds in the forest and made them fly up and circle in the air.

Immediately afterwards, there were intensive sounds of musketry, as well as the tigers’ roars and howls of pain.

With a miserable wail, the forest returned to peace.

Li Hu was surrounded not only by Wang Daniu and his personal soldiers, but also by Wang Yaozu’s scouts and musketeers. Zhang Cheng and the other generals were not worried.

Li Hu prepared more than a dozen ox carts in advance, and the ox carts loaded with prey rolled away heavily.

An empty oxcart drove up, and with the ups and downs of the hunting ground officials, prey was thrown onto the oxcart, and soon it was piled up like a small mountain.

Watching the ox carts loaded with prey leaving, several officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs looked at each other and smiled bitterly. How cruel!

Suddenly, the officers and soldiers of the Ruishi Battalion cheered.

Li Hu led the horse team and returned with a mountain of prey on their backs.

Zhang Cheng led the group of generals to meet them.

Several officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs hurriedly followed.

Li Hu stopped the car, looked at the setting sun, and asked, “What happened? Who blew the horn?”

Zhang Cheng and the generals looked at each other and then turned their gazes to the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The leading official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs gritted his teeth and said, “Please forgive me, Lord. We don’t want to spoil your interest. There are really too many prey to hunt, especially those ferocious beasts.”

Li Hu understood and interrupted him: “Alright, I will explain this matter to the internal minister and will not make it difficult for you.”

Several officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were overjoyed and bowed to Li Hu in unison: “Thank you, Lord!”

Li Hu smiled and nodded: “Each of you pick a prey.”

Everyone knew about Li Hu’s relationship with the palace, so they didn’t hesitate to be polite. Each of them picked a prey, and then they all bowed to Li Hu before happily retreating.

Li Hu smiled. He had asked for permission to come here to hunt. The emperor was too stingy and only allowed him to hunt for one day, and he was not allowed to go near the palace.

Wang Daniu, covered in blood, came over and said, “General, everything is ready.”

Li Hu looked over and saw several black bears and a tiger piled on the cart. Dai Quan had notified them in advance, and they helped find several caves where black bears hibernate, otherwise how could they have hunted so many black bears in such a short time.

The tiger suddenly jumped out from the valley when Li Hu was on his way back. The situation was urgent, so Li Hu could only order the tiger to be shot to death. It was a pity to waste the tiger skin.

Li Hu took out a pot of wine from his arms, gulped it down from the spout for a long time, wiped his mouth, and said, “Go home.” Then he squeezed his legs together, spurred his horse and galloped straight out of the hunting ground.

Everyone quickly mounted their horses and followed.

A group of people surrounded Li Hu and rushed forward, leaving behind ox carts full of prey.

There was a sound of hurried horse hooves, and a horse was galloping towards Li Hu and his companions. Li Hu pulled the reins.

The whole group stopped.

When they arrived in front of Li Hu, the scout on horseback reported loudly: “General, we encountered a village woman blocking the road and complaining!”

Li Hu became interested: “Stop the road and complain?”

Sentinel: “Yes.”

Li Hu: “What are you complaining about?”

Scout: “I asked. They accused the officials of Wanping County of embezzling the taxes that the emperor ordered to be returned to the people.”

Li Hu’s eyes flashed: “Really?”

Sentinel: “That’s what the village woman said.”

Li Hu: “Let’s go and take a look.”

“General!” Zhang Cheng shouted hurriedly.

Li Hu looked at him: “What’s wrong?”

Zhang Cheng hesitated for a moment and said, “If the common people have grievances, they can go to Shuntian Prefecture, the Censorate, and the Dali Temple.”

Li Hu was startled, looked at him and asked, “When we were in the South Camp, you didn’t have this attitude. Why, the higher you get, the less courageous you become?”

Zhang Cheng smiled bitterly: “This is a different time. When I was in the South Camp, the general’s duty was to judge cases, and naturally he had to redress the grievances of the people. But now, the general is the leader of the Ruishi Camp, and it is not easy for him to interfere in the government affairs. Those Qingliu don’t care whether the general is considering the court or not. A military general is guilty of interfering in government affairs…”

Li Hu laughed and said, “What these corrupt officials are embezzling is not money, but the emperor’s love for the people. They are smearing the emperor’s face and ruining his reputation. I hope those upright officials will sue me for a military general interfering in politics. When I slash my sword, at least a few upright officials will bleed.”

After a pause, he said, “We have helped the emperor to relieve his worries and win his honor. Who knows, the emperor might be so happy that he would allow us brothers to go hunting in the hunting grounds for another day!”

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Zhang Cheng thought about it and it seemed to make sense.

“Let’s go and take a look!”

Li Hu squeezed his legs together and urged his horse forward.

Wang Daniu, Wang Yaozu and others followed on horseback.

Zhang Cheng also followed in a hurry.

In the distance, an old woman in a coarse cotton jacket was kneeling upright on the snow-covered official road.

It’s none other than Granny Liu!
When he was about five or six steps away from Granny Liu, Li Hu pulled the reins.

Zhang Cheng and others also reined in their horses.

Granny Liu was so smart that she immediately realized that the master had arrived. She quickly knelt down and kowtowed respectfully, saying loudly, “I pay my respects to the master. May the master be blessed with good health!”

Li Hu said gently: “There is snow on the ground, let’s get up and talk.”

Liu Laolao’s heart moved, thinking there might be a chance, she kowtowed again and then got up.

Li Hu carefully looked at the old woman in front of him. For some reason, he felt a bit of favor towards her. After a moment of silence, he asked, “I heard that you want to sue the officials of Wanping County. Is that true?”

After hearing this, Granny Liu quickly told Li Hu what had happened, “If I hadn’t gone to the woods to relieve myself, I would have been captured by them by now.” Then she knelt down again, “Please, sir, help me!”

After hearing what Liu Laolao said, Wang Yaozu and the generals showed anger in their eyes.

Even Zhang Cheng frowned.

Wang Daniu started cursing even louder.

Li Hu glared at him and said to Granny Liu: “Do you know where they were taken?”

Granny Liu replied, “He must have gone to the town’s gentry hall.”

Li Hu nodded and asked, “Can you ride a horse?”

Granny Liu: “There is a mule at home.”

Li Hu: “Forget it. Just follow the motorcade to the other courtyard.” He then said to Wang Daniu and Wang Yaozu: “Come on, follow me to get the man!”

(End of this chapter)