Slapping This Prefect in the Face

The steward's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, and he was completely dumbfounded. Was it true or false? The soldier had vanished without a trace, and in the Big Black night, there was nowhere to chase him.

But then he thought, no matter how unruly the soldiers guarding the city were, they wouldn't dare to play such a deadly joke on the Pan Household; something must have really happened.

He immediately called upon two servants and said urgently:

"You two immediately ride to the north gate, verify the information, and return quickly!"

The two dared not delay, went to the stables to fetch their horses, and galloped towards the north gate. Fortunately, the journey was not far, only about half an hour, when they turned back, panting heavily, and said:

"Butler, it's true! We saw the people from the manor; it's definitely true."

At this point, the steward dared not delay any longer. Such a serious matter had to be reported to his master immediately. He hurried to the second gate of the inner courtyard. Since men were not allowed to enter the back courtyard, he could only stop the maid on night watch and ask her to go in and inform Pan Wenbai.

The young maid tiptoed to the window of the main room and called out twice in a low voice. Inside, Pan Wenbai was fast asleep, embracing his concubine. Awakened by the noise, he sat up with a frown, his voice grumpy from being woken up:

"What are you howling about in the middle of the night?"

"Master, the steward is waiting at the second gate. He says there's an extremely urgent matter outside, and he absolutely needs you to come out," the maid whispered through the door.

Pan Wenbai's heart sank. The steward's late-night request couldn't be anything trivial. He immediately threw back the covers and sat up. His concubine, still half asleep, clung to him, muttering, "Master... who is it... sleep a little longer..."

"Get up and dress me." Pan Wenbai kicked her impatiently, and the concubine reluctantly got up and, together with the maid who came in, hurriedly helped him put on his clothes.

Once they were properly dressed and arrived at the front yard, the steward quickly went to greet them and told them in detail that the manor in the east of the city had been breached by bandits.

Pan Wenbai was stunned after hearing this, and remained speechless for a long time.

"How dare they!" He clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles turned white. "Who did this?!"

He paced back and forth in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, his steps hurried and heavy. It was the dead of night, the city gates were tightly closed, he couldn't muster enough men to mobilize the troops, and even though he was full of anger, he couldn't do anything about it.

As dawn broke, Pan Wenbai hurried to the gate of his father Pan Hongxuan's courtyard. Knowing that his father always woke up early, he stood outside the gate and whispered, "Father, are you up yet?"

From inside the house came Pan Hongxuan's aged voice. "Wenbai, what are you doing up so early?"

"Father, please get up quickly, something terrible has happened."

The sound of rustling clothes coming from inside the room was immediately heard. A maidservant was helping with washing and dressing, and the door opened shortly after. Pan Hongxuan walked out with a frown. "What's the rush?"

Pan Wenbai then recounted the events of the previous night, in which the bandits had breached the village east of the city and the soldiers guarding the city had sent messages throughout the night.

Pan Hongxuan was stunned upon hearing this and stood there speechless for a long time.

The first thought that popped into his mind was about the other three major families in the city.

But upon closer reflection, something seemed amiss—although the families had some friction, it had never escalated to the point of smashing up the estate, and there had been no warning signs. It was inappropriate to suddenly resort to such ruthless tactics.

"There's no use in panicking now; the damage is already done."

He composed himself and said in a deep voice:

"The city gates are about to open. You should immediately send someone out of the city to investigate and find out what's going on."

"Okay." Pan Wenbai agreed and went to make the arrangements.

About an hour later, the servant who had been sent out ran back in a panic, shouting from afar:

"Master! Something terrible has happened! Not only has Pan Household Manor in the east of the city fallen, but our village in the north has also been captured! I saw from afar that there are thousands of people there carrying things away!"

"What?!"

Pan Hongxuan slammed his hand on the table, his face turning pale with anger.

"This is outrageous! A nighttime raid is one thing, but to dare to stay there and move things in broad daylight? Do they think the Pan Household has no one to rely on?!"

He took a breath and asked sharply:

"Have you seen who it is?"

"I didn't dare get too close, but I saw that the soldiers blocking the road were all wearing red hats and looked very neat, while the people carrying things behind them looked like refugees."

Pan Hongxuan reacted instantly and cursed, "Wearing red hats, damn it! It's Azure Cloud Stronghold!"

Pan Hongxuan looked at Pan Wenbai, his brows furrowed in worry:

"We don't have that much of a grudge against Azure Cloud Stronghold, so why are they suddenly targeting our two estates so viciously?"

"Dad, it's pointless to analyze this now."

Pan Wenbai's face was deathly pale, and his voice was trembling:

"Most of our family's wealth is in these two estates—the silver hidden in the cellars, the grain stored in the granaries, it's all there. If we lose it all, the Pan Household will be ruined."

Over the years, the Pan Household had devoted all its resources to cultivating Pan Zimo, but the family's income had become increasingly tight, and the gap between them and the other three families was widening. They were counting on Pan Zimo to succeed in his cultivation and support the Lineage, but he died outside the city.

Now that both of their former estates outside the city have been confiscated, it's as if their very foundations have been destroyed.

"Go to the prefectural government office immediately and find the prefect. Beg him to send troops out at once."

Pan Hongxuan said in a deep voice:

"Our own guards can't hold out, we have no choice but to ask the government for help."

Pan Wenbai didn't dare to delay and turned to leave. By the time he rushed to the government office, it was just dawn, and the prefect hadn't even gotten up yet.

The doorman initially wanted to refuse, but upon seeing that it was the Lineage patriarch himself, he dared not ignore it and hurriedly went in to announce his arrival.

The prefect didn't keep him waiting long; a moment later, he came out dressed neatly, carrying a cup of hot tea, and walked out slowly.

"Clan Chief Pan, what brings you here so early in the morning?" The prefect smiled as he sat down, having just taken a sip of tea.

"Your Excellency, there's no good news at all!" Pan Wenbai was so anxious he could barely stand. "Last night, both of my Pan Household's estates outside the city were completely overrun by bandits! Countless guards were killed or wounded, and all our money and grain were looted!"

The prefect paused abruptly in his teacup, his face instantly darkening. This was no small matter—a powerful clan's estate under his jurisdiction had been breached overnight, and he, as the prefect, was undeniably responsible. If the matter were to escalate to higher authorities, he would undoubtedly face accountability.

"Guards!" he shouted, "Go immediately and Garrison Commander Li! Tell him to muster his men and bring them to the government office at once!"

This wait lasted for almost half an hour. Yuxi Prefecture was a prefecture city in the interior of the Great Qian Kingdom, far from the border. The imperial army was stationed at the border, and the garrison in the interior was already sparse.

This garrison Garrison Commander Li is from the Li Household. He nominally has a thousand soldiers under his command, but in reality, they are all drawing salaries without working. He can only muster five or six hundred men, most of whom are old, weak, sick, or disabled. They just stand guard at the city gate and patrol the streets to get by.

He even sold off most of his military equipment; the knives and guns were rusty, and there were hardly any that were handy.

Garrison Commander Li arrived, dawdling along, and after hearing the whole story, his heart sank. Even the Pan Household's fortified estate had been breached; with his meager forces, how could they possibly stand a chance?

But in front of the prefect, he dared not say he would not care, and could only bite the bullet and agree.

"This is absolutely outrageous!"

The prefect slammed his fist on the table in anger. "We've already investigated! Those thieves are still at the manor north of the city, openly moving things in broad daylight. They have absolutely no respect for the laws of the court; this is a public slap in my face!"