At dusk.
"Brothers, raise a toast to the boss."
At Scholar's call, every Imperial Guard in the lieutenant's courtyard rose to their feet and drained the wine in their cups.
Confiscating homes was, after all, the Imperial Guards' greatest pleasure. In one afternoon, even if they could not touch the major assets,
these strongmen and guards had still felt out some gray assets from the corpses.
Shen Qing nodded faintly, and only then did all the Imperial Guards sit back down with excited faces, chattering away.
Shen Qing's table, meanwhile, was much quieter. Black Dog, Old Li, and Scholar were all seated there.
The few of them merely chatted in fits and starts.
Scholar suddenly spoke.
"Boss, this matter might still bring us some trouble."
Old Li said in a muffled voice,
"It's just a small gang. What trouble could it cause?"
Scholar rolled his eyes and cursed irritably.
"Are you really that honest?"
"This Sishui Gang might be connected to some lieutenant."
Old Li swallowed a mouthful of chicken.
"So what if it is? Even if he makes trouble, we're the ones in the right."
As luck would have it, someone arrived outside just then.
It was Lin Zikai, another lieutenant of the Baiyun County Imperial Guards.
Lin Zikai's expression was exceptionally ugly. He strode into the courtyard with his men and shouted,
"Shen Qing! Aren't you going too far? You laid hands on my men without even giving me a heads-up!"
Shen Qing set down his wine bowl, raised his head, and gave Lin Zikai a bland look.
"What? The Sishui Gang is yours?"
Lin Zikai abruptly stopped mid-step, his foot hanging in the air. A bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead, as though someone had placed a blade against his neck.
When Shen Qing had looked at him just now, he had felt as if he were about to die.
This was the effect of the red trait, Innate Blade Immortal.
With the trait's blessing, Shen Qing did not even need to draw his blade. Simply sitting there, he resembled a divine edge capable of cleaving heaven and earth apart.
Lin Zikai swallowed, then remembered that his underlings were behind him and forced himself to say,
"Who in all of Baiyun County doesn't know Jiang Xian is my lackey?"
Shen Qing leaned sideways against his chair.
"Scholar, have you finished tallying the assets from this afternoon?"
Scholar immediately rose and stood ramrod straight, pulling a ledger from his robes.
"A total of eight hundred and sixteen taels of silver in cash was found in the Sishui Gang, along with five one-hundred-tael silver notes and various pieces of jewelry, worth approximately three hundred taels in cash."
"The total comes to one thousand six hundred and sixteen taels."
That figure left Lin Zikai utterly dumbfounded. He cursed under his breath,
"That damned Jiang Xian—he swallowed that much?"
Shen Qing calmly picked up a piece of pork and placed it in his mouth, then said blandly,
"Old Li, write it down in the Book of Impermanence."
Old Li immediately understood. He took out the Book of Impermanence from his robes and, using the wine as ink, wrote in it.
Then he read aloud,
"The Sishui Gang committed countless evils, slaughtered commoners, and wildly plundered the people's flesh and blood, to the sum of one thousand six hundred and sixteen taels. Lieutenant Official Lin Zikai stated that the Sishui Gang was his lackey."
The moment those words left his mouth, Lin Zikai panicked. Could those things be written down together? He instinctively wanted to step forward and seize the Book of Impermanence, but when he saw Shen Qing seated to one side, he stopped again, not daring to move even half an inch.
Shen Qing took the Book of Impermanence and glanced at it, then cast another look at Old Li, who stood beside him looking like an honest man.
What an Old Li. He looked like an honest man, but his belly was full of bad water.
Written separately, they were two different matters. Written together, they became something else entirely.
"Old Li, it's not that I want to criticize you, but with that entry, aren't you ruining Lieutenant Lin's entire official career?"
Lin Zikai looked as if he wanted to cry but had no tears. He wished he could slap himself a few times. Why had he insisted on coming today?
"Lieutenant Shen—oh, no, Lord Shen is right."
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"I cannot coexist under the same sky as evil! You can't write it like that. How about tearing out this page instead?"
Shen Qing snapped the Book of Impermanence shut. "That would violate the rules. Can matters written in the Book of Impermanence be torn out just because you say so?"
Lin Zikai took a deep breath, seeming to make some kind of decision, and waved his hand. "All of you, get out."
At his words, his subordinates looked at one another before all withdrawing from the courtyard.
Lin Zikai then glared viciously at Black Dog and the others, but Black Dog did not buy that act at all. They all pretended not to see him.
Lin Zikai had no choice but to look at Shen Qing with pleading eyes.
Only then did Shen Qing wave his hand. Black Dog immediately let out a low roar. "All of you, come with me."
Once those words fell, the remaining people finally rose and left the courtyard.
Shen Qing also looked at Lin Zikai with great interest, wanting to see what trick he could pull.
Who would have thought that Lin Zikai looked left and right, then actually dropped to his knees directly before Shen Qing.
"Lord Shen, there were too many people just now. I'm kneeling to you now."
Shen Qing chuckled.
"What? Is your kneeling worth that much? You think one kneel will make me tear up the Book of Impermanence?"
Put nicely, it was called the Book of Impermanence. Put harshly, that page in the Book of Impermanence was Lin Zikai's life.
Lin Zikai hurriedly said, "Lord Shen, I've never offended you in ordinary times."
Shen Qing merely drank his wine and ate his meat without a word.
Lin Zikai continued, "Lord Shen, for the sake of our time as colleagues, give this lowly one a chance to live."
Shen Qing chuckled. "You should be glad that you and I are colleagues. Otherwise, your head would already be on the ground."
Lin Zikai's Adam's apple bobbed slightly. Feeling the wild, tyrannical aura erupting from Shen Qing, he understood that Shen Qing was telling the truth.
If he had been anyone else, he truly would already be dead.
After a moment of silence, Lin Zikai gritted his teeth.
"Lord Shen, can I buy my life with a piece of information?"
"Didn't you lose several carts of silver outside the city last night? I may know some clues."
The instant he finished speaking, Lin Zikai felt a gale rise. Shen Qing arrived before him at almost wind-like speed.
"Is what you said true?"
Lin Zikai nodded stiffly. "Lord Shen, my life is already in your hands."
"A few days ago, I was out on assignment and went to Dong'ao Township. I returned today at the hour of the Tiger and passed Bali Slope east of the city."
"There, my brothers and I saw someone familiar—Huang Zikun of the Huang Family in the west of the city. Though we didn't speak, I could see blood on his long spear."
Shen Qing's gaze hardened, and tangible killing intent burst forth.
Bali Slope was only three or four li from where he had been ambushed. The location matched.
And among the people who had ambushed him last night was a master of the spear. Thinking about it now, there truly had been traces of the Huang Family's spear techniques.
A cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth. It seemed tonight was destined to be lively.
"Lord Shen, do you find my information satisfactory?"
Shen Qing seized Lin Zikai by the collar and lifted him up.
"Very satisfactory. You did well."
Delight appeared on Lin Zikai's face, and he hurriedly said, "Then, Lord Shen, the Book of Impermanence?"
Shen Qing laughed heartily and patted his shoulder hard.
"No rush. Come with me to the Huang Family first. We'll talk after we return."
Lin Zikai froze outright.
Among the five lieutenant officials of the Baiyun County Pacification Bureau, he alone had no backing. He had climbed up step by step entirely on his own.
What he relied on was caution.
When he had seen Huang Zikun at dawn, then later heard upon returning to the city that the silver had been robbed, he immediately understood that Shen Qing had been set up.
He had come to Shen Qing to demand an explanation, but he had not truly come for an explanation.
He had only wanted to discuss how to divide the Sishui Gang's silver. His original plan was for Shen Qing to take seventy percent and for himself to take thirty percent.
He could also use the Sishui Gang's silver to smooth things over with General Sun for Shen Qing.
That way, he could give General Sun a bit of face while also earning a favor from Shen Qing.
Who the hell knew Shen Qing was this volatile? He did not even give him a chance to speak before directly going all out.
Lin Zikai was wronged!
Lin Zikai was terrified!
Lin Zikai did not want to board this pirate ship!
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