Report It to the Hall of Law Enforcement

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Zhao Qingshi arrived outside Jiang Ping'an's Residence.

He reached out and knocked on the door, then took two deep breaths to suppress his slightly ragged breathing. He straightened his back, lifted his chin, and tilted his nostrils toward the sky.

Before long, the small courtyard gate opened. To his surprise, the one opening it was Jiang Ping'an himself.

Chen Donglai was busy, while Jiang Ping'an had been talking with Jiang Yiyi in the front courtyard, so he had casually come over to open the gate.

"Zhao Ping'an, I serve the True Fate Young Master..." Zhao Qingshi declared haughtily.

Yet the moment he announced his identity, Jiang Ping'an slammed the gate shut with a bang.

At once, Zhao Qingshi flushed red with humiliation and fury. A Mortal Body piece of trash who had been raised like a pig and imprisoned for twelve years dared show him such disrespect.

Thus, he viciously kicked the courtyard gate, deciding to force Jiang Ping'an to exchange Residences through sheer intimidation.

Bang—

The courtyard gate was kicked open with tremendous force. The wooden bolt snapped, and one door panel was left hanging half-fallen.

The gate was broken.

Inside the gate, Jiang Ping'an pointed at the half-fallen door panel and said to Zhao Qingshi with an expression that plainly said he was doomed, "You broke the gate. This is public property."

"Zhao Ping'an, stop putting on airs in front of me!" Zhao Qingshi snorted disdainfully. "It's just a wooden gate!"

Jiang Ping'an gave a mocking chuckle, ignored Zhao Qingshi, and turned to call loudly behind him, "Uncle Chen, there's work to do!"

"I'm coming, Young Master," Chen Donglai answered.

By then, Jiang Yiyi had run over after hearing the commotion. She pointed at Zhao Qingshi and reproached him unhappily, "You're such a bad person! You broke our gate the moment you came here!"

Seeing Jiang Ping'an make such a serious matter of it, Zhao Qingshi felt a little panicked. His expression darkened as he threatened, "Zhao Ping'an, I am the True Fate Young Master's trusted man, his right-hand man! If you dare mess with me, you'd better think about the consequences! I am here to deliver the True Fate Young Master's message!"

Jiang Ping'an paid him no heed. Seeing Chen Donglai run out of the house, he ordered, "Uncle Chen, hurry to the Hall of Law Enforcement and report that he violently kicked in our gate."

He had memorized the Taiwu Academy Regulations backward and forward. One of its rules strictly forbade the wanton destruction of public property. Zhao Qingshi was probably the first person to violate the Taiwu Academy Regulations, and he was merely a servant. It was easy to foresee that Zhao Qingshi would be made an example of and receive who knew how many times the usual punishment.

"Yes, Young Master!" Chen Donglai immediately replied and was about to head out.

Zhao Qingshi instantly released the aura of the Primordial Sea Realm and blocked the way with murderous intent. "You are not allowed to go to the Hall of Law Enforcement! Isn't it just a wooden gate? I'll compensate you ten times over!"

As he spoke, he tossed a gold ingot weighing around ten taels at Jiang Ping'an's feet.

"Yiyi, do we lack gold?" Jiang Ping'an asked Jiang Yiyi with a smile.

"We don't," Jiang Yiyi said.

Yet Jiang Ping'an shook his head. "Actually, we do lack it quite badly."

Jiang Yiyi and Chen Donglai looked surprised and puzzled, unable to guess what medicine Jiang Ping'an was selling from his gourd.

Zhao Qingshi, meanwhile, revealed a smug sneer, as though he had expected this all along.

He really was a piece of trash who had been raised like a pig and confined for twelve years since childhood.

"But wealth cannot corrupt us, poverty cannot shake us, and might cannot bend us," Jiang Ping'an said with perfect seriousness.

Then he turned to Zhao Qingshi and threw an utterly ordinary punch. "That's for blocking the way!"

Seeing Jiang Ping'an's fist coming at him, Zhao Qingshi could not help curling his lips into a cold smile. You were the one who struck first. Don't blame me for teaching you a lesson and smashing your fist to pieces!

With that thought, he gathered all his True Essence into his fist and met Jiang Ping'an's punch head-on.

Bang—

A thunderous boom rang out. The air shook, and even a blast wave surged forth.

Zhao Qingshi spat blood and flew backward three or four zhang on the spot, crashing heavily to the ground. Then he let out a pained scream, "Ah—my hand, my arm..."

Not only was the flesh of his fist mangled, exposing white bone, but his entire arm had gone limp and floppy, like a noodle that had been boiled too long.

Every bone in his arm had been shattered inch by inch from the impact.

Jiang Ping'an used the Willow Swaying Movement Technique to drift swiftly over, then slapped Zhao Qingshi across the jaw. "You're too noisy."

Zhao Qingshi's jaw dislocated with a crack, and he could no longer make a sound.

"Uncle Chen, hurry to the Hall of Law Enforcement and make the report," Jiang Ping'an turned and urged Chen Donglai.

Chen Donglai answered yes and immediately sprinted toward the Hall of Law Enforcement.

Fear rose in Zhao Qingshi's heart. Ignoring the pain, he scrambled to his feet and tried to flee.

"You'd better not run," Jiang Ping'an said blandly. "Otherwise, I wouldn't mind breaking both your legs as well."

Zhao Qingshi was so frightened that he immediately stopped, not daring to flee.

He looked at Jiang Ping'an, his heart filled with fear and anger. With his still-uninjured hand, he forced his jaw back into place.

"Y-you... you hid your strength and harbored evil intentions!" he could not help cursing. "I will definitely report this to the True Fate Young Master!"

Jiang Ping'an could not be bothered with Zhao Qingshi. To the maidservants from the neighboring courtyards who had come over after hearing the commotion, he apologized, "Sorry for disturbing you. But we've already reported it to the Hall of Law Enforcement, so it will be resolved soon."

"We would not dare." The two young and beautiful maidservants each respectfully performed a formal greeting. "Greetings, Young Master Jiang."

Jiang Ping'an asked in some confusion, "You know me?"

"Yes," the two maidservants replied respectfully. "After all, Young Master Jiang is to be the future neighbor of our young lady—our princess."

Jiang Ping'an understood. It seemed his two neighbors had excellent sources of information and had figured out their neighbor's background in less than two days.

Thinking this, he cupped his hands and said, "When I have time, I, Jiang, will pay a visit to your masters."

The two maidservants replied in unison, "This Servant Girl will certainly convey your words to my young lady—our princess."

Jiang Ping'an gave a slight nod and said no more to the two maidservants.

For now, he had little interest in knowing who his neighbors were, nor did he have the energy to make acquaintances.

Five years might sound long, but in truth, it was very short. Within those five years, he had to gain the strength to stand against the Zhennan Marquis Estate—at the very least, the strength to contend with Zhao Yingpeng—or he would be unable to escape the fate of being imprisoned again.

During his five years at Taiwu Academy, he would not keep a low profile and pretend to be mediocre. Yet in doing so, he had fiercely slapped Zhao Yingpeng across the face, and he had even changed his surname to Jiang. Zhao Yingpeng was narrow-minded and cared deeply about his pride; he would surely capture Jiang Ping'an again and imprison him in the Zhennan Marquis Estate.

Not long afterward, Chen Donglai returned with the Law Enforcement Team.

After the Law Enforcement Team exchanged a few simple words with Jiang Ping'an, they forcefully took Zhao Qingshi away.

The broken gate needed repairs, so Chen Donglai went to figure out how to fix it. Jiang Ping'an decided to go purchase ingredients for Essence Pills himself and take Jiang Yiyi out for a stroll while they were at it.

Though they had arrived in Yujing, they did not know what Yujing was really like at all.

The moment they left Taiwu Academy, Jiang Yiyi was stunned and captivated by Yujing's prosperity.

Jiang Ping'an was rather calm. After all, in his previous life, he had seen dazzling, extravagantly prosperous modern metropolises. He was in no hurry to purchase alchemy ingredients and first accompanied Jiang Yiyi around the city.

"Younger Male Cousin, look at those little black dogs! They're so cute!" Jiang Yiyi exclaimed excitedly, pointing at several pure-black puppies playing beneath the shade of a tree.

The puppies were probably just over a month old. Plump and adorably soft, they truly were cute enough to make people want to pet and hold them.

They had been out of Taiwu Academy for roughly an hour and had already noticed that Yujing had far more black dogs than White Emperor City.

Yet although Yujing had many black dogs, they did not disturb the public, nor did they ever take the initiative to attack people. They did not even relieve themselves wherever they pleased.

Jiang Yiyi said again, "Shall we catch one and take it back to the Residence to raise?"

"Sure. Maybe we can raise a second Black Emperor," Jiang Ping'an replied with a smile.

After saying that, he could not help falling into a daze. In his mind appeared an old black dog, somewhat shameless and wicked.

That old black dog had protected him for three years and talked a great deal of nonsense to keep him company and ease his boredom. Unfortunately, after leaving, it had never returned even once to visit him during the following nine years.

Coming back to himself, he looked at the pure-black puppies and muttered softly with a touch of mischief, "Those little black dogs couldn't be Old Black's offspring, could they?"

"Defamation! This is defamation!" Suddenly, an aged voice rang in Jiang Ping'an's ear, shouting in considerable fury. "Brat Zhao, you actually dare defame me behind my back!"