Slapping Qingzhou Prefecture's Fifth-Rank Prefectural Judge!

Faced with this situation, Su Fei naturally had no intention of indulging him.

Slap! Slap!

Two crisp slaps rang out. Li Dingfan was directly stunned by the two blows, red marks appearing on his face as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Feeling the burning pain on his face, he stared at Su Fei in disbelief.

"You're merely a sixth-rank Imperial Guard Hundred Households Officer! How dare you strike me, a fifth-rank Prefectural Judge? I want to see the Governor! I'll file a complaint against you!"

Su Fei's tone remained calm.

"Colluding with White Lotus Cultists is punishable by beheading according to the law. Two slaps are already letting you off lightly. You want to see the Governor? I'm afraid the Governor won't spare you a glance."

"Take him."

Two Imperial Guards stepped forward and, without another word, seized Li Dingfan's arms and fitted him with shackles.

The concubine who witnessed the scene turned pale with fright, trembling as she collapsed limply to the ground.

"Search! Search thoroughly!"

Su Fei gave the order.

"Do not leave a single inch of Li Mansion unchecked!"

Li Dingfan's face flushed crimson.

The Imperial Guards immediately scattered, turning over chests and cabinets as they searched.

The servants of Li Mansion were gathered under guard in one place. No one dared make a move.

Half an hour later, the searching Imperial Guards reported back one after another:

"My lord, five chests of silver were found in the east wing!"

"There are three chests of gold and two chests of jewels in the cellar beneath the western courtyard!"

"A chest of precious medicinal herbs was found in a hidden compartment in the study, along with quite a few antiques, calligraphy works, and paintings!"

Soon afterward, an Imperial Guard pulled out a small locked chest from a hidden compartment beneath the bedroom floorboards.

When it was opened, it was filled with Qingzhou Prefecture property deeds and land deeds—dozens in all, covering seven or eight residences, several thousand mu of fertile land, and dozens of shops.

What a haul.

When all those items were carried into the garden and piled into a small mountain, Li Dingfan's expression gradually shifted from initial fury to pallor, then finally to the gray of death. He slumped on the ground, utterly motionless.

He knew that this wealth was enough to confirm his crimes of corruption and perverting the law. Together with colluding with the White Lotus Sect, death was certain.

Su Fei looked at the illicit goods before him, his gaze growing colder.

A fifth-rank civil official earned less than a hundred taels of silver a month in salary.

Yet he had amassed such enormous wealth. It certainly could not have come through lawful means.

"Take the suspect and all illicit goods back to the Thousand Households Office."

Su Fei instructed.

"Put up seals and close off Li Mansion."

The Imperial Guards escorted the dazed Li Dingfan away, carrying chest after chest of illicit goods.

As they passed through the garden, Li Dingfan glanced at the flowers he had once treasured as dearly as his life. The final trace of hope in his eyes went out.

The Imperial Guards marched ahead with Li Dingfan in handcuffs and shackles, followed by more than ten Strongmen carrying heavy wooden chests.

The clinking of gold, silver, and jewels inside could be heard from far away.

The moment the group emerged from the alley outside Li Mansion, they were surrounded by curious local people.

"Isn't that Prefectural Judge Li? Why has he been arrested?"

"Look at all those chests behind him. So many of them—could his household have been confiscated?"

"Tsk, tsk. How much must he have embezzled to save up so much silver and jewelry?"

The discussions surged in like a tide—there was curiosity, contempt, and, more than anything, anger.

Li Dingfan had once cut quite a figure in Qingzhou Prefecture. Whenever he traveled, attendants surrounded him, with an eight-man sedan chair carried by sixteen burly men.

The local people would all detour around him when they saw him. When had he ever endured such public humiliation?

He lowered his head, his beard trembling with rage, his cheeks flushed red with shame and fury.

"So he's Li Dingfan? I heard his son forcibly took Butcher Zhang's daughter outside the city, and in the end, he settled it with just a few taels of silver."

"My neighbor Auntie Wang's land was forcibly seized by him under the pretext of building a river embankment. To this day, she hasn't received a single bit of compensation."

The insults gradually grew more vicious. Someone threw rotten vegetable leaves at him. Though they did not hit him, they lashed across his face like slaps.

Li Dingfan suddenly raised his head, wanting to rage at them, only to meet the resentful, venomous gazes of the people.

"Corrupt official!"

"Severely punish corrupt officials!"

Those condemnations were like needles piercing Li Dingfan's dignity. He only felt a sharp pain in his chest.

A sweet, fishy taste surged up his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

The escorting Imperial Guards were startled and hurriedly supported his swaying body.

Su Fei rode behind them, coldly watching the scene.

An official who did not stand up for the people, but instead colluded with rebels and squeezed the people dry, had only himself to blame for ending up like this.

He tugged lightly on the reins and said indifferently.

"Do not let him die. We still need to interrogate him after taking him back."

The Imperial Guards acknowledged the order and propped up the limp Li Dingfan as they continued onward.

The people automatically made way, watching the group loaded with illicit goods depart. Yet the discussions lingered for a long time.

"No wonder Qingzhou has grown poorer and poorer these past few years. So the money all went into the pockets of these official lords."

"These parasites should have been dealt with long ago."

"I agree. Last time, the Imperial Guard captured the flower thief Plum Blossom, and today they punished this corrupt official Li Dingfan. The Imperial Guard did well!"

Hearing the people's discussions, Su Fei gained a clear understanding of Li Dingfan's character.

When they returned to the Thousand Households Office, Commander Feng was already waiting at the entrance. Seeing the mountain of illicit goods, he immediately said to Su Fei,

"Lock the man in the Heavenly Prison. Register and record the illicit goods. When the others return, I will report everything to the court together."

Over the next few days, Su Fei received no new cases.

He took Wang Meng and the others to the entertainment house to listen to music, treating them in return.

After all, eighty percent of the wealth seized from Li Dingfan's residence had been handed over, while the remaining twenty percent was divided among the Imperial Guards. As the Hundred Households Officer leading the operation, Su Fei had made a handsome sum himself, so naturally he did not care about such a small expense.

Great Xuan Imperial City, Imperial Guard Southern Commandery Investigation Department.

Southern Commandery Investigation Commissioner Lei Chongxiao's fingers struck heavily against the Qingzhou Urgent Report on his desk.

Li Dingfan, White Lotus Sect, collusion with the enemy—these words had been circled in vermilion.

This man, who had controlled the Southern Commandery Investigation Department for more than a decade, erupted with such force that even the candles in the office dimmed.

Lei Chongxiao said angrily,

"A bunch of ingrates who eat from within and betray from within."

"It wasn't enough for the White Lotus Sect to wreak havoc in the martial world—they even stretched their hands into the ranks of court officials. Qingzhou Prefecture is rotten from top to bottom."

"It has rotted to the very roots."

The Imperial Guards standing below the steps remained silent as cicadas in winter. Everyone knew that this Commandery Investigation Commissioner was truly enraged.

After all, Lord Lei had always hated evil as though it were his mortal enemy.

The Yanzhou case of officials colluding with the White Lotus Sect, which had once shocked both court and country, had occurred because officials there had sheltered the White Lotus Sect.

In the end, Lei Chongxiao uprooted them completely. Only after more than a hundred heads had fallen did the storm finally subside.

Lei Chongxiao took a deep breath. When his gaze swept over the end of the memorial, where it described Imperial Guard Hundred Households Officer Su Fei repeatedly rendering outstanding service,

His expression eased somewhat.

"Su Fei again? Interesting. He solved the Qingzhou Arms Case last time as well, didn't he? It has only been a short while, and he has solved another case and earned more merit?"

"He captured Plum Blossom, destroyed the Ling Family Village stronghold, killed White Lotus envoy Qin Wushang, and exposed multiple officials involved in the case."

"An Imperial Guard Hundred Households Officer solving major cases one after another within little more than a month—especially this Official Collusion Case, where tugging one hair moves the whole body. Even old hands might not dare touch it, yet he went ahead and turned the whole thing upside down."

The junior clerk beside him hurriedly echoed his words.

"Your Excellency sees clearly. Not only is this Su Fei exceptionally bold, his martial talent is also extraordinary. He is only eighteen this year, yet already possesses Grandmaster Realm cultivation."

"He struck Qin Wushang, who was at the Grandmaster Realm fifth level, to death with his palm, and wiped out the Four Demons of the Northern Region in the flick of a finger."

"A martial arts prodigy."

Lei Chongxiao raised a brow and rolled the memorial into a scroll.

"High martial talent alone would be one thing, but judging from how he handles matters, he fears neither power nor nobility. That truly suits my temperament."

"He is the kind of material that can chew through hard bones. Our Southern Commandery Investigation Department happens to lack people like him."

The junior clerk was somewhat astonished.

"My lord, you mean..."

He suddenly rose to his feet.

"Prepare my horse. I am entering the palace to meet His Majesty."