A Pear Blossom Pressing Down on the Begonia

"A black-clad swordsman?"

"Yes."

"Even you were no match for him?"

"His swordsmanship was ordinary, but his movement technique was incredibly fast. If we had fought to the death, I would have been evenly matched with him."

"Could he be from the Sun Moon Divine Cult?"

"Probably not. Actually... my adoptive father has seen him too."

"I have?"

"He was the one who defeated 'Little Giant Spirit God' Fan Zhutian with a single sword during this year's October martial arts tournament to find a bride."

"Oh, I remember him now. What was his name again? Li... something Fish?"

Lin Youlan said coldly, "Zhang Liyu!"

At the center of Dragon Scale Hall hung a plaque engraved with four characters: "The Dragon Soars Across the Four Seas." It was the work of Mount Song Sect's leader, Zuo Lengchan, and the Dragon Scale Association had obtained it by paying Mount Song Sect thirty thousand taels of silver every year.

Two people sat in the seats of honor beneath the plaque.

One old and one young, both dressed in red.

Lin Kun wore a red robe embroidered with twin lotus blossoms along the edges.

The twenty-eight-year-old woman beside him was his newly taken concubine, Fourth Miss Sikong Qingqing, the daughter of Shennong Gang's leader, Sikong Huan.

Lin Kun had no principal wife. Given Sikong Qingqing's status, and because she had served him exceptionally well the previous night, he had allowed her to take the position of principal wife and accept tea from the disciples of the Dragon Scale Association.

At this moment, those seated on either side included Lin Family's eldest daughter, Lin Youlan, another vice president, Ni Jinbiao, and, below them, Lin Kun's four adopted sons, along with five or six prominent experts of the association. These were the leading figures of the Dragon Scale Association.

Lin Youlan sat in the upper seat on the right, closest to Sikong Qingqing. She looked at this stepmother who was even younger than herself, a trace of sorrow in her eyes. After hearing the name "Zhang Liyu," that sorrow turned into resentment.

Lin Kun nodded. "His name is Zhang Liyu. That day on the arena, I saw that he and Fan Zhutian each had their own strengths, so I wanted to recruit them both into the Dragon Scale Association. Who would have thought he would join the Wild Wolf Gang? And seriously injure you?"

"This child was incompetent."

Peng Canghu stood in the hall with his chest wrapped in bandages, asking for punishment.

Ni Jinbiao stroked his beard and chuckled. "Joining the Wild Wolf Gang at a time like this shows that he is an ignorant fool who cannot read the situation."

Ni Jinbiao's martial arts were mediocre, but he had studied before, and his family was extremely wealthy. He enjoyed considerable prestige in Pingyang Prefecture.

Lin Kun frowned, puzzled. "I saw his skills on the arena that day. Although he had a few redeeming qualities, they were nothing more than childish tricks. Only two months have passed, and he is already evenly matched with you?"

Peng Canghu was equally baffled. There was no way to explain it, so he could only say, "Perhaps this person is a martial arts prodigy."

Lin Kun's brows knitted even more tightly at those words.

Seeing this, Peng Canghu hurriedly fell to his knees. "Adoptive father, I request permission to attack Wolf Head Mountain. If I do not capture Zhao Xia and Zhang Liyu, I will not withdraw my troops!"

Lin Kun thought for a moment, then sneered. "Wolf Head Mountain should indeed be attacked! According to what you said, in another two months, even I might not be Zhang Liyu's match?"

"Adoptive father's martial arts are peerless. Your Dragon Catcher Hand has defeated every opponent in Pingyang's one prefecture and nine counties. Even if Zhang Liyu trained for another ten years, he still wouldn't be able to match your little finger."

Peng Canghu regretted his words. He had no idea what he had said wrong.

Lin Kun had always been a deep and calculating man. When external enemies had been present, he had still appeared broad-minded. Now, his suspicious and spiteful nature had been fully exposed.

Lin Kun chuckled. "You are injured, so it would be inconvenient for you. This time, I will go personally. Otherwise, after not making a move for so long, the martial world may have forgotten about the 'Dragon Catcher Hand.'"

Peng Canghu lowered his head and dared not speak.

Ni Jinbiao reminded him, "President, Wolf Head Mountain has treacherous terrain, and there is only one narrow path into the mountain. As long as the Wild Wolf Gang prepares rolling logs and huge boulders, we will have to pay a tremendous price to force our way up."

"Force our way up won't work, but we can take it by guile!"

Lin Kun looked at his new bride and said gently, "Qingqing, the brothers of Shennong Gang are ready, aren't they?"

"Reporting to my husband, everything is ready. We await only your command."

Sikong Qingqing was extremely gentle and alluring. Hearing her call him "husband" again and again, Lin Kun felt his bones go soft. He felt as though he had become more than twenty years younger overnight.

If he could capture that Zhao Xia girl as well—one as fiery and fierce as steel, the other as gentle and yielding as water—wouldn't that be the greatest of pleasures?

And Zhao Xia was also Zhao Laodao's daughter. When the time came, he would do it right in front of his enemy's head...

After the Wild Wolf Gang entered Pingyang City, the Dragon Scale Association had nearly been annihilated several times.

After suppressing himself for more than a decade, a certain shackle in his heart had broken open, and certain evil things

In short, Lin Kun had stopped pretending. He was laying all his cards on the table.

In any case, this martial world believed that the victor was king and the loser was a bandit. He belonged to the Righteous Path, and he had even been certified by Mount Song Sect's leader, Zuo Lengchan. As long as he remained the overlord of Pingyang City and retained some value as an ally, no matter how filthy his deeds were, righteous people would find arguments to defend him.

Thinking of this, his heart burned with excitement.

Lin Kun rose and ordered, "Good. Today, your husband will gather the troops, crush Wolf Head Mountain, and capture Zhao Xia and Zhang Liyu alive!"

The Dragon Scale Association had twenty Dan Energy disciples. Other than Lin Kun and Peng Canghu, it also had an Elder surnamed Sun at the Armor-Breaking Realm, as well as several external martial arts experts. Even its ordinary disciples were somewhat versed in martial arts. In one-on-one fights, they were no weaker than veteran frontier soldiers. They were an imposing force in Pingyang Prefecture.

Pingyang City's northern gate.

A group of people marched beneath the Dragon Scale Association's banner, their clothes and armor bright, their swords and blades fully equipped, as they left the city in a mighty procession.

The seven or eight soldiers guarding the gate hurriedly moved aside the caltrops and sensibly drove the commoners to both sides.

Beyond the city, everything was blanketed in white.

On a distant hill, seven or eight riders reined in their horses and watched.

"More than five hundred men are stationed in Pingyang Prefecture City year-round, swaggering through the streets with swords and spears. Under the founding emperor's laws, that is a crime punishable by exterminating nine generations of their families. Yet they do not take this prefecture in the slightest. If this continues, where will the authority of the imperial court be?"

The speaker was a Confucian scholar in his fifties. He was none other than Pingyang's newly appointed prefect, Fang Zhilian. He had lived in the Capital City for many years and had pulled some strings to be transferred from the position of Vice Director in the Ministry of Works to become a prefect.

Fang Zhilian had been preparing to line his pockets, but he discovered that the profitable businesses in Pingyang Prefecture were basically monopolized by the Dragon Scale Association. Lin Kun did not pay much attention to him either. Aside from sending eight hundred taels as a gift on the day he took office, Lin Kun had shown him nothing further.

"The local gang is going too far! Commander Ji, can your Imperial Guards do something to rein them in?"

In the two capitals and thirteen provinces of Great Ming, during the founding emperor's reign, only fifteen garrison commanders had originally been established, ranking as senior fourth-grade officials.

Later, as trouble arose throughout the realm, Imperial Guards commander offices were established at various dangerous passes and famous cities in addition to the fifteen garrison commanders. These officials ranked as junior fifth-grade.

Ji Ling smiled. "Lord Fang, you have spent so long in the central government that you do not understand local conditions. Times have changed. A gang like the Dragon Scale Association can still be considered law-abiding and submissive. There are even worse ones—gangs that besiege government offices or disguise themselves as bandits to kill officials. Such things happen from time to time."

"This... this..."

Fang Zhilian was momentarily speechless. He had taken office alone and had no foundation in Pingyang Prefecture. It seemed that the Pingyang Imperial Guards were unwilling to offend the Dragon Scale Association for his sake.

"Are we really going to let them continue acting so arrogantly and tyrannically?"

Ji Ling smiled. "Matters have their priorities and degrees of urgency. The higher-ups have ordered that our first priority is dealing with the Sun Moon Divine Cult and winning over every force that can be won over. Once the Sun Moon Divine Cult is destroyed, we can slowly clean up these dregs."

Fang Zhilian let out a sigh of relief. "Commander Ji, your insight is far beyond mine."