Brushing Off a Beggar

Chen Luo found a lone housecarl, hid in the shadows, and clamped a hand around his neck, lifting him into the bushes with one arm. It was so fast the man didn't even react; when he came to, his eyes were still a little bewildered.

But the next second, seeing Chen Luo's fierce, malevolent gaze, the man started trembling all over.

"Mercy, Grandpa, mercy!"

As soon as he was released, the housecarl immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowing with loud thuds. Looking at him, he clearly hadn't been held hostage infrequently lately; his movements were quite practiced. But this was normal. Qingya County was in chaos, with soldiers everywhere arresting 'rebels'. Desperate men who couldn't survive naturally looked to the source for food.

"I have a question for you."

Chen Luo kicked him, signaling him to get up and speak.

"Where is the Qingya County Magistrate?"

"At Nuanqiu Pavilion! Go straight from here, and you'll reach it when you see the round gate."

The housecarl sold out his master without the slightest hesitation. In the process, he even seemed afraid Chen Luo wouldn't find the place and described the appearance of the three gates in detail.

After noting the route, Chen Luo raised his right hand, knocked the housecarl out, and tossed him into the bushes. Afterward, he grabbed two more people and questioned them the same way, getting the same information.

Confirming there were no mistakes, he controlled his body, lightly gliding towards Nuanqiu Pavilion.

Nuanqiu Pavilion was a small courtyard in the back quarters.

Its layout was very similar to a courtyard house, with a main hall, side rooms on either side, and a small courtyard in the middle. There was a circular flowerbed planted with some ornamental plants. Chen Luo didn't recognize them; they looked like foxtail grass.

"This guy named Fan is too overbearing! He's using Qingya County's territory to do business, and he only gives me this little money! Is he trying to fob off a beggar?"

An exasperated voice came from inside the room.

"Why bother getting angry with him, Boss? That guy named Fan is just a vulgar martial artist; he's reached the end of his rope in this life. What can he pursue besides money? But you, Boss, are different. If this matter is handled well, you might even get a chance to be enfeoffed as a prince or appointed as a prime minister in the future."

Another voice sounded, which sounded like the Boss's advisor.

"It's not that I don't understand the reasoning; I just can't swallow this anger."

The first voice softened considerably.

"If you really can't swallow this anger, Boss, why not try this method? We can..."

Bang!!

Before the words were finished, the nearby window was smashed open, and a figure like a ghost burst through the window. Shattered wood and paper-cut window decorations scattered everywhere. The person who infiltrated didn't waste a single word, grabbing the speaker's throat and twisting hard.

With a 'crack', the secretary who was speaking a second ago was silenced, his neck twisted behind his head.

Killed the wrong person?

Chen Luo glanced at the clothes of the person in his hand, frowning slightly.

He had charged in following the sound, not expecting to only kill a secretary. Fortunately, the other person hadn't escaped; he could just kill him again.

"Who are you?!"

Magistrate Lou backed away in terror.

He had seen many fierce bandits, but this was the first time he had encountered someone who went straight for the kill.

Could he be here specifically to take lives? I still have so much silver I haven't spent...

Chen Luo had no intention of wasting words with him. He always did things cleanly and efficiently.

With a flick of his single hand, the dead secretary was thrown out like trash. His body hit the table and chairs before rolling to the side, ruining the two pots of tea that had been brewed on the table.

Chen Luo couldn't even be bothered to collect the 'brains' of these useless people who didn't even know martial arts. These two weaklings were actually plotting against that Imperial Court expert. They were lucky the Imperial Court's rules protected them; otherwise, with their suicidal behavior, ten lives wouldn't be enough to pay the price.

Sensing the killing intent on Chen Luo, Prefect Lou had already retreated to the corner of the wall. Looking at Chen Luo walking towards him, he opened his mouth, ready to beg for mercy.

"Good sir..."

Before he could finish speaking, his vision went black, and then he lost sight of the person in front of him. The next instant, a sharp pain came from his chest, and then he flew straight up.

With a dull 'boom', Prefect Lou's obese body slammed directly against the back wall. His eyes were wide open, and a trickle of blood slid down the corner of his mouth.

"Calling me 'good sir' won't help either."

His blood-stained hand retracted, and a hint of disappointment flashed in Chen Luo's eyes.

He had originally thought Prefect Lou had some martial arts skill, but it turned out he was just an ordinary scholar.

The corpse slid down the wall, leaving a shocking trail of blood.

After killing the man, Chen Luo looked around the room, his gaze settling on the table. There was a full money bag there, entirely filled with 1,000 tael silver notes. A rough estimate put it at least 100,000 taels!

So much money?!

Chen Luo was a bit surprised.

This was no small sum; ordinary people might never see this much money in their lifetime.

Recalling the conversation the two had before he came in, he immediately understood where this money came from. It was likely the money sent over by that martial general named Fan to 'fob off a beggar'.

"This much money is just to fob off a beggar? Where are beggars making this much money! Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Chen Luo had a new understanding of the concept of money held by Prefect Lou and his group.

He stepped forward and tucked the money bag into his embrace. The silver notes inside were unregistered. Naturally, Prefect Lou and his group wouldn't use registered silver notes for this kind of business.

After collecting the money, Chen Luo glanced outside the door.

After collecting the money, Chen Luo glanced outside the door.

There had been quite a commotion just now, but no one had come over yet. This showed how much authority Prefect Lou usually wielded; ordinary servants didn't dare to interfere with their master's affairs, not daring to listen or ask questions. Another powerful aura also showed no signs of moving, whether they hadn't heard or simply didn't want to get involved was unclear.

Because of this, Chen Luo was no longer in such a hurry to leave.

He hadn't found Junior Sister He yet. Just coming in to snatch some money, how could that be justified?

His gaze swept around the room, finally settling on the bookshelf at the back.

Chen Luo walked over, opened the bookshelf, took out a book, and flipped through it. It was about romance and had no practical value. Skipping that one, Chen Luo looked through several more books. Unfortunately, most were just ordinary books for scholars.

Chen Luo then walked to the second bookshelf and took down the books from it.

This cabinet was entirely filled with account books.

They were recorded in great detail, showing the income and expenses of various departments in Qingya County, as well as evidence of bribes received by some important individuals. In the official circles of Qingya County, these could fetch a lot of money, but to Chen Luo, these things were no different from waste paper.

The third, the fourth.

He continued until he reached the last bookshelf, where he finally discovered something different.

"What is this?"

Chen Luo opened the book blocking the way on the outside and took out a wooden box from a hidden compartment inside. It even had a copper lock on it.

Could it be some kind of treasure!

Chen Luo's spirits lifted instantly.

Without a word, he channeled his Internal Qi into his fingers and squeezed hard.

With a crack, the copper lock broke in response.

"Letters?"

The contents of the box slightly disappointed Chen Luo. Inside were neither treasures nor martial arts manuals, but a thick stack of letters.

Chen Luo quickly skimmed through a few letters and soon caught an important name within them.

Prince Ning!