Fobbing Off Beggars

Chen Luo found a lone servant, hid in the shadows, and seized the man by the throat. With one hand, he hauled him into the grass. He moved so quickly that the servant had no time to react; even after coming back to his senses, the man's eyes were still somewhat dazed.

But the very next second, after seeing Chen Luo's ferocious, demon-like gaze, his whole body trembled.

"Grandpa, spare my life! Grandpa, spare my life!"

The instant Chen Luo released him, the servant dropped to his knees and began banging his head against the ground with a series of thuds. Judging by how he moved, he had clearly been taken hostage quite a few times lately; his actions were exceptionally practiced. That was only normal, though. Qingya County was now a pot of porridge, with government soldiers everywhere hunting down "Rebels." Those desperate heroes who could no longer survive naturally sought food at the source.

"I have a question for you."

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

"Where is the Qingya County Magistrate?"

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

Without the slightest hesitation, the servant sold out his own master. He even seemed afraid Chen Luo would fail to find the place, carefully describing the three gates along the way.

After memorizing the route, Chen Luo raised his right hand, knocked the servant unconscious, and tossed him into the nearby grass. Then he seized two more people and questioned them the same way. The information he received was identical.

Once he had confirmed there was no mistake, he controlled his movements and drifted lightly toward Nuanqiu Pavilion.

Nuanqiu Pavilion was a small courtyard in the rear residence.

Its layout was very similar to a courtyard house: one main hall, side rooms on either side, and a small yard in the middle. There was a round flower bed planted with ornamental vegetation that Chen Luo did not recognize. It looked rather like foxtail grass to him.

"That Fan bastard is far too overbearing! He's doing things on Qingya County's land, yet he only gives me this little money! Is he fobbing off beggars?"

An enraged voice came from inside the room.

"Boss, why get angry with him? That Fan fellow is merely a crude martial brute. He has already reached the end of the road in this life. What can he pursue besides money? But you are different, Boss. So long as this matter is handled well, perhaps you may one day earn an opportunity to be crowned king and appointed minister."

Another voice sounded, apparently the advisor beside the boss.

"It isn't as if I don't understand the reasoning. I simply cannot swallow this grievance."

The first voice had softened considerably.

"If Boss truly cannot swallow this grievance, why not try this method? We can—"

Bang!!

Before he could finish, the nearby window was smashed open. A figure burst through it like a ghost. Splintered wood and paper-cut window decorations scattered everywhere. The intruder did not waste a single word. He grabbed the speaker by the throat and twisted hard.

With a sharp crack, the Secretary who had been speaking one moment fell silent the next, his neck twisted all the way around behind him.

Killed the wrong person?

Chen Luo glanced at the clothes of the man in his hand and frowned slightly.

He had followed the voice and charged in to kill, never expecting that he would only crush to death a Secretary. Fortunately, the other man had not escaped either. At worst, he could simply kill again.

"Who are you?!"

Magistrate Lou staggered backward in terror.

He had seen plenty of vicious bandits, but this was the first time he had encountered someone who came in and immediately sought a life.

Could he have come specifically to murder me? I still have so much silver left to spend...

Chen Luo had no intention of wasting words with him. He had always been clean and decisive in doing things.

With a flick of one hand, he threw the dead Secretary away like garbage. The body struck the table and chairs before rolling aside, ruining the two pots of tea that had been brewed on the table.

Chen Luo was too lazy even to collect the "brains" of trash who did not know martial arts. These two weaklings still wanted to scheme against an Imperial Court expert. It was only thanks to the Imperial Court's rules that they were protected; otherwise, with their suicidal behavior, even ten lives would not have been enough to pay for it.

Having detected the killing intent on Chen Luo, Prefect Lou had already backed into the corner of the wall. Looking at Chen Luo walking toward him, he opened his mouth to beg for mercy.

"Hero—"

Before he could get the words out, his vision went black, and the man before him vanished from sight. The next instant, agonizing pain erupted from his chest, and he was sent flying straight up.

With a muffled boom, Prefect Lou's fat body slammed directly into the rear wall. His eyes bulged wide, and a streak of blood slid down from the corner of the mouth.

"Calling me a hero won't help."

Chen Luo withdrew his bloodstained palm, disappointment flashing through his eyes.

He had originally thought Prefect Lou knew some martial arts. He had not expected him to truly be nothing more than an ordinary scholar.

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

After killing them, Chen Luo looked around the room. His gaze settled on the table. There sat a bulging money pouch, filled entirely with thousand-tael silver notes. A rough estimate put it at no less than a hundred thousand taels!

So much money?!

Even Chen Luo was startled.

This was no small sum. Ordinary people might never see this much money in their entire lives.

Thinking back to what the two men had discussed before he entered, he immediately understood where the money had come from. It was most likely the money that Military General Fan had sent over to "fob off beggars."

"So much money, and it's only for fobbing off beggars? What kind of beggars make this much money? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Chen Luo gained a new understanding of the money concepts held by people like Prefect Lou.

He stepped forward, tucked the money pouch into his robes, and pocketed it. The silver notes inside were all bearer notes. Naturally, Prefect Lou and his lot would not use registered notes for this sort of thing.

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

The commotion just now had not been small, yet no one had come even now. It was clear how imposing Prefect Lou usually was; ordinary servants simply did not dare involve themselves in their master's affairs. They did not dare listen, nor did they dare ask. That other powerful aura also showed no sign of moving. Whether its owner had not heard or simply did not wish to interfere, Chen Luo did not know.

With that being the case, Chen Luo was no longer in such a hurry to leave.

Junior Sister He had not yet been found. He could not possibly come all this way just to rob a little money, could he?

His gaze swept around the room and settled on the bookcase at the back.

Chen Luo walked over, opened the bookcase, took out a book, and flipped through it. It spoke of romantic affairs and moonlit pleasures, with nothing of value. Skipping it, Chen Luo checked several more books. Unfortunately, most were ordinary reading material for scholars.

Chen Luo then walked over to the second bookcase and removed the books on it.

This cabinet was filled entirely with account books.

The records were extremely detailed: the income and expenses of every department in Qingya County, as well as evidence of certain important people accepting bribes. In Qingya County's official circles, these could be exchanged for quite a bit of money. But to Chen Luo, they were no different from wastepaper.

The third one, then the fourth.

He continued until he reached the final bookcase, where he finally found something different.

"What is this?"

Chen Luo opened the ledger blocking the outermost section and took a wooden box from a hidden compartment inside. It even had a bronze lock on it.

Could this be some kind of treasure?!

Chen Luo immediately perked up.

Without another word, he poured Internal Qi into his fingers and squeezed hard.

With a crack, the bronze lock broke apart.

"Letters?"

What lay inside the box disappointed Chen Luo slightly. It was neither treasure nor martial arts secret manuals, but a thick stack of letters.

Chen Luo roughly skimmed several of them and quickly caught an important name within.

Prince Ning!