The man outside had clearly lost his patience.
With a thunderous boom, the already battered door, hinges and bolt alike, exploded inward! Splinters flew everywhere, mingling with the night's chill and pouring into the room.
Three men filed in. The leader was a little over thirty, with triangular eyes, a hooked nose, and a face full of unbridled arrogance. His robe hung open, revealing a tattoo of a fierce tiger descending a mountain across his chest. He carried a gleaming broadsword, its tip angled toward the ground. He was none other than Feizi, a notorious ruffian chief of Fierce Tiger Hall.
The two lackeys behind him were equally thick-necked, their hands resting on their waist blades as their eyes swept across the tiny courtyard before finally settling on Ye Qingxuan.
"Kid, you've got some nerve." Feizi tapped the shattered door on the ground with his blade tip, baring a mouthful of yellow teeth. "You even dared lay hands on someone from Fierce Tiger Hall. Tired of living?"
Ye Qingxuan did not look at him. Instead, he turned back first and glanced at the tightly shut door to the inner room. Through the crack, he saw his younger sister Ye Caiwei's frightened eyes.
He turned back around. Rather than retreating, he stepped forward into the blade's point.
That single step froze the vicious grin on Feizi's face.
He had expected to see a youngster scared witless, but all he saw was a pair of calm eyes. There was no fear in them, no plea for mercy—only the deep, still silence of an unfathomable pool.
"Under the Great Gan Law, Household Law Chapter, Third Clause: 'Anyone who enters a civilian residence without cause shall receive thirty strokes!'"
Ye Qingxuan's voice was not loud, yet every word rang clear as metal and stone striking together, echoing endlessly through the silent courtyard.
"Breaking down a door while armed and entering a residence to threaten its occupants—this is the conduct of a violent bully. The sentence is increased by one degree: sixty strokes and twenty blows with the staff!"
Feizi and the two lackeys behind him were all stunned. They made their way through the streets by their fists and fearsome reputations. When had anyone ever argued with them about the "Great Gan Law"?
Ye Qingxuan slowly drew the wooden tablet representing his identity in the Fengtian Division from his robes and raised it before Feizi's eyes.
"I, Ye Qingxuan, am a constable on duty for the Southern District unit of the Fengtian Division."
He took another step forward. The invisible pressure made Feizi instinctively pull his broadsword back half an inch.
"The Fengtian Division upholds the laws of the dynasty and carries out the Son of Heaven's commands. We patrol the prefectural city and apprehend lawbreakers. You broke down a door in the dead of night—what exactly do you intend to do?"
"You..." Feizi was choked by the relentless string of words, his face turning blue, then white. A temporary worker who was not even registered dared to flaunt his official authority before him? Yet every single word the other man spoke stood firmly on the side of "reason."
One of the lackeys behind him could not hold back any longer. He stepped forward, cursing, "Don't try to use the authorities to lord it over people! You're just a temporary worker—what the hell do you count for? Hu Jiudao was my brother. He died without a clear explanation. If you don't give us an answer today, this isn't over!"
"An answer?" Ye Qingxuan's gaze finally shifted from Feizi's face to the shouting lackey. "What answer do you want? The man died in a fire. The Fengtian Division's coroner will examine the body, and the Chief Constable will make the decision. Since when did Fierce Tiger Hall get to come to the home of a Fengtian Division constable and demand an answer?"
His voice suddenly rose. "Or are you saying Fierce Tiger Hall wants to replace the Fengtian Division and take control of criminal justice throughout Linyuan Prefecture?!"
That accusation was heavy and vicious.
The lackey's face instantly flushed the color of pig's liver. He was merely a street ruffian. How could he bear a charge like that?
The corner of Feizi's eye twitched. He knew they probably would not get what they wanted today. This kid was no soft persimmon for anyone to squeeze. He was more like a hedgehog covered in spikes—touch him, and you got pricked.
What was more, people from Fierce Tiger Hall had already inspected Hu Jiudao's courtyard. Three charred corpses had been burned beyond recognition. Other than wine jars and oil lamps, there were no clues at the scene. Hall Master Duan's intention had been to probe the kid first. If he grew nervous and showed a flaw, they would take him down immediately. But now it seemed the kid was not only untroubled—he was tougher than anyone.
"Good, good. What a sharp-tongued brat." Feizi hoisted his broadsword onto his shoulder and said with a mirthless smile, "We'll count today's business as our brothers being rash. But remember this, you hear me: this Southern District unit isn't a place where one temporary worker gets to lecture people about reason."
He shot a glance at his two men and turned to leave.
"Stop."
Ye Qingxuan's voice came from behind him.
Feizi turned around, murderous light shining from his triangular eyes. "What, you want to keep us brothers here for tea?"
Ye Qingxuan pointed at the shattered courtyard gate on the ground.
"Everything belonging to a Fengtian Division office is public property. This gate is worth three taels and seven qian. If you do not pay compensation at that price within three days, or restore the original gate, I will personally take this tablet and report you to Chief Constable Zhang. I will charge you with 'damaging public property and showing contempt for the authorities' and ask the Chief Constable to issue a wanted notice for you."
The muscles on Feizi's face began to twitch violently.
Three taels and seven qian! He actually dared demand that much for one broken wooden gate! This was daylight robbery!
Yet he had chosen a cudgel that left Feizi with nowhere to argue. That wooden tablet was a protective talisman. If he dared make a move here today, the matter would blow up completely. If rival gangs fought and a few people died, the authorities might turn a blind eye. But openly assaulting an official, especially when the other side had seized every advantage in "law and reason," would be a slap in the face of the entire Fengtian Division.
What Hall Master Duan hated most were brainless idiots who caused major trouble for the hall.
"Count yourself vicious!" Feizi squeezed the three words through his teeth. With his two equally aggrieved lackeys, he crossed the threshold and slunk away.
Their curses echoed through the alley as they disappeared into the distance.
Silence settled over the courtyard once more.
Ye Qingxuan stood where he was, unmoving, until the footsteps had vanished completely. Only then did his rigid back slowly relax.
The inner-room door creaked open.
Ye Caiwei poked her little head out from behind it. Only after seeing that no one remained outside did she run over and throw her arms around Ye Qingxuan's leg.
"Brother..."
"It's all right now." Ye Qingxuan bent down, picked her up, and carried her to the stone bench in the courtyard before sitting down.
He knew this was far from over.
Feizi and his men had merely been pawns sent to test the waters. Once they reported back, Duan Tianbao would certainly take his next step. Whoever came next probably would not be someone he could deal with by talking about "reason."
He set Ye Caiwei down and said gently, "Nannan, go back inside and shut the door. No matter what sounds you hear, do not come out."
Ye Caiwei obediently nodded. Looking back three times with every step, she returned to the inner room and gently closed the door.
Ye Qingxuan rose and walked to the kitchen. From the woodpile, he drew out the hatchet used for chopping firewood.
The blade was heavy, with several notches left behind from splitting hardwood.
Carrying the hatchet, he neither returned inside nor went to repair the broken gate.
He dragged over a bench and sat squarely in the center of the courtyard, facing the entrance with his blade at the ready.
The night wind poured in through the gaping doorway, whipping his clothes with a sharp, rustling sound.
He laid the hatchet across his knees and gently ran his left hand over its rough surface.
Come on.
I'd like to see whether, beneath the clear skies and bright law of this prefectural city, Fierce Tiger Hall truly dares to test the law with your own bodies!
Before you continue