The Might of Fengtian, Suppressing Bandits

The person outside the door had clearly lost patience.

With a loud bang, the already old door, along with its bolt, exploded inward! Wood chips flew, mixing with the cold night air and pouring in.

Three burly men entered in single file. The one leading them was in his early thirties, with triangular eyes, a hooked nose, and a face full of arrogance. His chest was open, revealing a tattoo of a tiger descending a mountain. In his hand, he carried a gleaming saber, its tip pointed diagonally at the ground. This was the notorious thug from Fierce Tiger Hall, known as "Feizi."

His two followers behind him also had brutish faces, hands on their waists, their eyes scanning the small courtyard before finally landing on Ye Qingxuan.

"Kid, you've got some nerve," Feizi said, tapping the shattered door with his saber tip. A grin spread across his face, revealing yellow teeth. "You dare lay a hand on someone from Fierce Tiger Hall? You tired of living?"

Ye Qingxuan didn't look at him. Instead, he glanced back at the tightly shut inner room door. Through the crack, he saw his sister, Ye Caiwei's, terrified eyes.

He turned back, and instead of retreating, he took a step forward, towards the saber tip.

This step froze the sneer on Feizi's face.

He had expected to see a boy cowering in fear, but instead, he saw a pair of calm eyes. There was no fear, no pleading, only the stillness of a deep pool.

"Great Gan Law, Household Law Chapter, Article Three: 'Those who trespass into a private residence without cause shall be given thirty strokes of the rod!'"

Ye Qingxuan's voice was not loud, but each word was clear, like the clash of metal, echoing in the silent courtyard.

"'Wielding weapons to break down a door and threatening entry into a home is an act of brigandage, punishable by an additional sixty strokes of the rod and twenty of the cane!'"

Feizi and his two followers were stunned. They made their living through brute force and intimidation; when had anyone ever lectured them on the "Great Gan Law"?

Ye Qingxuan slowly reached into his huai and pulled out the wooden token that represented his identity with the Fengtian Division, holding it up before Feizi.

"I am Ye Qingxuan, a constable on duty in the Southern District of the Fengtian Division."

He took another step forward, and an invisible pressure made Feizi instinctively pull his saber back slightly.

"The Fengtian Division upholds the laws of the dynasty and carries out the Emperor's commands, patrolling the prefectural city and apprehending the lawless. What is your intention in breaking into a home in the dead of night?"

"You..." Feizi was choked by his string of words, his face turning from green to white. A temporary worker, not even officially registered, dared to throw his weight around in front of him? Yet, every word Ye Qingxuan spoke was based on "reason."

One of his followers couldn't stand it and stepped forward, cursing, "Stop trying to bully us with the government! You're just a temporary worker, what are you? Hu Jiudao was my brother, and he died under mysterious circumstances. If you don't give us an explanation today, this isn't over!"

"An explanation?" Ye Qingxuan's gaze finally shifted from Feizi to the shouting follower. "What explanation do you want? The man died in a fire. The Fengtian Division's coroner will conduct an examination, and the Chief Constable will make the final judgment. Since when has it been Fierce Tiger Hall's place to come to a Fengtian Division constable's home demanding an explanation?"

His voice suddenly rose. "Or do you, Fierce Tiger Hall, intend to usurp the Fengtian Division and wield the power of judgment over Linyuan Prefecture?!"

This heavy accusation landed with crushing force.

The follower's face instantly turned the color of a pig's liver. He was just a street thug, how could he possibly bear such a charge?

Feizi's eye twitched. He knew this was not going to end well. This kid wasn't a pushover; he was like a hedgehog, prickly and dangerous to touch.

Moreover, the Fierce Tiger Hall members had already visited Hu Jiudao's courtyard. Three charred corpses, burned beyond recognition, with nothing at the scene except wine jars and oil lamps. Hall Master Duan's intention was to probe this kid's defenses first. If he showed fear, they would apprehend him directly. But now, it seemed this kid wasn't scared at all; he was tougher than anyone.

"Alright, a sharp-tongued kid indeed," Feizi said, slinging his saber over his shoulder, a forced smile on his face. "We were rash today, brothers. But remember this, kid, this Southern District isn't a place for a temporary worker like you to preach reason."

He gave his two subordinates a look and turned to leave.

"Stop."

Ye Qingxuan's voice came from behind them.

Feizi turned around, a fierce glint in his triangular eyes. "What, you want to keep us for tea?"

Ye Qingxuan pointed at the shattered courtyard gate on the ground.

"The property belonging to the Fengtian Division's office is public property. This gate is worth three taels and seven qian. If it is not compensated at that price or repaired within three days, I will personally present this token to Chief Constable Zhang and request a warrant for your arrest for 'damaging public property and defying officials.'"

Feizi's facial muscles twitched violently.

Three taels and seven qian! He dared to demand such an exorbitant price for a broken wooden door! This was clearly extortion!

But the extortion was so perfectly legal that he had no grounds to argue. That wooden token was a shield. If he dared to resort to violence here today, the matter would escalate completely. Gang fights and a few deaths might be overlooked by the authorities. But publicly assaulting an official, especially when the official was entirely in the right according to the "law," was an insult to the entire Fengtian Division.

Hall Master Duan abhorred such thoughtless fools who brought major trouble to the hall.

"You win!" Feizi gritted out the words through his teeth, and with his two equally resentful subordinates, he slunk across the threshold and left.

The sound of their receding curses could be heard from the alley.

Silence returned to the courtyard.

Ye Qingxuan stood still, unmoving, until the footsteps completely disappeared. Only then did his tense back slowly relax.

The inner room door creaked open.

Ye Caiwei peeked her head out from behind the door. Seeing that no one was outside, she ran out and hugged Ye Qingxuan's leg.

"Brother..."

"It's alright now." Ye Qingxuan bent down, picked her up, and sat on the stone bench in the courtyard.

He knew the matter was far from over.

Feizi and his group were just scouts. Once they reported back, Duan Tianbao would undoubtedly take the next step. The next visitors would likely not be deterred by "reason."

He put Ye Caiwei down and said softly, "Nannan, go back inside, close the door tight, and don't come out no matter what you hear."

Ye Caiwei nodded obediently, cast a backward glance, and walked back into the inner room, gently closing the door.

Ye Qingxuan stood up, walked to the kitchen, and pulled out the cleaver used for chopping firewood from the woodpile.

The blade was heavy, and it bore several nicks from chopping hard wood.

He carried the cleaver, not returning to the house, nor going to fix the broken door.

He moved a bench over and, with a swagger, sat in the center of the courtyard directly facing the entrance.

The night wind poured in through the open doorway, rustling his clothes.

He laid the cleaver across his knees, his left hand gently stroking its rough surface.

Come on.

I'd like to see, under this county's jurisdiction, in broad daylight, whether your Fierce Tiger Hall dares to break the law!