Are you worthy?

The transfer of power is often accompanied by bloodshed and loss of life!

Su Mo was convinced Luo Lie was behind it, his face grim as he considered who to kill to establish his authority.

Was it the Five Peaks Gang?

Or Luo Lie, the deputy constable of the Fast Squad?

Or perhaps, kill them all!

The Five Peaks Gang was simple enough.

They were just a gang of thugs, so what if they had a lot of people?

As long as the authorities got serious, they could take them down in minutes.

Constables, archers, and militiamen totaled over a thousand men, with even more regular servants. Did the Five Peaks Gang dare to resist?

Not to mention the thousands of troops stationed outside the city!

Government backing, Immortal Path sorcerers?

Just boasting!

Even if it were true, so what!

The Nine Dragon Fiend, hailed as the greatest under heaven, could only scheme in the shadows!

On the other hand, taking down Luo Lie would be no easier than dealing with Magistrate's Clerk Big Wart Ma. He needed to devise a proper plan!

Su Mo was contemplating whether to consult his uncle.

Suddenly, a stern shout echoed.

Yao Shitou, dressed in a regular servant's uniform, his face quite displeased, was leading several servants, driving the crowd towards the steamed bun shop.

He glanced at the Five Peaks Gang members lying on the ground, their blood pooling.

Disdain and schadenfreude flashed in Yao Shitou's eyes.

He cursed inwardly, a headache starting to form!

It was those so-called chivalrous heroes causing trouble again!

Why stir up trouble now? On his very first day as a regular servant, something had happened. Yao Shitou couldn't be in a good mood!

In the eyes of the yamen runners, chivalrous heroes were definitely destabilizing elements.

And yet, most chivalrous heroes were quite skilled, moving with great agility, making them very difficult to deal with!

Judging by the scene, the person causing the trouble was a true expert!

After cursing, Yao Shitou waved his saber and roared at the surrounding commoners, "What are you looking at! Do you want to eat prison food!"

"Disperse quickly!"

"You lot, stay here and watch!" He then turned to a scrawny young man, "Go notify the Fast Squad yamen runners on duty in the East Market!"

In cases of sudden incidents like this, both the Strong Squad and the Fast Squad had the authority to handle them.

But Yao Shitou, being so cunning.

The man who had just promised to keep Su Mo's secret was now reporting him to the County Magistrate.

Knowing the Five Peaks Gang was not to be trifled with, he wouldn't seek trouble for himself and instead threw the headache to the Fast Squad!

Not long after, Luo Lie, his face dark, arrived quickly with several constables and over twenty servants!

Seeing Luo Lie appear.

Su Mo's expression immediately sank.

Just as he suspected, it was this guy's doing!

Upon arrival, Luo Lie first glared fiercely at the Five Peaks Gang thugs, then looked at Yao Shitou, "What exactly happened?"

Yao Shitou quickly replied, "It's all because of what's been happening these past few days!"

"It's truly outrageous. They extort fees, but they also smash people's stalls and capture their wives and daughters, leaving them no way to live. It's no wonder those chivalrous heroes couldn't stand it."

Saying this, Yao Shitou gave a wry smile, "This can't go on. We've already been severely reprimanded by the squad leader."

"They are your men, Constable Luo, you must take responsibility for them!"

"If the East Market truly descends into chaos, you might also incur the wrath of the officials!"

The East and West Markets were not only the "fat meat" of the three yamen squads but also the "fat meat" of the government.

Every year, the government collected over three thousand taels of silver in taxes from the two markets!

Considering that in Great Wu, the land tax was about three sheng per mu, the tax rate was quite low.

For a family with thirty mu of land.

They would pay about two shi of grain annually, equivalent to a little over one tael of silver.

Changping County had a population of one hundred thousand, tens of thousands of people. Most of the population consisted of unregistered households, and most of the land was unregistered or tax-exempt.

The land taxes officially submitted to the court amounted to fifty to sixty thousand taels of silver annually!

The two market districts alone generated over three thousand taels in commercial tax, more than half of the total two taxes, and most of it didn't even need to be remitted to the prefectural government!

One could imagine how much the government valued these two districts!

If anything happened in the two districts, the County Yamen would be furious.

Let alone Luo Lie, even Zhong Sanyuan would have to change positions!

"Son of a bitch!"

Luo Lie cursed hatefully, "Those bastards know I've lost influence, why would they listen to me anymore!"

"Don't think I can't deal with them just because they found a new backer!"

"One day, I'll make them realize how powerful I am!"

After speaking, he waved his hand fiercely, "Take them all back to the yamen!"

He paused, his gaze falling on the badly injured shopkeeper and his daughter, and frowned, "Send these two to the clinic, don't let them die!"

Su Mo couldn't help but be stunned.

It wasn't Luo Lie causing trouble?

"That's right!"

"I was thinking wrong!"

"Luo Lie, that old subordinate clerk, knows I'm from the Imperial Guard, why would he offend me to death for such a small amount of money!" Thinking of this, Su Mo frowned again, "Even if Luo Lie gave up East Market, he's still one of the two deputy constables of the Fast Squad!"

"Even if he's lost influence, it's not something a street gang can frame!"

"New backer?"

"What kind of backer makes Luo Lie so wary?"

Su Mo couldn't figure out the key to it.

Just as he was preparing to find an opportunity to meet Luo Lie alone.

He suddenly heard a loud voice enter his ears, "I didn't expect Constable Luo to be here too!"

Su Mo looked in the direction of the voice.

A middle-aged man, stout and pale-faced with no beard, was playing with two iron balls in his hand, walking towards them with a forced smile.

Behind him followed more than a dozen sturdy and tough-looking men who were clearly not upstanding citizens!

The surrounding onlookers showed fear and quickly made way!

The middle-aged man looked at the fallen thugs, then turned to Luo Lie.

"My subordinates were ignorant and disturbed your esteemed presence. I hope Constable Luo will forgive us."

"After I return, I will definitely teach them a harsh lesson!"

After speaking, he cupped his hands towards Luo Lie, then waved his hand, and the men who followed him stepped forward to carry the people away!

Luo Lie's expression turned grim, and he suddenly said in a deep voice, "Wait!"

He turned to the middle-aged man expressionlessly, "Sect Leader Jia, when did I say you could take these thugs away?"

Jia Kangyi's eyes narrowed slightly, then he smiled, "Constable Luo, there seems to be a misunderstanding."

"As far as I know, they ate the buns here yesterday and got stomach aches, so they came to argue with the shopkeeper."

"The shopkeeper refused to admit fault, which led to the conflict!"

"I believe Constable Luo should be apprehending the real culprits, not these victims."

As he spoke, he gave a look to someone beside him.

The person beside him directly took out two large ingots of silver and handed them to Luo Lie.

Luo Lie took the silver and weighed it, "Sect Leader Jia is very generous!"

"Isn't this twenty taels of silver?"

The constables who followed all stared enviously at the two large ingots of silver in Luo Lie's hand!

Jia Kangyi smiled, "Brothers constables, apprehending criminals and maintaining peace in the region is indeed hard work."

"This is just a small token of appreciation for your tea money, a meager offering."

Luo Lie nodded, "Since that's the case, then I will thank Sect Leader Jia on behalf of my brothers!"

Then he pocketed the silver.

Jia Kangyi then instructed his subordinates to take away the injured thugs.

However, Luo Lie's expression suddenly turned grim, and he snorted coldly, "Sect Leader Jia!"

"Tea money is tea money!"

"The case is the case!"

"These thugs are involved in a serious assault case. According to regulations, they must be taken back to the yamen and held in prison until the matter is clarified!"

"I hope Chief Jia will give this captain some face and not make things difficult for me!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Jia Kangyi's expression instantly changed.

His gaze, sinister and fierce, was fixed on Luo Lie.

"Captain Luo, what do you mean by that?"

Luo Lie let out a cold laugh, glancing dismissively at Jia Kangyi. "What do I mean?"

"Does this captain need to explain himself to you?"

"You were just a dog at my feet. Did you think climbing onto a patron would change your identity as a dog, and that you could dare to boss me around?"

Luo Lie's face instantly turned grim. He placed a large hand on his saber's hilt, killing intent flickering in his eyes. "Are you worthy?"