A Courtyard Armed to the Teeth

Light snow fell from the sky as Qian Bochou led his horse down the street.

After finishing the search of the Xia residence, he conferred with the Vice Prefect of the Prefectural Yamen on how to compensate the families of the seven deceased constables.

These seven constables had worked with Qian Bochou for many years, so he naturally wanted to secure more compensation for them from the Prefectural Yamen.

According to the laws of the Great Zhou, constables who died in the line of duty were to receive thirty taels of silver each, and if they had children, their positions could be inherited.

The Vice Prefect's intention was to give each household ten taels of silver, but of course, when reporting to superiors, they would inflate the amount, claiming fifty taels were given to each household.

Qian Bochou couldn't refute this, as the Vice Prefect was his direct superior.

On the horse's back were seven bags, filled with gold and jewels.

This was half of the chest he had received as his share, divided into seven portions.

Soon, he arrived before a dilapidated hut. Sitting at the entrance was a blind old woman.

The old woman held a walking stick and reached out, feeling the air. "Xu'er, Xu'er, is that you back?"

"Aunt Qin, it's me." Qian Bochou's hearty voice rang out, and he laughed heartily. "That boy Liu Xu has been recognized by a noble from the imperial court and has entered the Capital City to serve."

"The mission came on short notice, so he rushed to the Capital City. He specifically sent me to bring you some money, and later he'll bring you to the Capital City to enjoy a good life."

"Constable Qian?" Aunt Qin's face lit up with joy upon hearing this. "Is it true?"

"It's true," Qian Bochou said, taking a bag of gold and silver from his horse and handing it to Aunt Qin.

After taking the bag, Aunt Qin weighed it and was stunned. She asked in disbelief, "Constable Qian, how much silver is this?"

"By my calculation, it's probably a hundred taels of silver," Qian Bochou replied. "It's all a reward from that noble in the Capital City."

Clang.

The gold and silver in the bag fell to the ground. Aunt Qin realized something. She reached out, grabbing something in front of her, and picked up her walking stick. Trembling, she stood up. "Constable Qian, has something happened to my Xu'er?"

Qian Bochou's face was grim, but he forced a smile and laughed heartily. "How could that be? That kid..."

"I may be blind, old woman, but my heart is not." Aunt Qin trembled slightly. "In our Great Zhou's yamen, people can't even get good assignments with money, so why would they give rewards after assigning a good post?"

"Has something happened to Xu'er?"

"Constable Qian, please don't lie to me."

Qian Bochou knew that Aunt Qin's husband had died long ago, and she had worked tirelessly sewing clothes day and night, earning a meager sum to raise Liu Xu alone.

He was also afraid she couldn't bear the shock, which was why he hadn't spoken directly.

Seeing that she had figured it out, he gritted his teeth and nodded. "Aunt Qin, don't worry. From now on, all the constables in the Prefectural Yamen will be your son's."

"They will all serve you in your old age."

Aunt Qin grabbed Qian Bochou's hand. "How did my son die?"

Qian Bochou truthfully replied, "He died at the hands of Demons and Monsters."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Qin's expression became dazed. She stumbled, slowly walking back towards the dilapidated hut behind her, ignoring the gold and silver on the ground.

Qian Bochou sighed and picked up the money from the ground, bringing it back into the house.

Aunt Qin sat in a daze before the wardrobe inside the house, taking out Liu Xu's clothes from when he was alive.

All his clothes, from birth to adulthood, were still kept.

From his infant clothes to his youth's cloth shirts, and then his current official uniform.

Aunt Qin caressed the clothes as if caressing Liu Xu, muttering to herself:

"This child was so slow, he only learned to call me 'mother' at three. Before he could call me 'father', his father passed away."

"He was always sickly since he was young, and I spent a lot on medicine."

"So I asked someone to teach him some martial arts, thinking it would improve his health."

"I never expected him to want to become a constable at the yamen. He claimed that way, no one would dare look down on us as a widowed mother and son."

Listening to the old woman's murmurs, Qian Bochou's heart felt heavy.

He sighed and quietly placed the money by the bedside before leaving.

He still had to go through six more such experiences.

He visited each family one by one. Some families, upon hearing the news, wept uncontrollably, beating their chests and stomping their feet.

There were even those who cursed Qian Bochou, asking why it was their son, their husband, their brother who died.

Why not someone else?

Why did they have to die?

Why didn't Qian Bochou die?

To this, Qian Bochou could only remain silent.

Finally, he reached the last family, Constable Sun's home.

He only had a wife. Qian Bochou pushed open the door and entered the courtyard, but unexpectedly, he heard a commotion from inside.

Qian Bochou pushed the door open and entered the room, only to see Constable Sun's wife hastily dressing, along with a naked man.

When the woman saw that it was Qian Bochou who had entered, she said nervously, "Head, Head, you must not tell my old Sun about this, I..."

Qian Bochou had seen too many joys and sorrows today, and simply said, "Constable Sun is dead. I've come to inform you."

"Ah?" The woman's exclamation was three parts shock and seven parts joy.

"Dead? It's good that he's dead, it's good that he's dead." Her lover nearby subconsciously exclaimed.

Qian Bochou, who had been preparing to leave, looked sharply at the man. "What did you say?"

The man realized he had said the wrong thing and changed his tune, "I mean..."

"Get dressed and come back to the Yamen with me," Qian Bochou said coldly. "You're under arrest."

The lover anxiously took a silver ingot from his clothes and stuffed it into Qian Bochou's hand. "Constable Qian, consider it a small token of my appreciation."

Seeing Qian Bochou unmoved.

He took out another silver ingot. "I'll add a bit more. Just turn a blind eye..."

Qian Bochou, who had been suppressing his emotions, finally erupted.

He grabbed the lover by the neck and slammed him hard against the wall, roaring at the top of his lungs, "Do I look like someone whose eyes are only on money!"

"I'm asking you, do I!"

The lover, struggling to breathe, squeezed out, "They, they all say you do."

Swish.

His saber was drawn and pressed against the lover's neck. "You colluded with bandits outside the city. According to the laws of our Great Zhou, it's a capital offense."

The lover's face changed drastically. "I'm the pawnshop owner from the next street. You can't slander me like this."

"You won't admit it? Once you're in our Prefectural Yamen's dungeon, you'll confess to any crime!"

In the Jiang Family's small courtyard, Jiang Yun had been busy for nearly an hour.

He first found a lot of cinnabar, mixed it with chicken blood, glutinous rice, and other items, creating a large vat of dark, unidentifiable liquid.

Then, he sprinkled this mixture in a circle around the courtyard.

Next, he began reinforcing the doors and windows, and drawing all sorts of talismans on them.

Unfortunately, his Magical Power was weak. If he could have set up a formation, the entire courtyard could have been as solid as gold.

Jiang Qiaoqiao helped by handing Jiang Yun various tools.

Some chicken blood got on her cheeks, but she didn't even notice.

"Brother, what are you so busy with?"

"Why did you spend thirty copper coins to buy so much chicken blood to sprinkle on the ground?"

"It's so nutritious if you drink it."

"You're drawing so many strange characters, you've made the windows dirty."

Jiang Yun, while busy, chuckled, "What do you know? This is the latest calligraphy. Go, stick those two willow branches in the backyard."

Jiang Qiaoqiao pouted. Although she couldn't understand, she was very obedient to Jiang Yun and ran off carrying two willow branches to the backyard.

Jiang Yun glanced around. The front and back yards already had quite a few traps and mechanisms prepared. It should be about enough.

After that, he also got a very long iron rod and installed it on the roof.

It looked just like a lightning rod.

The entire courtyard, though appearing unremarkable, was actually armed to the teeth with items that could deal with evil beings.

If any evil beings attacked, they would never be able to return.

Jiang Yun also felt regretful at this moment, his Magical Power was insufficient. Otherwise, if he could have set up the mountain-protecting grand formation from his previous life's Daoist Temple...

Just then, a clear voice sounded from outside the courtyard.

"Jiang Yun..."

Jiang Yun turned his head and saw that it was Xu Suwen.

He was about to greet her, but seeing Xu Suwen preparing to step into the courtyard, he hurriedly shouted, "Don't come in! Be careful!"

But it was too late. Xu Suwen's foot had already stepped into the courtyard.