Lu Feng's Invitation from His Uncle!

The next morning, Lu Feng slowly woke up. His head still throbbed faintly, but he felt much better than he had the day before.

After a quick wash, he put on his constable's uniform, picked up his ox-tail saber, and headed for the yamen.

A quarter of an hour later, Lu Feng arrived at the gates of Qinglu County Yamen. Looking up at the tall, imposing entrance, he sighed.

"Alas, I was worked like an ox and horse in my last life, and now I have to be one again. When will it ever end?"

As he spoke, he stepped into the County Yamen. The moment he entered, he spotted two familiar faces.

They were both constables at the County Yamen, named Chen Han and Fan Tao.

Their martial arts were a little stronger than his, having already reached the ranks of Fourth-Rank Martial Artists.

When they saw Lu Feng enter, Fan Tao immediately raised a hand in greeting. "Lu Feng, why are you so early today? That's not like you!"

Lu Feng glanced at the two of them and calmly replied, "I got up early today, so I came to the yamen to check in ahead of time."

The three of them then went to the Yamen Room together, where they waited for the captain to take attendance and assign the day's tasks.

As they waited, Chen Han and Fan Tao chatted with Lu Feng from time to time. Lu Feng responded while quietly observing their expressions.

He had been attacked by a bandit last night, and someone had clearly wanted him dead. His relationship with the two men was neither good nor bad, so he couldn't rule them out.

While the three were chatting, the other Yamen Runners and constables began arriving at the yamen one after another.

Lu Feng studied all of them, but didn't notice anything unusual.

Before long, a tall, imposing middle-aged man entered the Yamen Room.

Everyone straightened up and bowed. "Greetings, Captain Wang!"

The middle-aged man looked them over, then casually waved a hand. "Right. Since everyone's here, let's take attendance and assign today's tasks."

With that, he called out names and assigned tasks to those present.

When he got to Lu Feng, Captain Wang paused before continuing, "Lu Feng, patrol West Street with Fan Tao today."

Lu Feng and Fan Tao cupped their hands in unison. "Yes, we accept the assignment!"

When the yamen had no cases to work on, constables were also responsible for patrolling the county.

Still, Captain Wang's brief pause when calling his name had left Lu Feng puzzled.

Was Captain Wang involved with the person who had tried to kill him?

If so, he was in danger.

Captain Wang was an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist, far stronger than he was.

But he couldn't yet identify the person behind the attack. Besides, even if Captain Wang wanted him dead, he wouldn't dare attack him openly.

After all, Lu Feng was a minor official at the County Yamen, part of the establishment.

Once they had their assignments, Lu Feng and Fan Tao left the County Yamen and headed for West Street.

Fan Tao suddenly spoke. "Lu Feng, things have been unsettled lately with the Caobang Gang on West Street. I heard an outside gang came to cause trouble. We'd better be careful while we're patrolling."

The Caobang Gang Fan Tao mentioned was the gang that had treated Lu Feng to a meal last night. Though it was a criminal gang, it controlled river transport in Qinglu County and the surrounding areas, bringing in a decent amount of tax revenue for the county each year.

That was why the officials of Qinglu County allowed the Caobang Gang to operate.

Lu Feng looked puzzled. "An outside gang causing trouble? How come I haven't heard about it?"

Fan Tao glanced at him and shook his head with a laugh. "Heh. All you do every day is gamble or visit brothels. How would you know about any of that?"

"Uh, all right."

Lu Feng scratched his head and smiled. Fan Tao was right. The original Lu Feng had done nothing but gamble and visit brothels, paying no attention to anything else.

As for where his silver came from, he had used his uniform to shake down merchants and gangs for bribes.

As they talked, they arrived at West Street. Though it was still early morning, the work chants of the dockworkers were already ringing out in the distance.

When they reached the docks, they saw three large ships moored in the river.

Crates of goods were carried out of the ships one by one, unloaded onto ox carts, and hauled away.

As Lu Feng watched the docks, two men dressed in Caobang Gang uniforms walked up and cupped their hands.

"Greetings, Constable Lu and Constable Fan!"

Fan Tao gave a slight nod. "We're on duty in West Street today. Let us know if anything comes up."

"Yes, understood!"

While the two men spoke, Lu Feng kept studying the Caobang Gang members, but noticed nothing unusual.

After they finished talking, Lu Feng and Fan Tao continued their patrol of West Street.

Two hours later, they finished patrolling and returned to the County Yamen.

The moment Lu Feng entered, a familiar voice rang in his ears.

"Well, cousin, you're finally back! Your older cousin's been waiting for you for ages."

Lu Feng turned and saw his cousin, Lu Qiming. He was the son of Lu Feng's uncle, three years older than him.

His uncle's family had never been particularly close to his own, and Lu Qiming rarely came to the yamen to see him. Whenever they met, he usually spoke in a sarcastic, needling way.

Puzzled, Lu Feng stepped forward and asked, "Cousin, what do you need?"

Lu Qiming looked him up and down, then said with a smile, "Heh, can't I just come see my cousin?"

Lu Feng furrowed his brows. "If you have something to say, just say it. My shift isn't over yet."

"Fine. My father wants to see you, so he sent me to tell you."

Lu Feng raised an eyebrow. "My uncle wants to see me?"

"Mm, that's right. Come with me after your shift."

Lu Feng neither accepted nor refused. Instead, he fell into thought.

When Lu Feng's father had been alive, he hadn't been close to his uncle's family. After his father passed away, the two families had barely kept in touch at all.

Now his uncle had suddenly asked to see him, and Lu Feng couldn't figure out why.

Still, his uncle was an elder, so he might as well go see him.

"All right. Cousin, wait here a moment."

With that, Lu Feng returned to the Yamen Room to hand over his duties, then followed his cousin Lu Qiming to his uncle's home.

Lu Qiming walked ahead and didn't make any effort to talk to him, which left Lu Feng feeling rather speechless.

A quarter of an hour later, Lu Feng followed Lu Qiming to the gate of a Residence.

It was much larger than Lu Feng's own courtyard.

The Residence was also quite tastefully decorated. It was clearly the home of a wealthy family.

"Heh, what are you looking at? Hurry up and come in to pay your respects to your uncle!" Lu Qiming said with a sneer.

Lu Feng said nothing. He pursed his lips and followed him inside.

They made their way to the main hall, where a middle-aged man was seated.

The man wore a long robe and looked like a refined, middle-aged scholar.

He was none other than Lu Feng's uncle, Lu Tianming.

Seeing the man, Lu Feng cupped his hands and bowed. "Your nephew, Lu Feng, pays his respects to Uncle!"