A moment later, Lu Feng finished reading the letter.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and a cold glint flashed in them.
"So that's what happened! No wonder the original owner's father died under such mysterious circumstances."
The letter described three events. The first was that a Flying Bandit had appeared in Baiyue County City a year ago. He had stolen not only gold, silver, and treasure, but also martial arts manuals from several Noble Families in the city.
In response, the great Noble Families in the city joined forces with the authorities to hunt down the Flying Bandit.
And this Flying Bandit wasn't just one person. He was part of a group, and in the end, that group fled into Qinglu County.
This led to the second event recorded in the letter. To assist with the authorities' efforts to capture the Bandit Group, Qinglu County sent out a large number of Constables to help with the manhunt.
Among the Constables sent out was Lu Feng's father.
In the end, it took less than a month for the Bandit Group to be caught. The authorities and elite disciples from the great Noble Families cornered them and wiped them out.
But the loot seized from the bandits included martial arts manuals belonging to several Noble Families, and some unexpected incidents occurred during the pursuit.
Some disciples from the Noble Families, in an effort to keep their family's Cultivation Methods from leaking out, attacked several Constables without regard for right or wrong.
As a result, many of the Constables sent out on the mission lost their lives.
But to keep the matter from spreading and causing a scandal, the Prefect of Baiyue County went along with the Noble Families' account, claiming that the dead Constables had been killed by the bandits.
The final matter in the letter was that Lu Feng's father had been among the dead Constables. The Noble Family disciple who killed him happened to be from the Zhou Family of Baiyue County.
And County Assistant Zhou Yongsi of Qinglu County was a Direct Descendant of the Zhou Family.
After reading the letter, Lu Feng wasn't sure if its contents were true. But the Flying Bandit had indeed existed a year ago; even the original owner remembered that much.
Based on what he knew, County Lieutenant Li Muyuan's letter was most likely genuine.
By telling him all this, the other man was naturally trying to earn his favor, so he could draw him in later.
But Lu Feng saw something else in it. If County Lieutenant Li Muyuan knew about this, then County Magistrate Wang Lichuan and County Assistant Zhou Yongsi must have known as well.
After all, Wang Lichuan had been Qinglu County's County Magistrate a year ago.
If the County Magistrate knew what had happened, why hadn't he told Lu Feng? Was he afraid of offending the Zhou Family?
"Ah, it seems every world has its share of this kind of rotten mess. Now that I'm caught up in it, getting out won't be easy."
He had originally come to this world hoping to live out his days in peace, but trouble kept finding him, one thing after another.
First his uncle's family and the Caobang Gang had tried to harm him, and now he had fallen into the whirlpool between the authorities and the Noble Families.
After thinking it over for a while, Lu Feng calmed down. County Lieutenant Li Muyuan had told him all this to drive a wedge between him and County Magistrate Wang Lichuan.
That way, he would have no choice but to throw in his lot with the County Lieutenant.
As for Chief Clerk Lu Yan, he was a neutral party. Even if Lu Feng had a good relationship with him, he might not be willing to offend Zhou Yongsi on Lu Feng's behalf.
"Forget it. A blacksmith needs to be strong himself. If my strength and status surpass those of these Noble Families, what would it matter if I wiped them out?"
With that, Lu Feng put his thoughts in order, then closed his eyes and resumed cultivating.
[You circulated Peiyuan Gong once. Proficiency +1] [You circulated Peiyuan Gong once. Proficiency +1] ...
Early the next morning, Lu Feng returned to the County Yamen. Six Constables stood outside his door.
Two of them were Fan Tao and Chen Han.
At the sight of them, Lu Feng's thoughts stirred. The other four must be the subordinates County Magistrate Wang Lichuan had assigned him.
He walked over to the six men and gave them a quick once-over.
The men clasped their hands in greeting.
"Greetings, Captain Lu!"
Lu Feng gave a slight nod. "Mm. Starting today, the six of you are members of my team. Your task is simple: you'll be responsible for patrolling East Street."
The men's eyes lit up.
Of Qinglu County's four districts, East Street was the easiest to patrol.
West Street and South Street were the hardest to manage. West Street was home to the Caobang Gang and a large number of day laborers, and fights broke out there all the time.
South Street was the Commercial District. It was dirty and chaotic, and all kinds of people gathered there, so it was difficult to manage as well.
Then Lu Feng looked at the men and said, "This morning, Chen Han, Huang Bin, and Li Xingwen will patrol East Street. The other three will handle the afternoon patrol."
The six men were delighted and clasped their hands in agreement.
Before this, they had to patrol the streets for the entire day. Now they only had to work half a day, which was a much lighter workload.
After Chen Han and the other two left, Lu Feng beckoned to Fan Tao. "Fan Tao, come with me."
Fan Tao immediately followed him into the room. The other two Constables exchanged a glance, then returned to the Yamen Room.
Inside, Lu Feng gestured for Fan Tao to sit. "Fan Tao, how much do you know about County Assistant Zhou Yongsi and County Lieutenant Li Muyuan?"
Fan Tao was usually well informed, so he likely knew quite a bit about what went on in the County Yamen.
Hearing the question, Fan Tao thought for a moment before replying, "Captain Lu, those two officials have a rather complicated relationship."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
Fan Tao continued, "The County Lieutenant and County Assistant have never gotten along. I heard the two officials took up their posts in Qinglu County at the same time. At first, they fought fiercely, but neither could bring the other down. After that, their rivalry became less intense."
Lu Feng stroked his chin, looking thoughtful. "Do you know anything about their backgrounds?"
"I do know a little. Lord Zhou, the County Lieutenant, is from the Zhou Family of Baiyue County City, while Lord Li, the County Lieutenant, is from the Li Family there. Both families are among the Three Great Noble Families of the city."
Lu Feng understood. "I see. Then those two families must have had a grudge for a long time, or the two officials wouldn't be at each other's throats."
"Exactly! It must be something like that. But the County Lieutenant's martial arts are stronger." Fan Tao added.
Lu Feng looked puzzled. "Oh? I heard the County Assistant had already become a Ninth-Rank Martial Artist. If that's true, has the County Lieutenant already advanced to Martial Master?"
Fan Tao nodded. "Yes. I've never seen the two of them spar, but that's what everyone believes."
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