To the northwest of Wutong Ward, a vast stretch of streets belonged to the Zheng Family, filled with all manner of shops.
Behind the district lay the Zheng Family estate, sprawling across a broad expanse of land. It consisted of several nested compounds, each three or four courtyards deep. Such a foundation had not been built in a single generation, but painstakingly accumulated over several generations.
In one somewhat lower courtyard, sandpits, punching bags, stone locks, and other martial training equipment had been set up. Quite a few men were practicing martial arts there. Some were members of the Zheng Family, while many others were guards and Martial Masters hired by the Zheng Family.
In another, quieter courtyard some distance away.
Zheng Hong sat behind a stone table, holding a tobacco pipe. He took a puff, exhaling clouds of smoke, and said, "A new official taking office, the City Guard merely conducts daily drills. Is that worth making such a fuss over? Go on, leave."
Before him stood a servant who had rushed over with the news. Hearing this, the servant promptly lowered his head in acknowledgment and withdrew.
The Zheng Family had been entrenched in Wutong Ward for many years, and their informants naturally spread everywhere. They might not know every minor matter within the City Guard, but whenever there was any major movement, they would generally hear of it quickly. The morning and evening drills of all three shifts of Yamen Runners were certainly no small commotion.
Yet Zheng Hong did not take it seriously.
Though the City Guard had quite a number of Yamen Runners, no amount of drilling could turn them into elite soldiers like the Protectorate Army, tempered through Skin Tempering and Flesh Tempering. That required silver—no small sum of it, either.
No matter how