Forcefully Storming the Hall, Placed on the Wanted List!

It was already the end of August.

Summer gave way to autumn, the air cool and crisp. The leaves had yet to fall, but the fruit was already ripe. It was the busy farming season. The common people lived hard lives, yet with grain and rice at home, there were smiles and joy on their faces.

Li Xian had cut down one vicious criminal after another, and his prestige had already spread far and wide. The officials and nobles of Qingning County feared his might. They recalled how, at that banquet, Li Xian had once said, "Make Qingning's sky a little bluer."

Thus, during this month's grain collection and tax gathering, great landowning clans, gangs, and yamen runners all dared not act recklessly. The bizarre spectacle of arbitrary collections, chaotic levies, and taxes shouted sky-high had been curbed somewhat.

The common people were deeply grateful and all knew it was Li Xian's doing. They only hoped the Martial Commandant would flourish forever. Li Xian had never deliberately built up his reputation; he acted entirely as his heart dictated. Hearing the people praise him, however, he felt only calm within:

"Within the bounds of my ability, helping the weak is merely something I do in passing. Right now, I may seem to have some influence in Qingning County, but it is far from secure. These people's lives still depend on their own fate. I have my own road to walk. I cannot carry all the common people upon my shoulders."

Let them curse him or praise him. In all he did, he listened only to his own heart. Curses like crashing waves could not shake his true heart; praise surging like a tide could not sweep away his original intent.

One Accord Manor.

Uncle Xiang handled the manor's accounts. Madam Wen's