"Xu Da certainly hasn't been behaving himself."
Zhang Xing felt rather helpless too. It was not just Wang Shuyong. Over these past few days, from Puyang to Weinan, plenty of people had been more outrageous than Fifth Wang Lang. But Fifth Wang Lang was Fifth Wang Lang, after all; he could not be brushed off as before. "Still, the fellow confessed as soon as he arrived, so his attitude was proper enough... His biggest problems were excluding outsiders and pursuing his own faction's interests. To maintain private troops, he withheld taxes from the five eastern counties of Eastern Commandery, privately promised positions and assignments within the gang in exchange for personal allegiance, and smuggled liquor and grain on a large scale without reporting it to the organization or handing over a penny in taxes. Even the rewards attached to land grants bypassed the gang. Favor and authority alike came from him personally... Half the decline in Eastern Commandery's tax revenue can be laid at the feet of his private army. Greed blinded his judgment."
Wang Shuyong froze for a moment.
Xu Shiying finally opened his eyes as well, instinctively wanting to say something. But when he met Zhang Xing's casually returning gaze, he obediently shut his mouth again, merely sitting there with his eyes closed, his protective true qi coiled around him like a python.
He seemed to be practicing some marvelous technique, yet also looked as though he were keeping a pet.
After a moment, Fifth Wang Lang hesitated, then finally asked, "So, Third Brother, you really uncovered what he was doing by investigating the taxes?"
Zhang Xing also fell silent for a while, then sighed and answered with his hands behind his back. "Fifth Lang, did you think this trip was about some personnel or political conspiracy, and