Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu
On the night of the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Prefectural Governor of Pingxi Prefecture Ye Tiancheng was caught. It wasn’t until the 19th that the announcement was posted. All of Pingxi Prefecture was shocked by the news. And it was during the same day that Patrol Inspector Sun Bingchen was officially moved from the Chu Manor to the Prefectural Governor’s Office in Pingxi City. He personally assumed command of the office. Meanwhile, Ye Tiancheng and his accomplices were locked up and guarded inside the jail within the city.
For the sake of stabilizing the situation in Pingxi City, Huangfu Qianqi put out an order on the night of the 18th and moved three barracks from his subordinates’ county at Pingxi Prefecture to the city. Unfortunately, Gong Tieshan’s Gong Barracks in Huanglong County was moved to Pingxi City as well.
Other than that, the soldiers’ defense station in the ten barracks situated near Pingxi City also underwent some adjustments. The soldiers in four barracks, who were originally stationed outside of the city, were moved into the city. A few of the important pathways near the gathering area for Shatu people in the city were heavily guarded by a large number of troops to prevent Shatu people from taking advantage of the disorder to cause trouble.
Sun Bingchen already had plans on what to do after Ye Tiancheng was captured. He had arranged everything in good order as he had made preparations and management decisions for various types of emergencies. Because of that, when it was announced that Ye Tiancheng had been detained by the Patrol Inspector, Pingxi City wasn’t met with the least bit of disturbance. Everything moved along peacefully and calmly.
As for most of the citizens in Pingxi City, they weren’t too concerned with the matter of who would become the next Prefectural Governor. Their only concern was their own livelihoods and personal lives. As long as their livelihoods weren’t affected, such events were just after-dinner conversations for them. Moreover, due to the incident with the son of the Prefectural Governor, the Ye Clan and Ye Tiancheng’s reputation in Pingxi City had sunk to the bottom of the abyss. Even though Ye Tiancheng had already made the Wang Clan of Huanglong County his scapegoat while he struggled to clean up his mess, the citizen’s perception and understanding toward him could not be altered that easily. They weren’t fools either — your son did so many evil things in the city, who would believe you when you, the father, said that your son was influenced by bad people without your knowledge?
Other than that, the Shatu people had been acting increasingly arrogant and violent in the city for the past few years. Ye Tiancheng had done nothing to stop them as the Prefectural Governor. In fact, he continued to fan the flames of the Shatu people and condone their every move. The citizens witnessed all of that. His son was in trouble this time because they had colluded with the Shatu people. Therefore, when the announcement indicating that Ye Tiancheng had colluded with the Shatu people was released, as well as his treason to the country and withholding truth from the emperor and the citizens of Pingxi City, these people were ecstatic and delighted about it that they quickly went around to spread the news. Nearly none of them complained about the injustice that had been done against Ye Tiancheng.
How could Pingxi City become a mess again even in this kind of situation?
Yan Liqiang only knew about it two days later. During the same night, the Provincial Governor of Gan Province, Lei Sitong, was also caught in a trap, subsequently allowing the other ‘two Ye’ amongst the ‘three Ye’ in the Ye Clan — Supreme Judge Ye Tianhao from the Law Enforcement Office in Gan Province and Military Governor Ye Tianfa from the Military Governor’s Office in the same province — to be caught as well. Their crimes were also cited to be colluding with the Shatu people, treason to the country, and withholding the truth from the emperor. After these three people from the Ye Clan were captured, the entire clan was thrown into chaos. On the 19th day, Provincial Governor of Gan Province Lei Sitong personally led twenty thousand armies and raided four hundred li of the Weiyuan Prefecture, surrounding the Ye Fortress in an enclosure.
Compared to what happened in Pingxi City, everything that was happening in Weiyuan Prefecture truly shook the entire province.
And just when Gan Province and Pingxi City were undergoing major changes, Yan Liqiang, who was involved in one of those incidents, suddenly found himself with some free time as he had nothing to do anymore.
Yan Liqiang was also aware that he was too young, not powerful enough, and lacked any sort of authority. In the eyes of others, he was still considered an adolescent kid. His cleverness and intelligence were not worth mentioning in the meantime. It also made sense that Sun Bingchen did not organize any work for him because the trust of others toward his capability and moral characteristic could never be built in just one day. Even so, Yan Liqiang was patient.
Perhaps others would inevitably feel disappointed when they put themselves in Yan Liqiang’s shoes as they constantly wanted to show what they were capable of. However, in Yan Liqiang’s case, he wasn’t disappointed at all. In fact, he didn’t want to pretend as if he was a hotshot in front of Sun Bingchen. Ever since the move to the Prefectural Governor’s Office, he hadn’t had any contact with the outside world nor with his own family. If Sun Bingchen and Liang Yijie didn’t have anything arranged for him, he would rather stay in his small courtyard and cultivate his Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing, ‘Ten Dragons Ten Elephants Divine Technique’, and ‘The Golden Bell Divine Protection Technique’ in peace. When nighttime arrived, he would then wander to the Heavenly Realm and continue cultivating his career at the Divine Sword Sect. He wanted the best of both worlds, and he would refuse to loosen his grip on both of them.
Thus, he spent his time immersing in his cultivation. In just a few days, regardless of whether it was in real life or in the Heavenly Realm, his dantian Qihai that was akin to that of a dried-up lake had been slowly replenished and moisturized by his vital Qi. His Qi sensation in his dantian Qihai had become increasingly stronger as well. The ‘Golden Bell Divine Protection Technique’ that he had cultivated began to develop a unique sensation too.
Sun Bingchen could not help but subtly approve of Yan Liqiang’s performance these past few days. He initially thought that a young man at Yan Liqiang’s age would be more lively and unable to calm down. In this sort of situation, a young man would easily make a slip-up or cause trouble for his superior. However, he didn’t expect Yan Liqiang to be this calm and steady. He simply didn’t act like how a young man should. Indeed, this kind of behavior was more reassuring.
……
In the morning of the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month, due to the lack of work from Sun Bingchen, Yan Liqiang went to his small courtyard after he did his morning regime and had breakfast. He started striking the Iron Arms Technique and Iron Palms Technique from ‘The Golden Bell Divine Protection Technique’ under a pine tree. His arms and palms rhythmically pounded against the pine tree trunk. In just less than ten minutes, Goldie, who was guarding the entrance of the small courtyard, started barking.
Yan Liqiang stopped when he heard Goldie bark. He knew Liang Yijie had arrived, so he halted whatever he was doing and rolled down his sleeves.
“Liqiang, the dog you raised is very clever. It’s just like a security guard if you place him right at the door!” Liang Yijie’s voice could be heard even before he arrived.
“Brother Liang!”
“Mm, are you alright now…”
“I’m fine. I’m currently working on my muscles…” Yan Liqiang smiled.
“Were you sick of doing nothing for the past few days?”
“Not really. I couldn’t help Lord Sun with anything these few days, so I thought I shouldn’t create more trouble for him!”
“Hahaha…” Liang Yijie guffawed, then nodded his head, “I just came from a meeting with Lord Sun. He mentioned you in our conversation and even praised you for being calm when encountering a predicament. He wants you to go out with me and handle a task to gain experience and strengthen yourself!”
“Alright!” Yan Liqiang didn’t ask what sort of task they needed to do and simply put on his coat. He allowed Goldie to stay at the small courtyard and took his long sword before he followed Liang Yijie out from the Prefectural Governor’s Office.
About ten or so guards that belonged to Sun Bingchen were already waiting at the door. Upon seeing Liang Yijie and Yan Liqiang come out, all of them quickly hopped onto their mounts and headed toward the outskirts of the city.
“Brother Liang, what is our task?” It was at that moment that Yan Liqiang finally asked Liang Yijie a question.
“We are going to raid that bastard’s, Ye Tiancheng’s lair…”
Upon hearing those words, Yan Liqiang was shocked for a moment. Within a few seconds, he understood where this group of people was heading.
Ye Tiancheng’s residence at Pingxi City was the Prefectural Governor’s Office on the surface — in front of the office was the tribunal while his residence was located behind the office. However, in reality, Ye Tiancheng had another relatively hidden residence outside of the city. Not a lot of people knew about it though.
The group of people wearing official clothing rushed along the main street of the city on their rhinodrake steeds, armed with their swords. The whole scene was quite cool. Wherever they went, they would garner stares from the citizens along the street. When they heard the galloping from the steeds, they quickly made way for the rhinodrake steeds to pass through. Along the way, Yan Liqiang could hear exclamations of ‘Wow…’, ‘So these are the guards of Patrol Inspector Sun…’, ‘They are all good men…’, ‘They are the ones who took down that scum Ye Tiancheng…’, and other praises and exclaims of amazement.
Even though he was riding on his rhinodrake steed, this feeling was more prestigious than drifting along the road on a Lamborghini in his past life.
Each of the guards straightened their backs, lifted their chins, and acted like they were dignified upon listening to the praises and exclamations of amazement as well as seeing their respectful gazes from the citizens along the street. Moreover, Yan Liqiang, who was experiencing this sort of scenario for the first time, felt a strange heat surging in his chest. This feeling was more emotional than the time he got first place in his department in his past life, where he received the highest bonus from his company. It was also more exciting than the time he was ranked first place amongst the top three…
One was for himself, and the other was for the citizens…
This sort of feeling left Yan Liqiang, who was riding on his rhinodrake steed, in a trance. In the midst of it all, Yan Liqiang seemed to have vaguely made sense of something…
