After finishing the fried vermicelli at the stall, Su Wen went to the patrol office.
The reason he specially made a trip was because he learnt yesterday that Emperor Zhou had already dealt with the matters of the Patrol Office.
The Patrol Office was about to welcome a new sky, a new reign.
As expected, Su Wen saw Sun Wei the moment he entered the gate.
He had an expression of distress.
When he caught sight of Su Wen, Sun Wei hurriedly went forward and said in a low voice, “Lord Su, the Royal Censor has already given us an order. Everyone has to return the benefits we stole! If we don’t return them, we’ll be thrown into prison and serve an equivalent sentence to what we’ve taken; even if we return the benefits, we’ll still be stripped of our duties and will never be hired again! What should we do now?”
Su Wen raised his eyebrows. This was the final punishment Emperor Zhou was going to give them? With so many people affected, his methods were considered harsh.
After all, many things were not decided by the will of the subordinates. They had no say nor power to sway the decisions of the higher ups.
IBut with this punishment, it would seem like the entire Patrol Office’s roster would be shuffled to welcome a totally new batch of people.
Yan Luoying was really going to be busy now!
Su Wen patted Sun Wei’s shoulder and said with a smile, “This is such an important matter, so it’s already considered an act of magnanimity by the law for you to keep your heads.
Furthermore, I’ve also heard that you only need to refund half of the spoils! As long as you have not squandered them freely, it shouldn’t be a problem!”
Sun Wei smiled bitterly. Returning the benefits was not difficult, but no one wanted to lose their job!
In this day and age, people in the public sector were considered superior to others in public.
“Lord Su, please look at this matter and see if there’s still a chance to turn this around. I’m willing to return the benefits, but I don’t want to lose this job. This is a small token of my appreciation. Please don’t look down on it.”
As he spoke, Sun Wei took out a stack of banknotes from his chest pocket. This was nearly all of his wealth after he returned the money.
Su Wen took it and looked at it. It was about 10,000 taels. After returning half of the money and deducting his daily life expenses, for him to still have so much in savings showed that he had been pretty greedy all these years.
However, to Su Wen, this amount of money was not enough for even his daily expenses. He stuffed it back into Sun Wei’s arms as he smiled. “This amount of money is enough for your retirement, why bother?”
Sun Wei helplessly said in a low voice, “This is quite a bit of money, but if I don’t have a job, sooner or later I’ll have nothing. No one will think too highly of me.”
“How many years have you been here then?”
“Fourteen years!”
It had taken Sun Wei more than ten years to get from a mere soldier to the position of deputy garrison commander. However, it was indeed as difficult as ascending to the heavens if he wanted to be promoted once more.
“Do you know everyone in the Eastern District?” Su Wen continued to ask.
Sun Wei was a little confused, not knowing what this young master was up to.
However, he still answered honestly, “How can I not be familiar with them? After so many years, I basically know everything like the back of my hand.”
Su Wen looked around and said, “Okay, you go and return the money first, then wait for me at the Jade Cloud Teahouse.”
Sun Wei was overjoyed and quickly left.
Su Wen continued to walk in, observing the panicked expressions of all the guards inside.
Many of the people present came and went in a hurry.
After entering, Su Wen realized that Yan Luoying was not around, thus he sat down first. After a period of time, Yan Luoying returned with a group of people!
These people quickly began to take over the positions of the original patrolling guards.
When she saw Su Wen, Yan Luoying pursed her lips and commented, “Oh? Why isn’t Lord Su with Miss Yiyi?”
Su Wen smiled and said, “I heard that His Majesty has already dismissed all the guards in the Eastern District. I was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to handle it, so I came to take a look. I’ll go find her later!”
Yan Luoying’s heart almost stopped.
“Hmph!”
Seeing Yan Luoying turn her head away, Su Wen asked with a smile, “What’s with these people then?”
Although Yan Luoying was angry, she still explained, “This is under His Majesty’s orders. We have just selected some useful people from the capital’s military registry. While His Majesty has removed all of the people from the Patrol Office, he has in turn increased the salaries paid out to the guards, so many people are willing to apply. These people will take over and maintain security for now. If there are any unsuitable ones, we will restore them to their original positions and look for others. We have to get through this period first.”
“Looks like you’ll be busy these days!” Su Wen smiled.
Yan Luoying said sourly, “That’s right. Who can compare to Young Master Su? He goes out with Sister Muyu today, and tomorrow, Miss Yiyi. The job at the Patrol Office is just like going to fish in the sun for three days but hanging out the nets for two of them. Meeting you is even harder than meeting His Majesty.”
“Don’t worry, I still have something on. I’ll take my leave first!”
Su Wen smiled and left, leaving a flabbergasted Yan Luoying behind. She sighed helplessly and continued with her work.
Even though she was complaining, she still did not tell Su Wen to come in on time. She also did not say that Su Wen had to stay behind to take care of work. Instead, she took care of everything by herself.
To her, the toughest hurdle had already passed. The rookies she had transferred over were completely within her control.
The Jade Cloud Teahouse was not far from the patrol office, just around the corner.
At this moment, on the second floor of Jade Cloud Teahouse, Sha Qinghe, Du Ping, and Wang Dalong were seated together.
Looking at the Patrol Office from afar, they could see many people walking out dejectedly.
“Haha, these bastards have all been fired.”
“Serves them right. They’ve been bullying us all these years.”
“However, I have to say this to the two of you. Other than watching the show today, we have to agree on some things first. While we’ll let our brothers take revenge on the guards, there cannot be any loss of lives. Let’s see Su Wen’s attitude first. After all, this guy is not to be trifled with!”
At the mention of Su Wen, the three of them had solemn expressions.
Gritting his teeth, Du Ping replied, “That fellow’s background is tough, and he’s vicious. Wen Jinming was killed by him, and if he really wants to deal with us, it’s akin to crushing an ant. In the future, you guys have to be more careful when dealing with matters of the Eastern District. But we’ve already agreed that the brokerage business will be mine, while the underground prostitution and gambling dens belong to you guys!”
Although the Great Zhou Dynasty allowed human trafficking, brothels, and gambling dens, this kind of business was too profitable.
Thus, any sort of related business would require some form of approval and monitoring from the government. It was impossible for ordinary people to get involved.
However, there was no lack of darkness everywhere. These people from the gangs would secretly run some businesses that could not be approved to amass riches.
At this moment, Sun Wei also entered the teahouse and went upstairs.
As soon as he went up, he saw the trio seated there. Sun Wei’s expression immediately changed and he turned around to go downstairs.
“Yo, isn’t this Lord Sun?”
Du Ping stood up and shot forward, grabbing Sun Wei’s arm.
Sun Wei said coldly, “What are you doing?”
“Come and have a seat, have a seat!” Du Ping smiled as he dragged Sun Wei to the table.
Looking at the three gang leaders in front of him, Sun Wei knew that he was going to be in trouble.
As expected, Du Ping grinned. “I heard that Lord Sun and the rest have been dismissed?”
“What does that have to do with you?” Sun Wei said coldly.
“How is it none of my business? This surnamed Sun, have you forgotten? Last year, you arrested 16 of my brothers! You even punished them one by one!” A vicious expression appeared on Du Ping’s face as he whispered, “What’s wrong? Do you want to just let such matters slide?”
Sha Qinghe also sneered and said, “That’s right. That year, I just shipped a woman over, and before I even had a chance to taste it myself, I let you and that Wen Jinming take her away! You even punished me with two thousand taels of silver!”
Sun Wei clenched his teeth and said, “You’re forcing a woman to be a prostitute!”
Sha Qinghe’s eyes flashed with an ominous glint. “So what? Do you believe I’ll kill your entire family sooner or later?”
Sun Wei was rendered speechless.
At this moment, a voice came from the staircase. “Kill the entire family? Good lord, I haven’t seen a good show of this genre before!”
