Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 180 - 174: All Look to Officer Lu as Their Leader!

Chapter 180: Chapter 174: All Look to Officer Lu as Their Leader!

After Zhang San and others left, Governor Shi’s parents gave him some tender loving care before they too departed.

Left with a swollen face, Governor Shi collapsed on the floor of the grand hall, seeing stars.

A moment later, Governor Shi finally had the strength to stand up and then returned to his study to furiously pen a memorial impeaching the Deputy Officer of the Town Martial Office on the Chuan-Yu Road, Lu Qingquan.

The reason was for negligently handling his subordinates! He had actually instigated his subordinates to summon his deceased parents to beat him up!

This was an assault on an Imperial Court official!

And it was by my own parents beating me!

This was too much!

He did not know what had transpired at his residence after they left; he had merely sent Wang Ziteng and Big Head Wang to take care of the property deeds, and then he headed straight for Xiongfeng Manor.

After all, there was a more important matter to attend to.

The battle to exterminate the Mysterious Soldiers Sect caused almost no loss to the Town Martial Office, the only possible loss might have been the over a dozen Mysterious Weapons cherished by Lu Qingquan, which had all been smashed to pieces, and he himself had been surrounded and brutally kicked by a group of people.

Now back in his own room, Lu Qingquan still felt great pain all over his body.

In particular, the final two kicks from someone he didn’t know—one of which landed right on his kidney. It was fortunate that he had always suffered from weak kidneys; otherwise that kick could have caused him great harm.

At this moment, Zhang San, carrying some fruit, pushed the door open and walked in.

"Officer Lu, how are you feeling? As soon as I got back, I came to see you first."

Seeing Zhang San come to visit, although Zhang San had always duped him when they drank together, in this moment he still felt a touch of warmth and moving connection to the big family of the Town Martial Office.

And he remembered that it was Zhang San who had rushed to his rescue first when he was being kicked about.

"Zhang San, Officer Lu I really am... having such a hard time..."

Upon seeing Zhang San, Lu Qingquan felt as if he had seen a family member, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Zhang San also immediately comforted Lu Qingquan.

"Rest assured, Officer Lu, that the Mysterious Soldiers Sect had gone too far by ambushing you! I’ve already eradicated them."

Hearing this, Lu Qingquan was momentarily stunned.

"It’s true, four hundred and four members of the Mysterious Soldiers Sect have been brought in. Since they are all skilled at forging Mysterious Weapons, I’ve specially relegated them to a low social class identity as blacksmiths."

"Now, we just need your signature here to show the Town Martial Office’s receipt of these blacksmiths."

Lu Qingquan glanced at the document and saw that it really did round up all the members of the Mysterious Soldiers Sect.

He immediately had Zhang San prepare the ink and signed on the spot.

"Although we haven’t found the person who kicked you, I believe they must be among these people. Having them forge Mysterious Weapons at the Town Martial Office is also a way of seeking justice for you."

Hearing this, Lu Qingquan felt as though his back hurt less.

"Furthermore, in this battle, your role was indispensable. The higher-ups will surely recognize your great merit since, without you, we wouldn’t have been able to annihilate the Mysterious Soldiers Sect and bring so many quality martial artists into the Town Martial Office!"

In that moment, buoyed by Zhang San’s flattery, Lu Qingquan felt himself floating on air.

Zhang San chatted with Lu Qingquan for a while longer, and the more they talked, the happier Lu Qingquan became.

"It’s a pity that I am just a Deputy Officer right now. Zhang San, if I were an Officer, I would definitely promote you!"

Zhang San laughed heartily and bowed with his hands clasped, "Even if Officer Lu doesn’t look out for me, I will always look up to you."

Hearing this, Lu Qingquan felt so delighted he was nearly floating.

After seeing Lu Qingquan in good spirits, Zhang San felt reassured and then took his leave.

Once Zhang San had left, Lu Qingquan remained immersed in the beautiful words Zhang San had spun earlier.

The future position of Officer would surely be his.

The praise from his superiors for his great achievement would soon be his.

Especially that line about only following myself, why does it sound so pleasant?

Many people had said those words to Bai Yucheng before, but not a single one had ever said them to me.

Even if it’s a lie, why doesn’t anyone say it to me!

Zhang San is the real deal!

Just as Lu Qingquan was happily pondering, he suddenly remembered something.

I caught 404 members of the Mysterious Soldiers Sect, turned them into low-class workers as blacksmiths, and then sold them to the Town Martial Office.

This seemed fine at first glance, but upon closer inspection...

The martial artists and military chiefs who went with Zhang San to destroy the Mysterious Soldiers Sect must have gotten their share of benefits. After all, the loot from such a big sect, even just casually pocketing some medicinal herbs or artifact refining materials, could be worth quite a sum.

And now, these martial artists, who were equivalent to forging masters, were sold to the Town Martial Office as blacksmiths with a low social class identity. That’s definitely a sale! The Town Martial Office would naturally have to pay a sum of money, and it might even be a hefty one.

So the question arises, what did I, Lu Qingquan, gain from the entire operation, besides getting beaten up?

After pondering for a long time, Lu Qingquan’s gaze finally rested on the bag of fruit that Zhang San had brought when he entered the room.

...

Cui Jiu did not set up his stall to tell fortunes today; instead, he paced back and forth in his room.

He had this feeling for a while, but wasn’t sure about it.

But after waking up this morning, he was one hundred percent certain that his mind had been less sharp recently.

It seemed that one evening, he encountered some incident. At the time, he didn’t take much notice of it, but now, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember what had happened to him that night.

Did I scald my head while heating water to wash my feet?

That’s not right!

There should be a scar if that were the case!

Did I accidentally drink the foot-washing water?

That can’t be either!

It’s only my mind that’s not working well; I feel it’s worse than before, but I haven’t turned stupid!

Cui Jiu thought for a long time and felt something was wrong with his condition.

Then he sat on the bed, beginning to think about everything he had experienced during this period.

That’s right!

It started from that night; my mind hasn’t been as sharp as before.

Because from the actions and arrangements I made afterward, it was clear that my thinking was not as meticulous as before, and the time it took to divine the same issue had gotten significantly longer.

Even now, Cui Jiu began to worry whether all the decisions he had made since that night were correct and reliable.

Thinking this, Cui Jiu took his abacus to the mirror and dialed a string of numbers with calculated movements.

Soon, ripples formed in the mirror, first revealing another man hugging a bamboo pole and picking at his feet.

"Old Xia, help me out."

"It’s not tracking again, is it? Stop making me follow nuns and abbesses. It’s embarrassing when they throw themselves at me because they think I’m handsome!"

Cui Jiu sighed helplessly and said softly, "It’s serious business."

"Cut the crap, last time you had me shadow a widow you said it was serious business too!"

"This time it’s different."

Old Xia gave him a look that said, ’I don’t believe you,’ then whispered, "What is it?"

"I’ve been feeling off lately, and I’m worried I might have misjudged Zhang San. So you go and find out what the relationship between Zhang San and Lu Qingquan really is. I wonder if it’s really as bad as the rumors say."