Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 286 - 275: 100% Chance of Rain and Meeting a Noble Person

Chapter 286: Chapter 275: 100% Chance of Rain and Meeting a Noble Person

The escort mission of the Town Martial Office along Chuan-Yu Road to take the corrupt official to the Capital failed, and all the main Martial Artists involved were ordered to go to the Capital.

Thus, Third Miss Gan had no choice but to take Xu, Wei, Ling, Ximen Jinxing, and a few other Martial Artists to the Capital.

Fortunately, since it was on the way for Shang Bufa, there were people from the Ministry of Punishment to lead the way.

The sun blared overhead, and a group of about thirty people had just decided to find some shade along the official road for a well-deserved rest.

However, just as they found a grove and were about to enter, they heard a loud shout from inside.

"Hey!"

"I opened this mountain, and I planted these trees! To pass this road, men must leave payment, women do not need to leave payment!"

Shang Bufa was startled by these words—had they just entered the Capital Region Road to find it was being robbed?

However, many of their companions laughed.

Especially Sister Ling, who, while riding her horse into the woods, chuckled and asked, "If a woman stays but does not need to pay, what would you have her do for you, sir?"

"Massage my legs, as I have recently been in need of a little maidservant to do so,"

Ling, feigning fragility, responded, "This humble one has always favored delicate things, may I ask sir to reveal the shortest path so that this humble one can properly massage them for you?"

At this moment, Zhang San, riding out, wiped the sweat from his forehead and gave Sister Ling a bow, "Turns out the sister is so beautiful, using you to massage legs would be a waste."

Ling snorted coldly, turned her head, and shouted to Ximen Jinxing who was behind her, "Jinxing, this gentlemen on the road favors me, you go and massage his legs. Remember, just pound right in the center!"

Ximen Jinxing blushed, his mind filled with imagery.

It was then that Shang Bufa and the others realized that there were no actual bandits—it was just Zhang San coming back to tease them.

While taking a rest, Zhang San related the matters from the Heavenly Punishment Sect.

Of course, Zhang San didn’t dare mention his previous life as the Saint Heir.

Zhang San felt that if he disclosed this matter, he would likely be captured on the spot and sent to the Capital to lure out the Heavenly Punishment Sect.

Then, Zhang San showed the booklet Pockmarked Granny had given him to Third Miss Gan.

"Big Sister, these are names of people from the Heavenly Punishment Sect in the Capital. It might not be complete; I saw it by chance and recorded it,"

Third Miss Gan nodded slightly and returned the booklet to Zhang San, saying, "This is a significant achievement, and it’s all thanks to you. However, such a deed cannot be openly submitted; later, I’ll report to Chief Li, and then you can personally deliver the item to Chief Li."

Zhang San repeatedly expressed his thanks.

He knew that many leaders, when they see such achievements, would claim them as their own with excuses like "you are still young" or "I can represent the department better."

But now, Third Miss Gan was allowing Zhang San to directly deliver the list to Chief Li later, at which time all the credit would belong to Zhang San.

Third Miss Gan was not at all greedy.

"Although I brought this back, Big Sister also has merits. I will certainly speak well of Big Sister then."

"No need, I rely on my abilities, not these. You currently have limited power; this merit can prove your value and help you gain more resources and preferential treatment from the Town Martial Office."

Zhang San nodded.

Obtaining merits was certainly good, but having true strength was the correct way.

After reporting the details of their mission, Zhang San took out several jars of wine carried by Hei, and shared them with everyone.

Especially with Shang Bufa, Zhang San directly pulled Shang Bufa over, calling Big Head Wang and Wang Ziteng to join them in heavy drinking.

Among the people in the Capital, Shang Bufa had always been a very obedient young master from the Merchant Clan.

Gathering around to drink heartily like Zhang San and the others was an entirely new experience for him.

"You just drink like this? Don’t you play any drinking games?" Shang Bufa curiously asked.

Zhang San was even more curious, asking, "How do you play drinking games?"

"It’s simple, we take turns to perform a task or compose a poem. If well done, everyone claps and praises; otherwise, the person has to drink as a punishment. First, select a prestigious person as the Bright Mansion to oversee; then choose a Reguly Recorder and a Toast Recorder, one to keep the order, the other to enforce the penalties..."

Zhang San and the others furrowed their brows.

"Drinking doesn’t need to be so complicated. Shang Bufa, I’ll teach you a simple one today!"

A moment later, the martial artists from the Ministry of Punishment noticed their Officer and Zhang San having a jaw-dropping dialogue.

"Which of us two is the father and who is the son?"

"Between us two, you’re the father; I’m the son."

"Drink!"

"Glug glug glug glug glug...continue!"

"Between us two, who’s the father and who’s the son?"

"Between us two, I’m the father; you’re the son. Huh!?"

"Drink."

"Glug glug glug glug..."

In less than a quarter of an hour, Shang Bufa was already drunk.

The people from the Ministry of Punishment couldn’t understand it; Shang Bufa looked clever enough, yet he never won a single round against Zhang San.

Then Zhang San called over Big Head Wang and Wang Ziteng and whispered, "Along the way, build a good relationship with Shang Bufa; once we arrive at the Capital, we’ll be on his turf."

Wang Ziteng couldn’t help but ask, "Brother San, not to mention that the Merchant Clan is but one of the four families of Legalism, even if the entire Legalism supports us, it’s hardly advantageous against the Crown Prince! And it’s just Shang Bufa."

Zhang San shook his head and laughed, "Once in the Capital, if the Crown Prince wants to trouble us, surely he won’t come in person. Moreover, we can’t guarantee we won’t encounter any trouble. Why not have someone to take the heat for us?"

Big Head Wang and Wang Ziteng understood each other perfectly.

On the way thereafter, both Big Head Wang and Wang Ziteng were exceptionally attentive to Shang Bufa, making him suspect that they might be considering a switch to the Ministry of Punishment.

"It’s getting late; we should find a place to rest for the night—we’ll reach the Capital Daxing City tomorrow."

At this moment, the weather was gloomy, and raindrops had already started to fall; Shang Bufa led everyone to a dilapidated mansion not far from the official road.

"How come such a big mansion here has become dilapidated?"

Zhang San, curious, gazed at the mansion.

"This was originally one of the mansions of King Zhao of Northern Zhou. After King Zhao was killed, nobody dared to claim this mansion, leading to its decline. Even ordinary people dare not enter. Let’s go in to avoid the rain."

Zhang San knew that the Yuwen imperial family of Northern Zhou had internal conflicts and that subsequent emperors were exceedingly brutal. The dynasty was eventually replaced by Kaihuang, giving rise to the Great Sui.

Even before the establishment of Great Sui, the Five Kings of the Yuwen family were greatly dissatisfied with Kaihuang.

It was said that out of desperation, Kaihuang, to protect himself, had no choice but to kill all the Five Kings of the Yuwen family.

Of course, if someone said this out loud, believing it would be foolish.

Zhang San followed Shang Bufa and led everyone inside.

However, no sooner had they entered the courtyard than they discovered another group also taking shelter from the rain.

Seeing that Zhang San and his group were armed, the others immediately became alert.

Zhang San noticed about twenty people in the group, almost equally men and women, probably wealthy ladies out on a trip; he stepped forward and cupped his fists in greeting through the rain.

"Apologies, we are martial artists from the Town Martial Office and officials from the Ministry of Punishment. We missed the station on our way back to the Capital for our official report, and now it’s raining, so we have to rest here. We hope for your permission."

Even though it was no man’s land, Zhang San spoke politely, and being good-looking, the other party, upon seeing Zhang San’s manners, looked towards a woman, dressed in plain white, who was burning paper money.

The woman seemed to be in her early forties, modestly dressed yet still elegant.

Seeing Zhang San, she slightly nodded and made a welcoming gesture towards the main hall.

"I’m Zhang San, thank you, sister."

Saying this, Zhang San ushered everyone inside to take shelter from the rain.

The people from the Town Martial Office this time included Third Miss Gan, the Acting Officer, Elder Wu Xu, Wei, Ling, Acting Military Chief Zhang San, Big Head Wang and Wang Ziteng, plus Ximen Jinxing.

The remaining martial artists were Luo Liangfeng and several other members of the Maoshan Sect.

After all, some matters are better explained by these Revenants.

The woman, seeing there were quite a few martial artists among Zhang San’s group, sent her maid over to find Zhang San.

"Young Master Zhang, my mistress is curious if any of the Taoist priests with you can summon souls? My young master has been deceased for many years, and the mistress misses him dearly. We are here to conduct a ritual for him, and we got delayed on our way back. So..."

Zhang San looked back at Luo Liangfeng and Xu among others.

Initially, they knew some methods to summon souls, but now that they were Revenants, many techniques were no longer available to them.

Zhang San smiled and said, "They are in a special condition, and some techniques are inconvenient for them to perform. I can do it, I’ll do it."

Zhang San followed the maid to the woman’s side.

"I heard sister wants to summon and see her child. What is his full name and birth date? If you have a portrait, that would be even better."

The woman did not expect that he would actually agree to help.

"Thank you, Young Brother Zhang. My son’s surname is not convenient to reveal, his name is ’Ming’, and here is his date of birth and portrait. I appreciate your assistance, Young Brother Zhang."

Zhang San took the portrait and the birth data, then picked up some paper money and waved his hand, causing the paper money to ignite nearby.

Then Zhang San used the Ghost Summoning Method, beginning to call nearby evil ghosts for inquiries.

However, Zhang San worried that the evil ghosts he summoned might frighten the woman, so he only made inquiries from a distance.

But after a while, although there were many evil spirits nearby, none had seen the boy’s soul.

If ghosts would not suffice, he had to invoke the gods.

"Sister, the young master must have great fortune; I have asked all the nearby ghosts and monsters but have not seen him. Perhaps he has been reincarnated into a wealthy family, for all we know. I will ask the local Earth God."

Zhang San said, dispelling the Ghost Summoning Method and starting to apply the Summoning the Gods Method.

Soon, the Earth God rose from the ground, cupped his hands towards Zhang San, and asked, "May I know why this young one has summoned this old servant?"

The woman was astonished to see a real Earth God appear, resembling the Earth God the villagers worshipped along the mountain road they had passed.

"Earth God, could you please help check for a young boy named ’Ming’? Here is his birth data and his portrait. Where is his soul?"

However, after seeing the face in the portrait, the Earth God’s expression drastically changed.

"Do not endanger me!"

Saying this, the Earth God transformed into a wisp of white smoke and hastily fled.

Zhang San was baffled; it was his first time seeing the Earth God scared away.

The woman beside him sighed as if she had already anticipated this outcome.

Just then, inside the Imperial Palace’s Ganlu Hall, a young boy walked out from behind the dragon throne to the front door of the great hall, looking up into the brightly moonlit sky at a distant patch of dark clouds.

That instant, he was certain he had sensed something.

But what exactly was that sensation?

Why did his heart feel sour yet warm?