knife

Chapter 762 Solving the Problem-Raising Person
Inside the hall, there was no banquet. Only Zhou Zheng sat imposingly behind a large table, his hands on the table, his upper body slightly leaning forward, looking down at him.

Gan Ba ​​was slightly taken aback.

Over the years, he had grown accustomed to Zhou Zheng's obsequious flattery of them, his servile attempts to please them, and his diligent and meticulous work of doing his job without ever overstepping the bounds of propriety.

Therefore, he thought this person was easy to manipulate.

He was actually prepared to let Zhou Zheng off the hook today. He'd said he'd raised 50,000 taels of silver, which, when divided among his subordinates, would amount to 10 taels each—quite a sum. He'd also pocket a few thousand taels as his own reward, and that would be enough.

Having just redeemed a girl from the brothel, Gan Ba ​​was making a fuss about buying property from her. He was also in the throes of lust, so he thought of getting some money from Zhou Zheng to settle the matter.

Who made that woman pregnant with his child? The doctor took her pulse and said it was a boy.

Gan Ba's wife in the southwest gave birth to a litter of daughters, and he dreamed of having a son!
"What do you want to do? Are you trying to make fun of me?" Gan Babao's eyes widened, his hand on the hilt of his knife, and he roared.

Zhou Zheng chuckled and said, "Gan Xuanwei, I can't get the 100,000 taels you want! So, I've decided to deal with you, which is much easier than getting 100,000 taels of silver."

With Zhou Zheng's sinister words, the door slammed shut behind Gan Ba ​​with a loud bang.

With a series of clanging sounds, the four guards behind Gan Ba ​​immediately drew their steel swords, stepped forward, and shielded Gan Ba ​​in the center.

However, there was no signal to smash a cup, and a large group of axemen would rush out from the back room to deal with them. Gan Ba ​​and his five companions only saw Zhou Zheng slowly take out a sheathed longsword from under the large table.

"I have always believed that personal bravery is of little use to the affairs of the country. It can only add flowers to brocade, not provide charcoal in the snow. So this sword has been gathering dust on this desk all this time, which is a disservice to it!" Zhou Zheng's hand slowly stroked the scabbard, and with a forceful pull, the scabbard made a rusting sound, as if it had been rusted. With a little more effort, he finally pulled the sword out of the scabbard.

Sure enough, the sword was already covered in rust.

Gan Ba ​​was furious. Did this guy surnamed Zhou think this was a stage for a play?
"Kill him!" Gan Ba ​​roared, pointing his halberd at Zhou Zheng.

Four guards leaped into the air, their steel blades whistling as they slashed towards Zhou Zheng.

Zhou Zheng rose through the ranks from local officials to key positions in the Great Chu court. He was never known for his martial arts skills, and very few people had ever seen him fight. People were used to seeing him as a pure civil official.

But today, this usually refined official finally revealed his true colors.

The rusty longsword suddenly thrust out without much fanfare. Zhou Zheng remained standing behind the large table, and Gan Ba ​​in the hall could even clearly see the other's sword movements. He thought it was incredibly slow and nothing to worry about.

But the truth is, his four battle-hardened guards fell from the sky almost simultaneously, as if they had put their necks to the other's sword.

The four people fell in a fan shape in front of the table, their throats ripped open, and blood gushed out.

Zhou Zheng's rusty sword pointed straight forward, and on the tip of the sword, a drop of blood fell into the air, while another drop of blood was still slowly forming.

Gan Ba's pupils contracted, his expression filled with disbelief. These four guards were his handpicked, battle-hardened warriors. Even he himself could not have killed them so easily.

"you you."

With a deafening crash, the long table in front of Zhou Zheng was cleaved in two from the center, flying to either side. Zhou Zheng, carrying a blood-dripping longsword, stepped forward. "If you can't solve the problem, solving the person who raised it will do the same thing!" Zhou Zheng's smile remained unchanged.

"The sorcerer will not let you go! Your whole family will die a terrible death!" Gan Ba ​​roared, his voice trembling with fear. Seeing Zhou Zheng's imposing presence, he knew very well that he was no match for this guy who was pretending to be weak but was actually strong.

“The sorcerer is very powerful, but he can’t save you. Whether I live or die is something you won’t see anyway!” Zhou Zheng said with a smile, “Don’t worry about it. Come on, let me stab you with my sword and die with your guards!”

Gan Ba ​​roared, gripped his sword with both hands, and cleaved Mount Hua in two.

Since there was no way to escape, they had no choice but to fight. After all, they were heroes who came from the mountains of Southwest China, and they were not lacking in the courage to risk their lives.

Outside the main hall, some of the officials and guards of the Danyang Prefectural Governor's Office looked worried as they heard the constant banging sounds from inside the hall and Gan Ba's fierce roars. Others, however, remained calm and unconcerned.

The group that didn't care about consisted of Zhou Zheng's trusted confidants who came after he took office, and the other group consisted of former officials from the prefectural governor's office who were retained because of their experience and competence.

"Aren't you going in to help?" After being startled by another loud noise in the main hall, the Registrar Qin Bin involuntarily looked at Zhou Qing, the head of the Prefectural Governor's Guard, who was Zhou Zheng's trusted confidant.

"It's alright!" Zhou Qing comforted Qin Bin, whose face was pale. "The prefect has been feeling very depressed for more than a year. He has been holding it in for a long time. If he doesn't let it out, it will be very bad for his health."

Hearing Zhou Qing's confident demeanor, Qin Bin didn't say anything more.

The noise in the lobby gradually subsided until it finally fell silent.

The group walked to the main gate and looked at the tightly closed door.

The door was suddenly pushed open from the inside, and Zhou Zheng walked out, wiping his hands casually with a handkerchief in his hand.

Everyone gasped as they looked at the scene in the hall behind Zhou Zheng.

The four guards of Gan Ba ​​in the innermost part died quite neatly, but Gan Ba ​​in the middle of the hall died a much more tragic death. His body was riddled with holes, and finally, he was impaled on the ground by a rusty iron sword.

This is not a fight, this is a massacre.

Looking at the calm and composed Prefect Zhou Zheng, everyone felt both respect and awe.

"Clean the lobby thoroughly, then proceed with the planned tasks!" Zhou Zheng casually tossed a handkerchief to Zhou Qing: "Tell those people that I'm done here, and they can make their final preparations over there."

After saying all this, Zhou Zheng walked out of the prefectural governor's mansion.

"Prefect, where are you going?"

"Of course, we're going to the palace to see the Emperor, and while we're at it, we'll also meet the shaman!" Zhou Zheng said. "You've all done what you were supposed to do, so go back to sleep if you're tired, or spend time with your wives and children. Tomorrow should be a brand new day!"

Looking at Zhou Zheng's retreating figure, everyone remained silent for a long time.

(End of this chapter)