We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

fortunately.

"Luckily, this guy won't cause trouble when he's drunk." The scarred-faced constable looked at the utterly drunk Shen Bailian on his shoulder, panting, and breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew that if Shen Bailian got drunk and started acting crazy, it would be uncontrollable, and he himself would suffer.

The entire government office and the city of Lin'an will likely suffer as a result.

A martial artist with innate abilities who is obsessed with fooling around is more stubborn than a donkey.

It must be said, Shen Bailian has an enormous capacity for alcohol. This kind of wine, Nine-Layered Tower, has another name within the Song Dynasty, which is—

Shaodaozi (a type of Chinese liquor).

This means that when ordinary people drink Jiuchonglou wine, it feels like a red-hot knife is constantly rubbing against their throat when they swallow.

That burning sensation was unbearable.

Unlike other famous wines, which are smooth, mellow, and melt in your mouth, this one has a strong kick that makes people hesitant to try it.

Of course, the Nine-Story Tower is not without its merits, otherwise it wouldn't have been served at Fenglelou Restaurant.

However, Scarface considers all the other advantages to be mere boasting, but there is one advantage that cannot be denied.

That is the high alcohol content of Jiuchonglou, which can be ranked first among the famous wines of Daxia. After drinking it, your whole body feels warm, as if a warm current is flowing in your blood.

This unique feeling was unparalleled in the Song Dynasty.

It is especially suitable for residents in the north to drink during the winter.

At the same time, because of this advantage, Jiuchonglou has become the most beloved drink for residents of northern China in winter, without exception.

Naturally, it became a royal special.

Therefore, the price of the Nine-Story Tower naturally rose as well.

Regardless of the price or value of a bottle of Nine-Fold Tower liquor.

But considering only the quantity...

Ordinary people, even those innate martial artists, cannot drink more than five bottles of Nine-Layered Tower at once with the help of internal energy.

Otherwise, he would inevitably get so drunk that he would be completely unconscious.

As for martial artists at the Grandmaster level, they are not subject to this restriction.

And what about Shen Bailian?
During the drinking party just now, under the constant urging of the magistrate of Lin'an City, Shen Bailian drank about thirty bottles of Jiuchonglou liquor in one go, and then passed out drunk on the table.

unconscious.

If it weren't for the fact that most of the people brought by the magistrate of Lin'an City were already drunk and passed out, and that the magistrate of Lin'an City didn't like (or dared not) drink Jiuchonglou wine.

Otherwise, this drinking party might have continued for quite some time before it ended.

As for Master Fahai, after a few rounds of drinks, he suddenly made up a lame excuse and left Fenglelou.

The magistrate of Lin'an City readily agreed, not caring at all. Only after confirming that Shen Bailian was drunk and starting to talk nonsense did he have Li Gongfu take another constable to help Shen Bailian home.

"However, why would the county magistrate suddenly treat Constable Shen like this?" As time passed, the scarred-faced constable grew increasingly puzzled.

Shen Bailian's role in the Lin'an County Magistrate's office was known to almost everyone in the Lin'an County government.

Furthermore, in private, they had a special nickname for Shen Bailian's character and conduct: "easy target."

Yes, they're just suckers.

Such a somewhat mocking nickname is something that no one would dare to say aloud in public, but it's a different story when they discuss it in private.

Shen Bailian is incredibly generous. The tips he gives out in a month are equivalent to one or two months' salary.

Not to mention on special occasions such as annual holidays.

Although he was being taken advantage of by others, Scarface saw it as not without its benefits. While fair-weather friends might be unreliable, they were still quite dependable as long as the money hadn't disappeared.

As for this drinking party at Fenglelou, Scarface, adhering to the principle of self-preservation, declined the invitation after drinking two or three bottles, citing being drunk as the reason.

As for the other constables, some couldn't bear to watch any longer, so they also made an excuse to leave the table.

Of course, among this group of constables, there must be some die-hard loyalists of the magistrate of Lin'an City, or people who absolutely believe that Shen Bailian is a sucker.

He kept urging me to drink, and in the end I was completely drunk and unconscious.

It was precisely because of his philosophy of self-preservation that the scarred constable clearly foresaw what would happen next.

Today's meal was ostensibly hosted by the magistrate of Lin'an City, but when it came time to pay, it was put on Shen Bailian's tab.

Correct!
The magistrate of Lin'an City hosted a banquet, and Shen Bailian paid the bill.

Moreover, they took advantage of Shen Bailian's drunken state to pin this debt on him. How ridiculous, truly ridiculous.

"Sigh." Scarface turned his head to the side, his eyes quietly looking at Shen Bailian, who looked like a defeated dog, and sighed softly in helplessness.

The magistrate of Lin'an City has become increasingly corrupt lately.

They even want to take advantage of this small thing.

"Why are you sighing for no reason?" Li Gongfu raised his eyebrows slightly, glancing indifferently at the scarred-faced constable, curious about what the other was thinking.

"I, I..." The scarred-faced constable stammered for a long time, then shook his head and replied with a smile, "No, nothing. Let's take Constable Shen home quickly, it's already very late."

He wanted to say something, but ultimately held back.

Although the scarred constable and Li Gongfu worked in the same yamen and under the same person, they had almost no interaction with each other.

Naturally, they're not even close enough to confide in each other.

“Okay.” Although Li Gongfu had noticed something amiss, he instinctively refrained from asking, knowing that asking would yield no results.

Scarface was once a very prestigious figure in the Lin'an County government.

However, due to a blow from something no one knew, he suddenly fell into despair, but the specific reasons for this remain unclear to this day.

Some roads are very long and take decades to reach, such as the distance between children in the mountains and the Children's Palace, Hamburg, or the North.

Some paths are very short, like right now.

After a long silence, Scarface and Li Gongfu quickly helped the completely drunk and unconscious Shen Bailian to the Shen residence.

After knocking on the door, only a few moments passed.

blah blah~
As a series of chaotic footsteps sounded, Scarface and Li Gongfu's expressions changed instantly. They exchanged a glance, then their muscles tensed, and they both instinctively prepared for battle.

This almost silent sound definitely came from a large group of martial artists.

Within the Shen residence, almost all the residents of Lin'an City knew that, apart from a group of beautiful maids and an old man (steward), there were only one or two men left who were responsible for heavy physical labor.

It's obvious that a thief has entered the Shen residence. Otherwise, this strange phenomenon cannot be explained.

"Officer Li, how about..." The scarred-faced officer looked nervously at the round-faced Li Gongfu beside him. It was the first time he felt that the other's figure was so imposing, giving him an involuntary sense of security.

Although he was also a martial artist at the ninth level of the Acquired Realm, his body had been weakened by years of debauchery.

His martial arts skills were almost entirely gone.

They could handle the street thugs in Lin'an, but against a large group of martial artists, they were like pigs on a chopping board, completely at the mercy of their masters.

“What are you afraid of? Let’s go side by side. Even if things really come to a bad end, you and Lao Shen will cover our retreat while we go to report to the authorities.”

"..." Scarface mechanically turned his head, looking at Li Gongfu, who had taken a step back and was now blocking him, and his eyes flashed intensely.

At that moment, his eyes seemed to take on a human-like quality, as if to say, "Brother, you're making a bunch of lowly, useless acquired martial artists stand in front of us? Isn't that a joke?"

As for Li Gongfu, he simply turned his head away and ignored the scarred constable's resentful gaze.

They also prepared to escape.

In such a critical moment, what's most important? Survival, of course! As for the scarred-faced constable, sorry, I'm completely unfamiliar with him.

however.

"Master, Master, are you alright...?"

"Why is my husband so drunk? What happened...?"

Just as the two drunkards were hesitating about who should bring up the rear, they suddenly felt a refreshing fragrance on their noses, accompanied by a series of seductive, bone-melting sounds.

"This? This..." Li Gongfu stared at the dazzling sight before him, his eyes darting wildly from side to side, unsure which one to look at.

People in Lin'an say that the four fragrances of spring, summer, autumn and winter are fairies descended from heaven.

However, in Li Gongfu's eyes at this moment, the other maids were no less beautiful than her, and due to his different perspective, he thought one of the girls with a trumpet flower in her hair was particularly outstanding.

Its appearance is even better than that of the Four Fragrances.

"Isn't Old Shen afraid of falling into a trap of romance?" Scarface looked at the beautiful women in front of him and felt dazzled. At the same time, many thoughts began to arise in his mind.

His understanding of the saying "a gentle land is a hero's grave" was much deeper than Li Gongfu's.

If it weren't for his constant drinking and revelry, there would be more than just Li Gongfu among the innate masters in the Lin'an County government office.

Unfortunately, there aren't that many "what ifs" in this world.

There's no going back.

"Thank you both for seeing us off." Dongxiang, the most poised and elegant of the two gentlemen, calmed Yingying and Yanyan, who were looking anxious, and placed her hands together in front of her abdomen.

Then, quite politely, he squatted down slightly and bowed to the scarred constable and Li Gongfu.

To express my gratitude.

She was in no way inferior to the daughters of those noble families.

This scene stunned the half-awake, half-drunk Scarface Constable and Li Gongfu, who looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

Is Shen Lian too idle, or does he have too much money to burn?

They managed to raise each of the maids to look like proper young ladies from noble families, and each one was more beautiful than the last. No wonder these maids had hardly ever left the Shen residence.

The truth is now clear.

If the greedy magistrate of Lin'an City saw this, wouldn't he immediately seize the opportunity to make Shen Bailian offer some gifts and send these maids to his residence?

This is a no-brainer; it's beyond doubt.

The magistrate of Lin'an City was no good person. Before Shen Bailian arrived, he wasn't exactly incorruptible, but he dared not be too greedy, especially when it came to exploiting the people.

This kind of thing is the easiest to investigate.

As for things like receiving salaries without working and forcibly abducting women, the magistrate of Lin'an City had quite a few cronies.

As for how to explain this to those above, it's quite simple: this world is no ordinary world, but a world where immortals, gods, Buddhas, demons, beasts, and humans coexist—a world where the six realms of existence coexist.

In every city, due to the mischief of demons, it is common for a few people to go missing every now and then.

Especially those living in villages near Lin'an City.

"Hey, hey, Scarface... Stop looking, you're losing your mind." Li Gongfu looked at Scarface, who was lecherous, and his face immediately showed a look of disdain.

He made no mention of the appalling behavior he displayed when he saw the group of maids in the Shen family.

"Hmm." Scarface took a long time to come to his senses, nodded, and swallowed back the thoughts that shouldn't have been on his mind.

Having indulged in a life of debauchery for many years, how could he not see the exceptional beauty of these maids, especially since several of them were virgins, around thirteen or fourteen years old?

For modern people, this is a crime.

However, in the Song Dynasty, in this feudal era, due to environmental constraints, the lifespan of ordinary people was relatively short. Being able to live healthily to fifty or sixty years old was considered to have accumulated great virtue in their previous life.

Because there are quite a few women who get married at the age of thirteen or fourteen.

Some are even more extreme.

"Hey, I'll go first..." Scarface said, but suddenly fell silent. He was shocked to find that Li Gongfu beside him had disappeared at some point.

If he hadn't been able to see the other person's departing figure, he would have thought he was seeing a ghost.

“Perfect, it won’t interfere with business and saves me the trouble of explaining.” Scarface walked along and took out a jade bottle stuffed with red cloth from his pocket, muttering to himself, “Alright, I’ll be a good guy again, and another one where nobody knows and nobody witnesses it.”

As he spoke, the scarred constable tore open the red cloth covering the bottle and then sprinkled the colorless and odorless powder inside onto the street.

The white powder drifted in the wind and disappeared completely into the air in a short while.

There was no trace of it.

About half an hour later~
Inside a room in the county government office in Lin'an City, where the lights were still on.

"How is the matter going?" The magistrate of Lin'an City lay leisurely in a rocking chair, enjoying a massage from his servants. His figure was hidden behind a curtain, making it difficult to see his expression.

"I have perfectly completed the task assigned by the master." The scarred constable bowed his head and replied respectfully, "Just in case, I have already given Shen Lian all of the medicine that you mentioned, sir."

"well done."

"Thank you for the compliment, sir."

"Okay, you go down."

The scarred-faced constable was taken aback. Wait, there wasn't even a reward? But bound by protocol, he could only helplessly reply, "Yes, sir." (End of Chapter)