The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 128 High Position and Power
The following day, Wang Wen walked out of the Guangji Bridge dock in the evening breeze.

It was already dark, and there were very few pedestrians on the street.

But Wang Wen quickly sensed a strange atmosphere.

Everyone who saw him greeted him with a smile and crossed their hands, but after bowing, they all stepped back and remained standing. Almost no one came up to greet him, and their eyes and smiles were very reserved, as if he were some kind of important figure...

Wang Wen was a little puzzled, but he didn't think much of it and went straight home.

When he arrived near the Sanhe Gang's headquarters, he saw a dozen or so horse-drawn carriages parked outside the gate, completely blocking the entrance and preventing anyone from getting in.

"Gentlemen, what are you doing?"

Wang Wen sidled up to a group of rickshaw drivers who were huddled together, trembling and chatting, with their arms crossed: "Are you besieging Bright Peak here?"

"Hey, you..."

One of the talkative drivers shouted unhappily, "Can you even speak human language?"

As he was speaking, he turned his head and saw Wang Wen's appearance clearly. He was so frightened that his pupils dilated and his face changed drastically. His legs went weak and he was about to kneel down.

Wang Wen quickly grabbed him and said with a smile, "Hey, how come you have osteoporosis? Stand up straight, you're a grown man, don't make a fool of yourself!"

The quick-tongued driver grabbed his arm and barely managed to steady himself.

The other coachmen around him also bowed their heads and clasped their hands in a trembling manner, addressing him as Lord Wang.

Seeing their utterly silent demeanor, Wang Wen waved his hand, feeling utterly bored, and said, "Alright, alright, I was just joking with you guys. You guys continue chatting, don't mind me!"

After saying that, he led Hei Erniu through the crowded carriages and headed towards the gate.

After he left, the group of grooms stood up and breathed a sigh of relief, still shaken.

The coachman who had just been pulled by Wang Wen, though his legs were still trembling, said with glee, "Did you hear that? Lord Wang told us to stand up straight, so we don't become a laughingstock!"

The other grooms glanced at him with a mixture of envy and disdain, and then turned and scattered in unison... It's better to stay away from this kind of muddle-headed idiot. This time, they've run into Lord Wang, who is magnanimous and won't stoop to their level. If they had encountered those narrow-minded people, who knows how they would have dealt with them!
"Tiger, you're back!"

"Tiger is back! Tiger is back!"

As soon as Wang Wen entered the gate, the Qinghe Hall brothers guarding the gate excitedly rushed forward. Some eagerly took the reins from his hands, some called out to their friends and surrounded him as he walked inside, and others cheered and jumped as they rushed into the hall.

This sudden enthusiasm left Wang Wen completely bewildered and uncomfortable. He vaguely remembered that the first thing these guys said to him when he returned from his last trip was, "Why are you back?"

As the brother, who seemed to be announcing good news, shouted from the front, more and more Qinghe Gang disciples poured out from all directions of the hall, surrounding him and walking towards the main hall. In just a hundred or so steps, there were thirty or forty more people behind him.

As Wang Wen approached the main gate of the hall, he saw a group of well-dressed middle-aged and elderly men who came out of the gate with smiles on their faces and clasped their hands in greeting.

"Lord Wang, it's been a long time!"

"Lord Wang is indeed very robust..."

"Lord Wang, it's been a while since you went to the private quarters for a drink. The Yunye you drank last time is still stored for you there..."

Wang Wen stared blankly at the unfamiliar Chinese and old Deng people in front of him, completely baffled, unable to figure out what they were up to.

Still cloud liquid?
Shit!

I've never drunk that kind of sweet soup that only girls like!

He looked at Huang Xingde with a puzzled expression.

Huang Xingde stood inside the gate, one hand behind his back and the other stroking his beard, and said in a loud voice with a smile: "Gentlemen, my son has just returned home from a business trip to the north. He is tired from the journey. Why don't we stop here today and let him rest for a couple of days before hosting a banquet for you all to come and have a small gathering?"

Upon hearing this, the group of middle-aged and old Deng hurriedly responded, "As you would expect," "As you should," and "Lord Wang, please rest well. We will visit you and your son another day." They then left, turning back every few steps.

Wang Wen felt extremely uncomfortable being stared at by these people, as if they were looking at him like they were eyeing Tang Sanzang's flesh.

After the group of middle-aged and old Dengs left, Huang Xingde waved to the Qinghe Gang disciples who were surrounding Wang Wen and said, "Alright, you can all go down now. I have important matters to discuss with your Brother Hu!"

"Here!"

Many Qinghe Gang disciples bowed with their hands clasped, and also reluctantly retreated, turning back every few steps.

Soon, only Huang Xingde and Wang Wen remained in front of the gate.

Wang Wen breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the main hall. He clicked his tongue and looked at the tall stack of name cards on the table, asking, "Father, what exactly is going on here?"

"Boom."

Suddenly, the door slammed shut.

Wang Wen turned around in response and saw Huang Xingde squinting and walking towards him with a big smile. The familiar sight made him feel inexplicably cold.

He swallowed hard and forced a smile, saying, "Dad, let's talk this out, please don't..."

"Yes, speak properly."

Huang Xingde nodded in agreement, but suddenly pulled out a rolling pin as thick as a goose egg from behind him and swung it around to hit someone.

"Bang!"

Wang Wen instinctively raised his hand to block the rolling pin.

Then, he saw Huang Xingde's smiling old face suddenly turn gloomy.

Back then, when he saw the thick, dark clouds over Kuaiji City that even sunlight couldn't penetrate, he didn't hesitate for a moment.

But at this moment, seeing the dark cloud on Huang Xingde's face, he suddenly felt a sense of terror and wanted to run away!
"Dad, let's talk this out!"

He quickly shouted, "Let's talk this out! I'm a grown man, please don't hit me..."

"Bang bang bang".

Huang Xingde was furious when he saw that he dared to block him; he was so angry that he almost flew through the air with the rolling pin in his hand: "You still dare to block me, you still dare to block me..."

"Bang Bang Bang!"

Wang Wen was forced to flee in terror, still having to suppress his internal energy to prevent it from retaliating and injuring the old man: "Enough! Enough!"

"Enough? Enough? Enough?"

Huang Xingde, his face flushed red, chased after him all over the room and beat him mercilessly.

"Old Deng, are you serious?"

With nowhere to run, Wang Wen slammed open the door and stormed out, yelling angrily, "Old Deng, that's enough! If you hit me again, I'll fight back!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Xingde flew into a rage, threw down the rolling pin in his hand, and went to pull out the white waxwood spear that was just for decoration on the weapon rack in front of the hall...

Seeing this, Wang Wen turned and ran, shouting angrily, "You old bastards, if you keep watching, I'll teach you a lesson later, or I'll change my surname to yours!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of elderly members of the Qinghe Gang, who were not young, surged out from the surrounding area. With a smile that was harder to suppress than an AK, they skillfully swarmed forward, some blocking and some pulling.

"Brother Ba, forget it, forget it..."

"Erhu is still young, don't hurt the child."

"You can talk about it all you want, but you actually do it..."

Huang Xingde struggled through the crowd, shouting angrily at Wang Wen's retreating figure, "I'd rather beat this troublemaking bastard to death with my own hands than let him go out and get killed by outsiders, leaving me to collect his corpse!" Wang Wen, who had almost run out the door, was enraged by Huang Xingde's words and turned back, tilting his head and leaning closer, "Come on, come on, don't say I didn't give you a chance, come at me here, kill me..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of junior members of the Qinghe Gang immediately surged forward, skillfully swarming him, some blocking and some pulling.

"Brother Tiger, forget it, forget it..."

"This old man is getting on in years, please don't make things difficult for him!"

"The old man was just saying that; he wouldn't actually beat you to a pulp..."

Huang Xingde: "Come here, let's see if I dare to kill you!"

Wang Wen: "I'm coming right now, let's see if you dare to mess with me!"

The father and son, furious, stood between two groups of people trying to break up the fight, their faces flushed red as they strained against each other, harder to calm than a pig during the Lunar New Year!

The crowd: 'We're tired. Let's destroy it, quick!'

After a long while, the father and son calmed down, and the two groups of people who had been trying to mediate the fight finally retreated, chuckling to themselves... It had been a while since I'd seen anything like this, it was great!
After all the people who had tried to mediate had left, the father and son, with stern faces, returned to the main hall, closed the door, and sat down.

One sat in the hall, and the other sat at the door, eight feet apart.

Huang Xingde: "Do you know you're wrong?"

Wang Wen: "What did I do wrong?"

Huang Xingde: "Don't you have any idea what you've done?"

Wang Wen: "Do you think I don't know what I've done?"

Huang Xingde: "Then you still don't know you're wrong?"

Wang Wen: "Then tell me, what did I do wrong?"

Huang Xingde: "Have you ever heard of 'Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake'?"

Wang Wen: "Have you ever heard of 'Only a fierce dragon can cross the river'?"

Huang Xingde: "You little brat, I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice..."

Wang Wen: "That's an illness. We should get a doctor to take a look at you as soon as possible!"

Huang Xingde: "You're just hoping I die soon..."

Wang Wen: "Are you even going to stop talking? If not, I'm going back to the yamen!"

Huang Xingde: "Sit down!"

After a long silence, Wang Wen finally spoke, breaking the silence: "What were those old Deng guys doing here just now?"

Huang Xingde scoffed dismissively: "What else could they be here for? To pull strings and make a quick buck!"

Wang Wen: "You've struck it rich?"

Huang Xingde: "You got promoted!"

Wang Wen: "Oh, what rank is he?"

Huang Xingde: "You don't know?"

Wang Wen: "I just got back, how would I know?"

Huang Xingde: "Don't you know why you've set me up in this deadly situation?"

Wang Wen: "What a joke! You think this official position was given to me by the emperor because I'm handsome? I risked my life for it; don't I know my own limitations?"

Huang Xingde fell silent again.

After a long while, he finally spoke: "The imperial edict, bestowed upon you the title of Fourth-Rank General of the Huainan Circuit for Subduing Demons and granted the privilege of establishing your own government and military headquarters, is enshrined in your room."

Wang Wen: "How come you're only a fourth-rank official?"

Huang Xingde: "You won't admit you're a greenhorn. The fourth rank is already the highest a local official can achieve. To go higher, you have to enter the imperial court. And what's the point of your position, anyway?"

Wang Wen: "Then where?"

Huang Xingde: "You are hereby granted the privilege of establishing your own government and military headquarters!"

Wang Wen: "What do you mean?"

Huang Xingde: "I'm telling you to read more books in your spare time!"

Wang Wen: "If I study, can I become a fourth-rank official at this age?"

Huang Xingde: "The special grant of the right to establish a government office and a branch means that the government pays for you to open a branch, and you can recruit soldiers, raise flags, and raise poles on your own. You can decide for yourself."

Upon hearing this, Wang Wen burst into laughter, slapping the armrest of his chair and saying, "It's all thanks to the Emperor for recognizing talent. Back then, when I asked you to take up a position as a branch leader, you were so stingy that you absolutely refused. But now, the Emperor himself is supporting me to become a hall master!"

"Are we being stingy?"

Seeing his hearty laughter, Huang Xingde finally couldn't keep a straight face anymore. He squinted and chuckled, "I practically had you tied to my waistband before, but I still couldn't stop you from causing trouble. If I let you be the incense master again, wouldn't you turn Yangzhou upside down?"

Wang Wen: "Isn't that because you're a coward? How come you're not afraid of the emperor?"

Huang Xingde: "What are we anyway? How dare we compare ourselves to the officials?"

Wang Wen: "Don't talk about yourself like that. No matter how awesome he is, I still have to call you 'Dad'."

Huang Xingde: "You call him 'father' too!"

Wang Wen: "I'd like to call out, but I'm afraid he won't dare to respond!"

Huang Xingde: "You bastard, how can you spout such nonsense?"

Wang Wen: "You guys didn't say anything, but you just started doing it!"

The father and son grinned and chuckled...

After a while, Wang Wencai pondered, "According to what you just said, the highest rank for a local official is the fourth rank, and I can open my own branch... Doesn't that mean that I'll be the most powerful person in Yangzhou Prefecture from now on?"

"Mom and Dad, your son has made something of himself!"

"That's one way to put it."

Huang Xingde nodded in agreement with his statement, but then added, "But things can't be said that way. As a fourth-rank official, you are under the jurisdiction of the Demon Suppression Division and have no authority over other government offices. In other words, without a legitimate reason, you have no authority over the various government offices."

"And your official position is the Demon-Slaying General of Huainan Circuit, which is not directly subordinate to the local Demon-Suppressing Offices of Huainan Circuit. In other words, without a legitimate reason, you have no authority over the local Demon-Suppressing Offices."

"But the Emperor has also granted you the special authority to establish your own government and military headquarters, allowing you to recruit soldiers and horses on your own, without being hindered by other government offices or the Demon Suppression Division!"

"Therefore, without a legitimate reason, there is no essential difference between you, the Demon-Slaying General, and the Commander of the Garrison Army..."

He kept saying all sorts of "what ifs," but the excitement and joy in his eyes didn't diminish at all.

Wang Wen understood perfectly... As long as he had a legitimate reason, he was the most powerful person in the entire Huainan Circuit, not just Yangzhou Prefecture!
A truly high position and great power!
It seems that the massacre in the ten prefectures of Jiangnan had a significant impact on the emperor!
(End of this chapter)