The Imperial Guards, like Yama, slaughtered until the Empress cried out for help.

Luoshui City was a large prefecture city with a considerable territory, so its government offices, like those of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, were divided into east, south, west, and north branches.

Each of the four districts is equipped with a head constable and a judge.

West City Government Office.

In a red pavilion, Wu Liang, a constable weighing a good 300 pounds, was eating with a roasted chicken in his left hand and a pot of strong liquor in his right, his mouth dripping with oil.

With a look of delight on his face, he devoured the whole roasted chicken in no time, casually tossing the bones on the ground. Looking at the chicken bones on the ground, this must be the fifth roasted chicken Wu Liang has eaten today.

Wu Liang looked somewhat displeased: "Xiao Sun, what's going on? Didn't I tell you to go buy roast chicken?"

A yamen runner who was sweeping the floor bowed and said, "Boss, I've already sent someone to buy it."

"You can't even handle a simple task properly. What are you even good for when the government hires you?" Wu Liang took out a toothpick and shaved his teeth. He leaned back, making the recliner creak.

"Has that old geezer been causing trouble again these past few days?"

The constables rushed over and stood behind Wu Liang, massaging him: "He hasn't come since yesterday, he must have given up."

Wu Liang smugly said, "Hmph, an old codger thinks he can fight me?"

"Besides, do you even have enough to eat to feed so many kids? I sent them to a good place, and instead of thanking me, this old bastard wants to sue me?"

The constable chuckled obsequiously, "Hehe, our boss is so magnanimous; it's just that this old codger is being ungrateful."

"But wait, this old geezer might run off to report us to the authorities somewhere else, wouldn't he?"

Wu Liang wore a confident expression: "Don't worry, this isn't the first time we've done something like this. Have you seen any other government offices come to us?"

The constable looked like he'd just realized something: "What about the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard? Do you think they're good people? Who would do such a lucrative job?"

The constable shook his head: "It wasn't like that before, but the new centurion Shen Qing who came to this area is a bit different. He also has a title called the World-Saving Yama."

Wu Liang: "The God of Salvation? Is he a good person?"

The constable quickly shook his head: "It's not that, but he likes to kill people and is extremely arrogant. He doesn't give any official face. Didn't he just tie up Zhang Zhu, the prefect of Luoshui City, and throw him in jail a while ago?"

Wu Liang waved his hand dismissively, "It's alright. If they really come looking for us, we'll just give them some money."

"No, boss, Shen Qing doesn't seem to be short of money either. Didn't a wealthy man in Luoshui City spend a thousand taels of silver to buy medicinal herbs a while ago? I think it was him."

Wu Liang opened his eyes: "Not short of money? If he wasn't short of money, why would he be a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

The constable scratched his head: "Maybe, maybe he just likes fighting?"

Just then, a commotion broke out at the entrance of the government office.

"Sir, sir, who are you looking for? Should I go and inform them?"

"My lord...my lord...we're colleagues."

Suddenly, the scholar's voice rang out: "Who the hell is your colleague? Where's Wu Liang?"

"I don't know."

Then came a crisp slapping sound, followed by an indistinct sound.

"Wu Liang is in that red pavilion inside."

Without the slightest hesitation, the constable, after receiving the slap of justice, immediately chose to betray Wu Liang.

Shen Qing carried the red-faced constable into the yamen and his eyes immediately locked onto Wu Liang in the red pavilion.

Wu Liang sat up straight, instinctively wanting to escape, but his huge body was stuck in the rocking chair, making him flustered for a moment. In the end, he smashed the chair with a palm strike of internal force, but Shen Qing had already arrived.

Wu Liang quickly got up and bowed, saying, "Captain Wu Liang greets Commander Baihu!"

Shen Qing glanced at the chicken bones scattered on the ground, then at Wu Liang's three-hundred-pound belly: "You can really eat, huh? You've swallowed all the oil and fat, haven't you?"

In the past, if anyone dared to say such things to him, he would immediately get angry, but today he dared not speak his anger and could only lower his head and smile apologetically.

"You jest, sir. Do you have business with me? Or are you here to see my uncle? My uncle is Wu Gang, the Assistant Magistrate of Luoshui City."

Wu Liang instinctively sensed something was wrong and quickly brought out his uncle, who was a magistrate, to quell the unrest.

This amused Shen Qing; before the interrogation even began, he had already revealed his family's address.

Shen Qing chuckled: "I've come to ask you something. You know about the family on Guyue Street who lost over a dozen children and an elderly person a few days ago, right?"

Wu Liang's expression changed, and he cursed inwardly, "That old bastard really went to find the Embroidered Uniform Guard? Don't let me catch you."

What they thought in their hearts, they said a completely different thing.

"I don't know, sir. I've never heard of this. Is it...?"

Shen Qing didn't bother to listen to what was said after that. He simply raised his foot and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to Wu Liang's abdomen. The 300-pound Wu Liang was sent flying like a football by Shen Qing, crashing into two houses and causing them to collapse.

Shen Qing found a clean chair and sat down.

"Old Li, stop hiding it, take out what you brought."

The scholar and the others turned their gazes directly to Old Li, who took off the small bag on his back and pulled out a thorny vine.

It was the vine I found while hunting wild wolves.

The scholar was dumbfounded: "Why do you carry a rattan cane with you?"

Old Li chuckled sheepishly, "Isn't this useful now?"

Several imperial guards ran into the ruins and dug out the unconscious Wu Liang, then hung him on the eaves.

However, because he was so heavy, the Imperial Guards used five ropes to hoist him up.

Without saying a word, Old Li lashed out with his whip. With a loud crack, the whip struck Wu Liang's face, leaving a huge, centipede-like wound.

Wu Liang, who was unconscious, woke up immediately. The intense pain made his eyes red. Before he could catch his breath, he was hit with five more lashes.

Wu Liang winced in pain and quickly shouted.

"I'll talk, I'll talk... I know where those children are... Please stop hitting them..."

Actually, he wanted to confess when the first lash came down, but the first lash hit his mouth and he was in so much pain that he couldn't speak.

"Then tell me, where is the child?"

Wu Liang hesitated for a moment, but in that short time, Old Li lashed out with his whip again.

Wu Liang immediately sobered up and dared not hesitate any longer.

"The children have all been sent to Dezheng Pavilion."

Wu Liang then recounted the whole story.

They had been eyeing the old woman's family for a long time. After confirming the situation, they took action and kidnapped more than a dozen children, sending them to Dezheng Pavilion. Dezheng Pavilion would give Wu Liang ten taels of silver for each child, and this was not the first time he had done this.

"Dezheng Pavilion?"

Shen Qing remembered the name of this force; it was on the list of various forces that the scholar had collected in the past few days.

The reputation of Dezheng Pavilion in Yongning County's martial arts world is not very good; in terms of fame, it is even inferior to that of the Blackwater Gang.

Shen Qing chuckled, recalling how the scholar had said that Xicheng was not peaceful when he took office as the head of the Xicheng Hundred Household Office, and that most of the black market transactions in Luoshui City were conducted there. Now it seemed that it was indeed true.

First came the Blackwater Gang, which committed murder and evil deeds, then came the Dezheng Pavilion, which dealt in human trafficking, and even the Japanese pirates who smuggled soybeans to the west of the city.

The scholar frowned and looked at Wu Liang: "What a beast! Ten taels of silver and he ruined someone's family? And what about the old man?"

Wu Liang's throat bobbed, Old Li frowned, and raised his hand to continue whipping, but Wu Liang quickly shouted.

"In jail! In jail!"

The scholar, accompanied by several Imperial Guards, headed towards the government prison.

Before long, the scholar came out with a gloomy face, followed by two imperial guards who carried out an old man with a sunken and sallow face.

The scholar shook his head at Shen Qing: "Boss, we've found him, but he's probably not going to make it. He already had some illnesses, and he probably hasn't eaten for the past few days."

The old man behind them had unfocused eyes and kept calling out, "Child...child..."

Shen Qing waved his hand: "Send him back to the centurion's office and find a doctor."

Shen Qing then got up and took the rattan whip from Old Li's hand.

Wu Liang trembled uncontrollably: "What...what are you going to do? I've already confessed..."

Before the words were finished, a whooshing sound rang out.

Bang!

The green vine whip slammed into Wu Liang's body, causing blood to splatter and his skin to tear open.

"I'd like to see how many lashes you can withstand after making so much money."

Wu Liang shook his head repeatedly, the whipping had left him delirious: "Uncle... Uncle..."

"Call me Uncle? Don't even think about calling me Uncle today, calling me Dad won't do you any good!"

Shen Qing raised his hand and lashed out with three lashes, each one imbued with internal force, leaving Wu Liang with gaping wounds that were deep enough to penetrate to the bone.

Wu Liang's screams echoed throughout the yamen, sending chills down the spines of the yamen runners.

Gradually, Wu Liang's voice grew softer and softer. He realized that no matter how much he begged for mercy, Shen Qing would not let him go.

Wu Liang's eyes were filled with resentment: "Shen Qing, I'll haunt you even as a ghost..."

Shen Qing was too lazy to listen to him finish speaking. She wove the rattan in her hands for a while, and a line of blood drew an arc. Wu Liang's fat head was directly whipped off.

"Become a ghost? You can't beat me as a human, but you think you can beat me as a ghost?"

Shen Qing turned around and walked towards the exit of the yamen: "Old Li, take all the remaining yamen runners back to me. You can decide the details yourself."

"The rest of you, come with me."

"Destroy the Dezheng Pavilion."