I attained immortality through meditation in the Great Qian Dynasty.

"What...what exactly do you want to do?"

Tu San's voice was hoarse.

Zhao Zian stretched out his finger and pointed it at Tu San's brow.

"No! Don't!"

He tried desperately to twist his head to get away, but his body wouldn't obey him.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

"Please, stop! Spare me!!"

Tu San's face was covered in tears, snot, and saliva.

Zhao Zian then withdrew his finger.

"Where did all this gold and silver come from?" Zhao Zian asked.

"Official...official ship..."

Tu San dared not conceal anything.

"It was a merchant ship carrying gifts from Prefect Liu of the prefecture to the capital! Our men received the news and ambushed the ship at the Yixiantian section of the waterway... Everyone on board was... everyone was killed..."

Prefect Liu Mang!

Zhao Zian raised an eyebrow.

It involved a power struggle within the county's officialdom.

"And what about these women?"

Zhao Zian continued to ask.

"It was...it was me who caught it..."

Tu San answered, trembling.

"I...I know a little about folk remedies. I used a drug to knock them out and tricked them into coming from various villages and towns..."

"Drunken Immortal Powder?"

"It's... a drug made from datura flowers, heartbreak grass... and several other medicinal herbs, prepared according to a specific method. It's colorless and odorless; once someone smells it, they'll fall into a deep sleep and become completely at someone's mercy..."

Tu San hurriedly recited the prescription as well.

Zhao Zian asked all the questions he wanted to know.

He turned and walked toward the entrance.

The women let out soft sobs as they watched him leave.

Zhao Zian paused in his steps.

"Stay here and don't wander off. People outside will take you home."

After saying that, he walked out.

Zhao Zian squinted slightly, adjusting his eyes to the light.

Not right.

It's too quiet.

The two burly men who were supposed to be guarding the entrance were gone.

There were no signs of a struggle on the ground, nor was there any smell of blood.

Did they run away?

still is……

A white figure jumped onto his shoulder.

Zhao Zian reached out and touched its fur.

"Where is he?" he asked intently.

"You've been arrested!"

Xiao Bai was excited.

"That magistrate surnamed Zhang brought a lot of people over, and in no time at all, he tied up all those lackeys outside! Even faster than you!"

Zhang Jing is here?

Zhao Zian was slightly surprised.

……

forecourt.

A dozen or so strong men were tied up tightly with hemp rope by the yamen runners.

Zhang Jing saw Zhao Zian walking out from the direction of the back mountain.

"Brother Zi'an!"

"You're finally out! I was so worried about you..."

"I'm fine."

Zhao Zian interrupted him.

There's something you need to see for yourself.

"Okay, lead the way."

Zhang Jing didn't ask any further questions.

Zhao Zian led him back to the woodshed.

Zhang Jing was astonished when he saw the seven or eight disheveled women.

But what truly shook him to his core were the several large boxes in the center of the room.

He walked up to the box and casually picked up a gold ingot.

The bottom of the gold ingot was clearly engraved with the character for "official".

"This...this is..."

As the head of a county, he knew all too well what this mark represented.

These are tribute items that only the government is qualified to cast!

"The annual tribute sent to the capital by Prefect Liu Mang."

Zhao Zian's voice rang out.

"hiss."

Zhang Jing gasped.

Finished!

The sky is falling!

The prefect's tribute ship was hijacked, a crime punishable by death!

Let alone a mere county magistrate like him, even the prefect Liu Mang himself couldn't afford to offend him!

"Brother Zian, this...this is a hot potato, we can't handle it!"

His first reaction was to report the matter immediately, seal up the gold and silver, and then distance himself from all involvement.

Let the prefecture and the imperial court have a headache.

Their Liuxi Town, a small puddle, could not possibly contain a true dragon of this caliber.

"Report it?"

"Brother Zhang, tell me, where should we report this?"

Zhang Jing was taken aback: "Naturally...it should be reported to the prefectural city and handled by Prefect Liu..."

"and then?"

Zhao Zian pressed for more information.

Do you think Liu Mang would thank you for retrieving this deadly tribute for him?

Zhang Jing broke out in a cold sweat.

Liu Mang lost the tribute, a capital offense.

If you retrieve the offerings yourself and present them to him, it's as if you're handing him a knife.

A knife used to kill someone and silence them!

"Then...then should we report it directly to the imperial court?"

Reporting to higher authorities without authorization is a major taboo in officialdom.

Left or right, it's all death!

This is a complete dead end!

"Therefore, it cannot be reported."

Zhao Zian spoke each word carefully.

"Not...not report it?"

Zhang Jing looked up.

"How could such a large sum of gold and silver be kept secret? Once it's exposed..."

"Who said we were going to keep it a secret?" Zhao Zian retorted.

Zhang Jing was stunned.

Reporting it is problematic, but not reporting it is also problematic.

What exactly is this guy Zian up to?

Zhao Zian picked up a gold ingot.

"Brother Zhang, have you ever wondered why this batch of tribute was so easily stolen?"

Zhang Jing was stunned.

"Liu Mang may not be a good person, but he's not stupid either. The official ships transporting tribute would be heavily guarded. How could a group of river bandits entrenched in the mountains have such abilities?"

"Someone...is trying to frame Liu Mang!"

Zhang Jing's Adam's apple bobbed.

"That's right."

Zhao Zian nodded.

"Moreover, this person's status is definitely no lower than Liu Mang's. Therefore, this batch of gold is not a hot potato, but a trump card that can determine the fate of many people."

Zhang Jing stared at Zhao Zi'an.

"Brother Zi'an, what do you mean...?"

"Liu Mang is now a drowning dog. And those who want to take him down are hiding in the shadows."

"What we need to do now is not to pull this dog out of the water, nor to push him back in and drown him. Instead... we need to hand him a rope."

"A rope... that only we can grab the other end of."

Zhang Jing's breathing stopped!

Zhao Zian meant that he wanted to use this incident to seize control of Liu Mang's lifeline!

"How do I do it?"

Zhang Jing's voice was hoarse.

Zhao Zian smiled.

"It's very simple. This batch of tribute must be sent to the capital and to the rightful recipients."

"What?" Zhang Jing exclaimed in surprise, "We're going to deliver it?"

"Of course it wasn't us." Zhao Zian shook his head. "It was Liu Mang who went to deliver it."

"You, send your trusted confidant with a letter and a small box of gold and silver, on horseback, to the capital. Remember, be faster than the messenger Liu Mang sent!"

"The letter stated that Prefect Liu's tribute boat encountered river bandits in the waters of Liuxi Town. Fortunately, with the strong assistance of Zhang Jing, the magistrate of Liuxi Town, the bandits were wiped out, and most of the tribute was saved. Because the incident happened suddenly, Prefect Liu could not go to the capital in person, so he specially sent a messenger to deliver some of the recovered tribute in advance to put the emperor's mind at ease."

Zhang Jing's mouth opened wider and wider.

This move was absolutely brilliant!

This brother Zi'an's scheming is truly terrifying!

"As for the remaining gold and silver..."

Zhao Zian spoke.

"Consider it spoils from the bandit suppression, and put it into the county treasury. Part of it will be used to compensate the women who were victimized, and the other part will be used as military expenses for Brother Zhang's training of troops."