In times of chaos and famine, I traded one pound of rice for two royal flushes.

Only Qin Shaolang remained seated, his expression unchanged. He slowly finished the last bite of tiger meat in his bowl before raising his head to look at the panicked sentry.

His voice was calm, as if he were asking about the weather today.

"How many people came? Who is in charge? Did they say why they came?"

Three questions in a row, clear, calm, and getting straight to the point.

This unwavering composure, even in the face of imminent collapse, instantly reassured the panicked soldiers. They unconsciously turned their gazes to Qin Shaolang, as if the sky wouldn't fall as long as this man remained seated.

The sentry, catching his breath, quickly replied, "Brother Qin, there were about a dozen of them, all dressed in county yamen uniforms and carrying knives. The leader was a fat man, I think he was Wang, the head constable of the county yamen. As soon as they arrived at the village entrance, they asked whose family was celebrating such a big event. When they heard it was because we killed a tiger and were celebrating, their faces darkened and they came straight this way!"

Wang Ban Tou?

A vague impression flashed through Qin Shaolang's mind. It seemed to be a notoriously greedy figure in the county government, who was in charge of extortion and oppressing the villagers.

It seems they came because of the smell of fish.

Qin Shaolang sneered inwardly, but remained outwardly calm. He waved his hand at the crowd.

"Sit down, all of you, and continue eating your meat and drinking your wine. The sky won't fall down."

He then looked at Chu Wu: "Tell the brothers to put away their weapons. Let's not be so tense. We are law-abiding citizens, not bandits."

Although Chu Wu was nervous, he unconditionally obeyed Qin Shaolang's orders. He immediately gave the orders in a low voice. Although the soldiers were still standing, their intimidating aura had lessened considerably, but their eyes remained warily fixed on the entrance of the kiln.

Just then, a series of noisy footsteps approached from afar.

A dozen or so officers dressed in black, with broadswords at their waists, swaggered in, led by a fat man with a fierce face.

The fat man at the head of the group was none other than Wang, the head constable. His small eyes darted around in the firelight, and when his gaze fell on the huge, intact tiger skin in the center of the clearing, and the neatly disassembled tiger bones, the greed in his eyes almost overflowed!

We've won! This time we've really won!

Such a complete tiger skin and a tiger skeleton of exceptional quality—their value far exceeds six hundred taels of silver! If handled properly, they could be presented to the Prefect as a birthday gift, potentially jeopardizing my future…

Thinking of this, Wang, the squad leader, felt a surge of excitement. He cleared his throat, adopted an imposing, official demeanor, and shouted sternly:

"How dare you! Who's in charge? In broad daylight, you dare to gather a crowd and cause trouble here, and even kill a tiger without permission! Do you have no respect for the law?!"

His shout was full of energy, and he intended to give these peasants a taste of their power.

However, the scene he had envisioned of everyone kneeling and begging for mercy did not occur.

More than thirty men simply stared at him coldly, their eyes showing no fear, only a kind of indifference that made his heart tremble.

Chu Wu frowned and was about to step forward when Qin Shaolang stood up.

He walked slowly to Wang Bantou, cupped his hands respectfully without being humble or arrogant, and spoke in a calm tone.

"My lord, you are mistaken. We are not inciting a rebellion, but celebrating ridding the people of a scourge. The white-browed tiger we hunted was the very one for which the county government offered a reward of six hundred taels of silver some time ago. The notice is still posted at the city gate. We responded to the government's call and risked our lives to rid the scourge; what crime have we committed?"

Wang Bantou sized up Qin Shaotan, noticing his simple clothes, youthful face, and impressive demeanor, but ultimately not like a big shot. The slight apprehension he felt due to the situation vanished instantly.

"Hmph, a sharp-tongued brat!" Wang, the head constable, sneered. "A bounty? The bounty was issued by the county magistrate. You killed it, so you should have brought the tiger's carcass back to the county office intact to await the magistrate's judgment! Look at the mess you've made! You dared to skin and dismember it yourselves, and now you're even sharing the tiger meat here! This is contempt of court, a crime punishable by double! Guards!"

He waved his hand dismissively: "Take down this tiger skin and tiger bones, along with these unruly commoners, and bring them all back to the county office for interrogation!"

The dozen or so constables behind him immediately drew their swords with a "whoosh" and were about to step forward.

The atmosphere instantly became extremely tense!

"Let's see who dares!"

Chu Wu roared and took a step forward, and the thirty-odd family soldiers behind him also stepped forward at the same time.

"Clang!"

Although no weapons were drawn, the uniform sound of their footsteps, like the beating of war drums, carried the momentum of a thousand troops and struck the hearts of all the officers and soldiers!

The faces of the dozen or so officials turned pale instantly.

Who were they? Just cowardly yamen runners who bullied the weak and feared the strong, usually dealing with unarmed civilians. They'd never seen anything like this before!

The thirty-odd men before them were all burly and fierce-looking, exuding a strong stench of blood. Especially when they stood together, the invisible pressure they emanated made them feel not as a group of refugees, but as an army that had just crawled out of a pile of corpses!

Wang, the squad leader, felt his legs go weak, but relying on his official uniform, he roared, his voice trembling with fear, "What? You want to rebel?!"

Qin Shaolang smiled.

He reached out and gently pressed down on Chu Wu's shoulder, signaling him to calm down.

He turned to Wang Bantou, whose face had turned pale, with a warm smile, but his words were like a cold knife.

"Commander Wang, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. The label of 'rebellion' is too big for us ordinary folks to bear."

"As for the tiger carcass," Qin Shaozhuang pointed to the tiger skin, "I saw the county government's reward notice very clearly. It only said that anyone who hunts this tiger can claim a reward of six hundred taels of silver from the county government by presenting the tiger carcass or tiger head. It never mentioned that the tiger carcass had to be handed over for free, nor did it say that we can't eat the tiger meat or skin it, right?"

He paused, his voice remaining calm: "Chief Wang is also a government official; he should know the laws of the Great Wei better than I do. These ownerless ferocious beasts belong to whoever hunts them. The county government's reward is an incentive, not a forced sale. Now you want to take all the tiger skin and bones, and even arrest our people… this is probably unreasonable and without legal basis, isn't it?"

His words were clear, logical, and well-founded, effectively shutting down any further arguments Wang Bantou might have made.

Wang Bantou's fat face turned a deep purplish-red. He pointed at Qin Shaolang, stammering for a long time, unable to utter a single word. He knew nothing of the laws of the Great Wei Dynasty; he only knew who had the bigger fist and who held the greater official authority! But today, neither of those things seemed to be working.

Just then, a hoarse voice rang out from behind the crowd.

It's Li Hu!

He led a few hunters who had just received favors from Qin Shaolang the day before out of the crowd.