The 18th year of the Da Yong reign: The beginning of the story involves rescuing revolutionaries.

"Lord Ji Dinggang?" Zhou An raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"Indeed, who else could it be but Lord Ji?" Magistrate Hu nodded.

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Zhou An's face clearly showed a hint of joy: "They are the direct descendants of the Provincial Governor, not to mention that they are martial artists of the fourth realm. Wang Luoyun and his group won't be arrogant for long."

"I never imagined you were so familiar with Lord Ji, sir. You've really found a powerful patron like the Provincial Governor," Zhou An complimented with a smile.

He knew, of course, that aside from the powerful and wealthy officials, the real political power center in the provincial government was the separation of powers among the governor, the provincial treasurer, the provincial judge, and the provincial education commissioner.

Of course, in these chaotic times, Governor-General Yang Shangxiu of the two provinces holds a superior position. He commands all the patrol soldiers of Tianxi and Guping provinces, and even the local militia in various counties and cities are nominally under his jurisdiction. He also commands the elite "Golden Caltrops" and the governors of the two provinces are under his control, not to mention...

Governor Yang is currently leading his trusted general, Commander-in-Chief Wang Donglai, to suppress the rebels of the Cang Sheng Sect in the north. The progress of the battle is currently unknown.

Clearly, Magistrate Hu was quite pleased with Zhou An's flattery, and said with a somewhat insincere smile, "We're not exactly close yet, but as I said before, once I'm promoted to the Zhaoyang Prefecture, I'll arrange a good future for you."

Magistrate Hu now realized just how powerful the Daxing Gang was, that they weren't even afraid of foreign guns. He knew he couldn't afford to push them too far, at least not now. Keeping them calm before Lord Ji arrived was the top priority.

"Your subordinate thanks you in advance, Your Excellency." Zhou An's previous gloom vanished, and he exchanged a smile with the magistrate.

Afterwards, the magistrate thought about how to keep the other party in check and decided to organize a drinking party. Little did he know that many important events in history were resolved over drinks.

With that thought in mind, he made the arrangements. But when the drinking party was mentioned, he suddenly realized that the head of the Wang family, Wang Zhi, who had taken charge of the Wang family at such a young age, had also disappeared these past few days, just like the gang leader.

He didn't even show up when it came to providing relief to disaster victims.

In the past, young people would never have given up such opportunities to gain exposure and fame.

A cloud of doubt settled over his mind.

Outside the county government office.

Wang Zhaozheng had once tethered his steed to the stone lion in front of the county government office.

The advisor, as if he had been waiting for a long time, quickly took two steps down the steps, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Chief Wang, what a rare guest! It's been so long, and you look even more radiant than before."

"You flatter me, sir. I have returned from my long journey and have come to pay my respects to Your Excellency," Wang Zhi replied in return.

"Chief Wang requests your presence in the inner courtyard; the county magistrate has already given instructions." The clerk bowed slightly and led the way.

To Wang Zhi's surprise, as he walked along the corridor, he saw the county magistrate in front of him and Zhou An behind him, standing in the courtyard waiting for him.

interesting.

Wang Zhi thought to himself, wondering when the provincial officials would arrive in Liuzhou and whether his godfather had made contact with them.

Now is not the time to break ties with the county magistrate. The purpose of this visit is twofold: first, to put on a show, and second, to hope that they will release the gang members they have arrested and stop causing him trouble in the future.

Wang Zhi quickened his pace, overtook the clerk, and took the initiative to greet him: "I am flattered that Your Excellency has personally waited for me in the courtyard. I am truly flattered."

The county magistrate warmly took Wang Zhi's hand and said, "Luo Yun, you and I are as close as brothers. Let's not talk about these things. Today, there are only the three of us. I didn't even inform the head of the Wang family. This is a special occasion to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey."

Before long, the group took their seats at the table.

Without saying a word, the group drank several cups of fine, sweet bamboo wine. Then, the county magistrate looked at Zhou An and said, "Director Zhou, stop putting on airs and apologize to our Chief Wang."

Wang Zhi was taken aback. Looking at Zhou An's awkward way of picking up the wine cup, he would have burst out laughing if they weren't in the county government office.

It's rare to see an official apologize to the people.

"I, Zhou An, have offended you in any way. Please forgive me, Chief Wang. It was all my fault for being presumptuous and misunderstanding the magistrate's intentions. I took a trivial matter as an imperial edict. Please don't take it to heart."

Before Zhou Chu could hold his cup for too long, Wang Zhi smiled, raised his cup, and lightly clinked it against Zhou Chu's: "I hope Zhou Chu will release the brothers in my gang as soon as possible."

The county magistrate immediately chimed in: "Previously, I instructed Director Zhou to bring in a few brothers from the gang for questioning. Luo Yun, you know the provincial government's order is urgent; they need the men urgently. With the deadline fast approaching, I invited them to the county office to learn more about the situation."

"As for the person, release him immediately. We'll finish this wine, and you can take him back yourself." Magistrate Hu waved his hand.

"I also heard about Zhou An surrounding the Daxing Gang. He was supposed to go and find out about you, but he hasn't returned yet, so I was a little worried. Who knew he would be so reckless and have an unpleasant encounter with Li Quanfu? It's all a misunderstanding." With that, Magistrate Hu tilted his head back and downed a cup of wine.

Wang Zhi drank another cup: "Since it's a misunderstanding, it's good to talk it out. As for the matter of the rebels, Luo Yun will give the county magistrate an explanation when the time limit is up."

"No problem, no problem."

The meal ended amidst laughter and cheerful conversation, with both hosts and guests thoroughly enjoying themselves.

At least on the surface, that's the case.

After leaving the table.

Wang Zhi and Zhou An walked arm in arm toward the torture chamber to take the man away.

The torture chamber was located on the west side of the county government's main hall. The left side was considered inferior and the right side inferior, and the west was associated with yin, forming a contrast between the torture chamber and the household chamber on the east side, representing life and death.

So, after passing through the central hall pillars, the two arrived at their destination not far away.

When the guards at the torture chamber saw Lord Zhou arrive, they hurriedly greeted him with a grin, not recognizing that the person accompanying him was the leader of the Daxing Gang.

He immediately said, "Sir, to this day, the Da Xing Gang members still won't confess. We've tried every kind of torture, what do you think..."

Snapped--

Before the other person could finish speaking, Zhou An, who was drunk, lifted his eyelids and slapped him across the face.

The officer's right cheek was swollen from the beating.

He seemed stunned, covering his face and standing there dumbfounded. His lips trembled but he couldn't utter a single word. Zhou An said, "What kind of trick? What kind of torture? You fucking see it clearly. I'm here with Chief Wang of the Daxing Gang to take people away. Where are his brothers? Hurry up and take us there."

Upon hearing this, the officer finally understood why he had been slapped.

He hurriedly nodded and bowed, saying, "Yes, yes, sir, chief, this way."

However, Wang Zhi's eyes had changed, and he quickly followed the official.

In the dark, windowless torture chamber, a pungent smell of rust mixed with the stench of blood assaulted Wang Zhi's nostrils.

The table was piled high with yellowed case files, with red tags for murders and white tags for theft categorized and inserted into tubes, while half of the ink-stained record book was spread out.

On the wooden shelves on both sides were rows of bloodstained instruments of torture.

Along the way, clerks and officials, even the executioners who were whipping people, all stopped what they were doing and bowed to Zhou An in greeting.

Even though Wang Zhi knew all along that the tricks of "pointing grass" to solicit bribes and "adding to the price upon seeing red" were nothing more than tools for the county government to make money, and that human lives were just beads on an abacus, he still frowned deeply after seeing it with his own eyes.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Wang Zhi met his first brother in the sixth cell.

"Liu Fugui, someone's here to take your place. You can leave now." Waiting outside the cell was an old guard who was taking out a bunch of keys from his waist and walking over to open the door.

Inside the room, a man dressed in blood-stained white clothes huddled on a pile of dry grass.

Hearing the sound, it groaned twice in discomfort and struggled to turn over.

The moment Wang Zhi saw the man's face, his eyes widened, and he rushed to the prison door, grabbing the iron bars with both hands.

"Skinny Monkey! Is that you, Skinny Monkey?" Wang Zhi shouted.

He managed to make out the person's features with difficulty from the swollen face.

Liu Fugui was the first time Wang Zhi had learned the real name of the skinny monkey.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that not only was the person's face bruised and swollen, but his right eye was also so swollen that it was barely a slit. His entire body was covered in open wounds, and his clothes were stuck together with dried scabs like tattered rags.

"The leader? Wow, the leader, waaaaaah!" Skinny Monkey suddenly lunged forward, shifting his knees.

A pair of still-bleeding hands slammed against the cell door; these hands had clearly used even a bundle of ten small bamboo sticks.

"Boss, they made me confess, made me sign a document, and made Skinny Monkey say that you colluded with the rebels and worked together from the inside. Skinny Monkey denied it to the death. I, Skinny Monkey, have not disgraced you."

click -

Wang Zhi snapped the iron bars in two.