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

"two......"

Zhou An frowned, staring at Li Quanfu as he spoke slowly. His words were like a nail driven into the hearts of everyone in the gang.

It is also a death warrant.

Many of the gang members already looked anxious.

A very small number of people didn't even know why Master Fu stopped Zhou An. Their Daxing Gang had never colluded with rebels, let alone harbored criminals. What was wrong with letting them in for a search?

Despite their confusion, they silently stood behind Master Fu, staring at Zhou An with resentment, firmly guarding the gate of the Daxing Gang.

At worst, I'll just die.

Both sides of the long street were already filled with onlookers, including merchants and travelers, stewards of various families, and even a young general, wearing a straw hat, standing in the shadows of the corner, looking like a large spear, watching all of this.

The people were terrified when they saw Zhou An swaggering around.

The title of "Three Realms Warrior" weighed heavily on Li Quanfu's mind.

He has only broken through to the second realm, and is still a long way from the third realm.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out how to break the deadlock. That damned Zhou An was using both overt and covert schemes, and it was a doomed situation.

Fortunately, the gang leader still holds the identity of the head of the Wang family, so he must not get involved in this mess.

If he could escape this calamity, he would avenge Li Quanfu. He clenched his fists and secretly gathered his blood and energy from his dantian.

"one!"

Upon hearing this "one," everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

The shout of "one" came from behind.

"Boss."

"Boss."

"Boss!"

All the Daxing Gang brothers made way for him, shouting as they watched intently as their leader walked towards them from behind!

He walked step by step to stand half a step in front of Master Fu.

He tilted his head slightly, looking steadily at Zhou An on horseback, and said, "It's just a matter of shouting 'one,' Director Zhou. This leader will shout it for you."

"Arrogant, Wang Luoyun, you're utterly arrogant!" Zhou An roared, pointing his whip at Wang Zhi, his lungs practically bursting with rage.

Wang Zhi reached into his robes and touched the jade pendant that his godfather had given him as a token of his loyalty. He was now planning to use the Wuyi Marquis's mansion as a powerful symbol.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats rang out again at the end of the long street.

The two sides, who were locked in a stalemate, were simultaneously drawn by the approaching sound of horses' hooves and looked up.

A man dressed in black rushed towards them.

As the person gradually magnified in his line of sight, their face became clearer, and Zhou An smiled.

When the fast horse arrived, Zhou An dared not be careless and immediately dismounted. Even though the other party was only an eighth-rank official of the same rank as him, he was a confidant of Lord Ji and a third-rank martial artist, far superior to him.

He then cupped his hands and said, holding the riding whip, "Inspector Chen, we've been waiting for you. The Daxing Gang has defied the imperial orders and resisted the search. They must be harboring villains and rebels."

After saying that, he pulled out the foreign gun from his waist. After so long, he finally dared to pull out a gun in front of Wang Luoyun and Li Quanfu again.

Looking at the unfamiliar inspector, Wang Zhi felt a chill run down his spine upon recalling his status as a third-rank martial artist, and he immediately gripped the jade pendant in his palm.

Unexpectedly, Inspector Chen gave Zhou An a cold, sidelong glance and couldn't help but scold, "You ignorant fool!"

What?

Zhou An even suspected he was hallucinating, and looked at Zhang Zhu in astonishment.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou An's face turned a deep red, almost liver-colored.

The red light reached his ears, and Zhou An, who held a horsewhip in one hand and a foreign gun in the other, stood there frozen as if petrified.

Li Quanfu, who had somehow ended up standing shoulder to shoulder with Wang Zhi, also looked surprised, not understanding what was going on this time.

Zhang Zhu wanted nothing more than to slap this man surnamed Zhou, but he restrained himself out of consideration for their shared status as eighth-rank officials, and felt a wave of lingering fear.

Fortunately, he hadn't listened to Zhou's arrangements and stormed into the Daxing Gang. That would have been using Zhou An as a pawn, and the consequences would have been unimaginable. Thinking of this, he didn't have time to think further. He dismounted and walked quickly to Wang Zhi.

He clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Master Wang... I am Zhang Zhu, a trusted inspector of Lord Ji. Lord Ji has regained consciousness and wishes to see you. Please come with me to the county government office."

When he first opened his mouth, he didn't even know how to address the adopted son of the Marquis of Wuyi in front of him, and finally chose the safest term "gang leader".

Upon hearing this and seeing the attitude of Inspector Zhang, Wang Zhi felt reassured and immediately understood. He put the jade pendant back into his pocket and said, "Okay, I'll go right now."

Li Quanfu stepped forward, looking at Wang Zhi with concern, and whispered, "Chief."

Wang Zhi gave the other party a reassuring look and instructed, "Afu, guard our Daxing Gang well. Hall Master Luo, bring me my horse."

"Yes, Chief." Old Luo quickly led over the chief's chestnut-red horse.

After mounting his horse, Wang Zhi turned to look at the Da Xing Gang's plaque, the corner of which Zhou An had previously shot off, and pointed at it, saying, "Master Luo, this plaque can be replaced with a new one. Giddy up!"

After saying this, he turned his horse around and rode away with Inspector Zhang.

As they passed Zhou An, Zhang Zhu didn't forget to say, "Director Zhou, let's go back to the county office. Lord Ji has important matters to discuss."

Zhou An took a deep breath, tucked his rifle back into his waistband, and, as if nothing had happened, remounted his horse: "Let's go, retreat, and return to the yamen."

"Brothers, let's see Lord Zhou off!" Hall Master Luo shouted as he watched Zhou An's departing figure.

The Da Xing gang members standing in front of the gate called out in unison, "Lord Zhou, please wait."

After shouting, they burst into laughter. They didn't know how the situation had changed in the blink of an eye. They only knew that even the officials from the provincial government were very respectful to their gang leader.

So what is there to fear from a mere Zhou An?

These shouts nearly made Zhou An fall off his horse in anger. He couldn't help but whip his horse a few times, making it run even faster.

In the inner courtyard of the Liuzhou County government office, in Magistrate Hu's study.

The neatly dressed Lord Ji sat upright behind the desk that belonged to Magistrate Hu.

Magistrate Hu and his advisor stood respectfully with their heads bowed before the desk.

However, the seventh-rank Magistrate Hu and the fourth-rank Circuit Intendant Ji Dinggang were worlds apart in terms of power and status.

Lord Ji tapped his left index finger forcefully on the desk while his right hand flipped through the list of charges on the desk.

The Daxing Gang oppressed honest farmers, seized fertile land, opened up large-scale trade markets, exploited merchants, and collected interest that violated the laws of Dayong.

The most important of these was that the Daxing Gang colluded with the Xinzhonghui rebels, working together from the inside to secretly carry out their plan, which led to the Liuzhou County government failing to hand over the three rebels within the stipulated time limit.

"The Daxing Gang, Wang Luoyun," Lord Ji murmured softly.

"Yes, sir." The magistrate nodded hastily.

"These incidents are truly shocking," Lord Ji said, his head bowed as he looked at the papers.

"It's done!" Magistrate Hu was overjoyed upon hearing this.

If they can't hand over the rebels, then label the Daxing Gang as rebels and hand them over—what a brilliant plan! Magistrate Hu secretly admired himself, saying aloud, "Indeed, sir! This Daxing Gang leader is lawless and, relying on his martial arts skills, has long since disregarded the county government and the Great Yong Dynasty. Your trusted men should go and capture him in one fell swoop, bringing him to justice and punishing him according to the law!"

"Not bad, not bad." Lord Ji raised his head, looked at Magistrate Hu, clapped his hands, and revealed a smile.