Start with acting, and you'll achieve immortality!

The night was deep

In the study of the new house in the east of the city, the candlelight flickered.

Li Ping sat at his desk, a calligraphy brush in his hand, rapidly copying something onto a stack of white paper.

Shi Gan squatted on the threshold, gnawing on half a cold roast chicken, and asked indistinctly.

"Sir, why are you copying these lousy lists in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? Just have Qian Duo copy them tomorrow."

"Qian Duo's handwriting is so bad it looks like a dog's crawl; it's embarrassing to show it off."

Li Ping didn't even raise his head, his wrist flicking rapidly.

"Furthermore, today we robbed Zhao Heng of his men and took his documents for changing his household registration."

That old fox will never let this go.

"Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows; we should naturally prepare several copies of this life-saving manual."

He blew on the ink to dry the copied list, carefully folded it, and stuffed it into Shi Gan's arms.

Keep this safe close to your body.

"If anything goes wrong at the county office tomorrow, you must immediately mount a fast horse."

"Send this to Jiangning City and personally hand it over to Inspector Ren Jun."

Shi Gan nodded repeatedly, stuffed the roster into his inner pocket, and patted his chest vigorously.

"Rest assured, sir, he's registered and accountable!"

Li Ping rubbed his aching wrists and hid the remaining two copies in a secret compartment in the study and in his sleeve pocket, respectively.

He understands the ways of officialdom all too well.

If Zhao Heng wanted revenge, he wouldn't be foolish enough to send people to kill him in the street.

Killing a high-ranking official with connections to the imperial inspector was far too risky.

The safest approach is to first use the rules of officialdom to strip Li Ping of his official facade.

As long as he is branded as a corrupt and lawless criminal, whether he is killed or tortured will be entirely up to Zhao Heng.

next morning

As soon as Li Ping reached the main gate of the county government office, he saw two rows of yamen runners holding fire and water sticks lined up on both sides, creating a tense atmosphere.

Qian Duo, hiding behind the stone lion, was sweating profusely with anxiety. Seeing Li Ping approaching, he quickly stepped forward and lowered his voice.

"Your Honor, something has happened! The magistrate is holding court this morning!"

"Registrar Zhao has brought several men waiting in the courtroom, saying they're going to accuse you of embezzling public grain and altering household registrations! You'd better run!"

Li Ping pulled a meat bun from his sleeve, took a big bite, and chewed it with relish.

"Run? If I run, the charge will be confirmed."

Li Ping swallowed the steamed bun and patted the crumbs off his hands.

"Let's go, follow me to meet them."

County Government Hall

Chen Rang sat upright beneath the plaque above the Mingjing Temple, still twirling the two walnuts in his hands, but today he was twirling them much faster, making a crisp cracking sound.

Zhao Heng stood on the left side of the hall, his hands tucked into his sleeves, a sinister smile playing on his lips.

Li Ping strode into the main hall with a pigeon-toed gait and casually cupped his hands in greeting.

"This humble official has witnessed Your Excellency's grand entourage today. Has it been thwarted by the rats in the granary east of the city?"

"Li Ping! Stop being so arrogant!"

Zhao Heng suddenly stepped forward, pointed at Li Ping's nose, and shouted sharply.

"Those rats in the granary east of the city, though seemingly far away, are right here in front of you! They're none other than you, the audacious head of the clerk's office!"

Li Ping picked at his ear, his face completely innocent.

"Registrar Zhao, you can eat whatever you want, but you absolutely cannot say whatever you want."

"I am completely innocent. Your slanderous accusations will land you in legal trouble."

"Innocence?" Zhao Heng sneered repeatedly, turning and shouting towards the outside of the hall, "Bring witnesses!"

Two bailiffs escorted a gaunt man, bound hand and foot, into the main hall.

Li Ping looked closely and realized that the man was the guard of the granary in the east of the city, named Sun Mazi.

As soon as Sun Mazi entered the courtroom, he knelt down with a thud and began to wail, tears streaming down his face.

"Your Honor, please understand! I was only acting under Li Ping's orders!"

"He forced me to secretly transport three thousand shi of old grain and sell it to black market merchants outside the city!"

"He even gave me fifty taels of silver as hush money!"

Zhao Heng then took out an account book from his sleeve and presented it to Chen Rang with both hands.

"Your Honor, this is the black market transaction register handed over by Sun Mazi, and Li Ping's fingerprint is clearly affixed to it!"

"Not only that, Li Ping also secretly released a runaway household member from a dilapidated temple in the west of the city yesterday and stole my official documents for changing their registration!"

"These corrupt officials who embezzle public funds and disregard the law should be immediately stripped of their official positions and thrown into death row!"

Chen Rang flipped through the roster, his eyebrows slightly raised, his gaze landing on Li Ping.

"Zizhi, with both witnesses and physical evidence, what is your explanation?"

Li Ping stepped forward, approached Chen Rang's desk, and peered at the register.

He suddenly burst out laughing.

"Registrar Zhao, if you're going to have someone forge a roster, at least find someone who knows what they're doing."

"The handprint is quite smooth, but unfortunately I am left-handed. The handprint on this register is clearly made by my right thumb."

"Do you really think my fingers can grow to the right side by themselves?"

Zhao Heng's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

"That's sophistry! You deliberately pressed your right hand on the seal so you could use it for this excuse!"

"Sun Mazi, tell me, how did Li Ping coerce you that day?"

Sun Mazi knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

"That's right! Lord Li is pointing a crossbow at my head. If I don't obey, he'll kill my whole family!"

Li Ping sighed, slowly walked to Sun Mazi, and squatted down.

"Sun Mazi, your acting is so fake, you didn't even manage to squeeze out a few tears."

Sun Mazi shrank back, not daring to look Li Ping in the eye.

Li Ping leaned close to his ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"How much did Zhao Heng promise you? One hundred taels? Or did he send you to Jiangning City to find a good job?"

Sun Mazi trembled all over, clenched his teeth and remained silent.

Li Ping pulled a neatly folded piece of white paper from his sleeve and waved it in front of Sun Mazi.

You risked your life for him, but he treated you like you were dead.

"Look what this is!"

Li Ping unfolded the white paper

Sun Mazi stared wide-eyed at the writing on the paper.

That was a copy of the "New List of Added Low-Class Slave Workers" that Li Ping had copied last night.

And among that long list of names, the three characters "Sun Mazi" were clearly written!

"This...how is this possible..."

Sun Mazi's face turned ashen, and his lips trembled violently.

Li Ping gave a cold laugh, his voice extremely low.

"He uses you to bring me down today, but tomorrow you'll die in jail and become a lowly person."

"They were sent to the Bai family's Xishan mine to dig stones."

"By helping him bite me, you're digging your own grave."

Sun Mazi's psychological defenses immediately collapsed.

He knew Zhao Heng's methods all too well; Zhao Heng was capable of turning the living into the dead!

"ah--!"

Sun Mazi suddenly let out a piercing scream, sprang to his feet, and grabbed Zhao Heng's leg.

"You viper! You lied to me! You clearly said you'd send me to Jiangning City after it was all done!"

Sun Mazi turned to look at Chen Rang and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Your Excellency! I confess! It was all Zhao Heng's doing!"

"Those three thousand bushels of grain were sold to the Bai family by him!"

"He forced me to forge this register! He even put my name in the death register to silence me!"

The lobby was deathly silent.

Zhao Heng was so angry that he trembled all over and kicked Sun Mazi to the ground.

"Mad dog! You mad dog, you bite people indiscriminately!"

"Your Honor, this man has lost his mind; his words are absolutely unreliable!"

Li Ping stood up, dusted off his clothes, and took out the real household registration book from his pocket, along with the change of registration document he had snatched from Scarface the day before.

"Your Honor, whether Sun Mazi is a mad dog or not, just look at these and you'll know."

Li Ping slammed the register and documents heavily onto the desk.

"This register clearly records how Registrar Zhao changed living people into the list of the dead, and then sold them to the Bai family as slave laborers."

"This change of registration document even bears the official seal of Registrar Zhao!"

"Yesterday he sent men to a dilapidated temple in the west of the city to forcibly seize innocent civilians, but I caught them in the act."

"His haste in framing me today is nothing more than an attempt to silence me!"

Chen Rang looked at the ledgers and documents on the table, and his hand, which was fiddling with walnuts, completely stopped.

He gave Li Ping a deep look.

This kid was actually prepared, and even had this killer move up his sleeve.

Chen Rang knew very well that Zhao Heng knew something about the illegal sale of household registrations.

They even got a share of the profits.

If Li Ping were to report this matter to Jiangning City, the county magistrate would also be in trouble.

The matter must be suppressed.

"Cough cough"

Chen Rang cleared his throat and slammed the gavel down.

"You audacious Sun Mazi!"

"How dare you spout nonsense in court and falsely accuse an official of the imperial court!"

"Guards, drag this mad dog away, give him thirty lashes, and lock him up for trial!"

Several bailiffs pounced on him like wolves, gagged Sun Mazi, and dragged him away.

Chen Rang turned to look at Zhao Heng, his tone stern.

"Registrar Zhao, your lax management of your subordinates nearly led to a grave mistake."

"You shall remain in the manor for the next few days to reflect on your actions. The duties of the Household Affairs Department shall be temporarily delegated to others."

Zhao Heng clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms.

He knew that Chen Rang was protecting him, but also warning him.

"Your humble servant... obeys."

Zhao Heng gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words.

Chen Rang put on a gentle smile and looked at Li Ping.

"Zizhi, I'm sorry you had to go through this today."

"I will keep these records and documents for now and investigate thoroughly. You may go back and rest."

Li Ping sneered inwardly, "Let's get to the bottom of this?"

Once this evidence reaches Chen Rang, it will likely turn to ashes by tomorrow.

However, he had already achieved his goal.

"This humble official thanks Your Excellency for upholding justice."

Li Ping cupped his hands in greeting, turned around, and strode towards the hall exit.

As Li Ping passed by Zhao Heng, he stopped, turned his head, and grinned at Zhao Heng.

"Lord Zhao, you're not quite adept at navigating the rules of officialdom."

"Next time you want to kill me, remember to use a sharper knife."

Zhao Heng stared intently at Li Ping's retreating figure, his eyes blazing with resentment.

His attempt to frame someone in official circles backfired, leaving him with a lot of trouble.

Zhao Heng reached out and touched the small black porcelain bottle hidden in his sleeve.

Since official rules can't get rid of you, then we'll have to resort to the rules of the underworld.

The knives of Black Wind Stronghold are incredibly fast.