Republic of China Era: Entering the Dao through Divine Strike.

"You might as well go rob it." Wang Jingya glared at him, but her eyes were full of laughter.

She jumped up from the straw mat, drew her goose-feather saber with a backhand motion, and swung it twice with a whoosh. The blade cleaved through the morning mist, producing two clear, ringing sounds.

As she sheathed her sword, she let out a long breath. "It's been a long time since I've been this nimble. So, tell me, how are we going to fight today?"

Li Xin squatted down, picked up a dry twig, and drew a simple topographical map on the muddy ground in front of the hall.

One square represents the Wang Family Compound, another represents the dock warehouse, and a line connecting them represents the Tonghai Road.

"Let's probe Qian Bojun's intentions first. He should have known I entered the city last night, and he'll definitely make a move today. Let's see what he plays first before deciding when to strike."

“Qian Bojun is a very slippery man,” Wang Jingya said, frowning. “He served as the prefect of Guangping for six years and was able to navigate between Wang Donghai and the foreigners with ease. He’s no pushover.”

"The more formidable a person is, the more we need to figure them out first." Li Xin tapped the ground with a dry twig. "Take Lin Si to the dock first and meet up with Sun Qi."

They found out everything, including the foreigners' shift changes, the distribution of guards in the warehouses, and the specific locations where the civilians were being held.

I need to know which direction to take first, before tonight.

"how about you?"

"I'm going to meet that Prefect Qian."

As the sun rose above the eaves of the City God Temple, a commotion indeed came from outside the gate.

First came the sound of horses' hooves, then the footsteps of sedan chair bearers, and then a drawn-out shout: "The Prefect has arrived..."

The sound was high-pitched and thin, startling all the sparrows in the locust tree into fluttering flight.

Wang Jingya pressed down on the hilt of the knife, while Li Xin waved his hand.

"You should go out the back door."

Wang Jingya nodded, then led Lin Si out through the back door of the main hall, disappearing into the morning mist in a few leaps.

Li Xin patted the mud off his clothes, walked to the entrance of the main hall, leaned against the door frame, and waited for Qian Bojun to come in.

The official sedan chair came to a stop outside the temple gate. The curtain was lifted, and a middle-aged man dressed in the robes of a fifth-rank official stepped out.

This man had fair skin, a neatly trimmed goatee on his chin, and a slightly plump figure, with his belly stretching his official robes into a rounded curve.

He held a folding fan in his hand. After getting out of the sedan chair, he didn't rush into the door. Instead, he stood at the door and fanned himself twice with the fan.

Looking around, a perfectly timed look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Oh dear, how can the Imperial Preceptor, who is so noble, be confined to such a dilapidated temple?"

"It's all my fault for being so negligent; I was completely unaware last night that Your Excellency had arrived in Guangping. I am truly terrified!"

Li Xin leaned against the door frame, a slight smile on his lips, watching his performance.

Behind Qian Bojun followed a lean clerk with a mustache, who was holding a mahogany box.

Further behind was a group of yamen runners, about twenty in number, each with a knife at their waist, standing in neat rows.

How did you know I was here?

"You flatter me, sir." Qian Bojun smiled and cupped his hands. "Although Guangping is a small place, distinguished guests from the capital have come. As the local official, if I cannot even find out this little bit of information, then I am a wasted official."

I learned last night that you had entered the city, and I had intended to visit you as soon as I got up, but I was afraid that it was already late and I would disturb your rest, so I waited until this morning before daring to come to your door.

Sure enough, a sedan chair was prepared early this morning, along with a simple meal of wine, to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey.

He spoke these words with a warm and sincere tone, his face beaming with a smile like a chrysanthemum.

If someone unaware of the situation saw this, they would truly believe he was a respectful and virtuous official.

Li Xin looked him up and down and smiled.

"A welcome feast? How thoughtful. Perfect timing, I also have some things I'd like to discuss with you."

"That would be my honor." Qian Bojun stepped aside and gestured for them to enter. "The sedan chair is waiting outside. Please come to the government office, sir."

The sedan chair passed through the main street of Guangping City, heading towards the prefectural government office.

Li Xin lifted a corner of the sedan curtain to look outside...

Guangping was more lively during the day than it had been the night before, with several shops open along the street.

Fishmongers, vegetable vendors, and firewood sellers set up their stalls here and there.

The streets were noticeably sparsely populated, and the few people who did walk by had their heads down and hurried along, as if afraid of being watched by something.

Several vendors, seeing the official sedan chair pass by, instinctively shrank back, only daring to raise their heads after the chair had gone far away.

The sedan chair came to a stop at the entrance of the yamen. Qian Bojun personally stepped forward to lift the curtain and led Li Xin through the main hall and into the flower hall.

The flower hall was decorated very elegantly. Several landscape paintings and calligraphy works hung on the walls, all signed by well-known literati in the province.

Several pieces of blue and white porcelain and a Duan inkstone were displayed on the antique shelf, which did not seem to be the work of a corrupt official.

A rosewood octagonal table was placed in the center, and wine and dishes were already laid out on it.

Four cold dishes, four hot stir-fries, a pot of perfectly warmed Shaoxing rice wine, and a bowl of warm shark fin soup on the side.

"Please take a seat, sir." Qian Bojun pulled out a chair attentively and personally poured wine from the pot. "This jar of Shaoxing wine was brought from my hometown of Shaoxing. It has been buried underground for twenty years and I only opened it to entertain distinguished guests."

Li Xin sat down with an imposing air, took the wine cup, smelled it, then put it down without drinking...

I picked up my chopsticks, took a piece of braised beef, chewed it, and found it tasted pretty good.

"Old Qian, you're living a good life."

"Not at all, not at all, it's just a simple meal, please excuse my poor sir." Qian Bojun smiled and poured himself a glass of wine, raising it up. "Sir, you've traveled a long way south, so I'd like to offer you a toast to welcome you back."

Li Xin did not raise his glass.

"There's no rush for the welcome feast. Old Qian, I've seen quite a few refugees on my way here outside the city, I heard they're from Cui Family Village outside the city."

The house was burned down, and the people were kidnapped… As the official in charge of Guangping, were you aware of this?

Qian Bojun's wine glass swayed slightly, but the smile on his face remained unchanged.

He put down his glass, sighed, and showed a pained expression.

"I am naturally aware of this matter. A band of bandits has been causing trouble outside the city, looting and robbing, committing all sorts of evil deeds."

"I have mobilized the naval forces and the patrol office to apprehend the thieves with all our might, and I expect we will bring them to justice soon."

"Bandits?" Li Xin picked up a piece of braised duck and chewed slowly. "How come I heard they weren't bandits, but people from the Wang family?"

The air in the flower hall seemed to freeze for a moment. Hu, the clerk behind Qian Bojun, paused for a moment, then continued waving his folding fan.

Qian Bojun's smile didn't fade, but his eyes twitched almost imperceptibly.

"You jest, sir. The Wang family is the richest family in Guangping, a family of scholars for generations, and Master Wang is a great philanthropist who is also very generous."

Last year when the Yellow River flooded, the Wang family donated five thousand taels of silver for disaster relief. How could they have done such a heinous thing? The master must have heard some rumors…

"I see." Li Xin nodded, picked up his wine glass, swirled it, and then put it down. "So, what did Wang Donghai talk about when he invited you for drinks?"

Qian Bojun's smile froze for a moment.

He picked up his glass and took a sip, using the action to suppress the slight stiffness in his expression. When he put the glass down, his face regained its ingratiating smile.

"Master Wang and I do have some dealings, but it's nothing more than the usual courtesy between a local gentry and a local official. We visit each other during festivals, nothing to mention."

Li Xin smiled and didn't ask any further questions.

He picked up his chopsticks and took another piece of fish, slowly picking out the bones.

The flower hall fell silent for a moment, with only the soft clinking of chopsticks against bowls and the rustling of Master Hu's fan.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit cold, Qian Bojun quickly clapped his hands. A servant immediately emerged from behind the screen, carrying a mahogany tray covered with a red silk cloth.

Qian Bojun got up and lifted the silk cloth, revealing ten neatly stacked white silver ingots on the tray, each weighing at least fifty taels.

"Your Excellency has come from afar, and I have prepared a small gift as a token of my respect." Qian Bojun smiled, his eyes narrowing. "A mere five hundred taels is enough to buy you some new clothes. If you need anything in the future, please feel free to ask."

Li Xin glanced at the silver ingots on the tray, then at Qian Bojun's smiling face, and suddenly found it quite interesting.

He put his chopsticks on the table, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and stood up.

"Five hundred taels. I heard that Wang Donghai gives you three thousand taels of silver every month. Isn't it a bit stingy of you to be like this?"

Qian Bojun's smile seemed to be covered in paste; the corners of his mouth were still turned up, but his eyes had changed.

Master Hu finally stopped waving his fan, and the flower hall was so quiet that you could hear someone holding their breath behind the screen.

"My lord..." Qian Bojun's voice was slightly dry, "What makes you say that? I am an honest and upright official who never accepts bribes from merchants. This must be someone trying to slander me to you. I beg you to investigate."

"Slander?" Li Xin pulled out a few sheets of paper from his pocket, unfolded them, and placed them on the table. They were fragments of a Wang family account book that Wang Jingya had handwritten last night, with several lines of text clearly written on them;

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, a gift of three thousand taels of silver was presented to Prefect Qian.

On the 18th of the second month, a birthday gift of two thousand taels of silver was sent to Prefect Qian.

[On the 20th of March, a monthly allowance of 1,500 taels was sent to Lieutenant General Duan.]

On the fifth day of the fourth lunar month, three hundred taels of silver were sent to Master Hu as a reward for his hard work.

"The ledger was found in the Wang family's secret room. Old Qian, do you want to take a look yourself?"

Qian Bojun's expression finally changed. He stared at the few sheets of paper on the table, the color draining from his face little by little, until his originally fair skin turned as pale as paper.

Master Hu trembled all over, and the fan in his hand fell to the ground with a thud.

He hurriedly bent down to pick it up, but after a long time he couldn't manage to pick it up.

"This...this is slander!" Qian Bojun's voice shrill, his finger trembling as he pointed at the papers on the table. "The Wang family tried to blackmail me, but when that failed, they falsified accounts to frame me. You absolutely cannot believe them, sir..."

"Slander?" Li Xin chuckled, took back the papers, carefully folded them, and put them back in his pocket. "That's perfect. I came to Guangping this time to investigate a case."

Since you claim it's slander, then investigate further. I'll take the ledgers back and visit again another day.

He stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked out of the flower hall.

He took two steps and then stopped, turning back to look at Qian Bojun, whose face was pale, and said with a smile, "By the way, the braised beef tastes good."

As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped out of the flower hall.

"stop."

Qian Bojun's voice came from behind. This voice was completely different from before; there was no longer any fawning or flattery in it, and it was as cold as a piece of raw iron.

Li Xin stopped walking without turning around.

“Lord Li.” Qian Bojun’s voice came from behind, with a desperate and reckless tone, “You are a big shot from the capital, where you are very powerful, but this is Guangping.”

Guangping has its own rules, so you shouldn't meddle in other people's business.

"What rules?" Li Xin turned around.

Qian Bojun stood in front of the octagonal table, his fat face taut, and his eyes gleaming with a sinister light.

Master Hu had retreated to a corner of the flower hall at some point, his fan falling to the ground without him picking it up, and he just watched this scene with trembling hands.

"If you insist on asking, then I will tell you." Qian Bojun picked up the untouched Shaoxing wine cup on the table, tilted his head back and gulped it down, then slammed the cup heavily on the ground with a loud crack.

The porcelain cup shattered on the floor.

Suddenly, a series of rapid footsteps came from behind the screen.

Interspersed with the metallic scraping sound of weapons being drawn from their sheaths.

"The people in Guangping City are my subjects. Their lives belong to me."

The man surnamed Wang doing business with foreigners was trying to find a way out for Guangping.

You can't just cut off someone's livelihood without even knowing the facts. Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents.

The screen collapsed with a crash.

A dull, muffled impact was heard...

Before the sound had even faded, eight figures filed out from the hidden compartment behind the screen.

They were all dressed in black, their sleeves tightly bound, and they wore thin-soled boots that made a sound as light as a cat's as they landed.

Only the leader was different.

He was an old man with a black beard, tall and thin, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes that shone with a sharp light.

He carried a pair of fine steel judge's pens, the pens as thick as a child's arm, their tips gleaming with a faint blue light.

The blue light didn't seem like poison; it was more like the pen tip itself emitting light.

It flickered, like will-o'-the-wisps in a graveyard.