“Sir, I already said I was joking.”
Master Zhou forced a fawning smile, bowing repeatedly to Jin Feng in apology.
“Worth of a seasoned official, you really know how to bend when it suits you,” Jin Feng’s tone turned cold. “But I wasn’t joking with you.”
“Sir, don’t push me too far!” Master Zhou dropped his ingratiating smile, his voice stern but inwardly weak. “You may not know, but I’m a Zhou family man, and the Zhou family is…”
“I know what the Zhou family is,” Jin Feng cut in with a cold laugh. “And I also know you’re just gilding your own face. You, and even your patron Zhou Changlin, are merely a side branch of the Zhou family. I bet the Zhou family in Bianjing doesn’t even know who you are, Master Zhou. Am I right?”
“Sir, your relationship with Marquis Qing is indeed close. He even told you this.” Master Zhou assumed Marquis Qing had informed Jin Feng. Realising his final card had been exposed, his bravado collapsed. “I admit defeat this time. You’ve wiped out the Iron Jar Mountain bandits, so be it. I won’t covet your spinning wheel anymore. Let’s keep the peace from now on.”
“Master Zhou, you’ve tried to take my life time and again, and you think a simple admission of defeat will turn the page?” Jin Feng sneered. “You really don’t take me seriously, do you?”
“Then what do you want?” Master Zhou said. “Name your price, but since you know about Zhou Changlin, you should also know most of the bandits’ tributes went to him. So don’t ask for the moon.”
“I can earn my own money. Your paltry wealth doesn’t interest me, Jin Feng,” he replied.
“Then what do you want?” Master Zhou, resigned to paying a price, said, “As long as I can provide it, I won’t disappoint you.”
“If I’m asking, it’s definitely something you can provide.” Jin Feng sat up straight, enunciating each word. “I want… your head!”
Master Zhou’s pupils shrank, but he forced calm. “Sir, don’t jest.”
“I told you, I’m not jesting.”
“I advise you to leave some room, sir. If we really go all out, it benefits no one,” Master Zhou said, genuinely frightened.
He saw a chilling intent to kill in Jin Feng’s eyes.
“You don’t have what it takes to go all out with me,” Jin Feng said, leaning back in his rattan chair.
Qing Muluan gave A Mei a look, and A Mei immediately drew her black blade.
“Ah Zhou, Zhang Kui, get in here now!” Master Zhou shouted, terrified as A Mei advanced.
The two bailiffs guarding the gate rushed in.
“Quick, kill this woman, kill Jin Feng!” Master Zhou hid behind them.
At this point, he no longer cared about Jin Feng’s noble status.
Saving his own life came first.
But he forgot this was Jin Feng’s turf.
The bailiffs hesitated, unsure whether to act, when a group of veteran soldiers stormed in, crossbows aimed at them.
“If you don’t want to die, get out now!” Jin Feng said coldly.
The bailiffs weren’t fools. Having overheard the courtyard conversation, they knew Master Zhou was done for.
Exchanging a glance, they clasped their fists to Jin Feng and left.
“You can’t go!” Master Zhou, like a drowning man clutching at straws, grabbed one bailiff’s robe.
The bailiff gritted his teeth, slashed his robe free with a knife, and walked out without looking back.
“Mr. Jin, I was wrong. I was blinded by greed. Please spare me!” Master Zhou, seeing his last hope gone, turned and kowtowed to Jin Feng.
Jin Feng glanced impatiently at the veteran squad leader, who stepped forward, grabbed Master Zhou’s hair, and slit his throat with a black blade.
Blood sprayed out!
Master Zhou’s eyes bulged, his hands clutching his neck, trying to stop the flow.
But it was futile. His mind slowed, and moments later, he collapsed.
“Sir, you could have spared him,” Qing Muluan sighed. “Even if you wanted him dead, there was no need to rush.”
In disputes between officials and nobles, the loser usually conceded and that was the end. If action was taken, it was done discreetly.
That’s why she had only signalled A Mei to intimidate Master Zhou, not to act.
She hadn’t expected Jin Feng to order the soldiers to kill.
“Will there be trouble?” Jin Feng asked.
“Not really,” Qing Muluan shook her head. “We have Master Zhou’s letters to Liu Jiang, plus Liu Jiang’s testimony. He’s as good as dead.
It’s just that officialdom has its own rules. By doing this, you’ve overturned the table, breaking a taboo.”
“I’m not aiming to be an official, so overturning the table is fine by me,” Jin Feng said, unconcerned. “It’s a good chance to let everyone know I don’t play by the rules, that I’m a madman, so they’ll think twice before provoking me.”
“Fine, what’s done is done. No point saying more,” Qing Muluan stood up. “You’ve killed Master Zhou. Jinchuan County’s yamen will be in an uproar. Need my help to handle it?”
“No need. I’ll ask for your help if I can’t manage,” Jin Feng said with a smile.
Killing Master Zhou seemed reckless, but it was a calculated decision, with a plan in place.
As expected, when the bailiffs returned to the county yamen with Master Zhou’s head and the letters, the entire yamen erupted.
The county magistrate was overjoyed.
For years, he’d been stifled under Master Zhou’s control.
Now, with Master Zhou dead, he was free.
The magistrate’s gratitude toward Jin Feng was beyond words.
But then, he immediately ordered the bailiffs to summon the prefectural troops to arrest the “violent thug” Jin Feng at Xihe Bay and confiscate his property.
Gratitude was one thing, but when it was time to act, the magistrate wouldn’t hesitate.
That was the basic way of being an official.
But when the bailiffs revealed Jin Feng was a noble, the magistrate broke into a cold sweat and abandoned the plan.
When Jin Feng was just a commoner, the magistrate, as the local authority, could do as he pleased.
But with Jin Feng as a noble, the tables turned.
Just as with Master Zhou, even without solid evidence, Jin Feng could find an excuse to deal with him.
Unless the magistrate was utterly spotless.
This was the privilege of rank, and the fundamental reason Jin Feng had chosen to follow Marquis Qing to the battlefield.
Over the next two days, every prominent figure in Jinchuan County heard the news: a reckless, unreasonable noble had emerged in their midst.
Everyone disapproved of Jin Feng’s actions, but no one dared provoke a madman.
The bandit autopsies progressed swiftly. The coroners, no longer arrogant, worked overtime, and yamen clerks stood by with silver, paying out rewards for each confirmed body.
Jin Feng stood at the village entrance, gazing at the sky, brimming with pride.
This battle with the bandits had not only honed the combat skills of his veteran and female soldiers but also showcased his strength and resolve to the outside world.
He was confident no one in Jinchuan County would dare provoke him without reason again.
At that moment, Jin Feng felt as if he’d shed his shackles, ready to soar!
