Chapter 12: A Village Hidden Behind the Willows and Flowers

Li Sheng stood up upon hearing this. Lin Zuo noticed that his knees were shaking. Clearly, the name of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander still brought him great pressure.

However, he still gritted his teeth and said: "Su Xiaoxi can be released, but without the Prefect's order, the small one dare not act on his own to release Su Shanhe."

Tang Zheng frowned: "Prefect?"

"Yes, Prefect!"

"Don't give me that!" Tang Zheng's voice suddenly went up an octave, and at the same time, he shook the medal in front of Li Sheng and shouted angrily: "See it? Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander! In front of me, the Prefect is a fart!"

"But... the Prefect is a fourth-rank official, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander is only a fourth-rank official."

"You mean he is bigger than me?"

"The small one dare not."

"What is a fourth-rank official!" Before the words fell, Tang Zheng suddenly "clinked" and pulled out the blade wrapped in cloth from his waist. The cold blade reflected a silver light in the sun.

Lin Zuo only glanced at it, and his whole body suddenly froze. Then, an indescribable feeling rose from his limbs and bones, as if every inch of muscle and bone in his whole body was exploding, blood rushed to the top of his head, and his hands and feet couldn't help trembling.

On the blade of that blade, four characters were engraved—"Guoshi Wushuang," exactly the same as the characters on the blade his Master once had.

Coupled with the fact that this youth was surnamed Tang, was only sixteen or seventeen years old, had stayed in the Capital, and came to Zhenjiang Prefecture to look for his lost father, the various factors combined, his identity was already ready to come out.

The Tang Zheng in front of him should be the descendant of his Master that he hadn't found for ten years. Originally, Lin Zuo had already given up hope, but he didn't expect that the mountains and rivers were exhausted and the willows and flowers were bright.

Tang Zheng was still shouting: "The Emperor bestowed me the Embroidered Spring Blade and ordered me to come to Zhenjiang Prefecture to investigate the case. Don't say it's a fourth-rank official, even if it's a third-rank, second-rank, or first-rank, if he annoys me, I will chop him!"

However, Lin Zuo couldn't hear a word of his words. I don't know when, the face of the youth in front of him turned into what his Master once looked like, and he also seemed to have become the youth who followed his Master to handle cases.

In a trance, Lin Zuo reached out, wanting to touch the "Embroidered Spring Blade" in Tang Zheng's hand, but his hand was blocked by Tang Zheng just halfway.

"Be careful, this is bestowed by the Emperor, don't touch it!"

This sentence woke Lin Zuo from that trance state.

And Tang Zheng's showing off continued.

"Back then, Liujin, the head of the Ceremonial Secretariat, had the title of Inner Minister and was the head of the twenty-four government offices. How big an official was he? With the Emperor's order, didn't I chop him too?"

"Later, Liaomazi's uprising in Sichuan, the imperial court couldn't quell it for three or four years. As soon as I went, I beheaded a third-rank official who was ineffective in supervising the battle. Soon after, I defeated Liaomazi at Jianzhou and took his head by the way."

As he spoke, he spat on the ground: "A mere Prefect, what does it count for."

Overwhelmed by his momentum, Li Sheng and others were submissive and didn't dare to speak. Lin Zuo couldn't help but remind him in a low voice in his ear: "Liujin was killed in the fifth year of Zhengde, and the quelling of Liaomazi was in the eighth year of Zhengde. They were all things from more than ten years ago. Judging by the age of the Commander, it seems..."

However, before he finished half of the sentence, he was interrupted by Tang Zheng.

"I didn't let you speak, so don't open your mouth."

"Okay."

*Da-da-da*—a rapid sound of horse hooves came from afar. A government official rushed over, dismounted, and whispered a few words in Li Sheng's ear.

After hearing this, the latter piled up a smiling face and said to Tang Zheng: "Commander, our Prefect Zhou of Zhenjiang Prefecture invites you to visit the mansion."

"Visit the mansion?" Tang Zheng hesitated, with a hint of guilt in his voice.

However, he turned his head and looked, and his gaze met Su Xiaoxi's in mid-air. The pleading and pitiful look in her eyes immediately ignited a ten-thousand-foot heroic spirit in his chest.

"Release Su Xiaoxi first, and then lead the way in front."

"Yes." Li Sheng hurriedly arranged for people to untie Su Xiaoxi, and at the same time asked with a smiling face: "May I ask the adult's name, so that the small one can report it in advance."

"I don't change my name when I walk, I don't change my surname when I sit, Tang Zheng is me!"

"Tang adult, please!"

Li Sheng signaled his subordinates to disperse the people and made a passage in front. Tang Zheng followed him out. After walking a few steps, he seemed to remember something, turned back, threw the black umbrella to Lin Zuo, and said: "This umbrella is really heavy."

Lin Zuo took the umbrella. Before he could speak, Tang Zheng beckoned to Lin Zuo and whispered: "Follow me for a trip?"

"Yes, Commander."

Following Li Sheng, Tang Zheng and his party came to the backyard of the Zhenjiang Prefecture government office. Prefect Zhou Yunqing of Zhenjiang Prefecture and his secretary and guards were already waiting at the door.

Seeing Tang Zheng, Zhou Yunqing greeted him for the first time and said with a smile: "Commander, your arrival makes my humble home shine. Just now I was worshipping the Bodhisattva, so I missed welcoming you. Please don't be surprised."

At first glance, Zhou Yunqing looked very approachable, with a round face, eyes narrowed into a slit, and a smile always on the corner of his mouth, making him look not like an official with majesty, but more like a kind businessman seeking wealth.

"I don't know why the Commander came to Zhenjiang Prefecture from afar this time?"

"Don't be so literary with me, I don't like to listen." Tang Zheng pretended to be disdainful: "I can't tell you what I came to do, and it doesn't matter if you welcome me or not. Release the person for me first."

Zhou Yunqing froze upon hearing this.

"Commander, do you know what crime Su Shanhe committed?"

"I don't care what crime he committed, I told you to release the person."

"Since the Commander says so, you must have come with the Emperor's order. I wonder if the Commander's Embroidered Uniform Guard waist medal and the imperial edict can be shown to me for a look?"

"Yes."

Tang Zheng reached for his waist, took out the gold medal and shook it in the air. Zhou Yunqing was about to reach out to take it, but he quickly took it back.

Zhou Yunqing was a bit embarrassed: "Adult, I didn't see clearly just now."

"Zhou adult..." Tang Zheng's tone turned cold: "You are so interested in my waist medal, what do you mean? Suspect me?"

"No, no, no." Zhou Yunqing waved his hand embarrassedly and said: "Just checking it as a routine, verifying the adult's identity, so that I can cooperate with the adult's official business."

"Just asking you to release a person, why so wordy?" Tang Zheng didn't buy it: "If you don't release him, I'll release him myself!"

Seeing his attitude so tough, Zhou Yunqing's expression gradually turned cold: "The adult is joking. Even if it's the Embroidered Uniform Guard, you have to follow the rules."

Seeing the atmosphere between the two suddenly become stiff, Lin Zuo reminded Tang Zheng behind him at the right time: "This move by the adult is not in accordance with the Great Ming Code, and there is a suspicion of overstepping."

And Li Sheng also came to smooth things over in time, pointing to the courtyard gate and saying: "This is not a place to talk. Why don't the two adults go inside and talk in detail?"

Zhou Yunqing looked at Tang Zheng: "Commander, what do you think?"

Tang Zheng looked at Lin Zuo, who nodded slightly at him.

Tang Zheng: "Alright, talk in detail inside then." ===== CHAPTER 13 =====