Chapter 26: Fishing in Muddy Waters

In the Hundred-Household Office's deliberation hall, Heigou and the others were tidying up the deliberation hall.

Shen Qing sat calmly in the seat of honor, with several plates of pastries and several jugs of wine placed at his side.

This was arranged by the scholar; just now at the Commandant's Office, the scholar, besides inquiring about the situation in West City, also gathered information on some well-known local foods there.

However, he couldn't figure out Shen Qing's taste, so he simply bought one of each for Shen Qing.

Shen Qing casually picked up a piece of pastry, took a bite, and looked toward the upright Fang Ming standing before him.

"Fang Ming, many martial world sects have come to West City lately; have you heard any news?"

Upon hearing this news, Shen Qing felt moved.

Fang Ming immediately understood and would explain the situation.

"Sir, I happen to know a bit about this; here's how it is."

"At the end of last month, an ancient tomb was discovered on the edge of White Egret Marsh."

"The commotion was significant; unaffiliated cultivators, sects, and gangs all sent people in, but the most interesting part is that, despite so many sects inside, the most valuable treasure ended up being snatched by an unaffiliated cultivator."

"That unaffiliated cultivator is quite capable; he forcibly took the treasure from the sects' hands and then fled into Luo River City."

Shen Qing snorted, glanced at the scholar and others nearby, and asked: "What do you think?"

Old Li spoke in a muffled voice: "Just go over and seize it; this is our turf."

Fang Ming shook his head: "No, although this is our territory, after all it's an affair of the martial world, so we shouldn't intervene directly."

In the 168th year of Jing Di's reign—Jing Di being the previous emperor—during his tenure, the Great Wu Dynasty and the Northern Purple Liang Dynasty erupted in fierce conflict, and in this war the martial world sects contributed greatly.

Thus Jing Di also issued an order: as long as martial world affairs did not endanger the imperial court or harm the common folk, the court would not excessively interfere.

Old Li, somewhat puzzled, said: "With so many sects entering Luo River City, surely there haven't been any casualties?"

Fang Ming nodded: "Although many sects have come and there have been quite a few clashes, they haven't yet found that unaffiliated cultivator, so they remain restrained—at most damaging some property, never harming lives."

Just then, the scholar let out a sneer.

"Are the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Luo River City always this law-abiding? Though what you said isn't wrong, having a legitimate pretext is still necessary; otherwise, later accountability from the court would be a hassle, but..."

The scholar's eyes darted around, and he proposed a nefarious scheme.

"If they want legitimacy, we'll give it to them. Just leak a bit of rumor, claiming that a sect killed ordinary people, and we'll have justification to intervene."

Fang Ming shook his head: "That's not proper; what if those sects demand details?"

The scholar's eyes flashed with disdain: "Come on, we're the Embroidered Uniform Guard—we may lack many things, but we certainly don't lack death row inmates."

"Just grab a death row inmate from prison, scar his face, dump him on the street, and insist it was the martial world sects who killed him."

"As for the details, no need to elaborate; the sects don't need to explain either. Just put out the word, and let them guess the rest. I've heard that there are over a dozen named sects, many of which harbor grudges against each other. Once this news spreads, we won't even need to fan the flames—they'll start fighting on their own."

"For years there have been rumors that the higher-ups are dissatisfied with the martial world. According to my guess, the court will sooner or later act against these martial world sects. By doing this, we can not only legitimately seize the treasure, but also give those sects a good thrashing; if the higher-ups find out, they might even reward us."

"And this treasure—neither early nor late—just happened to appear when our boss took office, and they kicked up a fuss. Isn't this just delivering the treasure to our boss?"

"Heaven, earth, and people are in harmony! This treasure shall belong to our boss!"

As soon as the words fell, Old Li and Lin Zikai immediately clapped.

Shen Qing nodded; the scholar, indeed quick-witted and reliable in his work.

"Good, his mind is quick enough; let's proceed as the scholar said."

Suddenly, Shen Qing felt the pastry he had just stuffed into his mouth tasted good; lowering his head, he saw it was a piece of pale red pastry, and he shoved another piece into his mouth.

Seeing Shen Qing's action, the scholar hurriedly ran to the side, took out a small notebook, and swiftly wrote down something.

Fang Ming thought he was recording some clever scheme, hurried over to take a look, and in the next moment was stunned.

Only then did he see that the notebook had two pages: one listed what Shen Qing liked to eat, the other what he disliked.

Under the liked items, further subdivisions were made: liquor, pastries, poultry, and so on.

Already densely written were over a dozen foods, such as carved flower wine, Ningzhou roasted chicken, and so on.

Now another item had been added: victory cake.

Fang Ming stared at the scholar with a strange expression, his mind left with only one thought.

He would surely rise to prominence.

That night, word spread among the martial world sects that someone had killed ordinary people in the western part of the city, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard would investigate thoroughly.

By the next morning, the rumor had fully blown up, and the martial world sects were abuzz with discussion.

Yellow Sand Gang: a spear-wielding youth's eyes flashed with sharpness.

"In my opinion, it must have been done by that bunch of idiots from the Black Water Gang—is their mad swordsman back this time?"

"Exactly, exactly; in my view, it was him who did the killing."

At that moment, the White Beard Gang chief Jin Ji, seated nearby, opened his eyes; a glint of light appeared in his turbid gaze, and he spoke softly.

"Quiet."

"This matter is fishy; the Embroidered Uniform Guard's news came too suddenly, with no details at all. It's highly likely they're throwing up a smoke screen, and they probably also have their eyes on this treasure, wanting to get in on a share."

"Don't panic, don't fall into the Embroidered Uniform Guard's trap."

But just then, a Yellow Sand Gang disciple rushed in hurriedly.

"Chief! Things are bad! Those scoundrels from the Black Water Gang are running around the streets telling everyone that we, the Yellow Sand Gang, killed them!"