Chapter 168: Sending you on your way

"Li Ye, this dagger has been returned to the furnace; it needs to be forged again before it can be used."

Liu Tiezhu didn't notice the change in Li Rui's expression and continued to speak to himself.

"Melt it."

Hearing Li Rui's words.

He was stunned at first; turning his head, seeing Li Rui wasn't joking, he still couldn't help but confirm: "Li Ye, this is a good weapon."

Li Rui chuckled: "I don't like it; just melt it."

"Oh."

Liu Tiezhu sighed inwardly at the extravagance of the wealthy, willing to melt such an excellent dagger into iron water.

Stepping on the bellows, it roared.

The flames burned up with a 'teng'.

Before long, the shadow of the dagger could no longer be seen, leaving only a pool of iron water, which formed a lump after cooling.

Liu Tiezhu found a container to hold the cooled iron water and handed it to Li Rui.

Li Rui took back the "dagger".

Looking at Liu Tiezhu with satisfaction: "Not bad, I truly didn't misjudge you."

He had felt before that Liu Tiezhu was a fanatic, having talent in the art of weapon casting, and the key was that he was willing to put in the effort, not only understanding the craft but also the theory.

This could be seen from the fact that he knew the four systems of blade making last time.

That was why he came to try his luck.

He didn't expect to really have a harvest.

Ever since seeing that man in the bamboo hat, Li Rui had already noticed the weapon hidden in his shoe sole.

It wasn't that it wasn't hidden well.

But the spiritual substance of this dagger was very special.

Ever since possessing the ability to see spiritual substances clearly, as he observed more, Li Rui also gradually summarized his experience:

'Although they are all spiritual substances, there are also great differences between individuals.'

For example, this dagger; he had never seen the spiritual substance mixed with Blood Ice Crystal before; perhaps this was the breakthrough point.

That was when he thought of the man in the blacksmith shop.

Liu Tiezhu smiled somewhat embarrassedly: "Being able to do things for Li Ye is my honor."

Li Rui patted Liu Tiezhu: "Any interest in coming to the Anning Guard?"

"What?"

Liu Tiezhu only thought he had misheard.

Li Rui repeated it again.

He, a tiny blacksmith, was actually valued by an official who wanted to transfer him to the Anning Guard.

This was a huge piece of good news.

Subsequently, he immediately shook his head; no, no, no, such a pie wouldn't fall from the sky onto him.

His brain was a mess.

Li Rui chuckled: "No rush; if you want to come one day, just come to the Anning Guard to find me."

Having said that.

Leaving behind Liu Tiezhu, who was still widening his eyes in disbelief.

He turned and walked out of the blacksmith shop.

Liu Tiezhu was a talent; since he was a talent, naturally it was better to have him under his own command.

The blacksmith shop already had a thousand threads of connection with the Anning Guard.

He, a Sixth-Rank Patrol Officer, wanting to transfer a blacksmith, was just a matter of one sentence.

Walking onto the street.

Li Rui pondered in his heart:

"South Liang... Zhuang family."

Linking it to the previous County Magistrate Zhuang taking the initiative to befriend Qu Chengfeng.

He had already asked the madam; Qu Chengfeng spent thousands of gold in Chunyan Pavilion, all of which was paid by people under County Magistrate Zhuang.

Otherwise, with Qu Chengfeng's little family fortune, it wouldn't be enough to sleep for one night.

"Although the evidence cannot form a chain, this is no longer important."

Li Rui looked at the iron lump tucked in his bosom.

He didn't even intend to hand this thing over to Ning Zhongtian or Jiang Linxian.

It involved the County Magistrate.

And Zhuang Renhe was not an ordinary County Magistrate, but a Fifth-Rank official, on par with Jiang Linxian and Cao Wei.

He was originally sent by the imperial court to check and balance the Anning Guard.

"With only this bit of evidence, he cannot be toppled."

Unless some charge like treason could be found, otherwise, even Jiang Linxian would find it difficult to topple Zhuang Renhe just through the charge of directing subordinates to frame Anning Guard officials.

Disgusting Zhuang Renhe a little had no meaning at all.

It would also alert the enemy.

Instead, it would bring trouble upon himself.

Li Rui would never do such meaningless things.

Now that he knew who the person behind the scenes was, he would just be more on guard in the future.

"Endure it; who told them to have an official rank two levels higher."

Five days later.

In the night.

County government office, inner courtyard.

"My lord, mission accomplished; the people watching Chunyan Pavilion have been withdrawn."

Xiang Ting said.

"Withdrawn?"

Zhuang Renhe's mouth lifted in a smile; it seemed his plan had taken effect.

A few days ago, he invited Cao Wei to his mansion for wine; the two had consistent interests and reached a tacit understanding during the banquet.

The enemy of an enemy is a friend.

He was responsible for framing the charge of corruption and breaking the law.

Cao Wei was responsible for making arrests.

The county government naturally had its own ways of dealing with people; if they couldn't find a way from within the Anning Guard, then they would look externally.

Among officials, how many have clean bottoms?

The Yu Kingdom's laws have a total of 7,635 articles, with regulations in every aspect; even littering would be punished with "tattooing".

It's just that some laws are even considered absurd by the Emperor himself.

Because they were rules set by ancestors, deleting them was impossible, so they chose to turn a blind eye.

Local governments mostly did this too, especially officials; as long as it wasn't too egregious, they would generally teach them a lesson and let it go, turning big matters into small ones, and small matters into nothing.

But... if one had the intention, then small matters could be made big.

Those few of Ning Zhongtian's men who were taken to the Law Enforcement Battalion were mostly in this situation.

The crimes were all real; Cao Wei was determined to investigate, and Jiang Linxian couldn't easily obstruct it.

If they really encountered an honest official, then they would splash dirty water.

When splashing dirty water, one doesn't need to care if the person receiving it is dirty or not.

Being splashed makes them equally dirty. By then, the county government would have a pretext for eliminating evil for the people, and with Cao Wei's help, cutting off Ning Zhongtian's wings would be simple.

Zhuang Renhe was a scholar.

Those great scholars in the imperial court loved using this move the most.

Killing without seeing blood.

It was far more sinister than real blades and guns.

Ning Zhongtian's subordinates were each unable to take care of themselves; where would they have time to continue investigating Chunyan Pavilion?

Xiang Ting bowed:

"My lord, there is one more thing; A-Liu has gone missing; it is estimated that he was targeted, and the situation is grim."

The man in the bamboo hat, A-Liu, was the one he sent to deal with Ge Hong.

Zhuang Renhe frowned slightly: "Was it handled cleanly?"

He didn't care about the life or death of a dead soldier at all; if he died, he died, but he couldn't bring trouble to him.

Xiang Ting: "A-Liu has undergone training and will not leak information."

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A-Liu was a dead soldier he cultivated.

What is a dead soldier?

It's not just holding a heart of certain death to execute a mission, but also that once discovered by the enemy, he would immediately take poison and commit suicide, not leaving the enemy the slightest clue.

In this, he had great confidence.

Even if a master detective came, it would be impossible to trace back to County Magistrate Zhuang from A-Liu.

Zhuang Renhe nodded with satisfaction: "If he died, he died; just replace him with another person; but don't let Ning Zhongtian be idle."

"Yes."

Xiang Ting said in a deep voice.

He was just about to turn and leave the room when he was stopped by Zhuang Renhe: "By the way, what was the name of that person who saw through the Charm Demon in Chunyan Pavilion?"

Xiang Ting answered: "Li Rui."

"How is he now?"

Xiang Ting understood that Zhuang Renhe naturally couldn't care about the health of an Anning Guard Patrol Officer: "People have been sent to watch him, but this person is cautious in his work, and he has rarely gone out recently; we haven't found an opportunity to act yet."

Zhuang Renhe was dissatisfied: "If you can't even handle a tiny Patrol Officer, what use are you? Handle this person quickly!"

"Yes, yes."

Xiang Ting nodded continuously.

Not daring to have the slightest complaint.

Zhuang Renhe snorted coldly and waved his hand: "Go."

Xiang Ting received the order, and only then dared to step out of the room step by step.

Walking out of the county government office.

Xiang Ting rubbed his eyebrows.

Serving a monarch is like serving a tiger; serving Zhuang Renhe is about the same; he had stayed by Zhuang Renhe's side for more than ten years and had never figured out the thoughts of this Zhuang family prodigy.

But the more difficult to figure out, the more it could make subordinates obedient.

"Li Rui..."

How could he not know that the first person Zhuang Renhe wanted to kill was Ning Zhongtian, and then it was Li Rui.

It's just that Li Rui was, after all, a Patrol Officer of the Anning Guard.

Was he someone he could kill just because he wanted to?

Others were watched by dead soldiers he sent, while Li Rui had always been watched by him personally.

But he just couldn't find any flaws.

He didn't even give him a chance to splash dirty water; the worst thing he did was visit brothels.

If he made a fuss about a brothel woman, Cao Wei probably wouldn't be able to bring himself to act.

"Difficult to handle!"

It was the first time Xiang Ting had encountered such a difficult opponent.

"If it doesn't work, kill him by force!"

A flash of murderous intent crossed his eyes.

Li Rui is a Patrol Officer; sooner or later there will be a time when he leaves the city; let the Ghost Gui Ming Jiao send experts to ambush him.

He didn't believe he couldn't kill this seventy-year-old man.

By then, everything would be done by the Ghost Gui Ming Jiao, and it would have nothing to do with the county government office.

This kind of thing hadn't been done before.

It's just that if one or two people die, the Anning Guard's reaction wouldn't be too intense.

Anyway, it wasn't the first time the Ghost Gui Ming Jiao had killed Anning Guard soldiers.

Xiang Ting already had a decision in his heart.

"Since you are so cautious and afraid of death, I will make you die!"

Others under Ning Zhongtian at most lost their official skin, while Li Rui... Xiang Ting was determined to kill him.

"The smarter the person, the more they deserve to die!"

Xiang Ting's eyes contained murderous intent.

A moment later, he returned to his mansion in Qinghe.

The mansion was empty.

There were neither servants nor maids.

He had a wife and children, but they were all in South Liang, right in the Zhuang family; Zhuang Renhe said on the surface it was for convenience of care, but he knew clearly in his heart that they were actually hostages.

He also thought it through.

He was doing unspeakable things for Zhuang Renhe; once he betrayed him, Zhuang Renhe would face great trouble.

So he must have a handle in his hand to be at ease.

It was also for this reason that Xiang Ting had always been alone in Qinghe.

Fearing that leaking secrets would make Zhuang Renhe vent his anger on his wife and children.

He pushed open the door, and being alone, he was too lazy to light a candle; he took off his outer garment in the dark and intended to sleep.

Just as he took off half of his outer garment.

His whole body suddenly froze, his pupils widened.

There were others in the room!

"Who is it?!"

Xiang Ting's muscles instantly tightened, and his right hand was already on the hilt of the blade at his waist.

In the shadows of the corner.

A person dressed in black clothes and black shoes, with a black cloth covering their face, walked out slowly.

Using a voice that deliberately changed its tone, he said coldly:

"The person who came to kill you."

Xiang Ting's eyes were sharp, staring fixedly at the person in black, secretly shocked in his heart: "He's an expert!"

He took a deep breath and asked:

"Who sent you to kill me?"

The masked person sneered: "Having done so many things for Third Master Zhuang, you actually don't know who wants to kill you before you die; it's truly laughable."

He raised his blade.

"Then I'll let you die knowing."

"If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for knowing too much; Third Master Zhuang is not at ease, so he told me to send you on your way!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 169 =====