Chapter 733: Who are you?

The Youzhou Guard hastily sent a messenger to report to the City Gate Colonel. Hearing this, the colonel said directly: 'Just bring them back; right and wrong will be judged by the Internally appointed official.' Although the Governor of Jingzhao in Chang'an hadn't arrived, such matters in Youzhou are under the Internally appointed official's jurisdiction.

The guard, hearing his boss so nonchalant, hurried over and quietly reported the details. It wasn't an ordinary civilian quarrel; one side was supposedly the Grand Commander's son.

Hiss—

As their top leader, the Grand Commander truly didn't know the other party's family situation, nor whether his son was in Youzhou.

He hastily sent someone to pass a message to Grand Commander Dong, not mentioning it.

Dong Fu heard and was surprised for just two seconds that someone was causing trouble under his family's name; he immediately thought of the Great King who had left early this morning.

He asked: 'Is it a boy about twelve or thirteen?'

The other replied no.

Really, someone has that much gall?

He thought for a moment, then had the person who reported the case—supposedly a member of his guard—come see him.

He was busy at the office for a while; the Youzhou Guard then brought him a personal guard of the Great King.

Dong Fu was speechless for a moment, waved them off, saying: 'Not bad; nowadays troublemakers even know to put on a layer of skin.'

'I'll just pretend I don't know and see how the Internally appointed official handles it,' he decided, and chose not to intervene.

The sun hung high.

The shade where the Great King had lain with his legs propped shifted; he was again exposed to the scorching sun. This guy got up, brushed off the grass clippings, moved back into the shade, and lay down again.

In summer he wore thin clothes; after lying a long time he felt the grass blades prick his skin, and oddly his neck and face started to itch. The Great King scratched his face and sat up, saying modestly: 'Young Master, why don't you lie for a while? After all, you're of noble status—what use is it for me to lie here?'

Wei Chen: …just knew this wasn't a good job.

Yuan the steward glared at them from across; seeing the original extortionist kid get up, then… the other leader lay down.

Great, they're really trying to extort us! He was so angry his hand trembled.

When the Youzhou Guard arrived in force, the brawl had already fizzled out and stopped on its own; both sides tacitly waited for the government to decide.

Coincidentally, they both secretly thought the same thing—the advantage was theirs.

The Youzhou Guard drew up and shouted: 'Who struck first today?'

The Great King jumped up, raised his hand, and said: 'The Yuan surname started it; we're the victims! Our Young Master was beaten and still can't get up!'

Wei Chen began to groan: 'Oh—'

Yuan the steward, encountering for the first time someone who knew their identity yet refused to back off, jumped in anger: 'He lay down himself! With so many witnesses, don't try to fraud us! Don't you check what kind of family the Yuans are? Don't let them run wild!'

The Great King weakly said: 'What a mighty clan—daring to let slaves run amok right under Youzhou's feet. Your witnesses won't be your household slaves, will they? Their testimony is invalid.'

You!

The Youzhou Guard told them to shut up and escorted them back to the government office together.

Wei Chen stubbornly refused to get up, so they ended up dragging him back by cart despite his pretense.

The Youzhou Guard, having received orders earlier, cleanly escorted them to the Internally appointed official's residence. The Northern Border Internally appointed official was still in a meeting, researching policies for the Mo Nan and Yun Du commanderies.

Investigating this is actually quite simple; no need for the Internally appointed official to personally intervene—lower clerks can figure it out.

As it turned out, that steward Yuan really came from the He Luo Yuan clan; the Yuan main branch is still in He Luo, and he had long ago gone to Chang'an as part of a dowry accompanying the family's legitimate daughter.

That Yuan Lady's natal family is the Fang clan of Chang'an; she currently serves as an Equal Official under the Lesser Treasury, overseeing taxes on mountains, forests, aquatic products, and ponds.

The Yuan Lady's servant delivered the land deed for that plot, ordering the Internally appointed official's office to punish the bandits severely.

While the Great King claimed he had a transaction with the Yuan clan, their land deed had just taken effect, whereas they hadn't completed the paperwork. He chattered on, conveying a wealth of information; the presiding officer Zhao thought they were engaging in black‑on‑black crime, and the Yuan clan was furious to death.

'How was the trade conducted? When did it happen? Is there a contract?'

Wei Chen snapped: 'I exchanged the land for my family heirloom, and you dare to embezzle it?!'

The clerk below hurriedly reminded Officer Zhao: 'This young master is supposedly the Grand Commander's son.'

Officer Zhao: …What a mess, Grand Commander versus Equal Official (behind them the Yuan and Fang clans), and the clown turns out to be me?

Yuan the steward was about to jump up and curse Wei Chen for being shameless. He produced a large‑value token from the Qingyu Commandery's production site and the Otherworld Workshop's processing site, saying: 'Just tossing this trinket and you call it buying our land? I've never heard of such a good deal, and you still claim it's not robbery!'

The Great King interjected coolly: 'Even crows disdain black pigs. I heard your Yuan clan traded two feet of cloth for a huge tract of land, while Dong Gongzi exchanged his family heirloom and ended up labeled a bandit? Youzhou has truly been turned upside down.'

Yuan the steward exploded: 'Who used two feet of cloth… Well, do you have proof that two feet of cloth bought it? I say it was bought with twenty thousand taels of gold!'

Upon hearing that, Officer Zhao also turned to the Great King and Wei Chen, saying: 'Indeed, what evidence do you have?'

The Great King disliked him intensely: 'What are you looking at me for? Go investigate! I say what I say, you believe what you believe, what do you want me to do?!'

Officer Zhao glanced at 'Young Master Dong' and held his tongue.

The Great King had already grown tired of his dullness; this brain of his still hadn't grasped the nature of the matter. Two powerful clans were fighting over a piece of land that originally belonged to commoners, yet he was still watching Wei Chen's facial expression.

'Did you get this position by saving Jiang Zhe's life?'

Without waiting for the Zhao-surname person's reaction, the Great King directly ordered him: 'The Fang clan's holding the Equal Official post has become second nature. The Yuans can seize peasants' good fields, so why can't we take this good field using the same method? I ask you—what kind of investigative attitude is this? Isn't it just letting the populace curse our Northern Border laws as harsh? You yourself are that harsh?!'

This is no small matter; what you should do now is have your superior officer mobilize troops to surround the residence of Fang Jun Guan, not let a suspect escape, and quickly ascertain the true facts.

Officer Zhao gaped: 'No way, who are you?!'

Young Master Dong didn't say a word!