Chapter 618: You Go First

"County Magistrate Chen, you truly have a lot of nerve!"

Before the person had even arrived, an arrogant voice could be heard from afar, followed quickly by a chaotic clamor as a group of people came marching in with great momentum.

The Constable who had been sent to notify Yan Ying was brought over, bound tightly by these people, and the man in the lead was even more arrogant and domineering, seemingly not putting the County Magistrate Chen Zhao in his eyes at all.

"My Lord, this is Yan Quan, the steward of the Prefect's household!"

"Recently, since Yan Ying, the son of the Prefect, was injured, the Prefect sent this steward over with a famous doctor to provide treatment."

"So that's how it is!" He glanced at the person beside him with a smile, knowing that the Prefect had sent a steward without prior notice, surely knowing that this steward was arrogant and domineering and would not put him in his eyes.

Chen Zhao was digging a pit for their Prefect; he looked like an honest man, but in reality, he was not honest in the slightest.

"County Magistrate Chen, you knew full well that the Young Master was injured, yet you still had people invite him over. What, who do you think you are?"

A middle-aged man walked up, fuming with rage, his expression fierce and hideous, enough to show his tyrannical and overbearing nature.

His posture was such that Shen Yu did not doubt he would give Chen Zhao a few slaps the next moment.

If a mere steward was already this arrogant, one could see how domineering the Prefect of Luyun Prefecture was in his daily conduct.

"County Magistrate Chen, I also heard that for the woman who injured the Young Master, you actually only sentenced her to exile."

"Do you think we can't see through your little schemes? You want to protect her, but you should look at how much weight you carry; you think you can have an easy time after hurting the Young Master?"

"Don't worry, I have already sent people to bring her back; she won't be able to run!"

"You!" Yan Quan's words made Chen Zhao's heart skip a beat, and he couldn't help but look toward Shen Yu, "My Lord, this, this..."

"Rest assured, that little girl is fine!"

These people likely intended to re-capture her after she left the city gates, knowing to be discreet so as not to let others see.

Shen Yu's perception had been focused on the little girl the whole time; she had been intercepted by the dispatched Constables before she even reached the city gates, so their people had not yet made a move.

On the other side, the Prefect's steward Yan Quan seemed completely unconcerned about who else was there, continuing to bark orders and scold loudly.

"The Prefect said, he wants to make her life worse than death. If County Magistrate Chen dares to feign compliance while acting in opposition, do you know what the consequences will be?"

"Your Prefect has quite the official authority!" With a light laugh, Shen Yu looked up at the other party, "Tell me, what are the consequences?"

"Who are you, daring to meddle in our Prefect's affairs?"

Only then did Yan Quan truly see the situation clearly. Inside the room, Shen Yu was sitting, and the Magistrate and his wife were standing carefully to the side.

The sycophantic look on their faces was exactly the same as how he served his own master on a daily basis.

He had long since figured out Chen Zhao, this County Magistrate; supposedly, he belonged to the type who liked to put on airs, and ordinary people wouldn't make him this cautious.

The identity of this young man was likely not simple.

"Where is Yan Ying? Why wasn't he brought over?" He peered around and found that none of the people who arrived were injured; he reckoned this bunch hadn't brought him at all.

"County Magistrate Chen, go and send people to bring him over again; you must bring him before me!"

"Yes, My Lord!"

"Wait, this Lord, our Young Master has injuries on his body and is not fit to be moved!"

"Never mind being injured; even if he were paralyzed all over, you are to carry him over to me!"

"What a big mouth!" The attitude of the young man before him forced him to be cautious. The more arrogant one was, the more it proved they had the confidence to back it up.

If he had no backing, how could he not put a dignified Prefect's steward in his eyes? Didn't he know that even a gatekeeper at the Prime Minister's residence holds a seventh-rank position?

"May I ask, which Lord are you?"

"Presumptuous! In front of Lord Shen, you dare to be so presumptuous?"

"Lord Shen?" He thought carefully, but it seemed there was no such young Lord Shen in his memory.

"Which Lord Shen?"

"Naturally, Lord Shen Yu."

"Shen Yu? He, he..." This name made Yan Quan tremble uncontrollably. Hadn't he disappeared? How could he appear here?

It's over, it's over; this time it's truly a disaster.

As for whether the person before him was an impostor, Yan Quan did not doubt it. His own master had tried every possible way to obtain a portrait of Shen Yu back then, just in case he really encountered him and didn't recognize him.

Not just him, he reckoned officials across the entire Imperial Court had tried to get a copy. After all, Shen Yu was famous for killing wherever he went, and no one dared to stop him.

One couldn't afford to offend him, only pray not to provoke him, and remember what he looked like early on to avoid bumping into him should he appear in one's jurisdiction.

Therefore, he had naturally seen Shen Yu's portrait.

It was just that this master had been missing for three years and had long been cast to the back of his mind, so for a moment, he really hadn't made the connection.

Looking at him now, he was indeed almost identical to the portrait.

It's over; it really was this star of misfortune. His body went limp, and Yan Quan slumped onto the ground.

The moment Shen Yu appeared, he knew his Young Master was finished, his master was finished, and he, a steward who relied on his master's power to bully others, certainly wouldn't end well either.

"I heard that during the flood three years ago, the Prefect of Luyun Prefecture not only resold grain but also colluded with unscrupulous merchants to hoard goods, causing countless commoners to starve to death. Is this true?"

The question left Yan Quan drenched in cold sweat, his mind in a mess, and for a moment he stammered, not knowing how to respond.

"So it is true!"

"Corrupt and lawless, abusing power for personal gain—truly excellent!"

A hint of killing intent entered his gaze, and Shen Yu then turned his head and said to Chen Zhao, "Have your men take him down and interrogate him thoroughly; see how many more things this Prefect has been hiding!"

"Yes, My Lord!" He looked over there with a smile; watching that arrogant and domineering face, which had never given him a pleasant look from start to finish, Chen Zhao had long wanted to beat him up.

It's not that retribution doesn't come, it's just that the time hasn't arrived yet; it's also time to let you know the temper of our Magistrate Chen!

"Men, take him down for this official!"

On this side, not long after Yan Quan was taken down, the Prefect's son Yan Ying was carried in, groaning in pain the entire way.

Upon seeing Chen Zhao, he couldn't help but curse, "Chen Zhao, you have a lot of nerve! You dare to move me, this Young Master."

"Just you wait, after I go back, I will definitely report this to my father, have you stripped of your office, just you wait!"

"So arrogant!" Walking forward, Shen Yu looked at him coldly, "I ask you, in broad daylight, you forcibly abducted a common woman and then violated that girl again inside the County Government Office jail—this was your doing, right?"

"So what if I did it? That little slut dared to hurt me, she deserves to be sliced into a thousand pieces!"

"Who the hell are you?"

"Very good, it's enough that you admitted it yourself!" He casually drew the blade from a Constable and then gestured toward Yan Ying's neck with it.

This action gave Yan Ying a rather ominous feeling. "What do you want to do? My father is the Prefect; just try touching me if you dare!"

"Never mind you, I'll kill your father just the same. You go on ahead, and in a while, I'll send your father to join you. Rest assured, I won't make you wait too long!"

As he spoke, he raised the blade in his hand high and brought it down fiercely.

"No, don't!" Watching a flash of white light draw closer and closer, bringing with it a spray of blood, Yan Ying completely lost all consciousness.

Glancing in the direction of Yan Ying, Chen Zhao looked disgusted, feeling an urge to vomit. But it was a good kill; this father-scamming son had truly brought disaster upon his father.

I've heard the reputation of their Yan Family is not good; now not only are you going to die, but there probably won't be much left of your family either.

Ptooey, serves you right!