Chapter 3: Negotiating a deal

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is on official business. Those who don't want to die can kneel now."

Li Miao said.

Without a doubt, this was a naked insult. Especially for Jianghu people who valued face more than their lives, this matter-of-fact contempt was even harder to accept than drawing a sword and seeing blood.

The veins on the necks of several famous sect disciples in the room bulged.

Of course, no one knelt, but no one dared to retort either.

All because of Li Miao's Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander token.

To execute first and report later, authorized by imperial power. If one or two Embroidered Uniform Guards came, there might be room for bribery or pulling strings. But when these imperial hounds appeared at your door in an organized unit, it meant you were someone the Emperor had personally nodded to kill.

Even though the Jianghu and the imperial court had been distant since ancient times, it didn't mean you could stand up and shout, "I am not a subject of His Majesty." Only by keeping up appearances could you maintain your substance.

Not giving the Embroidered Uniform Guard face was not giving the imperial court face, and not giving the Emperor face.

Now, if you wanted to be the first bird to stand up for your own face and caused trouble, your sect leader would also kill you, this unfilial wretch, with one palm to give the imperial court face.

These were the thoughts of the sect disciples. As for the lone greenwood and underworld figures, they were simply afraid of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's violence.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard were orphans without parents, selected from childhood for their talent. Their cultivation methods and the materials used to temper their bones were no less than those of the inner disciples of famous sects, and they were constantly engaged in life-and-death struggles. They had talent, methods, hard work, and no lack of experience in life-and-death combat.

It could be said that every one of the dozen young men in black blocking the door had reached a level of mastery in both internal and external skills. If you were to pick people from the Jianghu with similar cultivation levels to fight them one-on-one, few could survive.

Kneeling was impossible, but the fear was real, and the atmosphere became deadlocked.

Li Miao saw no one reply for a long time, but he wasn't annoyed, just chuckled: "Yo, tough bones."

Yan Xiaosheng, who had been holding his cup without moving, coughed a few times, revealing his signature kind smile. He stepped down from the main seat and walked toward Li Miao, laughing as he went: "Officer, officer, I don't know how my humble shop has offended you, I will apologize to you..."

Before he could finish, halfway there, someone flashed out from behind Li Miao and stared at him coldly, forcing him to stop.

Li Miao didn't even look at him and walked a few steps into the room. The row of Embroidered Uniform Guards guarding the door followed like a wall, forcing several people sitting near the door to scramble away. In their panic, they knocked over tables, chairs, and bowls, causing a clatter.

Of course, some held onto their status or didn't move for the sake of face.

Li Miao walked to one of the tables, looked down, and realized: "Isn't this the famous Hero Gu of the Huashan Sect?"

"Clear Wind Sword" Gu Jiao stood up and cupped his hands neither humbly nor arrogantly: "My lord."

"Hero Gu, not practicing sword in your sect, are you here in the capital to visit relatives? Or friends?"

"Visiting a friend."

"Oh, visiting what friend? Is it in this room?" Li Miao asked earnestly.

It seemed like a casual question, but it couldn't be answered casually. Every question from the Embroidered Uniform Guard could be fatal.

Gu Jiao was silent for a long time, hesitating repeatedly, until he finally let out a sigh and said: "No... not here."

"That's good. I heard your daughter has been a little sick these past few days. Shouldn't Hero Gu hurry back to check on her?"

This sentence made Gu Jiao, who had made a name for himself in the Jianghu as "Clear Wind Sword," turn livid.

This sentence could be understood as: I know who is in your family and what their situation is recently.

Of course, it could also be understood as: You wouldn't want your daughter to actually get sick, would you?

Li Miao leaned in and lowered his voice, speaking in a low tone that almost everyone in the room could hear: "I told you to kneel, and you didn't."

"I told you to get out, you should at least get out now, right?"

Gu Jiao's face was extremely ugly. He gritted his teeth, hesitated, looked at Li Miao, then at Yan Xiaosheng, and finally covered his face with his sleeve and ran out the door. The Huashan disciples followed him out in a rush.

Li Miao didn't care and turned back to name another person: "Hero Hu of the Canal Gang, long admired, long admired."

Hu Shuang stood up with an ugly face, cupped his hands at Yan Xiaosheng, said "Let's go," and walked out the door with several of his men.

These two were the biggest names in the room. Once they left, the remaining second- and third-rate sect members also hurriedly stood up and ran out after Hu Shuang.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards blocking the door cleared the way; they were here for Yan Xiaosheng this time and couldn't be bothered to deal with these people.

Before long, the once-bustling wine shop was empty, leaving only the greenwood and underworld wanted criminals who were being stared at by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Yan Xiaosheng, Yan Xiaosheng's subordinate Da De, and the two thugs who had been beaten half to death.

Li Miao walked to the side of the main seat, hooked a chair with his leg, and sat down.

He raised his hand to beckon Yan Xiaosheng, who had been standing there for a long time: "Leader Yan, come, sit, sit."

Yan Xiaosheng walked over and sat opposite Li Miao, and the sound of fighting came from behind him.

It was Da De, who saw the situation was bad and wanted to rush out the door to escape, but was smashed in the face with a scabbard by an Embroidered Uniform Guard, spitting out half his teeth. He was then pressed to the ground, a foot stepping on the back of his head, and now he was making muffled whimpers with his nose and mouth buried in the dirt.

Yan Xiaosheng didn't dare look back, and Li Miao didn't care, waving his hand toward that side.

Hiss—

A sound of blood spraying was heard as a long, narrow blade pierced through a neck. Da De, who had been showing off and beating people to death just a moment ago, twitched his limbs a few times and then went silent.

The two thugs who had disposed of the body were scared unconscious.

Li Miao didn't show any reaction. He had been in the Embroidered Uniform Guard for twenty years; seeing a person or two die in front of him was as normal as breathing.

He picked up the wine pot, poured a cup for Yan Xiaosheng, and poured one for himself.

"Leader Yan, you know you can't live, right?"

Yan Xiaosheng's face was livid, and he nodded.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had come, and they were looking for an underworld leader like him—it was either a house raid or an extermination. With Li Miao's opening, his last shred of wishful thinking vanished.

Li Miao nodded and continued: "This trip was originally a job for a Battalion Commander; it shouldn't have fallen to a Battalion Commander like me who handles paperwork."

"But we checked Leader Yan's business and found it's quite extensive. Brothels, underworld gangs, scams, gambling dens—you've made quite a lot of money over the years, haven't you?"

Yan Xiaosheng was from the underworld. Knowing this hurdle couldn't be easily cleared, he dropped his kind expression, revealing a reckless temperament, and drained his wine cup.

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said sarcastically: "I'm just earning some hard-earned money; the big share is still taken by people like you, my lord."

"Yes, yes, that's how it is. That's why I came." Li Miao poured another cup for Yan Xiaosheng.

"By rights, your Wu Gong is at the level of a second-rate sect leader; if you were outside, you might be a local king. But to do such extensive business in Yanjing City, relying on Wu Gong alone isn't enough."

"We've also investigated clearly; you're involved with too many people. Raiding your house easily might bring some people to the surface, which is too much trouble."

"But we must have both your life and your money."

"So, I, the Battalion Commander who manages money, came here to negotiate a deal with you."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 4 =====