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 their face more than their lives, this matter-of-fact contempt was even harder to accept than drawing a blade and seeing blood.

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

Of course, no one knelt, but no one dared to refute a word either.

All because of Li Miao's Embroidered Uniform Guard Thousand-Household waist tag.

To execute first and report later, with imperial authorization. If one or two Embroidered Uniform Guards came, there would still be room for favors or bribery. But for these imperial hounds to appear in formation at your door meant you were someone the Emperor had nodded to be killed.

Even if the Jianghu and the imperial court had been distant since ancient times, it didn't mean you could pop your head 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, which was not giving the Emperor face.

Now, if you wanted to be the bird that sticks its head out for your own face and caused trouble, your sect leader would also kill you, this unfilial beast, with one palm to give the imperial court face.

This was the thinking of the sect disciples. As for the lone green woods 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 materials for tempering their bones were no less than those of the inner disciples of famous sects, and they spent their lives licking blood from the edge of a blade. They had talent, cultivation, sweat, and no lack of experience in life-and-death combat.

It could be said that every one of these dozen young men in black tight-fitting outfits blocking the door had reached a level of proficiency in both internal and external skills. If one were to pick Jianghu people with similar cultivation to fight them one-on-one, few could survive their hands.

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

Li Miao saw no one answer for a long time, but didn't get angry, just chuckled: "Yo, tough bones."

Yan Xiaosheng, who had been holding his cup without moving, coughed a few times, revealed his signature kind smile, came 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 make amends..."

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 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 at the door to scramble away. In the panic, they knocked over some tables, chairs, and bowls, causing a chaotic 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 Huashan Sect's Hero Gu?"

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

"Hero Gu, not practicing sword art within the 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 seriously.

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

Gu Jiao was silent for a long time, hesitated repeatedly, and finally let out a breath, saying: "No... not here."

"That's good. I heard your daughter has been having a small illness these past few days. Shouldn't Hero Gu hurry back to take a look?"

This one 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 you have at home and what their situation is recently.

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

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

"I told you to get out, you should 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 Sect disciples also followed him and ran out.

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

Hu Shuang stood up with an ugly face, cupped his fists at Yan Xiaosheng, said "Let's go," and walked out the door with several Water Gang underlings.

These two had the biggest backgrounds in the room; once they left, the people from the remaining second and third-rate sects also hurriedly stood up and ran out after Hu Shuang.

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

Before long, the tavern, which had been noisy, was empty, leaving only a few green woods and underworld wanted criminals who were stared at by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Yan Xiaosheng, Yan Xiaosheng's underling Brother Da De, and the two thugs who had been beaten half to death.

Li Miao walked inside to the main seat, stretched out his leg to hook a chair, and sat down.

He raised his hand to greet 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; the sound of fighting came from behind.

It was Brother Da De, who saw the situation was bad and wanted to rush out the door to escape, but was smashed in the face by an Embroidered Uniform Guard's scabbard, spitting out half his teeth. He was then pressed to the ground, a foot stepping on the back of his head; at this moment, his mouth and nose were buried in the ground, and he was emitting muffled whimpers.

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

Sss—

The sound of blood spraying was heard as a long, narrow blade pierced the neck. Brother Da De, who had been showing off and beating people to death just a moment ago, twitched his limbs a few times and then had no more breath.

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

Li Miao didn't show any reaction; he had been in the Embroidered Uniform Guard for twenty years, and having a few people 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 won't survive, right?"

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

With the Embroidered Uniform Guard coming to the door and looking for an underworld leader like him, it was either a house raid or extermination. With Li Miao's opening, his last glimmer of luck vanished.

Li Miao nodded and continued: "This trip was originally a job for a Hundred-Household; it wasn't my turn, a Thousand-Household who does paperwork, to come."

"But we checked Leader Yan's business and found it covers a wide range. Brothels, underworld, scams, gambling dens—you've earned quite a bit over the years, haven't you?"

Yan Xiaosheng was from the underworld; knowing this hurdle couldn't be easily passed, he no longer maintained his kind expression, revealing a reckless temperament, and drained the wine cup in one gulp.

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said sarcastically: "I just earn 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 could be a local king. But to do such extensive business in Yanjing, relying on Wu Gong alone is not enough."

"We've also investigated clearly; you're involved with too many people. It's easy to raid your house and bring some people to the surface, but that's too troublesome."

"But we need both your life and your money."

"So I, the Thousand-Household who manages money, came to negotiate a deal with you."

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