Chapter 75: Eve of the 75 (Please Subscribe)

The moonlight illuminated a road of ink-colored chill.

Song Cheng walked alone on the road back to the mansion.

With data, Heart Eye, and strength, he could easily avoid every passerby, making himself like a ghost walking on the streets of the Prefecture City, a person who did not exist in anyone's perception.

The human figures formed by plain white lines had mostly fallen asleep in the pitch-black world.

The youth walked alone the whole way, returned to the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce, climbed over the wall to enter, quickly returned to his own residence, took off his bamboo hat and cloak, and then sat on the stone stool in the small courtyard.

He had to vent the lingering hostility, murderous aura, and dust of the road he had gathered outside before entering the house.

Hostility and murderous aura were for dealing with enemies and trouble.

At home, these were not needed.

But not long after, the room door opened by itself.

An Daxiaojie walked out wearing a nightgown; her hair was uncombed, yet she possessed a natural, lazy, and ethereal charm.

This woman seemed to always know how to keep herself dignified and presentable, never showing an ugly side, even at this moment.

She swayed her waist, stepped with her long legs, sat opposite Song Cheng, propped her chin to look at him, and asked, "Little Song, are you hungry?"

Song Cheng smiled and said, "Do you want to have Ling'er make noodles for me?"

An Chenyu nodded.

She could do many things well, but her cooking was the only exception.

When she was in the depths of the mire, she had already sworn to be a powerful woman, so she was unwilling to let her fingers touch the water of the kitchen, because the kitchen was a place for little women to stay.

This was her principle.

But perhaps it was because she was too satisfied with the husband before her, so... the next instant, she broke the principle she had never broken before: "I can go too, but I'm afraid it won't taste good."

Song Cheng said softly, "The Mountain River Martial Arts Hall disciples who extorted my An Family, as well as the Gao Family and Chi Family, are dead."

"Mm."

"But I didn't kill them; Yuan Qianke killed them and took their money for military expenses. This money cannot be retrieved."

After a silence, An Chenyu shook her head gently while smiling, appearing quite moved, and then said, "Little Song, you are wrong."

Song Cheng:??? An Chenyu said indifferently, "This money will definitely come back, and it will be delivered back by the Mountain River Martial Arts Hall with great courtesy and full of apologies, not a single cent missing."

She brushed her sideburns and explained, "Tomorrow, I'm afraid the corpses of these people will be hanging on the street. The Mountain River Martial Arts Hall will have cleared out the scum, established discipline, improved their reputation, and then they will send the money back to my An Family, the Gao Family, and the Chi Family."

At the same time, the person who comes will definitely complain about how difficult it is to go out of the city to suppress the barbarians.

In this way, our An Family will have recovered ten thousand taels, but we will have to donate that ten thousand taels plus another three to five thousand to fund their suppression of the barbarians.

It is not strange for wealthy families to donate money and the government to launch an expedition.

This matter would happen sooner or later; this is just borrowing the momentum to act. If this momentum didn't exist, the government would still openly ask every family for military pay.

Moreover, I feel that this matter is not just borne by the An Family, the Gao Family, and the Chi Family.

All the wealthy families in the entire Prefecture City must pay.

If you don't pay, can your heart be at ease? The Ma Family, who left the city early, had their entire family property confiscated."

Song Cheng was silent.

But at the same time, he felt the charm of a mature and intellectual woman in the Young Miss before him; this was the charm of a person in a high position with a truly broad vision. This charm, added to her beautiful skin, added ten thousand kinds of allure.

An Chenyu stood up lazily and said, "Little Song, you've been tired all night, I'll go make you some noodles."

Song Cheng said, "An Jie, I don't want to eat that."

An Chenyu asked, "Then what do you want to eat?"

Song Cheng didn't speak; he stood up and scooped up An Daxiaojie.

The Young Miss leaned her head against him, taking the opportunity to hook her arms around his neck, her long legs dangling obediently from the crook of his arms, swaying and rippling like a swing in the wind.

The two entered the room and mounted the horse.

Continuous casting, critical hits... The next day, the development of events was indeed as An Chenyu had expected.

However, it wasn't just the peripheral disciples of the Mountain River Martial Arts Hall who had extorted the An, Gao, and Chi families that were killed as "sacrifices to heaven," but many others... scattered together, there were nearly two hundred people.

These people... some felt that "the Northern Barbarians are moving south, and it is already in chaos," so they ignored the law and relied on their own skills to attempt to control some small family. As a result, this person had his hands cut off and his legs chopped off, hanging bloody on the city wall, not yet dead.

Some used private connections to bribe the city commandant, wanting the commandant to quietly let them out of the city. As a result, this family was raided until they were penniless; those in the family with some strength were drafted into the army, and those without were thrown to the roadside to become beggars.

Some intercepted family Martial Artists to prevent them from going to the government; they were also raided... of course, most were just "extortion."

After all, many people felt that the chaotic times had begun, so they hurried to make some money during this time, and then it would be convenient to slip away once the chaos truly started.

And so, these people were killed to the last one.

The Mountain River Martial Arts Hall sent people to run from house to house to appease them and to "return the extorted money."

Then, these small forces and small families visited by the Mountain River Martial Arts Hall were all grateful, and all patted their chests saying, "The family cannot repay this, we can only support some more military pay to express our humble feelings."

An Chenyu of the An Family returned the ten thousand taels and, in passing, added three thousand taels to send away the two disciples from the Mountain River Martial Arts Hall who had visited.

As those two disciples were walking, one of them suddenly turned his head, seemingly wanting to say something, but was immediately pulled away by the other.

An Chenyu was puzzled for a moment, but no matter how smart she was, she couldn't guess such a thing out of thin air.

She really didn't know what that disciple was going to say when he turned around.

The two disciples went far away.

One of them said, "Why not extort her while we're at it? Some time ago, that deceased person from the Chen Family came to the An Mansion, and there was a quarrel, right?"

The other said, "Extort what? You haven't heard the words of the External Affairs Envoy yet, have you?"

"What words?"

"The External Affairs Envoy said, don't create extra trouble; let the government just smooth over the Chen Family matter and be done with it. This matter is actually simple. I think if the Chen Family really makes a big fuss, just catch someone without a travel permit who has a criminal record and kill them to give them an explanation, isn't that enough?"

"This..."

"The External Affairs Envoy said that one needle... was enough to kill him. Do you still want to investigate?

Besides, you know what kind of thing the Chen Family is, don't you?"

"."

The disciple who had been about to speak suddenly fell silent, his expression grave; after hesitating repeatedly, he finally asked in confusion: "That powerful?"

Another disciple said: "In literature there is no first, in martial arts there is no second; who would admit they are inferior to others?

Do you think the External Affairs Envoy would lie about this?

That was an embroidery needle! It pierced a wall, killed a man, and entered the ground a foot deep; when they smashed the surrounding floor tiles and pulled the needle out to look, even the needle tip wasn't bent! The coroner checked the time of death, the night patrol reported on the surrounding situation, and the head constable even visited the surrounding residents, yet there really wasn't a single suspect.

Investigate? Investigate what?"

That disciple's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Just pretend it never happened.

If it were normal times and there was nothing else on hand, perhaps the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall would go and investigate.

But now... everyone is busy and frantic; the matter of suppressing the Barbarian is paramount, who would care about this? It's just a Young Master Chen; if he's dead, he's dead.

Young Master Chen is dead. The frivolous scoundrel who used a cloying voice to shout "Chen Yu, how do you intend to thank me" is gone. The person who came to show off how much of a genius the "Frost Cold Swordsman" was has also vanished.

However, these past two days, although Young Master Chen is gone, many more "Young Master Chens" have appeared.

These "Young Master Chens" are also in high spirits and great moods, boasting everywhere about the geniuses their own families have sent to the yamen.

And these geniuses are not the likes of courtyard guards or bodyguards, but members of these families themselves.

It is not just people who want to cling to the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall and White Camel Manor, but families as well.

After a brief period of observation, many families sent out the geniuses with potential from within their clans.

Then, they received word: the clansmen they sent out had actually succeeded in becoming disciples of the great powers.

Some had put on the robes of Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall disciples, while others had stepped into Huahaifang, where White Camel Manor is located.

Slowly, the "truth of the power structure," which only the top talents of the families knew, was gradually revealed.

Rumors that "the true rulers of Hanping Prefecture are the three great powers" also began to spread.

This made these small families even more pleased.

Especially those families that had successfully produced disciples for the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall or White Camel Manor; they were even more so.

That night, An Chenyu couldn't help but complain a few words to Song Cheng by the pillow.

"This family and that family are all saying they have established ties with the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall and White Camel Manor.

They say their people have already become official disciples of these two great powers.

There are even those who rely on their seniority to try and lecture me, this young girl.

They say they are advising me not to be stubborn and to quickly send out the strong members of the family, otherwise, I will regret it when it is too late."

"Also, Little Song, your reputation has spread too.

Many people know what you did in Shanghe County.

But this time, there are actually people saying that the An Family's son-in-law is a blind man, born without qualifications, and that it's a pity he missed this opportunity to join the great powers."

She mimicked that person's tone, twisted her delicate body, and said: "What, a, pity."

It truly had the flavor of being "high and mighty, looking down on others as they fall into the dust."

After finishing, An Daxiaojie rolled her eyes and continued: "There are even people who ask me with a charming smile, do I regret marrying you?"

She was truly angry as she said it.

Song Cheng gently stroked his wife by the pillow and said nonchalantly: "An Jie, isn't this a good thing? The masses are excited, the government is raising troops, the wealthy are donating money, and everyone is united."

An Daxiaojie had just been mocked too much these days, and with her emotional defenses opened by the youth, she had found an outlet, which is why she retrieved the long-dormant talent for female gossip and complaining and rambled a bit more.

Hearing this, she replied: "That's true, a good thing."

After saying this, she muttered again: "When a wall falls, everyone pushes it; as long as there is any little bit of trouble, someone will impatiently jump out, ride on your head, and judge you."

"I'm used to it."

Song Cheng changed the subject: "The main army is also about to set out."

"Mm, it's either tomorrow or the day after." An Daxiaojie leaned into the man's embrace and said softly, "Complaints aside, I also hope they win. Otherwise... I'm afraid this Prefecture City will have the Barbarians at its gates.

I have read many books and heard many storytellers.

The Barbarians ride magical beasts and are skilled in lightning-fast deep strikes and raids over a thousand miles.

The Northern Barbarian tribes are numerous, and the five great tribes are the Barbarian King and the Four Golden Tents; I don't know how many have come this time.

Although Hanping Prefecture is in the rear, with the mobility of magical beasts, it's not much different from being on the front lines.

If it were me, I would definitely keep sufficient defensive forces."

"Didn't Zhushan Temple not participate in recruiting? They must be the ones guarding."

"That's true."

"An Jie, don't think too much; you've been tired all day, sleep."

"Mm, goodnight, Little Song."

(End of chapter)