Chapter 11: A Show of Force

Liu Zheng circled around a few times, but still no one answered!

Only the old man at the city gate opened his toothless mouth and smiled very brightly.

"Son, this..."

Liu Dahao was covered in sweat.

Liu Zheng's eyes had already turned cold. A few days ago, he had already spent money to hire a fast horse to deliver the news to Yinzhou that the County Marquis was about to take office.

By all logic, the Han should have arrived three days earlier than them. They had been delayed in Yangzhou for another three days. By now, Yinzhou should have received the news long ago.

However, looking at it now...

"The County Marquis has arrived!"

Liu Zheng did not believe in bad luck and continued to shout while riding his horse.

"Young man, where would we get a County Marquis in Yinzhou?"

The dark-skinned old man laughed loudly with a mocking face. Many passersby also pointed at Liu Zheng one after another.

Liu Zheng shouted: "The imperial court has sent a new County Marquis to take office, yet there is no one in the city to welcome him? Do you not hold the imperial court in your eyes?"

A new County Marquis?

The people of Yinzhou discussed it in whispers, quite surprised.

Yinzhou was a place where birds don't lay eggs; a County Marquis hadn't come here for many years, and the government office was in such disrepair that they found these few people very strange, looking at them as if they were monkeys.

Just then, several Horse Carriages finally drove into the city.

Liu Zheng looked on with cold eyes and couldn't help but snort.

Although Yinzhou was barren, such places were the easiest for local Powerful Clans and landlord masters to breed. Especially in a lawless place like Yinzhou, these Powerful Clans had actually become the true power holders here because they had land! In this era, land was the primary productive force; they controlled the highest quality resources in society and naturally controlled the life and death of these commoners.

Thus, under this vicious cycle, the poorer the farmers were, the richer they became!

Although Yinzhou was small, it was still a prefecture with a population of 300,000.

Over the years, the Four Great Noble Families had risen in Yinzhou: Chen, Wang, Cao, and Zheng. These four families had almost divided up the power of the entire Yinzhou. Liu Zheng had long known that his and his father's arrival would displease them, but he thought that at least on the surface, they should be able to get by. He didn't expect that they would actually let the three of them be exposed to the scorching sun for an hour!

The four Horse Carriages were extremely luxurious, looking out of place in the environment of Yinzhou. Thugs cleared the way, arrogant and domineering. The commoners on the road dared to be angry but dared not speak, avoiding them one after another.

Liu Dahao couldn't help but mutter: "Good fellow, they are all eight-horse carriages, even more majestic than your old man was back in the day?"

Liu Zheng snorted coldly again.

These people who preyed on the villagers were the true tumors of Yinzhou's poverty.

The yellow Horse Carriage stopped firmly at the city gate, and an old man in brocade clothes jumped down, cupping his hands and walking over with a smile: "County Marquis, please be magnanimous! My family's donkey got spooked, and this old man went to catch the donkey, which is why I am a few steps late!"

These words were spoken in a ridiculous and rude manner, completely failing to hold the newly arrived County Marquis in his eyes.

The crowd laughed even more upon hearing this.

Especially the servants beside the old man, who looked at the three people here sideways and sneered incessantly.

County Marquis?

This Yinzhou had long been the territory of the four Powerful Clans; how could they be happy about a County Marquis suddenly arriving?

Liu Dahao endured his anger and laughed: "No matter, no matter, who are you?"

Before the old man could speak, another person jumped down from the green Horse Carriage next to him and snorted coldly: "Master Chen really has a good mood, going to catch a donkey yourself; aren't you afraid that the donkey will go mad and end your dog life with one kick?"

The Chen-surnamed old man snorted: "What does it have to do with you, Cao Zhen?"

It seemed that these two people were Chen Kui of the Chen Family and Cao Zhen of the Cao Family.

Two more people descended from the other two Horse Carriages, namely Wang Zengming of the Wang Family and Zheng Liang of the Zheng Family.

The four of them mocked each other for a while before slowly, with the large group of servants behind them, making a show of welcoming the County Marquis.

Liu Zheng's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched.

Was this a show of force to intimidate him?

Each of these four guys brought at least fifty servants, every one of them a burly man, strong and powerful.

And on his side, there were a mere three people.

The difference between the two was immediately apparent.

Therefore, the mockery and disdain on their faces became even more obvious and undisguised.

"The donkey got spooked?"

Liu Zheng suddenly smiled coldly.

The four old men were just putting on a show of cupping their hands in welcome, but upon hearing Liu Zheng's words, they all showed signs of anger.

"Who are you?"

"Where did this yellow-mouthed child come from?"

Liu Zheng was furious, knowing that if he didn't establish his authority today, he was afraid he wouldn't even be able to enter the city gate of Yinzhou, and even if he did, he was destined to live under their tyranny. He immediately shouted angrily: "I ordered you to wait at the city gate at 8:45 AM every day, yet you all made excuses and failed to show up. To offend your superior like this, what kind of decorum is this?"

"What do you want to do?"

"How bold, how dare you insult my master?"

"Brat, give me your life!"

Before the masters of the four Powerful Clans could speak, those servants who usually did evil couldn't help themselves. Several of them bared their fangs and brandished their claws, reaching out toward Liu Zheng. The masters didn't stop them either, watching and sneering. They were happy to give the County Marquis's family a show of force at the city gate.

If the three of them wanted to change the sky of Yinzhou upon entering, they would have to ask the Four Great Noble Families first!

Although these servants were dressed as servants, they were actually the private soldiers of these Powerful Clans, with fine weapons in their hands and burly strength, stronger than the Bandit they encountered in Yangzhou.

The commoners exclaimed one after another, fearing that this child would suffer a great loss.

Who would have thought that just as they arrived in front of Liu Zheng's horse, Qin Zhangfeng beside him shouted: "How dare you hurt my young master!"

Clang!

Drawing his long saber, Qin Zhangfeng kicked the horse's belly, and the horse neighed and galloped over. Before the servants could make a move, the long saber had already reached their eyes.

Bang, bang, bang!

Qin Zhangfeng was quite measured in his strikes; he did not use the blade edge, but instead used the back of the blade to knock the seven or eight men rushing forward to the ground.

One man, one horse. Standing before Liu Zheng, eyes wide with rage, his murderous aura was chilling!

"This..."

"This young man is quite fierce!"

"Truly a fine hero!"

The commoners watched, stunned as if seeing a god.

The masters of the Four Great Noble Families, however, had faces ashen as dust.

The servants refused to accept this; they got up and wanted to struggle a bit more, but Qin Zhangfeng struck them fiercely on the back with his long blade again. Before they could even pick up the weapons on the ground, they had already fainted.

The scene went quiet.

"Who else?"

Qin Zhangfeng stood alone, his momentum astonishing.

The other servants were wary of collateral damage; although they glared with fury, not one of them dared to step forward again!

"Hero, hero, stop, let us not damage the harmony!"

"Lord County Marquis, it is we who arrived late. Whether it be punishment or penalty, we await your disposal, Lord County Marquis!"

These four masters were so frightened their legs trembled and their faces turned deathly pale.

Such an expert could take their lives in a mere instant.

Liu Dahao hurriedly dismounted and supported the four men with a feigned gesture, laughing: "No matter, no matter, a small affair, a small affair. The way of being an official should not be so labor-intensive; it is my son who is too serious. Come, come, let us enter the city!"

Arriving in Yinzhou for the first time, the three of them were still guests; a slight slap in the face was enough, as a conflict that was too intense would do more harm than good.

Liu Zheng said nothing.

The Four Great Noble Families felt as uncomfortable as if they had swallowed a fly, but the onlookers among the commoners were clicking their tongues in wonder.

It was truly rare for a newly appointed County Marquis to dampen the spirits of the Four Great Noble Families like this.

Just arriving and being this domineering, not yielding an inch—it seemed the Yinzhou City of the future would be much livelier.

With Qin Zhangfeng holding his blade at his side, along the way, the noble masters were extremely cautious and even showed excessive enthusiasm.

Inside Yinzhou City, it was indeed much the same as the outside.

The streets were riddled with potholes, the buildings were dilapidated, and at a glance, the commoners on the street all showed signs of malnutrition. But Liu Zheng could tell that the people of this Yinzhou region were fierce and hardy; although the noble families had ruled here for so many years, when facing these four noble masters, many people on the street still openly revealed looks of hatred in their eyes.

This was a good thing!

After walking the route, Liu Zheng already had a plan in mind.

"Since Lord County Marquis has just arrived in Yinzhou, you must let our Chen Family perform the duties of a host!"

That Chen Kui invited them enthusiastically.

The other three families were not to be outdone, insisting on a grand banquet to celebrate the arrival of the Lord County Marquis.

Liu Dahao was terrified it would be another Hongmen Banquet, so he hurriedly declined: "You are all very kind, but as I have just taken office as County Marquis, I should first go to the County Marquis Mansion to settle in."

"County Marquis Mansion?"

The four masters suppressed their laughter; the atmosphere on the scene was extremely strange.

"Haha, good, let's go to the County Marquis Mansion!"

The four led the way to the County Marquis Mansion, and when they arrived in front of a dilapidated courtyard, they stopped walking.

Liu Dahao was stunned: "Gentlemen, this is..."

Chen Kui laughed loudly: "My Lord, this is the County Marquis Mansion!"

"What?"

Liu Dahao's expression changed.

This courtyard had likely not been lived in or cleaned for decades; the area was quite large, but at a single glance, one could tell it was long neglected, with broken doors and windows, and one room even lacked a roof. The wooden structure was truly infested with insects and rodents, looking as if it could collapse at any moment.

Even the windows let the wind blow right through.

Spiderwebs covered the inside and outside, and the courtyard was overgrown with weeds.

It was completely deserted.

"Pfft..."

A servant could not hold it in and burst into a snort of laughter.

That Wang Zengming also pretended to shake his head and said: "Lord County Marquis, why don't you stay at my Wang Family for the time being? Allow me to order my servants to help renovate this County Marquis Mansion?"

"Hahahaha!"

"This courtyard is truly not as good as my dog kennel!"

"A dignified County Marquis, oh, truly!"

The servants mocked them to the fullest extent. The commoners also watched and shook their heads one after another.

"Thank you for your concern, but we will just stay here!"

Before Liu Dahao could finish, Liu Zheng said with a smile.

He did not want to tear his face off with these noble families just yet; if they went to stay in their homes, there was no telling what might happen.

"Good, good, good!"

"Since the Lord County Marquis insists, we shall take our leave!"

The Four Great Noble Families cupped their hands and left one after another.

Instantly, only the three of them remained, looking at the dilapidated courtyard with blank expressions.

In a prefecture or county, the County Marquis Mansion is the face of the official.

Simply put, with the current dilapidated state of the County Marquis Mansion, not only was it wretched for the three of them to live in, but it also left the County Marquis Mansion and the County Marquis himself without any dignity; how could one speak of ruling with an official government that had no dignity?

Just now.

The three people and three horses stood there, and that swarthy old man moved another stool over, sitting to the side to watch the excitement.

"Young man, they are all watching you lot make a fool of yourselves!"

The corners of Liu Zheng's mouth twitched.

Could it be that you are the one watching most intently?