Chapter 225: A Single Visiting Card

This trip out of the city was meant to show strength. Over at Qi Family Village, they ran into Qi One-Eye mediating. What was supposed to be bloodshed turned into a martial contest at the banquet. Coming here to demand an accounting, they never expected to find their own people. Since they were Xiaolan's personal followers, Zhao Jin simply took them under his own name. With no reason to stay, Zhao Jin brought the Zheng couple straight back to the city.

They had come with pent-up momentum, but their clenched fists struck only cotton. Everyone felt uncomfortable. The journey back was gloomy and silent, until Ji Xiang spoke up: "It makes sense. With your prestige, Big Brother, no one inside or outside the city dares to make trouble. Qi Erkui didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth, but the Zheng side couldn't produce anything."

Zhao Jin smiled. He wore only his breastplate; the rest of his armor had been removed and placed on the cart. As he walked, he asked, "You followed the Mu family for so long, and they never made any arrangements for you?"

This question was directed at Zheng Quan. Zheng Quan pulled the robe wrapped around him tighter and said in a hoarse voice, "Master Mu never had much influence at the main altar to begin with. The Wang family people hide behind the scenes. Now the Xu family is the strongest. They could have originally opened up a situation in Xuzhou, and the Mu family was starting to rise, but..."

At this point, he couldn't help but start crying again. Although Zhao Jin didn't know exactly who these Mu, Wang, and Xu families were, he understood the meaning of these words — it was nothing more than factional infighting within the Smelling Incense Sect.

The detour from Qi Family Village to Maocun Market was not short, but entering the city from Maocun Market was not far. After walking a while longer, the city walls were already before their eyes.

"Are you familiar with the Smelling Incense Sect?" Zhao Jin suddenly asked.

The Zheng couple exchanged a glance. Zheng Quan answered, "This humble one has believed in the faith for nearly twenty years, and Master Mu taught us with all his heart. Across the one prefecture and four counties of Xuzhou, this humble one knows them all well."

Zhao Jin nodded and said as he walked, "In that case, you'll take charge of the Smelling Incense Sect's affairs here in Xuzhou for now."

Hearing this, the Zheng couple was momentarily stunned. They felt Zhao Jin had no standing to say such a thing. Zhao Jin continued speaking as if to himself, "I can't be bothered to meddle much in these matters, but don't you hide anything from me either."

This was essentially declaring his intent to control the Xuzhou Smelling Incense Sect. The Zheng couple was even more afraid to respond. Liu Yong, seeing their apprehension, smiled and explained, "When my big brother speaks, the people in your sect dare not disobey."

The Zheng couple's mouths fell open. The implications of those words were enormous. They had essentially been under house arrest for the past year, knowing almost nothing of outside news. Yet they also knew Zhao Jin was not the type to make empty boasts or false claims. Zheng Quan's eyes flickered, his expression hesitant. It was his wife who said quietly, "We've been sincere all these years — what good has it brought us?"

The torment of the past year and more had been all too real, and their children were still in others' hands. Hearing this, Zheng Quan gritted his teeth and said, "This humble man will follow every order of Young Master Jin."

Zhao Jin smiled and nodded. This trip out of the city had not been without gains.

When entering the city gate, the soldiers on guard did not question them, merely exchanging a few polite words. Their side answered by the book: "Escorting goods back." They also slipped a string of copper coins to the squad leader at the gate.

Though a small matter, Zhao Jin had instructed everyone beforehand to always answer "escorting goods." After all, two hundred household troops were stationed inside the city. A force like that, fully armed and moving in and out, needed a plausible excuse to save face — otherwise, it would easily give others a handle against them.

Back inside the city, they first went to the goods yard to dismiss the unit, giving the household troops who had traveled for two days a half-day's leave. Then Zhao Jin led some men to the prison. Zhao Jin had far too many connections within the magistrate's yamen, making things very convenient.

Although the Zheng children were already classified as serious criminals, a simple word was all it took to release them directly. The jailer understood perfectly. He didn't declare them innocent but instead reported them dead from sudden illness. This way, the matter was completely cleaned up, with no loose ends for anyone to investigate.

The son was thirteen, the daughter eleven. Having lived well in recent years, they looked like children from a wealthy family. They hadn't suffered much in the He household, only doing chores in the woodshed in the rear courtyard. It was in prison that they had truly endured hardship.

Emerging from that place of eternal darkness, they were naturally overwhelmed with shock and joy. But before Zhao Jin, these two children could barely speak coherently. Though called children, they were only three or four years younger than Zhao Jin. But they had witnessed Zhao Jin's fearsome authority in the prison that day — in the course of conversation, several men had been hung from the beams and strangled to death.

On the way back from the prison to the goods yard, the elder brother kept shielding his younger sister, fearful of what Zhao Jin and his men might do. This gave Zhao Jin a rather good impression of the young siblings.

Only upon seeing their parents did the Zheng children understand. Naturally, the whole family embraced and wept. The Zheng couple was very weak, and at least three of Zheng Quan's toes would surely be lost. A physician had already been summoned to examine them and prescribe medicine. It seemed they would need a good long while to recover.

"Kowtow to Young Master Jin! Thank the master for his great kindness!" With the family reunited, Zheng Quan was endlessly grateful. The Zheng siblings were still very frightened, but they obediently kowtowed to Zhao Jin. Only then did Zhao Jin learn that the elder brother was named Zheng Bin and the younger sister Zheng Shu — names no common marketplace folk could have come up with. Curious, he asked and found out that Mr. Mu had changed their names.

After settling these matters, Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng went home together. Although the family didn't worry, staying away from home for two days was still not acceptable; they had to go back and show their faces.

Chen Sheng was taciturn before outsiders, but he would say a few words around Zhao Jin. As the two walked out of the goods yard area, he said, "This can't go on forever. The household troops train every day but never get a chance to fight. This trip out of the city was still just training. Without seeing real action, I'm afraid when we actually face something, there'll be big trouble."

"Before, I thought training these men was hard-won and we should use them carefully. Now I see we've been too cautious. But this many men isn't enough — losing even one is a problem. I still need to recruit more!" Zhao Jin answered. He had long since made up his mind.

Chen Sheng nodded. When they neared the residence, Chen Sheng glanced at the intersection and spoke again: "Scholars have complicated minds. Wang Zhaojing suddenly doesn't want to come around anymore — it's not because his studies are pressing."

After spending so long together, even slight changes were conspicuous. Zhao Jin of course understood Chen Sheng's meaning. He smiled and said, "Zhaojing wasn't lying. This year he really does have the provincial exam. That's a matter of a lifetime for him."

"His heart has changed. I heard my grandfather say that when you've killed too many and seen too much blood, your nature changes. Some endure it; some grow afraid. Wang Zhaojing grew up in a fine family — of course he can't bear to lose himself." These words had clearly been bottled up inside Chen Sheng for a long time.

In truth, Zhao Jin's view was the same as Chen Sheng's. But they were all brothers, and he still had to smooth things over. Zhao Jin laughed dryly and said, "When it was life and death in bloody battle, he never fell behind. That's enough."

Hearing this, Chen Sheng fell silent as well. The two walked on a while longer before Chen Sheng suddenly spoke: "Dalei has the same problem."

Neither had anything to say. By now the sun had set, and Zhao Jin's home was not far. After a few more steps, they heard the sound of running footsteps ahead. A person came rushing over hurriedly. Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng instinctively widened the distance between them, each readying to strike.

The runner stopped abruptly when he reached them. Zhao Jin recognized the man — it was one of his own household troops, who should have been on duty at home. Seeing him running so anxiously, could something have happened at home?

"Master, someone delivered a card to the house. Her Ladyship sent this humble one to find you, Master." Calling Zhao Jin "Master" made Zhao Zhentang naturally "the Old Master" and He Cuihua "Her Ladyship." But this form of address was neither fish nor fowl, and Zhao Jin found it awkward every time he heard it.

But this was not the time to dwell on that. Zhao Jin knew his mother He Cuihua's temperament — if she could bear something herself, she would never tell anyone. For her to actually send for him, something was definitely off.

Zhao Jin's heart tightened with worry. He and Chen Sheng ran straight back. When they reached the gate, they found nothing amiss. Only a man dressed like a shop assistant was being watched by two household troops, cowering against the wall in terror. Zhao Jin glanced at him, pushed open the door, and entered the courtyard. Chen Sheng followed him in.

"... delivered a visiting card to our home, saying to invite you to Cloud Mountain Tower. It was sent from Tonghui Inn. Mother felt something was wrong, so she had someone call you back..." He Cuihua was fine. She directly handed Zhao Jin a visiting card.

It was indeed strange. For one thing, no one had ever sent a visiting card to their home before. Even if such a thing were to happen, it should have been delivered to the goods yard or the distillery. Sending it directly to the house was peculiar.

Zhao Jin took the visiting card, skipped past the useless formalities, and saw the key point: "Fu Chuchuan, Junior Steward of Paoshui Estate, Humbly Requests an Audience." After reading the card, Zhao Jin thought for a moment before it clicked — this "Paoshui Estate" referred to Paoheyan. To sound refined and pleasant to outsiders, "Paohe" had become "Paoshui."

"Kong Tiger sent someone to deliver a card." Zhao Jin shook the visiting card and said. The great magnate of Paoheyan was Kong Jiuying. He Weiyuan was his in-law.

Zhao Jin had slaughtered and wiped out the estate. The news traveled there, and now the response had come back. Calculating the days, it was about right. But Kong Jiuying was a great magnate, and Zhao Jin was also quite formidable now. Moreover, the two places were separated by two counties, making it very inconvenient to reach out. A visit to talk things over first was always best.

But the significance of this visiting card went beyond that. The man had come to Xuzhou territory, yet instead of delivering the card to places of business like the goods yard or the distillery, he had sent it directly to the home. The act itself carried a hint of threat — I even know where your family lives, so let's both exercise some discretion.

Zhao Jin was famous throughout Xuzhou city, but not everyone knew where the Zhao family lived. That Kong Jiuying's representative could deliver the card here was also a way of showing off their own influence.

"Here in Xuzhou, inside the city itself, and they dare to be this brazen." Zhao Jin laughed coldly. Beside him, Chen Sheng also sneered.

Before Zhao Jin could act, He Cuihua furrowed her brow and asked, "Xiao Jin, you can read the characters on this visiting card? When did you learn?"