In the lobby of the mansion, Pingxi County Magistrate Ye Tiancheng was sitting at the first seat in the lobby with an icy face. Several officials from Pingxi City were standing below with their heads down, trembling. Many officials had cold sweat on their foreheads. The son of the county magistrate was killed outside the door of this mansion today. Many people were nervous, wondering what kind of thunder and fire was brewing in the county magistrate's heart...
"That Yan Liqiang is from Liuhe Town, Qinghe County. He is currently a student at Pingxi County National Martial Arts Institute. It seems... it seems that he is also a personal soldier of the governor..." The reporting official lowered his head and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he spoke.
"How could such a vicious person enter Pingxi County Martial Arts Hall and be accepted as a personal soldier by Huangfu Qianqi?"
"I heard... I heard that Yan Liqiang was ranked first among the top three in this year's Qinghe County National Martial Arts Examination..."
"No wonder!" The county magistrate's eyes flickered, "How is Yan Liqiang's family situation? Does he have other blood relatives and brothers?"
"Yan Liqiang and Yan Dechang are the only two people in his family. There are no other blood relatives or brothers, and I have never heard of any relatives..."
The county magistrate's expression eased a little. "Yan Liqiang and Yan Dechang have committed heinous crimes. Now that they have been executed, all their family assets should be confiscated and returned to the public..."
"yes… "
"It is really a pity that such a tragedy happened in Pingxi City. We should do more to comfort the families of the two women who were killed by Yan Liqiang today, as well as the family of Wang Haofei from Huanglong County who was killed for his bravery. We can take some of the assets confiscated from Yan Liqiang's family as compensation..."
"Your Excellency, please have mercy..."
"Pingxi County National Martial Arts Museum is not a place where filth and corruption can be hidden. Let the Criminal Investigation Office go to the National Martial Arts Museum to investigate whether there are any people with bad conduct who have colluded with Yan Liqiang and sneaked into the National Martial Arts Museum. If there are any, let the National Martial Arts Museum expel them and never hire them again..."
"yes… "
"Tonight's events have caused a lot of discussion and have stirred up a lot of people's minds. Before the sun rises tomorrow morning, I want to see public notices posted everywhere in Pingxi City to reassure the public..."
"yes… "
…
As the county magistrate issued orders one by one, the officials followed his orders one by one, hurriedly left the hall, and began to mobilize the state machinery in Pingxi City to deal with various aftermath matters.
After finishing all the official business, the county magistrate left the lobby and slowly came to a yard behind the mansion.
Seeing the arrival of the county magistrate, all the servants and guards in the yard lowered their heads and retreated, not daring to breathe.
There was a room in the yard. The room had been cleaned up. Several white candles were lit in the room. There was a long table in the middle of the room. Ye Xiao was lying on the table with a white cloth covering his body.
Ye Xiao’s master, the man in black, was also here. His injured right hand had been bandaged, but there was still a trace of resentment and unwillingness on his face.
Ye Tiancheng came into the room, lifted the white cloth, and glanced at Ye Xiao who was covered under the cloth.
Ye Xiao's body, pale and stiff, had been cleaned up by the city's Criminal Investigation Office in the shortest possible time. Even the wounds on his neck and chest, as well as the two missing ears, had been sutured and coated with a layer of powder, making them almost invisible.
Because Ye Xiao could not close his eyes, two copper coins tied with red strings were pressed on his eyes.
“From the time you were three months old until now, I have raised you as my son for more than twenty years. During these years, you have enjoyed enough of wealth, fine clothes, delicious food, beautiful women and money. An ordinary person may not be able to enjoy as much as you have in these twenty years even if he lives three lifetimes. You don’t have to feel depressed if you die today. If you don’t die today and Yan Liqiang gets away, this mess will be even bigger, and I may not be able to cover it up. So, don’t blame me for not saving you. Just consider it as paying back a debt…” Ye Tiancheng’s face did not show any sadness, and there was not a single tear in his eyes. He looked at Ye Xiao’s body calmly and spoke softly in a tone that was definitely not that of a father. After he finished speaking, he gently covered the body with the white cloth.
"This stand-in is a waste. With such good conditions, he couldn't even advance to a warrior in these years. He can't even play with a few women properly, and he has caused so many troubles..." said the man in black next to him angrily.
"Mo Leng, it seems that you can only practice left-handed sword in the future..." Ye Tiancheng glanced at the man in black, "You should leave Pingxi City tomorrow and find a place to recuperate. When your injury is healed, change your identity and go find Xiao'er. The last time Xiao'er wrote to me, he was in the Sword God Sect and had advanced to the Dragon Tiger Warrior. He was able to enter the inner sect to practice, and was also favored by an elder of the Sword God Sect. He has a bright future..."
"Yes!" The man in black lowered his eyes, "If you return after completing your studies, this identity..."
"The world is about to change greatly. Let's talk about the future in the future. Maybe by then, we won't need to cover up anything anymore, and the whole Ganzhou will be ours..." A gleam of light flashed in the county magistrate's eyes.
"Um!"
"Let Zhao Songming come in..."
As soon as the leader of the mansion's guards entered the room, he knelt at the door, sweating all over and not daring to raise his head.
The county magistrate looked at him coldly without saying a word. Suddenly, he stretched out a finger and pointed it. A red flame turned into a fire snake, which flew out from the tip of the county magistrate's finger and instantly penetrated into the body of the guard leader from the top of his head. The guard leader who was kneeling on the ground just screamed and fell to the ground. Fire began to come out of his body, and his hair and clothes began to burn. In just a moment, he turned into a burnt corpse. The whole room was filled with a bad smell.
Afterwards, the county magistrate and the man in black left the room one after another, and the charred body was also cleaned up by someone else...
But no one knew that Yan Liqiang was also in this room.
Just now, Yan Liqiang had been following the governor of Pingxi County from the lobby to here, and witnessed everything with his own eyes.
Yan Liqiang finally understood why the county magistrate did not care about the life and death of his "son". It turned out that Ye Xiao was just a substitute kept by the county magistrate. The county magistrate's real son was practicing in the Sword God Sect under another identity.
The Sword God Sect is one of the four major sects of the Han Empire and is famous throughout the world.
Just like what Yan Liqiang had seen in his previous life, with regard to the public and the entire system's concern and sensitivity about the nationality of officials' children, in this world, officials, especially those at a certain level, have children who practice in certain sects, carry the imprint of certain sects, and have relationships with certain sects. This is also a sensitive matter for many people, because it means taking a certain stance. This is perhaps the reason why the prefect of Pingxi County went to such great lengths to find a substitute for his son to stay by his side.
The county magistrate of Pingxi County had found a substitute for his son since the day he had a son. Even this substitute didn't know that he was someone else's substitute. Such a scheme was really terrible. What Yan Liqiang didn't expect was the strength of the county magistrate of Pingxi County. The power of the county magistrate's finger just now really shocked Yan Liqiang. He didn't know how high the county magistrate's realm was now, but there was no doubt that this county magistrate was more powerful than the black-clothed man named Mo Leng...
There was no one in the room. Yan Liqiang stayed in the room for a while, and then he passed through the wall of the room like an invisible ghost, came to the street outside, and then flew towards the Criminal Investigation Office.
…
Sure enough, early the next morning, notices from the Criminal Investigation Office had been posted all over Pingxi City.
In the notice, Yan Liqiang and Yan Dechang became evil criminals who kidnapped good girls in Pingxi City, while Ye Xiao and Wang Haofei became good young men who were brave enough to do what was right. They found that Yan Liqiang's whereabouts were strange, so they joined forces to rescue the women kidnapped by Yan Liqiang, and took the three of them to Ye Xiao's residence. They were about to report to the police, but Yan Liqiang was strong, vicious and cunning. He took the opportunity to escape control at Ye Xiao's residence, killed the two girls and Wang Haofei he kidnapped, kidnapped Ye Xiao, and killed and injured several guards in the mansion. He wanted to escape, but was finally intercepted on the street outside Ye Xiao's residence. The father and son of the Yan family resisted stubbornly and were finally ordered to be killed on the spot by the upright county magistrate. Ye Xiao was also killed by Yan Liqiang before his death. The county magistrate lost his beloved son in order to protect the law of the country and eliminate evil...
As soon as the notice was issued, the entire Pingxi City was shaken. Countless people praised the county governor for loving the people like his own children and being upright and incorruptible. Yan Liqiang and Yan Dechang became the objects of scorn and were cursed by countless people...
Shi Dafeng, who was studying at Pingxi County Martial Arts Hall, was expelled from school the next day because he was close to Yan Liqiang.
…
When the news reached Qinghe County and Liuhe Town, Liu the butcher and his son became arrogant again.
"I've said before that the Yan family father and son are not good people, especially Yan Liqiang. Look at him, what a bullshit top three, he has some ability but he doesn't use it in the right way. It turns out that he is a wicked person, doing all kinds of bad things such as murder and arson. He has been unsociable since he was a child. This is retribution. Fortunately, they were exposed in Pingxi City this time. If they didn't get into trouble this time, Liuhe Town would be in trouble in the future..." Liu the butcher stood in front of his pork stall, and when someone came to buy meat, he repeated the above words...
…
While the entire Pingxi City was holding a mourning ceremony for the son of the county magistrate who had bravely done something righteous, Qian Su and Zhou Tiezhu, who came to claim the bodies of Yan Liqiang and Yan Dechang, were being harassed in the morgue of the Criminal Investigation Office. In the end, it was Qian Su who spent money, found people, and said good words to get the bodies of the two people out and found a place outside Pingxi City to quietly burn them...
…
A few days later, in a dense forest on Baizhang Mountain in Qinghe County, Yan Liqiang watched Qian Su and Zhou Tiezhu quietly bury his and Yan Dechang's ashes under two pine trees.
"This is the only way. If you are buried here, you can still have peace. If you are buried in Liuhe Town, the families of the two victims in Pingxi City might dig up your graves at any time..." Qian Su spoke to the two urns and couldn't help but shed tears.
As a grown man, Zhou Tiezhu burst into tears at this time.
…
"Take it and burn it..." In Lujia Village, Huanglong County, Mr. Lu looked at the portrait of Guo Shanfeng that Yan Liqiang had left on the wooden board with a gloomy expression. Finally, he sighed and handed the portrait to Lu Peien, "How is the Yan family doing now?"
When Lu Peien had someone bring this portrait left by Yan Liqiang, Mr. Lu regarded it as a rare treasure at first sight and carefully kept it. Now, Mr. Lu had no choice but to take it out and burn it. He dared not keep it any longer for fear of causing trouble.
"Qian Su has already buried the ashes of both of them, and the land and houses of the Yan family have also been confiscated. Only an old woman named Wu Ma is left. I have asked someone to arrange for her to be sent to Baoen Temple..." Lu Peien replied.
"Well, it's a token of my appreciation!" Mr. Lu sighed toward the sky.
…
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(End of this chapter)