The burly man was momentarily stunned, a trace of surprise in his gaze at Gu Zhan, then said, "Oh, my lord, are you planning to act as a champion of the people?"
Gu Zhan was about to speak when Chen Fei pulled him aside, hurriedly putting on an ingratiating smile at the burly man, "Ah, Master Liu, it's a misunderstanding. This is our newly arrived Small Banner, Lord Gu Zhan. He just took office and isn't familiar with our local rules yet. Please be tolerant of any offense!"
The burly man snorted coldly, "If he doesn't know the rules, he'd better learn. Got no hair on his lips but already wants to throw his weight around as an official? Captain Chen, you'd better teach this Lord how things work around here!"
"Yes, yes!"
Chen Fei kept his smile as he quickly pulled Gu Zhan to the side, not caring about the civilians' veiled, contemptuous glances, and whispered, "Sir, we can't afford to mess with these people."
Gu Zhan frowned, "The Great Xia Court hasn't collapsed yet, and the dignified Embroidered Uniform Guard still has to put up with a bunch of street thugs taking a shit on our heads? What kind of outfit is this Celestial Water Gang, that even the Embroidered Uniform Guard can't provoke them?"
Chen Fei sighed, "My lord, it's not the Embroidered Uniform Guard who can't touch them—it's us! If this were any ordinary gang, we'd smash them whenever we wanted and arrest whoever we pleased."
As he spoke, Chen Fei pointed at the burly man, "But that one there is no common hoodlum. He's Liu Hong, the Hall Master of the Celestial Water Gang,
and the Celestial Water Gang isn't simple—they're the number one gang in South City. They've got over a thousand swordsmen. Besides, think about it: to have that much power in the city, could their official connections possibly be weak? They've got the manpower and the backing—how are we supposed to mess with them?"
Gu Zhan's heart tightened.
The Celestial Water Gang really did sound scary.
Swordsmen was a term for official gang members who had their names on the rolls, sworn in at the hall. If they had over a thousand, that meant at least several thousand, even tens of thousands, depended on the Celestial Water Gang to make a living.
If they'd gotten that big, there was no way their official connections weren't impressive.
"Sir, let's just go!" Chen Fei whispered. "If I'm not wrong, the Celestial Water Gang wants to expand the market here. You know, Mud Bottle Lane is right next to Pingle Square, and Pingle Square is their turf. Now they want the lane for their expansion."
Gu Zhan understood. This was clearly a forced eviction.
In fact, Gu Zhan wasn't far off.
The Celestial Water Gang really did want to expand the market and had set their sights on Mud Bottle Lane.
But they'd run into resistance from the locals. All those cases of poisoned poultry in Mud Bottle Lane? That was the gang's handiwork, meant to pressure the people into agreeing to move.
Until now, Cao Feng had been in charge of the matter. The Celestial Water Gang put in a word, and of course Cao Feng dared not go against them—he just called it a poultry epidemic and, to calm things down, arrested a few of the main resisters.
But these civilians in Mud Bottle Lane were all born and raised here, and now the Celestial Water Gang wanted them to move with barely any relocation compensation, no intention of letting them survive.
So, even though they knew the government office would do nothing,
the common people of Mud Bottle Lane still organized themselves to resist the Celestial Water Gang. The main leaders were the three Jin brothers.
Then, the three Jin brothers ended up dead.
That's why that widow from the Jin family didn't believe Gu Zhan was there to investigate the truth—because everyone knew the three Jin brothers were killed by the Celestial Water Gang. The gang didn't even bother to hide it. There was evidence everywhere.
Even if Gu Zhan didn't know all the details right now,
he could still guess how things had played out.
Looking at the people in the Jin family's courtyard, and the widows and orphans full of despair,
Gu Zhan couldn't help but sigh inwardly,
What a damned world; there's just nowhere for people to live.
Hell, even people with official rank, like his predecessor, ended up getting themselves killed. What chance did these common folk have in times like this? What kind of life could they hope for?
Knowing that he truly couldn't provoke the Celestial Water Gang for now, he turned to leave.
But just then, that burly Liu Hong suddenly called out, "Gentlemen, you've come all this way—surely you're not leaving empty handed?"
Chen Fei quickly asked, "Master Liu, is there something else?"
Liu Hong pointed at the civilians in the yard, "Sirs, there are many ruffians here who owe us debts and won't pay. We've come collecting many times to no avail—so we'll have to ask our good sirs to do us justice!"
Gu Zhan's face darkened, "And what exactly do you want?"
Liu Hong gave a kick to the young woman in mourning clothes, "I'll be blunt—since you officials are here, I made sure to come and invite you to deliver justice. These ruffians refuse to pay their debts. Isn't it your duty as officials to arrest them?"
Chen Fei whispered from the side, "Master Liu, this isn't how the rules go. Whatever the Celestial Water Gang wants is none of our business, but the Embroidered Uniform Guard isn't here to work for you. Why should we get our hands dirty for you?"
Liu Hong chuckled, "Not doing your job after taking payment—seems you're the ones breaking the rules."
Chen Fei frowned, "When did we take your Celestial Water Gang's money?"
Liu Hong looked at Gu Zhan, "Not you, it was Cao Feng. But he didn't get the job done—thanks to Lord Gu here killing him. So tell me, Lord Gu, whose fault is that?"
Gu Zhan narrowed his eyes slightly, his voice cold, "I get it now—you came here today for me, right? What, come to avenge Cao Feng?"
"You jest, Lord Gu," Liu Hong said, "How you Embroidered Uniform Guards sort out your own mess isn't my concern. But my eight hundred taels of silver can't just vanish, now can they? Cao Feng gave his word he'd handle things, but then you killed him. So what am I supposed to do?"
"Sounds like you just had bad luck," Gu Zhan replied coldly. "Do I need to check with the Celestial Water Gang before killing someone to see if they're in your pocket? I never took your money, so why would I do your dirty work?"
"None of that matters to me," Liu Hong said coldly. "All I know is my money left my hands and you screwed up what should've been a done deal. I'm not letting that silver go to waste. So you'll just have to finish what Cao Feng started. If you plan to stay in Linjiang City, you'd better not let my eight hundred taels go down the drain."
Gu Zhan's frown deepened, "Are you threatening me?"
"Take it that way if you wish," Liu Hong replied. "Or, you can pay me back instead. With interest, that's one thousand taels. What do you say, Lord Gu?"
Gu Zhan smiled faintly, "I think that sounds fair."
"Hm?" Liu Hong was caught off guard.
"I'll take you to Cao Feng—to get your money back!"
In that instant, with a ringing "clang",
Gu Zhan suddenly drew his saber,
a flash of white light swept by, and Horizontal Saber slashed straight for Liu Hong's neck.