Zheng Family.
In the smallest courtyard on the far west, the lights in the main hall were still shining brightly.
Family head Zheng Hong sat on a Taishi Chair, with a young consort carefully massaging his shoulders from behind, another one kneading his legs in front, and a third standing by, holding a teapot ready to serve at any mont.
Zheng Hong closed his eyes and enjoyed the service of the three consorts. After a while, he opened his eyes to look outside.
"Why haven't they arrived yet?"
He furrowed his brows slightly.
The reason he hadn't gone to bed so late was naturally to wait for the batch of goods being escorted.
The Zheng family's thod of smuggling dicinal herbs wasn't particularly clever; they had people go to the rural areas outside the city to purchase during the day, then gathered the items bit by bit at the edge of the Outer City in 'Zawu District.' That area was the most chaotic place in the entire South City District, close to City West, and had almost beco a battleground for gang factions that fought endlessly every day.
The sporadic herbs would go through a round of transactions there, and as a result, their origins were essentially obscured. Then, these goods would be collected together, transported every so often from Zawu District back to Wutong Grove District. The two locations were rely a dozen miles apart, not too far by any ans.
If there hadn't been any trouble on the way, they should have arrived by now.
Just as Zheng Hong was frowning and pondering, a sudden knock on the door was heard, followed by the entry of a house servant.
"Master, there seems to be so commotion on the western side."
The house servant reported with a hint of hesitation.
Upon hearing this, Zheng Hong sat up straight and looked over, speaking in a deep voice, "What's going on?"
"Soone has already gone to check. It seems like a fight has broken out, and the noise is not small,"
the house servant responded cautiously.
After hearing the report, Zheng Hong's gaze sharpened, he then calculated with his fingers, and thought that the carriage convoy escorted by Zheng Fu and the others should have already returned to Wutong Grove by this ti if they had encountered no trouble.
Normally, once they reached Wutong Grove, they were basically safe; the various gangs would all show so respect to the Zheng family. Even if they happened to co across mbers of the Black Water Gang, the Black Water Gang would most likely not want to clash directly with the Zheng family, and a bit of Silver could be enough to resolve the issue.
Wait a minute...
Suddenly, Zheng Hong's face changed.
In Wutong Grove, there was another group of people that could easily overpower Zheng Fu and the others—governnt officers from the City Defense Division!
And when he thought about the military drills and the pomp and ceremony the City Defense Division had been displaying these past days, it occurred to him that it might not have been the new Prefecture Chief rely showing off but rather a deliberate act, secretly moving and positioning troopes...
With that thought.
Zheng Hong abruptly stood up, and a cold glint flashed through his eyes as he said, "Very well, I've underestimated you. Coming to Wutong Grove for just a few days, yet you dare make a move against my Zheng family."
In an instant, the atmosphere within the room turned icy cold. The consorts all trembled and dared not speak, and the house servant also stood by sowhat frightened and careful.
Yet Zheng Hong paid them no attention and walked straight out the door, pushing it open with a bang.
As he left the courtyard and made his way to the main hall, another house servant rushed over and reported, "Master, two groups have started fighting in the west, one of them appears to be governnt officers, and the other seems to be Uncle Fu and his group."
"I know,"
Zheng Hong replied with a cold face, saying, "Quickly summon our n."
It wasn't too far from there; if the fight had started not long ago, there was still a chance to get there now. Even if they couldn't save Zheng Fu and the others, there was still a chance to seize back the carriage and the goods. In any case, they could not let them fall into the hands of the City Defense Division so easily.
Since Chen Mu wanted to clash with his Zheng family, then let's give it a try. Zheng Hong had never regarded the City Defense Division of Wutong Grove as anything significant!
The Zheng family moved swiftly.
In just a mont, lights were lit in several courtyards, and nurous house servants gathered, each brandishing clubs, sticks, and blades. In addition, more than twenty Protectors, martial masters, hurried over.
"That bastard Chen Mu is asking for it, daring to sabotage our goods. Does he think he can do whatever he pleases just because he's a Prefecture Chief? Tonight, I'm going to twist his head off!"
With a nacing blade in hand, Zheng Yong hurried to the front courtyard and barked at Zheng Hong.
Snapping at him, Zheng Hong said, "Nonsense... Rember this, soone audaciously impersonated a governnt officer, committing theft under the cover of night. Our Zheng family is out to exterminate bandits!"
Even if the Zheng family was arrogant, they couldn't openly attack a Prefecture Chief. If they went too far and provoked Xu Hongyu's wrath against the Zheng family, even the backers of the Zheng family would find it difficult to intervene.
In any case, Chen Mu could not be killed, but everyone else was insignificant. If they could wipe out most of the elites from the City Defense Division, they could simply claim a misunderstanding tomorrow. After all, the City Defense Division had not notified anyone of their large-scale operation tonight; it would be a matter of quibbling at most.
"Right, right, right, soone impersonated a governnt officer and committed theft, and I'm going to exterminate these bandits,"
Zheng Yong's eyes lit up when he heard Zheng Hong's words, and he chuckled sinisterly.
Looking over the gathering forces in the courtyard and seeing that most of the Protectors were there along with hundreds of house servants, Zheng Hong decided not to wait any longer and waved his hand, commanding, "Let's go!"
Hundreds of house servants imdiately followed a crowd of Protectors, surging out of the main gate. As they left, they extinguished their torches, leaving only a nacing silhouette barely visible under the dim moonlight.
They had only gone halfway down the road.
Zheng Hong suddenly narrowed his eyes and gestured, prompting Zheng Yong and others behind him to stop.
In the distance, at the end of the alleyways, one could see, in the faint moonlight, another dark mass of figures approaching from the opposite direction. As they got closer, the dim moonlight faintly revealed their uniford attire.
The two groups faced each other head-on in the street!
"Now that they've arrived, Zheng Fu and the others must be dead. But why would these officers take this route..."
Zheng Hong's gaze darkened. His mind raced. This route did not lead to the City Defense Division; it led to the Zheng family. Clearly, the other side had a formidable number of n—hundreds, just like his own.
This ant that the City Defense Division intended to capture not only Zheng Fu and his n tonight but also had intentions against the Zheng family!
"Very well, very well,"
A murderous flash crossed Zheng Hong's eyes. He really hadn't expected Chen Mu, a young and newly appointed Prefecture Chief, to deploy such a cunning strategy and take such swift and formidable action. He did nothing until he moved—and when he did, he targeted the entire Zheng family.
Such boldness was indeed underestimated. Had he known earlier, perhaps he shouldn't have been the first to try to teach Chen Mu a lesson. But in order to obtain the Tendon Changing Pills from the Inner City, the Zheng family had no choice but to be his pawn.
"Halt! Who goes there!"
Under the dim moonlight, Shang Qinglai, leading in front, confronted the Zheng group with his blade and loudly demanded.
Narrowing his eyes, Zheng Hong replied with a cold tone, "How dare you masquerade as governnt officers and commit theft at night? You've got so nerve, but you won't make it through Wutong Grove District alive!"
With an order,
The impatient Zheng Yong sneered, brandishing his steel blade as he lunged forward, swiftly approaching Shang Qinglai. He brought his blade down with a force like splitting mountains.
Shang Qinglai's expression shifted slightly as he cried out, "Impudence! Dare to assault a governnt officer? Is the Zheng family looking to rebel?"
Clang!
He raised his Servant's Knife to intercept Zheng Yong's blade. As the blades collided, he felt a massive force hit him, and he was imdiately pushed back more than a dozen steps, his palms split open, arms numb, and his heart shocked.
He recognized Zheng Yong of the Zheng family, notorious for his ferocity. He had also witnessed Zheng Yong in combat before, but back then, Zheng Yong had only achieved Major Achievent in Body Refinent. Now, the montum of this blade was nearly unstoppable, which likely ant he had reached Body Refinent Perfection.
In the Outer City, it was rare to encounter individuals at the Tendon Changing Realm. Those who managed to cultivate the Body Tempering thod to Body Refinent Perfection and also mastered a Perfection level Blade Technique, gaining control over Blade Montum, were the cream of the crop among the many Martial n—a select few at the very top.
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