The ring of constables left the entire Ascend to Immortal Sect thoroughly baffled.

This was clearly a dispute over territory between the Ascend to Immortal Sect and the Pure Gate — so why were only they being surrounded, while the Pure Gate on the other side was being left entirely alone?

Su Yiyun jabbed a finger at Hua Yitang. “I quite clearly recall — quite clearly — that you were posted to Qingzhou by the Ministry of Personnel, assigned to some ninth-tier, below-the-register county constable position. How can it be that in only a few short months, you’ve become Judicial Military Adjutant of Yidu?!”

Hua Yitang did not spare Su Yiyun so much as a glance. He fixed a cold stare on Ximen Yang. “You’re the Ascend to Immortal Sect Master, Ximen Yang?”

Ximen Yang, fighting through intense pain, stepped forward. “This Adjutant Hua must be new and unfamiliar with local customs. As the saying goes in the rivers and lakes: what begins among river-and-lake folk stays among river-and-lake folk. Government offices have never inserted themselves into matters between our Ascend to Immortal Sect and the Pure Gate.”

Hua Yitang raised an eyebrow. “Oh? You say the Pure Gate — where exactly is that? This official sees nothing of the sort.”

What kind of absurd official was this, standing there shamelessly denying what was right before his eyes?!

Ximen Yang: “The Pure Gate is right behind you—”

The second half of the sentence would not come out. Because Ximen Yang saw — he actually saw — the entire Pure Gate group, who had been trading blows with them moments ago in a brawl of full chaos, abruptly change their expressions and collapse to the ground in wailing heaps.

“Oh dear, oh dear oh dear — what kind of injustice is this?” The young man with the bamboo steamer was weeping rivers, his face soaked with tears. Ximen Yang had a clear memory of this individual using said steamer to beat an Ascend to Immortal Sect disciple half to death. “I got up before dawn and steamed buns all morning, and bandits came and flipped everything over!”

The foreign uncle with the iron ladle was crying in the drawn-out melodic cadences of a foreign string instrument: “I traveled ten thousand li from my homeland to sell bread in the Tang nation~ just trying to put food on the table~ I didn’t check the almanac before going out today~ all my good flour~ thrown all over the ground like that~ those were days’ worth of bread~~~”

The Ascend to Immortal Sect disciple with flour caked over his eyes and iron ladle imprints on his face: “……”

The young tea-shop apprentice carrying a steaming tea kettle was crying so hard strings of snot bubbles were flying out. “My tea! That took me more than an hour to brew! They came charging in and knocked it over without so much as a by-your-leave, wuwuwuwu, that was good tea, that was, half a month’s wages, wuwuwu—”

The Ascend to Immortal Sect disciple covered in boiling-water blisters from head to toe: “……”

The most masterful performance of all came from the branch hall’s four elders. Gan Hongying, Gao Han, and Bai Shan — who had been the most enthusiastic fighters of the bunch — crouched low and melted into the crowd. Their concealment technique was flawless; they had zero presence whatsoever. They had transformed instantly into anonymous bystanders. Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise followed their lead and crouched down as well.

Great Elder Dongmen Wen lay sprawled on the ground, one leg stuck out at a rigid angle, his white hair splayed out like a dandelion in seed, tears streaming from aged eyes. “I was just out for a stroll — how did I end up running into criminals?! This leg of mine is done for—”

Second Elder Shen Xiang pulled at her apron to dab her eyes. “We’re honest, ordinary folk — old parents above, young children below — this little business is all we have to keep the family fed. These people come every day to make trouble, demanding money, and if we don’t pay, they won’t let us set up our stalls in the night market. We’re small traders — we work from morning to night and barely earn anything — if we gave it all to them, we’d starve!”

Great Elder: “Wuwuwu, heavens, these criminal thugs — may they never come to a good end!”

Second Elder: “Yingying, they’re driving us to our deaths, yingying.”

Jin Ruo gave a quiet inward thumbs-up: The Yidu Pure Gate really does have its special talents!

Lin Sui’an could only stare, wide-eyed: Hey, hey, hey — isn’t this a bit too much?

But this wailing from the Pure Gate disciples seemed to flip some kind of switch — the real onlooking citizens who had been hovering in corners and alleyways began tentatively emerging, more and more of them, filling in until the entire long street was packed.

“That’s right — these martial world thugs are here to seize territory and extort money!”

“If you don’t pay, they smash your stall!”

“I recognize that uniform — some kind of Immortal Sect, or whatever they’re called — totally unreasonable. The Brocade River Night Market was taken over by them too — one stall, fifty coins a night. Only the big shops can afford that. We’re small traders; we can’t pay, so we were driven out.”

“The Brocade Mile Night Market is the last place we can make a living! And now they’re coming for that too!”

“Small traders need to survive too!”

“Are small traders not people?!”

Lin Sui’an was surprised. Jin Ruo lowered his voice. “Ever since the Ascend to Immortal Sect and the Five Mounds Alliance seized the Brocade River Night Market, the stall fees have shot through the roof. Small vendors simply can’t afford them. Only the Brocade Mile Night Market, under the Pure Gate’s protection, still lets them make a living.”

Lin Sui’an asked curiously: “How much does the Pure Gate charge?”

“The former Gate Master set it as a founding rule — small vendors who do business on Pure Gate territory, so long as they help the Pure Gate gather information when needed, receive the Pure Gate’s protection and pay no stall fees whatsoever.”

In other words, these ordinary people were not Pure Gate members — but they were its most committed supporters.

Lin Sui’an’s estimation of the long-gone former Gate Master rose considerably. Only someone of rare and extraordinary wisdom could have created a founding rule like this — something akin to “coming from the people, returning to the people.”

Shen Xiang let out a high-pitched wail that jumped up a full octave: “We common folk have suffered too long! Please, Adjutant Hua, stand up for us!”

The people on the street fell to their knees together: “Please, Adjutant Hua, stand up for us!”

Hua Yitang’s expression was solemn and grave. His voice rang through the street. “As Yidu’s Judicial Military Adjutant, I exist to serve the people. It is my duty to stand up for you. I promise you — I will see to it that every criminal element in Yidu who causes harm and disrupts the peace is brought to account, one by one. I will restore order and decency to Yidu!”

The crowd erupted in gratitude and relief, bowing and calling out their thanks together.

Only one person was an exception.

Su Yiyun stood straight, his face the color of iron, neither kneeling nor bowing. He let out a cold laugh. “What fine, righteous posturing from the Hua clan’s Fourth Young Master! Since you claim you’ll deal with every criminal element that disturbs the peace — then the first one who ought to be dealt with is Lin Sui’an!”

The Ascend to Immortal Sect members: Well said — she’s the most ferocious criminal of the lot!

Hua Yitang’s cold gaze slid past them. “I had advance knowledge that the Ascend to Immortal Sect intended to cause trouble at Brocade Mile, and specifically dispatched Lin Niangzi here to protect the citizens. Had Lin Niangzi not arrived in time, Brocade Mile would likely be littered with corpses and flowing with blood by now!”

The Ascend to Immortal Sect members: It’s still flowing with blood right now! Or does our blood not count?!

Su Yiyun’s pointing finger shook violently. “You — you — you are shameless and despicable! That is the most outrageous fabrication! You are completely one-sided and utterly without conscience!”

Hua Yitang stepped closer, his lips curving in a near-smile as he lowered his voice. “Su Tenth Young Master is mistaken. As Judicial Military Adjutant, fairness and impartiality are my foremost qualities.”

Su Yiyun backed off half a step in alarm. “Hua Yitang, what are you planning?”

Hua Yitang gave Su Yiyun a sidelong look, then raised his gaze back to the assembled Ascend to Immortal Sect members. “Fortunately, today there have been no fatalities, and no irreversible harm has been done.”

The Ascend to Immortal Sect members: Which eyes of yours saw no one injured? We’ve all been beaten into swollen messes!

“Given this, I am prepared today to offer you all one opportunity to turn over a new leaf.” Hua Yitang raised his voice. “Does anyone have objections?”

The constables pressed forward with their irons, calling in unison: “Who has objections? Speak up!”

The Ascend to Immortal Sect members were all suffering under a dark cloud: After all this, did they still dare to object?

Ximen Yang ground his teeth. “Adjutant Hua, please just say what you want outright.”

“Excellent.” Hua Yitang raised his voice. “Hua Ermu — where are you?!”

“Coming, coming, coming!” Hua Ermu squeezed through the crowd, trotted to Hua Yitang’s side, and clasped his hands in formal greeting. “Hua Ermu, family head of the Yidu Hua clan, pays his respects to Fourth Grand-Uncle.”

Hua Yitang: “Though the Ascend to Immortal Sect members have gone astray in the past, I see in them a genuine willingness to reform. Are you willing to give them a helping hand?”

Hua Ermu stroked his little beard with a chuckle. “Our Hua clan’s paper mills, Shu paper workshops, teahouses, and wine shops are all short of workers. If these brothers don’t mind the work, they’re welcome to come work for us Hua family.”

At these words, every member of the Ascend to Immortal Sect froze.

The Yidu Hua clan was only an outer branch — nowhere near the wealth of the Yangdu Hua family — yet in a mere three years since settling in Yidu, it had already established itself among Yidu’s top ten prestigious households. The most important factor was its astonishing ability to generate income.

Every Hua clan establishment in Yidu was famously raking in enormous daily profits. To work as an employee of the Hua clan was a coveted golden rice bowl that countless people dreamed of. It was said that even a teahouse server earned a full string of coins per month — far more than whatever they scraped together through fighting and bloodshed in the Ascend to Immortal Sect.

Most of them were adrift in the martial world, rootless and without homes. Now, after taking a thorough beating, they could apparently latch onto the Hua clan’s coattails. This was a beating well worth taking!

Watching the expressions on the Ascend to Immortal Sect members’ faces, Lin Sui’an knew Hua Yitang’s plan had succeeded.

Yidu’s martial world sects were locked in constant warfare, and behind each one stood some aristocratic household as backer. If the government simply cracked down by force — outnumbered and constrained on all sides — it would inevitably be put on the defensive and make enemies everywhere. The most effective approach was naturally to divide and conquer, taking them down one by one.

And with so many sect members, arresting all of them at once would probably overflow even Yidu’s government jail — and if they were pushed too hard, the risk of an uprising was real.

What was cunning about Hua Yitang was this: he had squeezed and cornered at every turn, yet at the very last moment, he left one door open — and that door looked rather profitable. The temptation was overwhelming.

Jin Ruo clicked his tongue. “Carrot after the stick — an old trick.”

Lin Sui’an: “Old doesn’t mean useless.”

Hua Yitang looked at Ximen Yang with a pleasant smile. “What does honorable sir think?”

Ximen Yang gripped his injured wrist, glanced at Lin Sui’an, and Lin Sui’an bared her teeth in a grin. Ximen Yang’s heart sank into despair: This hand of his was probably finished. Joining the Hua clan to survive might be his only path forward — and besides, if he refused, he would be going to prison anyway.

This Adjutant Hua had a pretty face but a ruthless heart. He had made it look like a choice. In reality, there was no choice at all.

“My fellow brothers—” Ximen Yang closed his eyes for a moment. “Today the Ascend to Immortal Sect has run out of fate. Let this be its end!” He turned to Hua Ermu with a formal salute. “From now on, we place ourselves in Family Head Hua’s care.”

Hua Ermu returned the salute with gravity.

The onlooking citizens were struck dumb.

Just like that, the Ascend to Immortal Sect — at the height of its power — was finished? That cleanly, that efficiently? Didn’t it deserve at least some attempt at a rescue?

But what came next was obviously no longer the concern of ordinary citizens. The constables withdrew from their surrounding formation and dispersed the crowd.

Su Yiyun did not leave. He stared at Ximen Yang with murderous hatred and let out a sneer of contempt. “What’s so great about going to the Hua clan? You’ll still be dependent on someone else’s favor, eating off someone else’s charity day after day. You’re just changing locations to be somebody’s dog. How is that any different from now?!”

“Su Tenth Young Master’s logic is flawed,” Hua Yitang sauntered over to stand before Su Yiyun, and arched an eyebrow to its full height. Today he wore his official robes — manner and speech were required to be solemn and dignified throughout — so his fan had been tucked in his sleeve the entire time, nearly killing him with the constraint. Now, with the citizens dispersed, the moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived. He drew the fan out with a crisp snap and flicked it open. “The Hua clan is a merchant house — our word is our bond. We would never engage in such despicable conduct as defaulting on a person’s wages, and we are greatly unlike certain households that are all glittering surface and rotten underneath—”

With that, he angled the fan toward Su Yiyun’s face and gave him a vigorous fanning, back and forth. Su Yiyun’s eyes went red with impotent fury, his teeth clenched until they bled. He spat once at the ground and walked away.

Hua Yitang gazed lazily at Su Yiyun’s retreating back and narrowed his eyes.

This person — it seemed he had changed. He had grown more ambitious.

Gan Hongying felt as though she were living in a dream. Just that morning, the Pure Gate’s situation in Yidu had been teetering on the edge of collapse. Yet in only a few hours, the tide had completely turned. Not only had the Brocade Mile hall been held, but the Ascend to Immortal Sect had been dismantled as a bonus.

Judging by the expressions on the four elders’ faces, they too seemed slightly dazed.

“Hall Master Gan.” Hua Ermu passed over a rolled scroll. “This is from Fourth Grand-Uncle, to be delivered to the Yidu Pure Gate.”

Inside the scroll was a written contract for a cooperative business arrangement between the Yidu Pure Gate and the Yidu Hua clan regarding the sale and distribution of Hundred-Blossom Tea. It covered the source and procurement method of the product (managed by the Hua clan), initial investment (covered by the Hua clan), distribution channels (handled by the Pure Gate), profit sharing (fifty-fifty split), and risk allocation (seventy percent to the Hua clan, thirty to the Pure Gate). Every clause was set out in detailed terms. By any reading, the Pure Gate had gotten the better end of the deal.

Gan Hongying and the four elders exchanged glances — all slightly incredulous.

They had worried about one thing before: if they secured the right to sell Hundred-Blossom Tea purely on the strength of the relationship between the Master of Qian Jing and Hua Fourth Young Master, and Lin Niangzi and the Hua young master were ever to part ways, the Hua clan would withdraw the sales rights and the Pure Gate would be finished.

It had not occurred to them that Hua Fourth Young Master would propose signing a formal written contract — which entirely eliminated that concern.

“Fourth Grand-Uncle said: the Hua clan and the Pure Gate are equal partners in a relationship of mutual benefit. There is no question of any subordinate relationship between the two.” Hua Ermu smiled. “Fourth Grand-Uncle also said: he’s just a good-for-nothing heir with no great abilities, but he has one gift — reading people. He said Hall Master Gan’s eyes are clear and focused, the mark of someone destined to accomplish great things, and the Yidu Hua clan will rely greatly on Hall Master Gan going forward. For example, the Ascend to Immortal Sect members — going forward, he hopes the Pure Gate and the Hua clan will work together to manage and look after them.” Hua Ermu dropped his voice a fraction. “After all, only those who know the rivers and lakes can best understand those who come from the rivers and lakes.”

Gan Hongying couldn’t help but marvel inwardly: To think that this Hua Fourth Young Master’s thinking was so thorough, so comprehensive — so mature as to be entirely unbefitting of a seventeen-year-old boy.

And yet—

Gan Hongying turned her eyes toward Hua Yitang, and felt once more that he truly was nothing but a seventeen-year-old boy.

Hua Yitang was scowling, fanning himself sullenly, his cheeks puffed out like an aggrieved blowfish.

“You all fought and didn’t call me.”

Lin Sui’an said helplessly, “It’s not like I wanted it that way — circumstances entirely forced the situation…”

“I even had a nickname all picked out!” Hua Yitang flipped his fan wide open and struck a heroic, dashing pose. “I am the Yangdu Eccentric, Hua Fourth Young Master! I have traveled the Three Mountains and Five Sacred Peaks, traversed the Five Lakes and Four Seas, seen through the Six Paths and Four Realms — swift as the wind when I come, quick as lightning when I go — nothing in the Eight Trigrams and Sixty-Four Hexagrams is beyond my understanding—”

“Ahem!” Lin Sui’an cut him off quickly. “Didn’t you go with Doctor Fang to the crime scene? Did you find anything?”

Hua Yitang swallowed his speech, and leaned in close with his fan tucked under his arm. “Doctor Fang found something wrong with Lian Xiaoshuang’s embroidery.”

Side Story:

Ling Zhiyan, buried under mountains of case files, raised his head and rubbed his eyes. He looked at the sky outside, puzzled: At this hour already, how is it that Fourth Young Master and Lin Niangzi still haven’t come to the government office?