Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

"Young Master Fang, is this strength alright?"

"More! I can take it!" Fang Zheng-yi lazily reclined on the lounge chair, while Xiu'er massaged his shoulders from behind.

Beside him, a beautiful little maid fed him candied fruit.

Below, two courtesans, the most popular in the brothel, gently pounded his legs.

Before him was a stage where the brothel's dancers, wearing extremely short skirts, danced gracefully to a clumsy rendition of Gokuraku Jodo played on the suona and erhu.

Sometimes bending backward, sometimes caressing their legs, their movements were extremely seductive and provocative. Moreover, the large number of performers made it a Jing Dynasty version of Girls' Generation plus, pro, max...

Several subordinates sat at the tables behind, also enjoying the dance.

Yu Niang stood not far away, her palms pressed together in front of her chest, watching excitedly as Young Master Fang personally graced Qun Yu Brothel with his presence to guide their work.

At the same time, her heart was filled with shock!

Such decadent music coupled with such lewd dances was simply unheard of! Having worked in a brothel for so many years, she actually felt a stinging, burning sensation watching it!

She wondered what Young Master Fang had experienced at such a young age to have so many scandalous and bizarre ideas in his head!

Outsiders might see this scene as carefree and indulgent, but Fang Zheng-yi felt bitter inside.

He had long moved beyond low-level pleasures. His mind was filled with serious matters, even though he paid a little more attention to his lifestyle.

Something seemed to have gone wrong with Chu Youyi. He hadn't seen her for two days, and it seemed like she was deliberately avoiding him. Therefore, he didn't go to the academy either. With Dong Fu as an inside man in the Chu family, he could enjoy himself outside all day long.

According to his thinking, Chu Youyi should have blacked out after drinking so much... It would be awkward if she remembered anything.

However, those were all small matters, not worth dwelling on.

In the past two days, the Beggar Clan had been expanding rapidly. Many poor commoners, hearing that they could receive silver by joining the Beggar Clan, had lowered their status and actively joined.

In just two days, the Beggar Clan had expanded its ranks by nearly two thousand people, and a good portion of the money he had just earned had already been spent!

What was infuriating was that not only had he gained nothing from the brothel, but the army of two thousand beggars deployed throughout the city had also failed to find anything. The Zhou family seemed to be like rats, hiding in some crack in the ground!

The government's movements were also quite suspicious. The number of constables searching had clearly decreased.

Fang Zheng-yi once suspected that the Zhou family had already been caught and imprisoned, but there were still sporadic searches going on.

That meant they hadn't been found yet.

After thinking for a while without any clue, Fang Zheng-yi shook his head and sighed.

Seeing him sigh, Xiu'er quickly took a cup of tea from her side and handed it to him, asking with concern, "Young Master Fang, what's bothering you?"

Fang Zheng-yi took the tea and drank it all in one gulp, then shook his head and said, "It's difficult. A man who's building a career has a hard life. Alas~ you wouldn't understand!"

Xiu'er covered her mouth and giggled.

Just as he was lamenting the hardships of the world, Yu Niang suddenly walked over from the side, crouched down, and whispered in his ear, "Young Master Fang, a little girl has come looking for you. She said her name is Xin Zhu. Do you know this person?"

Fang Zheng-yi frowned.

Xin Zhu? How did she find this place?

"Alright, have your people disperse. Bring her in."

Before long, Xin Zhu walked in quickly with a look of anxiety on her face. She barely breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Fang Zheng-yi. She ran up to him in small steps, panting, "Brother Fang, you're really here? What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I'm getting physical therapy... How did you come? How did you know I was here?"

Xin Zhu didn't have time to think about what physical therapy was. She quickly said, "Something terrible has happened! Did you offend Young Master Lu? Today, Master Lu brought a group of people to the Chu family, saying they would kill you!"

"Second Miss said you might be here, and told me to inform you to run quickly... You... you should pack up quickly! Here's some silver from Second Miss, telling you not to come back."

With that, Xin Zhu took out a bag of silver from her bosom.

Fang Zheng-yi didn't rush to take it. Instead, he pondered for a moment before slapping his forehead and exclaiming that something was wrong!

He had forgotten about Lu Xiuwen after cleaning up that night!

Now things had gotten so big! He hadn't cleaned up properly and had even implicated the Chu family!

"Xie Xian! Who was responsible for that Lu fellow? Have him come here!"

Xie Xian thought for a moment, then got up and ran upstairs. Before long, he brought back a burly man, who was none other than Lian Gui!

Lian Gui walked up to Fang Zheng-yi and asked, "Master, that fellow has already been taken care of. Is there a problem?"

"How was he taken care of?"

"How else? We force-fed him some donkey drug and tied him up with a rope. He only softened up last night, and then we threw him on the street."

"Last night?" Fang Zheng-yi was shocked. "Wasn't he beaten up two days ago?! Did you guys kill him?"

Lian Gui recalled for a moment, then nodded, "Yeah, Master. He kept cursing at you, so I found three brothers to beat him up together! He only became honest yesterday. He stopped bitching and just cried! But that kid was still pretty tough."

Tied up and left for two days, wouldn't that have caused necrosis? Fang Zheng-yi imagined the scene and felt a chill run down his spine. His subordinates were becoming more and more perverted!

Fang Zheng-yi couldn't help but scold, "You guys went too far! I told you to play around, not to torture people! That's immoral!"

Lian Gui said aggrievedly, "Master, we even put ointment on his butt before throwing him out. How much more moral can we get? He wanted to rape a woman. Don't we usually just kill those kinds of people in our county?"

Ointment on his butt?

Some unpleasant images popped into Fang Zheng-yi's head again, and he couldn't help but feel another chill: "Alright, I understand! Get out!"

"Xin Zhu, what's the situation at the Chu family right now? Tell me in detail."

Xin Zhu's eyes kept darting back and forth between Lian Gui and Fang Zheng-yi. She had heard every word they had said earlier.

Torturing Young Master Lu... Master... rape... Brother Fang doesn't seem like a servant either!

Seeing her dazed, Fang Zheng-yi urged her again. Xin Zhu suddenly snapped back to her senses and said, "Ah... Master Lu brought a large group of people! There are guards and farmers from their estate, all carrying weapons. I think there are more than a hundred people!"

"They're all at the Chu family now. Master and Eldest Miss are trying to deal with him, and Master Lu is waiting to bring you over! I heard that the Lu family has close ties with the yamen. Brother Fang, you can't handle them. Run away quickly!"

A trace of coldness appeared on Fang Zheng-yi's face.

More than a hundred people, really coming to kill me! This Lu Xiuwen is also a good-for-nothing. He's been severely injured twice and still has the nerve to call his parents?

"Xin Zhu, you don't have to worry. I'll take care of this matter. Second Miss treats me so well, how can I be irresponsible? You go back first."

Xin Zhu said anxiously, "But..."

"Listen to me, it's alright! Yu Niang, immediately send someone to notify all the members of the Red Flower Society to bring their thugs to the Chu family to help me make a show of strength."

Yu Niang was unwilling to get involved in such a matter, but seeing Fang Zheng-yi's confident appearance, she nodded as if possessed.

"Xie Xian, go and call back all the brothers outside, and bring all the people from the Beggar Clan. Surround the Chu family for me! Not a single person brought by that Lu fellow can escape!"

Xie Xian walked over and whispered, "Master, that's more than two thousand people! These two thousand people are a mixed bag and not very useful. If the commotion is too big and alarms the government, we might all be exposed. If they're connected to Prince Wu and find out your identity, wouldn't they try to kill you?"

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Fang Zheng-yi's eyes: "They're indeed not very useful, but they're good for scaring people! I don't think the Zhou family will have a chance to be found either. Dragging this on isn't a solution, and I owe the Chu family a favor. I can't ignore it if I've caused trouble."

"If someone comes from the government, I'll just reveal my identity directly. Send a team of brothers to hide in the crowd. If they make any unusual moves, you immediately take action to capture the ringleaders! I originally wanted to solve the problem discreetly and then return to the capital. Now that being soft doesn't work, I can only go hard. While we have the numbers and the momentum, I'm going to turn Yu Ding City upside down for me!"

......

I'm going to have an explosive update tomorrow, don't scold me...