Royal Gold Magistrate - Chapter 223

Fang Zheng decided not to pursue the matter of the puppet master further.

He turned to Wei Shan and asked, “How many people did Liu Xun plant in the Iron Robe Sect?”

Wei Shan answered without hesitation, “Only the sect leader Chen Dasheng was bought by Liu Xun. Originally, there were five or six others, but after Chen Dasheng was bought, they were withdrawn.”

“What arrangements did Liu Xun make for tomorrow’s battle between the two sects?”

Wei Shan hesitated for a moment, “Originally, Liu Xun wanted me to stay by your side tomorrow, looking for a chance to assassinate you, then claim there was no evidence…”

“The rest is just as Liu Xun said at Yongqing Tower…”

Fang Zheng listened, sucking his teeth. This old bastard! His thoughts were truly vicious. Fortunately, he had apprehended him one step ahead, otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble might have occurred.

“Good! You’ve answered very well. This official is satisfied. Rest here and recover from your injuries.”

With that, Fang Zheng left the room with Xie Xian.

Fang Zheng put his official robes back on and instructed Xie Xian, “Find out how much silver each of those people on the boat embezzled. The General doesn’t know about our situation here yet. I guess he’ll show up for the large-scale fight outside the city tomorrow.”

“I’ll explain to him then. Don’t touch the heads of the Sun and Wang families for now, they’ll be useful later.”

Xie Xian asked, “My lord, this investigation is a bit troublesome. Why not just lead people to raid their homes…”

“Haha! If I had the authority to raid homes, I would have done it already! Liu Xun is still the prefect after all. We need to report to the higher-ups for approval before taking action, otherwise, we’d be giving others leverage against us. Besides, his family probably doesn’t have much money left, it’s all in my residence.”

“What’s the point in raiding those small households?”

“Let me arrange it. In a couple of days, when we’re done with this business, we’ll execute those who need to be executed, and release those who can be released.”

Xie Xian hurriedly asked, “Besides Liu Xun, who else needs to be executed?”

“Everyone on the boat with a higher rank than me has to die!”

…………..

Early the next morning, Fang Zheng rode his horse outside the city. The outskirts were lush and green.

Beside him were Zhang Biao, Zhou Tie, Shen Zhaoxuan, and others. Behind them was a large group of “refugees”.

The “refugees” were holding sticks, stones, and various weapons, their faces full of excitement.

Fang Zheng glanced back and smiled at Shen Zhaoxuan, “I didn’t expect that Chen Dasheng to issue a challenge instead of ambushing us. Interesting!”

Shen Zhaoxuan also smiled, “That fellow is just a brute. He’s gotten a bit of power and started to get cocky, always trying to act cultured.”

“Before, he didn’t have as much influence as me. I didn’t expect Liu Xun to be supporting him from behind… It’s fortunate that you came early, my lord. Otherwise, we would have been in big trouble.”

Fang Zheng snorted coldly, “You bunch of bastards, as soon as I entered the capital, you all started causing trouble out here!”

“How’s Chen Dasheng’s fighting skills?”

Shen Zhaoxuan looked mysterious, glancing at Zhang Biao, “This man is impervious to blades and spears. I think he’s no worse than Zhang Biao!”

Zhou Tie, who was nearby, perked up his ears and immediately shouted, “What! His martial arts are so poor? I don’t think he’s a match for me at all!”

Fang Zheng looked Zhou Tie up and down, then leaned close and whispered, “Zhou Tie, tell me, how much does it cost to buy a Martial Arts Champion title in the Qian Dynasty? Just between us, I won’t tell anyone else…”

“My lord, you!!” Zhou Tie, riding on his horse, turned red-faced and stammered, unable to speak as he looked at Fang Zheng.

“I’m the real deal! Let me go first!” Zhou Tie shouted indignantly.

Everyone around laughed…

“Alright! You go first then!”

…………….

When the group arrived at the agreed battle site, Fang Zheng was secretly alarmed at what he saw.

The opposing side had far more people than his group. Although they were also dressed as refugees, at first glance, they were a vast, dense crowd, presenting an incredibly intimidating sight!

Fang Zheng didn’t understand military affairs. When he first arrived in Taoyuan County, he had heard about a war!

As for where it was being fought or how far it had progressed, he had no idea, not even recognizing most of the place names.

In his panic, the result was that he could only frantically fortify Taoyuan County.

If one side won, he would first put up some resistance to show strength, then immediately bow down and submit!

Everyone in town knew that Master Fang was loyal to the emperor!

But no one knew if it was the Jing Dynasty emperor or the Qian Dynasty emperor, they just knew it was the emperor!

Later, as time passed, Fang Zheng finally understood! The battlefield was far from the capital, and the Jing Dynasty was winning consecutive victories.

It was only then that Emperor Jing’s name began to spread in the county…

Now he was finally seeing half a real battlefield! Fang Zheng couldn’t help feeling emotional!

Looking around, he saw that the leader of the Iron Robe Sect was a burly figure riding a tall horse.

The people accompanying him were clearly riding inferior horses, a head shorter.

Shen Zhaoxuan spoke up, “My lord! The one in front is Chen Dasheng!”

“Alright! Go out and challenge him, tell him to come out for a duel!”

“Yes, sir!” Shen Zhaoxuan responded, then rode his horse forward.

Seeing Shen Zhaoxuan come out, Chen Dasheng also rode forward on his horse.

Shen Zhaoxuan called out, “Chen Dasheng! We’re all suffering people! Don’t involve them in this! Do you dare to duel with my fierce warrior?”

“Best two out of three, the loser immediately surrenders!”

Chen Dasheng was amused when he heard this, and the people around him started laughing too, “Shen Zhaoxuan! You’ve really got pig fat for brains! Since you want to surrender voluntarily, I’ll agree to your terms!”

“I’ll fight barehanded, one against three of your men if you want! Hahaha!”

Zhou Tie, sulking in the crowd, muttered, “What the hell is this? Are we fighting a war or playing house?”

“Zhou Tie, go on!” Everyone looked at Zhou Tie, winking and nudging.

Zhou Tie reluctantly grumbled, “I didn’t bring my sword, and my bones haven’t fully healed…”

But he still stood up and shouted to the crowd behind him, “Who’s got a sword? Lend me one!”

Fang Zheng looked around and saw that no one on his side had weapons except for Zhang Biao, and he only had hidden weapons.

He then craned his neck to scan the “refugees”, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He pointed at an old farmer and shouted, “You! Bring that sword up here! I’ll pay you, quick!”

The old farmer grinned, brought the sword over, then ran back happily with a tael of silver.

Zhou Tie took the sword, examined it, flexed it a couple of times, and said hesitantly, “Where did you find this sword? It’s too worn out, I’m afraid it won’t…”

Zhang Biao, seeing him dilly-dallying, impatiently shouted, “Can you fight or not?! If you can’t, I’ll go!”

Zhou Tie glared at Zhang Biao angrily, “Of course I can fight! A mere country bumpkin! I can take on ten of him!”

With that, he took the crude sword and walked towards the battlefield…