Chapter 110

Chapter 110: This Son-in-Law of the Emperor’s, He’s Quite Handsome

Evening fell, and Xu Ming had finished helping Fang Ling with the farm work.

Mr. Fang invited Xu Ming to his house for dinner.

Xu Ming couldn’t refuse Fang Ling’s invitation, so he went along.

Mrs. Fang slaughtered an old hen to make a pot of soup for Xu Ming, adding mushrooms from the mountains, making it incredibly delicious.

Mrs. Fang picked some fresh eggs from the chicken coop, first frying them in lard to make sunny-side-up eggs, then stir-frying them with chili peppers, which was quite appetizing.

Finally, they paired it with Chinese chrysanthemum greens and a dish of braised pork. The dinner was very abundant.

After finishing dinner, Fang Ling invited Xu Ming to play chess, chatting casually while playing:

“Xu Ming, dealing with powerful clans is the hardest thing. You know, our Wu Kingdom established itself through martial prowess. Back then, there were over a dozen factions in the territory of Wu Kingdom.

The votes of powerful families were crucial.

Whenever a faction allied with you, would you give them benefits?

This formed the basis of the problem where powerful clans became too big to control.

Fortunately, we adopted the imperial examination system from Qi Kingdom, giving even poor scholars and commoners a chance, plus a series of reforms by previous monarchs, which maximally reduced the influence of powerful clans.

However, in many places, especially remote small towns, the influence of powerful clans is still absurdly high. On one hand, the court doesn’t care much about these remote areas.

On the other hand, these small towns are weak, while nearby sects have been around for hundreds or even thousands of years. So once a family’s disciple becomes a sect disciple, the family quickly expands its influence using the sect’s power.

And those sects also tacitly approve or even encourage this behavior because they can use it to exploit resources.

Now, the four powerful families in Baihe County are supported by four nearby sects.

Does the court not want to intervene?

The question is how? Various places are intertwined with sect support, like Baihe County.

The county magistrate is local, the clerks are local, the constables are local.

Do these people not take bribes?

Then comes a ruthless county magistrate, does that county magistrate not take bribes?

When the county magistrate colludes with these bribes, manipulating things above and below, the entire county will be chaotic.

In my view, compared to feudal lords, the powerful families in various places of Wu Kingdom are more troublesome.

Feudal lords are like tigers, but the powerful families in various places are like termites.

Tigers must be killed, and termites must be exterminated, otherwise, if this continues, Wu Kingdom’s foundation might be hollowed out.

So Pengda wanting to solve those cases is very difficult. You might not even find evidence.”

Xu Ming took a sip of wine: “I think the same. So, I’m thinking, let’s not look for evidence.”

“Hmm?” Fang Ling looked at Xu Ming.

Xu Ming didn’t beat around the bush: “Since Scholar Tan has concerns, we can’t report this matter openly. But handling these cases properly could take forever.

Before leaving Wudu, His Majesty gave me a jade pendant.”

Xu Ming took out the jade pendant and placed it on the table. It was engraved with a sword, with a dragon wrapped around it:

“His Majesty once said that this jade pendant has two functions: one is to mobilize the army of the commandery, and the other is to have the authority to execute officials below the fifth rank or ordinary citizens without prior approval.

Mobilizing the army of the commandery isn’t necessary; the court aspect is complicated.

But executing without prior approval should be fine.”

Fang Ling seriously looked at Xu Ming: “Xu Ming, have you thought this through?”

Fang Ling knew what Xu Ming wanted to do.

Since there’s no evidence, Xu Ming doesn’t need evidence.

Just kill these four powerful families, their forces will naturally be in chaos, others will be scared, resistance will decrease, and finally, Pengda can take over and basically investigate everything.

But…

Fang Ling advised: “Xu Ming, you’re just a Heroic Soul Realm Martial Artist. A Heroic Soul Realm Martial Artist isn’t enough to dominate Baihe County.

Secondly, even if you eventually find evidence that these four powerful families deserve death, what then?

There will still be people in the court criticizing you.

You indeed have His Majesty’s favor, but the more His Majesty favors you, the more dangerous it is. Many people hope you die.

You don’t want to be the son-in-law, but do others not want to be?

Furthermore, you might offend four sects!

The four powerful families in Baihe County are the spokespersons for four sects in Baihe County. They will definitely ensure their disciples are clean.

Even if you clean up these four powerful families, you probably won’t find evidence of their capital offenses.

And according to Wu Kingdom law,

If you kill them,

They will reclaim their honor and won’t care if you’re the Wu Kingdom’s Zhuangyuan Lang. They have the right to send practitioners of the same realm to seek revenge against you.”

Listening to Mr. Fang’s words, Xu Ming smiled: “I naturally know that. If that’s the case, let them come. I happen to be looking for someone to practice on.”

“You… sigh. Never mind.” Fang Ling shook his head, “Actually, I should’ve known. You’re not the kind of person who stays calm. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have entered the Blood Floating Pagoda, and you wouldn’t have resigned from your marriage. When you can’t handle it anymore, just go back to Wudu and become the son-in-law honestly. Probably no one will dare to touch you.”

Xu Ming made a move on the chessboard: “We’ll see.”

After playing a few rounds of chess with Old Fang, Xu Ming bid farewell and left.

Walking on the streets of Baihe County, every household’s lights had already gone out, leaving only the tranquil night and the bright moonlight.

As he walked, Xu Ming suddenly felt something was off and furrowed his brows slightly.

Xu Ming continued walking forward.

When Xu Ming passed a street corner, he stopped.

Looking down, he saw a glowing array. The array was blood red, as if painted with fresh blood.

Soon after, the array began to spread, like rain washing away red ink, leaving a pool of blood red.

From the blood red emerged one ghostly red hand after another, grabbing towards Xu Ming’s feet.

“Hmph.”

Xu Ming smirked and stomped hard.

The martial artist’s vital energy erupted, scattering outward. Within a two-meter radius centered on Xu Ming, the floor tiles shattered and collapsed.

When the dust settled, a man appeared in front of Xu Ming.

The man looked effeminate, lacking any masculinity, almost as if he practiced the Perversion Sword Technique.

Seeing this man, Xu Ming smiled: “Let me guess, you want my life?”

“That’s correct.” Hui waved his hand, throwing several ghost talismans into the air. Ghost souls emerged from the talismans, rushing towards Xu Ming.

Meanwhile, on a rooftop, a black-dressed girl tapped her feet, propped her chin, and watched the street with a smile:

“This son-in-law of the emperor’s, he’s quite handsome. What a pity, he’s going to die tonight.”