Chapter 107

Chapter 107

By the time County Deputy Magistrate Ma had finished handling his own affairs and finally managed to save his son from his wife’s hands, he woke up the next day with a belly full of fury.

Since he had nowhere to vent that anger, his mind naturally turned to the people who had smashed up his shop.

So he had them brought over and interrogated them personally.

When Ji Yan’an and the others arrived and met County Deputy Magistrate Ma’s gaze, their posture was even loftier than his.

“How dare you! You stand before this official and still refuse to kneel!”

Jiang Yunsui hid in the corner, snacking on melon seeds and peanuts while watching the show.

Crunchy and satisfying.

Too bad there was no stool to sit on. Otherwise, it would have been even more comfortable.

Song Jin crossed his arms. “County Deputy Magistrate Ma, you sure put on quite the airs. You want us to kneel? Aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to bear it?”

County Deputy Magistrate Ma stared at them suspiciously.

Judging by their bearing alone, they truly did not seem like ordinary people.

But if they really were not ordinary, why would they obediently stay in jail for an entire day?

County Deputy Magistrate Ma gave the bailiffs a look. “I’d like to see just what kind of formidable figures you are. In Liaoyang County, even a dragon has to coil itself up before me!”

He waved a hand. “If these unruly commoners refuse to listen, then beat them!”

The bailiffs immediately surrounded them, intending to force them to their knees.

Ji Yan’an only said two words in an indifferent tone. “Do it.”

Nanmo and the other guards instantly moved against the bailiffs.

These bailiffs were nothing but useless drunkards and gluttons. Wearing that official uniform, they dared to throw their weight around in front of ordinary people, but the moment they ran into anyone who could actually fight, they were all trash.

So before long, County Deputy Magistrate Ma’s vision went black as a bailiff came flying over and pinned him down, nearly knocking the breath out of him.

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, every bailiff lay sprawled on the ground. Two bailiffs who had not even had the chance to charge in saw the situation and decisively threw away their weapons, dropped to the floor, and started wailing along with the others.

They were very good at reading the room.

Risk their lives for that tiny salary?

Absolutely not. Besides, it was not as if they were all that devoted to County Deputy Magistrate Ma.

Ji Yan’an merely glanced at those two very sensible men and ignored them.

“You… who exactly are you? How dare you, how dare…”

Ji Yan’an strolled up to County Deputy Magistrate Ma and held a black token right in front of his eyes.

“Recognize it?”

The character “Ji” on the black token was especially clear.

At that moment, rumors about the Young Master of the Ji Family surfaced in County Deputy Magistrate Ma’s mind.

Twelve or thirteen years old. Sickly and frail.

Everything matched. Combined with the air about him, it was not something anyone but nobility could have been raised with.

Cold sweat instantly poured down his back.

“You… you are…”

Damn it all. How had this great lord come running to Liaoyang County? And why had he smashed up his shop?

County Deputy Magistrate Ma’s face twitched. “Young Master Ji, you came all the way to our Liaoyang County and even smashed up my humble shop. What is the meaning of this?”

Nanshu said, “Aren’t you giving yourself a bit too much credit? We went to that shop to buy something like normal customers. My master picked up a jade carving, decided he didn’t like it, and was about to put it down when your shop assistant deliberately bumped into Young Master and made the jade carving fall and shatter.

“That jade carving was clearly flawed, and the quality wasn’t even that good, yet you had the nerve to demand five hundred taels of silver for it. Why not just rob us outright? When we refused to pay, you called people over to beat us. Do you think my master is someone who would swallow that kind of loss?”

County Deputy Magistrate Ma’s face turned blue, then white.

Of course he knew about such things. After the first successful extortion had brought in plenty of benefits, they would pull the same trick every now and then.

Who could have imagined that this time, they had picked the wrong target?

But someone like County Deputy Magistrate Ma would never look for fault in himself. He immediately started cursing out the shop assistant and the shopkeeper.

He hurriedly put on a fawning smile. “This was all a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”
Song Jin gave a humorless smile. “So your men arrested us and locked us up for an entire day, and that was still a misunderstanding? What nerve. What official authority you wield, County Deputy Magistrate Ma.”

County Deputy Magistrate Ma finally understood. There was no way today’s matter would simply be let go.

Or rather, they had done this on purpose.

His expression turned vicious.

Especially when he heard the commotion outside: the yamen runners in the county office had all arrived.

He laughed. “Young Master Ji? Who knows whether you’re real or fake? You think you can pick up a token from who knows where and impersonate that Young Master of the Ji Family? How audacious. Men! Seize these thieves!”

He had said it before: Liaoyang County was his territory. Even if a dragon came, it would have to coil itself up before him.

The yamen runners outside were all armed, and there were several times more of them than Ji Yan’an’s group.

Jiang Yunsui stopped eating. Hiding behind a pillar, she grew a little worried.

Where had Shen Qingzhu and Fan He gone?

Seeing the people over there start fighting, she took out a packet of medicinal powder.

It was the knockout powder Shen Qingzhu had given her.

Should she use it?

The problem was, in this situation, it would be hard to tell friend from foe.

Just as Jiang Yunsui opened the packet, Fan He arrived in time with that group of Moon Slaves and charged in.

“County Deputy Magistrate Ma, you’ve got some nerve, daring to attack the Young Master!”

County Deputy Magistrate Ma looked at those brave and battle-hardened Moon Slaves, and his vision went black.

It was over!

Jiang Yunsui’s vision also went black. It was over!

They could have come earlier or later, so why did they have to arrive right when she had opened the powder?

She put it away too hastily, and the entire packet of powder spilled toward her. Quite a bit even got into her mouth.

This time, her vision really did go black, and with a thud, she collapsed to the floor.

Unfortunately, her presence was so weak that no one noticed except Ji Yan’an.

Ji Yan’an was being protected, but he had kept a sliver of his attention on Jiang Yunsui.

When he saw her take out the powder, he had wanted to stop her. Then Fan He came in with his men.

And then he watched helplessly as that idiot dumped all the powder onto herself.

Ji Yan’an: “…”

“Seize them all first and lock them up.”

Now they had truly caught everyone in one fell swoop, saving themselves a great deal of trouble.

Aside from a one-day tour of the prison, they had suffered no losses at all.

Oh, except for a certain idiot who had drugged herself unconscious.

Ji Yan’an walked over, covered his mouth and nose, and picked up the unconscious child from behind the pillar.

The others stared at the unconscious Jiang Yunsui, utterly baffled.

Nanshu asked anxiously, “What happened to her?”

Song Jin said, “Wasn’t she hiding? Did she get caught in the crossfire?”

Ji Yan’an said, “No.”

“She probably saw that there were too many enemies and wanted to help with the knockout powder, but then Fan He arrived with reinforcements. She put it away in such a hurry that she knocked herself out.”

He nudged the powder on the floor with the tip of his shoe.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through, scattering the powder spilled across the ground.

Song Jin and Nanmo’s expressions changed. “Not good. Cover your mouth and nose!”

Ji Yan’an had already been covering his. Nanshu and a few others who failed to react in time inhaled the knockout powder in a daze, then swayed and collapsed to the floor.

Before he passed out, Nanshu thought: I wasn’t taken down by the enemy, but by one of our own.

After the powder dispersed, everyone else was speechless.

Song Jin could not help pinching Jiang Yunsui’s chubby little cheek.

“What a little menace. She didn’t hurt the enemy, but she did knock out several of our own.”

Fan He had inhaled a little too, and he was somewhat dizzy, though he had not fully collapsed yet.

“A pig… a pig of a teammate…”

Then he lost consciousness completely.