Fang Zheng Shows Consideration for His Subordinates

Fang Zheng's casual action stunned Wang Qian.

He hadn't expected this man to get involved in his affairs immediately upon entering the city.

Were all capital officials so bold nowadays? Or was he mentally unsound?

Wang Qian hurriedly reached out and urgently said. "Lord Fang, come back! It's dangerous!"

Fang Zheng turned back, saying sternly. "Magistrate Wang, you've failed to resolve this bandit situation in five days. What face does the government have left?"

"How are the people of Haiyuan City supposed to view the court? You may tolerate this, but I cannot! Wait for my signal. If anything happens, remember to lead your men in."

As he finished speaking, the South Tower's main door opened, revealing a pitch-black interior.

Wang Qian awkwardly withdrew his hand, momentarily speechless, and began calculating in his mind again.

By now, Fang Zheng was taking large strides into the South Tower.

As soon as he stepped inside, the door slammed shut!

Wang Qian shuddered and looked back at the men Fang Zheng had brought, feeling somewhat dazed.

Fang Zheng's arrival today had given him a very strange impression.

But thinking carefully about what he'd said, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it.

After much consideration, he could only attribute it to Fang Zheng's youth, impulsiveness, and fearlessness.

Inside the South Tower.

As soon as Fang Zheng entered, Zhou Tie immediately emerged from the side, his face excited. "Master, why did you come here?"

"Has anyone been hurt?" Fang Zheng asked.

Zhou Tie immediately shook his head. "No! Only Qian Desheng isn't here, but he should be hiding somewhere in the city. Old Xie and the important hostages are all on the second floor. I'll take you up right away!"

Seeing Zhou Tie's exhausted appearance, Fang Zheng didn't ask more questions and closely followed him upstairs.

Upon reaching the upper floor, all the Taoyuan County men stood up excitedly!

They all greeted Fang Zheng, except for Xie Xian, who remained seated.

He appeared to be exhausted to the extreme, looking quite dejected.

The hostages' mouths were all tightly gagged. Initially hearing that an official had come to negotiate, they had felt great hope.

But seeing how these bandits reacted to the official's arrival, they immediately felt as if they'd fallen into an icy pit.

Especially Old Master Lu sitting on the floor, whose aged eyes squeezed out another tear.

Fang Zheng surveyed the room, feeling relieved to see all his men present.

He pulled up a chair and sat beside Xie Xian.

Xie Xian gave a bitter smile, his voice hoarse. "Master, I've messed everything up..."

"Indeed, if I had come two days later, all the brothers in this room would have been dragged down by you. Hmph, it seems you really aren't suited to be an official."

Zhao Lie immediately knelt down with a thud, pleading. "Master, please don't blame the teacher! This isn't his fault. It's all because the Lu family aren't human! These past few days, the teacher has only slept one or two hours each day. His body can't take it anymore."

Fang Zheng sighed. "Stand up. I'm not blaming you. Now that things have come to this, the right approach is to focus on solving the problem."

"Tell me, what happened?"

Zhao Lie began to recount the events.

After hearing everything, Fang Zheng couldn't help but feel admiration for Xie Xian.

When he first met Xie Xian on his way to the capital for the imperial examinations, they had shared drinks twice. Back then, Xie Xian was an uncompromising idealist.

He criticized everything, never stopping, and though he had run a business in the county for many years, Fang Zheng had thought his character had changed.

But unexpectedly, that idealistic spirit remained unchanged in his bones, not altered in the slightest.

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng heaved a deep sigh and placed his hand on Xie Xian's shoulder. What more could he say to such a person? In this moment, he even felt like singing a few lines!

Xie Xian raised his head, fighting the stinging in his eyes, his face full of guilt. "Master, I....."

"I love how you walk alone through dark alleys, I love how you refuse to kneel, I love how you've faced despair, unwilling to shed a tear! I love your tattered clothes, yet you dare to... fight, yes, fight... Who says only those standing in the light can be heroes~"

Fang Zheng emotionally improvised a song to comfort his subordinate.

Xie Xian was startled, his scalp tingling, as he stared blankly at Fang Zheng.

I messed things up, and now the Master is so angry he's going to torture me? Is he that furious?

Then, mentally exhausted, he closed his eyes and passed out.

Fang Zheng looked embarrassingly at Xie Xian, who had slumped onto the table, fast asleep.

I finally show some emotion, and you don't even give me face! Damn it!

The others in the room hadn't grasped the brilliance of the lyrics either, and were busy digging at the floor with their toes.

Especially Du Lingfeng, whose eyelids kept twitching. He now fully understood!

He had just heard Fang Zheng's name outside... so Xie Xian had been working for Fang Zheng all along.

That meant his approach to Du Lingfeng was probably to investigate the salt merchants.

But... why was this Fang Zheng so peculiar? This wasn't how officials typically behaved, were all capital officials like this?

Fang Zheng pointed at Xie Xian and ordered. "Someone take him to bed for a proper rest." Then he turned to ask Zhao Lie. "What was your plan, staying holed up here for five days? If I hadn't come, were you planning to die here?"

Zhao Lie shook his head. "Master, you should know. We were surrounded on the second day. The old dog Lu is very cunning. No matter how we beat or cursed him, he wouldn't say a word. Now we still don't know where the account books are, so we have conclusions but no evidence."

"Also, if you hadn't come, we were planning to break out in a couple of days. I've already figured out the archers' positions."

"The rest of our men would use gunpowder to launch a direct assault, blast open the city gates, and fight our way out. We were just worried about casualties, so we wanted to plan more carefully."

"How much do you know about the local official, Wang Qian?"

"Not much, just heard he's in cahoots with the Lu family and does their bidding."

Fang Zheng nodded, thinking to himself how fortunate it was that he'd come personally.

If he hadn't been concerned and made this trip, his twenty-some brothers would likely have all died here.

Now he needed to find a way to quickly resolve the situation and turn things around.

After careful thought, Fang Zheng walked over to Old Master Lu and kicked him. "Hey, a family as large as yours must have a treasury, right."

"Where's the treasury? Where are the account books?"

"Mmm mmm mmm!!!" Old Master Lu's mouth was still tightly gagged.

Fang Zheng immediately pulled out the cloth. But as soon as he helped him speak, Old Master Lu shouted toward the window. "Fang Zheng is... aah!!"

Before he could finish, Fang Zheng's fist had already connected with his face.

Old Master Lu howled in pain and fell to the floor.

Fang Zheng looked at him with a smile. "Can you speak properly? If you try anything clever again, I'll kill you."

In the next moment, to Old Master Lu's horror, Fang Zheng pulled out a dagger.

One hand covered his mouth while the other slowly drove the blade into his chest.