Chapter 67: Zhao Wude: This Is Outrageous!
“Of course!”
The two exchanged a glance, then attacked the young man at the same time.
The Li Clan’s family precepts taught unity and mutual support, but nowhere did they say that one could not outnumber an enemy.
Faced with the two boys’ joint assault, the young man could only grit his teeth and fight back.
At the Body Tempering Realm, there were no fancy martial techniques. What one relied upon was strength alone. Being one against two, the young man was utterly unable to fight back.
His attendant watched with growing panic. He wanted to rescue him, yet Li Yanwu held him fast and gave him no chance to move.
Seeing that the young man had already been beaten half to death by Li Xingzong and Li Wu, the attendant had no choice but to shout, “Stop! Stop at once! He is the County Magistrate’s son! If anything happens to him, none of you will be able to bear the consequences!”
Li Yanwu let out a cold laugh.
County Magistrate? What did that amount to in the Li Clan’s eyes?
At present, Baihe County bore the surname Li.
Still, the County Magistrate was nominally the foremost authority of Baihe County. Since the man had at least revealed his background, they would give him a little face.
Li Yanwu called out to the two boys, “That’s enough. Stop.”
The two boys each kicked the young man once more, then finally stopped.
The young man no longer bore even the slightest trace of a noble young master’s elegance. He had been beaten black and blue. His splendid robes were covered in filthy footprints, and even one of his front teeth had been knocked out, leaving his speech whistling through the gap.
Only after the others had gone far away did the attendant help the young man up from the ground.
The young man immediately slapped the attendant hard across the face and cursed, “Useless trash!”
The attendant dared not speak in anger.
The young man stared hatefully at the backs of Li Yanwu’s group as they strode away and said with venom, “I want those bastards dead!”
......
Baihe County yamen.
The newly appointed County Magistrate of Baihe County, Zhao Wude, looked at the pig-headed wreck before him and nearly failed to recognize him.
“Who was it? Who dared beat my son into this state?”
Zhao Wude roared in towering rage.
He had fathered a son late in life and doted on this child beyond measure. He feared the boy would melt if he held him in his mouth, and feared he would break if he held him in his hands. When had he ever let him suffer such a loss?
“Father... you must avenge me!”
the young man pleaded, his face full of resentment.
Zhao Wude lovingly touched the youth’s head, his own eyes full of vicious ferocity.
“My son, do not worry. No matter who it was, anyone who dares lay hands on the son of Zhao Wude will regret ever having come into this world!”
With that, he turned to the attendant who had been protecting the boy and demanded, “I told you to protect the young master well. Is this what you call protection?”
The attendant looked bitter beyond words.
“Master, there was truly nothing I could do. Those two little brats also had an expert protecting them in the shadows. I was no match for him.”
“Do you know what background they came from?”
Zhao Wude pressed.
The attendant shook his head.
“Then what use are you to me?”
Zhao Wude struck out with one palm, slamming it into the attendant’s chest. The man spat out a mouthful of reversed blood and flew backward dozens of zhang.
“Men!”
Four yamen runners with sabers at their waists strode in and cupped their fists.
“County Magistrate!”
“Pass down my order to the County Lieutenant. Have him bring the troops to seal off Baihe County City. Without my permission, not a single person is to leave the city!”
Zhao Wude commanded grimly.
“Yes, sir.”
......
White River Camp stood in the outskirts of the county city, where the three thousand soldiers of Baihe County were stationed.
Ever since the new County Lieutenant, Li Xingcong, took office, he had weeded out the old, weak, sick, and crippled from White River Camp and recruited sturdy new soldiers, bringing the number up to a full three thousand. They drilled day and night, and in their spare time entered the mountains to suppress bandits. After more than a year of this, those three thousand men had already begun to show the air of an elite force.
Inside the camp, the sounds of drills and battle cries were deafening.
County Lieutenant Li Xingcong, clad in fine armor, was presently reviewing the troops’ training.
Suddenly, a sentry came to report, “County Lieutenant, an official order has arrived from the County Magistrate!”
Li Xingcong raised a brow.
“What is it?”
“The County Magistrate orders you to bring the troops and seal off the city gates. Without his command, no one is to be allowed out of the city.”
Li Xingcong laughed softly.
“What new trouble is he trying to stir up this time?”
The sentry shook his head, indicating he did not know.
“Then ignore him.”
Since taking office a month ago, that County Magistrate Zhao had been jumping about all over Baihe County, stirring up trouble and making waves. Li Xingcong had already lost count of how many times he had been summoned and lectured. He understood Zhao Wude’s behavior perfectly well. At the end of the day, the man simply wanted to seize power.
It seemed Zhao Wude still had not understood his place. This Baihe County was not a place where the County Magistrate alone called the shots.
Fine, then. He would use this incident to give him a proper warning.
Half an hour passed.
When Zhao Wude saw that Li Xingcong’s side still had not made the slightest move, he grew so angry that smoke nearly poured from all seven of his orifices.
“Does Baihe County still have any law at all? Is Li Xingcong trying to rebel?”
The adviser covered his ears. Only after Zhao Wude finished roaring did he step forward to soothe him.
“County Magistrate, please calm your anger. Why stoop to quarreling with some ignorant brute?”
Zhao Wude sneered.
“It is not I who am quarreling with him. It is he who has not placed me, the County Magistrate, in his eyes at all. Does he really think that because he has the Li Clan behind him, I can do nothing to him?”
Seeing that great trouble was about to erupt, the adviser hurriedly said, “County Magistrate, you absolutely must not act rashly! County Lieutenant Li is from the great local Li Clan, and he is also the Zheng family’s son-in-law. Touch him, and you will be standing against the whole of Baihe County! Please think thrice!”
Zhao Wude was utterly set on his course, stubborn as iron. Seeing that he could not be dissuaded, the adviser could only sigh inwardly. Good words could not save a ghost determined to die. I fear that even the last shred of face you still have is about to be lost.
After three drumbeats rang out from the county yamen,
more than five hundred yamen runners from the three divisions gathered sluggishly in the courtyard, chattering noisily among themselves. Zhao Wude stood with his hands behind his back, looking at this collection of crooked melons and split dates, and his brows furrowed deeply.
“Men, County Lieutenant Li Xingcong has defied the imperial court. He obeys this magistrate’s orders only on the surface while openly opposing them in practice. This is tantamount to rebellion. I therefore command you to go at once to White River Camp and arrest him. Should he resist, you may execute him on the spot!”
The moment the yamen runners heard this, the entire county yamen fell deathly silent.
They all looked at one another. Once they had confirmed that they had heard correctly, one of the runners immediately threw down his weapon, clutched his stomach, and wailed, “County Magistrate, my belly suddenly hurts. I fear some incurable illness has flared up. I can’t do this job.”
“The pig at my house is having a difficult birth. My wife told me to go back and look after it today.”
“My wife is cuckolding me at home this very moment. I have to go back and catch the adulterer!”
“My little brother has gone missing. I need to go to the medical hall and find it!”
What a joke. For that bit of pay each month, you want us to go throw our lives away? County Magistrate, how dare an outsider like you even imagine it.
Before long, the yamen runners of the three divisions had all but vanished.
Only one runner remained in the courtyard.
Seeing him, Zhao Wude’s face showed a trace of gratification. It seemed the Great Zhou Dynasty still had men of loyalty after all.
But very quickly, his face darkened. He watched as that runner’s legs began trembling uncontrollably, then foam bubbled from his mouth, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground.
Looking at the now-empty county yamen courtyard, and the withered leaf that drifted down and slapped him across the face, Zhao Wude felt a fury beyond all measure.
For him, this was simply an unparalleled humiliation.