Chapter 135: Confrontation

Zhuang Jin had Qian Wende secretly investigate the situation in the east side of the city. Just as Qian Wende left, the ward supervisor of the neighboring Dongxia Ward came to visit.

The ward supervisor of Dongxia Ward was named Ou Wenzhong. Zhuang Jin went to greet him and saw a man dressed in a white robe with a face as flawless as jade, a jade pendant hanging from his waist with golden tassels, holding a white paper fan, and wearing cloud-treading boots. The man exuded an aura of scholarly refinement, and anyone unaware of the truth would easily mistake him for a scholar from some prestigious academy.

Zhuang Jin’s gaze landed on the man’s shoulders, where three distinct patterns were visible. His eyes narrowed slightly: 'Three-patterned elite guard, a Ninth-Meridian martial artist!'

"I have long admired the great name of Ward Supervisor Zhuang, and today I finally have the fortune to meet you. Last month, when the Medicine King Gang attacked the returning fleet, I heard that Ward Supervisor Zhuang possessed divine strategies and calculated the enemy's moves beforehand. You single-handedly beheaded three Seven-Meridian martial artists of the Medicine King Gang. That was a resounding victory amidst defeat, which greatly boosted the morale of our Shen family... How heroic! How magnificent!"

Ou Wenzhong praised endlessly, his tone and expression looking utterly sincere.

'This fellow certainly has a silver tongue!' Zhuang Jin stared at the man's face, unable to detect a shred of falsehood; it was brimming with genuine sincerity. Especially given that the man was a Ninth-Meridian martial artist, such words made his sincerity all the more rare and precious.

Yet Zhuang Jin was not deceived. He knew deeply that in this world, there is no such thing as unprovoked goodwill. When someone lowers their status to be courteous, they undoubtedly have a favor to ask.

"I am unworthy of such high praise; I feel deeply惶恐 (apprehensive)." Zhuang Jin offered a modest refusal, meeting all changes with constancy, and invited the man along with his two accompanying servants inside.

"Ward Supervisor Zhuang is being too modest. To be honest with you, upon hearing of your deeds last month, I grew curious as to what kind of person could accomplish such a feat. After inquiring, I learned that Ward Supervisor Zhuang carries the heavy burden of family feuds and personal grudges, fighting your way up from the very bottom to where you stand today. Thinking on it, it seems almost miraculous... I often ponder, if I were in Ward Supervisor Zhuang’s position, could I have reached this point? The answer is simply no!"

"What I admire most is that all along the way, Ward Supervisor Zhuang has been clear about gratitude and resentment—repaying grievances with retribution and kindness with grace, never treating anyone unfairly who has been good to you. Such a life of untrammeled vengeance and romantic chivalry—in the past, I had only ever seen such characters in storybooks!"

Ou Wenzhong wove the fact that he had investigated Zhuang Jin seamlessly into his words, causing not the slightest bit of aversion. Every word was sincere, and his praise was uniquely crafted, hitting right at the listener's heartstrings.

'If I were truly eighteen years old, I suppose I would feel an instant kinship and regard this man as a confidant, wouldn't I? What a pity, I am no longer eighteen!'

Zhuang Jin sighed inwardly, his vigilance growing stronger. Maintaining a politeness that kept a polite distance, he repeatedly said, "Ward Supervisor Ou overpraises me, truly overpraises me!"

"Your cautious and prudent attitude, Ward Supervisor Zhuang, is precisely proof that my words are entirely true!"

Ou Wenzhong said sincerely, his tone passionate and stirring as he stepped forward to take Zhuang Jin by the hand. "Throughout my life, I have respected heroes and men of valor above all else. Today the spring breeze is clear and the sky is bright, such a fine scenery and pleasant day—would it not be a joyous thing for Ward Supervisor Zhuang and me to swear an oath to heaven and earth and become sworn brothers of different surnames?"

Zhuang Jin: ???

Are you Liu Bei? Next, are you going to suggest we share the same quilt—oh no, sleep head-to-toe?

Zhuang Jin withdrew his hand without leaving a trace and sighed, "When I look at Ward Supervisor Ou, I too feel a sense of affinity, and normally I should not refuse. However, since Ward Supervisor Ou has investigated me, you surely know that both of my parents are... As the fortune-teller said, I am half a 'Lone Star of Calamity'. Taking a wife and having children is fine, but as for parents and brothers, they are bound to be cursed by me, meeting a tragic and untimely end!"

"I took a vow long ago never to become sworn brothers with anyone... Ward Supervisor Ou, what are you doing? Are you trying to put me in an unrighteous position and force me to break my oath?"

Seeing that even bringing up Schrödinger's 'tragic and untimely end' failed to scare the man off—and noticing he was about to speak again with that deeply affectionate expression—Zhuang Jin hastily pulled out a 'fabrication' of an oath to block the man's words.

"Very well, since that is the case, then so be it. Thinking about it now, upon our first meeting today, bringing this up was indeed a bit abrupt. It is truly because upon meeting a person of your stature, my desire to forge a deep friendship was overpowering, which led me to act thus."

Ou Wenzhong phrased these words exceptionally well. Pausing for a moment, he continued, "When Ward Supervisor Zhuang was transferred to the east side of the city to recuperate, I, on behalf of all the ward supervisors of the east side, welcomed you wholeheartedly. Ward Supervisor Zhuang is a 'hero among men', and the east side can be considered a 'land of spiritual energy'. This is truly heroes matching the spiritual land—a match made in heaven!"

"By the way, my colleagues, the ward supervisors of the east side, certainly did not offer empty words in welcoming Ward Supervisor Zhuang. We have prepared three gifts, and we hope Ward Supervisor Zhuang will graciously accept them."

As he spoke, he clapped his hands. A servant carrying a tray stepped forward and lifted the red cloth, revealing a profound-grade medium-tier exotic beast leather armor beneath!

A profound-grade medium-tier exotic beast leather armor was tanned and crafted from the skin of an exotic beast that had achieved minor mastery in flesh-refinement. Flesh-refinement at the minor mastery level corresponded to a Ninth-Meridian martial artist. It can be said that this item provided excellent protection against physical force below the Tenth Meridian, earning it the title of a life-saving treasure. A single piece was worth eight thousand battle merits, showing an immensely generous hand.

"This is a profound-grade medium-tier exotic beast leather armor. If Ward Supervisor Zhuang had worn this armor back then, you surely would not have been injured... This is the first gift. What about the second?"

Ou Wenzhong said, beckoning for another servant carrying a tray to step forward and uncover it. This time, the contents revealed a century-old blood-jade ginseng.

Blood-jade ginseng possessed the effect of nourishing vital energy and blood, and its five elements leaned toward yin, making it optimal for women to consume. This particular blood-jade ginseng was over a century old, making it all the more rare. It was worth two to three thousand silver taels, and was the kind of item that had a market price but no availability.

"I heard that your wife suffers from a blood disorder, and this item is precisely suited for her use. And now, the third..."

Ou Wenzhong retrieved a stack of title deeds from his bosom as he spoke: "Ward Supervisor Zhuang has rendered great service and suffered much hardship. Upon coming to the east side of the city, you deserve to live in comfort and luxury. This is a deed for a large five-compound courtyard, ten thriving storefronts, and a thousand mu of fertile farmland, offered to you as a welcoming gift."

These houses, fields, and properties were worth at least ten thousand silver taels, yet they were referred to merely as a 'welcoming gift', demonstrating extreme financial clout.

Clearly, this man came fully prepared, and the three gifts were extremely well-targeted.

First: Zhuang Jin was known as a 'martial maniac', possessed extremely high aptitude, and had a cautious temperament, so they gifted an exotic beast leather armor.
Second: Chen Yun suffered from a blood disorder, so they specifically gifted a century-old blood-jade ginseng.
Third: People of this world shared the deep-seated obsession of acquiring land, houses, and establishing businesses, so they gifted houses, land, and properties.

'The gifts of fate have already been marked with a price in the dark. I dare not accept things when I do not know what is demanded in return!'

Zhuang Jin thought to himself, his gaze sweeping across the three gifts one by one: 'However, the profound-grade medium-tier exotic beast leather armor, along with the houses, land, and properties, are fine. But that century-old blood-jade ginseng...'

The profound-grade medium-tier exotic beast leather armor wouldn't be needed because for the next half year he would be stationed in the east side of the city with no military conflicts expected, and afterward he would at least reach the Tenth Meridian.
The houses, land, and businesses were all external possessions and he didn't hold them in high regard.
Only that century-old blood-jade ginseng—because of Chen Yun's blood disorder, Zhuang Jin had been thinking of nourishing her body and had recently been trying to purchase such an item, though the ones he found were all too low in age to be of much use. He hadn't expected Ou Wenzhong to produce one.

'If I miss out on this century-old blood-jade ginseng, who knows when I will encounter another. I must secure this item.'

However, he understood a fundamental principle: if you desire something, you must not show it too strongly, otherwise you would expose your weakness and lose the initiative in negotiations. At this, a thought flickered in his mind, and he said, "Unearned rewards cannot be accepted; I must ask Ward Supervisor Ou to take these things back!"

Ou Wenzhong saw that Zhuang Jin’s expression remained clear-headed without a trace of obsession. While inwardly lamenting how tricky the man was, he also felt a sense of admiration and praise: 'An ordinary person, showered with such praise, flattery, and sincere professions of friendship, would have long since regarded me as a bosom friend and confidant. Yet this Zhuang Jin is just as the intelligence reports described: exceptionally cautious and slippery as an eel!'

'Following that, I tempted him with benefits—three targeted perks worth twenty to thirty thousand silver taels. Anyone else would likely have been dazed and utterly bewildered... Once he accepted, the first step would be taken, and I would have subsequent methods to drag him into the water... Yet this Zhuang Jin remains entirely clear-headed and refuses to take the bait!'

Pondering to himself, he decided to play his final card: "Ward Supervisor Zhuang, do you know that a great disaster is about to befall you?"

"Oh? And where might this disaster come from?"

Zhuang Jin asked, though he was sneering inwardly: 'First he elevates you with praise, then tempts you with benefits, and now comes the alarmist scare tactics and intimidation?'

Sure enough, Ou Wenzhong stared straight into Zhuang Jin’s eyes and threatened, "The east side of the city is a place where dragons hide and tigers crouch, with all kinds of complicated relationships forming a web. Ward Supervisor Zhuang has just arrived here, with shallow foundations and keeping to the outside to preserve yourself—naturally, you will become a target. Under such circumstances... wouldn't that be perilous?!"

This was intimidation, but also a naked threat!

"Why must Ward Supervisor Ou try to frighten me? The prefecture city belongs to the Shen family, and the east side belongs to the Shen family. No matter how intricate this web is, surely it cannot cover the sky and block out the sun, preventing me from seeing the morning light?"

Zhuang Jin narrowed his eyes, locking gazes with Ou Wenzhong.

'We have a problem!' Ou Wenzhong sighed inwardly, a heavy look surfacing on his expression.

This time, Zhuang Jin had rendered great service, and the Department of General Affairs used this as an excuse to force him in here. If he truly proved impervious to both soft and hard tactics and was dead set on acting as a blade, it would cause massive destruction!

—Don't think that because Zhuang Jin was merely a ward supervisor of a single ward and seemingly confined to making trouble within Qingyuan Ward, that things worked that way. When Qingyuan Ward suffered an incident and a breach was opened, the Department of General Affairs and the Law Enforcement Department could seamlessly cut in, triggering a chain reaction... Just like playing chess, if a single chess piece is used in the right place, it can slaughter a large swath of pieces and revitalize the entire chessboard.

To put it simply, Zhuang Jin couldn't help them much, but he possessed an immense capacity to ruin things. It was precisely because of this leverage that they had gone to such extravagant lengths to bribe him.

In the air, their gazes collided, seemingly sparking electric flashes and fire.

A moment later, Ou Wenzhong averted his gaze, sighed, and said, "Sigh, I truly admire Ward Supervisor Zhuang and cannot bear to witness or speak of untoward events. How about this? I can mediate with those people... As long as Ward Supervisor Zhuang does not interfere, both sides can remain at peace and unharmed. How does that sound?"

His purpose in coming this time was to win over, corrupt, find leverage, and turn Zhuang Jin into one of their own... But if that failed, his bottom line was simply: Zhuang Jin must not meddle, turning a blind eye and a deaf ear.

Seeing this, Zhuang Jin mused that the 'Open Window Theory' indeed proved effective: 'If I had proactively brought this up earlier, this fellow most likely would have been dissatisfied, pushed his luck, and continued pressing me. Now, by putting on the posture of a man willing to act as a blade and fight to the death, the other party has grown fearful and compromised by offering this alternative, allowing me to seize the initiative...'

"This..." He put on a troubled expression.

Seeing that there was a glimmer of hope and that Zhuang Jin didn't seem utterly inflexible, Ou Wenzhong quickly urged, "As the saying goes, a cornered dog will vault over a wall, and even a rabbit will bite when pushed, let alone driving a person to a dead end! Ward Supervisor Zhuang, leave a margin in everything you do, so we may meet again pleasantly in the future!"

"That does make sense," Zhuang Jin said, glancing once more at the century-old blood-jade ginseng.

Realizing what was happening, Ou Wenzhong laughed in spite of himself. "Is Ward Supervisor Zhuang waiting for this? As long as Ward Supervisor Zhuang does not get involved, I will take it upon myself to leave all three gifts behind as a present to you."

"Is Ward Supervisor Ou trying to trick me again?"

Zhuang Jin shook his head. Was this something he could just take for free? Taking people's things leaves you soft-handed; once a precedent was set, step by step he would be dragged into the muddy waters.

In the end, he only requested the century-old blood-jade ginseng, paying for it with silver at market value.

Seeing Zhuang Jin's resolute attitude, Ou Wenzhong had no choice but to drop the matter, comforting himself with the thought: 'At least this isn't the worst-case scenario where this Zhuang Jin turns out to be a stubborn fool acting as a sharp blade.'

That indeed would have been a massive headache for them. Because of Zhuang Jin's meritorious service, chasing him away was temporarily impossible. Causing Zhuang Jin to suffer an accident was even more of a worst-case strategy—since Zhuang Jin was a publicized hero and benchmark figure, if they truly let him meet an unexplained end... things would blow up completely, and the entire east side of the city would be turned upside down.

After a round of sparring and probing, knowing that neither of them was an easy opponent, their subsequent conversation—compared to the earlier hypocrisy—appeared much more sincere: "Huang Jun and the other two street supervisors under Ward Supervisor Zhuang have elders who have spoken with me, entrusting me to ask Ward Supervisor Zhuang to look after them a bit... I think those juniors below still need more tempering. What does Ward Supervisor Zhuang think?"

The meaning behind these words was that Ban Ming, Song Jinghui, and Huang Jun—the three street supervisors—all had elder figures of guard-level backing them.

It was also a test for Zhuang Jin. No matter how well Zhuang Jin promised, actions spoke louder than words, and this would serve as proof.

Zhuang Jin naturally understood. However, he had intended to do this anyway; wasting energy on minor benefits and oil-and-water gains would distract from martial arts cultivation, which was entirely not worth it. Since a tacit understanding had just been reached, he didn't mind doing a favor: "Easily said, easily said. I am someone who loves peace and detests trouble. As long as they don't stir up trouble or disrupt things needlessly, I am more than happy to see things run smoothly."

Such sincerity relaxed the atmosphere in the room considerably. Ou Wenzhong chatted idly for a moment longer before taking his leave.

...

Three days later, the items Zhuang Jin had asked Qian Wende to investigate yielded results.

"It is utterly pitch black and corrupt! Zhuang Bro, can you imagine that in a prosperous and wealthy place like the east side of the city, the silver collected and turned upward from each street is about the same as the newly occupied streets in the north side?"

Qian Wende recounted the fishy dealings: "Because there is a rule that a portion of the silver collected can be retained for street maintenance and development, the trees by the roadside here are planted only to be dug up, and dug up only to be replanted... The bluestone slabs on the roads are paved only to be torn apart, and torn apart only to be repaved. Year in and year out, endlessly, goodness knows how many funds just vanish like that..."

"And those aren't even the worst. The worst are those ward supervisors and street supervisors. Supposedly stationed to maintain order and security, these people personally step into the fray, using both righteous and underhanded means through extortion and coercion... Right now, throughout the entire east side of the city, any shop in a half-decent location has intricate ties connecting back to them..."

Hearing this, Zhuang Jin nodded slightly. He found these revelations neither surprising nor unexpected.

To say he was surprised meant that the situation in the east side was even graver than he had imagined, rotting to such an extent. To say he wasn't surprised meant that had it not involved such colossal benefits, the entrenched interest groups of the east side represented by Ou Wenzhong wouldn't have come using both soft and hard tactics, spending such a huge price trying to corrupt him.

"The Shen family is a powerful clan of the prefecture city. Why has the east side lost control and degenerated to this state? Doesn't the Shen family care? Are there no countermeasures?"

"According to what I've inquired, this didn't happen overnight. It accumulated bit by bit, generation after generation, over many years, until it reached this point... Those people intermarry and collude, you have me in you and I have you in me, ultimately weaving themselves into an intricate web..."

Qian Wende lowered his voice instinctively as he spoke, "I heard that within the various departments of the main headquarters above, quite a few of their people are planted..."

"It's not that the Shen family doesn't care; they've introduced plenty of targeted policies. For instance, there's a rule that the relatives and children of a ward supervisor cannot serve as street supervisors under their command. But that's easily bypassed: your descendants come under my command, and my descendants go under yours. There's also a rule that ward supervisors, street supervisors, and their families cannot engage in commerce, and there are limits on the number of houses, land, and properties they can own. But these assets can simply be registered under someone else's name; it's nothing more than changing the outer skin... In short, for every policy from above, there are corresponding countermeasures below."

As he spoke, a hesitant look appeared on his face. After a moment of thought, he spoke anyway: "Zhuang Bro, the stakes here are too huge and run too deep. It's truly too difficult to meddle with. We had best not get involved..."

Zhuang Jin naturally understood: 'I underestimated it before. If I had really agreed to act as the Eighth Young Master's blade, it would be one thing if no commotion was raised, but if things actually blew up... I fear being driven out of the east side would be the lightest outcome. To a certain extent, it wouldn't be surprising if I ended up dead under mysterious circumstances.'

"Still, it's good to understand the situation and keep it in mind. Our coming here to the east side is to recuperate and build up our strength; there is no need to blindly plunge into such a whirlpool."

He offered Qian Wende a reassuring statement, using the man's mouth to signal his stance to the other confidants. Seeing the visible relief wash over his subordinate's face, Zhuang Jin waved his hand and dismissed him.