Evening time.
To the west of the imperial city of Haojing lay the First-Class District Market, specifically Fengdiao Lane, Sauce Jar Street.
This was the busiest, most bustling street in Fengdiao Lane.
Even during the first month of the lunar year, people still came and went in endless waves, throngs pushing and shoving.
Walking along the street, Lu Qian listened carefully to the explanations given by the seasoned five-star jailer, Old He, who was in charge of guiding him.
He involuntarily took a deep breath.
Liu Wu — male, twenty-five years old — was the young master of the Liu family manor in Jin Gu Lane.
Jin Gu Lane, a seventh-class district market in Haojing, stretched about 350 li in length and width.
It contained over four million mu of prime farmland.
The Liu manor held roughly one-tenth of that land.
Each year, the Liu family earned considerable wealth just from selling grain and raising silkworms to produce silk.
Their financial situation could easily be described as very prosperous.
Liu Wu’s father had gotten him late in life.
Liu Wu had seven older sisters, all married off to some gentry or wealthy merchants in Jin Gu Lane and neighboring districts.
From a young age, Liu Wu was spoiled endlessly by his aging parents as well as his seven sisters and their husbands, raising him with every indulgence—resulting in a litter of bad habits.
He was fond of women’s company, and on top of that, he was willful and cruel.
Over the past several years, the Liu family had reported to the district magistrate’s office that forty-three maidservants had died from “violent illnesses” in their service!
“Forty-three? The Jin Gu magistrate didn’t do anything?” Lu Qian couldn’t resist asking out loud.
He immediately slapped himself lightly on the face.
“Do something? How could they?”
Those maidservants were undoubtedly slaves who had signed death contracts.
They were the private property of the Liu family.
In the Great Yin Empire’s law, slaves were utterly lowly.
They were not even recognized as human beings but treated like cattle and sheep raised by the Liu family.
So what if a few of their own livestock got beaten to death?
The Jin Gu magistrate would never disturb the Liu family’s possession of hundreds of thousands of mu of land or their numerous relatives and connections over the deaths of a few lowly “beasts.”
Old He, with his tawny skin and simple, honest appearance, chuckled a few times and pointed toward Lu Qian as he explained, “Just understand it this way: those maids clearly died from being insulted and abused. But that’s how the law is. Liu Wu is indeed not a good person, but according to the law, he is innocent!”
Silence followed.
“Then why are we looking for him?” Lu Qian asked, confused.
“In the eighteenth year of the Jiayou era — last year on the eighteenth day of the last lunar month — the Liu family had another maidservant die suddenly due to illness. Her name was ‘Green Sparrow,'” Old He said as he strode ahead cautiously, glancing left and right along the street.
“That very night, Green Sparrow was buried.”
“Then on the twentieth day of the last month, Lady Qionghua of Min’an Lane’s Pleasure Pavilion and He Jun, the Anle District magistrate, were attacked.”
Old He lowered his voice, “A respectable fourth-grade district magistrate was nearly killed on the spot, and the injuries were extremely... strange.”
“There were eyewitnesses from the Pleasure Pavilion who saw the attacker’s face.”
“Based on what they described, we drew up a sketch of the culprit.”
“Coincidentally, one of our operatives in the Imperial Prison had an informant at the Toothworks. That person had sold ‘Green Sparrow’ to the Liu family in late November last year. Because Green Sparrow was beautiful and literate, she was quite valuable. The informant remembered her clearly and recognized the suspect in the sketch—Green Sparrow herself.”
Lu Qian felt a chill shoot up his back, the hairs on his neck standing on end.
“Brother He, are you saying that a maid who had been dead for two whole days showed up at the Pleasure Pavilion and attacked Magistrate He Jun of Anle District?”
Old He’s voice was slightly rough.
“A team of brothers was assigned to open Green Sparrow’s grave. Inside the coffin, there was only a set of burial clothes and a pool of blood.”
“Those on the scene said that in the dead of winter, when they opened the coffin, the blood was still wet and dripping—not frozen at all.”
Lu Qian’s teeth felt cold, and every hair on his body stood up.
Old He continued, “A six-star captain led an investigation. When they arrived at the Liu manor, everyone but Liu Wu was found dead: the old master, his wife, every servant—all had perished.”
Lu Qian’s heart shuddered.
Old He shook his head and glanced over at a few men leaning against a wall, squatting and chatting idly.
“According to the village residents at Liu manor, in the early morning of the nineteenth day, the very next day after Green Sparrow’s burial, they heard terrible screams coming from the Liu manor. Some saw through a crack in the door that Liu Wu had fled at night, accompanied by two guards, escaping from Jin Gu Lane.”
“The next day, at noon, the villagers mustered the courage to check the Liu estate and discovered the whole family dead—every corpse shrunken and withered, like mummies dried under the sun for months.”
Old He led Lu Qian over to those idle men as he muttered, “What’s maddening is that they didn’t report to the authorities right away.”
“Liu Wu ran away. The clan elders avoided the district magistrate’s office and instead went to notify the seven sisters and their husbands. By the time those fools got to Liu manor and were busy fighting over the inheritance, our Imperial Prison officers were already there.”
“Now, Liu Wu’s seven sisters, their husbands, and the clan elders are still locked up in the secret prison.”
“Alas, no one knows where Liu Wu is, but the captains and generals above do not believe it... They have been beating those prisoners day after day—oh, the gore...”
“In my opinion, those officials up top want them all dead.”
“The Liu manor has tens of thousands of mu of good land.”
“And the seven brothers-in-law’s properties amount to nearly the same value. Heh heh, you understand what I mean, right?”
“As for Liu Wu, whatever happened that night, we have to find him and get answers. Whether Green Sparrow was a living person or some ghostly creature, it all comes down to him.”
“Finally, there’s the land of the Liu manor.”
Old He lowered his voice, “Land without an owner is the easiest to take. So finding Liu Wu is absolutely necessary. And whichever team finds him will be rewarded generously, no doubt about it!”
The idle men, seeing Old He and Lu Qian in white robes, hurriedly stood and bowed deeply from a distance with reverence, calling out repeatedly in earnest, “Master He!”
Old He coldly pointed at those men. “These are members of the Sanhu Gang. Every month, every shop on Sauce Jar Street pays them protection money. Of that sum, sixty percent goes to the team led by Brother Lu, and we have to hand half of that up the chain.”
Lu Qian glanced at the men but said nothing.
They looked physically strong, having learned some basic martial arts, hovering on the threshold of Pu Yuan Realm cultivation.
They bullied common folk and were skilled in that, but before the Imperial Prison, they were just meek lambs.
Not to mention Lu Tianxing, Old He himself had reached the seventh level of Meridian Expansion, able to kill all those men with one hand.
When Old He spoke, those idle men bowed respectfully like dutiful grandsons before their grandfather.
Old He whispered to Lu Qian a few words, then his steady, honest face suddenly twisted sinister.
He slapped the men hard one after another.
With a sharp ‘crack’ sound, more than a dozen hard slaps sent the idle men reeling.
Two even bled from their noses but did not dare to move, letting their blood drip and soak their clothes.
Nearby, the street quickly cleared.
Many passersby watched with a mix of curiosity and fear.
“Any news? Any useful news!” Old He growled fiercely, “I’m telling you, Brother Lu is furious these days. When he’s angry, we brothers’ tempers flare even more!”
“The truth is, when we get mad, we don’t even know what we might do!”
“Do you want to spend a few days in the Imperial Prison’s secret jail?”
Several idle men turned pale with fright.
The tallest among them trembled as he begged, “Master He, Master He, the Sanhu Gang has hundreds of brothers who have been working tirelessly these past two days.”
“I swear with my life, and my own head on the line—the fifteen hundred seventy-two shops and five thousand six hundred ninety-seven households on Sauce Jar Street have no outsiders or idlers.”
“The man stabbed near the street corner two nights ago must have been a passerby.”
“Passerby,” Old He slapped another man so hard that he spun around and hit the back of his head against the stone wall.
Pointing an accusing finger, he spat coldly, “I know you filthy scoundrels—all lazy and sneaky. Afraid to offend others, you hide information even when you get it.”
“In the past, we let it slide because this street cannot do without scum like you.”
“But this time it’s different.”
“Brother Lu said: give you three days. If in three days, there’s no solid, reliable news, the Sanhu Gang is finished. Take my words to your leader, then scram!”
The men groaned and knelt down, kowtowing to Old He before scrambling up and sprinting off.
Old He coughed heavily.
The men shivered, then quickly turned back and shakily pulled out a few small strings of coins from their sleeves, respectfully handing them to Old He.
Old He shook the coins, then casually slid about half of them—roughly over two hundred copper coins—into Lu Qian’s hand.
“Go on, remember—three days.” Old He’s face darkened as he glared at the men.
The men ran off, faster than rabbits with their tails on fire.
Lu Qian looked at the copper coins and forced a dry smile. “Brother He, what’s this?”
Old He casually stuffed the coins into his sleeve and returned to his honest, simple expression. “Those country bumpkins are unloved by father or mother and don’t do honest business. The money they pay is dirty. We take it and use it, to spend on expenses. We take from the people and use for the people—that’s our way of carrying out justice!”
Lu Qian was startled.
Take from the people, use for the people—such an explanation actually existed?
“But honestly, if they can’t find any useful information in three days, the Sanhu Gang will really be done for.”
Old He sighed thoughtfully. “The night before last, one of our brothers was killed at the entrance of Huangjiang Alley on Sauce Jar Street. All four of his underlings were also taken down—none escaped.”
“That’s already the eighteenth brother lost these days. Brother Lu is heartbroken. Then the neighboring team’s leader, Huang Bapi, insulted us a few times. You can imagine his temper.”
With arms crossed, Old He led Lu Qian forward along the street.
“Huang Bapi has been eyeing Sauce Jar Street for a long time—not just a day or two. Tsk, you’ll have to be careful if you run into him. His team is our mortal enemy.”
“Hmm, these past days, so many brothers have been busy with this case. Other teams haven’t lost anyone, but our team has suffered heavy casualties. Otherwise, you guys wouldn’t be able to join our team. That’s the excuse Huang Bapi’s people are looking for. Everyone’s tempers are already hot, and his meddling doesn’t help. Brother Lu’s blood is boiling.”
Lu Qian followed Old He, walking a while down the street, mulling over the situation Old He described.
After a long time, when Old He had already scolded a third group of idle men, Lu Qian lowered his voice: “Brother He, with our team’s brothers suffering the worst losses, maybe they’ve unknowingly uncovered something.”
Old He’s eyes suddenly lit up.