Chapter 36: Valiant Saber Guards
"Official Yuan, why are you bullying a blind, old lady like me? What did I do wrong?" Granny Wu continued to struggle as she wailed.
"Blind people don’t try to look all around them. Xu Ge, take off what's over her eyes," Fang Chen said calmly at the side.
"Yes." Xu Ge grinned. He reached for Granny Wu's eyes before pulling out two murky-white pieces that looked like soft scales. Granny Wu's eyes were bright—far from that of a blind person.
Yuan Yu and Fang Zhixue were both astonished at this weird turn of events.
Yuan Zhuang's expression stiffened, then a look of self-deprecation appeared on his face. He, the chief constable of the Grand Brilliance Bureau, was actually played like a fiddle!
"These are skin from the eyes of a fish. A little trick we used to do as children to play. One we did one too many times and grew bored off.” Xu Ge sneered.
Granny Wu turned stiff, and her eyes started to flicker. She tried to formulate a plan of escape. She wanted to escape when Xu Ge wasn’t paying attention, but struggling free from an expert like him was no easy task. She stirred and struggled in his grasp.
He grabbed her neck a little tighter and growled, "My lord didn't say you could leave. If you try to run, I’ll break your legs!"
"Speak up; where did the missing siblings go?" Fang Chen asked calmly.
Granny Wu's expression changed. "I really don't know. I saw that no one had been living here for a long time and decided to settle down here after my retirement,” she said, her expression turning into one of slight embarrassment.
"Tell us the truth.” Fang Chen’ s mouth rose. "No one has been living here for quite a long time. If you just needed a place to stay, you would have been here much sooner."
Granny Wu didn't expect him to see right through her so easily, and her expression flickered uncontrollably.
"If you continue to lie, we'll take you back to the Grand Brilliance Bureau for questioning. There, you’ll spill the beans whether you like it or not—one way or the other,” Yuan Zhuang said in a cold voice.
"Official Yuan, I’ll talk, I’ll talk!" Granny Wu begged.
Turns out, she was a seasoned swindler. She would specifically choose places that had been uninhabited for a long time and would pretend to be related to the owners of the place before looking for a chance to sell their house away.
She knew that the place had been empty for some time and went to ask the neighbors about its background. Eventually, she pretended to be blind to take the house for herself.
“I’m sure things aren’t this simple.” Fang Chen snorted. “Since you refuse to tell the truth, there’s no need to bother with you any longer. Just take her away.”
“Wait, no! I’ll... I’ll talk...” Granny Wu’s expression changed again, and she began to speak. “Back then, someone informed me that there was no one left in the house and for me to do what I always did. However, he had a request. He told me to pretend to be related to the siblings, and if any official were to show up, I would keep the act up till they left me alone.”
Yuan Zhuang felt his blood drain. Her words meant that the disappearance of the siblings was part of a conspiracy. Otherwise, why would someone arrange for her to fool the officials who came knocking.
“Who was it?” Fang Chen asked.
“I-I have no idea! I was forced to do it. He said that he’ll kill me if I refuse. I didn’t dare go against his words,” she cried. “My lord, please forgive me! Let me off just this once and I’ll never do it again.”
Fang Chen glanced at her before turning to Granddaddy Lu. “And you? Who called you here?"
"Who are you?" He stared at Fang Chen. "I advise you not to meddle in this. You can’t afford to provoke the people behind me."
"How dare the Grand Brilliance Bureau act beyond its authority? Even if the Inner City doesn't have enough criminals for you to apprehend, you can’t come over and interfere in the workings of my Outer City!” A middle-aged man with a group of people trailing behind came yelling at Yuan Zhuang.
Granddaddy Lu’s eyes lit up. "Lord Xu, over here!"
Fang Chen turned his head and discovered that a group of people had arrived. Those people were clad in bright red armor. They carried sabers at their waist and wore tall gauze hats. In the capital city, there was only one group of people who dressed that way: the Valiant Saber Guards.
The Valiant Saber Guards hadn’t existed for a long time. The emperor created the order around ten or so years ago. They were elites selected from the military and from various clans to form a force that was spread out to the various states and prefectures of the Grand Xia Empire.
The Valiant Saber Guards boasted a pretty high status in the empire, and they only needed to report to their superiors. When facing other high-ranking officials of different departments, they could disregard their commands entirely.
Therefore, the Valiant Saber Guards acted extremely domineering. They knew no reason nor logic. Thus, many people dared not easily offend them out of fear.
There were two Valiant Saber Guards stations in the capital, one in the Inner City and one in the Outer City.
The Valiant Saber Guards in the Inner City were relatively low-key. They would only do what they were supposed to. They did not interfere with the other high-ranking departments.
But things weren’t quite the same in the Outer City. The Valiant Saber Guards in the Outer City patrolled day and night. They basically controlled everything. Their words carried more weight than anyone else’s!
"So it's Lord Xu." Yuan Zhuang cupped his fist.
The other party glanced at Yuan Zhuang coldly. "Yuan Zhuang, I remember telling you a few years ago; If you come over to my Outer City to do anything, you have to inform our station first. From what I’ve heard, you brought your men over and assaulted innocent civilians. Is that true?”
"Innocent civilians? Are you talking about this guy?” Yuan Zhuang pointed at Granddaddy Lu, who was sprawled on the ground. "If he is an innocent civilian, then I must be a saint."
"Don't give me that shit. Since you can’t explain yourself, then don’t blame me. Bring them all away!” Lord Xu waved his hand.
The Valiant Saber Guards behind him rushed forward to arrest everyone.
Xu Ge immediately stood in front of Fang Chen. He stared coldly at the guard before him. "My lord won't be going anywhere."
"How dare you?!" The Valiant Saber Guards drew their sabers one after another, their eyes icy as they looked at Xu Ge.
In an instant, the small courtyard was filled with a murderous atmosphere.
“Lord Xu, that’s the Windy Cloud Swordsman. Please be careful. Even I failed to do anything to him!” yelled the leader.
“Windy Cloud Swordsman?” Lord Xu frowned. “How dare a martial artist like you cause trouble in the capital? Do you think you can go against us just because you’re at the peak of the Qi Detonation Stage?”
"Lord Xu, judging by your waist badge, you're a captain of a hundred men, right?" Fang Chen interjected suddenly.
Lord Xu glanced at Fang Chen and felt that the person in front of him was somewhat familiar. He faintly recalled seeing him somewhere before.
Fang Chen shook his head and laughed. "A captain of the Valiant Saber Guards has about the same standing as a head investigator of the Grand Brilliance Bureau. But it looks like you don’t care about that. Are you really going to arrest them all? Heh. You Valiant Saber Guards really like to act the tyrants, don’t you?”
"Whether the Valiant Saber Guards are overbearing or not, you have no qualifications to judge that." Lord Xu sneered. "Who do you think you are? Which family do you come from? I’m telling you, stay in the Inner City if you have nothing better to do. What's the point of mingling with people like Yuan Zhuang? Don't come to the Outer City again in the future."
"Lord Xu, it seems you've been in the Outer City for far too long. You can’t even recognize Divine General Fang. With your eyesight, I’m afraid your path ahead is going to be a rocky one.” Yuan Zhuang sighed deliberately.
Divine General Fang?
Lord Xu’s expression wasn’t the only one to change. Even Granddaddy Lu and his subordinates were shocked, and they began to tremble violently. They slowly turned to look at Fang Chen in disbelief.
Granny Wu, who had been captured by Xu Ge earlier, felt her legs go soft as she slumped to the ground.
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