Well, well, the big BOSS turned out to be me?
Seeing that he had noticed his little notebook, Li Qing didn’t even feel embarrassed. He generously and seriously handed the notebook over to him, pointing to his name and saying, "Here, Yang Tiansheng, your name is last. After I fight with you, I can return to Chongyang Palace."
Yang Ge: ...
He took a deep breath and said helplessly, "All right then, I’ll go ahead and wish you a smooth journey and an early return to Lu Ting to settle the score with me!"
Li Qing nodded solemnly, "Definitely!"
Yang Ge turned his face away and called out, "Er Niu, Er..."
Li Qing quickly gestured with his hand, "No need to bother Brother Er Niu, it’s the same room as last time, right? I can go there by myself."
Yang Ge handed him the key to the room, "It’s the same room as last time. You go up and rest first. Er Niu will bring you some hot soup later, and tonight I’ll personally cook a couple of vegetarian dishes to welcome you."
Li Qing smiled, holding his sword in salute, "I’d like to thank Yang Tiansheng for his hospitable treatment in advance."
Yang Ge: "It’s nothing..."
Li Qing, with his sword in its cloth bundle slung over his shoulder, strolled through the front hall and went straight to the backyard.
Yang Ge watched his departing figure, thinking that the Southern martial arts world might get even livelier now... Although Li Qing was not yet a peerless Grandmaster, he was certainly viewed as one. His journey to the South to challenge others in the martial world would likely drag peerless Grandmasters from their untouchable shrines into the fray, escalating the intensity of the struggle in the Southern martial arts world.
’Thinking about this, the purpose of Li Qing’s master seems not so pure after all...’
Yang Ge mused to himself but couldn’t be certain.
After all, the judgment of Li Qing’s master regarding Li Qing was very similar to his own; they both approved of him having more exposure to the secular world, to ignite his ambition and overcome his too indifferent shortcomings, breaking through the Grandmaster barrier.
And compared to the peaceful martial arts world of the North, the Southern martial arts world with its chaotic and aggressive mentality was indeed a better place for challenging others.
Yang Ge shook his head, feeling that he might have been influenced by Shen Fa’s ambitious mindset, suspecting everyone of harboring grand ambitions.
However, the current Southern martial arts world did give him a sense of overflowing malevolence and crafty danger, as if everyone in that big pond was secretly stirring up the mud from the bottom, making the waters murkier.
Yang Ge forced himself to put that mess in the Southern martial arts world out of his mind, stood up, wrapped his arms around himself, and slowly sauntered behind Zhao Cha in the front hall...
Just when Yang Ge was intently standing behind Zhao Cha, a flea seemingly sprang out of nowhere, approached him quietly, and called in a low voice, "Second Master."
Yang Ge glanced at him, and with folded arms, walked toward the counter, asking, "What’s the matter?"
The flea: "It’s about Jiangzhe."
Yang Ge felt a sudden pang in his heart, "Did something happen to Li Jincheng?"
The flea hurriedly replied, "No, it’s not about Li Dangjia... It’s an issue with the tax inspection in Jiangzhe."
Yang Ge’s brows furrowed, "Explain in detail!"
The flea: "Didn’t you instruct us to keep a close watch on the tax inspection situation in Jiangzhe? Our establishment specifically dispatched a large number of scouts to Jiangzhe."
"Until now, everything had gone smoothly. With your well-known reputation, Wang Dashi faced no obstacles traveling through eleven prefectures of Jiangzhe; everywhere he went, both officials and commoners came out to welcome him..."
Yang Ge lightly knocked on the surface of the counter with his fingers, interrupting his flattery, "Get to the point!"
The flea stared solemnly and succinctly replied, "Reporting to Second Master, Wang Dashi’s men pressured someone to death in Jiangzhe. Rumors are spreading, accusing you of colluding with the court for wealth and rank, saying that you’ve turned to help the court oppress the common people of Jiangzhe. Although the locals don’t believe it... there’s something nefarious about the situation, and the rumor itself is strangely sinister."
Upon hearing this, Yang Ge suddenly laughed. He leisurely sat down on the high stool behind the counter and chuckled, "Is that so? How sinister is it?"
The flea spread his hands, "The people Wang Dashi sent to collect taxes did it in a sinister way, the death of that family was sinister, and the deliberately prepared slander is even more sinister... Clearly, there are traces everywhere, but our scouts just can’t trace it back to the source!"
Hearing this, Yang Ge reached up to stroke the beard on his chin, "So, does this mean that this is a result of Wang Dashi’s lack of control?"
The flea responded, "Second Master, according to various traces gathered by our establishment, this incident is unrelated to Wang Dashi."
"I just love the efficiency and decisiveness of your work!"
Yang Ge smiled and nodded, making a veiled dig at Shen Fa: "One is one, two is two, not like some people, full of ’should be,’ ’might be,’ and ’perhaps.’
The Flea responded with clasped hands: "It’s my duty, unworthy of Second Master’s praise."
Yang Ge reached out to help him up: "When the incident occurred, how did Wang Dashi handle it?"
The Flea: "At first, he only detained the underling involved, while sending people to investigate in secret. Once the rumors started, he detained all the subordinates who were with him, and executed them all on the third day."
"This is also a major reason why the people of Jiangzhe were not influenced by that corrupt trend."
Yang Ge’s eyelids twitched, and the smile slowly disappeared from his face.
The Flea, standing in front of him, unconsciously straightened his posture, looking straight ahead without wavering.
After a while, Yang Ge spoke again, asking indifferently, "Do you now have a general direction for the investigation?"
The Flea hesitated for two seconds, then replied: "As soon as there is progress, I will immediately report to Second Master!"
"Hmm..."
Yang Ge responded softly, and after thinking for a moment, he asked, "How much is the highest price for intelligence collection at ’Louwailou’?"
Quick-witted, The Flea answered without hesitation: "Second Master, five hundred taels!"
Yang Ge shook his head: "There’s no need to lie about the price, I’ve seen money... I will pay ten thousand taels, come to my place later to get the money. Investigate this matter thoroughly, get to the bottom of it, do not wrong the innocent, but also don’t let the guilty escape, and tell me immediately when there’s a result!"
The Flea: "I won’t disappoint you, Second Master."
Yang Ge nodded, waved his hand and said: "You may go now."
The Flea glanced toward Xiao Baoqi and his group, shook his head and said: "I won’t play anymore. I must rush back to send the message, I cannot delay Second Master’s important affairs."
With clasped hands, Yang Ge expressed gratitude: "You’ve worked hard..."
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This gesture startled The Flea, who then darted off running: "Second Master, you are too kind to me..."
Before his words had even faded, he had disappeared.
Yang Ge slowly lowered his hands, and exhaled a warm breath... There was indeed something sinister about this matter.
He certainly had quite a few enemies, but those capable of doing this were very limited... on Jiangzhe’s turf, slipping past the ubiquitous spies of ’Louwailou’ was not an easy task.
And among these people, none would do such a foolish thing that would gravely offend him without really hurting a hair on his head!
’Is it a frame-up or a diversion?’
Yang Ge’s eyes flickered as he pondered slowly: ’Or is it to lure the tiger away from the mountain?’
He was uncertain.
But either way, it was extremely bothersome.
Because regardless of the opponent’s intention, since they have already risked extermination to escalate matters to this level, they are unlikely to stop easily!
This meant that as long as he did not respond, the other party would surely continue to employ various vexing tactics against him.
Until he was forced to respond...
’Am I too compassionate, or are these people too courageous?’
Yang Ge asked himself in bewilderment: ’I am so powerful, how come there’s still an idiot popping up every other day to provoke me?’
Unable to understand, he made a firm decision that this time he had to retaliate more severely, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to live this life!