Chapter 64: Unfathomable
In that instant, everyone fixed their gaze on Gu Zhan, their expressions varying.
And Gu Zhan immediately caught on,
He finally figured it out,
All the peculiar things Wan Yan had done since his arrival now had a perfectly reasonable explanation.
Wan Yan wanted him to be his blade!
When Gu Chuan left earlier, he already broke down the current situation in Linjiang County for him.
Linjiang County has two big forces locked in overt and covert struggles,
One is Magistrate Yang Yuzhi, representing the Transitory Official faction, and the other is Wu County Magistrate, representing the Noble Families.
This is the same in every local government office,
Part of it is tightly grasped by local noble families, and the other by transitory officials sent by the Court.
It’s a balancing act by the Court,
Because in many remote regions, the noble families are deeply rooted, and if the Court doesn’t keep rotating officials, after a while, these places become de facto independent zones, which the Court would never allow. That’s why there’s always factional strife.
Basically, it’s like this everywhere in the country,
The top official is absolutely never a local, specifically to check the noble families.
And Linjiang County is no exception,
Magistrate Yang and Wu County Magistrate have wrestled openly and in the shadows for years, but always found themselves just a bit on the back foot.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard used to be a giant in the local administration; with Luo Bingsheng there, they could mostly stay out of it, but after his death—well, let’s just say Magistrate Yang and Wu County Magistrate looking the other way definitely played a part in that.
And now this new Households Commander, Wan Yan,
His identity’s already public—he’s from the same sect as Magistrate Yang. To be blunt, he was sent here specifically to help Magistrate Yang deal with the noble families.
And now,
Wan Yan stripped Rong Hao of his post under the pretense of a mere drinking incident and found an excuse to remove a Hundred Households. Now he’s pushing Gu Zhan to the forefront, just to set him up as a blade to go clash with the noble families head-on.
Gu Zhan got it in an instant,
Why did Wan Yan crack down so hard on every other Hundred Households Office but leave South City untouched, and in public make a show of being close to him—it was to make all the noble families suspicious and envious of him.
And now he was pushing him to the front,
forcing him to break ties with the noble families.
"Fuck... this cunning old bastard!"
Gu Zhan cursed under his breath and immediately stood up, cupping his fist. "Households Commander Wan, this humble officer is still young and brash, and even keeping order in South City alone taxes me greatly. I truly can’t take on any more. Please choose another more capable person!"
Wan Yan seemed to have expected Gu Zhan’s refusal and said, "Since Lord Gu is in a tough spot, very well—I’ll pick someone else."
Gu Zhan was slightly taken aback, not having expected Wan Yan to back down so simply.
For a moment, he just couldn’t figure out what the hell Wan Yan was up to.
"Drink up, drink up!"
Wan Yan chuckled and raised his cup, serene as a spring breeze, with not a single trace of annoyance at being publicly refused by Gu Zhan.
The other Hundred Households were all lost in thought,
The whole banquet went down heavy,
And ended rather quickly.
Altogether, it barely lasted half an hour.
Everyone started making their farewells and leaving.
Full of doubts, Gu Zhan was about to leave too. Just as he stepped out of the hall, he suddenly remembered that the Inheritance Pavilion at the Hundred Households Office was now open, so he turned and headed there with his men.
The Inheritance Pavilion of the Hundred Households Office was built just like those of the other offices,
A small courtyard, tightly guarded.
Gu Zhan walked straight to an administrative office, where a young man in a Chief Banner uniform sat reading an illustrated novel. Seeing someone enter, he glanced up—and then simply lowered his head and kept reading.
Gu Zhan frowned, walked over, and said: "I am Gu Zhan, South City Embroidered Uniform Guard Hundred Households—I’m here to receive martial arts techniques."
The Chief Banner put down his novel in obvious annoyance and grunted, "No can do!"
Gu Zhan’s voice dropped. "And why not?"
The Chief Banner replied irritably, "I said no means no. Do you not understand? Come back another day!"
Gu Zhan’s brows furrowed,
He’d come to the Hundred Households Office on business more than once—every time, the staff saw him, they were always courteous and swift. Today’s bullshit was really something new.
Gu Zhan said coldly, "I am South City Embroidered Uniform Guard—"
The Chief Banner interrupted with obvious impatience, "I know, I know, you’re South City Hundred Households. Big deal. I’m from Yunzhou Garrison myself. Why put on airs with me? Don’t you know the rules? To get a martial arts technique, you have to submit military merits. You got any? If you’ve got none, what’re you shouting about here? I said you can’t get it, so you can’t. Can’t you understand human speech or what..."
Gu Zhan’s face darkened instantly, a flicker of murderous intent in his eyes. In a flash, his hand shot out, grabbing the guy by the neck. "Are you trying to teach me how to do my job?"
The Chief Banner was just a Fifth Grade Martial Artist. Gu Zhan, being Innate, instantly sealed off his meridians with True Qi—the man couldn’t move at all, his novel hitting the ground, mouth gaping in terror: "You...you...what are you doing...somebody...somebody, quick, help...!"
The guards outside, hearing the commotion, rushed in, shouting.
Gu Zhan’s own guards instantly drew their weapons.
Gu Zhan slowly turned his head and glanced at the guards,
In that instant, the guards froze. They were mostly old hands from the original Hundred Households Office—none of them could possibly be unfamiliar with Gu Zhan, the God of Slaughter of Linjiang County.
"Lord...Lord Gu..."
"Lord Gu, is...is there some misunderstanding..."
A Chief Banner braced himself and asked.
Gu Zhan said blandly, "Nothing to do with you lot. Leave. I need to teach this blind bastard a lesson in obedience!"
Slap!
Gu Zhan let the Chief Banner’s neck go—before the man could so much as take a breath, Gu Zhan’s backhand sent him slamming into the wall and down to the floor.
The Chief Banner tried to get up,
Gu Zhan walked over, stomped on his back, and said coldly, "Didn’t you just ask if I knew the rules? Well, this is my rule. Get it now?"
The young Chief Banner, gasping, managed, "This is the Hundred Households Office...do you know I’m Commander Wan Yan’s nephew? You dare do this to me—"
"Clearly you don’t get it!"
Gu Zhan sneered, and kicked the young Chief Banner flying to the doorstep. The guy spewed blood from his mouth.
He struggled to his feet, glancing at the guards around him,
Only to find every one of them had backed away, not daring to even breathe aloud.
At this moment,
The young Chief Banner’s eyes suddenly lit up. He saw Wan Yan striding into the courtyard, and instantly shouted, "Uncle! Uncle, help me! Gu Zhan’s going to kill me!"
Wan Yan strode right in,
The young Chief Banner had finally found his savior, and immediately raised his arrogant chin again, pointing at Gu Zhan, "Uncle, it’s him! He tried to forcefully take the secret manual without any merit, and then he beat me up—I wouldn’t let him, and he tried to kill me!" Then he pointed to the guards: "And these dogs, they just stood by and didn’t stop him—"
Slap!
To everyone’s shock, Wan Yan suddenly backhanded the young Chief Banner across the face and barked, "Are you blind? Don’t you recognize this is Gu Zhan, South City Hundred Households? New Hundred Households can come to the Inheritance Pavilion to collect secret manuals—this has always been the rule! Who the hell are you to make things hard for Lord Gu? Go fetch the secret manual list and apologize to Lord Gu right now—or I’ll kick you to death myself!"