Chapter 319: 309: Hot Potato

Chapter 319: Chapter 309: Hot Potato

“Half-step Innate!”

Ah Da muttered under his breath, a trace of envy and helplessness flickered in his eyes.

If Yang Zhenshan were just at the Postnatal Ninth Layer, he would still have the courage to fight to the death.

But if Yang Zhenshan possessed the strength of a Half-step Innate, then his resistance would be futile.

Half-step Innate, although only half a step, already signifies a transformation.

Compared to Postnatal Martial Artists, it represents a completely different realm.

He held the knife in his hands, yet he couldn’t control it; such is the disparity.

Yang Zhenshan grabbed the blade and wrested away the long knife.

This knife isn’t bad, it seems not inferior to his Mystical Iron Spear, it would be suitable for Song Dashan!

“Still want to fight?”

As Yang Zhenshan admired the long knife, he asked nonchalantly.

Ah Da’s expression turned solemn, with ferocity in his eyes, “Fight!”

Saying so, he threw a punch toward Yang Zhenshan, the wind from the fist roaring, as if it had the force to shatter mountains and break stones.

Yang Zhenshan planted his spear on the ground and reached out to meet Ah Da’s fist.

With a bang, fist met palm; Ah Da took several steps back, while Yang Zhenshan stood immovable.

After repelling Ah Da, Yang Zhenshan then planted the long knife into the ground, and just as he did so, Ah Da lunged at him again.

The two exchanged kicks and punches; Ah Da clearly exhibited formidable skill in fistfighting, unlike Yang Zhenshan who had not practiced fist and palm techniques but had cultivated the Thousand Mechanism Hand.

Though Thousand Mechanism Hand is a hidden weapon technique, it trains one’s palms and wrists in force application and flexibility. Now, Yang Zhenshan’s Thousand Mechanism Hand had nearly reached the realm of divine mastery.

His large palms not only blocked Ah Da’s fists but also forced Ah Da to continuously retreat.

In fact, contesting fists with Yang Zhenshan was not a wise choice; Yang Zhenshan might not excel in martial arts, but he possessed formidable strength.

After enduring a dozen slaps from Yang Zhenshan, Ah Da felt both pain and swelling in his fist, his arm aching as if fractured.

However, at that moment, a fist fiercely struck his chest.

With a thud, Ah Da once again vanished amidst the rubble of shattered bricks.

Dust filled the air, and Ah Da nearly lost consciousness.

Yang Zhenshan looked at the slightly obscured figure through the dust, clapped his hands together, and stretched his fingers.

“Still want to fight?”

“Fight!”

From within the dust, Ah Da’s voice emerged, gritted with determination.

The next moment, thump~~

Yang Zhenshan’s fist heavily landed on his chest, “That’ll teach you to be stubborn!”

Blood trickled from the corner of Ah Da’s mouth as he started coughing violently, feeling as though his lungs were shattered, wanting to cough out the fragmented pieces.

“Still want to fight?”

“Kill me!” Ah Da’s voice became weak and hoarse.

Yang Zhenshan straightened up, his face showing a relieved expression.

Punching someone feels quite satisfying; he should find some boxing techniques to practice one day.

He looked down at the man in black who could no longer rise, grinned, “I won’t kill you!”

Although he didn’t know who this person was, he’d wait for the people from the Capital City to take him back.

He believed that sending him back would embarrass his master more than killing him.

As for whether this would offend his master, ha, from the moment he took down Luo Fu, Yang Zhenshan had already deeply offended them, no harm in offending them a bit more.

At this time, the battle with the soldiers had also ended; fifty soldiers had easily subdued over thirty men in black.

To speak of it, Ah Da had really underestimated Yang Zhenshan and the soldiers to think he could charge in with so few men.

“Sir!” Wang Xie came over and bowed with a salute.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, “What’s the situation?”

“All the attackers have been executed, we have seven brothers injured!” Wang Xie reported.

“How serious are the injuries?”

“The injuries are not severe!”

Yang Zhenshan nodded, not severe doesn’t mean they were minor, just that they could be treated, and there would be no casualties.

What Yang Zhenshan feared most was diminishing his troop’s numbers, be it from death or disability, which he didn’t want to see.

The five hundred soldiers, each of them was his treasure, he truly couldn’t bear parting with any.

“Isolate him in solitary confinement, as for the bodies of those men in black, drag them outside the city and bury them!” Yang Zhenshan briefly instructed.

“Yes!”

Wang Xie responded and then began directing the brothers to clean up the battlefield.

The soldiers who had hidden inside the hall were also called out; they might not participate in the fight, but they couldn’t slack off cleaning the battlefield.

In the subsequent days, Yang Zhenshan stayed vigilant inside the Salt Transport Department’s office to prevent anyone from coming to kill Luo Fu.

And where was Luo Fu?

Indeed, Luo Fu was inside the Salt Transport Department’s office, but not in those rooms, rather inside that water well!

That well beside which Yang Zhenshan was resting.

To prevent Luo Fu from being assassinated, Yang Zhenshan had indeed devoted a lot of effort.

On the sixth of July, eight hundred imperial guards, together with the constables from the Three Divisions Office, arrived at Liao’an Prefecture.

The first batch to arrive was not the main official in charge of handling this case, but rather the vanguard responsible for taking over the important prisoners from the Salt Transport Department.

They had traveled quickly, as for the senior officials from the Three Divisions, it would take them no less than half a month to arrive.

However, now that someone had come to take over, Yang Zhenshan could relax.

The imperial guards who came to take over were from the Fenwu Camp, led by the commander of the Fenwu Camp, Marquis Nanyang Lu Baishu.

The twelve camps of the imperial guards were commanded by twelve dukes, however, previously Marquis Jingyuan Su Qian had been dismissed, and Zhou Lan took over as the commander of the Fenwu Camp.

Marquis Nanyang Lu Baishu was a low-profile lord, extremely low-key in the Capital City, and even less well-known outside of the Capital.

However, Yang Zhenshan knew that this Marquis Nanyang was no simple character, according to the information gathered by Wu Zheng, Lu Baishu was known as a genius in his youth.

A genius is indeed different, the geniuses of the Capital City are certainly not illusory names.

To be esteemed as a genius in the Capital City means, in all of Da Rong, he is among those with outstanding talent.

The current Marquis Nanyang Lu Baishu is over forty, his cultivation profound and unfathomable, some say he reached the Postnatal Ninth Layer a decade ago, others say he is now at the Half-step Innate, and still others say he has already entered the Innate Realm.

To become one of the twelve dukes of the imperial guards, one must have either glorious military achievements or strong personal strength, and in any case, should excel in one of these aspects.

Since Marquis Nanyang Lu Baishu does not have military achievements, this indicates his personal strength is formidable.

Yang Zhenshan estimated he likely was not at Innate, but rather at Half-step Innate.

Inside the office of the Salt Transport Department, Yang Zhenshan handed over Luo Fu and Xu Huazhen to Lu Baishu.

“Luo Fu should be the principal culprit, this Xu Huazhen resisted, definitely an accomplice!”

“As for the others in the Salt Transport Department, I am not responsible for handling the case, and I am not sure if they were involved, so I had them detained as well!”

“Marquis, they are all yours now!”

Yang Zhenshan handed over the people to Lu Baishu briskly.

Lu Baishu looked quite young, not appearing to be in his forties, more like his early thirties. However, his thick fluffy beard somewhat decreased his handsomeness, giving him a rough and bold demeanor.

This is according to Yang Zhenshan’s aesthetic, in fact, a thick fluffy beard like Lu Baishu’s is seen as a fitting stature for a military general, while Yang Zhenshan’s drooping beard exemplifies the poise of an elder.

Cultivating a beard also has its norms, civil servants keep their beards neat and drooping to show an elegant and graceful air, while those of military generals are thick and fluffy, to display a robust and unrestrained demeanor.

When he first came to this world, Yang Zhenshan found beards too troublesome and wanted to shave it all off, but since the body and hair are inherited from one’s parents, it is not permissible to deliberately damage it, so he had to keep it.

Over the years, he has grown accustomed to it, and he even feels that a long beard has quite a style, somewhat resembling Lord Guan.

He doesn’t compare with Lord Guan, but he also wishes to gain the reputation of a ‘bearded gentleman’.

In the history of China, there were quite a few ‘bearded gentlemen’, everyone knows about Lord Guan. Then there’s Zhang Juzheng, whose “beard reached his belly,” the epitome of a ‘bearded gentleman’, and Su Dongpo, famed as ‘Bearded Su’, the most talented ‘bearded gentleman’.

Yang Zhenshan feels his beard is no less impressive than Lord Guan’s.

Thus, he now meticulously grooms his beard.

Inside the Salt Transport Department, the soldiers of Fenwu Camp were taking over from the troops of Tenglong Guard, with the Tenglong Guard soldiers retreating from the office.

“Ah, there’s one more person!”

Yang Zhenshan remembered Ah Da, “Marquis, please follow me!”

He was four or five years older than Lu Baishu, so addressing himself as an old man was fitting, as for calling himself a general, the title of Marquis surpasses even the highest rank, and his rank of Secondary Second Rank General only allowed him to use his seniority.

“General Yang, please!” Lu Baishu did not underestimate Yang Zhenshan, for Yang Zhenshan was also a military general with a distinguished record in battle, how could he take him lightly?

The two walked side by side to the door of a side room, “This man came to kill Luo Fu, and he has been captured by me. He must have some connection with the case of the Salt Transport Department, hence I’ll leave him with the Marquis too!”

Lu Baishu glanced at Ah Da who was tightly bound in the room, initially stunned, then looked at Yang Zhenshan.

While Yang Zhenshan was looking at him with a meaningful smirk.

A vexed emotion emerged in Lu Baishu’s heart, “General Yang really handed me a big problem!”

“Marquis, do you recognize this person?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

Lu Baishu looked at Yang Zhenshan with surprise, his surprise was not because Yang Zhenshan didn’t recognize Ah Da, but because Yang Zhenshan had actually managed to capture Ah Da.

“He’s a follower of Prince Xin!

“Prince Xin!” Yang Zhenshan slightly nodded, not surprised.

Emperor Chengping has many sons, but only a few are eligible to stir trouble.

Prince Xin of the Sixth Prince is one of them.

“Since the Marquis has now taken over the Salt Transport Department, then let also the Marquis handle this person!” Yang Zhenshan said casually.

“No, let’s leave this person to His Majesty, I will report to His Majesty accurately!”

Lu Baishu isn’t foolish, why would he choose to hold onto such a hot potato?

Yang Zhenshan handed him over, and he could not refuse, after all, he came to take over the case of the Salt Transport Department, and since Ah Da was implicated with this case, he naturally had to take him too.

But he couldn’t keep Ah Da detained here indefinitely, it’s better to report to His Majesty as soon as possible.

When involved with a prince, only Emperor Chengping could handle it.

Ah Da alone is not a concern, the key lies with the Prince Xin behind him.

“Well then, I shall take my leave!” Yang Zhenshan did not care how Lu Baishu would handle it, he had handed over everything, and the following matters were no longer related to him.

“Allow me, Marquis, to escort General Yang out!”

Lu Baishu escorted Yang Zhenshan out of the Salt Transport Department, and after leaving, Yang Zhenshan bid farewell to Zheng Xiao and hurriedly left the city of Liao’an Prefecture.

The upcoming events in Liao’an Prefecture were surely a place of disputes, better to escape early and find peace.

His tasks here were completed; the rest was up to Zheng Xiao.

When Yang Zhenshan arrived, his heart was somewhat anxious, but upon leaving, he felt completely relieved.

Although he might face penalties from Emperor Chengping or possible accusations from the court, he felt the issues would not be too severe.

Taking troops out of the country privately is a serious crime, but there were justified reasons, and with the major case of the Salt Transport Department on top, Emperor Chengping probably wouldn’t be too harsh on him.