The man looked at Lu Yuan, then at the dozen or so people who were surrounded.

After coming to his senses, the man slapped his thigh and cried out to Lu Yuan in exasperation:

"Oh dear... Magistrate Lu, you’ve gotten yourself into terrible trouble!"

...

Inside the carriage.

Hearing the County Magistrate’s words, Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

"This person has some powerful backing, I take it?"

The middle-aged man, who looked to be in his forties, sighed.

"You can say that again."

"His younger sister is the primary wife of King Lu’s sixth son." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"She married into the family the year before last. You’ve really provoked someone you shouldn’t have."

"I want to help you, but I don’t even know how."

’This County Magistrate is actually a pretty decent guy.’

After all, it was their first time meeting, yet he seemed quite sincere.

’I can’t tell if he’s being genuine, though.’

While Lu Yuan was lost in thought, the County Magistrate seemed to guess what was on his mind and immediately cupped his hands in a salute.

"The Lord Governor is my teacher."

Hearing this, Lu Yuan understood. ’Ah, so that’s it.’

’We’re on the same side.’

’No wonder.’

Before Lu Yuan could say anything, the County Magistrate sighed again.

"If I had any real power, I’d mediate this for you."

"But unfortunately, I’m a County Magistrate in name only."

Hearing this, Lu Yuan actually started to feel a bit sorry for the man.

However, Lu Yuan wasn’t afraid.

Lu Yuan wasn’t the type to act without a backup plan.

He was a very rational person and wouldn’t do things on a whim.

Since he had already acted, it meant he wasn’t afraid of the consequences.

Lu Yuan immediately said:

"I’m not afraid of this. I am traveling from Taiping City to Yandu."

"I’m on my way at the invitation of King Yan to inspect the factories and address the livelihood of tens of thousands of refugees."

"They are delaying my business with King Yan and jeopardizing the livelihoods of tens of thousands of common people."

"I haven’t even called them to account yet!"

’If you’re going to bluff by dropping names, you might as well go big.’

’I’m working on the livelihoods of tens of thousands of refugees. You delayed me—can you bear the consequences of that?’

As soon as Lu Yuan finished speaking, the Lord County Magistrate looked astonished.

"Is that what this is about?"

"That’s wonderful! I’ll go have a word with them right now. I guarantee this can be resolved, and you’ll be able to leave without any further trouble."

Hearing this, Lu Yuan gave him an odd look.

"That shouldn’t be necessary. We can just leave. Just have your Officials clear the way, and we’ll be gone before dawn."

The Lord County Magistrate looked embarrassed by Lu Yuan’s words, leaving Lu Yuan a bit confused.

Then, the Lord County Magistrate sighed helplessly.

"I don’t have that kind of power."

"I was transferred to this region three years ago, which was right around the time that woman married King Lu’s sixth son."

"For the past three years, forget the Government Office—that woman’s family holds all the key positions throughout the entire county."

"To put it bluntly, as the County Magistrate, I can’t even command the Officials..."

"...even a dog in the Government Office wouldn’t listen to me."

Lu Yuan: "..."

Lu Yuan was speechless.

’That’s just pathetic.’

The Zhao Family in Taiping City was powerful, right?

But even as powerful as the Zhao Family was in Taiping City, they would never dare to walk all over a County Magistrate.

This...

As Lu Yuan stood there, dumbfounded, the County Magistrate looked at him and said:

"I’ll go talk to them for you. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely get this settled."

With that, the County Magistrate exited the carriage.

Lu Yuan didn’t stop him.

’In any case, my side hasn’t lost anything in this matter.’

’And I enjoyed the beating we gave them.’

’If that group is willing to let it go, then the matter is settled.’

’If they aren’t, I’m not afraid either. We’ll just see it through to the end.’

After the County Magistrate left, Su Liyan and his mother-in-law came in.

Lu Yuan’s mother-in-law wore a look of self-reproach.

She was always cautious in her dealings. For all these years, she had never dared to argue with anyone in the village.

But now, the moment she ventured out, she’d run into something like this.

And she had provoked such powerful people—people of a Prince, from what she’d heard.

This left Lu Yuan’s mother-in-law feeling deeply anxious.

Seeing his mother-in-law’s distress, Lu Yuan immediately comforted her.

"Mother, please don’t take it to heart. This has nothing to do with you."

"And even if it were, the men who fought are ours. What would it have to do with you?"

"Besides, they did nothing wrong. I was there too, and I would have done the same."

"You’re my mother. Why should I let anyone curse at you?"

Lu Yuan’s protectiveness made his mother-in-law’s eyes turn red.

’Where could you find such a good son-in-law?’

People say a son-in-law is half a son, but even her own flesh and blood had never been this protective of her.

Lu Yuan’s mother-in-law nodded slightly.

Beside them, Su Liyan also hugged her mother, comforting her and telling her not to dwell on it.

Not long after, the County Magistrate from before returned.

He brought good news.

The group had agreed to let the matter drop.

Lu Yuan looked at the County Magistrate, somewhat surprised.

"He was willing to let it go just like that?"

"Wasn’t he unwilling just a moment ago?"

The County Magistrate quickly explained:

"I laid everything out on the table for him and made it clear."

"He understands now that you are heading to Yandu at the personal invitation of King Yan."

"He also knows about your relationship with King Yan’s second son, and that you’re building a large factory in Yandu that will support tens of thousands of people."

"With all that laid bare, he naturally wouldn’t dare to act presumptuously toward you again."

Hearing this, Lu Yuan cupped his hands in a salute to the County Magistrate.

"You have my thanks."

To be honest, at this point, Lu Yuan didn’t care how things turned out.

’If they want to continue, I’ll play along.’

’But since they want to drop it first, we’ll leave it at that for now.’

After all, Lu Yuan had important matters to attend to and couldn’t afford to be delayed here.

The County Magistrate saluted in return and looked like he wanted to say something, but ultimately held his tongue.

Seeing the magistrate’s expression, Lu Yuan knew the man had something difficult to say.

He said at once:

"If you have something else to say, just say it."

The County Magistrate gave an awkward grin, then finally grit his teeth and, with a THUD, knelt directly in front of Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan, his wife, and his mother-in-law were all startled.

What?

’What’s this all of a sudden?’

Before the three of them could even react, the County Magistrate was already looking at Lu Yuan with tears streaming down his face.

"My lord, you have to help me."

"I really don’t want to stay here anymore! I don’t want to have all these ambitions with no way to realize them!"

"I know you have a close relationship with the Lord Governor. Could you please put in a good word for me and have me transferred?"

"I don’t even need to be a County Magistrate! I’d take a position as a simple Steward somewhere else—any position would be better than this!"

The man was overcome with emotion, weeping and wailing.

Lu Yuan blinked as he watched the scene unfold.

’Sure enough, other than family, no one will be unconditionally good to you.’

’So that’s why the County Magistrate wanted to help me.’

’Was it just because we both serve under the Governor?’

’Turns out, he was waiting for this all along.’

However, Lu Yuan could understand the County Magistrate’s position.

If things were really as the man described, it was an incredibly frustrating situation.

Lu Yuan didn’t want to get involved, but he would feel a little bad if he did nothing at all.

He immediately cupped his hands and said:

"When I see the Lord Governor in the future, I will mention this matter."

"As for whether the Lord Governor is willing to act, that will be up to him."

Hearing this, the County Magistrate, his face streaked with tears, thanked him profusely.

And so, the matter was settled.

After all the commotion that had taken up half the night, no one could get back to sleep.

They packed up and prepared to leave.

It was summer, so the sun rose early. By their calculations, it was almost dawn.

As everyone was preparing to depart, the County Magistrate was still wiping away tears as he saw them off from the side of the road.

He was like the Old Turtle from *Journey to the West*, hoping Lu Yuan would go and return quickly, bringing his message to the Buddha.

And next to the County Magistrate stood those dozen or so men.

They were busy bandaging their wounds.

The Zhao Family’s men had been ruthless earlier, beating the group into a pulp.

And though the County Magistrate had just explained Lu Yuan’s identity to them and the group had agreed to let the matter go, the looks they gave Lu Yuan were still filled with venomous hatred.

Just as Lu Yuan’s party was about to drive away, a series of foul curses erupted from behind them.

"Son of a bitch, who do you think you’re fooling!"

"Married a little snake demon, and he’s got an old snake demon with him too."

"Treating that old snake demon like some kind of treasure. Got all pissed off over a few curses!"

"That little snake demon’s belly is getting big. She’ll give birth to some lowly half-human, half-demon bastard."

"A bunch of worthless trash."

SCREECH. The carriage halted.

Lu Yuan said nothing.

But all of the Zhao Family’s men stopped.

CLICK-CLACK. The sound of bullets being loaded into chambers.

"Young Nephew."

A Traveler walked to the side of the carriage and spoke respectfully.

Lu Yuan sat inside the carriage, his arm around his wife, his expression blank.

"Slaughter them."