The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror-Chapter 22 - 18 Lotus

The middle-aged man took the silver and threw it on the nearby stone slab with a "plop" sound. Then he picked up the silver and asked, "When do we make our move."

"The morning of the county examination."

"That's the day after tomorrow. You have to cover my meals for these days."

The beggar pointed to his professional attire, "See clearly? I'm a beggar."

The middle-aged man grabbed the beggar's clothing and kept repeating, "You have to cover my meals."

The beggar, afraid that his only piece of clothing would be torn, said, "Three buns a day."

"Not enough."

"Enough."

"Five, I need to be full to have the strength to beat people."

"Remember, it's to break legs."

"Uh-huh."

...

...

On the day of the county exam, Xu Qing went out early in the morning. Yesterday, Li Gongpu and the Guo brothers had received orders from Jiangning Prefecture to patrol for illegal salt with the local inspector.

This was clearly a ploy to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Xu Qing thought to himself, "Zhao Bao is trying to make his move."

It's evident that the Zhao family has some connections; they could even sway people in the government of Jiangning Prefecture.

Unfortunately, current power is not equivalent to direct control; if County Magistrate Wu wants to deal with them in official matters, they can only endure.

Xu Qing did not try to stop Li Gongpu from patrolling for illegal salt.

With his current martial arts prowess, he wouldn't be affected whether his uncle sent help or not. He didn't even let Aunt Zhou see him off.

After all, going out alone now, he has more freedom to come and go as he pleases.

...

...

"I'm different from Guo Zhuang's wife's family. My uncle is an archivist. If Zhao Bao wants to find a scapegoat to trouble me before the exam, anyone local would dare not agree. So the likelihood of him finding a passerby from another place to attack me and then run away, leaving no trace back to the Zhao family, is not small," he said.

"Of course, it's possible that Zhao Bao is truly foolish, or his men couldn't resist the temptation of a hefty reward."

"No, if Zhao Bao is ruthless and cautious enough, the clever plan would be to first hire someone from outside to attack me, then take advantage of the chaos to strike again. But no matter what, with my current strength, even if Zhao Bao personally came at me, he wouldn't gain the upper hand."

Having mastered the Crane Form to great success, Xu Qing's combat power had already surpassed his uncle's.

This was confirmed through sparring between uncle and nephew.

...

...

"Brother Bao, what's up?" Two thugs hired by the firm, which was partly owned by the Zhao family, were summoned by Zhao Bao.

"Li Gongpu's nephew is going to the county examination. If he encounters any trouble before the exam, you guys step in to 'help,'" Zhao Bao instructed.

"Brother Bao, this matter is too significant."

"That's why I need you to help out. After all, you're not the ones making the move. When that kid gets beaten, you rush in to help amid the chaos. It's during the county exam, the crowd will be disorderly. If he happens to get bumped into, that would be perfectly reasonable..." Zhao Bao said with a hint of slyness.

"Got it."

"Go on, I won't let you down afterwards."

"Thanks, Brother Bao."

Zhao Bao knew that no one would be willing to directly deal with Xu Qing.

Now that he has found some formidable passersby to take action, sending his own people to follow up would surely be foolproof.

Even if it was a bit expensive.

Thirty taels.

He had also thought about the nature of his underlings; they would likely swallow up a good ten taels or so. Those greedy bastards, when the time came, he'd surely deal with them.

But the money had to be spent; what he needed was to avoid direct contact with the assailant to prevent getting implicated.

Hiring the two thugs was also to take advantage of the chaos to strike an additional blow without leaving any loose ends behind.

This arrangement was sure to be foolproof.

...

...

On the main street, a beggar pinched off a small half of the bread from the middle-aged man's hand and stuffed it into his own mouth.

"Stop that." The middle-aged man was somewhat angry.

"Stingy, you already have an ounce of silver, go buy some bread if you're hungry, it won't kill you."

"That's my fare to get home."

"Go home for what? Better off continuing to be a bandit. Look at you—no connections, no money, no land, a perfect 'no-hoper.'"

"I have a wife waiting for me at home."

"What, impossible, absolutely impossible." Envy nearly distorted the beggar's face—he was so handsome and without a wife, so why should this man have one?

"The Lotus Sect caused a rebellion, I was conscripted into the labor force, then captured by the Lotus Sect, and without really understanding how, became a bandit."

"The Lotus Sect, I've heard those guys are fierce and evil, and even cannibals."

"You're wrong; most of them are just ordinary people like us. Even better than the official soldiers."

"Why's that?"

"The soldiers take our grain and conscript us. The Lotus Sect doesn't do that, and they even feed us."

"Where do they get their grain?"

"From the officials."

"Ah!"

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The middle-aged man's face showed a wistful expression; after being captured by the Lotus Sect, he was sent to transport grain, and the destination was an official granary. Since the bandits of the Lotus Sect all had lotus marks tattooed on their foreheads, it was more suitable for conscripted civilians like him to go, as it was less conspicuous.

It was as if the officials were selling the grain to the local tyrants and gentry, which didn't count as colluding with bandits.

Even, it was said there were local tyrants and gentry acting as middlemen, guaranteeing the deals.

Yet the official army was indeed fighting bandits, with deadly battles on both sides.

"Someone's coming out." The beggar pointed at the Li family's courtyard, from which a young man with a book case on his back was emerging.

The middle-aged man followed, gripping a wooden stick.

...

...

The middle-aged man followed Xu Qing for half a moment, continuously looking for an opportunity.

The other party moved quickly and was very agile.

It was the day of the county examination, and the streets were crowded.

Near the county school's examination venue, at a street corner, Xu Qing suddenly stopped and curiously looked at the middle-aged man holding the wooden stick: "Are you following me because you want to beg for food?"

Xu Qing initially suspected that the man might have been a thug sent by Zhao Bao.

But that seemed a bit too much of a stretch.

The middle-aged man shook his head.

"Hungry?" Xu Qing glanced at the middle-aged man, bought two meat buns for him at a nearby stall, and tossed them over.

"Thank you." The middle-aged man awkwardly accepted the meat buns, endlessly expressing his thanks.

Xu Qing smiled and suddenly asked, "How much money did they give you to hit me?"

"Uh," the middle-aged man paused before replying, "Two ounces of silver, and they gave me an ounce as a deposit already."

Xu Qing said, "You're an honest man, not suited for this work. After my exam, I'll look for you." He patted the middle-aged man on the shoulder and whispered to someone nearby: "Brother Guo, Second Brother Guo, come on out."

From around the corner, the Guo brothers each brought a person with them. Both were surprised—how had Xu Qing realized they were there?

On the other hand, they actually didn't follow to investigate the salt smuggling.

This also came as a surprise to Xu Qing.

In addition, the beggar who acted as a middleman was caught by an Archivist. The rest, Xu Qing naturally left to the Guo brothers to handle.

He walked toward the county school examination venue with a trace of disappointment. The opposition presented no real challenge.

Also, he was only worth two ounces of silver?

The local criminal forces were so impolite!

Xu Qing was quite angry.