Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chapter 101: Chapter 97: The Return of the Jade

"Head Constable Chen Mu of Wutong Grove District, I have met the Deputy Governor," Chen Mu said politely as he walked out from behind the Hall Office, his demeanor calm. He then extended his hand and produced a document, saying, "Last night's cross-border capture was naturally by the orders of the Chief Officer, with an official document here in my hand."

Setting aside He Mingxuan's death for a moment, the interception of the He Family's goods last night was a scheme that Ning He and he had long agreed upon. Naturally, all aspects were well-prepared, including the subsequent response and the instructions in the documents.

Including the City Guard General's office, there is also a corresponding document there, filed in the Chief Officer's orders.

The Deputy Governor Zhang Heng before him came storming in as soon as they met. Obviously, he was not one of the Xie Family or Xue Family's men, but most likely from the He Family, seemingly here specifically to pick a fight.

"...Hmph."

Zhang Heng took the document from Chen Mu and after only glancing at it, threw it on the ground and shouted harshly, "You people have the audacity to forge Imperial Court documents and mobilize troops without authorization for cross-border actions. What should your punishment be!"

"Bring people here, take him away!"

Following Zhang Heng's order, two soldiers immediately stepped forward and restrained Chen Mu by the shoulders.

Unperturbed by the sudden change, Chen Mu allowed the soldiers to hold him down and calmly said, "What do you mean, Governor Zhang? The order for the document was personally received by me yesterday at the Chief Office. There is evidence for it. How can you speak of forgery?"

Zhang Heng scoffed and replied, "The City Guard General of South City District has never issued such an order. If it were a secret order, it would need to be personally signed by Chief Constable Xu Hongyu. Xu Hongyu was not in the city yesterday. Could it be that South City District has another Chief Constable?"

Ning He, acting on behalf of Xu Hongyu in handling the City Guard General's office, was not officially managing it in name; she held no official title and was, in essence, coordinating with Xu Hongyu through correspondence, still taking orders from Xu Hongyu but just executing them on her behalf.

Due to Xu Hongyu's absolute trust in her, Ning He could issue orders and make ad-hoc decisions freely. All she needed to do was send a letter to Xu Hongyu afterward to have the official document backdated and added, and there would be no issues.

Although many documents were backdated.

But the issue is that such matters could not be investigated outright, as others couldn't possibly know the contents of the letters in advance.

Even if they did know beforehand, they couldn't use it as evidence and claim it was a post-decision document ordered by Ning He because it would first require clarifying how they had 'stolen a look at the official document', which would be accusing themselves of a crime—a complete nonsense.

Zhang Heng was well aware of this too. He found it difficult to use Ning He's execution of orders on behalf of Xu Hongyu to make an issue; after all, Xu Hongyu could immediately "produce" a document from yesterday.

Therefore,

his actions were more about intimidation now, hoping that the young Chen Mu would argue and refuse to comply, choosing to violently resist, giving him a clear reason to arrest Chen Mu on the spot and even potentially execute him for resisting.

Even if nothing was found later, it was no big deal to release him; after all, there was no impact on him. As the Deputy Governor, he had the authority to investigate; the saying goes, a higher-ranking official can easily suppress a lower one, and he outranked Chen Mu by not just one level!

Chen Mu, merely a Head Constable from a district office, held the rank of Eighth Grade.

Chief Constable Xu Hongyu also was only of Seventh Grade.

And he, as the Deputy Governor, held a substantive rank of Seventh Grade!

Moving up the ranks, the Officers of both the Inner and Outer Cities are of the Sixth Grade, followed by the Substantive Sixth Grade Deputy Commander-in-chief, and finally, the Commander-in-chief Xie Jin overseeing all military affairs within Yu County, holding a rank of Fifth Grade. Higher than that are just the City Lord and Prefectural Governor, both of Substantive Fifth Grade.

Despite Zhang Heng's aggressive pressure, Chen Mu remained very calm and said, "There is indeed only one Chief Constable, Xu Hongyu. Yesterday's document was certainly the official correspondence from Lord Xu."

"Is that so, then where is that official document?" Zhang Heng huffed coldly.

He knew well that all it would take was stalling for time and Ning He could produce a document; if necessary, even forging Xu Hongyu's handwriting wouldn't be a problem, as Xu Hongyu could directly confirm it, and even now, the Chief Office might have such a document.

Therefore, his reliance was still on intimidation, just waiting to catch any slip in Chen Mu's words that could immediately become evidence to accuse him of forging official documents, which would then justifiably convict Chen Mu directly.

"Governor Zhang, aren't you from the Chief Office?" Chen Mu, fully aware of the entire process of Ning He issuing orders on behalf of Xu Hongyu, was not afraid of Zhang Heng. He wouldn't show any faults under such fear and intimidation and calmly retorted, "If you are from the Chief Office, then you should have checked there first for the order and the document."

Zhang Heng, upon hearing this, immediately gave Chen Mu a cold, sweeping look.

He indeed wasn't from the Chief Office; he came directly from the Inner City to retrieve the cargo and wanted to hold Chen Mu directly and lock him away. Just detaining him for a couple of days and ruining him was easy. If he could catch Chen Mu in a discrepancy or if Chen Mu attempted to resist and was killed on the spot, all the better, and the reasons were completely justified.

If it wasn't for the Outer City Officer Yan Guang speaking out, demanding that the He Family not cause trouble in the City Defense Division, he would have already fabricated a reason and executed Chen Mu on the spot.

Yan Guang's words could not be ignored, after all, as not only was he the Officer of the Outer City, he was also from the Xue Family. His words could also reflect City Lord Xue Huaikong's intentions; no one dared to defy this command in Yu City.

Even though the He Family could wreak havoc across South City District, turning it upside down, they could not murder indiscriminately within the City Defense Division.

"You and Ning He are in cahoots, and the documents from the Chief Office were also forged by you. There's no need for further investigation; the evidence is conclusive now. If you confess willingly, you might be spared a charge. If you resist, do not blame the relentless law of Da Xuan!" Zhang Heng declared solemnly.

There's no need to go to the Chief Office; checking or not, it's all the same.

"I have always acted upon orders, sir. I truly do not comprehend what you are implying," Chen Mu responded, his demeanor still composed.

He had figured it out; Zhang Heng clearly had some concerns, likely because someone higher up in the City Defense Division had instructed the He Family not to overstep their bounds. Otherwise, Zhang Heng would probably have directly harmed him already.

If it came to that, it would in fact be more complicated. Being at least at the level of Tendon Changing Perfection to hold the position of Deputy Governor, his overt power was not something Chen Mu could withstand. Of course, if he were really pushed too far, killing everyone and then fleeing the city was an option.

With his current strength, there were many places outside Yu City where he could go, but that was indeed a last resort.

After all, if that were the case, Chen Yue would have been trapped in the Inner City.

Although, once he truly revealed his strength and fought his way out of the city, the Yu Family would most likely protect Chen Yue, and additionally, there were Hongyu and Xiao He, he ultimately couldn't gamble on such matters.

After all is said and done, his power was still not enough to smooth over everything.

If he had already entered the Five Viscera Realm by now, what would killing a mere He Mingxuan amount to?

Even.

He didn't need to enter the Five Viscera Realm; if he had achieved Bone Tempering Perfection with the Artistic Conception within him now, he would also be the strongest existence in Yu City aside from a few in the Five Viscera Realm. Even facing He Mingxuan directly and killing him, he wouldn't fear anything from the He Family.

"Very well."

Zhang Heng's expression turned completely cold, and he said in a chilling voice, "It seems that you have set your heart like stone, preferring punishment wine over a toast! Guards, take him to the Inner City Yamen, put him under severe interrogation, but if he dares resist, slay him without exception!"

Unexpectedly, Chen Mu, despite his young age, turned out to be a hard nut to crack, impervious to oil and salt, and no weakness could be nibbled out of him; as such, they could only take him down by force and directly take him to the Inner City Yamen to thoroughly roast him through interrogation.

Although instructions had come down from above not to mess around, just taking away a small Prefecture Chief for supervision and questioning didn't count as messing around, as long as they didn't kill the person, anything was within permissible limits.

"…"

Chen Mu slightly narrowed his eyes.

Zhang Heng intended to take him to the Inner City Yamen, not to the Chief Officer in the South City District, indicating that he was set on putting him to death. The actions of the He Family were indeed consistently overbearing. Last night they had first assigned the Black Cloud Thieves to secretly assassinate him, and today a Deputy Governor from the Inner City Area had come to kill him outright.

Although he had known he would get involved in the confrontations between the He and Yu families ever since he boarded Hongyu's ship, their frequent threats against his life, often trying to kill him, were no longer merely the affairs of the He and Yu families.

The He Family,

Hmph!

A glint of coldness flashed through Chen Mu's eyes.

Shang Qinglai and several Head Constables, up till this moment, were still kneeling on the ground, each shivering and not daring to raise their heads, silently bemoaning their misfortunes in their hearts, just hoping that the matter wouldn't implicate them too, seeing how even this Prefecture Chief couldn't withstand it.

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Just as a few armored soldiers menacingly stepped forward to shackle and take Chen Mu away.

A cool and clear voice came from outside.

"As the Deputy Governor of the Inner City, what right do you have to arrest someone in the Outer City?"

Chen Mu's slightly curled fingers relaxed upon hearing that voice enter the Hall Office.

In the Hall Office,

Everyone was taken aback.

The numerous armored soldiers of the City Defense Division hesitated in their movements and looked toward the direction of the voice, only to see a woman dressed in tight, plain clothes, with a clear and stunning appearance like a lotus emerged from water, walking into the Hall Office.

It was none other than Hongyu, the Chief Constable who had gone out of the city to slay demons and had not been seen for a long while!

On her clothes, there were still some signs of damage, and there was a bloodstain on her shoulder, seemingly having rushed back from outside the city nonstop, not even having time to tidy her dress, and headed directly to Wutong Grove District.

Following closely behind Hongyu was Xiao He, also dressed in plain clothes. She stealthily winked at Chen Mu.

Chen Mu's expression became calm, and he looked downward, not speaking any further.

On the other hand,

Zhang Heng's face grew somewhat ugly as he looked at Hongyu with a grave face, saying, "Chief Constable Hongyu, mind your attitude. Are you questioning this Commander?"

As soon as Hongyu appeared, he knew that today he wouldn't be able to deal with Chen Mu. He could forcibly take Chen Mu away, but not Hongyu; even if it was very likely that Hongyu's position as Chief Constable would be revoked, it didn't matter whether she was Chief Constable or not. Her identity was that of a direct descendant of the Yu Family, and her capabilities were apparent as well.

Recently, she had even made considerable merits while demon hunting outside the city.

If it weren't for the incident with He Mingxuan, it would have been likely for Hongyu to get a promotion, especially since rumors suggested that she was close to achieving Tendon Changing Perfection, and her background and status were adequate. Plus, with her recent merits, moving up to Deputy Governor was also natural.

At most, it wouldn't be too likely within the City Defense Division as Deputy Governor since those positions were already filled. It would be more likely for her to be transferred to another department, such as the Demon-Slaying Office, the Salt Affairs Bureau, or another Yamen.

But now, it was hard to say; more likely, it would be a lateral move.

"Zhang, all the affairs of the South City District's City Defense Division are under my supervision as Chief Constable. Even as a Deputy Governor of the Outer City, if you want to deal with a subordinate Prefecture Chief, you should notify me. Besides, the Inner City Area has no jurisdiction over the Outer City Area's matters," said Hongyu coldly to Zhang Heng.

"Since Zhang has acted so presumptuously and does not regard me, the Chief Constable, with respect, I have no attitude left to speak of. Please return to the Inner City."

"You..."

A flash of anger passed through Zhang Heng's eyes.

Hongyu indifferently said, "If Zhang still wants to take my person, go ahead. I have been hunting demons outside the city for months, and I am indeed in the mood to test out Zhang's spear technique. However, I still need to report to the Commander of the Demon-Slaying Office. It will be okay if I go there a bit late; I suppose Zhang will explain on my behalf, right?"

This remark made Zhang Heng even more uncomfortable. Finally, he snorted angrily and stormed off, flicking his sleeve as he went.