Chapter 134: A Man's Coming of Age!

Although Zhang Zhiji was young and hot-blooded, he was no fool. Ultimately, he chose the simpler path that Li Yuanjing had hoped he would take.

After all, by this point, the facts had long since proven that the local administration of the Great Qian Dynasty was completely rotten to the core. With Zhang Zhiji’s current level of intellect and methods, even with his powerful backing, how could he possibly hope to easily outmaneuver these entrenched local tyrants?

Rather than letting Zhang Zhiji continue to grind away in a place like Fengcheng, wasting time on futile efforts that would yield no breakthroughs, it would be far better for him to return to the capital with the heads of these remnants of the Fragrant Incense Sect. By doing so, he could make an impression on the Longtai Emperor, the court officials, and his own father, the Duke of England, Zhang Wen, thereby establishing his persona as an outstanding member of the younger generation.

While such a reputation might be useless for an ordinary person, Zhang Zhiji’s father was the Duke of England, Zhang Wen—a top-tier power broker in the capital. Moreover, Zhang Zhiji was Zhang Wen’s only adult son. Even the Longtai Emperor might be in urgent need of Zhang Zhiji to achieve some tangible results to prove that his choice of appointee had been correct.

In this way, as long as Zhang Zhiji returned to the capital with these heads and presented a brilliantly written battle report, he would instantly become the most dazzling star in the entire Great Qian Dynasty this year. And once he had gained this period of grassroots tempering in Fengcheng, when he returned from the capital with his own troops after the New Year, those soldiers would likely be truly capable fighting forces.

As for Li Yuanjing, he clearly already had his own plans in motion.

Four days slipped by in the blink of an eye, and it was already the first day of the twelfth lunar month. On this day, heavy snow drifted from the sky, and Fengcheng, having been plagued by the chaos of war, finally returned to its former tranquility.

"Sir, how is it? Have there been any results today?" In the evening, when Li Yuanjing arrived on time to report, Zhang Zhiji hurried up to ask.

Li Yuanjing smiled. "Young Duke, please don't be anxious. Don't forget our original strategy: 'loud thunder, small raindrops.' We have captured over a dozen more Fragrant Incense Sect disciples today, which is already quite good."

Zhang Zhiji naturally understood Li Yuanjing’s underlying intention. It was not yet time to capture the true backbone of the sect, as they were still needed to continue their "internal strife," including their conflict with Zhao Bingchun.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly. "Sir, I have already arranged my personnel. I will leave Zhang Wuwei behind to oversee the overall situation. When I depart, I will only take five hundred elites. The remaining thousand or so, combined with the men of Chen Dong and Wang Hongliang, should be enough to safeguard Fengcheng."

"Is the Young Duke so eager to return to the capital?" Li Yuanjing laughed.

Zhang Zhiji gave a wry smile. "Sir, please don't tease me. You know well enough that my old man and my mother are likely worried sick about me. Besides, I must go and pay my respects to the Emperor."

Li Yuanjing’s expression turned serious. "Young Duke, since you have made the arrangements, you may depart tomorrow morning. However, I have a suggestion."

"Please, sir, speak your mind," Zhang Zhiji said, looking at Li Yuanjing.

Li Yuanjing let out a long breath. "Young Duke, we... we should try our best to treat the Liu family well. In my view, it would be better to use the Liu residence as a temporary headquarters. When you return next year and have completely purged the remnants of the Fragrant Incense Sect, you can return the residence to them."

"Very well." Zhang Zhiji nodded heavily. "Sir, let it be done that way! It will also allow these soldiers to protect the safety of the Liu family."

After parting with Zhang Zhiji, Li Yuanjing did not rush to leave the Liu residence but instead went to the backyard. He had been ordered by Zhang Zhiji to comfort the Liu family members.

"Student Liu Haoran pays his respects to Master Li." Soon, the Liu family, led by Liu Yun’s eldest son, Liu Haoran, emerged together and bowed deeply to Li Yuanjing.

However, seeing that Liu Haoran, whom he hadn't seen for only a few days, now had several streaks of frost-white at his temples, Li Yuanjing felt a pang of discomfort. A woman grows up in a single night, but while a man may also grow up in a night, the terror and pain of that night cannot be spoken of to outsiders.

"Brother Liu, your father and I were friends across generations. Now that this has happened... alas, please accept my condolences." Li Yuanjing bowed deeply to Liu Haoran.

Liu Haoran hurriedly returned the bow. Without the great tree that had once sheltered him from the wind and rain, he no longer had the spoiled temperament of a young master. He said respectfully, "Master Li, thank you for coming to visit. I have recovered somewhat over these past few days..."

Li Yuanjing nodded. He soon spotted Ya'er among the women, smiled at her, and walked into Liu Haoran’s living quarters. One must know that the middle courtyard of the Liu residence, especially Liu Yun’s study, had long since become a restricted area.

"Thump!"

However, before Li Yuanjing could even sit down in Liu Haoran’s room, Liu Haoran, who had quickly closed the door, turned around and fell to his knees in front of him. With tears and snot streaming down his face, he begged, "Brother Li, I implore you, for the sake of our time as fellow students, please uphold justice for me. My uncle’s son, my cousin, has actually sent people to seize my family's property! He even claims that I, Liu Haoran, am a bastard and have no right to inherit my father’s business..."

"What?" Li Yuanjing was stunned. To guard against Liu Yun’s brother, who served as a commander in Qizhou, he and Zhang Zhiji had made many plans, but he never expected such a development.

"Brother Liu, what do you mean by..."

Liu Haoran kowtowed desperately to Li Yuanjing, crying out in agony, "Brother Li, my uncle and his family are actually slandering my late mother, claiming she was already pregnant when she married my father..."

As Liu Haoran recounted the story, Li Yuanjing soon understood the situation. It turned out that Liu Yun was a man of gallantry. Liu Haoran’s mother had once been a top courtesan in a brothel in Jiangnan before she ran into trouble and eventually arrived in Qizhou. The young Liu Yun had fallen for her beauty and taken her into his household. Such things were quite common in that era, but the problem for the Liu family was that this former courtesan had borne Liu Yun his eldest son, Liu Haoran.

No wonder this fellow was so delicate and handsome—finer than a woman; it turned out his mother’s genetics were excellent. However, this also showed that Liu Haoran’s uncle was likely not a man of great character. To bully an orphan and a widow at such a time was hardly the behavior of a noble man.

But Li Yuanjing would not blindly believe Liu Haoran’s words. After a moment of thought, he stood up and paced. "Brother Liu, I understand your plight, but you must understand one thing! Results are achieved through action; waiting is useless!"

"You also know that your father, Master Liu, is an important partner of the Young Duke!"

"If I give you a quarter of an hour to get your thoughts in order, I will take you to see the Young Duke right now and ask him to uphold justice for you!"

"This..." Liu Haoran was overjoyed, but then cold sweat began to pour down his face. If you asked him which girl in the brothel was better or more delicate, he knew better than anyone. But if you asked him to handle such serious matters, he was completely out of his depth. Fortunately, Liu Yun had not neglected to let Liu Haoran see the business side of things, and he had loved his son dearly. Moreover, Liu Haoran was not stupid, and before long, he had sorted out his thoughts. The priority was clearly to secure the inn and get the Liu family business running again.

Seeing that Liu Haoran was sensible, Li Yuanjing’s eyelids twitched slightly, but he said nothing more. He stood up and said, "Brother Liu, hurry and tidy up; we are going to see the Young Duke now! Oh, by the way, I am quite fond of the little girl led by the plump woman earlier. Do you understand, Brother Liu?"

Liu Haoran snapped to attention, stunned for a moment before he realized, and bowed deeply to Li Yuanjing. "Rest assured,