Chapter 24: Delivering the First and the Fifteenth

Glancing at the crowd gathered outside, Head Zhao sighed secretly. Many people remembered this old beggar. Even if they pretended he was deaf and mute and captured him as a bandit, they probably wouldn’t get the reward.

Head Zhao had an idea. This matter was clearly not simple; perhaps there was even more profit than just the reward. After a brief thought, he snapped, “You wretched beggar! Why do you dress up nicely and come to stay in an inn if you have nothing to do?”

“It’s him!” The old beggar pointed at Liu Shun with his index finger, scaring him into retreating. Even Fu Zizhou could no longer stay calm and stood up abruptly.

“It’s this kid. He came to me yesterday afternoon, treated me well with food and drink, and bought me new clothes. Then he gave me ten taels of silver, telling me to stay at Lin’s Inn, saying that officials would come to arrest me today, forcing me to admit I was a bandit and naming Manager Lin as well. After everything was done, he promised to ransom me and give me another hundred taels of silver.”

The old beggar scratched his messy hair and chuckled. “Who is Manager Lin? He’s such a kind person! I wanted to punch him as soon as I heard that. But then I thought, if I didn’t do it, he might go to someone else. Anyway, he gave me ten taels at first, and over the years, I’ve eaten a lot of his food. It’s only fair to return those ten taels to him.”

Head Zhao glared at Liu Shun, whose face had turned dark, and pressed, “Then why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“You don’t know… Ever since I came up with the idea of going to jail in winter, I’ve been thinking about trying it for a few days. I don’t dare do things like beating people or stealing, and just as you guys came to arrest me…”

The old beggar said gloomily, “If you hadn’t threatened me with a knife and demanded my companions, I wouldn’t have confessed.”

Boom…

The entire hall erupted in laughter.

“So that’s how it is!”

“No wonder he insisted that Manager Lin was an accomplice of the bandits! It was him who did this.”

“That silly kid. If you had known, you shouldn’t have advised Head Zhao to wake him up. That way, the old beggar could fulfill his wish, and you wouldn’t be exposed.”

“Arrest them! And those two too!”

Head Zhao pointed at Fu Zizhou and Yun Lan, and the officials rushed forward.

Yun Lan remained seated, her lips curved in a smile the whole time.

Fu Zizhou stood up abruptly, his face pale. With a flip of his right hand, a jade plaque inscribed with a scholar’s name appeared in his palm.

“Stop!”

Zhao Bantou hurriedly ordered the yamen officials to stop, while Lin Dong stared intently at the blue jade ring on Fu Zizhou’s index finger. He was certain that if it wasn’t a storage spirit ring, Fu Zizhou would never have been able to pull out the jade card so quickly. A storage spirit ring could be worth a fortune, not to mention it might contain valuable items inside.
“I think this is a misunderstanding,” Fu Zizhou said calmly.
Zhao Bantou was stunned for a moment before falling silent. A distinguished scholar was exempt from punishment and imprisonment—just that jade card alone made it impossible to take him away. Moreover, this man was generous, clearly from a wealthy family. A scholar from such a family was certainly not someone a mere headman could afford to provoke.
Instantly, Zhao Bantou made the wisest decision—he waved his hand and ordered, “Return to the county yamen!”
Wang Liuzhi grew anxious and tried to step forward to argue, but Lin Dong pulled him back.
“Boss…”
“No need to rush. I have a plan.”
Lin Dong shook his head with a smile. With Fu Zizhou’s status, it would be impossible to capture him and throw him in jail.
The yamen officials left the inn quickly. Although the crowd outside the hall was still somewhat dissatisfied, they thought it would be rude not to share such an interesting incident with friends and family, so they dispersed soon after.
As for whether there would be more chaos later, no one gave it much thought. Though that boy was foolish enough to accuse Manager Lin of being a bandit, the man by his side clearly came from a high-status family—Zhao Bantou didn’t dare provoke him, let alone Manager Lin. Besides, who was Manager Lin? Even Wang Liuzhi, who often came to extort money, could be forgiven by him, who even offered them jobs—so what if they were just being falsely accused?
It seemed that with Manager Lin’s magnanimity, the matter would end there.
Liu Shun gritted his teeth in fury. No matter how much he had planned, he never expected that old beggar to turn against him at the last moment. If he had known, he would have just given some silver to the yamen to let them invent any crime to arrest him.
Glaring at Lin Dong, who was smiling at him, Liu Shun grew even angrier. This was mockery—his smile was definitely mocking him.
How dare the owner of a small inn mock the scholar’s apprentice of the most talented man in the capital?
“Luck favors you this time. If you get away again, my name, Liu Shun, will be reversed…”
Smack!
With a sharp sound, Fu Zizhou slapped Liu Shun hard in the face. At that moment, he even considered stabbing the scholar’s apprentice to death.
Coldly staring at Liu Shun, who was dazed from the slap, Fu Zizhou spat angrily, “You wretched scholar’s apprentice! Manager Lin has no grudges against you—why did you try to frame him?”
“M-My lord, I…”
Liu Shun was confused and terrified when he saw the murderous intent in Fu Zizhou’s eyes.

He was quite clever after all; seeing the growing murderous intent in those eyes, he suddenly had an epiphany and understood what Fu Zizhou meant. With a thud, Liu Shun knelt on the ground. “Young master, it’s all my fault for being foolish for a moment. A few days ago, I was boiling medicine for the Silver Rabbit in the courtyard when there was a loud noise coming from Manager Lin’s room. In panic, I accidentally shattered the medicine pot. I didn’t really think much of it—usually, even when I made mistakes, you never scolded me. But this time, you punished me severely because of the pot.” Liu Shun spoke through tears, “The more I think about it, the more I feel it’s Manager Lin’s fault. In my foolishness, I thought of framing him.” With a slap, Fu Zizhou hit him again. “Idiot! How have I taught you to behave? Because of such a trivial matter, you still hold grudges…” Fu Zizhou was furious, but he felt slightly relieved—Liu Shun was still quick-witted. Not only had he taken responsibility for the mistake but also elevated Yun Lan’s status in his eyes. He just wondered if Yun Lan would distrust him for suggesting that Liu Shun wake up the old beggar in his moment of anger. It probably wouldn’t happen—given his demeanor and knowledge, Yun Lan would never think he would have any grudges against a small inn’s manager, let alone plot to frame him. “Young master, I’m sorry. I’ll never do it again.” Liu Shun crawled to Fu Zizhou’s feet, hugged his legs, and cried, “Considering how many years I’ve been with you, please spare me this time?” “Get lost!” Fu Zizhou kicked Liu Shun away coldly. “If I can spare you, can Manager Lin spare you?” What? Liu Shun was confused. Did he have to kneel and beg the inn’s manager for forgiveness? “Never mind, he was just foolish for a moment.” Not far away, Lin Dong smiled generously. Liu Shun was overjoyed—it seemed he didn’t need to kneel and beg for forgiveness after all. “You’re lucky. Hurry up and thank Manager Lin!” Fu Zizhou ordered. “Manager Lin, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have held grudges over such a trivial matter. Only someone as magnanimous as you would refuse to take offense at someone like me…” Liu Shun quickly ran over to Lin Dong, saying only kind words regardless of his true thoughts. “It’s fine, fine. How could I take such a small matter to heart?” Lin Dong patted Liu Shun’s shoulder, chuckled, picked up a bench behind him, and smashed it hard on Liu Shun’s head. Bang! All the diners in the hall were stunned.

Yun Lan was torn between laughter and tears. Counting this, it was already the third time she had seen Lin Dong smash someone with a bench.
“Dare to scheme to kill me? Do they really think honest people are easy to bully?”
Throwing the bloodstained bench aside, Lin Dong clapped his hands and walked away with a cold sneer, as everyone in the room stared in shock.
Wang Liuze glanced coldly at Fu Zizhou, who was still dazed, then kicked Liu Shun hard in the groin, spat on the ground, and chased after Lin Dong.
“Boss, are we just giving up?”
Inside the room, Wang Liuze closed the door and looked at Lin Dong.
Lin Dong smiled. “What else do you suggest?”
Wang Liuze gritted his teeth, his face turning terrifying. “Bandits are punishable by execution. How can we not get revenge? Find an opportunity to kill him…”
Lin Dong shook his head. “If Fu Zizhou really dies in Xilan City, the consequences will be severe. I don’t even want to take refuge with the Gu Huan Clan.”
“What then?” Wang Liuze demanded urgently. “We can’t just let it go, right?”
“If he starts it, I must respond accordingly,” Lin Dong said with a smile. “Fu Zizhou should be arriving at Qiushui Academy these days. Have Triangular Eye keep a close eye on him. Since a conflict has already arisen, there’s no need to hide it anymore.”
“Boss, if we confront him openly…” Wang Liuze hesitated. “He’ll definitely try to retaliate later. It’s better to kill him secretly. Maybe they won’t be able to pin it on us.”
“Don’t worry. I have a way to make him hate us so much that he can’t eat or sleep, yet dare not take revenge,” Lin Dong said calmly. “I originally just wanted to give him a small lesson, but now, I’ll make him understand what a lifetime of nightmares is.”
“Okay, then I’ll go tell Triangular Eye to keep a close eye right away.”
Wang Liuze was also determined. Whether it was Prime Minister Fu or the emperor, it was just a matter of life and death.
“By the way!” Lin Dong took out a gold ingot worth ten taels and handed it to Wang Liuze. “Rent a courtyard, hire a maid, and bring the old beggar there to live. Tell him that if he likes it, he can bring all the beggars in the city as well—free food and shelter, for as long as he wants. Take care of this right away. If there’s not enough money, go to the counter to get more. I’ll check on it later when I have time.”
“Okay! I actually want to get to know the old beggar too.”
Wang Liuze nodded firmly. Normally, he would kick beggars a few times whenever he saw them, but today, seeing the old beggar’s loyalty, he felt as if he had found a kindred spirit.
After Wang Liuze left the room, Lin Dong wasted no time. He sat cross-legged immediately and entered a meditative state.
If he had the power to dominate the world today, why would he care about Fu Zizhou’s status or bother coming up with schemes? Smashing him into pulp with a single slap—that’s what true satisfaction would be!