The county yamen remained quiet as before.

Xu Ke sat in the hall. Seeing that no one spoke, he slowly said, “I don’t care what kind of so-called ‘honest citizens’ these troublemakers claim to be. What happened tonight is serious in nature and must be dealt with severely. I will personally interrogate the ringleaders—none will be let go.”

He turned to Sun Moxuan. “Chief Clerk, do you think my handling of this is appropriate?”

Sun Moxuan lowered his eyelids and cupped his hands. “My lord will make his own decisions. We shall simply obey orders.”

Xu Ke smiled faintly, then looked at Zhou Fengchun. “County Magistrate Zhou, what do you think?”

Zhou Fengchun’s face was ashen. He merely cupped his hands and said nothing.

At that moment, another constable entered to report, “My lord, many common people are gathered outside, requesting an audience!”

“Oh?” Xu Ke stood up. “For what reason?”

“They say that all the grain shops in the city have raised their prices at the same time. They cannot afford rice anymore and ask the magistrate to make a decision.”

Xu Ke nodded and swept his gaze across the hall. “In that case, everyone, come with me and take a look.”

He led the way toward the gate of the yamen. Zhou Fengchun and the others exchanged glances and followed in silence.

Outside the gate, a dense crowd of civilians knelt on the steps—at least forty or fifty people. Seeing the officials appear, the crowd stirred, then burst into shouts:

“My lord! Please uphold justice for us!”

“The rice shops have raised prices beyond reason—we common folk can’t afford food anymore!”

“We beg you to stand up for the people!”

Xu Ke raised his hand, pressing downward. The crowd gradually quieted.

“Stand up and speak,” he said calmly. Though his voice was not loud, it carried clearly to everyone.

“Who will tell me how much the price has increased?”

An old man was pushed forward, trembling as he spoke, “Reporting to my lord… rice that used to cost twenty copper coins per liter is now thirty-five. Several shops raised the price together, saying… saying their purchase costs have gone up.”

Xu Ke nodded, having understood the situation.

He turned to the crowd and said clearly, “Fellow townsfolk, rest assured. I promise you this: within three days, I will resolve the grain issue.”

A murmur ran through the crowd.

Xu Ke raised his hand again. “If it is not resolved within three days, starting on the fourth day, the county office will distribute rations daily according to household heads. I will keep my word.”

Upon hearing this, the people looked at one another, but soon calmed down and began to disperse.

Zhou Fengchun stood aside, watching how Xu Ke dismissed the crowd with just a few sentences. Though inwardly resentful, he could do nothing.

He coldly stared at Xu Ke’s back and sneered inwardly: Three days? Let’s see how you clean up this mess after three days.

Not long after the crowd dispersed, Luo Hu returned with his men.

Xu Ke looked up and saw them approaching in a large formation. At the front were constables escorting five or six badly injured men. In the middle were the ruffians—each covered in blood, limping as they walked. At the rear were more than twenty private guards from the Jia family, calmly following behind.

Luo Hu quickly stepped forward and cupped his hands. “My lord, thirty-two troublemakers have all been captured!”

Xu Ke glanced at the ruffians, then at the guards, and nodded in satisfaction. He waved his hand.

“Send them all to prison. Guard them strictly!”

The constables responded in unison and escorted the prisoners away. As the ruffians passed Zhou Fengchun, one of them looked up at him, lips moving as if to speak, but did not dare make a sound.

Zhou Fengchun’s face turned even darker, his fists clenched tightly inside his sleeves.

Xu Ke saw everything, but pretended not to notice. He turned and walked back into the yamen, leaving only one sentence:

“Everyone, you’ve worked hard tonight. Dismissed.”

After returning to his seat, Xu Ke summoned Xu Fu and asked him to bring Luo Hu and the leader of the Jia family’s guards.

Soon, the three arrived in haste. Xu Ke first cupped his hands toward the guard leader.

“What is your name, hero?”

The guard leader grinned broadly and returned the salute. “Young master-in-law, no need to be so polite! Second Mistress Lian told us to listen to you completely when we got here. Whatever you tell us to do, we’ll do it!”

Xu Ke laughed. “Good. I’ve summoned you for a purpose. You will all be given official positions later, but that will take some time to arrange. For now, let’s get through these next few days first.”

“Just give the orders!” the guard leader said, patting his chest. “But are we going to beat people again? Aside from training and farming, we haven’t had this much fun in a long time. We can’t bring ourselves to hit ordinary citizens, but those ruffians—we won’t show mercy. I, Qin Zhong, will not be a man if I even frown at this!”

Xu Ke laughed heartily. “We’re all on the same side, so I won’t be polite either. I will indeed need your strength, but are there any concerns?”

“Don’t worry, young master-in-law!” Qin Zhong slapped the paper armor at his waist. “This armor you provided works great! Just give the orders!”

“Good, good.” Xu Ke nodded. “Qin hero, please follow this constable later on a trip.”

“Understood!”

Xu Ke then turned to Luo Hu.

“Constable Luo.”

Luo Hu stepped forward. “At your command!”

“Gather the fast constables and wipe out the gangs involved in today’s riot in one sweep,” Xu Ke said coldly. “Bring these strongmen with you. If anyone refuses to comply, charge in. But make sure our men don’t suffer losses. They’re just hired thugs who bully civilians—I doubt they have much ability. Do you understand?”

Luo Hu cupped his hands. “Yes, sir!”

“Go.”

The two of them left to carry out the orders.

Xu Ke leaned back in his chair, lightly tapping his fingers on the table.

Over the past two days, he had thoroughly understood these so-called “gang organizations.”

They were nothing more than violent black-market groups—professional enforcers who took jobs to back people up in disputes, collect bad debts, and even take punishment lashes for criminals in exchange for money.

Such violent organizations had no place in his jurisdiction.

Over the past two days, he had finally figured out the background of these so-called “gang organizations.”

They were nothing more than violent black-market groups—professional hired thugs who backed people up in disputes, collected bad debts, and even took beatings in place of criminals sentenced to flogging in exchange for money. Such violent organizations had no place under his governance.

After dealing with the gangs that had shown their faces today, he planned to reorganize and absorb the remaining ones, putting Ni Er in charge. These idle, drifting troublemakers were all unstable elements.

After waiting for about an hour, Luo Hu returned to report.

“My lord, we’ve cleared out three gangs.” Luo Hu cupped his hands. “When we arrived, they hadn’t received any news yet and were still drinking and enjoying themselves indoors. The brothers directly broke in, beat them, put them in shackles, and took them down easily.”

Xu Ke nodded and signaled Xu Fu to bring out two hundred taels of silver and hand it to Luo Hu.

“Take this and treat the constables on my behalf.”

Luo Hu was stunned and quickly waved his hands. “My lord, this is inappropriate…”

Xu Ke raised his hand to stop him and added, “Not just the constables—include Qin Zhong’s men as well. We will all be working together in this county from now on. Use this chance to build rapport.”

Luo Hu accepted the silver with both hands and bowed deeply. “I understand! Thank you, my lord!”

After Luo Hu left, Xu Ke stood up and walked to the window.

It was already late at night. In the county yamen courtyard, only a few scattered lanterns remained lit. From a distance, faint sounds of laughter and chatter could be heard—probably Luo Hu and the others drinking together.

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

With the gangs cleared out, another of Zhou Fengchun’s claws in the city had been cut off.

Next, it was time to deal with those who had been manipulating grain prices.

He lifted the curtain and entered the inner room. Yingchun was sitting on the edge of the heated bed, embroidering with a hoop in her hands. Siqi was squatting on the floor tidying a chest, while Xiuju stood nearby holding a teacup. She said something that made Yingchun smile behind her hand.

Seeing Xu Ke enter, Yingchun quickly put down her embroidery and stood up. “Master, you’re back.”

Siqi also stood up and muttered, “Master, you’re finally back! Madam’s been talking about you the whole time, worried about whether you’d finished dealing with things outside.”

Xu Ke glanced at her. “So you were listening closely.”

Siqi grinned, not at all afraid.

Xiuju handed him tea. Xu Ke took a sip, then leaned back onto the bed and let out a long breath.

Yingchun sat down beside him and asked softly, “Has everything… been handled outside?”

“Handled,” Xu Ke said with his eyes closed. “All those ruffians are in prison now.”

Yingchun didn’t ask further. Instead, she quietly tucked a cushion behind his waist to make him more comfortable.

Siqi couldn’t hold back and leaned over to ask, “Master, I heard you sent the guards to fight? Were those people very strong?”

Xu Ke opened his eyes and looked at her eager expression, unable to help but smile. “Strong? Just a bunch of rabble. The guards didn’t even get warmed up.”

Siqi slapped her thigh. “I should’ve gone to watch!”

Xiuju pulled her sleeve. “Behave yourself. If the Old Madam finds out you went to watch something like that, you’ll get punished.”

Siqi pouted. “The Old Madam doesn’t care about things like this.”

Yingchun listened to their bickering and smiled faintly without speaking. Then she seemed to think of something and looked up. “Master, those people today said they had no rice to eat. Will anyone really go hungry?”

Xu Ke opened his eyes and looked at her gentle, worried expression. He felt she was too kind-hearted and explained, “Don’t worry. It’s not a year of famine. Every household stores at least ten days to half a month of grain. No one would come to the yamen just because they ran out in a single day. Most of those people were hired.”

Yingchun finally relaxed and nodded. “That’s good then.”

Siqi immediately chimed in, “Master is wise! I knew it—the way they were shouting outside, like they were performing in a play, it must’ve been someone pulling the strings!”

Xiuju laughed. “You just talk too much.”

Siqi didn’t mind and leaned closer to Xu Ke. “Master, did you plan all this in advance? Were those guards already lying in ambush?”

Xu Ke glanced at her, too tired to respond, and closed his eyes again.

Siqi wasn’t discouraged and kept chatting with Xiuju in a low voice. “I think so. Master’s planning is even more impressive than the strategists in opera stories…”

Xiuju tugged at her sleeve, telling her not to disturb him.

Leaning against the cushion, Xu Ke listened to the two maids’ soft chatter. It wasn’t noisy, just faint and soothing. For a moment, he felt that this wasn’t so bad—outside there were blades, schemes, and struggles, but at home there was someone handing him tea, someone listening to him speak, someone quietly sitting nearby.

He turned his head to look at Yingchun.

In the candlelight, her face looked soft and gentle, her lips carrying a faint smile as she lowered her head to adjust his clothing.

Suddenly, Xu Ke reached out and pinched her cheek.

Yingchun jumped in surprise, her face turning bright red as she lowered her head and didn’t dare look at him.

Siqi and Xiuju covered their mouths and giggled, quietly slipping out.

The curtain fell, leaving only the two of them in the room.

The candle flame flickered gently, casting a warm golden glow across the curtains.