From the fusion of Tongbei Quan to the Longevity Martial Saint

The Six Doors belong to the Ministry of Justice. Although they have great power in cracking down on smuggling and solving cases, and also have their own armory, they are still a step behind the Salt Patrol Guard.

The Six Doors belonged to the Ministry of Justice, and above the Ministry of Justice was the Grand Secretariat. Beyond the Grand Secretariat lay the core of imperial power.

The Salt Patrol Guard was completely different.

The Salt Patrol Guard was granted special permission by the Emperor to execute orders first and report later.

It can be said that in terms of power and freedom of action, the Six Doors cannot compare.

Moreover, the Salt Patrol Guards were also qualified to enter the Imperial Palace's armory.

This infuriated Fang Chulan so much that he gritted his teeth in anger.

"It must be that Fang Lingsu somehow lured Fang Qing into the Salt Patrol Guard Reserve Camp."

Fang Lingsu had deep connections in the Salt Patrol Guard and the Imperial Palace, which Fang Chulan naturally knew.

Fang Chulan never expected that Fang Lingsu would go to such lengths to get a lowly salt slave into the reserve camp.

If the reserve battalion performs well, they will almost certainly be able to enter the Salt Patrol Guard as Iron Guards in the future.

Of course, if one wants to advance further, one must at least obtain the title of "Martial Arts Graduate" in the martial arts examination.

The martial arts graduate entered the Salt Patrol Guard and immediately became a Bronze Guard.

"Fang Lingsu, you're really siding with outsiders!"

Thinking of this, Fang Chulan snorted coldly and walked back to his position with his long sword.

However, subconsciously, she still turned her head and glanced at the Liu family's manor.

At this moment, Fang Qing, led by Ding Mingcheng, walked directly into the manor.

Fang Chulan also saw Fang Qing greet the other salt patrol guards in the manor warmly after entering.

Compared to them, those people standing outside the door, like wooden stakes maintaining order, seemed rather miserable.

……

When Fang Qing entered the manor of the salt merchant Liu family, he saw a row of people kneeling against one side of the wall.

These people had iron chains on their hands and feet.

Fang Qing also spotted a familiar figure among them.

She was Li Zaotou's niece, the one who had directly exchanged a punch with Fang Qing at Shizhenlou.

At this moment, Li Zaotou's niece, with her hair in a messy bun, was kneeling in the corner.

Hearing the commotion, she looked up in Fang Qing's direction, and her pupils suddenly contracted sharply.

Then, with a hint of fear, he immediately lowered his head.

Ding Mingcheng naturally recognized Li Zaotou's niece and knew about the feud between her and Fang Qing. He lowered his voice and said:

"These people were basically the stewards and accountants of the Liu family, a salt merchant family, as well as the saltworkers of various salt fields."

"We have investigated this person. She has been using her position as a saltworks supervisor to resell a lot of salt from the saltworks over the years."

"These people will have their martial arts skills crippled and then be exiled to Lingnan."

Fang Qing nodded upon hearing this.

Like Li Zaotou's niece, once her martial arts skills were crippled, she was basically no different from an ordinary person. After being exiled to Lingnan, her chances of survival were slim.

Fang Qing didn't pay much attention to the prisoners kneeling on the ground.

It seems that the Liu family, the salt merchants, is rotten to the core from top to bottom.

At this moment, Fang Qing and Ding Mingcheng were more concerned about the most central residence in the manor.

That was the place where the entire Liu family lived.

The Liu family also spent a lot of money to hire several retainers who were at the seventh level of Body Tempering.

There was even a True Essence Realm expert.

"Just now, Lord Gu exchanged a few blows with that True Yuan Realm Elder and severely injured him."

"The remaining body-tempering worshippers should surrender immediately."

"After all, they're only receiving some silver from the Liu family; there's no need for them to risk their lives."

"However, it remains to be seen how Lord Gu and the head of the Liu family negotiate."

Immediately afterward, Ding Mingcheng lowered his voice and said:

"In this operation, our salt patrol is still slightly lacking in crucial evidence of collusion between the Liu family and the salt bandits."

"I just hope that the head of the Liu family will be a little weak-willed and hand over this evidence as soon as possible."

Fang Qing immediately understood.

Whether it was the Fang family or the Liu family, both salt merchants, they were powerful and influential families in the region.

While developing their businesses, these families also maintained close ties with the high-ranking officials in the imperial court.

Even many of the high-ranking officials in the imperial court came from these local aristocratic families.

Therefore, even if the Salt Patrol Guard wanted to take down the Liu family, they still needed to secure some key evidence.

Only then can we remove this thorn in the side of the salt merchant Liu family.

Just as Fang Qing and Ding Mingcheng were talking.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound rang out from the most central residence in the manor.

The ground they were standing on trembled for quite a while...

The next moment, a black column of smoke shot straight into the sky.

Fang Qing and Ding Mingcheng also heard the neighing of horses and the roaring of people coming from in front of the mansion.

Ding Mingcheng's pupils shrank immediately as he looked toward the mansion.

"It's Thunderbolt! Are the Liu family, the salt merchants, really that crazy?"

Without even giving a heads-up, Ding Mingcheng led the salt patrol guards responsible for protecting Li Zaotou's niece and rushed towards the residence.

Fang Qing followed Ding Mingcheng and ran wildly along a brick-paved path.

Upon arriving at the mansion, Fang Qing saw that what should have been a magnificent, golden house...

They were all blasted into ruins by the thunderbolts, a complete mess.

Gu Changyuan's face was also ashen.

His face and clothes were covered in black and gray.

The flying fish suit, in particular, has many holes.

At his level, even if a thunderbolt were detonated in front of him, Gu Changyuan could easily dodge it.

Unfortunately, there were several Salt Patrol Guards behind Gu Changyuan just now.

Gu Changyuan had no choice but to risk protecting those Iron Guards.

Although Gu Changyuan was not seriously injured, the remaining Iron Guards who were not taken care of by Gu Changyuan were in a miserable state.

One of them had its entire front covered in iron beads.

He lay on the ground groaning.

Another guard from the Salt Patrol Guard fared even worse.

Only half of his right leg remained.

A foot was hanging on the wall in the distance; it was unclear whether it was part of his body.

The guard lay face down on the ground, motionless, and his chances of survival were slim.

Gu Changyuan's face was ashen.

After removing all the top experts from the Liu family, the salt merchants, Gu Changyuan originally thought that the Liu family patriarch would surrender.

But he never expected that the Liu family patriarch would be so ruthless and insane!

They brought all the direct descendants of the Liu family into this house.

The negotiations had just begun, and before Gu Changyuan could even make any promises, the Liu family patriarch suddenly and unexpectedly used a thunderbolt in front of his clansmen.

And most importantly, there is more than one of these thunderbolts.

The Liu family patriarch led his entire family to ascend to heaven.

The Liu family, salt merchants, also wielded considerable influence in the imperial court.

Recently, the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Ministry of War, among others, have expressed considerable dissatisfaction with the Salt Patrol Guard's occupation of large amounts of resources.

It seemed as if they were joining forces to target the Salt Patrol Guard.

If the Liu family's situation is not handled properly, the censor's impeachments will soon fall like snowflakes onto the desk of Salt Inspector Lin.

Even Gu Changyuan was starting to panic.

"Search carefully for any evidence of collusion between the Liu family and the salt bandits, especially account books and letters."

……