Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

Xie Wumian hurriedly came out of the side room wearing only his outer robe, without even having time to tidy himself up.

Last night, I celebrated my junior's success. My teacher was in high spirits and chatted and laughed with my junior, but he remained polite and distant towards him.

Thinking back to how he hadn't left without saying goodbye and had instead achieved top honors in the imperial examinations, his teacher might have held a celebratory banquet for him, sharing drinks and laughter. But now, living under the same roof, he felt like an outsider. Xie Wumian couldn't help but feel down and sought solace in alcohol.

After the small banquet, he returned to his room and drank alone for a long time until dawn before finally going to sleep.

Not long after I fell asleep, I was awakened by the chaotic reports from my servants.

His head was throbbing from a hangover, and the noise he'd been woken up from made him look rather unwell. He stopped his panicked servant, his voice hoarse, and asked, "What happened?"

The servant said anxiously, "Young Master Xie, a lot of soldiers have come outside. They say they are from the Five Cities Garrison and want to ask the old master to come out and talk to him."

"They were all armed and clad in armor. Although they spoke politely, they had already ordered all the small doors to be guarded, not even a fly could get out. Clearly, they were up to no good!"

Pei Lian was also disturbed and was dragging his heavy steps out of the house. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his complexion was no better than Xie Wumian's.

Pei Lian had a vague sense of unease, but was unwilling to speculate: "The Five Cities Garrison... Could it be that thieves or some kind of villain have infiltrated the mansion?"

The servant immediately replied, "But everyone in the mansion knows us well; there are no strangers here."

Xie Wumian realized that something serious must have happened that they were unaware of. "After all, the teacher is a retired Director of the Imperial Academy. If thieves had infiltrated the mansion, the Five Cities Garrison would not have been so rude as to let the teacher go out to talk."

Pei Lian's expression was grave: "Let's go out and take a look first."

Xie Wumian had already lifted his leg and headed towards the door.

Pei Lian gritted her teeth and strode after him.

Outside the Zhao residence, soldiers in full armor stood in formation, silent and solemn.

Pei Lian and his companion looked towards the door and saw a handsome and upright young man standing at the foot of the steps, holding a sword and standing tall like a pine tree. Hearing the sound of the door opening, his sharp gaze shot straight at them.

Upon seeing the two men, the young man stepped forward, his voice neither loud nor soft, but clear and distinct: "Please invite Lord Zhao Guangqi to come out and meet me."

Seeing his rudeness towards his mentor, Pei Lian frowned and said, "Who are you? My teacher is a highly respected scholar, a renowned Confucian scholar, and before retiring, he was the Director of Studies at the Imperial Academy. How dare you be so disrespectful and insolent?"

Shang Jingming didn't waste any more words with him, simply repeating in a businesslike manner: "Please invite Lord Zhao Guangqi to come out and meet us."

"You!" Pei Lian was furious, but his bad premonition grew stronger.

Xie Wumian stepped forward, subtly blocking his junior brother's path, and bowed to Shang Jingming: "My lord, my master is advanced in years and cannot withstand fright. If there is official business that requires your cooperation, may I inquire first and then inform my master to invite him out?"

Shang Jingming remained tight-lipped: "The Five Cities Military Command is on official business. Please come with me, Lord Zhao. We'll discuss the matter afterward. As for anything else, I cannot comment."

Xie Wumian looked at the leader's cold face, and her heart sank lower and lower.

The firm stance and the tight-lipped nature of those handling the matter suggest that the situation is likely quite serious.

Logically, if it were a summons for questioning, it should be the officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review who would present the official documents and politely invite the person.

The Five City Garrison is in charge of patrolling and maintaining security in the capital and is responsible for apprehending bandits. No matter how you look at it, it shouldn't be their turn to step forward. It's impossible for an old teacher to secretly become a notorious thief without his knowledge.

It's only possible that this is a special case being handled specially, involving some major case.

But what kind of major case could a retired scholar like my teacher get involved in?

Given the current situation, they probably can't stop it even if they try.

If we try to be polite first and then resort to force, and fail to achieve our goal, these people from the Five Cities Garrison might just break off relations and force their way in.

Xie Wumian cupped his hands again, his tone very polite: "I did not intend to obstruct official business, but the Five Cities Military Command suddenly came to our door, and we do not know what they are involved in. We are inevitably suspicious. Could you please show us the official document, so that we can have some idea?"

Shang Jingming glanced at him.

This person acts with great method and is not a simple character.

He raised his hand, and a soldier beside him presented him with a scroll of official documents.

Shang Jingming took it and unfolded it.

The official document bears the official seal and signature authorized by the Ministry of Justice. It was indeed handled according to procedure, without any overstepping of authority.

Xie Wumian's gaze lingered on the official document for a moment, unable to discern any flaws, before he lowered his eyes and said, "Please wait a moment, sir, we will go and fetch the teacher right away."

Pei and Xie returned to the mansion, both of them preoccupied with their own thoughts.

Pei Lian clenched his sleeves in frustration: "Historically, when criminals arrest people, it's either the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Judicial Review, or at the very least, the Censorate. When did it become the Five City Garrison Command's turn? Besides, my teacher is a retired official, and he retired from such a prestigious position as the Director of Studies at the Imperial Academy. What could he possibly be involved in?"

Xie Wumian didn't reply, but just walked forward in silence.

He had a very bad feeling about it.

It is indeed overstepping the bounds of the Five Cities Garrison to be in charge of criminal investigations and arrests, unless... unless the case is extremely large, large enough for His Majesty to personally intervene and assign the Five Cities Garrison to participate.

If that's the case... the teacher might be in danger.

Even if someone is innocent, a trip to the imperial prison will inevitably leave them severely scarred.

Not to mention that the teacher is already in his seventies.

Xie Wumian's expression was grave: "Junior brother, I haven't been back in the capital for long. Has any major case occurred in the capital recently?"

Pei Lian frowned: "If we're talking about major cases, it's nothing more than the previous Ning'an embezzlement case and the case of the cloth merchant being wrongly accused due to dereliction of duty by officials of the Ministry of Justice. These have absolutely nothing to do with you, Teacher. Besides, there's also..."

Pei Lian suddenly realized something, and his expression changed drastically.

Seeing his reaction, Xie Wumian guessed that his junior brother must have thought of some crucial information, and hurriedly asked, "What else?"

Pei Lian's face turned deathly pale: "Yesterday, during the announcement of the results of the imperial examinations, fourteen people were disqualified for purchasing the exam questions with large sums of money. They were sentenced to be stripped of their titles and never to be employed again, each receiving fifty strokes of the cane and one month in shackles..."

He gritted his teeth: "Could someone be making baseless accusations and slandering the teacher?"

...

First update delivered, second update after 1 PM.

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