From a slave to the Great Qian Martial Saint

"Commander Li, you've arrived just in time!"

Wei Shouren was filled with excitement as he watched Li Changying enter.

Although the county government had twenty or thirty yamen runners, they were all local ruffians recruited from the streets. They could bully ordinary people, but they were no match for a seventh-rank martial artist.

But the group that arrived this time was different; it was the regular army of the Great Qian Dynasty!

More than two months ago, Li Changying led six hundred elite soldiers to Gegang County to set up camp, but no one knew what their mission was.

Both being seventh-rank officials, Wei Shouren had been a good host to Wei Shouren several times, and their relationship was fairly good.

Upon realizing the situation was dire, Wei Shouren immediately sent someone to request Li Changying's assistance.

I didn't expect it to arrive so quickly!

"Commander Li! Quickly seize this madman Chen Shi!"

Wei Shouren pointed at Chen Shi and shouted loudly.

"Um?"

Seeing the tense atmosphere on the field and the mess on the ground, Li Changying was taken aback, then frowned and looked at Wei Shouren beside him.

Just then, a subordinate rushed in from outside and whispered a few words in Li Changying's ear.

Li Changying nodded slightly, understanding.

He ignored Wei Shouren and went straight to Chen Shi.

"Haha! Chen Shi, let's see how arrogant you can be now!"

Thinking that Li Changying was about to attack Chen Shi, Wei Shouren laughed triumphantly again.

Chen Shi stood still, his expression serious.

He had already witnessed the strength of a regular army at Yongqiu Mountain.

Judging from their imposing presence, the elite force before us is probably no less formidable than the garrison at Yongqiu Mountain.

If he had already cultivated to the mid-stage of the seventh rank, most of his body would be able to condense blood and qi into form, making him fearless in both offense and defense. However, he is only at the early stage of the seventh rank. If he were to truly fight to the death, he would probably find it difficult to escape unscathed.

But if we were to back down now, how could we possibly swallow this insult?

To shoot a man, first shoot his horse; to capture a thief, first capture his king.

Chen Shi clenched his fist secretly, preparing to take down the leading general first.

"Congratulations to Steward Chen on his promotion to the seventh-rank martial artist."

Li Changying walked up to Chen Shi, cupped his hands in greeting, and said loudly.

Ok?

Chen Shi, who was about to make a move, froze instantly. Congratulations? Weren't they going to make things difficult for him?

"Commander Li, you..."

Wei Shouren, who had just been looking smug, was completely stunned on the spot.

Instead of taking action, Li Changying congratulated Chen Shi!

"It turns out that Manager Chen is from Gegang. It's quite a coincidence that I'm stationed here."

Ignoring Wei Shouren, Li Changying smiled and said again.

"You're too kind, Lord Li."

Chen Shi snapped out of his daze and returned the greeting with a cupped-hand salute.

One shouldn't hit a smiling face. Since he wasn't trying to make things difficult for him, but rather congratulating him, Chen Shi naturally wouldn't make a move.

Moreover, the other party referred to him as "Manager Chen," which clearly indicates that he knew his background, a point that is distinctly different from Wei Shouren's.

What's going on?

Seeing this, the guests looked at each other, completely bewildered.

Wasn't it Wei Shouren who called for reinforcements to arrest Chen Shi? Why are they congratulating him now?

Wei Shouren, having regained his senses, frowned deeply, truly unable to understand.

Although Chen Shi is a seventh-rank martial artist, he is only a seventh-rank, not a sixth-rank minor master. Li Changying is also a captain, a seventh-rank official. Why should they fawn over him like this?

Not only others, but Chen Shi also had some doubts, so he simply asked directly.

"How did Li Daren know of me?"

"Hehe, of course someone introduced me. Speaking of which, the others should be arriving by now."

Li Changying smiled, but kept everyone in suspense for the time being.

Although his camp was in Gegang County, it was on the edge of the county town. Imagine how he could have arrived so quickly.

Actually, he originally came to offer his congratulations.

"Others?"

Chen Shi was startled again. Who else was there?

"Guests have arrived!"

Just as Chen Shi was wondering what was going on, the soldiers guarding outside suddenly shouted.

Looking at the soldiers lined up on both sides, Chen Shi suddenly realized what was going on.

They brought so many people, not to make things difficult for him, but precisely to stand up for him and support him.

"The head of the Zhao family, medicine merchants from Yongqiu City, has come to offer his congratulations!"

"The head of the Qian family, medicine merchants from Yongqiu City, has come to offer his congratulations!"

"The head of the Sun family, medicine merchants from Yongqiu City, has come to offer his congratulations!"

"The head of the Li family, medicine merchants from Yongqiu City, has come to offer his congratulations!"

Accompanied by a series of shouts, Zhao Dacheng and his four major pharmaceutical merchants strode in.

"A pharmaceutical company?"

"The head of the family?"

"Judging from their clothes and appearance, they don't look like an ordinary person who runs a herbal medicine shop."

"A herbal medicine shop? Ha! Zhao, Qian, Sun, and Li—the four great herbal medicine merchants of Yongqiu City—who doesn't know them!"

"The businesses of these four families extend far beyond Yongqiu City, practically throughout Jiangnan. They actually came all this way to congratulate Chen Shi!"

The guests started discussing it again, and seeing that Zhao Dacheng and his entourage were dressed in exceptionally luxurious attire, they couldn't help but make various guesses.

One of them happened to own a herbal medicine shop, and suddenly remembered. Hearing this, the others were all taken aback.

Then everyone looked at Chen Shi again, their faces full of surprise.

Wasn't he a servant? How could he possibly be acquainted with such wealthy merchants?

"Greetings, Steward Chen."

"Congratulations to Steward Chen."

"We apologize for our abrupt arrival, Steward Chen."

The four men arrived, their faces full of humility and respect, greeting Chen Shi as they spoke.

"You four patriarchs are too kind. I am delighted that you could come."

Chen Shi returned the greeting with a cupped hand and a smile, saying something.

Upon hearing this, the four men immediately beamed with joy. To receive such words from Chen Shi, they felt it would be worth traveling hundreds more miles.

clap clap!

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Dacheng clapped his hands toward the door.

The next moment, a large number of servants filed in.

After cleaning the courtyard, setting up the tables and chairs, and arranging the food and drinks, the original mess was transformed into a grand feast in the blink of an eye.

"I was surprised by your sudden arrival. I thought that Steward Chen was not prepared, so I brought my own. I hope Steward Chen will not take offense."

"How could that be? It's because you're so kind."

Chen Shi looked around and nodded slightly.

The onlookers were stunned by the magic trick.

Then he secretly clicked his tongue in amazement. This wasn't magic; it was money conjured up!

If a large sum of money hadn't been spent, how could so many servants have been mobilized to complete all this so quickly?

Looking at the food and wine on the table, the aroma of the fine wine seemed to waft for miles, causing everyone to swallow hard once again.

Not to mention eating, there are many dishes they've never even seen or heard of!

Compared to that, Chen Yu's previous feast was practically like pig feed.

"This...this..."

Seeing this, Chen Wangshi and Chen Yu were completely dumbfounded, and at the same time, they were furious.

In that case, wouldn't Chen Shi completely steal the spotlight?

This was no longer Chen Yu's Flower-Adorning Banquet; it had turned into Chen Shi's 'Martial Arts Banquet'!

But seeing this situation, even if they were angry, they didn't dare to say anything.

On the other side, Wei Shouren and Wu Debiao also frowned deeply, feeling that something was increasingly wrong with the situation.

"In the end, they're just some merchants; what can they possibly do to this county?"

Immediately afterwards, Wei Shouren snorted coldly, forcing himself to maintain his momentum.

"The leader of the Flying Eagle Gang from Yongqiu City has come to offer his congratulations!"

"The leader of the Wolfsbane Gang of Yongqiu City has come to offer his congratulations!"

"The leader of the Fierce Tiger Gang of Yongqiu City has come to offer his congratulations!"

The banquet had just been rearranged when shouts came from outside the door again.

"The Flying Eagle Gang, the Wolf Poison Gang..."

Upon hearing these names, Wu Debiao's expression changed drastically.

He was a street hustler himself, so how could he not know the three major gangs that dominated Yongqiu City!

It was one thing for the four major pharmaceutical merchants to come, but even the leaders of the three major gangs came to offer their congratulations. Wu Debiao looked at Chen Shi with a face full of shock, wondering who he was!