Amidst the sudden uproar, four yamen runners barged into the inn, some wielding fire and water cudgels, others knives, and one dragging iron chains. Seeing Lu Wenke and the others stand up, they pointed and shouted loudly as they approached, exuding a formidable aura.

"Nobody move! Anyone who moves will be charged as an accomplice!"

"I am Lu Wenke of the Lu family in Hongzhou. What crime has he committed?" Despite the yamen runners' harsh words, Lu Wenke and his companions stepped forward to meet them. Fan Heng, Chen Junsheng, and others also announced their names. As members of the scholar class, they were not generally afraid of these yamen runners; in ordinary circumstances, everyone would give them some respect.

"He's a dangerous criminal! Get out of the way!"

In the brief moment of contact, the leading yamen runner pushed Lu Wenke aside, while one from the back shouted, "Do you want to be arrested too?!"

Fan Heng slammed his palm on the table. "Is there no law left?"

Chen Junsheng said, "You must give us a reason."

It was a chaotic scene. Wang Jiang, covered in blood, lay on the ground as Ning Ji quickly examined his injuries. Wang Jiang was a江湖 performer, a green forest man who had practiced crude Qigong for decades. He didn't have much fighting skill, but his ability to withstand blows far exceeded that of ordinary people. As a result, he had suffered dozens, even hundreds, of blows all over his body. Although most were simple cuts and bruises, the injuries to his head and internal bones could cause serious problems, though it was difficult to assess them clearly at the moment.

So many injuries could not have come from a simple brawl.

After a brief examination, Ning Ji quickly made a judgment. Although Wang Jiang was said to be a jianghu green forest man, he wasn't very skilled in martial arts and lacked courage. He wouldn't have run if these yamen runners had tried to arrest him. The current situation clearly indicated that he had been beaten for a long time after being captured before finally fighting back and running to the inn for help.

Even as he lay on the ground, Wang Jiang's thoughts were still consumed by his daughter's plight. He reached out and grabbed Lu Wenke's trouser leg. "Young Master Lu, save… save Xiu Niang… Xiu Niang was… was taken by them…"

As he spoke, the approaching yamen runners arrived and kicked Wang Jiang hard in the head. In the chaos, Ning Ji casually pushed a long bench nearby. With a loud bang, the wooden bench flew up, and the yamen runner cried out in agony, hopping and cursing hysterically while clutching his shin. "I操—"

The inn's main hall was filled with either eight-immortal tables or long benches. The yamen runner had kicked the bench with full force, and others couldn't see exactly what had happened. Several scholars were shouting, "Let's talk things out calmly!" The yamen runners in the back charged forward, someone overturning a table. "You're harboring a criminal!" Fan Heng and the others said, "This man is traveling with us. He's no criminal. We won't run."

Wang Jiang spat out blood and cried, "Xiu Niang has been captured… Young Master Lu, you must save her! Don't let them, don't let them…" He wailed.

Ning Ji stood up from beside him and walked to the square table where they had been playing cards. He took a bowl, poured in hot water, dissolved a pill, and prepared to give Wang Jiang emergency treatment. He was young, with a kind face. The yamen runners, scholars, and even Wang Jiang himself didn't pay much attention to him at this moment.

Meanwhile, Lu Wenke was questioning the yamen runners. "You also arrested his daughter? What crime has she committed?"

The yamen runner had rushed over to kick Wang Jiang, originally to stop him from talking, but had now revealed that Wang Xiu Niang had been arrested. He said, "This father and daughter resemble those who were spying on military secrets outside the city a few days ago. There's a war going on. Do you dare to protect him? Or are you all accomplices?"

"Their head constable arrested Xiu Niang, their head constable arrested Xiu Niang… in the courtyard to the north! Go quickly!"

Wang Jiang shouted from the ground. Hearing this, the others roughly understood what was going on. Some looked at Lu Wenke, whose face turned red, then pale, then white. The yamen runner cursed, "You dare to slander me!"

Ning Ji quickly returned to Wang Jiang with the dissolved pill. "Uncle Wang, drink this first." Wang Jiang was only concerned about his daughter and struggled to grab Ning Ji's clothes. "Save Xiu Niang…" But he refused to drink the medicine. Ning Ji frowned and said, "Alright, we'll save Sister Xiu Niang. Drink this, and we'll go save her together."

His gaze had now turned completely somber, and there was a hint of conflict in his heart: Should he kill people or wait? Wang Jiang could be kept alive for the moment, but Sister Xiu Niang might be in real danger. Perhaps something bad had already happened. Should he risk exposure to gain some time? Besides, could the five Confucian scholars resolve this situation?

Hearing Ning Ji's quiet voice, Wang Jiang began to drink the medicine with trembling lips. The yamen runners exchanged angry words with the scholars, preparing to use force, but since the matter had been exposed, they ultimately didn't act. After all, Wang Jiang and these scholars would eventually have to go to the yamen. In such a chaotic scene, they were unaware that they had been walking back and forth on the edge of death several times.

"Where did you take his daughter?" Lu Wenke roared, his eyes red. "Is she in the yamen? Do you have no humanity?"

"Since we're going to the yamen anyway, let's go now!"

Wang Jiang shook his head on the ground. "Not in the yamen, not in the yamen, to the north…"

"This is an illegal detention!"

Amidst the voices, Ning Ji watched Wang Jiang finish the medicine and prepared to make a decision. At that moment, there was another commotion outside. Someone was shouting, "Madam, she's over here!" Then a large entourage arrived, and more than ten strong men rushed in from outside, followed by a woman, her face dark, who quickly entered the inn.

Seeing this kind of lineup, the yamen runners showed signs of fear. The woman, surrounded by the strong men, wore white clothes and was decent-looking at first glance, but she was slightly overweight. She lifted her skirt, glanced around, and fixed her gaze on the yamen runner who had been giving orders. "Little Lu, I'm asking you, where is Xu Dong?"

The yamen runner named Little Lu frowned. "Constable Xu is now… of course, he's on duty at the yamen, but I…"

Before he could finish speaking, the woman in white grabbed a teacup from the table and threw it at him. The cup missed but startled him. "Not at the yamen! Not at the yamen! Don't try to fool me, you surnamed Lu! Don't let me hold a grudge! I heard you arrested a woman. Where is she?"

The woman had a loud voice. The yamen runner named Lu was still hesitating when Fan Heng jumped up. "We know! We know!" He pointed to Wang Jiang. "His daughter was arrested. This… this madam, he knows the place!"

These yamen runners were naturally bad guys, and he had originally thought that they would be difficult to resist for a while, but who knew that another group of good people who were opposed to the yamen runners and obviously had great power had come. Wang Jiang, as if seeing hope, supported himself on the table and struggled to get up from the ground, and also said: "I know... it is a courtyard in the north, I... I, I can lead the way."

The woman in white looked at Wang Jiang, waved her hand fiercely. "Someone go help him, let him lead the way!"

Wang Jiang staggered out, and Ning Ji supported him on the side, saying: "You have to get a stretcher! Take a door panel!" But no one paid attention to him at this moment, and even Wang Jiang, who was anxious, did not stop.

The group then came out of the inn in a mighty manner and proceeded along the road in the county town. Wang Jiang's pace was staggering, and Ning Ji's body was covered with blood. He was used to seeing this on the battlefield, so it didn't matter, but he was worried that the previous medicine would overdraft the life force of this middle-aged performer.

After a while, the group's pace arrived at a small courtyard in the north of the county town. This seemed to be the place where Wang Jiang had escaped. There was even a yamen runner guarding the door. Seeing this group of people coming, he opened the door and ran into the courtyard. The woman in white said: "Surround it for me, hit anyone you see! Let Xu Dong get out here! Start!"

Her orders were scattered and disorganized, but her subordinates had already taken action. Some people broke through the door with a bang, some guarded the woman and went into the yard first, and some blocked people at the back door. The four yamen runners were quite embarrassed, and shouted from the back: "Sister-in-law, you can't do this..." and followed in.

When Ning Ji supported Wang Jiang into the courtyard, people had already started smashing houses and hitting people. A loud voice came from the side room in the courtyard: "Who dares!"

The woman in white shouted: "I dare! Xu Dong, you dare to play with women behind my back!"

"What play with women, which eye did you see it with!"

A burly, fierce-looking man came out of the side room. He walked out of there, looked around, and roared: "Everyone stop!" But no one stopped, the woman in white rushed up and slapped him on the head: "Xu Dong, you deserve to die!"

"I said no!" Constable Xu Dong's voice was strong and majestic, and the woman slapped him again, knocking his hat crooked.

"That's a criminal!" Xu Dong roared. The woman slapped him again.

"No one is allowed to mess around, I said it!"

The woman jumped up and slapped him again. Xu Dong took the slaps one by one, but he didn't resist, he just roared, and the surroundings were banging and smashing. Wang Jiang struggled to go forward, and several scholars looked at this absurd scene, wanting to go forward, but were stopped. Ning Ji had let go of Wang Jiang and walked towards the front, a strong man reached out to stop him, he lowered his body, and in the blink of an eye, he had reached the inner courtyard and ran towards the room behind Xu Dong.

Xu Dong was still roaring, the woman was beating people while scolding and accusing in a dialect that no one could understand, and then dragged Xu Dong's ear to the room, possibly saying something about "vixen", Xu Dong still repeated: "She seduced me!"

The woman dragged Constable Xu into the room. At this time, Ning Ji had already followed in. The woman seemed to want to beat the "vixen" up, but seeing the scene in the room, she frowned and stopped. Ning Ji then walked past the two of them. At this time, the room was filled with the smell of blood and stench. Wang Xiu Niang was curled up in the corner of the room. Her body was not only covered in blood, but also traces of feces and urine.

Ning Ji squatted down and saw that her clothes were torn to only half, her eyes, corners of her mouth, and cheeks were swollen, and there were traces of feces on her face. He turned his head and looked at the couple who were fighting, and the anger was about to be suppressed. Wang Xiu Niang seemed to feel the movement, woke up, and identified the person in front of her.

"Sister Xiu Niang." Ning Ji held her hand.

"Lu... Little Long ah." Wang Xiu Niang said weakly, and then smiled, "It's okay... I, I am very clever, I wasn't... I wasn't... successful..."

"How did you..." Ning Ji frowned, and didn't know what to say for a while.

"Don't touch my hand... it stinks..." The woman tried her best to take her hand out, and smeared the smelly things on it on herself, smiling weakly.

Ning Ji was silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and smiled: "It's good that you are okay... Big Brother Lu, he... is worried about you, I will take you to see him."

He picked Wang Xiu Niang up from the ground and walked towards the door. At this time, he didn't pay any attention to the couple who were fighting, and he had already decided that if anyone dared to stop him at this time, he would kill him on the spot, and he just walked over.

The couple was also stunned for a moment, Xu Dong roared: "She is a wanted criminal! I am interrogating her!"

The woman jumped up and hit his head: "Interrogate her! Interrogate her!"

"I'm not talking to you, you shrew!"

The woman kicked his butt and hit his head again: "Shrew—"

"You are a shrew!" The two walked out of the room, Xu Dong shouted again: "Don't smash it!"

Ning Ji carried Wang Xiu Niang out, and when he arrived at Wang Jiang's side, Wang Jiang knelt beside his daughter and cried. Fan Heng and others were indignant: "It's outrageous! It's outrageous! There is no law in Tongshan County!"

"You have to give an explanation for this kind of thing!"

Xu Dong was still roaring: "Whoever goes against me, Xu Dong, today, I will remember you!" Then he saw Wang Jiang and others, he stretched out his finger, pointed at everyone, and walked towards this side: "So it's you!" At this time, his hair was messed up by the beating, and the woman continued to hit him from behind, and grabbed his ears. His face was hideous, staring at Wang Jiang, and then staring at Lu Wenke, Fan Heng and others.

"I remember you!"

The woman slapped him on the back of the head, and he said word by word, then separated two fingers, pointed to his eyes, and then pointed to this side, his eyes were red, and his mouth was full of saliva.

"I! Remember! You! All!"

"Is there still law here? We will definitely go to the county yamen to sue you!" Fan Heng roared.

The woman cried, scolded, and then grabbed her husband Xu Dong's ears and shouted: "Drive these people out for me—" This was shouted to Wang Jiang and his daughter, Fan Heng, Ning Ji and others.

Some of the strong men she brought then separated to persuade and push everyone to leave. In the courtyard, the woman continued to beat her husband, and she also hated that these outsiders were walking too slowly, so she grabbed her husband's ears and shouted hysterically: "Get out! Get out! Let these things get out quickly—"

More and more strong men came towards this side. For a moment, the blade of the scalpel slipped out of Ning Ji's sleeve, but looking at Fan Heng, Lu Wenke and the others, he finally put the knife away and left the courtyard with everyone.

…

Everyone didn't have lunch. When they returned to the inn, Ning Ji bandaged Wang Jiang and his daughter's injuries. Fan Heng and others went to the yamen to inquire about the situation, preparing to file a complaint and seek justice.

After bandaging, Wang Jiang, whose injuries were complicated and it was unknown whether something serious would happen, had fallen asleep. Wang Xiu Niang suffered various skin injuries, and her body was fine, but she was listless and said she wanted to rest in the room and didn't want to see anyone.

She was at the age of youth and vitality, and had developed feelings with Lu Wenke in the past two months. A woman pleases herself, and her usual dress became even more beautiful. Who knew that this time she went out to perform, she was targeted by the constable, who was sure that this kind of performer had no background, so he arrested her and wanted to force himself on her. Wang Xiu Niang smeared feces and urine on herself in an emergency. Although she was beaten badly by the enraged Xu constable, she kept her chastity. But after this incident, what Lu Wenke would think was hard to say.

Ning Ji couldn't think of these things for the time being. He thought Wang Xiu Niang was very brave, but Lu Wenke was a little moody after returning. But this was not the most important thing right now.

Not long after bandaging the father and daughter, Fan Heng and Chen Junsheng returned from outside. Everyone sat in the room and exchanged information, and their eyes and words were complicated.

"...This Xu Dong is said to be the chief constable of the local yamen, but he is not considered a big shot. There are still many people who can cure him. But the problem lies with his wife, Li Xiaoqing. This woman is the daughter of Li Ruoque and the sister of Li Yanfeng. When she married Xu Dong, the Li family was not considered a big family, but now... Especially after the Jin soldiers' war, the Li family here is the local emperor who has the final say..."

"...We spent some money, and those who were willing to speak told us that this lawsuit could not be fought. How Xu Dong and Li Xiaoqing are is their family affair, but if we insist on suing Xu Dong for this matter... I'm afraid we won't be able to enter the yamen, and some people even said that it would be difficult to leave."

"...Then don't sue?"

"...Then go sue."

When everyone's words came to this point, everyone was embarrassed. After discussing it for a while, someone said: "What does Brother Lu think?"

Lu Wenke clenched his fists with both hands, his eyes were red: "What do I mean?"

Seeing his situation, it was difficult for everyone to say more.

In the late afternoon, the autumn wind blew in the courtyard, and the sky began to turn cloudy. After that, the owner of the inn came to send a message, saying that a big shot had come and wanted to meet them.

Everyone went to the inn's main hall. What appeared there was a middle-aged man in a long shirt, who looked like a scholar, but also had some jianghu air, with a scar on his face. He introduced himself to everyone: "I am the steward of the Li family, my surname is Wu."

"Steward Wu, are you here to resolve today's matter?" Fan Heng said.

"Sort of." Steward Wu nodded, and then gestured for everyone to sit down. He sat down in front of the table first, and the servants came over and poured a cup of tea.

"You are all scholars." Steward Wu opened his mouth on his own, "Scholars are good, I heard that scholars are sensible and can handle things. Today's matter between my young lady and Constable Xu was originally something that could be resolved, but I heard that someone in the middle was rude."

"...Rude?" Fan Heng, Chen Junsheng and others frowned, and Lu Wenke's eyes turned red again. Ning Ji sat on the side and watched.

"What happened today is the Li family's family affair. As for the father and daughter, they are suspected of colluding with the enemy. Someone sued them... Of course, this matter can pass now, but you shouted loudly there today, which is not very polite... I heard that you went to the yamen to send money, saying that you want to fight the lawsuit to the end, and that you want to keep pestering, this matter reached my young lady's ears..."

"My young lady just encountered such a bad thing, and she is upset, and you are adding to the chaos here. You are scholars, but you don't know how to do things." He paused, and took a sip of tea: "So my young lady said, these people, don't stay in Tongshan, so as not to cause any trouble... So you, leave now, you have to leave before dark."

"Alas." He reached into his arms, took out a few ingots of silver and placed them on the table, Steward Wu sighed: "You said, what is this all about..."

The autumn wind stirred, and the outside of the inn was full of dark clouds. The silver ingots on the square table were dazzling, and the eyes of Fan Heng and others sitting here were full of anger. Ning Ji calmed down and watched everything indifferently in an inconspicuous corner.

It was quiet in the inn's main hall. After a while, Fan Heng was about to respond. Steward Wu took a knife from a strong man beside him, raised it, and then slammed it on the table like silver.

The sound echoed in the hall.