Wei Yuan forced himself to rein in his anger. Knowing that there was no point beating around the bush any longer, he said coldly, “Is it really as you claim, general? Flying Sand Village is just tens of li away. You could’ve easily sent an aide or two to confirm things. Three hundred militia soldiers had fought for months, yet they hadn’t seen any pay or provision whatsoever. This is plainly unacceptable no matter how you spin it! Even if you’re harboring personal grievances, shouldn’t you set it aside when the people’s lives are at stake?”

Liao Jingwu immediately furrowed his brow in anger, yelling, “I am not one who neglects my public duties for personal matters! This general faces thousands of Liao barbarian cavalry everyday—where would I find the time to concern myself with the petty affairs of a few peasants? If I did attend to such trifles in person, and the Liao barbarians happen to show up while I was gone, do you think you can bear the responsibility and consequences? Were you not a disciple of the Palace of Absolute Beginning, I could have executed you now and report your death later for this single act of slander! Mind your own business and stick to guarding your own patch of land!”

Wei Yuan wasn’t expecting the fallout to happen this quickly. He realized then that Fang Hetong must have seriously offended the staff general.

Since they couldn’t see eye-to-eye with each other, Wei Yuan decided to shed all pretenses. He said coldly, “The Palace of Absolute Beginning is here, so the matter of military provisions and pay will resolve on its own. But since you do not plan to resolve this problem right now, then it will remain a problem. I will bring this up to a higher level. If not, then higher still. One of them has to be able to solve the problem eventually.”

Liao Jingwu also shed all pretenses and sneered, “Do it then! Go as high as you like! I can tell you right now that everyone and everywhere in Bianning belongs to Hsu! There are many people in the Palace who bear the surname as well. Besides, the laws stand as they are no matter where you take this. I refuse to approve this because the roster doesn’t match the actual number, and I suspect that they are using the elderly and infirm to inflate their numbers. What are you going to do about it? Change the law? The one and only way you can make me approve this is if you get that Fang bastard to kowtow before me and admit his sins! Otherwise, not even a god or an immortal can change my mind!

“Anyway, since you’re planning to take this to the higher-ups, I’m sure you’ll have a lot of work in your hands very soon. Thus, I shan’t keep you any longer, immortal master. Escort him away, men!”

At this point, there was no need to speak any longer. Wei Yuan rose to his feet and left. After he was gone, the anger on Liao Jingwu’s face suddenly vanished, and a commandant beside him warned, “The boy is a Palace disciple, general. There might really be trouble if he chooses to bring this up to his elders.”

Liao Jingwu harrumphed with a sneer. “Like hell there will be! People like him came only to hone themselves. He’ll be gone before you know it. Besides, I am not a man without my own background. Even if the Palace were to look into me, the worst they could pin on me is some minor trifles. I have more than enough military merit to protect myself. What can they do?

“As for that stubborn mule, I can easily point out a bunch of problems with him. He could kneel before me right now, and still I’m not going to approve his application. In fact, I’m going to end him one day. He won’t even know why he died when I’m done with him!”

Wei Yuan was stewing with anger and frustration when he made his way back to Flying Sand Village. Be it Ren Youwei or Liao Jingwu, both were saying pretty words that were utterly useless and using the law as a shield. Not even his deep knowledge for history was useful for this situation because familiarity with the laws was not the way to fix this. It was background and influence.

After this trip, Wei Yuan finally understood that he could not count on the local government to do anything. To be honest, the military pay and provision was never an issue with the Palace of Absolute Beginning as his fallback. The true reason he had set out on this journey was to seek justice for the three hundred militia soldiers. But not only did he fail to do so, he ended up having to swallow his own anger.

Right now, the village had enough rations to last half a month. The Palace’s supply boats would be arriving in two days, and his plan was to exchange all of the Liao heads in his possession into military materials. If Ren Youwei and Liao Jingwu would not pay the village their due, then he would. Also, he couldn’t stop the government from profiting off the difference in bounty payments in other regions, but at the very least, they weren’t going to earn a single coin from Quyang County starting now.

Cutting off someone’s livelihood is like killing their parents. Wei Yuan was going to make it crystal clear to these people that they could have earned this money, but no longer because of their poor decisions. In fact, he was planning to put on a bit of a show—for example, he could hold onto the heads for a bit so that he could exchange for a large sum of money in one go. He could even invite the county assistant to oversee the exchange or something.

The history books might not be able to grant him influence, but it did teach him many ways to sicken others.

Wei Yuan had just returned to Flying Sand Village when he suddenly saw a thick cloud of sand and dust in the distance. It belonged to a group of riders. Considering how loud their hooves sounded, they were probably human.

The squad of a dozen or so riders quickly reached the village. They were wearing dark blue armor, and they had—surprisingly—all completed the Body-tempering stage. There were even two Dao Foundation stage cultivators wearing helmets with red tassels. They were surrounding a young general sporting a handsome countenance and formidable spirit like stars worshiping the moon.

The young general walked up to the village and called out, “Excuse me, but is this the defense zone of Wei Yuan of the Palace of Absolute Beginning? Are you present, Brother Wei?”

Wei Yuan climbed up the wall and responded, “I am Wei Yuan. May I know who you are, Senior Brother?”

The young general’s eyes lit up, and he suddenly floated into the air even though he didn’t make any visible movement. He landed in front of Wei Yuan a moment later. His armor shimmered in a pale gold hue, its design ancient yet unpretentious. It also emanated an inscrutable yet profound aura. It was clearly a top-tier mystic artifact. The young general himself boasted an immense amount of mystic power, one that gave off an overwhelming feeling of grandeur and majesty. Finally, a brilliant golden light pulse at the center of his brow, clearly marking him as no ordinary Dao Foundation stage cultivator. He was either Heaven-tier or higher. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The young general looked Wei Yuan up and down as a smile slowly spread across his face. “It really is you, Wei Yuan! It’s me, Lee Zhi! A decade has passed since our parting at Fengyuan, hasn’t it?”

The memory of a boy who tried to recite a poem before his death but was rudely interrupted overlapped with the young general in front of him. Finally, Wei Yuan remembered.

Ten years had passed since their parting, and Lee Zhi was now a handsome young man. He was only slightly shorter than Wei Yuan and thus pretty tall compared to the average person.

Wei Yuan was delighted to welcome an old acquaintance and ordered the villagers to allow him and his subordinates entry. They then sat together in the ancestral hall for a chat. Fang Hetong had appeared to accompany them as well.

Lee Zhi had only arrived at the frontlines yesterday. In fact, his defense zone was a whole county away. But when he heard that Wei Yuan was nearby, he immediately rushed over first thing in the morning.

After everyone had taken their seats in the ancestral hall, Lee Zhi said smilingly, “This defense zone is a little poor, isn’t it?”

Wei Yuan sighed. “Poverty is fine by me, but the local government… tsk. I would rather fight the Northern Liao.”

“Oh? What happened?”

Wei Yuan was deeply annoyed right now, so he did not hesitate to summarize and tell Lee Zhi everything that had happened in the past two days. The young general smiled after listening to the end, “You led a lofty life in the Palace of Absolute Beginning, and you’ve never had the chance to interact with bottom-rung officials. Naturally, you cannot win against them. The best way to deal with a seasoned bureaucrat like this is to not play by his rules in the first place. In any case, this is an easy matter to settle. Just leave it to me.”

Lee Zhi ordered the Dao Foundation captain accompanying him to bring over a stack of invitation letters. After choosing one, he instructed, “Send someone to Quyang’s yamen and tell them that my two brothers and I would be attending County Magistrate Sun’s banquet tonight.”

After the captain left the ancestral hall, Lee Zhi explained, “When I arrived yesterday, the major and minor officials of the commandery had sent over their invitation letters. Among them is the letter of Sun Chao’en, the county magistrate. Tonight, we shall attend his banquet and settle your business together.”