Ling Xiao took the document and glanced at it. Meng Li was meticulous. He had noted down each person’s identity and even their simple backgrounds and backers. Those with connections to nobles and ministers in the Imperial Capital were specially highlighted. The four people involved tonight were all aristocrats—not a single merchant among them!

’Looks like the Empire’s privileged class is truly audacious!’ The difference in status indeed kept those merchants from daring to make a reckless move. A rough plan began to form in Ling Xiao’s mind. He gave Meng Li an appreciative look. ’I was right to bring him away from Li Qiang’s side!’ Meng Li had lived in Penzes City for a long time and was already quite familiar with many of its people and affairs. Having him handle these tasks was proving to be twice as effective with half the effort.

Ling Xiao suddenly chuckled. "If City Lord Li Houlin had seen you that day, he probably would have coughed up blood from anger much sooner."

Meng Li gave a light laugh and said, "He probably knew long ago that I had started following you, Young Master."

Ling Xiao nodded, then asked, "Are you certain it’s these four? Are there no other fish that slipped through the net?"

Meng Li said, "About that... I can’t be certain. In fact, I’ve had a feeling something was off about these men for a while now. They had already met several times before today. Moreover, the private soldiers tonight belonged to one of those nobles. It’s just that..."

"What is it?" Ling Xiao asked, looking up.

"It’s just that these private soldiers... all operate under hidden identities," Meng Li said, looking troubled. "I only know this because I lived in Penzes City for a time."

Uncle Fu added from the side, "Young Master, Meng Li speaks the truth. Many noble families like to secretly train a group of people. On the surface, you can’t tell who they serve. Whenever something needs to be dealt with, they are summoned together. Otherwise, they disperse into various trades and professions, which allows them to hide their identities and gather all kinds of intelligence."

"That’s a good trick!"

Ling Xiao said admiringly.

Meng Li and Uncle Fu exchanged a glance, a helpless, wry smile appearing on both their faces. ’The Young Master is a strange one. You could say he’s naive about the ways of the world, yet in many matters, his shrewdness is terrifying. But if you were to call him a cunning old fox, he seems completely clueless about so many other things.’

’Take this method of secretly training private soldiers. It’s an extremely common practice, not just for nobles but for great and powerful families as well. For the Young Master to be unaware of it... it truly leaves one speechless.’

"Young Master, what are your thoughts on... how to handle this?" Meng Li asked with a slight frown. He was worried. The Young Master’s temperament was clearly not one to suffer a loss, but right now, even if they knew who was involved, they couldn’t make a move. After all, executing a noble would cause a public outrage throughout the entire Empire!

Why else would His Majesty the King have dared to use Ling Xiao’s killing of Hai Tian as a key justification for granting him a title? The nobility, despite their internal struggles and backstabbing, would always band together to deal with outsiders! If someone from a non-noble class harmed the interests of even one noble, ten or even a hundred others would stand up to crush them!

Otherwise, how could the interests of the nobility be guaranteed?

If Ling Xiao could find evidence and march to their doors openly and justifiably, it was believed that not a single noble would dare to voice any opposition. When it came to struggles between nobles, the rest of the aristocracy always loved to watch the show!

But if Ling Xiao assassinated the four nobles secretly without any evidence, then even if no one could prove he ordered it, they would still call him incompetent and unfit to be the Lord of Penzes City!

Failing to protect the nobles in his own fiefdom—the blow to the Ling Family’s reputation, and to Ling Xiao’s own, would be equally fatal! Ling Xiao himself might not care about such things, but the Ling Family had to!

Just then, Uncle Fu suddenly called Meng Li over. After whispering a few words in his ear, Meng Li’s expression first showed confusion, then a bit of embarrassment, and finally, his eyes lit up. He gave Ling Xiao a bow and then excused himself.

Although Ling Xiao’s hearing was sharp enough to make out what Uncle Fu had said, he deliberately chose not to listen out of respect. After Meng Li left, Ling Xiao asked curiously, "What did you say, Uncle Fu?"

A rare blush appeared on Uncle Fu’s old face, and his deeply wrinkled features crinkled into a smile. "You will find out tomorrow, Young Master."

Seeing the old man being deliberately mysterious, Ling Xiao just smiled and didn’t press the issue. He strolled out of the room and went to where Feng Ling was being held. Just then, Qiuyue emerged from the room, saw Ling Xiao, and gave him a gentle smile.

"Young Master, are you going in to see her?"

Ling Xiao shook his head. "How is she?"

Qiuyue blinked her pretty eyes, then smiled and said, "She’s sulking and refusing to eat. It looks like she’s never had to suffer a day in her life. She’s quite beautiful!"

Chunlan also came out of the room just then, head lowered, muttering huffily, "What’s so great about her? And she calls herself a Mad Sword Master? I don’t see anything ’mad’ about her. She’s still at my... er, Young Master."

Ling Xiao gave a faint smile and led the two maids a short distance away. Chunlan spoke up first, "Young Master, I didn’t bully her, I swear! But that woman is incredibly proud. If you want to win her heart, Young Master, it’s not going to be easy!"

Ling Xiao’s face twitched violently. ’What in the world is she talking about? Does she think I’m some evil young master who abducts common girls?’ It was understandable, though. The maids didn’t know the full details of the evening’s attack, as Ling Xiao had shut himself in a room with Uncle Fu the moment he returned and had only just emerged.

"That woman really is a Mad Sword Master... and a Sixth Rank Mad Swordsman at that," Ling Xiao explained. "So, Chunlan, you must not be fooled by her appearance. I used a drug to seal her Inner Strength, which is why she’s in her current state."

"So that’s what happened!" Chunlan’s eyebrows shot up in anger. "Are you saying that woman was one of the people who tried to assassinate you tonight? Then why didn’t you kill her, Young Master!"

Qiuyue said gently from the side, "The Young Master must have his reasons for not killing her. Why are you in such a rush?"

Chunlan shot a look at Qiuyue. "You little thing, I know you always side with the Young Master, but... a Sixth Rank Mad Swordsman! What if..." Chunlan abruptly cut herself off, but the indignant expression on her face didn’t fade in the slightest.

Qiuyue covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled, saying no more. The two girls hadn’t witnessed the scene, and Ling Xiao was perfectly safe, so of course they assumed it was just a close call. If they had both been there at the time, even the good-tempered Qiuyue would likely have wanted to kill Feng Ling with a single strike!

Anyone who dared to harm Ling Xiao was their enemy!

"Alright. If she refuses to eat, just ignore her. Lock the door securely tonight. If she loses all hope and decides to kill herself, don’t stop her. As long as she doesn’t escape, let her do as she pleases!" After saying this, Ling Xiao turned and left.

Meanwhile, Feng Ling, who was locked in the room, sat there cursing Ling Xiao with tears streaming down her face. She had knocked over and kicked away all the food brought by those two stunning maids, turning the pristine room into a complete mess. But she didn’t care. It wasn’t her home, so what did it matter to her if it was dirty? However, after the two maids left and she had cried for a while, her stomach started to RUMBLE, and she finally felt the pangs of hunger. After a major fight and having not eaten anything all evening, of course she would be hungry.

"Maid! Maid!"

Accustomed to being a pampered young lady, Feng Ling still thought she was at home, where any maid who failed to appear after two shouts would be in for a world of trouble!

Unfortunately for her, this was not her home. She could scream until her throat was raw, but not a single person came to pay her any mind. She walked to the door and gave it an instinctive push, only to find it locked. Furious, she delivered a powerful kick!

Ordinarily, the entire door would have been blasted into splinters. But in her current state, Feng Ling was weaker than even an ordinary woman. The kick sent excruciating pain through her entire foot, and tears instantly streamed down her face. She squatted on the floor and began to wail, all while spewing curses at Ling Xiao.

Chunlan and Qiuyue were just outside, not far away. Chunlan yawned at Qiuyue and said, "I’m getting a little sleepy, Qiuyue. How about you?" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Qiuyue glanced toward the room and nodded. "I’m sleepy, too. We have so much to do tomorrow. We need to go buy some more servants as soon as possible."

The two young women chatted idly as they walked away together. The magnificent stars glittered across the sky, and the Viscount’s Mansion fell into a deep silence.

「Early the next morning.」

The entire sky over Penzes City was shrouded in overcast clouds. A fine drizzle broke the sweltering heat of the past few days, and the people who were up early found it quite pleasant. Although Penzes had a rainy season each year, it was always too short, and the city was typically blanketed in high temperatures. As such, gloomy weather like this was actually much loved by the residents of Penzes City.

But this morning, an atmosphere of terror gripped the mansions of four noble families in Penzes. All the servants held their breath, staying at their posts without daring to slack off in the slightest.

At one of them, a Viscount of the Cui Family was simultaneously weeping and roaring, "Who?! Who killed my most beloved Fifteenth Concubine! I will find him! I will avenge you..." He clutched the already cold corpse of his Fifteenth Concubine and broke down into racking sobs.

Coincidentally, in all four of these noble households, the master’s favorite concubine had been killed. Each of the deceased women had a single red dot on her throat, with very little blood spilled. Their clothes were tidy, and not a single valuable was missing from their rooms!

The motive was clearly neither robbery nor sexual assault. That left only one possibility—a revenge killing!

’But even if these women were a bit arrogant and treated the servants poorly, that’s hardly enough to get themselves murdered, is it?’

But when the Patriarchs of the four families heard about the tragedies that had befallen the others, their faces all turned deathly pale, without a trace of color. Even the Viscount of the Cui Family, who had been wailing the loudest, collapsed onto the floor and fainted dead away.

The servants all looked at their master with eyes full of admiration. They had always considered him to be harsh and incredibly stingy, but they never imagined he was such a sentimental and loyal man!

When Ling Xiao heard the news, he was stunned for a long moment before shaking his head with a wry smile. ’No wonder Uncle Fu didn’t want to say it in front of me.’

’A tactic like this... I truly would never have come up with it. But its power to intimidate... is simply immense!’ (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please log in to www.qidian.com for more Chapters, and to support the author and legitimate reading!)