Shen Hao, who was squeezed among the crowd making his way slowly to the entrance of Hong’en Hall, suddenly felt the people behind him move aside. Then he heard someone mention Master Liu. He was watching the kid selling Blue Moon Flowers at the entrance of Hong’en Hall and didn’t pay attention to the shouting behind him, but it turned out someone was deliberately calling him out, and even telling him to get lost?

"Are you talking to me?"

He was dressed in ordinary clothes, but with visible cultivation—it was obvious at a glance that he wasn’t just an average guy. But then again, he didn’t have a jade pendant at his waist, and his belt looked plain and simple. Although he was dressed well, it wasn’t high enough class! Who would take you seriously on the street nowadays if you’re not wearing something valuable at your waist?

And he was all alone, without even a single attendant. Tsk tsk, isn’t this just some loose cultivator?

The black-clad servant hesitated at first, then his courage swelled again. Just a loose cultivator, what’s there to be afraid of? Could he possibly stand up to our Master Liu?

"Yeah, I’m talking to you! Get lost, don’t you see Master Liu’s here? A loose cultivator, and you don’t even check what kind of place this is!"

This was the city. The black-clad servant was sure the other side wouldn’t dare make a move, plus he trusted fully in his own master, so he’d no fear at all.

But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, the black-clad servant felt his vision blur, then the world started spinning—and then, nothing. He passed out cold.

"Pa!"

In the eyes of those around, the good-looking young man in the white robe seemed to blur like a ghost, and with a crisp slap, by the time they realized what happened, the black-clad servant was already lying more than a dozen feet away on the ground, his face covered in blood, swelling so fast you could see it with the naked eye until he was unrecognizable.

Teeth? Both his cheek and jaw were blown to pieces by that slap—who’s gonna think about teeth? He’d probably be drinking porridge for the rest of his life now.

"How dare you!"

"Pa!"

The other black-clad servant snapped out of it and instinctively went for his blade, barking out another angry shout, but what awaited him was another slap—even heavier than before! The whole man was sent flying nearly twenty feet, hit the ground twitching a few times, and then didn’t move at all.

A single slap and he was dead!?

Whoa!

The crowd gasped and backed away, nobody expected someone would actually kill in broad daylight in Fengri City, and to do it so casually—one slap and dead—and the ones killed were none other than the slaves of the famous Master Liu!

Was this guy looking for death?

"Murder! Someone’s been killed!"

Liu Hengyi was surrounded in the back by his guards and servants. He frowned, feeling that this young man in white looked kind of familiar, but couldn’t recall where he’d seen him before. For a moment, he hesitated, so he didn’t speak up or let his guards move in—he figured he’d wait for the government officials to arrive first.

The governmental officials arrived quickly. Within a few breaths, they surrounded Shen Hao, each one fierce-looking, some with blades drawn, some even clutching a talisman in their hands.

"You dare! Madman, surrender immediately or—wait... Shen... Your subordinate greets Lord Shen!"

The governmental officials have the sharpest eyes. They basically know all the prominent figures in Fengri City by sight, especially the ones you absolutely can’t afford to offend—they remember those for sure.

Xuanqing Guard, Black Banner Battalion, Hundred Households Officer—he was the hot topic lately, only just recently had sent nearly a hundred local government officials straight to prison to die—who among the governmental officials didn’t remember a fiend like that?

If it weren’t for Shen Hao wearing ordinary clothes, the officials would have recognized him right away.

"These men verbally insulted a noble, so I slapped one as a warning. This one drew his blade at me with ill intent, so I killed him." Shen Hao snapped open his black fan with a whoosh, smiling as he spoke clearly to the officials and the surrounding onlookers, word by word.

Insulting a noble and getting slapped as a warning—not over the line... It’s just, with that slap, the guy was finished. But honestly, he deserved it. And given they were slaves, the government officials had no objections at all.

Drawing a blade at a Black Banner Battalion Hundred Households Officer? Well, dead means dead—no problem whatsoever.

The people around immediately relaxed: this young man was no ordinary person! And everything he said was true—now let’s see how Master Liu handles this.

Spectators never mind a bit of drama. They all got more excited, staring hard at Liu Hengyi, huddled among his guards and servants.

But before Liu Hengyi could speak, and before Shen Hao finished, he kept talking to the officials: "Their master bears responsibility for failing to keep his slaves in check. If you officials won’t handle it impartially, our Black Banner Battalion could take over instead."

This was squarely putting the blame on Liu Hengyi.

As soon as the words "Black Banner Battalion" were uttered, the crowd instantly drew back several more feet—some even slipped away. Black Banner Battalion was feared even among the Xuanqing Guard; you’d have to be out of your mind to come gawk at the Black Banner Battalion’s drama. If you got caught up in their mess, you’d be crying with nowhere to complain.

And Liu Hengyi, hiding within his guards and servants, shuddered all over at the utterance of "Black Banner Battalion," his face turning pale. Add to that the official who’d called out "Lord Shen" before—he suddenly remembered exactly who this young man was.

Black Banner Battalion Hundred Households Officer—Shen Hao!

Just as he was about to come forward and explain, he saw that Shen Hao didn’t care to look at him at all, but just turned and walked away. At the entrance of Hong’en Hall he bought a bouquet of fresh Blue Moon Flowers from a little girl selling them, then strolled inside, waving his black fan. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Master Liu? Tsk tsk, maybe the guy was a boss to most people, but in Shen Hao’s eyes the man was less than an ant. Making money off his official connections, no matter how big, won’t stand up to real scrutiny. To put it bluntly, if Shen Hao wanted Liu Hengyi’s entire family dead today, absolutely nobody could keep them alive until tomorrow.

So, who the hell cares what someone named Liu thinks? Back down if you want, or tough it out—whatever.

Flowers in hand, Shen Hao entered Hong’en Hall. That corpse outside had already gotten the madam out to greet him early, bowing and smiling as she led him in.

"These are for Miss Lian Xiang. She’s probably not free to come down right now, right? Please give these to her for me." Shen Hao handed the flowers to the madam, who accepted them with a beaming smile. After leading Shen Hao to his seat, she hurried off to deliver the bouquet.

Shen Hao’s seat was on the second floor, right in the center—a prime spot. He could look down and see the song and dance stage on the first floor, and glance up at the songstresses’ boudoirs on the third floor. Later tonight, the songstresses from the third floor would appear one by one, competing for the title of courtesan.

"Oh, by the way—Steward Zhu from the brokerage asked me to hold a seat for him," Shen Hao said as he pointed to the seat next to him.

"Of course, no problem. Steward Zhu was supposed to be seated on the second floor as well, not far from you, so moving his seat over is easy."

"Good. Bring me something to eat."

"All right, Lord Shen. Do you need someone to wait on you?"

"No need."

Sending the madam away, Shen Hao casually picked up a program from the table and started perusing it. This was the schedule for the Blue Moon Association, listing everything from the singing and dancing to the courtesan competition later that night.

The food and drink hadn’t arrived yet, but the apology came first.

Liu Hengyi approached bowing and scraping, keeping a whole ten feet away, bowed deeply and offered his respects, "Lord Shen, I—Liu—am here to apologize to you!"

Shen Hao looked up, thinking to himself that under so many watching eyes, this guy knew how to bend when needed. Still, he wasn’t the type to press when he’d already won. He pointed to the seat across from him, gesturing for Liu to sit and talk.