With that, he strode away, leaving Jian Luchuan and the other two staring at each other in dismay.

Gou Yi’s face was etched with worry. "Master, with the winter calamity approaching, our Thief Gang needs to pull a few jobs and save up some silver coins to get through it.

Chief Chen won’t let us operate at night. What are we supposed to do?"

Ji Qing said with a look of regret, "A lot of outsiders have been coming into Linji City lately, and the streets around Qingshui Pier are chaotic. It’s the perfect opportunity for us to fish in troubled waters. It’d be a real shame if we can’t make a move."

Jian Luchuan glanced at them and sighed softly. "You two are still too inexperienced. Chief Chen said he’s increasing patrols at night, but why didn’t he mention the daytime?"

Gou Yi and Ji Qing exchanged a look, their expressions suddenly brightening.

"Does that mean Chief Chen won’t bother us during the day, Master?" Gou Yi asked.

Jian Luchuan shook his head and said in a low voice, "He’ll still interfere, of course. But as long as we don’t do anything too outrageous, we should be fine.

"The most important thing is to find a way to investigate who was responsible for those three cases last night.

"If we have no information to report to Chief Chen, we’ll be implicated even if we do nothing."

...

After leaving the Thief Gang’s hideout, Chen Cheng didn’t go to the Tiger and Leopard Gang or the Celestial Dog Gang to ask for information. Instead, he went straight home to focus on Cultivating Martial Dao.

Just as Jian Luchuan had said, if someone committed a crime in the Qingshui Pier area, the Tiger and Leopard Gang and the Celestial Dog Gang would surely have some leads.

Regarding the earlier matter of lowering the example money, neither of these two gangs had asked for Chen Cheng’s opinion, proving they had already defected to Yang Xingyao and Ji Jingbei’s side.

Chen Cheng wouldn’t get anything out of them by asking. It was even possible that those two gangs were the ones who had orchestrated last night’s crimes.

As for the Thief Gang, Chen Cheng didn’t expect them to find anything. When it came to investigating cases, why would the Officials of the City Guard Department need help from the Thief Gang?

His visit to the Thief Gang was just a smokescreen to mislead Yang Xingyao and Ji Jingbei.

...

「Midday.」

A biting wind whipped across the rear plaza of the City Guard Department.

The twenty-nine constables under Chen Cheng’s command were lined up in several rows, awaiting his arrival.

The City Guard Department constables were dressed in thick, padded uniforms, yet they still shivered from the cold, unconsciously burying their faces in their raised collars.

"Li Sheng, why isn’t Mr. Chen here yet?"

A constable asked, growing impatient from the wait.

Li Sheng, who had followed Chen Cheng to the Lishui Sub-Department, was considered Chen Cheng’s most trusted subordinate. Standing at the very front of the formation, his expression was stern and carried a certain authority. He shot the constable who had spoken a cold glance and said sharply,

"Mr. Chen told us to wait, so we wait. What’s with all the damn chatter?"

The constable glanced at Li Sheng and fell silent, but the look in his eyes was clearly defiant.

Just then, another constable said, "If we have to wait, we should at least wait somewhere sheltered from the wind! Making all of us stand out here in this freezing gale... what if we get sick?"

"Exactly! If we get sick, we’ll have no choice but to request time off."

"After that family massacre last night, I’d be thrilled to take some time off."

"Sigh... Mr. Yang just went on leave, and the criminals are already this brazen. It seems we really need Mr. Yang to come back to duty soon."

...

A few more constables joined in the hushed discussion. They had all secretly thrown their lot in with Yang Xingyao, and their every word made it clear they looked to him, and him alone, for leadership.

"You’re all openly calling Constable Yang ’Mr. Yang.’ Is that supposed to be a sign of disrespect to Mr. Chen?" Li Sheng demanded, his brow furrowing in anger.

"Constable Yang has led shifts before, so what’s wrong with calling him Mr. Yang?"

"Exactly. When have we ever been disrespectful to Mr. Chen?"

"Li Sheng, you’re just a constable, same as us. Do you really think you can throw Mr. Chen’s weight around?"

The constables all spoke up, retorting one after another.

Just then, Chen Cheng came striding over from the direction of the Government Office Hall, and the constables quickly fell silent.

Chen Cheng swept his gaze over the men and said expressionlessly, "Who was causing that commotion just now? Are you perhaps dissatisfied with my orders?"

No one answered.

The few constables who had been stirring up trouble all lowered their heads. The rules of the City Guard Department were strict; no matter how much they disrespected Chen Cheng, they didn’t dare to show it to his face.

When no one spoke up, Chen Cheng continued, "A major family massacre occurred in the Qingshui Pier area last night. I’m sure you’ve all heard.

"This crime is exceptionally heinous. I will personally bring the perpetrators to justice and see that justice is done for the dead.

"Given the recent lack of peace at night, I have decided that effective immediately, our shift of constables will drill for half an hour every morning and evening.

"Furthermore, the night shift will be reinforced. I will personally preside over the day shift, so its manpower will be correspondingly reduced.

"Li Sheng, read out the roster for the night shift."

As he spoke, Chen Cheng took out a prepared sheet of yellow paper and handed it to Li Sheng.

"Yes, sir." Li Sheng took the list and immediately began to read the names aloud.

This shift, including Yang Xingyao who was on leave, had a total of thirty constables. Twenty of them were assigned to the night shift, leaving a mere ten for the day shift.

Once the list was finished, the constables burst into an uproar.

Normally, it was twenty men for the day shift and ten for the night.

But Chen Cheng had done the exact opposite, putting twenty men on the night shift and ten on the day. Even with a family massacre, this was an extreme measure, wasn’t it?

The night shift was already arduous, and in the dead of winter, it would be even more unbearable.

On top of a full shift, they also had to drill at morning and dusk. ’Is Chief Chen trying to work his constables to death?’ some wondered.

Seeing the men’s clamor, Chen Cheng raised a hand and announced loudly, "All this noise—do you have an objection to my decision?"

The constables looked at one another, all falling silent.

At that moment, a constable stepped out from the formation, clasped his hands in a salute to Chen Cheng, and said, "Mr. Chen, I’ve recently caught a chill and am feeling unwell. I’m unable to serve on the night shift. I ask for your understanding, Mr. Chen, and request to be assigned to the day shift instead."