The City Guard Department was one of the most important divisions within the Linji City Government Office. No one dared to skim off the constables’ pay, so their salaries were always disbursed on time and in full.

The Lishui Sub-Department was a major district, so its constables’ salaries were slightly higher than those of other Sub-Departments. An official constable earned a monthly salary of one tael and three mace of silver, while a Preparatory Constable earned nine hundred copper coins per month.

On such a salary, an official constable could support a family of four or five without issue. A Preparatory Constable, however, would have to be more frugal.

Of course, in the eyes of the common folk, City Guard Department constables were ’the law.’ Official constables often had some extra income on the side, but it was never a significant amount.

In the Lishui Sub-Department, Chief Constable Ji Jingbei had always promoted adherence to the law and placed extreme importance on discipline. He forbade the Chief Constables and constables under his command from extorting the common people. As a result, the extra income for an official constable in the Lishui Sub-Department was pitifully small.

As for Preparatory Constables, they were considered insignificant and found it nearly impossible to acquire any extra income.

Besides their salaries, the easiest money for constables to earn was bonus pay. For instance, for something like morning and evening training drills that took up time outside of their regular shifts, superiors would often issue some silver coins to reward the constables under them.

But training opportunities were rare; the City Guard Department would only organize drills when a major event occurred. The bonus pay for training wasn’t much either—about ten copper coins per day, which would add up to only three or four hundred copper coins over a month.

While this sum might not seem insignificant, the training was grueling. Especially training in the dead of winter—it was pure misery. If you were unlucky, you could catch a severe cold, and the small bonus wouldn’t even be enough to cover medicine and a doctor’s visit.

Therefore, when Chen Cheng proposed morning and evening training drills, nearly every constable was inwardly opposed to the idea.

But when Chen Cheng announced that the bonus for training would be increased to two taels of silver, the constables had a change of heart. Every single one of them now wholeheartedly approved of the training; they even wished it would go on forever.

The reason was simple: Chen Cheng was offering an absurd amount of money. Two taels of silver a month was far more than the salary issued by the City Guard Department itself.

With an extra two taels of silver a month, who cared if it was the dead of winter? If you were afraid of catching a cold, you could just buy a couple more sets of thick, padded clothes.

In that moment, Chen Cheng’s image in the eyes of his subordinates was instantly elevated, even surpassing that of Chief Constable Ji Jingbei.

After all, Chen Cheng was their personal God of Wealth. And what good was Chief Constable Ji Jingbei? He was nothing. Besides imposing strict rules on his men, what else did he ever do for them?

The constables’ reaction was exactly what Chen Cheng had expected. ’Brave men will always answer the call of a great reward.’ As long as they weren’t idiots, they would surely choose to support him.

Chen Cheng felt no regret over losing the seven men. They had been unreliable from the start—utterly useless. They might have even held him back or worked against him.

’As for Yang Xingyao, he’ll probably choose to leave on his own after this. If he has the gall to stay, I’ll just sideline him. I’ll make things difficult for him, too—assign him to the night shift by himself in the most chaotic part of the district, right next to Cold Crow Village.’

’If he refuses to comply? Too bad. I don’t keep useless people on my team. If he won’t obey a superior’s orders, he can go wherever he pleases.’

He now had twenty-two constables under his command, all of whom were usable.

Chen Cheng moved five men from the day shift to the night shift. That left seventeen on the night shift and five on the day shift, which was manageable.

Then Chen Cheng added a few more provisions, focusing on the night shift. Spotting any trace of a thief involved in a nighttime robbery would earn a reward silver of ten taels. Catching the culprit would earn a reward silver of a hundred taels.

The constables’ spirits soared in an instant, and they were all eager to get started.

"Mr. Chen, as long as we find a trace of a thief, we can get the ten taels of reward silver? Are there any other conditions?" asked a young Preparatory Constable in a gray uniform.

He clearly intended to take his duties seriously and try his luck on patrol. If he really got lucky and stumbled upon a trace or two of a thief, he’d be rich.

The other constables had the same idea. They stared at Chen Cheng with burning intensity, awaiting his reply.

"Well..." After a moment of thought, Chen Cheng nodded decisively. "If you can confirm that you’ve found a housebreaker or a robber, you’ll get the ten taels of reward silver."

The Preparatory Constable was overjoyed. "Thank you, Mr. Chen!" he said sincerely. "I’ll do my absolute best on duty and catch a few thieves for you!"

The other constables were just as fired up, as if they’d been injected with stimulants. Their eyes gleamed as they hollered about catching thieves, determined to seize this heaven-sent fortune.

"And if the night shift goes without any major cases or murders in the district," Chen Cheng added, "I’ll give everyone an extra one tael of silver in bonus pay." ’Anyone who managed to become a City Guard Department constable had to have some skill.’ Chen Cheng wanted them to give their all and put every bit of that talent to use.

The constables grew even more excited. It might be impossible to stop every petty thief, but a major case was bound to cause a stir. As long as they all worked together and were diligent on their shifts, they were sure to notice something.

Chen Cheng assigned patrol routes to the constables and gave them a few final instructions before heading straight home to continue Cultivating Martial Dao.

’Let the subordinates do the grunt work while I oversee the big picture and slack off when I can.’ That was the right way to be a Chief Constable.

「That night.」

The ground was frozen, and a fierce, dark wind howled through the night.

In the area around Qingshui Pier, Chen Cheng’s constables were active in every street and alley.

As midnight approached, two shadowy figures hid motionless at the corner of an alley, braving the biting wind.

"You brat, why aren’t we properly patrolling the streets? What’s the point of having me hole up here with you?"

Ma Zehua grumbled under his breath. In this frigid weather, at least walking around would keep them a little warmer. Hiding here without moving was just plain freezing.