Chapter 331: Chapter 189: All Land Under Heaven Is the King’s; So You Want to Rebel? (Part 2)

Seeing the Right Deputy Magistrate openly turn on the Lord Prefect, the other officials rose one by one and stood by his side.

Lu Yuan watched this unfold, completely unsurprised.

These officials were all the Right Deputy Magistrate’s advisors or Guests.

Just then, the sounds of a fight erupted from the first floor.

As it turned out, it wasn’t just Lu Yuan’s close confidants dining on the first floor, but also the Right Deputy Magistrate’s men.

When that group of men grabbed weapons from under their tables, Lu Yuan’s confidants drew the Treasure Swords from their waists and moved to stop them.

The two groups clashed violently.

Unfortunately, Lu Yuan’s confidants hadn’t brought any Rifles or artillery. The Rifles and artillery pieces that had just been brought in from outside the city yesterday were all stored at the Prefecture Yamen.

Fortunately, the Right Deputy Magistrate’s men were no match for Lu Yuan’s confidants. Even with their numerical advantage, they wouldn’t be able to fight their way to the second floor anytime soon.

The Left Deputy Magistrate and other officials rushed over from the adjoining room, blocking the passage to the second floor and shouting, "Lord Lu, there’s a rebellion downstairs!"

Lu Yuan watched, clapping his hands. "Right Deputy Magistrate, what a fine move!" he applauded.

The Right Deputy Magistrate coughed a few times. "Lord Lu," he said, "the previous Prefect deserved to die. He was too greedy. He even tried to take my share of the profits. He wasn’t going to let us live."

Upon hearing the Right Deputy Magistrate’s words, before Lu Yuan could even reply, the officials outside the room erupted in condemnation.

The scene descended into chaos. On one side were the scoundrels led by the Right Deputy Magistrate; on the other, the righteous faction led by the Left Deputy Magistrate.

The Left Deputy Magistrate had often been oppressed by his counterpart, but he had always endured it.

But things were different now. The Right Deputy Magistrate’s crimes had been exposed, a flagrant violation of the principles held by the Left Deputy Magistrate and his allies.

Furthermore, they had Lord Lu, the Prefect, here to back them up.

The two sides launched into a war of words, and Lu Yuan, standing between them, caught a fair amount of spittle.

Some of the older officials, despite having lost half their teeth, were cursing and swearing, spraying saliva like a fire hose.

"Lord Prefect, all the men downstairs are mine. You’re all going to die here today." The Right Deputy Magistrate decided to go all in, dropping any last pretense of civility with Lu Yuan.

On the street next to the restaurant, the thud of synchronized footsteps echoed. From the sound of it, there had to be at least several hundred men surrounding the building, sealing it off completely.

Su Liyan wasn’t there. Lu Yuan had told his wife to stay at the Prefecture Yamen.

The South City Spring Garden Restaurant was a long way from the Prefecture Yamen. Lu Yuan had chosen this location specifically.

This time, Lu Yuan didn’t want his wife to intervene.

Lu Yuan knew his wife well. Whenever he was in trouble, she would always throw herself in front of him without a second thought.

Lu Yuan didn’t want to rely on his wife to solve all his problems.

’Having my wife deal with these Civil Servants? Am I really just using her as a tool?’

The Right Investigating Officer listened to the sounds from the street and hissed with glee. "Brat, once you’re in our hands, I’m going to smash your face in."

Seeing the man’s smug, triumphant expression, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle. "Is that so? I’m afraid you’re not capable enough!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Lu Yuan lunged forward. He grabbed the Right Investigating Officer by the collar, yanked him close, and sent him crashing to the floor with a leg sweep.

Lu Yuan grinned. "I’ve been wondering, how did a half-wit like you ever manage to get this position?"

"You pig-headed fool, did you forget that I know Martial Arts? I could easily bash your head in before your men even make it up here!"

Lu Yuan pinned the Right Investigating Officer to the floor with his foot. Looking up at the Right Deputy Magistrate, he said, "That Flying Corpse... you’re the one who raised it, aren’t you? Have you managed to find it these past two days?"

Only then did the Right Deputy Magistrate remember the Flying Corpse he regularly nourished. Of course, he had no idea it had already been reduced to ash.

Nearly every three days, the Right Deputy Magistrate would order his men to herd chickens, ducks, geese, and occasionally some cattle and sheep to a specific location for the Flying Corpse to feast upon.

Though it was a Void Body, the Flying Corpse couldn’t physically eat these creatures. Instead, it would absorb their life force.

In return for being nourished, the Flying Corpse had taken care of quite a few problems for the Right Deputy Magistrate.

When the previous Prefect’s fortunes as an official were on the decline, it was this very Flying Corpse that bit through his neck.

The Right Deputy Magistrate had anticipated that the Little Fox might betray him, which was why he had arranged for his men and the city guard to surround the restaurant today. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

But he refused to believe that the Flying Corpse could have been killed by Lu Yuan’s group. He just assumed that it had failed to act on his behalf the other night.

The Right Deputy Magistrate stared in horror. "You... if you encountered the Flying Corpse, how are you still unharmed?"

Lu Yuan rubbed his hands together and showed off his less-than-sandbag-sized fists to the crowd. "That Flying Corpse was pathetic," he said nonchalantly. "I obliterated it with a single punch."

Lu Yuan lied through his teeth, conveniently omitting the part where he was chased all over the street by the very same creature.

Of course, Lu Yuan said this to protect his wife; he didn’t want anyone to find out she was an impossibly powerful Snake Woman.

The Right Deputy Magistrate managed to compose himself. "So what?" he snorted. "The soldiers downstairs are all my men. I don’t believe you can kill all of us before they storm this floor."

On the street below, hundreds of soldiers were falling into formation, their shouts shaking the very building.

"Surround the Spring Garden Restaurant! No one gets in or out!"

The voice of the commander leading the soldiers below sounded familiar to Lu Yuan, but he couldn’t quite place it.

"Ouch! Sir, please, go easy! It’s breaking, it’s breaking..." The Right Investigating Officer, pinned under Lu Yuan’s foot, had truly lost his nerve.

He was always the unlucky one. He felt as if his ribs were about to be crushed, and the pain made him cry out for mercy.