Volume 1: White Body Cold Gate Chapter 17: Retrieving the Manor

  By the next day, the sun had just risen. As it was the first day of the new official taking office, Zhou Lin heard the rooster crow and got up, changed into clean clothes and went to the government office to report for duty. Wen Han, who was used to exercising in the morning, also got up early and happened to wake up Pei Yuanshao and Li Qiang. Just as they walked into the courtyard, they saw 'Lin Shi' coming out of the kitchen with a large pot of hangover soup.

  Lin knew they had been drinking heavily the night before, so she prepared a hangover soup, intending for them to drink it when they woke up.

  After exchanging a few pleasantries with Lin, he excused himself and left. Wen Han, Li Qiang, and Pei Yuanshao drank some hangover soup and came to the courtyard, where Wen Han began teaching Tai Chi. This set of skills, Wen Han had also practiced a few times in the army, and Li Qiang and Pei Yuanshao were roughly familiar with it. But what surprised them was that every time they finished practicing this skill, they felt like their whole body's muscles and bones were wriggling, and their entire body felt comfortable and relaxed.

  Especially Pei Yuanshao, as if he had realized something, his martial arts showed signs of a breakthrough.

  An hour later, Lin returned to the Zhou residence, rushing in with a flustered expression. Wen Han and the others had just finished their morning exercise when Lin rushed over, saying: "It's bad, it's bad. Something big has happened."

  "What's wrong? Has Big Brother Zhou encountered trouble at the yamen?" Wen Han's face suddenly turned cold, and he rushed tensely to Lin's side.

  "No, not at all. I just made a secret trip to the government office earlier, and your older brother is doing well. However, on my way back, I heard that Huang Changshi, who was plotted against by you and others, had his house searched last night."

  That Huang Le's outer family, the 'Cui Clan', was a prominent clan in the county, and many of Huang Le's properties were given to them. Therefore, they did not want to be confiscated by the government, and conflicts arose with the government. County Magistrate Yang had strong means, sending General Yang Ya with 500 soldiers to suppress. They seized more than half of the Huang family's property and assets, leaving only that large estate outside the county uncollected. For some reason, County Magistrate Yang seemed not to care about the estate, and did not let General Yang Ya take it before leading his troops away.

  "Last night I heard you say that the Zhuangzi should have been given to Wen Shu by Yang County Magistrate. But he seems unwilling to help you take it back, and now the Cui family has sent several hundred servants and private soldiers to guard the Zhuangzi. Wen Shu, what can be done about this?"

  As Lin spoke on, Wen Han's face grew colder. After listening, Wen Han took a deep breath, suppressed his anger and calmed down.

  "This Yang Hong is absolutely intentional, he's taking revenge on me for that 'borrowing a knife to kill' plan. He wants to drag me down with him." Wen Han shook his head with a bitter smile, it seemed he had underestimated this County Magistrate Yang.

  Wen Han thought for a moment, made up his mind, and his face turned serious: "Yuan Shao, Li Qiang, gather the men. We will immediately go to that village, take back our things. If those 'Cui's' people are not willing to cooperate, we don't need to be polite!"

  Pei Yuanshao and Li Qiang took orders and immediately ran out of the Zhou mansion to gather their men. Wen Han rubbed his temples and walked over to a chair on the side, sitting down with his eyes closed to rest. Lin Shi knew he was troubled and didn't dare disturb him.

  About half a stick of incense later, Li Qiang returned to the Zhou Mansion and informed Wen Han that the horses had arrived. Wen Han nodded and walked out of the Zhou Mansion with Li Qiang.

  "Brothers, that village is our future residence in Xianyang. I ask you, if someone takes your home, how will you respond?"

  Wen Han looked at the three hundred and eighty people, his expression calm and composed, but his tone was not lacking in majesty. After those two battles, this group of former Black Wind bandits regarded Wen Han with reverence, and privately called him 'Little Killing God'.

  "Beat him until he cries out for his father and mother!" That Li dog-legs face was full of indignation, shouting first.

  "That's right! We've finally got a place to settle down! Anyone who dares to take our home, we'll beat him until he cries out for his dad and mom!!" Someone immediately echoed in agreement.

  "Beat him until he cries out for his father and mother!!"

  "Beat him until he cries out for his father and mother!!"

  This time, 380 people shouted in unison, and the murderous atmosphere was so terrifying that it frightened the onlookers in the surrounding streets, causing them to change color and retreat far away.

  "Alright. Brothers, follow me, let's go get our home!" Wen Han leaped onto his horse, cracked the whip and the horse neighed loudly as he galloped down the street at top speed. The rest of the cavalry followed closely behind him, each one looking like a ghostly soldier who would take your life.

  Originally, horse riding was not allowed on the main streets of the county. But at this time, who dared to control these fierce horses and men?

  After a while, Wen Han led his troops out of the city gate. Since the city gate was guarded by Yang Dian's men, who were familiar with Wen Han, they did not block him. In the distance, Wen Han saw a large estate to the south of the city, covering about 20 acres of land. The main gate of the estate was tightly closed, and there were two watchtowers on either side of the estate, each with private soldiers standing guard.

  Wen Han put on a cold face, rode his horse and rushed to the place five or six miles away from the Zhuangyuan gate. He shouted loudly: "This is an order from County Magistrate Yang! From today on, this Zhuangyuan will be taken over by me, Wen Hanwenbufan. Please hurry up and come out, the person in charge of the Zhuangyuan, to hand it over to me!"

  The private soldiers of the Zhuangyuan Village Watchtower had already reported that Wen Han was leading his troops to arrive, and they had informed them in advance. Wen Han shouted loudly, and soon heard a response from inside the village.

  "You thieves, this is the territory of the Cui family. Who dares to rob us? Don't you fear that my master will report it to the imperial court? My master is acquainted with the eunuch Gao Wang, and if he reports your crimes to the emperor, troops will be sent here to annihilate you thieves."

  "That Cui family thinks that by climbing onto the eunuch's leg, they can be so proud, but they don't know that the Yellow Turban Rebellion is approaching, and those ten attendants won't be able to enjoy their pride for long. When Dong Zhuo enters the capital, those high-ranking officials will lose their heads. Moreover, when the chaotic world arrives, a small aristocratic family like Cui's will only be the food and provisions of various warlords!"

  Wen Han sneered repeatedly, not caring about the threats of the people in the courtyard: "Hmph! Are your dog eyes blind? The order in my hand is indeed given by Yang County Magistrate. Yang County Magistrate represents the intention of the imperial court! Don't threaten me, I'll count to three, if you don't open the gate, I'll order my men to attack!"

  "You! You rascal!" The person responding in the courtyard did not expect Wen Han to be so tough, taking out the name of the Ten Constant Attendants, and still unable to intimidate Wen Han.

  One!

  "How dare you!!!!!"

  Two!

  "My family's elders said..."

  "Three! Li Qiang, take action, open the door!" Wen Han was too lazy to listen to that person's nonsense and gave the order with a cold face.

  Li Qiang let out a loud whoop, rode his horse to charge into the manor, holding a pair of hammers in his hand, and continuously smashed them against the gate. The crashing sounds shook the entire manor as if it was about to collapse.

  "Rascal! Rascal! My master will definitely go to the capital to report you!!!" In this situation, the people in the courtyard knew that Wen Han would not give up easily if he didn't achieve his goal. After scolding a sentence, they quickly gathered the people and horses in the courtyard.

  With a loud crash, the gate fell down. Li Qiang rushed into the courtyard like a giant bear, sending several family guards flying.

  "Don't kill anyone, do as you please otherwise!" Wen Han's face was stern and he understood that things had come to this point, his heart softened but couldn't be helped. Pei Yuanshao heard the order and angrily led three hundred and eighty men on horseback charging towards the mansion gate.

  At this time, a number of armed private soldiers rushed out from the courtyard and surrounded Li Qiang. Li Qiang dismounted his horse, with his twin hammers flying about, as if he was an embodiment of violence, knocking down one private soldier after another who approached him. However, after knocking down the twentieth private soldier, these iron hammers became heavier and heavier, Li Qiang's strength began to wane, and he was found by those private soldiers in a moment of emptiness, suffering multiple injuries.

  "Who dares to hurt my brother! Pei Yuanshao is here!" Pei Yuanshao rushed over with a fierce expression, his big knife sweeping across, sending several private soldiers who were about to pounce on Li Qiang flying. Then he glared with wide eyes and let out a series of loud roars, which suddenly intimidated the private soldiers in the courtyard, not one of them daring to come forward.

  "Kill!" Not long after, those three hundred and eighty original Black Wind bandits, each resembling a fierce wolf, charged into the courtyard. This group of thieves had previously robbed homes and encountered private soldiers protecting merchants, fighting many battles, each one was ruthless. Instantly, the courtyard was like wolves entering a flock of sheep, the people of the Cui family were beaten until they cried out in distress.

  "Stop fighting! I'll leave the village immediately!" The person who had shouted earlier, seeing that the Cui family's men were retreating in defeat, hastily called out.

  Wen Han, however, remained unmoved, his eyes narrowed, and allowed his subordinates to continue tormenting the surrendered troops of the Cui clan.

  After a while, none of the Choi family's men could move, including the one who had shouted, who was knocked unconscious by Bae Won-soo with one punch.

  Wen Han walked into the villa and ordered that this group of Cui's men be tied up, and told Pei Yuanshao to have his subordinates count the number of people and horses.

  "Report, young master. There are 350 servants of the Cui family and 150 private soldiers in this mansion, totaling 500 people." Soon, Pei Yuanshao finished counting the number of people and reported to Wen Han.

  "Alright, let's leave those 150 private soldiers behind. As for the rest of the troops, let them return to the Cui family!" Since they had already offended the Cui family, Wen Han didn't need to worry about saving face anymore. If he appeared weak and timid everywhere, the Cui family would bully him even more. Otherwise, he should be tough enough to make them remember the pain, so they wouldn't dare to mess with him again in the future.

  "You! You!! You, you, you, you!! How dare you detain the private soldiers of the Cui family! Don't you know life or death!" The person who had originally shouted woke up slowly and, upon hearing Wen Han's order, became enraged, pointing at Wen Han with a trembling body.

  Li Qiang heard the man scolding Wen Han, and immediately walked up to him. With two crisp slaps, he slapped the man twice. The man opened his mouth, wanting to curse loudly again, but Li Qiang didn't wait for him to make a sound, and slapped him once more. Later, the man knew better than to speak again, but his triangular eyes stared at Wen Han with a sinister glare.

  "I give you one incense stick's time to take people away from here. If after one incense stick, you are still here, I will let my brothers help you relax your muscles before sending you back to the Cui Manor."

  Wen Han said faintly, that person knew Wen Han could do what he said, and hearing that the time given by Wen Han was short, there was no way to retreat. He didn't even have time to untie his bonds, so he hastily called up those 350 family guards to follow him, and they slunk away from the manor in a sorry state.

  "I'll give you a choice. If you want to stay in this manor, I'll provide you with a house and cover your daily living expenses, as well as pay you half a tael of silver every month. Those who are willing can stay, those who are not can leave. I won't force anyone, people with unwilling hearts." Wen Han said to the remaining 150 private soldiers, in his previous observation, these private soldiers had decent combat skills and wouldn't be inferior to Black Wind Stockade's men after some training.