What made things worse was that he accidentally caught sight of the boxes sent by these two families.
He was all too familiar with them—this was exactly how the previous county magistrate had accepted bribes.
Could it be that the master was also...? Wang Jia felt uneasy. If the master was embezzling, should he pretend not to see it or... just pretend not to see it?
Fang Zhiyi had visited all the influential families in his jurisdiction, asking them strange questions. After finishing his rounds, he returned to his private quarters and began scribbling notes. He also had arrangements for the constables—first, he taught Wang Jia and the others some unusual military formations, then ordered them to gather the local garrison troops every afternoon for training.
When questioned, he simply said he’d read about it in a book.
On top of that, Fang Zhiyi kept dispatching messengers and posting recruitment notices for soldiers.
Wang Jia grew increasingly baffled by the master’s actions. At first, he thought the master was planning to embezzle on a grand scale, but now it seemed different. The wealthy families were voluntarily bringing gifts to visit him, often staying for entire afternoons. Even former rivals were arriving together, appearing strangely close.
When Fang Zhiyi took out silver to recruit more soldiers, Wang Jia’s heart trembled violently.
Could it be... the master was planning a rebellion?
The thought startled even himself.
But if the master was rebelling, should he join him or... join him?
However, his dilemma didn’t last long, because Fang Zhiyi assigned him a task—to escort his family back to their hometown.
The journey was a thousand miles long, and Wang Jia’s unease only deepened. He had also heard another rumor—their county magistrate was actually the son of Fang Huatian, the current prime minister of the court!
Before leaving, he wanted to bid farewell to the master, but he overheard Fang Zhiyi lecturing the wealthy families about strange terms like "resource integration" and "foreign trade." He couldn’t understand a word, but the heads of those families listened with rapt attention.
Wang Jia didn’t get it, but one thing was clear—the master was crossing the line. If someone reported him, he’d be done for. But then again, who would dare?
Besides, in Qingping County, there was no official higher than Fang Zhiyi. Whatever he did, the final say was his alone.
Meanwhile, Song Yunfan was counting the days in prison.
Finally freed from the cangue, he heard his cell door open again. This time, he was cautious, but the moment his hand touched the door, the shout came: "Prisoner escaping!"
Naturally, he was beaten again.
This time, however, they didn’t put the cangue back on him. Instead, they threw him into a larger cell filled with petty criminals—brawlers, thieves, vandals—people who’d usually be released after a short stint.
But Song Yunfan sensed trouble the moment he entered. The inmates glared at him, and some even recognized him.
"Because of you escaping, our sentences got extended!"
"Beat him!"
"Don’t kill him—aim for the butt! The butt!"
As the blows rained down, Song Yunfan finally understood. The jailer had announced that because of his repeated escape attempts, the magistrate was furious—so furious that he extended everyone else’s sentences as punishment.
In reality, this was just to keep them from leaking information outside.
Additionally, according to the laws of the Great Qi, ordinary prisoners were to be released after serving their time. Fang Zhiyi found this a waste of manpower, so he introduced "labor reform." Every prisoner except Song Yunfan was sent out daily to work—chopping wood one day, hauling stones the next, even repairing city walls.
Exhausted after a day’s labor, the prisoners returned to find Song Yunfan sound asleep. Needless to say, they didn’t take it well.
While overseeing the new recruits’ training, Fang Zhiyi received a reply letter. Unfolding it, he broke into a smile.
A subordinate asked, "What’s the news, sir?"
Fang Zhiyi glanced at him. "Heh, the hot potato’s been tossed away!"
Over at Panlong Stronghold, the bandits were growing restless. They had been on high alert, ready to storm the execution grounds, but after two months, there wasn’t even a verdict.
Rumors spread in the stronghold—some complained that Song Yunfan was ruining their livelihood. Because Xiaotian Hu had ordered everyone to stay on standby, they hadn’t raided in two months. If this continued, they’d starve.
Even the strategist, Xue Qi, was losing patience. Finally, Xiaotian Hu relented, allowing his men to go out in shifts to "work."
It was at this moment that Song Yunfan was escorted out of Qingping County—by imperial troops!
Song Yunfan was dumbfounded. What kind of treatment was this for just killing one person?
During the handover, he overheard the magistrate whispering to the commanding officer.
"That’s the one."
"No doubt about it—treasonous poetry!"
"I didn’t dare handle it myself."
"Take this, for your troubles."
Watching them openly engage in bribery and hearing the words "treasonous poetry," Song Yunfan felt trapped in some elaborate scheme.
Then, someone brazenly shoved a rolled-up cloth into his clothes. His scalp prickled—were they framing him this openly?
Fang Zhiyi couldn’t be blamed. He had sent three batches of letters—the first to forge alliances, the second to strengthen them, and the third to offer a "great merit"—a captured rebel, an undeniable one.
Who would’ve thought his reputation was so impeccable that no one doubted his claim? The governor of Changping Prefecture immediately dispatched troops to retrieve this "rebel." With the empire unstable, the emperor despised rebels the most. Presenting one would surely earn praise.
Because the troops arrived so quickly, Fang Zhiyi’s "evidence" wasn’t fully prepared. They barely finished in time.
Watching Song Yunfan gagged and hauled away, Fang Zhiyi waved reluctantly.
"Hope we never meet again," he muttered. He was busy enough—holding meetings with local gentry, uniting them under common goals, teaching them how to profit, and indoctrinating them with new ideas. It was exhausting.
But bad news soon arrived—Song Yunfan had been rescued. The Panlong bandits ambushed the escort and freed him.
Fang Zhiyi spat in disgust.
Little Hei remarked, "It’s to be expected. You killed the protagonist’s father—what else could happen?"
Fang Zhiyi smirked. "Doesn’t matter. Now he’s officially a rebel, and he’s made an enemy of Changping Prefecture. Panlong Stronghold is doomed, and the governor owes me a favor. Either way, I win."
Just then, Wang Jia rushed in—he had only returned a few days prior.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
