My Brother is the Villain 09

Someone sighed with emotion, "I never knew it felt so good to have someone backing us up!"

They were originally refugees and wanted criminals. Driven into a corner, they had been recruited by the Dragon Slaying Society. Not long ago, they were still figuring out how to overthrow the imperial court, assassinating corrupt officials one day and running for their lives the next. Now, things were completely different.

Furthermore, every now and then, Zhu Wanli would tip them off about the whereabouts of certain military officers who used to oppress the commoners. The most absurd part was that even after they killed these corrupt officials, the patrolling city guards would arrive at a snail's pace, act as if they didn't see them at all, and then unhurriedly collect the corpses.

Life couldn't be any better.

However, a small faction within the Dragon Slaying Society still clung to their original ideals. The very reason they founded the society was to overthrow this rotten imperial court. But now, faced with Fang Zhiyi's meddling, they clearly felt the wavering morale of their people. The subordinates who used to be under the constant pressure of being hunted now had no pressure at all, and their obedience had drastically plummeted.

The core members led by Zhu Qingqing grumbled behind the scenes, but they were powerless to do anything.

What could they do? Kill Fang Zhiyi? They couldn't defeat him. Kill Tang Zhilin? Even less likely. Should they go assassinate a few more corrupt officials? Keep dreaming. With this kind of setup, their subordinates would run faster to do it than they ever could.

Charge the military camp? They didn't have a death wish. For a time, these hardliners found themselves in a dilemma.

Zhu Wanli, on the other hand, had it all figured out. He wanted to use Tang Zhilin to continue expanding the Dragon Slaying Society. He also understood that this alliance was only temporary and that conflicts would inevitably arise between the two sides in the future. Yet, even he was beginning to realize that the direction of things was gradually deviating from his expectations. Most of the members lacked discipline to begin with, and now they were even more scattered and unruly.

A sense of unease spread in Zhu Wanli's heart. He felt as if he had been duped, but he couldn't quite put his finger on exactly how he had been tricked.

Tang Zhilin was becoming increasingly impressed with Fang Zhiyi. Relying on the "rebels" handed over by the Dragon Slaying Society, he received repeated commendations from the Governor-General. Of course, he also listened to Fang Zhiyi's advice and never hogged all the credit. Anyone who followed him received some sort of benefit, and the once fragmented military camp now answered to him alone.

Tang Zhilin had also doubted Fang Zhiyi's motives, but seeing that the man had absolutely no designs on his army, he secretly cursed himself for being petty.

"Zhiyi, if we keep going on like this... we will inevitably be suspected of harboring the enemy to elevate our own status," Tang Zhilin said.

Fang Zhiyi was a little surprised. So he even knew the concept of harboring the enemy to elevate his own status?

But he then smiled and said, "It is definitely not that. It will be over soon, very soon."

"What will be over soon?" Tang Zhilin didn't understand, but after some thought, he added, "Because the rebels have not been fully pacified, the Governor-General will be coming to Fan City for an inspection in the next few days. When that time comes, I'm afraid..."

Fang Zhiyi knew he was afraid of being exposed. He shook his head and said, "Him coming is exactly what we want."

"Report, My Lord!" A personal guard ran in, first bowing to Tang Zhilin, and then looking at Fang Zhiyi. "Mr. Fang."

"What is it?"

"Something happened outside."

"What happened?"

The two walked out, only to see an old woman tugging at the trouser leg of an honest-looking young man, clamoring for compensation.

"What's going on?" Tang Zhilin frowned. Normally, handling such disputes was the job of his subordinates, but since he saw it, he couldn't just ignore it.

"My Lord, I am innocent!" The honest youth was on the verge of tears, his cheeks flushed red. "I was driving my cart past here and saw her lying on the ground. I kindly got off to help her up, but who knew she would insist that I hit her! She said I have to pay her some silver before she lets me go."

Fang Zhiyi was stunned. Why did this scam sound so familiar?

"It seems extortion scams transcend time," Little Hei said with great interest.

"Is what you say true?" Tang Zhilin asked.

The old woman interjected, "Great Lord, you must seek justice for this old woman! It was clearly him who hit me, and now he wants to just walk away!"

"This..."

Fang Zhiyi looked around. Forget it, there were no surveillance cameras, no eyewitnesses...

Just as he was thinking, Tang Zhilin suddenly stepped forward, pulled the young man aside, and climbed onto the cargo cart himself.

"You say he hit you with this cart?"

The old woman was a bit dazed, but she nodded. "That's right!"

"Do you plead guilty?" Tang Zhilin asked the youth, who shook his head repeatedly. "I swear I absolutely did not hit her!"

"Just listening to you two, I can't tell who is telling the truth. How about I reenact it, and you watch." After saying that, Tang Zhilin signaled two subordinates to prop the old woman up and walk her forward a distance.

"Great Lord, what are you doing?" The old woman felt a sudden, inexplicable panic.

"Shut up. Let me ask you, how were you driving the cart at the time?" Tang Zhilin asked. The youth hesitated a bit. "I was just slowly leading the horse by the reins..."

"Leading?" Tang Zhilin subconsciously looked down at the seat he was sitting on. Seeing the layer of floating dust, he formulated a plan in his mind.

"Hyah!" He suddenly whipped the horse's rear. The horse, feeling the pain, charged forward at top speed. The old woman lying on the ground turned pale with fright, instantly jumped up, and scrambled out of the way.

The cart came to a steady halt, and Tang Zhilin looked back. "With reflexes that quick, how could he have hit you while slowly leading a horse?"

The old woman instantly froze in place.

Fang Zhiyi looked at Tang Zhilin in surprise. If this guy wasn't a villain, he would actually make a pretty good official.

Tang Zhilin looked at a subordinate official standing nearby. "How are these kinds of people usually dealt with?"

The subordinate answered respectfully, "...She is advanced in age, so normally she would be exempted from such..."

Tang Zhilin grew impatient. "Bullshit! Does being old mean she can disregard the law? Does being old mean she can do whatever she wants?" He became angrier as he spoke. "Drag her down and give her a hundred heavy strokes!"

Alright, he really is a villain.

"Yes, sir!"

"Great Lord, you cannot! This old woman cannot withstand a hundred strokes..."

Tang Zhilin didn't even turn his head. "Fine, eighty! Remember, from now on, my rule is that regardless of age, anyone who does such unconscionable things will be heavily punished!"

"I have to say, this kind of villain is pretty good sometimes," Little Hei nodded repeatedly.

In recent days, because the other factions in Fan City had been wiped out, the idle members of the Dragon Slaying Society began to terrorize the commoners. They were never good people to begin with, and now that they had backing and nothing to do, their true colors were gradually exposed.

One day they would bury someone from a household they disliked alive in a field like planting crops, and the next day they would hang the child of someone who couldn't repay their debt to the Dragon Slaying Society from a tree, calling them a ginseng fruit. Zhu Wanli and the others also realized that the situation had completely spiraled out of control. Lacking a clear enemy, the true nature of the Dragon Slaying Society began to show. The restaurants, inns, pawnshops, and banks that were originally used as disguises had now become tools for the members to amass wealth.

Although Tang Zhilin took no action, Zhu Wanli knew that these actions would damage the reputation of the Dragon Slaying Society. However, when he questioned those people using his status as a high-ranking official, he was met with their mockery.

"Even the government doesn't care, so why should you?"

"Brother Zhu, back when the brothers followed you, we could barely eat or sleep in peace. Now that we've finally managed to make a good life for ourselves, please don't stir up trouble."

"Hall Master Fang hasn't even said a word, so don't go poking your nose into this, Brother Zhu. We guarantee our quota for this month will be higher than anyone else's!"

In short, it was nothing but a barrage of excuses.