Chapter 41: Bowing and Breaking Eggs

The two of them chuckled, feeling an even stronger bond of brotherhood and mutual understanding.

Just then, a fierce roar suddenly broke out from the shadows: "Great! He hasn't left yet! Break his legs and throw him into the river to feed the turtles! Smash his stall as well!"

Lin Feng and the others looked toward the source of the noise and saw seven or eight men wielding clubs surging out of the shadows, shouting and rushing directly at them.

Zhang Yuan bellowed, "How dare they disturb my drinking mood! Brothers, go and finish off these wild curs!"

Drawing his long sword, he charged forward first. With a single strike, he sliced the club of the frontmost man into two halves, and then kicked him flat onto the ground.

"Whoosh!"

A man swung his club from behind, aiming straight for the back of Zhang Yuan's head!

"Bang!"

With a miserable cry, that man was kicked flying to the side by Lin Feng, who had suddenly lunged in from the flank!

Zhang Yuan looked back and exclaimed in surprise, "So Brother Lin is also a martial artist!"

Lin Feng smiled faintly, picked up a discarded club from the ground, and hurled it at another attacker.

"Bang!"

The club struck the man squarely on the head with absolute precision and force. The man rolled his eyes and instantly passed out.

"Brother Zhang, to capture bandits, one must first capture their leader. I'll go and drag that mastermind hiding in the back over here!"

With these words, he nimbly dodged the oncoming assailants and darted swiftly toward the shadows.

A figure in the shadows shrieked in terror and turned to run, but his foot slipped, causing him to pitch forward and crash heavily onto the ground. Just as he tried to struggle to his feet, Lin Feng arrived and planted a foot firmly on his back.

His body was heavily pinned to the earth by Lin Feng's large boot, bringing his face into intimate contact with the ground.

"Ugh..."

He struggled to get up, but Lin Feng stepped down hard on his wrist.

"Crack!"

The man let out a blood-curdling scream, "Oh, mother!"

Finally, Lin Feng saw clearly that this person was none other than the young master of the Zhang family who had come to stir up trouble earlier that afternoon.

"Damn it! Were you lacking maternal love since childhood?! Every time you feel pain, you cry for your mother!"

Lin Feng hoisted him up by his collar and turned back toward the food stall.

Over on the other side, Liu Xi had just finished his fight after lifting a man with his bare hands and hurling him directly into the river.

All dozen or so men had either been beaten to the ground or tossed into the river.

Lin Feng threw the man in his hand onto the ground and said coldly, "You really had the nerve to come back!"

Zhang Yuan asked in puzzlement, "Brother, do you know this guy?"

"This little punk came to my place this afternoon to make trouble, harassed Tian Xi'er, and beat up Li He. I taught him a lesson then, but I didn't expect him to bring people back tonight!"

"Damn it! Daring to harass innocent girls and beat commoners in broad daylight, and then returning for revenge at night—that's compounding a crime!" Zhang Yuan said sternly.

The Young Master Zhang had regained some clarity. Struggling to his feet, he howled, "My... my father is Squire Zhang! If you dare to beat me, you must have tired of living!"

"Squire Zhang? Which Squire Zhang?"

"Squire Zhang of Lishan Village, Zhang Zhenqing!" Disregarding his pain, Young Master Zhang wore a arrogant expression on his face.

"So it's that old bastard's son! Like father, like son! You're all asking for a beating! Do you have any idea who I am, you son of a bitch?"

"I don't care who you are!" Young Master Zhang snapped fiercely. "You crossed me, and you're going to pay the price!"

Zhang Yuan smiled grimly and raised the sword in his hand. "I'd like to see what kind of price I have to pay!"

Young Master Zhang trembled with fright. "What... what do you want..."

"Swish!"

Zhang Yuan's long sword flashed upward, sweeping across the topknot of Young Master Zhang's head. In an instant, Young Master Zhang's topknot was sheared clean off, and his hair scattered all over the ground.

Frightened out of his wits, Young Master Zhang pissed and shat himself, standing frozen in place with a pale, ashen face.

Lin Feng thought to himself that this Zhang Yuan indeed had some real sword skills; his speed and accuracy were both quite impressive.

"Brothers, these bastards dared to attack us men from the Patrol Office. This is an assault on government officers, a grave felony! Drag them back to the Patrol Office dungeon!"

Terrified, Young Master Zhang dropped to his knees. "I-I-I... We were blind and failed to recognize Mount Tai, not knowing you were the g-g-great lords of the Patrol Office. Please spare our lives!"

"Whether to spare you or not is up to the laws of Great Chu!" Zhang Yuan declared sternly. "Line up in a row right now!"

Scared out of their wits, everyone scrambled into a single line, not daring to breathe too loudly.

"Brother, do you have any rope?"

Lin Feng nodded. "Yes." He walked over to the pushcart and fished out a long binding rope.

Zhang Yuan smiled. "This will do." He tossed the rope to one of his subordinates. "Tie them all together by their legs!"

With one leg of each man bound together in a chain, it would be virtually impossible for any single one of them to escape. This was indeed a brilliant method.

"Brother, I need to take them back to the Patrol Office. We'll drink together again in a couple of days!"

"Alright, Brother Zhang."

Zhang Yuan's lips curved upward as he lowered his voice. "I promise to give you a satisfactory result." With that, he patted Lin Feng on the shoulder and led Young Master Zhang and the others away.

Lin Feng mused that Young Master Zhang hadn't come early or late, but chose precisely the moment when Zhang Yuan and his men were drinking here. Talk about bad luck walking right into a trap—his timing was utterly wretched!

Going to the Patrol Office meant he would undoubtedly be stripped of a layer of skin even if he managed to survive.

Lin Feng and the others tidied up. A few tables and chairs were smashed, but fortunately, the stove was untouched. As long as the stove remained intact, they could continue running their stall tomorrow; otherwise, rebuilding the stove would have been far too troublesome.

Upon returning to the farmhouse, everyone retired to their respective rooms to rest.

The next day, Zhang Yuan sent someone to fetch Lin Feng, Tian Xi'er, and Li He to testify in court.

Liu Ruofu handled the matter strictly by the book, officially documenting half a dozen charges against Young Master Zhang: harassing innocent maidens, beating commoners, assaulting government officers, premeditated retaliation, and destroying civilian property. He immediately ordered sixty heavy blows with the bamboo paddle and threw him into the deep dungeon.

Although Young Master Zhang's father, Squire Zhang, attempted to pressure Liu Ruofu by invoking his ancestral official background and scholar status, Liu Ruofu was an upright, incorruptible, and truly principled good official. Coupled with the fact that Lin Feng had saved his wife, he naturally wouldn't give Squire Zhang an ounce of face.

Furthermore, he forced Squire Zhang to compensate Lin Feng for his losses and pay for Li He's medical expenses.

Upon returning home, Squire Zhang fell violently ill and took to his bed, unlikely to have much time left.

With this matter brought to a close, Lin Feng could continue making money with peace of mind. Over the next couple of days, he introduced new dishes such as knife-cut noodles, plain plain-broth noodles, scallion oil noodles, egg fried rice, chive pockets, grilled fish, braised prawns in oil, and stir-fried crabs, giving his patrons a much wider selection.

Not only passersby and villagers from nearby settlements, but through word of mouth, people from Luping Town were also drawn there to dine.

Li He and Li Shang practically became his unpaid waiters. They thoroughly enjoyed it, not only learning a trick or two from Lin Feng or Liu Xi, but more importantly, getting to see Tian Xi'er every day.

Inspired by Lin Feng, many others also came to the riverbank to set up stalls and sell various goods. With merchandise of all kinds available, it was fast rivaling the market fairs of a small town.

Nearby villagers could now buy whatever they needed without having to make the trip into town, bringing a great deal of convenience.

As they were preparing to close up the stall that evening, a runner from the Patrol Office hurried over. "Brother Lin, Brother Zhang asked me to invite you to a restaurant in town for a drink."

As he spoke, he winked meaningfully at Lin Feng, who understood the hint instantly. "Alright, I'll be right there."