While An Zeng was discussing matters with Qu Liuxi, someone knocked on the door.
""An Zeng, come out and see, something has happened.""
An Xuan opened the door and asked, ""What"s wrong?""
""When we were attacking the Gao Family"s casino, the people you taught a lesson to were also following us. At that time, I didn"t have the time to care about them.""
""Just now, someone said that there were a few people who beat up those surrendered Gao Clan servants with the name of our Heavenly Awakening Sect. They even asked each of them to hand over a thousand taels of silver, or else they would be beaten to death.""
An Xuan frowned. ""Where is he?""
""We caught a few of them and the rest ran away.""
""Let"s go take a look.""
When he walked into the courtyard, he saw three or four people kneeling with their heads in their hands, their faces pale with fright.
""There are only these few?""
Skinny Dean nodded.
An Zaixin took a closer look. These people were familiar with each other. They were once renowned ruffians in the West City.
These few people did not dare to do bad things, but they would do anything to cheat or cheat.
It was precisely because what they did wasn"t too bad that An Zhe brought everyone outside of the Heavenly Awakening Sect to settle down. They thought that with the Heavenly Awakening Sect keeping an eye on them every day, they wouldn"t dare to do anything bad.
What he didn"t expect was that once such a person had the chance, the disgust he felt would still be released.
""You scared people?""
Those few people knelt there, not daring to breathe too loudly.
""Didn"t they say that when you bullied people, you were very awesome?""
""Pressing on those who don"t dare to retaliate and beating them up is really amazing, isn"t it?""
One of them replied with a trembling voice, ""Sect Leader … we … we also want to help the Heavenly Awakening Sect, right?""
To say that those people from the Gao Clan have done no evil deeds, we are also doing this for the sake of our neighbors.
We really don"t want to do anything bad. ""
""You want to help the neighbors out?""
""When the Heavenly Enlightenment Sect didn"t make a move on the Bright Mirror Hall, why didn"t we go out and show you guys our loyalty?""
""What about the people they beat up?""
Skinny Du pointed to a place not too far away: ""The employees of the Mirror Hall are all over there watching over them. I don"t know how to deal with these people.""
""Bring the people who were beaten up here,"" said An Zui.
The Heavenly Awakening Sect"s men immediately brought over those Gao Family employees who had been beaten up.
These people had already been frightened out of their wits by An Zhe. When they saw An Zhe kneel down, they all kowtowed, thinking that An Zhe was going to kill them all.
It could be said that the people of the Gao Family were hostile towards the An Family, but they were also afraid.
Back then, when An Zuiyue was slaughtering a bunch of people in the Gao Family"s casino in the western part of the city, quite a few people saw it.
At that time, the Gao Family had gathered quite a few employees to go over, and there were quite a few who saw An Zhe kill people with their own eyes.
Now that they were in the hands of the Celestial Sect, they were even more terrified.
""What did these people say?""
One of the attendants kneeled down and replied, ""Sect Master An, they said to pay each of us a thousand taels of silver for our lives.""
""If they give us back, they"ll cut our heads off.""
""When you were beaten, did you fight back?"" he asked.
The attendant quickly replied, ""No, no. How would I dare?""
An Zhan waved his hand, and a disciple brought over a chair.
""I like watching people fight,"" he said. ""If you"re willing to fight, then fight it in front of me.""
""If you win, I will give you a chance. You can walk out of this gate safely.""
The thugs" complexions immediately changed. They couldn"t help but kowtow, ""Master An, we can be considered as rid of evil for the people.""
""Master An, we know our mistake, Master An.""
An Zhan shrugged his shoulders. ""I told you guys back then, is a man who bullies honest people, women and children, and poor people considered a man?""
How lowly are you to find pleasure in bullying people who don"t dare to fight back?
To put it bluntly, you people are a bunch of impotent people. You can only have a sense of conquest when you"re having fun playing others.
""Even if people like you go out and rape women, none of you will dare to jump into maturity because you are afraid of losing face.""
He pointed to the people around him and said, ""Leave a s.p.a.ce for them to fight. I will do what I say. Those who win will be able to walk out of this door safely.""
Those Gao Family employees who had been beaten up earlier all stood up, clasping their hands towards An Zaiyue. ""Thank you for giving us a chance.""
The few of them walked towards the local thugs, who were all terrified of the situation.
They scrambled to get out of the house, only to be held down and beaten up by the Gao Family"s employees.
Even though many of the Gao Family"s employees were not cultivators, each and every one of them were very spirited.
And these local thugs were just as An Zaiyue had said; bullying the weak while being afraid of the strong.
They were truly afraid of such a one-on-one duel.
Even when such a person was bullying others, he did not dare to be alone. It was obvious that he was aggressive in trying to rope him in. In fact, he was more humble than anyone else.
Not long later, the few employees of the Gao Family beat up those thugs until they were completely unrecognizable.
An Zeng looked at them and waved his hand, ""Hand these people over to Madman Qu, take them to the cargo area to work as laborers.""
The servants complied and rushed over like wolves and tigers. They then grabbed those people and walked out.
One of them shouted, ""Master An... Have a good fight!""
""You don"t have the right to make us laborers, and you"re not the old master of the Fang family, so why did you send us out?""
""I am indeed not the old master of the Fang family, but I can determine your fate.""
It"s just like when you bully people, you feel that you are stronger than the people you bully, so you can change their fates without any restraint.
I, too, have only not yet met a man with a good heart but a more cruel way of doing things than you.
""You"ve seen the people from the Heavenly Enlightenment Sect help the elderly across the street, and you"ve seen the people from the Heavenly Enlightenment Sect kill people.""
An Zaiyue turned around and ordered, ""Check if there are anyone else in their family. Send some silver taels and tell them that they have been recruited into the army by the government.""
His men responded and left with the men.
The victorious Gao Family attendant cautiously asked, ""Master An, can we really leave now?""
Ann nodded. ""Come on, a man must keep his word. A man must keep his word.""
""I told you to get out of this door safely, so I won"t regret it.""
The employees quickly clasped their fists and thanked him. Not willing to stay for even a second longer, they ran towards the door.
An Zhan waved his hand, ""Break their legs and pull them back after leaving the door.""
Not long after that, the outside world was filled with wailing ghosts and howling wolves. The men from the Heavenly Enlightenment Sect dragged those men back by their ankles.
Those people cried out in pain. Some of them shouted to An Zeng, ""An Zeng, you f * cking don"t keep your word!""
An Xuan said, ""In other words, I told you to get out of the gate safely, that"s all.""
An Zeng sat down on the chair and asked the employees, ""Do you feel wronged?""
""Just think about the people you"ve bullied in the past few years. Each of them has suffered ten thousand times more grievances than you.""
One of the clerks shouted, ""You don"t have the right to judge us!""
An Zeng nodded, ""In terms of national law, I really do not have it.""
He ordered, ""All of these Gao Family"s workers will be sent to the cargo depot to work as laborers. If you send a hundred pounds of food to the eastern border, you can save a family"s life. Have Madman Qu calculate this and let them save people in the eastern border. When they save people who can repay their sins, you can set them free.""
And he stood up and said, ""Let me put it this way: you have saved enough refugees in the east, and I will set you free.
I"m not afraid of you coming back to take revenge on me.
""But now, you are prisoners, and your fates have been changed by me.""
All of the Gao Family"s servants were escorted out, and not long after that, a carriage arrived.
The Prefect of the Fang family, Xu Zheng, said happily as he walked in. When he saw An Zaiyue, he quickly bowed and said, ""This official pays his respects to Sir An.""
According to his current official position, he was the leader of the guards, the vice commander of Empyrean Terminus Palace"s guards, from the fourth rank.
The Prefect of Fang Shoufu was of the fifth grade, which was half a grade lower than An Zeng.
Furthermore, An Zaiyue still had the t.i.tle of First Uncle, so it was only reasonable for Xu Zhengsheng to pay his respects to An Zhe.
""Why has Sir Xu come?""
An Zeng asked.
Xu Zheng said in a flattering tone, ""This lowly official has been ordered to lead a team to investigate the remnants of the Gao Family"s traitors. If Sir An is convenient … can you give all these people to this lowly official?""
An Zaihai suddenly realized that this fellow was here to ask for a captive.
He brought the Gao Family"s employees back with him and reported to them how many people he had captured. This could be considered a great contribution.
An Zhan said, ""I won"t give him to you, but I"ll get someone to give you a list later. Don"t worry … He was captured by your Fang Shoufu.""
""Thank you, Master An. Thank you, Master An.""
An Zaiyue thought for a moment before asking, ""Right, I"ve taken down a few of the Gao Family"s places, I need to prepare a few credentials …""
Xu Zhengsheng hurriedly said, ""It"s just a small matter. I"ll send someone to bring you all the ident.i.ty cards later.""
An Zhan cupped his fist and said, ""Thank you very much.""
Xu Zhengsheng hurriedly shook his head, ""Master An, don"t be so polite. Do you still need to be so polite with us?""
""That"s right, Master An … I have to tell you something. I heard that the soldiers have already released them. It"s a good thing to see them resume their positions.""
He did not know about this dispute yet, but his heart relaxed: ""That"s really something to celebrate about. I"ll invite Sir Xu to drink with me later.""
Xu Zheng said, ""That"s good then. Master An still has so many things to attend to, so this official will not disturb you any longer. This official will take his leave.""
An Zeng got someone to send him off, but he couldn"t help but frown.
What was the empress dowager planning to do?
Logically speaking, the empress dowager wouldn"t admit defeat so easily.
Once the soldiers were released, it would not be easy for the empress dowager to find a reason to get rid of them.
If she didn"t have absolute confidence, the empress dowager wouldn"t have reacted at all.
Just as he was thinking, w.a.n.g KaiTai walked in with his men. When he saw An Zaiyue, he couldn"t hide his joy.
An Xuan and w.a.n.g Kaitai entered the room. After they sat down, An Xuan asked, ""Have you settled the issue with the Military Department?""
w.a.n.g KaiTai nodded. ""Sir Chen and the others have been sent back to the military. They are undergoing treatment. Everyone"s injuries are very serious. They won"t be able to recover in a short period of time.""
Fortunately, it wasn"t difficult for the Infantry Division to operate, so Fang Daozhong and I just needed to do a little more.
""I"m here to thank you. Without you, Lord Chen wouldn"t have come out so quickly.""
An Zeng shook his head. ""I have the feeling that things aren"t that simple.""
w.a.n.g Kai-tai said, ""I also feel that something is not right, but right now, it"s a good result for us.""
I came here to tell you that the Martial Arts Academy has almost recovered. However, with the loss of people, those who had left no longer had the face to come back.
""I went to the Martial Arts Academy just now. In such a big place, even ten people are gone … Sigh, Xu Chao, and the dean of the Yan Ji Martial Arts Academy, they are all dead.""
An Zhan"s heart sank. ""I once thought that Princ.i.p.al Yan was on the empress dowager"s side.""
w.a.n.g KaiTai said, ""He and Princ.i.p.al Sang are in the dark, one in the light. In the end … Sigh!""
When An Zhe thought of the chaos and the reserved words, he thought of the instructors and officials of the Military Department, and his heart became extremely heavy.
How many people had died in the struggle for power?