Four men rushed to the scene. The leader was a man in his thirties with a square face, stern brows, and a tall, burly frame. He wore the black, cloud-patterned uniform of the City Guard Department, a Long Saber hanging from his waist. This was none other than Liu Yunfeng, the Chief Constable of the Ruyi District Sub-Department of the South City City Guard Department.
The other three were constables under Liu Yunfeng's command.
"Chen Er is a murderer!
Officials, I beg you, save my family! Please, get justice for me!"
As soon as Widow Tian saw the City Guard Department Officials arrive, she scrambled and crawled forward, dropping to her knees. She kowtowed repeatedly to Liu Yunfeng, wailing about her grievances.
"Quiet!"
Behind Liu Yunfeng, a young constable with a prominent scar on his left cheek pressed a hand to the hilt of his saber and barked out the order.
The laws of the Great Yu were harsh. The Officials of the City Guard Department were not to be trifled with. If commoners kept to themselves, it was one thing, but if they dared to stir up trouble and fell into the hands of an Official, they could expect a vicious beating at best. At worst, they'd be thrown into Prison to suffer endlessly.
Forget ordinary civilians; even members of the Jianghu Gangs gave Officials a wide berth.
A shiver of fear ran through Widow Tian, and she stopped her wailing.
Liu Yunfeng's face was cold and stern, radiating authority. He swept his gaze over the people present and immediately understood the situation.
A brawl!
Typically, when a Chief Constable and his constables encountered such a situation, they would give both parties a sound thrashing and consider the matter closed.
They would only make an arrest if one or both sides were seriously injured or maimed, or if a death had occurred.
Of course, this was standard procedure for commoners; it did not apply to the city's powerful elite.
Although no scions of powerful families were involved today, the situation was somewhat unusual. The aggressor was wearing the uniform of a Prison Guard, clearly someone from the South City Prison.
The government yamen employed three shifts of government officials, and Prison Guards were part of the strongmen shift.
Logically, a Prison Guard outside the Prison was still under the jurisdiction of a constable. The young man before him wore the uniform of the lowest-ranking Prison Guard. Liu Yunfeng could have followed standard procedure, punished both sides, and been done with it.
However, he saw Ma Liu writhing on the ground, his arm and leg dangling at unnatural angles. They were obviously broken.
And the aggressor, the young Prison Guard, looked utterly ordinary, even a bit thin. Yet he didn't have a single scratch on him. Not only was he uninjured, but he also appeared perfectly calm and composed.
It was as if breaking the man's limbs had cost him no effort at all.
'To break a man's arms and legs so easily… this Little Prison Guard is no simple character!' Liu Yunfeng thought to himself, relying on his years of experience.
"Was it you who beat these three?" Liu Yunfeng stared at Chen Cheng and asked in a cold voice.
He was, after all, the Chief Constable in charge of this district. Even if this Little Prison Guard had some skill, he shouldn't be bullying people on Liu Yunfeng's turf. Liu Yunfeng would not tolerate anyone acting so wantonly in his territory, especially not some bottom-tier Little Prison Guard!
"Reporting to Chief Liu, how would I dare to assault someone in the streets and violate the Great Yu Law? I was merely acting in self-defense," Chen Cheng replied with a smile, cupping his hands in a respectful gesture. His attitude was modest, yet neither servile nor overbearing.
"You know who I am?" Liu Yunfeng was surprised.
Though he was only a Ninth Grade Chief Constable, Ruyi District had tens of thousands of residents, and the lanes he patrolled housed several thousand. He truly couldn't recall ever crossing paths with this Little Prison Guard.
Chen Cheng smiled. "I serve under Mr. Jiang Cheng. I've seen Chief Liu a few times before."
"So you're one of Mr. Jiang's men. No wonder." Liu Yunfeng thought for a moment but still couldn't place him among Jiang Cheng's subordinates. He then asked, "What is your name?"
Chen Cheng replied, "My name is Chen Cheng."
"Chen Cheng... that name sounds familiar. I think I've heard Mr. Jiang mention it..." Liu Yunfeng mused for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Could you be Fierce Ah Cheng?"
Chen Cheng scratched his head, looking rather embarrassed, and smiled. "That's just a silly nickname everyone jokes with. I'm actually very kind-hearted."
'Kind-hearted? The man breaks people's limbs at the drop of a hat and calls himself kind-hearted?' Liu Yunfeng's eyelid couldn't help but twitch.
He had a new appreciation for the seemingly harmless young Prison Guard before him.
Hearing about him was one thing, but meeting him was another. This kid truly lived up to the name Fierce Ah Cheng!
Seeing that Chen Cheng not only knew Chief Liu but also seemed to have a decent relationship with him, Widow Tian grew anxious and began to sob.
"Chen Cheng beat the three of us with no regard for the law! Please, Lord Liu, you must get justice for us!"
Liu Yunfeng frowned. The scar-faced constable behind him understood at once, stepped forward, and slapped Widow Tian across the face, sending her staggering.
"Did Lord Liu give you permission to make a racket?"
Widow Tian's cheek swelled up instantly. She grimaced in pain but dared not make another sound.
"Chen... Ah Cheng, what happened here today?" Liu Yunfeng asked. For some reason, he found calling him Ah Cheng more natural.
Chen Cheng easily detected the hint of familiarity in his tone and immediately put on an innocent expression. "Reporting to Mr. Liu, yesterday, Widow Tian's son, Er Lengzi, threw a stone at my wife. I got angry and kicked him.
Widow Tian came at me, screaming and trying to grab me. Of course, I had to resist, and I accidentally kicked her.
As for this Ma Liu, he raised a club and tried to smash my head. I'm not very strong; one hit from that and he might have beaten me to death. I had no choice but to defend myself, and in doing so, I accidentally caused him some minor injuries.
All these neighbors from the lane are witnesses.
I, Chen Cheng, have always been kind-hearted. I would never have resorted to violence if I wasn't forced to."
'Broken arms and legs, and he calls that a minor injury?' Liu Yunfeng was speechless. But Chen Cheng said there were witnesses, so he figured it must be true. He immediately turned to the crowd of Locust Tree Lane residents who had gathered to watch.
"Is what Chen Cheng said true?"
Widow Tian was hardly a saint, and the scoundrel Ma Liu was always causing trouble and bullying the neighbors. The residents of Locust Tree Lane had long suffered because of them. Hearing the question, they all nodded in agreement.
"According to Great Yu Law, Chen Cheng acted in self-defense and is innocent."
Liu Yunfeng couldn't be bothered with such a trivial matter anyway and immediately made his decision. Then he turned to Widow Tian, his expression once again becoming stern.
"Are you three satisfied with this verdict?"
Widow Tian was naturally not satisfied and was about to argue, but Ma Liu knew better than to provoke an Official. He quickly tugged on her trouser leg and said through gritted teeth, "Lord Liu, we are satisfied. Completely satisfied."
"Hmph, good that you're satisfied! If any of you dare to cause trouble again, don't blame me for being merciless!"
Liu Yunfeng snorted coldly and was about to leave with his constables.
Chen Cheng said, "Mr. Liu, I have one more matter I'd like to trouble you to witness."
As he spoke, he pulled an IOU from his robes.
"Widow Tian borrowed five hundred cents from my father two years ago. Here is the proof."
Liu Yunfeng took the IOU, gave it a quick glance, and turned to Widow Tian. "Is this true?"
With the IOU as proof, Widow Tian couldn't deny it. But she had never intended to pay the money back and started to cry and play the victim.
"It is true, but my husband passed away, leaving me and my son, a poor widow and orphan, all alone..."
"Enough," Liu Yunfeng cut her off. "Paying your debts is only right and proper. If you owe money, you pay it. That's the rule."
As he spoke, his gaze fell upon a sackcloth bag by the courtyard door and two hens with their feet tied. His face turned cold.
"And with chicken to eat, it seems your life is quite good!"
"Lord Liu, I'll pay it back now." Knowing she couldn't hide it, Widow Tian had no choice but to take out her Money Bag, count out five hundred copper coins, and reluctantly hand them to Chen Cheng.
Chen Cheng, however, didn't take them. He leisurely counted on his fingers and said, "You borrowed five hundred cents from my father back then. As for the interest... let's use the lowest rate. The 'Nine-Out-Thirteen-In' rate. After one month, that's five hundred sixty-five cents. With compound interest over two years, how much would that be? Let me see... ah, forget it. I'm a kind person. Let's just call it two taels of silver."
"What? Two taels of silver?" Widow Tian was so shocked she collapsed to the ground, looking as if she wanted to die.