77: Sending you to the imperial prison won't stop you from suffering first.

"Personal vendetta? Marquis, what are you talking about?" a Flying Fish Guard said with utmost seriousness and sincerity.

"It is clearly the Young Marquis who resisted arrest, leaving Chief Lu and his subordinates no choice but to retaliate."

"It's fine, Marquis, the wuchang register is already recording this." Another Flying Fish Guard smiled playfully, shaking the wuchang register in his hand.

"It's just unclear about you gentlemen of the Imperial Guard, on your side..."

"Oh, you can rest assured about that." The Imperial Guard accompanying Mo Yingqi held back a laugh.

"It is simply that Young Marquis Xu resisted arrest and refused to cooperate with your Pacification Bureau, so you were 'forced' to resort to force."

"Swords have no eyes; getting hurt, injured, losing an arm or a leg... that is unavoidable, right?"

No one is a fool; the Flying Fish Guard of the Pacification Bureau are a bunch of demons. If you cooperate, things are decent; if you don't, they will make things indecent for you.

Mo Yingqi dared to kill someone in broad daylight on a busy street. Even if the Censor Official reported it, so what?

Not to mention that The Emperor would never punish someone his beloved daughter cares about most. With imperial authority to execute first and report later, if you resist arrest... that is truly courting death, and you can't blame anyone else.

Of course, under certain circumstances, the Pacification Bureau does do these things. Naturally, it's not a personal vendetta; there are some people The Emperor deems should die, but he doesn't want to waste the effort of sending them to the Imperial Prison... so it's handled directly as resisting arrest.

Eliminating dissent is a common method for monarchs. The officials in the Pacification Bureau who have reached their current positions are all shrewd, so they naturally understand the ins and outs of this. Furthermore, the fact that Lu Qianyuan dared to settle scores with Xu Fengzhang so brazenly today means it was tacitly approved, or even instructed, by Commander Fang.

Besides, he is just an arrogant and domineering Young Marquis. The Xu Family is now like a candle in the wind, like grasshoppers after autumn—once the season passes, who knows where they will die? Even if Lu Qianyuan killed him right now, no one would care.

As for the Imperial Guard, are you kidding? The Imperial Guard is The Emperor's greatest confidant besides the Pacification Bureau, and they are filled with people from Partridge Sky. Why would they be so misguided as to go against The Emperor and Marquis Yongding, who is held in the palms of the two Legitimate Princesses? They'd have to be absolutely hammered to do that.

"So, Young Marquis, you see, such a simple matter, why don't you understand?" Mo Yingqi looked at Xu Fengzhang with a look of regret.

"A phoenix fallen from its perch is worse than a chicken, let alone you right now... you're not even as good as a chicken."

"You, how exactly did I offend you?"

Xu Fengzhang knew Mo Yingqi wouldn't let him off, so he simply turned his head to look at Lu Qianyuan, who was staring at him like a vicious dog. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't recall where he had seen this person, nor could he remember how he had offended him to the point where he seemed hell-bent on killing him.

"The Young Marquis is a busy person of high status and has committed too many sins, so naturally, you don't remember how many wrongdoings you've committed." As Lu Qianyuan spoke, he slowly drew the Miao saber in his hand and threw the scabbard onto the ground.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not in a hurry. Besides, Commander Qianhu's intention is to take you back and interrogate you slowly..."

"Oh, right, Young Marquis, I will be the one handling your interrogation. Rest assured, I will definitely ensure you stay alive, after all... letting you die would be more painful than dying myself. After all, you need to live and suffer slowly."

The three guards were about to move, but three Flying Fish Guards raised their bows and fired, hitting them between the eyebrows almost simultaneously. However, before the three of them had even fully fallen, Lu Qianyuan had already rushed in front of Xu Fengzhang.

Gripping the Miao saber with both hands, he slashed down at his head with a whistling sound. Mo Yingqi didn't continue watching; if Xu Fengzhang were in good condition, it might take some effort for Lu Qianyuan to take him down.

Although this Young Marquis is arrogant and foolish, he does have a foundation in martial arts, otherwise he wouldn't have risen so quickly to the position of Commander. Nor would he have been able to go around picking fights with everyone.

But even so, he didn't think Xu Fengzhang was a match for Lu Qianyuan. The Border Army's martial arts are inherently fierce, without much flashiness; every move is intended to take the opponent's life.

Lu Qianyuan grew up in the Border Army from a young age and learned Border Army martial arts from the start. Unlike Xu Fengzhang, he has truly witnessed the brutality of the border and has participated in sweeping operations against the barbarians at the border.

Don't say Daxing Dynasty is cruel; since the Founding Emperor unified the world, he never stopped the sweeping operations against the border, especially against those jin man people with long braids, killing them all, not even sparing the dogs.

The previous dynasty was destroyed because it was nibbled away and invaded by these barbarians, facing both internal and external troubles. After the Founding Emperor ascended the throne, he used iron-fisted methods against these barbarians. Someone once asked if the Founding Emperor's actions were too excessive?

But the Founding Emperor only said one thing: "Only barbarians who do not appear before the people of my Daxing Dynasty deserve to live. When they killed the common people within my borders, did they ever care about cruelty? Did they ever care about mercy?"

Therefore, the Border Army of Daxing has always been the hardest-working, but also the most fierce. How could a young master like Xu Fengzhang, who relies on the endorsement of a Marquis family and his father's status in the military for protection, be a match for a wolf like Lu Qianyuan?

A shrill, miserable scream echoed over the cliff. Xu Fengzhang hadn't even lasted three rounds before Lu Qianyuan slashed off three fingers of his left hand.

"Young Marquis, your basics are not solid, are they?" Lu Qianyuan's voice trembled with extreme anger and the excitement of impending revenge.

"It's okay, this subordinate has plenty of time; I just don't know how many fingers you have for me to cut off, Young Marquis!"

Xu Fengzhang's already bloodless face was now as white as paper. He was considered tough; even after three fingers were cut off by Lu Qianyuan, he didn't make another sound after that initial scream.

"Old Lu, don't play him to death," Mo Yingqi suddenly spoke up. "We still need to take him back to the Imperial Prison; it will be interesting when you interrogate him then."

Upon hearing this, Lu Qianyuan, who was closing in on Xu Fengzhang, suddenly stopped. His eyes instantly returned to clarity. He slowly lowered the saber in his hand and waved his hand without turning his head: "Tie him up, stop the bleeding, but for heaven's sake, don't let him die!"

"What the f*** did I ever do to offend you?"

Excessive pressure made Xu Fengzhang somewhat delirious. He brandished his saber wildly and roared at Lu Qianyuan: "What? Did I sleep with your wife? Are you f***ing sick? You are sick. I slept with your wife, not your mother, why are you biting onto me like a dog and won't let go?"

Lu Qianyuan turned his head sharply, but did not expect Mo Yingqi to have already blocked his path, patting his shoulder: "Calm down. He just doesn't want to enter the Imperial Prison, and now that he's been driven to a dead end, he's trying to provoke you into killing him here."

As he spoke, Mo Yingqi turned his head and ordered: "Dislocate his jaw, and fix it when we get back. If he makes a fuss on the way, use whatever means necessary, just don't kill him."

"Sending him to the Imperial Prison is one thing, and letting him suffer is another; they don't conflict!"