Your Majesty, Please Stop!

Chapter 28: The Plan of the Catchers' Duel

Xin Zhuo stared at the sleeping Su Miaojin for a while and couldn't help but sigh. This daughter of a wealthy family was truly different. Even in a den of thieves, she had the leisure to undo her complicated hairstyle and sleep with a sense of ceremony.

He wondered if she would wake up and throw a tantrum, demanding to be attended to for grooming.

Smiling, he picked up the two pieces of paper that he had written on the previous day and stuck together, and pushed open the door.

The morning sun was just right, casting a bluish-gray hue over the world. The garlic sprouts in the courtyard were covered in a layer of frost. Bai Jiansi, Huang Daogui, and Han Qiniang hurriedly left his room by the window, wearing embarrassed smiles on their faces.

Xin Zhuo pretended not to see and asked, "Is the second-in-command and Jiulang at the foot of the peak?"

Huang Daogui coughed and said seriously, "Yes, they changed shifts at three in the morning last night. We just woke up. Those catchers are full of energy. They stood there until three in the morning, refusing to rest. They even shouted at us from time to time, and we had to stay on edge with them."

"They were just making empty threats. Of course, we ignored them."

Bai Jiansi squinted his eyes and continued, "They must be desperate by now. No matter what conditions we propose today, they will have to agree. No one understands them better than I do."

"Very well!"

Xin Zhuo said, then found a relatively flat wooden board and pulled a few thorny vines that had climbed up the wall. He tied the papers together, stepped back to take a few glances, adjusted the position a bit, and it looked somewhat like a signboard. Only then was he satisfied.

Huang Daogui and the other five bandits only knew the general idea of the leader's plan, and they were a bit confused about the specifics. When they saw the wooden board, they instinctively approached.

They couldn't read many characters, but they could recognize a few simple strokes. Their hearts couldn't help but tremble.

The leader was so terrifying!

"Leader, should I continue guarding her? Should I keep her locked up?" Han Qiniang's thoughts had always been focused on Su Miaojin, who was sleeping in the room.

This was indeed a problem. According to the plan, it might take several days, and they couldn't afford to let a pampered woman fall ill.

Xin Zhuo thought for a moment and said, "Don't let her idle. Let her wash all the dirty clothes in the village."

"Leader, you can count on me."

Han Qiniang rubbed her hands together, her face filled with an immoral excitement.

...

Chen Jing stood on a protruding stone at the foot of the Fulong Peak, his gaze passing over a man and a woman bandit on the peak, looking towards the partially exposed bandit stronghold.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was even more unsightly, as if he had aged ten years overnight.

Attacking the Tiger's Den yesterday was already exhausting, and on top of that, he hadn't slept all night.

Sleeping was impossible. The catchers and the constables were scattered all over the mountains, and not a single person had closed their eyes.

They could hardly imagine what Su Miss had experienced last night. Although that "Iron-faced Judge with a Sense of Justice, Pure and Kind Young Master" had guaranteed that he wouldn't touch Su Miss at all.

But when did bandits ever keep their word?

From a respectful standpoint, they were very worried about Su Miss. From the perspective of their duty, they were tasked with eradicating the bandits, but they let the bandits take Su Miss away right under their noses. If they didn't come down the mountain last night, Su Miss's purity would have been tarnished. How would the catchers and constables present face the magistrate and the people of the entire city afterwards?

Chen Jing sighed. He swore that he had never experienced such torment before, even when his wife had difficulties giving birth a few years ago.

He looked at Yuan Mo'er, who was also looking anxiously in the same direction, and asked, "What should we do?"

"After this matter is over, we will execute Xin Zhuo by Lingchi, using the Five Elements Tribulation Formation to suppress his soul for eternity."

This was the harshest punishment in the Great Zhou's legal system combined with metaphysics. It was often only given to those who rebelled against the court and committed unforgivable crimes.

After Yuan Mo'er finished speaking, she still felt unsatisfied. She unsheathed her waist knife and swung it forcefully, cutting a nearby cedar tree into two pieces.

As the legitimate daughter of the Yuan family, she had come here to suppress the bandits, but in reality, she also had the honor of her family at stake. But the matter with Su Miss had destroyed all her plans and pride, leaving her feeling as if she was covered in mud.

"Xin Zhuo is bound to die, there is no doubt about it. The situation in the capital has already become chaotic. Even if we don't take action, it's likely that others will rush here in the next two days."

Chen Jing felt that Yuan Mo's harsh words were unproductive. At least until we rescue Miss Su, talking about punishment is pointless. "Do you think the plan we discussed last night is feasible?"

"It depends on Xin Zhuo's thoughts," Yuan Mo nodded.

"It also depends on what demands he will make today, and whether we can agree to them."

Four other constables walked over, looking exhausted.

Last night, the six constables didn't just sit around anxiously. They came up with many strategies, only to reject them one by one. After all, no one dared to joke about Miss Su's life. In the end, they could only reluctantly choose one feasible plan:

Xin Zhuo's confidence comes from having Miss Su in his hands.

Whether they launch an attack or a night raid, there is a possibility of accidentally harming Miss Su.

But if they don't take action and only negotiate with the other side, who knows what exorbitant demands they will make? What kind of inhumane treatment will Miss Su suffer?

Therefore, they can only find a loophole by not provoking the bandits, such as going to the peak under the pretext of sparring, scouting the terrain, and incidentally meeting Miss Su to pass on some messages. By coordinating inside and outside, they can find a weakness.

Miss Su's role is to coordinate from the inside, but finding a weakness and coordinating from the outside is their responsibility.

Among the bandits, Xin Zhuo is the strongest. The rest of the bandits are no match for him. If they can seize the opportunity to injure Xin Zhuo during the sparring, it will definitely weaken his divine partition. Then, a few skilled individuals can go to the peak at night, first subduing the ordinary bandits and finally joining forces to kill Xin Zhuo.

Of course, the premise is that Miss Su receives the message and finds a way to avoid being restrained by the bandits, so as not to be harmed when they are desperate.

This method cannot be considered brilliant, and there may be unexpected events along the way, but it is still effective.

"What if Xin Zhuo refuses to spar and only demands exorbitant prices?" Chen Jing put himself in Xin Zhuo's shoes and thought that he might not accept any ridiculous sparring requests.

"No matter what price he asks for, we can agree first, using the excuse of preparing in the city, and then propose the sparring. He will definitely agree!" Yuan Mo said confidently, even empathizing. "Xin Zhuo defeated the Starving Wolf Gang, killed Li Qing, injured Ge Qi and Zhu Zhu, successfully ambushed Mr. Xu, and is at the eighth rank. He can defeat opponents of the same rank. He successfully ambushed across borders. These methods are not bad. Besides, how old is he? Fifteen or sixteen? At that age, unless he is a natural genius, he must be obsessed with martial arts. Xin Zhuo is certainly not a natural genius, otherwise the Autumn Palace would have recruited him. Our ancestors also said that three years ago, the Qintian Observatory's Yang Shaoyuan and the Taiping Palace's eighteen masters came to Baziu, searching for talents with an eight-point exploration of the English Plate. They only found three young men in the lowest category, and Xin Zhuo was certainly not among them. So, this kid can only be a martial arts fanatic. How could a martial arts fanatic refuse to spar with others?"

A martial arts fanatic would never refuse to spar!

The constables all agreed with this.

However, Chen Jing still frowned. "But his Saber Technique has reached the transcendent realm!"

"Uh..."

Yuan Mo and the other constables fell silent, their faces showing embarrassment, and even a hint of envy.

They were not confident in reaching the transcendent realm in Saber Technique.

But Xin Zhuo, at his age, has been practicing that one move without rest since he was in his mother's womb?

After thinking for a moment, Yuan Mo smiled and said, "Since it's a sparring, naturally we can't use what he excels at. We can choose what we are good at, such as testing Qinggong, palm techniques, Fist Technique, leg techniques, and Sword Technique. It's unlikely that a martial arts fanatic will refuse."

"Good, let's go with that!" Chen Jing thought it was reasonable and nodded happily.

Just then, a constable reported from the side, "Gentlemen, the strict and righteous Iron-faced Judge Chunshan Xiaolangjun has arrived."

The constables immediately looked over and indeed, Xin Zhuo had arrived at the edge of the peak. However, he was holding a wooden board with a piece of paper attached to it, inserted into the gap between the stone slabs on the road.

There were words on the wooden board, the font was ordinary, but each word was like a knife, chilling to the bone.

(End of this chapter)