Chapter 13: Show of Force

Zhang Beichen was busy the whole night. When he woke up the next day, he smelled a foul stench.

“What’s going on?” Zhang Beichen asked around.

“My Lord,” Ah Da said angrily, “Last night, some rascals splashed feces at the entrance of the county government office, causing the stench to be unbearable. We are cleaning it up now.”

Zhang Beichen checked. In addition to the feces, there were two big words written on the door with chicken blood: “Release them!”

“They’re making a show of force.” Hu Cheng looked at Zhang Beichen. So far, he had not found any special talent in Zhang Beichen.

Then why did the monarch entrust him with such an important task from the beginning?

Zhang Beichen knew that if he didn’t make a move, the other parties would definitely go even further.

“Please send a letter to the Bai family and the Yang family for me,” he said to Ah Da and the others.

Then, Zhang Beichen wrote two letters.

“My Lord, what are you doing?” Liu Wen asked curiously.

“I’m inviting the two family heads to witness the ceremony,” Zhang Beichen said with a smile.

“Ceremony?”

“Yes!” Zhang Beichen’s eyes narrowed, “There are a few death row criminals in the prison. Three days later, they will be executed!”

“Ah!” Liu Wen was shocked when he heard this. He quickly persuaded, “My Lord, if we do this, I’m afraid we’ll cause a huge mess!”

“What are you afraid of? I’m here!” Zhang Beichen scolded.

Liu Wen didn’t dare to retort, but he was extremely afraid inwardly.

‘It’s over. This new county magistrate is really a hot-headed youth. Not only does he want to kill the Bai and Yang family members, he even wants to invite their family heads to watch the execution! Won’t this be slapping their faces? What if the two families can’t take it anymore and someone accidentally kills the county magistrate?’ Liu Wen had a bitter expression on his face. ‘If I had known this earlier, I would have quit my job and run away!’

“If you want to execute a criminal, it will definitely cause chaos,” Hu Cheng reminded Zhang Beichen.

“I know,” Zhang Beichen nodded, “That’s why I’d like Uncle Hu to help me hold the fort.”

“I will follow the monarch’s orders and only guarantee your safety,” Hu Cheng emphasized, “But I don’t care what you want to do or how you do it.”

“Then that’s enough.” Zhang Beichen already had an idea.

“Uncle Hu, I still have something to ask you. It’s about cultivation.” Zhang Beichen still wanted to confirm whether his idea was feasible.

Hu Cheng replied, “It’s fine to ask about cultivation. It’s just that I’m a militarist and a martialist, I’m not proficient in the rest of the cultivation paths.”

In this world, all Hundred Schools of Thought could cultivate, and they all had different cultivation paths.

Zhang Beichen was currently a legalist and cultivated by making laws and enforcing the law.

“Then please tell me about the realms and general methods of cultivation,” Zhang Beichen asked.

“Generally speaking, cultivation is divided into nine realms. From the first realm to the ninth realm, each realm is further divided into initial, middle, high, and peak.”

“The first realm is the Dao-entering realm, which is to choose one or several Dao paths and start cultivating. Most of them cultivated a single Dao path, while some would cultivate two. For example, I cultivate the path of a martialist and a militarist. A martialist strengthens the body while a militarist plans and strategizes. After entering the Dao, a spiritual Qi cyclone will be condensed in the body, and you will have a stronger body and longer lifespan than ordinary people. For example, Daoist cultivators will also possess spiritual sense.”

“The second realm is the Dao-pursuing realm. The Qi inside the body turns into liquid, and the power is even stronger. The third realm is the Dao-seed realm, where the spirit liquid in the body condensed into a Dao seed. These three realms are known as the lower three realms. Above them are the middle three realms and the upper three realms, which are even more powerful.”

“Then is the ninth realm the strongest?” Zhang Beichen quickly asked.

“No,” Hu Cheng shook his head. He said, “Above the ninth realm is the half-Saint realm. Above the half-Saint realm is the Saint realm. When you reach the Saint realms, you’re almost able to command the law with your words, like a god.”

“There are many legends of saints in the seven kingdoms, but there are almost no saints in the world. I guess they’ve all hidden away.”

“This is really amazing!” Zhang Beichen couldn’t help but be curious. He asked, “Uncle Hu, what realm have you reached?”

“Ten years ago, ” Hu Cheng said, “I was at the beginning of the seventh realm when I served in the army.”

“Upper three realms!” When Zhang Beichen heard this, he was sure of it. With Hu Cheng around, no one in Baiyang County should be able to hurt him, so he could do whatever he wanted with ease.

‘Ying Yiren was actually willing to send an expert from the upper three realms to protect me. She must know me!’ Zhang Beichen was sure that Ying Yiren knew him. She had probably participated in the simulation!

‘As I said, I felt something was wrong in the game.’ Zhang Beichen recalled that in the game, Ying Yiren was very ‘intelligent’. Sometimes she was stubborn, sometimes she had a temper, and she would learn from her mistakes and change her strategy.

Now, it seemed that the in-game Ying Yiren was Ying Yiren herself!

At the same time, in the Qin Palace.

Ying Yiren was wearing a formal suit and had a serious expression as she asked the people below.

“Jing Ping, how’s the matter I asked you to do?”

“I have already followed your orders and sent gifts to the Prime Minister of Wei and important people from other kingdoms. They promised that they will not send troops to attack Qin within a year,” Jing Ping said with cupped hands.

“Very good, now Kingdom Qin has a chance to catch our breath,” Ying Yiren nodded slightly. After the simulation, she naturally wouldn’t rashly send out her troops.

In order to prevent the six kingdoms from besieging her, she had even started to take action in advance to snip the hidden danger in the bud.

“Uncle, I’ll have to trouble you with Longxi,” said Ying Yiren as she looked at a dark-faced man below the stage.

That was Ying Yiren’s uncle, Ying Meng.

Ying Meng was the general of the Kingdom Qin. He was very powerful, but he was a little lacking in strategy. Because of this, Ying Yiren succeeded the throne and not Ying Meng.

“Your Highness, please don’t worry. With me in Longxi, the Rongdi tribe will not dare to cause any trouble!” Ying Meng said confidently, “I’ll set off today and lead my troops to guard Longxi!”

After arranging everything, Ying Yiren heaved a sigh of relief. In this way, Kingdom Qin could face the siege of the six kingdoms in the first year and the hidden danger of the Longxi rebellion would be eliminated.

The next step was to fight for time and strengthen the reform.

And all of this would depend on Zhang Beichen’s actions.

After everyone had left, Ying Yiren asked Jing Ping, “How’s the situation in Baiyang County?”

“Zhang Beichen has just taken up his post,” Jing Ping replied, “I heard that he rejected the Bai and Yang families’ invitations. He even invited the two family heads to watch the execution of their people! The two family heads are very dissatisfied with this, and I’m afraid there will be chaos.”

Hearing this, a trace of worry appeared in Ying Yiren’s eyes. In the simulation, Zhang Beichen was an unyielding character. What if they had a conflict and he got injured?

Was it a bad idea to give him such a difficult task from the start?

She hesitated, but then she remembered that Hu Cheng was with Zhang Beichen. She thought that with Uncle Hu around, Zhang Beichen’s safety would not be a problem.

Jing Ping thought that Zhang Beichen must have been lucky enough to be valued by the monarch. However, his current method was obviously very stupid. The local forces were deeply rooted and intertwined. If he went head to head with them, it would be like an egg hitting a stone.

“Your Highness, do you want me to go to Baiyang County?” he asked.

“No need,” Ying Yiren said, “Let Zhang Beichen handle the matter there.”

She thought to herself, ‘Zhang Beichen, I’ll wait and see. I hope you really have the talent that the simulation showed!’

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