Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

Yuan Liang, now a man, was no longer the down-and-out scholar who had been bullied in the Jinzhou staff office. He was dressed in a brocade shopkeeper's uniform, his hair meticulously combed, his eyes sharp and steady. Standing before the troublemaking young "guard," though not a large man, his imposing presence was overwhelming.

"Hmph," Yuan Liang snorted coldly. His voice was not loud, but it clearly drowned out the surrounding noise. "Don't say your father is just an inspector. Even if you were the emperor himself, if you dare to act wildly in Zuixianlou, you would have to follow the rules of Gaoyang!"

The young man pretending to be a guard, relying on his drunkenness and usual arrogance, stiffened his neck and cursed, "Bah! Who do you think you are? Just a watchdog! If you have the guts, call your county magistrate! When he comes, will he kowtow and confess his guilt, or will he support you, a dog slave!"

Yuan Liang looked like he'd just heard a ridiculous joke, his lips curled up in a sarcastic arc. "Haha, you're such a frog in a well, you don't know how high the sky is or how deep the earth is! Do you know what the ringing of this bell means? Let me tell you, when this bell rings, even the King of Hell will frown! If you're a dragon, you'll have to coil up; if you're a tiger, you'll have to lie down! You still want to see my county magistrate? You don't deserve it!"

Zhao Mingcheng, who was on the second floor, was completely captivated by this conversation. He frowned and looked at the maid beside him, asking in a low voice, "What's the rule behind this bell sound?"

The maid maintained her professional smile, but a hint of seriousness crossed her eyes. She explained in a low voice, "Dear guest, you may not know this. Zuixianlou is said to be a place of bliss, but in reality, it's also Gaoyang's largest gambling den. Gambling is incredibly stirring, and it's not uncommon for guests to lose their money, lose control, and cause trouble. Once the 'Street Cleansing Bell' rings, it signals a situation within the building that requires forceful repression—usually a guest who has lost all their money and incurred enormous debts, unable to repay them, and is subsequently causing trouble. The bell serves as both a warning and a signal. Once the city's patrol battalion hears it, they'll immediately dispatch troops to control the situation and prevent it from escalating."

Zhao Mingcheng's expression grew even more serious upon hearing this. "Send troops? How could he, a county magistrate, mobilize troops without orders from his superiors or urgent military intelligence? Could these be county officials or militiamen?"

The maid smiled faintly, but her tone was full of unquestionable certainty: "This is the rule of Gaoyang. The deployment is naturally decided by Master Zhang. The patrol battalion... also follows orders."

The young man next to him couldn't help but exclaim, "This... this is a blatant violation of the rules! Privately mobilizing troops is tantamount to treason!"

At that moment, a figure slowly descended from the third-floor staircase. He too wore a mask, a rare glass mask that shone with a mysterious brilliance under the light. His presence seemed to carry an invisible pressure, and the once bustling hall quickly quieted down around him, drawing everyone's attention to him.

He walked calmly to the old man and young man who were being held captive. His voice, calm yet icy, came through his mask. "My distinguished guest, if I remember correctly, you borrowed a total of 20,000 taels of silver from my Zuixianlou account office three times tonight. Now you've lost it all, and not only do you refuse to acknowledge your debt, you've even assaulted my guards. Do you think my Zuixianlou's money is easy to borrow, or do you think my Gaoyang's blade is weak? Do you want me to send someone to 'send' you to the border so you can experience the feeling of repairing a city gate?"

Although the old man was being restrained, he still tried to assert his authority, forcing himself to remain calm and saying, "You... who do you think you are? You're hiding your true self! Let your county magistrate come out and speak to me! I want to ask Zhang Jingwei, is this how he governs the area? Is he allowing his men to oppress the good?"

The man wearing the glass mask chuckled when he heard that, raised his hand, and slowly took off his mask.

Under the mask was Zhang Jingwei's young face, which was now covered with frost.

"Here," he said, his gaze sharp as a knife, staring directly at the old man, "The county magistrate is here. Do you have any final words to say?"

The old man was startled at first when he saw Zhang Jingwei's face, but then, as if grasping at a lifeline, he hurriedly struggled to tear off his mask, revealing his daytime face. He hurriedly said, "County Magistrate Zhang! It's me! We just met this morning at Yuehua Tower! Do you still remember me? You even praised me as a gentleman and paid our bill!"

Zhang Jingwei nodded, his tone calm and unperturbed, "Of course I remember. Not only that, I also know you have a good appetite, old sir. Not only did you eat three meals in a row, but before leaving, you even packed up a few hearty dishes, saying they were for your entourage to try. You ate and took, and you weren't polite at all."

The old man's face flushed and paled, but he still said shamelessly, "I remember it, I remember it! County Magistrate Zhang, you see... this is all a misunderstanding! It's you servants who don't know the rules and offended us! Please, County Magistrate, discipline them!"

Zhang Jingwei had a half-smile on his face: "Discipline? It's time to discipline him properly."

His tone suddenly changed, becoming icy and stern. "Come here! Capture this old man, this young man, and their accomplices! Take them all to Gaoyang Prison and keep them under strict guard! Give them three days. If they can't collect the 20,000 taels of silver they owe, along with the money they paid for the food and drinks they cheated me of, then send them directly to the Northern Frontier Great Wall to repair the city walls! Return when you've paid off the debt with your wages!"

The old man was struck by lightning when he heard this, and his eyes widened in disbelief: "County Magistrate Zhang! You... you dare! Do you know what you are doing now? I am..."

Zhang Jingwei interrupted him, his voice firm: "I know very well! You ate and drank for free in Gaoyang City for two days, did you really think it was free? Gaoyang's delicacies are always clearly marked with prices. Now, it's time for you to 'pay the bill'!"

The old man panicked and shouted in a timid tone, "You...you are abusing the law! I will sue you! I will file a complaint with the emperor in Beijing!"

Zhang Jingwei sneered, "It's only natural to pay back a debt! The written agreement is here. What can you do if you bring it to the Emperor? Will His Majesty believe your whining plea, an old liar, or my proof of legal debt recovery?"

Seeing that he couldn't hold back, the old man softened instantly and collapsed to the ground with a thud. Tears streamed down his face as he begged for mercy: "County Magistrate Zhang! Sir Zhang! Spare my life! I... I really don't have that much money! I'm an old man, and if you send me to that bitter cold place to build the city wall, I'll be sending myself to my death! Please, have mercy..."

There was no trace of pity in Zhang Jingwei's eyes, only complete coldness and disgust. "Just die. A parasite like you wastes food when alive and pollutes the land when dead. I think you're really useless if you're alive."

The guards dragged out the crying and struggling old man and the shouting and cursing young man without mercy. The sounds of begging for mercy and cursing gradually disappeared outside the building.

Zhang Jingwei put on his mask again and scanned the room. Everyone who caught his eye involuntarily lowered their heads. His voice rang out again, clearly reaching every corner of Zuixianlou:

"My distinguished guests have seen it. In Gaoyang, there are Gaoyang rules. These rules are me! No matter who you are or how powerful your background is, once you come here, you have to be a dragon coiled and a tiger crouched! Follow the rules, and this place will be paradise; if you don't," he pointed in the direction where the group had just been dragged away, "that's where you will end up!"

He paused, his voice slowing down, but with a stronger sense of oppression: "Recently, many 'friends' have come to the city, using various pretexts to try to freeload and gain advantages in Gaoyang. While I still have patience, if you settle the bill and get out of Gaoyang, I can pretend nothing happened. If you wait for me to come and invite you personally... those few people just now will serve as an example."

As soon as the words fell, a deathly silence fell over the hall. Many of the swindlers who had been mingling in the crowd, hoping for a lucky break, were already terrified, their faces pale and their legs trembling. Some of those with weaker mental fortitude immediately knelt down, trembling as they pulled out all the money and notes they had on them, crying out, "I'll pay! I'll pay right now! Please, sir, spare our lives! We're leaving now! We're never coming back!"

At this moment, the entire Zuixian Tower seemed to have turned into a huge courtroom, and Zhang Jingwei, wearing a glass mask, was the god who was in charge of rewards and punishments, life and death.

Zhao Mingcheng on the second floor saw all of this, his face so gloomy that it seemed as if water was about to drip out of it.