Your Majesty said that my life is worthless, so why are you crying when I increase my troops?

"Master Pan, do you believe it now?"

Xia Mingyuan took a sip of tea and asked lightly.

Pan Yue's face was gloomy and uncertain. He suddenly drew his sword and walked quickly to Chen Asi.

"No, don't kill me."

Chen Asi's face turned pale and he retreated repeatedly.

Pan Yue's expression was ferocious, his eyes spitting fire.

"The people from the Poison Dragon Gang are so bold that they actually dare to target my son!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Pan Yue slashed Chen Asi's throat with a sword.

A line of blood spurted out from Chen Asi's neck. His eyes widened and he slowly fell to the ground, his eyes still open.

Pan Yue looked at Pan Hongxing coldly, which frightened Pan Hongxing so much that he shivered violently and fell to his knees with a thud.

"Dad, I really didn't know he was a spy for the Poison Dragon Gang. I was careless in choosing my friends and was temporarily deceived by this traitor..."

Pan Yue kicked him to the ground, turned around and looked at Xia Mingyuan, his voice obviously softened.

"Commander Xia, do you believe me when I tell you that this matter has nothing to do with my son, and certainly nothing to do with our city defense camp?"

Xia Mingyuan looked calm as he looked Pan Yue up and down for a long time, but he was a little surprised.

Judging from Pan Yue's performance, this guy doesn't really seem to be colluding with the Poison Dragon Gang.

Thinking of this, Xia Mingyuan slowly stood up, patted his clothes a few times, and forced a smile at Pan Yue.

"Lord Pan's sincerity towards the court is naturally obvious to all."

"Since Chen Ah Si is dead, this matter is over. However, you must discipline your son in the future. As the saying goes, 'A red plum attracts a red plum, and a black plum attracts a black plum.' It's not a good thing for a young man to be involved with the bandits of the Poison Dragon Gang. Isn't that right, Master Pan?"

Xia Mingyuan gave Pan Yue a meaningful look, which made Pan Yue's face freeze and a hint of humiliation flashed in his eyes.

It was obvious that Xia Mingyuan was not teaching his son a lesson, but was using this matter to criticize himself.

But now that he has been caught, even though Pan Yue is a proud person, he can only grit his teeth and admit it.

"Commander Xia is right. When I return, I will definitely discipline this bastard."

"I've spoiled this kid. He's generous and loves making friends. That's why he was targeted by the Poison Dragon Gang and got into such trouble."

Seeing Xia Mingyuan nod slightly and not speak for a long time, Pan Yue couldn't help but feel relieved.

He turned around and glared at Pan Hongxing coldly, scolding him harshly: "Rebellious son, what are you doing standing here? Get back home."

After saying that, Pan Yue bowed to Xia Mingyuan and turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Pan Yue had just turned around when Xia Mingyuan's indifferent voice came from behind.

Pan Yue couldn't help but frown when he heard this.

"Xia Mingyuan, it's true that my son was at fault first, but he was simply deceived by a new member of the Poison Dragon Gang. He didn't do it on purpose."

"I advise you not to take things to the extreme. We are all in the officialdom, and there may be a time when we need each other. You have a lot of soldiers, but the soldiers in my city defense camp are not vegetarians either!" Pan Yue's voice suddenly rose, trying to suppress Xia Mingyuan's momentum with his voice, so as to gain the upper hand in the negotiations.

However, Xia Mingyuan remained unmoved. He just shrugged and chuckled.

"General Pan, why are you so nervous?"

"I didn't say I couldn't let you take your son away."

Hearing this, Pan Yue breathed a sigh of relief, a look of suspicion appearing on his face.

"In that case, Commander Xia, what else do you want?"

Xia Mingyuan glanced at the messy tailor shop and said calmly, "General Pan, your son's friend caused such a disaster, ruining the shop of an orphan and a widow. You should at least give him an explanation, right?"

Hearing this, Chu Xinyue was startled and quickly lowered her head, not daring to speak.

She would never have imagined that Commander Xia would actually speak up for his own tailor shop and ask for an explanation from the soldiers of the city defense camp.

"Then I wonder what you want to say, Commander Xia?" Pan Yue asked in a deep voice.

Xia Mingyuan laughed loudly, clapped his hands and said, "I told you, General Pan is not a beast who oppresses the people."

"In that case, I will take charge of this matter. I will pay you twenty thousand taels of silver as compensation."

"It's just silver. I'll send someone to deliver it to you right away..." Pan Yue waved his hand and was about to agree when he suddenly raised his voice: "How much did you say? Twenty thousand taels?"

"Xia Mingyuan, why don't you go and rob it?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Mingyuan raised his head with a forced smile, "General Pan, judging by what you're saying, how can you make money this quickly by robbing people these days?"

"Besides, how is twenty thousand taels of silver expensive? It's not easy for a tailor shop like this. You should reflect on whether you have been serious about making money over the years!"

"Hmph, twenty thousand taels of silver can buy out all the shops on this street. Do you think I'm as wealthy as the Sun family father and son? How much has my salary been all these years?"

"Twenty thousand taels of silver, take my son away. I can't afford that much money. I'm still young anyway, so at worst I can go back and have another child."

Looking at Pan Yue, who was full of indignation and looked like a piece of meat on the cutting board, Xia Mingyuan couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

He was used to extorting money from wealthy officials like Sun Yaozu and Huang Renji, and thought that twenty thousand taels should be a drop in the bucket for Pan Yue.

Unexpectedly, this blow actually brought out a great official, forcing the general of the city defense camp to want to open another account.

"Ahem!" Xia Mingyuan coughed lightly and raised his head seriously, "General Pan, if you can't come up with 20,000 taels, you'll have to bargain."

"As long as this commander can see your sincerity, some things are negotiable."

Pan Yue snorted coldly and looked Xia Mingyuan up and down. "I have given all the money I have saved over the years to the soldiers below. I don't have much silver at home, but I can only give you two hundred taels."

"make a deal!"

"Two hundred taels is two hundred taels!"

Xia Mingyuan nodded in agreement without any hesitation.

Pan Yue looked at Xia Mingyuan's serious expression, and the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily. A feeling of being cheated arose from the bottom of his heart.

"Hmph, I'll send someone to deliver the silver in a moment."

Pan Yue said this, waved his sleeves suddenly, turned around and left the tailor shop.

"Thank you so much for saving my life, benefactor."

Before Pan Yue walked away, Chu Xinyue and Zhang Pozi, mother and daughter, suddenly knelt down in front of Xia Mingyuan and kowtowed to him.

Xia Mingyuan hurriedly stepped forward and helped the two of them up.

"You two are welcome. This is just a simple favor. You have helped me by accidentally identifying a spy from the Poison Dragon Gang."

"The general who left earlier is certainly not one to default on his debts. I wanted to use this as an excuse to extort some money from you and split it equally with you after the matter was completed, but right now, the total is only two hundred taels of silver. You can take this money for yourselves. It is more than enough to make up for today's losses."

There was really no money to be made from that poor Pan Yue, so Xia Mingyuan was not thinking about the two hundred taels of silver.