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The man knelt down with a thud.

"Brother Lin, spare my life! I was just confused for a moment."

This person was Chu Zhengyi, the first martial artist to be defeated by Lin Feng during the city guard's arena competition. His martial arts skills were mediocre.

This person had even participated in a martial arts exam training organization, but had spent all his money and still failed the exam, leaving him with no other options.

Lin Feng felt sorry for the man because he seemed honest, so he took him into the Ma Yi Guard. However, he never expected that the man would betray his own people on his very first day in office.

Lin Feng was furious.

If I weren't here today, the files would have been burned. How am I supposed to explain this to the General?

At that point, I'm afraid I won't have the face to stay in the Ma Yi Wei (a type of guard).

Lin Feng glared at the man and said, "Go and ask the general for mercy."

No sooner had Lin Feng finished speaking than Chu Zhengyi's eyes flashed with a fierce light.

Lin Feng quickly activated his Golden Bell Shield.

Chu Zhengyi pulled out a dagger and stabbed Lin Feng in the abdomen.

Lin Feng reached out with his right hand to grab the dagger that was thrust at him, and kicked the man in the head with his left foot.

Bang! The man's head lolled to the side and he passed out.

"Who's in the files room!" People outside rushed in upon hearing the sounds of fighting.

They saw that Lin Feng was stepping on someone and didn't know what had happened.

Lin Feng said to the group, "Go out and keep a close eye on the people we've captured."

The commotion also alerted Zheng Tiejun.

Zheng Tiejun ran over and asked, "Brother Lin, what happened?"

Lin Feng clasped his hands and said, "Your subordinate has failed the general's trust, and has actually brought in a traitor who betrays his own side."

Lin Feng recounted Chu Zhengyi's plan to burn the case files.

After hearing this, Zheng Tiejun's face turned terribly gloomy.

"Luckily you were careful, otherwise we would have failed at the last minute."

This person is utterly despicable. You gave him the coveted position, and he actually committed such a treacherous act.

He'll be the first one to be interrogated tomorrow.

Lin Feng summoned two men who tied Chu Zhengyi to the middle of the cell, awaiting interrogation the following day.

……

The next morning, when everyone arrived and heard that Chu Zhengyi was going to burn the dossier, they all started cursing Chu Zhengyi for being a traitor.

The group stood in the cell, with Chu Zhengyi tied to a wooden cross in the middle.

In the charcoal stove in front of him were several red-hot branding irons.

General Zheng Tiejun of the Ma Yi Guard looked at Chu Zhengyi and asked, "Tell me, who exactly ordered you to burn the dossier?"

Chu Zhengyi said with a smile, "Your Honor is innocent! I only wanted to check the case file yesterday, and I accidentally set fire to a corner of it."

Lin Feng frowned. He had been caught red-handed and still dared to deny it. Could it be that someone had contacted him last night?

Zhang Xiaoyu was also furious when she heard about this.

If Chu Zhengyi had really burned the files yesterday, Lin Feng wouldn't have been able to stay here. If Lin Feng left, he would definitely have to leave too.

Zhang Xiaoyu picked up a branding iron from the charcoal stove and imprinted it on Chu Zhengyi's chest.

Sizzle, and the smell of barbecue filled the entire cell.

"Aaaaah!" Chu Zhengyi screamed in agony.

Zhang Xiaoyu said fiercely, "You still dare to argue after being caught by Lord Lin? I think you don't want to live anymore."

Zhang Xiaoyu threw the branding iron into the charcoal furnace, then picked up another red-hot branding iron and pointed it at Chu Zhengyi's right cheek.

"If you don't talk, this branding iron will stay on your face?"

That last blow had already caused Chu Zhengyi to lose control of his bladder and bowels, and his mental defenses had also collapsed.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! Stop torturing me!"

"It's Ji Yunhao, the cousin of Zheng Hui'an, the city guard general. He found me yesterday and gave me five thousand taels of silver notes, asking me to burn the martial arts exam papers. He said he would give me another five thousand taels after the deed was done."

I borrowed money at exorbitant interest rates to pay for a martial arts exam training course. At the time, I only borrowed two hundred taels of silver, but with the interest compounding, it has now reached two thousand taels of silver.

I couldn't afford to pay it back, so I agreed to Ji Yunhao's offer.

Zheng Tiejun looked at Zhang Xiaoyu with admiration in his eyes.

He said to Lin Feng, "Your brother is not bad. He will be in charge of the interrogations from now on."

Lin Feng said to Zhang Xiaoyu, "You should thank the general."

Zhang Xiaoyu immediately clasped her hands in thanks and said, "Thank you for your kind words, General."

Zheng Tiejun nodded. "Send men to arrest Ji Yunhao immediately."

Lin Feng personally led a group to Ji Yunhao's home.

The dozen or so servants and guards that Ji Yunhao had hired tried to stop him.

Lin Feng drew his sword and shouted, "How dare you! Do you intend to defy the government?"

Ji Yunhao's steward, oblivious to the danger, arrogantly said, "I only know about the city guards and the yamen, but I didn't know there was such an organization as the Ma Yi Wei in the government."

"You're courting death! How dare you disrespect the Hemp-Clad Guards!" Lin Feng stabbed Ji Yunhao's steward to death on the spot with a single sword strike.

Lin Feng finally understood that his group was essentially the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and they could act as arrogantly as they wanted.

After Lin Feng killed one of them, the other servants and guards immediately became obedient.

These martial arts guards only earn a few taels of silver a month, which is not worth risking their lives for.

When Lin Feng led his men into the main room, Ji Yunhao was on the bed, embracing two women.

Lin Feng dragged him off the bed and took him to the headquarters of the Hemp Guard.

Sun Yu and his men found five thousand taels of silver notes at Chu Zhengyi's residence.

He also used dye to trace Ji Yunhao and Chu Zhengyi's fingerprints onto the banknotes.

Seeing how efficiently the group worked, Zheng Tiejun couldn't help but smile.

After Chu Zhengyi's incident, he was worried that these江湖人 (jianghu people) wouldn't be able to solve the case, but now it seems there are still a few who can get things done.

Zheng Tiejun said to Lin Feng, "Your brother is not bad either."

Our Ma Yi Guards are clear about rewards and punishments. We'll record all their contributions, and reward them according to their merits once the matter is resolved.

"My subordinate understands!"

Ji Yunhao thought that because he was the younger brother of the city guard general, no one would dare to touch him, and refused to admit the crimes he had committed.

Zhang Xiaoyu didn't tolerate him; after a beating, he confessed.

He said that last night his brother sent someone to throw a crumpled piece of paper into his house and asked him to do something about it, so he went to find Chu Zhengyi.

That's why Chu Zhengyi burned the case files last night.

However, that crumpled paper has already been burned.

Lin Feng knew immediately that the investigation was doomed.

Without physical evidence, Ji Yunhao's one-sided testimony is not enough to convict Zheng Huian, the city guard general.

Lin Feng figured finding that crumpled paper wouldn't be of any use; it certainly wasn't written by Zheng Huian himself.

Sure enough, Zheng Tiejun went to the city lord's mansion to verify the matter with Zheng Huian.

Zheng Hui'an has an alibi.

Zheng Tiejun instructed Zhang Xiaoyu to continue interrogating Ji Yunhao, asking him where all that silver came from.

Ji Yunhao knew he was doomed, but he still wanted to take all the blame upon himself.

Unable to withstand Zhang Xiaoyu's severe torture, he confessed to abusing his cousin's power to oppress the people and seize land.

However, this matter has little to do with the city guard general; it's just that his cousin was abusing his power.

Zheng Tiejun also understood that the investigation into the burning of the case files could only go this far.

He looked at Chu Zhengyi, who was tied up in the middle of the cell, and said, "Without rules, there can be no order. I haven't taught everyone the rules yet."

Today I'll first teach you how our Ma Yi Guards deal with traitors.