Chapter 34 The King of Soldiers Establishes His Authority
Having secured the Houhai compound, Su Wantang didn't waste a single day; the very next day, she had the construction team Qin Zheng had found begin work.
The courtyard is based on the foundation of the previous dynasty, with a three-section layout and carved beams and painted rafters, but it has been neglected for many years and appears somewhat dilapidated.
Su Wantang did not want the old things to be restored to their original state.
She unfurled a huge blueprint, a design sketch drawn in charcoal. The style was so striking that even the most famous architect in Beijing would be completely baffled, let alone Qin Zheng.
"Young Miss, what... what is this?"
Qin Zheng, this tough and resolute man, felt his brain was a bit overwhelmed looking at the lines and layout on the blueprints.
The drawings retain the ancient eaves and corridors, but open up several interior walls and replace them with huge glass windows, introducing a lighting concept that only appeared in later generations.
The pond in the backyard has been redesigned, and a semi-open tea room will be built next to it. There is even a place labeled "wine cellar".
Classical soul, modern bones.
This has exceeded the imagination of everyone in this era.
“This is called ‘Tangdixuan’.” Su Wantang’s fingertips lightly traced the blueprint, a glint of ambition flashing in her eyes. “A place that serves only the most outstanding people.”
Qin Zheng looked at her confident profile and was deeply shocked.
He simply couldn't understand how such a vast and advanced world could be hidden within the young lady's slender body.
All he had to do was carry it out.
"I understand, Miss! I guarantee it will be done exactly according to the blueprints, not a single nail will be wrong!"
...
The Ye family.
"What?! She really bought that yard?!"
Ye Manrou slammed the blue-and-white porcelain teacup she was holding onto the table, splashing tea that scalded the back of her hand, turning it bright red.
Zhao Linlin exclaimed from the side, "That's right! I heard that old man Chen went crazy and not only didn't want the gold, but he also treated her like an ancestor and gave her away! Manrou, that vixen must have used some underhanded methods!"
Liu Sisi adjusted her glasses, a sinister glint flashing in her eyes behind the lenses.
"Manrou, don't be angry. Isn't it better that she bought it?"
"What's so good about it?!" Ye Manrou was furious.
"We've bought the yard, so we'll need to renovate it, right?" Liu Sisi spoke slowly and deliberately, her voice both soft and venomous. "I heard that there's a local thug called 'Lazy Head' in the Houhai area who loves to cause trouble for newly started projects. Perhaps... we could ask him to 'have a chat' with Miss Su?"
Ye Manrou's eyes lit up instantly.
She understood.
If open methods don't work, then try covert ones.
Does Su Wantang want to establish herself in the murky waters of Beijing?
dream!
"Sisi, you're so smart." Ye Manrou's lips curled into a cruel smile. "You handle this. I'll pay for it. I want her yard completely untouched!"
...
The renovation of "Tangdixuan" only went smoothly for three days.
On the fourth day, something happened.
"Stop it, all of you!"
With a rough shout, a dozen or so thugs stormed into the courtyard. The leader, a man in his thirties with a shaved head and several scabies on his scalp, was none other than the notorious local thug, "Scabies Head."
They were carrying steel pipes, wrenches, and some were even carrying bicycle chains. Their faces were full of menacing features, and they looked fierce and menacing.
"Clang!"
He kicked over the newly built half-brick wall.
"Splash!"
A steel pipe smashed the old glass in the window to pieces.
The workers were honest, simple people who had never seen anything like this before. They were so frightened that their faces turned ashen, and they all hid in corners, trembling with fear.
The man with the scabies head was very satisfied with the effect. He tapped a pillar with a steel pipe, squinted, and spat out a mouthful of phlegm.
"Don't you know the rules? Huh? Before you start digging in this area, have you paid your respects to the local authorities? Have you offered any tribute to me, Brother Lai?"
A slightly bolder foreman stepped forward, trembling, and said, "This...this brother, we're just trying to earn a meager living..."
"Go to hell with your hard-earned money!" The bald-headed man slapped the foreman across the face, making him spin halfway around and draw blood from the corner of his mouth.
“I don’t care about your money! Tell your boss to bring over five hundred yuan as a ‘tribute’ within a day! Otherwise, you can expect this yard to be burned to the ground!”
Five hundred yuan!
In an era when workers earned only thirty or forty yuan a month, this was an astronomical figure.
The workers were so frightened they didn't dare breathe.
The bald-headed man and his gang of henchmen swaggered around the courtyard, smashing things before leaving, leaving behind a threat: "Remember, only one day!"
The construction site has come to a complete standstill.
Not a single worker dared to pick up a tool again.
That afternoon, Qin Zheng stood in front of Su Wantang and reported the situation in detail.
This man, who remained unfazed even on the battlefield, was now clenching his fists so tightly they cracked, and his eyes were practically spitting out fury.
"Young Miss, these bastards are too arrogant! I'll go deal with them!"
Su Wantang was reading an ancient book and didn't even lift her eyelids when she heard this.
She simply turned a page of the book and said a sentence in a tone colder than the wind outside the window.
"My people cannot be bullied."
She paused, raised her eyes, and found that her beautiful eyes were completely still, like a bottomless, icy pool.
"Flies are not allowed in my place."
Qin Zheng understood.
The young lady wasn't asking him a question; she was giving him an order.
He straightened his back and gave a standard military salute.
"yes!"
He turned and strode away.
That slightly lame leg took each step with unwavering determination, carrying a resolute air of "the wind howls and the Yi River is cold."
...
That night.
In the backyard of a smoky, chaotic video arcade in the southern part of the city, was the headquarters of the scoundrel known as "Lai Li Tou."
A dozen thugs were drinking and bragging. The bald-headed man was embracing a heavily made-up woman and recounting his triumphant exploits at "Tangdixuan" during the day, which drew bursts of laughter from the crowd.
"Those filthy laborers, they'll pee their pants if you scare them! Just wait, tomorrow that woman will have to bring the money over with the utmost respect!"
Just then.
"Bang!"
The gate to the courtyard was kicked open from the outside.
Amidst the flying sawdust, a tall figure walked slowly in against the light.
The person who came only had one leg, and he walked with a slight limp.
It was Qin Zheng.
"Damn it! Where did this cripple come from? Looking for death?!"
One of the closest blond-haired men rushed forward, carrying a bottle of liquor.
Qin Zheng didn't even look at him.
Just as the blond-haired man approached, he turned sideways and raised his elbow.
The movements are simple and lightning fast.
"Crack!"
A sharp crack, not the sound of a bottle shattering, but the sound of a throat bone breaking.
The savage grin on Huang Mao's face was still frozen, but his body slumped down like a lump of mud, making a hissing sound as he breathed out. It was clear he was not going to make it.
The entire courtyard fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone was stunned by the bloody scene.
"Attack him together! Kill him!"
The man with the scabies screamed in terror, but he quietly backed away.
The remaining dozen or so men roared, grabbed their weapons, and charged at Qin Zheng like madmen.
What happened next became a nightmare for them for the rest of their lives.
Qin Zheng was like a highly efficient killing machine.
He made no unnecessary moves; every move was the simplest and most lethal military strike.
Someone swung a steel pipe at him, but he neither dodged nor avoided it. He parried and twisted his arm, and with a "clang," the other person's wrist was broken on the spot. The steel pipe was then switched, and he swung it across, hitting another person's knee.
Someone lunged at him with a dagger, but he swayed and appeared behind the attacker like a ghost, delivering a precise chop to the back of the neck. The man passed out without even uttering a sound.
Less than three minutes.
The courtyard was filled with people lying down.
None of them could stand; they were all groaning and convulsing on the ground.
Those who lost hands lost hands, and those who lost feet lost feet.
Qin Zheng was unharmed.
He slowly walked toward the leprosy-headed man who was terrified and collapsed to the ground.
That slight limp, at that moment, was more terrifying to the bald-headed man than the death knell.
"You...you stay away...my older brother is..."
Qin Zheng stepped on his palm and ground it hard.
"ah--!"
The pig-like screams echoed through the night sky.
Qin Zheng leaned down and asked calmly in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Which foot kicked the door?"
The man with scabies was trembling all over from a headache, and he stammered incoherently, "I...I don't know...Have mercy..."
"You're not going to tell me?"
Qin Zheng raised his foot and stomped hard on the bald man's right knee.
"Crack!"
A sickening cracking sound.
The man with the scabby head's screams abruptly stopped, and then his eyes rolled back as he fainted from the pain.
Qin Zheng straightened up, glanced around at the scum rolling on the ground, turned around, and disappeared into the night.
Early the next morning.
Houhai Ya'er Hutong is in an uproar.
Dozens of neighbors gathered at the entrance of "Tangdixuan", craning their necks and pointing.
Yesterday's arrogant bald-headed man was now bruised and swollen, his right leg in an exaggerated splint, kneeling in unison with his group of equally missing limbs at the tightly closed gate.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
With his uninjured hand, the man with the scabies head banged his head repeatedly until blood quickly appeared on his forehead.
"Grandma, I was wrong! I was blind to your greatness, I'm not human! I'll kowtow to you!"
"This is the money I scraped together, a thousand yuan! Double the compensation for your losses! Please, have mercy and spare our lives!"
Behind him, the thugs and hooligans also kowtowed desperately, crying and begging for their parents. The scene was even more tragic than a funeral procession.
The residents of the alley were dumbfounded.
"My God, isn't this... isn't this a man with a scabby head? Yesterday he was all cocky like a crab, how come he's kneeling here today?"
"How did he break his leg? And all his men are injured?"
"Just who is the owner of this courtyard? How could they be so ruthless?!"
The people's discussions were filled with awe and fear.
No one dared to say the courtyard was "unclean" anymore; now, in their eyes, the courtyard was more terrifying than the government office.
...
Inside the small building.
Late at night, when Lu Jingyan pushed open the door and came in, Su Wantang was intently revising design drawings by the light of a desk lamp.
She wore a silk nightgown, her long, dark hair casually draped over her shoulders, the light highlighting her delicate profile and slender curves.
Lu Jingyan already knew what had happened in Houhai.
He stood behind her, his tall figure completely enveloping her.
The room was quiet, with only the scratching sound of a pen nib across paper.
a long time.
Lu Jingyan finally spoke, his voice low and complex, carrying a hint of inquiry that he himself was unaware of.
Just how many secrets are you still hiding?
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