In the flower hall of Humble Administrator's Garden.

Xu Xu was like an ant on a hot pan, pacing anxiously.

The news he received from various channels this morning was not optimistic.

The notice issued by the prefecture and county governments requires those who participated in the riots to turn themselves in and the policy of not punishing them with a vengeance is really terrible.

This strategy of completely distinguishing between those who surrender and those who resist, and between accomplices and principal offenders, completely destroyed the good situation he had worked so hard to create in a blink of an eye.

Right now, most of the people involved in the riots, including the Citizens’ Self-Defense Force, are rushing to turn themselves in. I believe that someone will definitely expose him and his men in order to escape punishment.

Xu Xu knew the nature of the government too well, and in order to keep things peaceful, he could only let the law pass without punishing everyone. But the more he did this, the more frustrated he would become, and in the end, he would take it out on his own group of people.

I'm afraid that as soon as he has time, he will target this group of people.

Xu Xu thought to himself, why not go back to Songjiang to avoid the limelight while Suzhou is still in chaos.

But when people asked around, they found out that all the city gates were still closed and no one was allowed to enter or leave.

Or, how about finding a place to hide first?

But he quickly rejected this shameful idea.

He is the master of Suzhou City for four days and the defender of citizens' interests, the shackle breaker who stirred up the Suzhou storm, the founder of the citizens' self-defense force, the burner of the prefectural government office, the guardian of the Xu family's interests in Suzhou, the guardian of the Humble Administrator's Garden, the godson of the second master of the Xu family, and the Wang Gou'er who was given the honor of the surname "Xu"...

How can you hide here and there like a stray dog?

Besides, in the whole of Suzhou, is there any place safer than the Humble Administrator's Garden?

Therefore, even though the fleeing ship had already stopped at the gate of the Humble Administrator's Garden, no matter how hard the people below tried to persuade Manager Xu, who was too immersed in the drama, to move even a step.

"If you want to leave, go ahead. I'm not going anywhere!" Xu Xu shook off the men who wanted to force him to leave, and said arrogantly:

"I don't believe that anyone from Suzhou Prefecture would dare to come to Humble Administrator's Garden to arrest people! The person who dares to make trouble for the Xu family hasn't even been born yet!"

The subordinates were also annoyed by this granite head and argued: "How about 'Tsui Hark'?"

"That kid surnamed Zhao is an exception..." Xu Xu almost choked to death. After a while, he threatened again: "Except for him, no one dares to make trouble for the Xu family!"

Just as Xu Xu was encouraging himself, he heard a flurry of footsteps coming, and in a blink of an eye they were outside the door.

"It's bad, Cai Guoxi has surrounded the garden with his men, and they're yelling at us to open the gate and surrender!"

"Ah, are you really coming?" Xu Xu's legs went weak involuntarily. He admitted that there was an element of gambling in his words just now.

If you gamble, you might lose...

"Hurry up and escape through the back door." He could no longer bear the glory of the Xu family.

The group of people, who had already packed up their valuables, quickly surrounded Manager Xu and walked out of the hall, preparing to flee through the back door.

But then he saw the servant at the back door running in in a panic to report.

"Oh no! Yang Chenglin and his men have blocked the back door."

"Climb over the wall!" Xu Xu's mouth twitched.

"There are soldiers all over the wall..."

"What?" Manager Xu's eyes went dark. He never expected that the government would make such a big fuss.

Aren’t they afraid of being ruined by slapping the Xu family in the face?

~~

At the gate of Humble Administrator's Garden, there was a crowd of people watching the fun.

Cai Guoxi, dressed in a crimson official robe, sat upright on a chair with an air of righteousness, watching his officers banging on the door like beating a drum.

"Open the door, open the door. If you don't open the door, I will be polite!"

The door remained closed.

After a long while, Xu Xu had someone climb up the wall with a ladder, leaned out and shouted, "Are you crazy? Find out whose garden this is!"

"Of course I have found out. The owner of this place is surnamed Xu." Zhang Tongpan sneered and said, "His name is Xu Kun, and he is a dung carrier on Xishan Island."

"Uh..." This sentence choked the Xu family servant and made him lose his temper. It was not a shame for the servant to have his own second master pour night incense for others.

"Stop knocking! The owner is not home and the door won't be opened for anyone who comes!"

"Then don't blame us for being rude!" Zhang Jiong sneered and took a few steps back.

Then eight sturdy men with bare upper bodies were seen carrying a log about ten feet long and rushing towards the vermilion lacquered and gold-nailed gate of the Humble Administrator's Garden.

"Wait! Look at what this is?!" The Xu family servant had no choice but to take out his trump card, a bright yellow silk imperial edict with dragons and phoenixes embroidered on it!

"This is the grace decree from the late emperor that my grandfather, when he passed the 12th year of the first-rank examination, specially ordered the local authorities to respect the elders of the state! Without the imperial decree, who dares to touch a single brick or tile of our Xu family!"

"Hiss..." Judge Zhang stopped chanting the curse.

"Hiss..." The eight strong black men didn't dare to bang on the door anymore, and they were at a loss as to what to do while carrying the logs.

"Hiss..." The citizens who were watching also gasped, thinking that the prefect was still of a low level and could not do anything to the Xu family of Huating.

"Haha..." But then Governor Cai sneered, stood up, bowed towards the north, and shouted, "Please give me the flag of the king!"

Then, amidst a burst of dense drumbeats, four flag officers in bright red bullfighting uniforms came out, holding two eight-foot-long flagpoles and applauding the crowd in solemn expressions.

On a flagpole, there is a blue silk flag, two feet six inches wide, with the word "Ling" written in gold on each side!

On the other flagpole was a one-foot-two-foot-tall token made of basswood and painted with gold, with a gold-plated "Ling" character engraved on each side!

It is the royal flag bestowed by the emperor on the governor-general and imperial envoy!

The flag is actually a variant of the banner. As the saying goes, "the banner is for rewards, and the banner is for killings." The recipients of the banner act on behalf of the emperor's authority. Governors-general and governors-general can dispatch troops, supervise troops on the battlefield, and command local officials all with the help of flags.

Anyone who commits a serious crime of incest; kills three or more people in a family; escapes from the battlefield; disobeys orders; breaks into prison; gathers in groups to resist officials; robs and bandits; or collaborates with the Japanese to commit treason, all those below the fifth rank can be executed first and reported later!

As the prefect, Cai Guoxi is not yet qualified to be granted the royal flag, but he can be temporarily granted it by the governor to exercise his authority!

With the royal banner at his side, Cai Guoxi became even more murderous and said:

"Those who break into prisons and gather to resist officials, even the elders dare not protect them!"

As he spoke, he suddenly raised his hand, pointed at the door, and shouted, "Crash!"

Judge Zhang also became excited now, and shouted: "Knock on the door!"

The common people also started shouting, "Break the door! Bang the door!"

The eight big men naturally didn't care. After all, they had the prefect to support them even if the world collapsed. So they carried the round wooden pillar and rushed towards the gate of Xu's mansion.

With a loud bang, three door bolts as thick as bowls were broken at once.

Amid the cheers of the citizens, the two doors burst open, bringing in the Xu family's servants who were inside the doorway.

"You, you, you..." Xu Xu was in the middle of it. He was knocked unconscious and fell on his back. He could hardly speak clearly.

"Haha, Manager Xu, don't be anxious. If there is anything, let's talk about it when we get back." Judge Zhang watched with a sneer as the ferocious officials rushed forward and tied up Xu Xu and a group of Xu's servants tightly with iron chains.

"Search the entire garden. Keep all the women under guard. Bring all the men back to the government office and interrogate them thoroughly!"

ps. This is the first of three consecutive updates. Please give me your monthly votes!