This time, the task of confiscating property was jointly enforced by both the Jing Tian Department and the Mingjing Department. The Jing Tian Department was responsible for searching for and slaying demons, while the Mingjing Department handled the confiscation of properties.
Although that was the case, during the task, members of the Jing Tian Department could also participate and incidentally reap some benefits, an unspoken agreement between both sides.
This time, the destination was Beiyuan County of Liyang Mansion. After Gu Chen arrived at the headquarters of the Jing Tian Department within the inner city of Tiandu, he met Song Yu and Wang Yan.
It was Gu Chen's first task since his promotion to Metropolitan Procurator, and also his first time undertaking such a task, so he had no experience. The reticent Wang Yan did not speak, while Song Yu briefed Gu Chen on some key points.
Afterward, Gu Chen joined Song Yu and Wang Yan, heading to the rendezvous point to meet the people from the Mingjing Department.
This time, the Mingjing Department's team was led by two second-level mirror holders, including eighteen third-level mirror holders and thirty-two clerks.
The two second-level mirror holders from the Mingjing Department were about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. One had an average build and ordinary appearance, but bore a mean look with coldness in his eyes, making it clear at first glance that he was not an easy person to get along with.
The other second-level mirror holder, having a physique not much different from that of Wang Yan, bore a fierce look in his eyes, standing there without uttering a word.
"May I know how to address the two gentlemen?" asked Song Yu with a smile, greeting them with a bow.
The mean-looking second-level mirror holder sized up Gu Chen and the others for a moment, saying nothing.
He turned his head and shouted to the people behind him, "Depart!"
Following this, the people from the Mingjing Department mounted their swift horses and left in a cloud of dust.
Seeing this, Song Yu frowned and said in a low voice, "It seems that the ones leading the Mingjing Department this time are not easy to get along with."
Wang Yan nodded, and soon after, the three of them also mounted their swift horses and quickly followed.
It took three days for Gu Chen and the others to travel from Tiandu to Beiyuan County in Liyang Mansion. Along the way, Song Yu tried several times to cozy up to the two second-level mirror holders from the Mingjing Department but was met with rejection. The other party completely ignored Gu Chen and his companions, treating them as if they were air.
Despite feeling annoyed, Song Yu refrained from commenting further.
Thus, three days later, they arrived at the county seat of Beiyuan County in Liyang Mansion. A Commandant held the rank of a fifth-grade official in Da Xia and wielded considerable authority in a county, second only to the local county governor.
At that moment, the Commandant's Mansion had already been thoroughly sealed off, with outsiders unable to enter and insiders unable to leave. There were guards on duty for the past few days, and anyone daring to trespass or attempt to escape faced the risk of death.
The two second-level mirror holders from the Mingjing Department, the mean-looking one named Yan Hua and the other named Cheng Song, now arrived at the entrance of the Commandant's Mansion with an imposing air. Yan Hua waved his hand and said coldly, "Confiscate!"
Hearing this command, the followers immediately kicked open the gate, rushing in like a horde of bandits and thieves.
The Commandant of Beiyuan County, surnamed Zhang, had a large estate with several courtyards. On the day Commandant Zhang's troubles began, the entire Zhang Mansion was sealed, and even the funeral proceedings couldn't be carried out.
At the moment, faint sobbing could be heard from within Zhang Mansion. The servants, taken aback by the aggressive intrusion of Yan Hua and Cheng Song, were all startled.
They had no idea what was happening or what they were about to face.
Meanwhile, Yan Hua and Cheng Song, along with their men from the Mingjing Department, were grabbing everything in sight. Before long, the entire Commandant's Mansion had been pillaged, as if locusts had swept through.
"You bandits, you're nothing but bandits!" cried the family members of the Commandant, Yan Hua, feeling irritated, barked, "If you don't want to die, then shut your damn mouths!"
Upon seeing this, the people from the Mingjing Department's faces darkened, and they made gestures as if to draw their swords.
Yan Hua's sinister gaze swept across the crowd, and seeing his fierce demeanor, everyone fell silent, their bodies trembling like sieves— the scene quieted down instantly.
"That's more like it," Yan Hua sneered coldly, with a cruel smile.
At this moment, a third-tier mirror-holder stepped forward and whispered to the two, "Boss, the count is off; there's a shortage of silver. All together, there's barely thousands of taels."
Upon hearing this, Yan Hua's eyes darkened. He grabbed a person by the neck and demanded, "Speak! Where have you hidden the embezzled silver?!"
The woman trembled with fear, unable to produce a coherent sentence. Seeing this, Yan Hua coldly said, "Speak, or die!"
"I... I don't know..." The young maid, terrified by Yan Hua, was nearly crying.
Smack!
With a slap from Yan Hua, the maid's face instantly swelled, and then he threw her aside as if discarding trash.
The people trapped in the Commandant's Mansion, whether servants or womenfolk, had never witnessed such a scene. Each of them was terrified, tears and snot streaming down, but the fear of Yan Hua's brutal expression prevented them from uttering a sound.
With the amount of silver off, Yan Hua grew increasingly irritable. He roughly dragged up the Commandant's principal wife and interrogated, "Speak, where is the silver hidden!"
The woman was so frightened that her complexion turned deathly pale, devoid of any color, and she cried incessantly as Yan Hua struck her with another slap.
"Mother!"
A child of five or six, seeing his mother struck, mustered courage from who knows where and charged at Yan Hua, biting fiercely into his thigh.
Enraged by this, Yan Hua exclaimed, "Seeking death!"
A savage light flashed in his eyes, and he kicked out.
A child of five or six could never withstand Yan Hua's powerful kick. One kick like that and the child would undoubtedly be killed.
"Chen'er!" The child's mother cried out in alarm, struggling incessantly in Yan Hua's grasp.
Gu Chen's trio had just finished investigating the scene of the Commandant's death, thinking of questioning his family about some doubtful points. They had just arrived when they witnessed this scene.
"Stop!"
Gu Chen's eyebrows furrowed in anger, his heart aflame with rage as he charged forward.