Could it be that I am the cruel villain?
Chapter 69 My Wife is Giving Birth

But... his current situation wasn’t much better than his young fiancée’s.

"Last time we had a face-to-face chat like this, it was three years ago, I believe."

In the private room, the two sat face to face.

Despite dressing somewhat older, County Magistrate Sun was actually just a few years older than Xue Ming, and in his forties, which should be a man’s prime in the officialdom.

"The year you earned the title of Scholar and ranked first, that same year, you were assassinated, and danger lurked everywhere."

"If it were anyone else who suffered such a misfortune, they would surely harbor a grudge, but... a man has his do’s and don’ts, grievances should be understood, but there are many ways to understand grievances."

There weren’t just the two of them in the room; behind the County Magistrate stood three constables, tall and burly, their faces familiar, usually seen protecting the magistrate.

Among them, two were at the ninth level of Body Refining, and one had Spiritual Energy circulating within his body. Seeing this, it seemed County Magistrate Sun had truly brought out his heavy hitters.

He took the initiative to pick up the teapot, poured the tea, and pushed it forward.

Not mentioning it with every word, but never straying from the subject with every sentence.

Speaking in circles about the grudges with the Xue family, others might not know, but how could the County Magistrate not know about the Xue family’s secret attempts on Jiang Feng’s life?

Not long after the death of that master and servant, Xue Ming died tragically too, right in front of his son’s grave. With all that happened before, it was difficult to not raise suspicions against oneself.

In fact, deep down he clearly understood that what County Magistrate Sun said was true; there were more ways to seek revenge than just going to someone’s house with a knife to cut down the entire family, it’s just that he truly didn’t have much time now.

Any slightest hesitation, and by the time the hired assassin arrived, he might already be decapitated.

"Come, the weather has been cold lately."

Again, he pushed the teacup forward, still with that amiable elder’s demeanor.

Glancing at County Magistrate Sun, to be honest, Jiang Feng didn’t have much of a favorable impression of him; he wasn’t a real child, and while he had always been outwardly polite to the County Magistrate, in reality, he kept his distance.

If it was someone else, they would probably have been deeply moved by Xue Ming’s approach, with the Lord County Magistrate ruling in your favor, taking care of you, speaking well of you, even serving you tea personally.

Tsk tsk, such a people-friendly image, such a principled official.

But in reality...

"Now he’s so polite, probably because he knows about my cultivation."

"Among the three, the one standing in the middle is in the Qi Refinement Realm, but the specific level of cultivation is not clear; since the moment they entered the room, that guy has been watching me."

"During this time, County Magistrate Sun has twice pretended to turn back to ask about the situation, but both times that guy simply shook his head."

"He’s probably not asking about the murder scene but whether they could take me down."

A cold sneer emerged in his heart.

Officials of any era act the same; he understood these people’s true colors all too well. Now they’re serving tea and water amicably, and they have been rather courteous before, do you think they cared about him?

No.

They cared about the Yan Family.

They were catering to the future son-in-law of the Yan Family, using this approach to ingratiate themselves, in order to use the resources and support of the Yan Family to climb up the ranks in the future. Otherwise, why would every gentleman in the area be so successful?

Such is reality.

The majority of officials throughout history always care about interests and stability. The former is to amass wealth, to open up connections and pathways, to have the capital to climb higher.

The latter is to maintain the peace within their own power, not to mention the officialdom, as long as you mean well, get along with others, and ensure no issues arise in your area.

You can pretty much wait for a promotion.

That’s why County Magistrate Sun was in such a hurry to find him. If it had been Xue Wuwei who had an accident, he could have pressed it down, but with the death of Xue Ming...

Putting aside the relationship between the two, just talking about interests there would definitely be damage. Moreover, consecutive murder cases could potentially affect his future career, especially since there have been more than five murders this time.

"What do you mean by this, Your Honor? I have no enmity with anyone. What brings Lord County Magistrate to find me? It surely can’t be illegal to visit a brothel."

"You brat..."

Seeing the young man act as if he doesn’t fear scalding water, County Magistrate Sun couldn’t help but get annoyed, glaring straight at the young man. As if knowing what was on the magistrate’s mind, the three constables behind him subtly shifted a few steps, seemingly intending to encircle Jiang Feng implicitly.

Just the accusation of assault was enough; even if this kid used some method to fabricate a bunch of false evidence, as the head of a county, as long as there were suspicions, he could be taken down directly. Should he dare to resist and expose his cultivation, it would be certain as nails hammered into wood.

But Jiang Feng made only one move.

He placed the teacup on the table, then bent his index finger and flicked it forcefully!

Thunk!

The sharp piece of porcelain actually flew past the County Magistrate’s ear and embedded itself in the wooden pillar behind him!

This caused the three men who had been planning to close in to stop in their tracks, turning to look at the porcelain shard not far away with eyes full of shock, especially the one in the middle who looked extremely solemn as if facing a formidable enemy!

"... you’re about to be married, yet spend your days getting drunk in a brothel! What kind of image is that!"

He reproached.

The two locked eyes again, and from that moment on, the clear foolishness and naivety on Jiang Feng’s face vanished, showing no expression as he stared at the middle-aged man before him; that indifferent gaze made County Magistrate Sun sober up completely.

A chill made him much more alert.

After all, he was an old fox that had been through the ups and downs in the official circles for more than twenty years; he made the right choice in the quickest way possible.

"Lord County Magistrate speaks the truth, I will pay attention in the future."

With neither servility nor overbearingness, he said those words; despite the nonchalant tone, anyone could hear they were simply meant to avoid tearing faces.

He raised his hand, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Up to this point, County Magistrate Sun had finally sobered up, because with just a flick, Jiang Feng had informed him that if a fight broke out, the young man could ignore the three constables’ attack and take his life directly.

Now he remembered, among the corpses found in the past few days, there were two experts at the ninth level of Body Refining and two Qi Refinement Cultivators. He had actually only focused his attention on the Xue family father and son, which was already a grave mistake!

He must put Jiang Feng in the same position as himself for negotiation.

After a few seconds of silence, he then spoke.

"I can’t interfere with society’s grudges, but with the consecutive deaths of the Xue family father and son within Qingshui County, an explanation is required."

"An explanation?"

The young man’s expression seemed a bit odd; it looked like he was holding back laughter, his mouth corners uncontrollably twitching up a few times, which made County Magistrate Sun inadvertently frown.

"What’s so funny?"

"No, I just remembered something happy... My wife is about to give birth."