Chapter 920, Part 1: Big Manman’s Crisis

Gao Ying was ashamed and embarrassed. He tried to negotiate with the bailiff leader, but the other party only expressed his powerlessness as well. That was the order he had received from above. Pei You also spoke up, bringing out his clan background several times. However, the bailiff leader only expressed his apologies, but couldn’t let him pass.

The two of them looked toward Zu An in shame and awkwardness. “Brother Zu, we really didn’t expect this to happen…”

After all, the entire purpose of this trip had been to thank Zu An for saving their lives. And yet today, they couldn't even go inside! They felt utterly humiliated and really wanted to hide somewhere in shame.

Zu An chuckled when he saw their poverty-stricken expressions. He patted their shoulders in consolation and said, “It’s fine; let me give it a try.”

Gao Ying and Pei You felt grateful when they saw that he didn’t blame them, but they also became even more ashamed. They were respectable figures in the capital themselves, and yet they ended up messing up their role of being hosts so badly! They’d probably become the joke of the entire city by tomorrow.

As for what Zu An said about giving it a try himself, they didn’t think too much about it. After all, the two of them had already tried everything they could, and not even bringing up the Liu and Pei clan had done anything. What else could he do at that point?

“Excuse me, sir bailiff, may I speak to you for a moment?” Zu An gestured for the bailiff to step aside.

“What? Don’t even think about bribing me!” the bailiff warned. But he knew that Zu An was currently a popular individual, so he had to at least allow him the chance to talk.

Zu An pulled him aside and asked, “May I ask what sir bailiff’s name is?”

“Are you going to use my name to get revenge on me? Well, there’s no harm in me telling you. My name is Bao Ce. Do whatever you want, because I’m carrying out my duty in accordance with the law!” the bailiff said fiercely. His expression became a little colder.

“That’s an excellent name.” Zu An thought to himself, So it was actually a decent bailiff who upholds justice! That makes things much easier to deal with. “Bailiff Bao has misunderstood. I have no thoughts of revenge. I only wish to inform you of something…”

He used the skill ‘I have a friend’ while talking. “I have a friend who received a personal invitation from Lady Nan Xun a few days ago, but my invitation was stolen by that person. Then, he found a skilled craftsman to change it into his own name. No one could tell the difference.”

Pei Xingyan saw that the two of them were chatting while gesturing toward him. He was about to act out when he remembered how he had been beaten badly by Zu An not too long ago. He felt a chill run through his body and didn’t dare to offend him anymore.

“What? How could something like that happen?!” The bailiff was furious. His expression became unpleasant when he looked at Pei Xingyan. He hated people who did such things the most.

He subconsciously thought of Zu An as the friend he had spoken of under the effects of the skill. Furthermore, he subconsciously trusted the claim to be true. But he didn’t completely lose his rationality. He said with a frown, “Even though I sympathize with your situation, I’ve received orders from above today. They say that those without invitation cards can’t come in. At most, I can stop Pei Xingyan from going in too.”

When he saw that the other party had loosened up a bit, Zu An said, “That friend of mine is sworn brothers with your master Sir Yi. He’s allowed my friend to go inside and wait for him.”

It wasn’t hard to figure out who the bailiff’s superior was. As the head bailiff in the capital, only the capital’s Magistrate Yi Chun could order them about.

“Are you and Sir Yi sworn brothers?” Bailiff Bao asked, shocked.

“Shh, it’s my friend, not me,” Zu An reminded him quietly.

“I understand, I understand.” Many thoughts passed through Bailiff Bao’s head. Sir Yi usually got along with those from King Qi’s faction, while Zu An was someone from the Eastern Palace. The fact that they were close wasn’t something they should let too many people know about.

After some hesitation, he said, “Then you guys should enter.”

Even though he was upright, he wasn’t someone completely oblivious to the ways of the world. Sir Yi treated him extremely well, and he was the one who had given the orders today for Scarlet Invitation. How could he stop Sir Yi’s good friend from entering?

“Thank you, Sir Bao. My friend will definitely let Sir Yi know about this matter,” Zu An said with a smile.

Bailiff Bao said with a firm expression, “There’s no need. It’s not a big deal.”

…

Zu An returned to Gao Ying and Pei You’s side. He gestured, indicating that he had already settled the situation. “Let’s go.”

Gao Ying and Pei You thought that they were going somewhere else, but Zu An pulled them inside.

Oh no, there’s going to be conflict with the bailiff soon! Ah… whatever! If we’re barging in, then so be it! We’ll just ask our clans to help us clean up the aftermath. Both of them thought the same thing. With their backgrounds, this matter wouldn’t be punished too severely anyway. But going against the capital’s police in public was still quite a crime. Even so, now that they were already in this situation, they were already pretty upset, so there was no reason to back down.

But they didn’t expect that the bailiffs would move aside. The two of them were stunned. What was going on?

Forget about them, even the others who had been watching their group as if they were seeing a joke were stunned. They all grumbled, “How can they enter without an invitation card?”

Bailiff Bao raised the invitation they had presented earlier and said indifferently, “They have an invitation card; there was just a bit of misunderstanding.”

Those who didn’t know the truth half believed it, but Pei Xingyan definitely wouldn’t. “No way! Open up that invitation and look inside! It’s definitely not their names that are inside!”

The three of them had been inside the dungeon when the invitations were released. How could they possibly have legitimate invitations?

Pei Xingyan moved forward with his companions to examine the invitation card, but Bailiff Bao’s expression became unkind. He exclaimed, “Do the capital’s bailiffs need to explain our actions to you? I just received a report that makes me suspect that you stole another’s invitation card, falsifying it. Men, arrest him!”

Pei Xingyan was stunned, shouting, “You dare touch me? Do you know who my father is?!”

Bailiff Bao had been a strict person to begin with. He became even unhappier when he heard Pei Xingyan’s words. “Save your words for the government office. Men, bring him back.”

The others wanted to stop them, but when they saw the ferocity of the bailiffs, they all cowered back. After all, clashing against these officials bore terrifying consequences.

If Pei Xingyan hadn’t been injured, they might have stood a chance. However, Pei Xingyan didn’t even have any strength to retaliate, so why would the rest of them be willing to get in trouble for nothing? They were only fair-weather friends, after all.

Gao Ying and Pei You were both stunned when they saw Pei Xingyan curse profusely as he was being captured. They asked, “Brother Zu, just how did you accomplish this?”

Zu An smiled. “Bailiff Bao is a reasonable person. All I needed to do was tell him things clearly.”

Gao Ying and Pei You thought to themselves, Like hell that guy speaks reason! The two of us already talked our throats dry, but we didn’t manage to convince him! But they didn’t continue to press the issue when they saw that Zu An wasn’t going to say anything more. Everyone had their own secrets.

“By the way, since you guys are relatives, why is your relationship with each other so bad?” Zu An asked out of curiosity.

Pei You replied, “When a clan gets big, you get all kinds of people. Forget about our branches not getting along, even those under the same branch don’t agree with each other.”

Gao Ying said, “Waterfront Duke Pei Zheng’s second son married my uncle’s daughter. Even though both sides are in-laws, Waterfront Duke has always looked down on my uncle. It might be that Pei Xingyan has sensed Waterfront Duke’s attitude, and that’s why his attitude is so poor. It’s common for the clans of the capital to intermarry and be related to each other, but those who don’t get along will still have conflicts.”

Zu An nodded in deep understanding. “So that really was the case.” Sometimes, relatives weren’t even as good as some like-minded friends.

“By the way, did something happen to Waterfront Duke’s fifth branch?” Zu An took the chance to ask about that. Ever since Pei Mianman had left, he had never received any news about her. He was really worried.

“Fifth branch?” Pei You was confused. “I’ve never heard of something happening to them. Why are you suddenly asking about them?”

Zu An hesitated before asking, “Do you remember when I mentioned Pei Mianman in the dungeon?”

Pei You replied with a smile, “Of course I do! She’s our Pei clan’s prettiest girl, you know? Wait, brother Zu has mentioned her several times now. Could it be that you want to become my brother-in-law?”

Zu An didn’t confirm or deny it and said, “The two of us were fellow students in Brightmoon City, and she helped me a lot. For better or worse, we’re friends. But a few months ago, she received a secret message that hinted something had happened by her mother’s side. She had to rush back, and I never heard from her again. As a friend, I can’t help but feel worried.”

After a bit of hesitation, Pei You said in a hushed voice, “I don’t think anything has happened to the fifth branch, but I think I can guess what’s happening.”