Chen Dishou pondered and answered, "Since the young fella has a grievance of his own, it should be treated as a different matter."

"What?" The smile on Deng Xiyuan's face froze, and he looked at Chen Dishou in shock. 'Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed? He's actually helping the other side…'

Deng Xiyuan cleared his throat and expressed, "Brother Chen, the Liang family is the imperial merchant that was appointed by the imperial family!"

Chen Dishou responded coldly, "Sir Governor, did you forget I was the witness when they were appointed as the imperial merchant?"

Deng Xiyuan let out a hollow laugh but was extremely confused. 'Chen Dishou remembers it, but why is he acting so strange today?'

He was struck with a thought, 'Could the Liang family have offended Tributary Chen?

'If that's the case, the Liang family courted their own death.'

"Forget it. Given that everyone thinks that way, I'll accept your good advice." Deng Xiyuan laughed and glanced at Ou Yangming. "This matter comes to an end."

Despite that, Ou Yangming uttered loudly, "Governor, I'm Ou Yangming from the Immense Forest Military Camp, and I have something to report to you."

Deng Xiyuan's face darkened, but when he noticed the three expressionless Supreme Great Ancestors, he responded patiently, "Go ahead."

In actual fact, Deng Xiyuan would not have been so polite if another person behaved without knowing the immensity of Heaven and Earth. Nonetheless, the governor could sense the strange atmosphere around him, so he was more lenient.

Ou Yangming smiled. He glanced at Ni Xuetian and thought, 'Since you asked me to just do it, I'll just do it.'

Ni Xuetian seemed to have sensed Ou Yangming's look, but he only grinned without stopping the young fellow.

Ou Yangming was naturally fearless as the great ancestor did not stop him.

"Governor, the Liang family took advantage of their power to bully others, drove out a soldier's family, forcibly occupied her house, and harmed an active soldier. If they're not severely punished, countless officers and soldiers won't be convinced!" Ou Yangming stuck out his chest and spoke his mind proudly.

"Heh, countless officers and soldiers?" Deng Xiyuan laughed coldly. "Tell me, who are they? If they're discontented with being restrained by the imperial family, are they going to revolt?"

Nevertheless, as soon as he finished, a thunderous voice was heard.

"I, Fang Yihai, am discontented!"

Fang Yihai strode in. He had somehow hurried over from the Fang residence.

Yu Hailiang and his twenty soldiers were surprised but delighted. They immediately ran over to stand with Fang Yihai, where they surrounded him and raised their guard against Deng Xiyuan.

Deng Xiyuan was red with anger. "How presumptuous!"

Fang Yihai stiffened his neck and asked, "Sir Governor, may I ask how I was being presumptuous?"

Deng Xiyuan fumed with rage, but just as he was about to teach Fang Yihai a lesson, Fang Zhaoyang questioned coldly, "Yes, I'd also like to ask—how was he being presumptuous?"

It was then when Deng Xiyuan came to a sudden realization that they were in Changlong County's prefecture, not the capital.

The so-called governor was actually appointed by the imperial family, but if a foreign officer wanted to gain a foothold in the prefecture, one would still have to rely on the local influential families. If one offended every influential family, that person would only end up one way.

While Deng Xiyuan hesitated, a soldier beside Wu Guotu suddenly ran toward Yu Hailiang. The remaining soldiers were startled at first, but after one of them took the lead, the rest swarmed over as well.

With that, fifty soldiers stood in orderly rows.

Although they were from different camps, each one of them was a tough man in the military. They displayed a threatening aura by holding their chin up and their chest out, and they did not show an impression of weakness even in front of a Supreme Great Ancestor.

Brave warriors in the military were battle-seasoned lions until their dying day.

Deng Xiyuan widened his eyes as he was enraged. "Wu Guotu, what are you doing?"

Wu Guotu spread out his hands and explained, "Sir, I didn't do anything, they acted on their own initiative."

'Acted on their own initiative? My *ss!'

Fang Yihai, Yu Hailiang, Ou Yangming, and the few Supreme Great Ancestors cursed…

Without Wu Guotu's signal, the disciplined Guards would not have done something like that.

Deng Xiyuan stared hatefully at Wu Guotu. The past few times, he wanted to kill the captain with his palm, but he felt troubled when he thought about Deng Zhicai who was Wu Guotu's superior.

That said, Deng Xiyuan somehow cooled down a lot when he looked at the soldiers, who were glaring at him.

Even though he represented the imperial family, if he really infuriated every boss in the military, it would not do him any good.

Deng Xiyuan finally calmed down as he took a deep breath, then he looked at Ou Yangming and asked, "Young fella, what do you want to do?"

Ou Yangming answered, "Since Jiang Jiumei isn't dead, the Liang family must find her!"

Liang Jinye quickly responded, "Okay, we'll definitely find her. We'll return her house to her, and we'll compensate her well."

After witnessing the fight between Ou Yangming and Tributary Chen, he no longer wanted to push his luck.

Ou Yangming scoffed. "Do you think that's it?"

Liang Jinye said without any hesitation, "Please just give us any order you have."

Deng Xiyuan's eyelids twitched, and he finally figured that he did not have control over the matter anymore.

Not only did the two tyrants in the prefecture suddenly make an appearance, but even Chen Dishou turned the tables and blamed the victim, and Liang Jinye the victim admitted defeat without any sense of integrity.

Deng Xiyuan looked at Ou Yangming as he was puzzled. The whole issue was probably stirred up by the young fellow, but even when the governor racked his brain, he could not understand why.

Ou Yangming pondered and said, "I want you to promise that if anything happens to Jiang Jiumei and his close friends in the future, I'll hold you accountable. I know how to eliminate someone completely too."

Liang Jinye and his brother gasped at the same time, and they remarked with a bitter smile, "This is unfair…"

"Fair?" Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. "When you drove out Jiang Jiumei, did you think about being fair at all?"

Liang Jinye and the other people were lost for words, but they felt unusually dejected.

Honestly, even though Jiang Jiumei's residence was somewhat valuable, they would not have attached much importance to it. In fact, they knew nothing about the property's owner being bullied and her residence being forcibly occupied.

At the end of the day, everything was actually the actions of Liang Jiafu, their servant.

However, what he did was beneficial for their clan to a certain level, so even if Liang Jinye and the other people knew, they would not object to it.

Who knew, the small residence ended up causing them endless troubles.

Liang Jinye and his brother could tell how much they regretted when they exchanged glances.

"Young fella, are you trying to ask for more?" Deng Xiyuan commented coldly, "How dare you threaten the imperial merchants in front of the governor? Are you really tired of living?"

Ou Yangming chuckled. "Sir Governor, I don't have the guts to threaten the imperial merchants, I can't afford to bear that responsibility!"

Deng Xiyuan's eyes were filled with killing intent as he asked, "What's your name?"

Ou Yangming raised his eyebrow, but just as he was going to answer him, Chen Dishou spoke, "Governor Deng, he's the Chen family's disciple, what do you want to do?"

"No, when did he become the Chen family's disciple?" Fang Zhaoyang furrowed his eyebrows and said, "He's the Fang family's guest, and he's our chief tributary!"

"Grand Elder Fang, you're a bit too late, aren't you?" Ni Xuetian uttered plainly, "Lil' Ou is already the Ni family's tributary!"

"Hehe, we've checked before we invited Lil' Ou over, and we know he doesn't have a clear connection with the Ni family."

"Oh, we kept it a secret because we considered Lil' Ou's safety."

"Pfft, b*llshit! Ni Xuetian, could you be more shameless than this?" Fang Zhaoyang was mad.

On the other hand, Fang Yihai looked embarrassed. He kept signaling his great ancestor and thought, 'You're the Fang family's Supreme Great Ancestor, please have dignity…'

Deng Xiyuan was struck dumb. He did not think that by threatening Ou Yangming a little, he actually caused three Supreme Great Ancestors to cluster around the young fellow.

In actuality, even if the three great ancestors were not in a clan, they were still powerful individuals who should not be messed with.

Besides, which one of the three clans could be messed with?

Even the Fang family, which was the weakest clan among them, was a rich and influential family in the county.

There was no need to say much about the Ni family because they were a legitimate aristocratic family. The three Supreme Great Ancestors in their clan combined were enough to form a stabilizing force.

As for the Chen family, they were truly an influential family in the capital such that even the Deng family would not be willing to offend them…

'The three of them are actually fighting to take that young fella under their wings. Who exactly is that fella?' Deng Xiyuan wondered.

He stared at Ou Yangming with his bright eyes, then his face suddenly changed as though he recalled something. Deng Xiyuanʼs facial expression was ever-changing.

Chen Dishou glanced at the two great ancestors coldly, then he turned to ask, "Liang Jinye, do you understand what you need to do?"

Liang Jinye had a ghastly expression on his face. "Yes, sir, I understand."

Even though he was an imperial merchant, Chen Dishou was a tributary, who was capable of crushing him to death. Moreover, Liang Jinye really did not have the guts to displease a demon like Ou Yangming!

"Since you understand, go ahead and do it. If you fail to do it, without him having to make a move, I'll punish you," Chen Dishou said slowly, then he glanced at Ou Yangming and ordered, "Come with me."

He flashed and flew away.

Ou Yangming hesitated for a while before he decided to follow the tributary.

Fang Yihai was frightened, but just as he was going to call out to Ou Yangming, Fang Zhaoyang told him, "Forget it, that fella may be merciless when he fights, but heʼs a man of his word, so he won't hurt Tributary Lilʼ Ou. Let's go, weʼre dismissed!" Fang Zhaoyang waved his hand.

As he strode away, the other people realized that Ni Xuetian was already nowhere to be found.

Wu Guotu bowed at Deng Xiyuan, then he shouted, "Letʼs go!"

Fang Yihai looked around him, then he turned and left. It only took a brief moment for the crowd to disperse.

Deng Xiyuan sighed helplessly. "You… Look out for yourselves."

When Liang Jinye watched the crowd leave then looked at the injured men and corpses on the floor, he trembled a little. He glared at Liang Jiafu all of a sudden. "Were you the one who tempted Third Young Master Liang to snatch someone elseʼs property?"

Liang Jiafu shivered and howled in grief, "Patriarch, please spare me, Iʼm innocent!"

"So many people have died because of you. How can I spare you?" Liang Jinye sighed and waved his hand slightly to tap Liang Jiafuʼs head.

As a result, Liang Jiafu shook and slumped to the ground, and he did not get up after that.