Chapter Fifty: Night Patrol

"You little rascal," Qin Zuming muttered, watching his son leave the courtyard, his beard bristling and his face flushed with anger. "Ah, your mother left us too soon. Now the boy won’t listen anymore!"

The next morning, Qin Yi was once again leading his patrol team. Suddenly, a commotion erupted from the direction of the city gates.

"Urgent news! Urgent news!"

"Move aside, move aside, let me through!" A black-clad knight charged through the street on his warhorse, barreling past crowds as pedestrians scattered in haste.

"Out of the way!" Qin Yi and his companions stepped aside as well.

"He's heading toward the prefecture—has something major happened at the front lines?" someone wondered aloud.

Half an hour later, Qin Yi received orders to return his team to the constabulary.

Inside the constabulary office, Cheng Dong, Wang Xishan, and the entire Twelfth Patrol Squad were gathered. As Qin Yi led his team inside, Cheng Dong spoke slowly, "Captain He has just passed down a new order: from today onward, our Twelfth Patrol Squad will be split into day and night shifts. The night shift will patrol eight streets. We now have forty-three members—just over twenty per shift."

"Isn’t night patrol the city guard’s responsibility? Why are we being assigned night duty as well?" Qin Yi frowned.

Their primary tasks as constables were apprehending thieves, solving cases, and collecting taxes; daytime patrols were mainly to watch for pickpockets or suspicious individuals. Night patrols, safeguarding the city’s security, were generally handled by the city guard.

"Exactly!" Wang Xi had just returned from his patrol and was equally puzzled by the captain’s directive.

"A bad report just arrived. Three more counties within the prefecture have erupted in rebellion! They're now connected with the four previously rebelled counties, forming a continuous line. Security in our prefecture city must be tightened!" Cheng Dong explained.

"What? Three more counties rebelling?" The whole room was shocked.

There were twenty-eight counties under Jiangning Prefecture’s jurisdiction—now, seven had already plunged into rebellion!

"So, here's how I'll assign duties. Old Wang, you’ll handle the daytime patrols. Qin Feng, you’ll be responsible for the night shift. Any objections?" Cheng Dong smiled slyly.

"Captain Cheng, is it a rotating schedule?" Qin Yi asked.

"No, you’ll be in charge of night patrols continuously. If we rotated, the teams would be constantly switching between day and night, which would be more disruptive. Better for one team to stick to one shift. I trust you’re up to the task?" Cheng Dong’s smile carried a hidden edge.

Qin Yi frowned slightly. Since Cheng Dong had taken over as captain, he’d noticed that the man treated him with a certain distance, often assigning him the most challenging tasks. This night patrol assignment was dangerous. During the day, nothing much happened in the prefecture city, but at night, it was far from as safe as it seemed.

Was he being sidelined?

After all, Qin Yi was only fifteen and already at the third martial stage, while Cheng Dong himself was only at the fourth. Many saw enormous potential in Qin Yi.

Wang Xishan glanced at Qin Yi, hesitated to speak, but remained silent.

"No problem," Qin Yi replied, expressionless.

In fact, night patrols gave him the perfect opportunity: sleep in the morning, and in the afternoon, he could slip away to the Chasing Moon Martial Academy to train!

Having mastered two scholarly arts, he needed only three hours of sleep a day and still felt vigorous the next morning!

"Good, as long as you’re fine with it!" Cheng Dong’s smile widened, clearly pleased that Qin Yi wouldn’t refuse. "All right, you can take your team to rest now. Remember to report for night patrol tonight!"

"Understood." Qin Yi nodded, then dismissed his squad for rest.

Leaving the office, Qin Yi looked up at the sky and murmured, "Three more counties in rebellion—Jiangning Prefecture grows ever more chaotic. Will we end up like neighboring Nanyang Prefecture, completely overrun?"

Lately, the prefecture army at the front lines had been locked in fierce battle with the rebel forces, making little progress.

...

Night fell.

In the prefecture government’s study, three of Jiangning Prefecture’s highest officials gathered to discuss the front line: Prefect Pang Jiuling, Supervising Censor Chen Zhongyi, and Prefecture Lieutenant Sima Sheng. The fresh outbreak of rebellion in three more counties had caught them off guard.

"Gentlemen, with three more counties revolting, our front line is under immense pressure! The two deputy commanders have already requested reinforcements. I intend to send troops—what are your thoughts?" Pang Jiuling said gravely.

His son, Pang Shaozheng, was stationed at the front, and the current situation had him deeply worried.

"Reinforcements are necessary, the only question is how many. After all, we must also safeguard Jiangning Prefecture city," Chen Zhongyi replied. He had always been at odds with Pang Jiuling, holding a direct appointment from the imperial court, his role to oversee all prefecture officials. He would have gladly seen Pang Jiuling’s son perish at the front.

Yet with rebels running rampant, he dared not oppose the measure. If Jiangning Prefecture fell, so would he.

"In recent months, our city guard has expanded from five hundred to three thousand men, and the constabulary from five hundred to roughly a thousand. The prefecture army, which had a thousand troops on reserve, has been steadily recruiting, now numbering five thousand. I recommend having Commander Di Long personally lead four thousand prefecture troops as reinforcements. The remaining city defense can be entrusted to the city guard and constables; that should suffice," Sima Sheng proposed.

He always sided with the prefect. His support for Pang Jiuling was unwavering.

"Isn’t that too many?" Chen Zhongyi frowned.

"Not at all—if anything, it’s too few! Passing through certain counties, we’ll need to recruit even more men," Pang Jiuling shook his head.

Just then—

"Who’s there?" Sima Sheng’s figure flickered and vanished from the room.

Bang!

The door was thrown open as he rushed outside.

"An assassin?" Pang Jiuling and Chen Zhongyi’s faces paled.

Outside, a figure clad in black and gold Falcon attire faced off against Sima Sheng.

"All three are here—splendid, saves me the trouble of hunting you down one by one!" The stranger’s voice was icy.

"You… are from the Martial Prohibition Office?" Sima Sheng eyed the man’s attire. Though he’d never seen it before, he recalled rumors of what it represented.

"Martial Prohibition Office?" The other two officials heard the words and their expressions changed abruptly, hurrying outside.

"I am Tang Mingwu, Inspector of the Martial Prohibition Office. I order you to deploy all your forces in cooperation with my office to apprehend a suspect!" Tang Mingwu removed the badge from his waist and tossed it to Sima Sheng.

Sima Sheng caught it, feeling awkward—he’d never seen such a badge and couldn’t verify its authenticity, so he handed it to Prefect Pang Jiuling.

Pang Jiuling examined it closely, his expression turning solemn. "So you are Inspector Tang. May I ask whom you wish us to help you apprehend?"

The man's bearing was arrogant. The Inspector of the Martial Prohibition Office held only a sixth-rank post, yet he showed no respect to Pang Jiuling, a proper fourth-rank prefect. But Pang Jiuling knew well—the Martial Prohibition Office had every right to act with such audacity.