Song Jiao combed the hair on her temples and pretended to be calm, "It was your father's order, ok?"

Li Ye shook his head, "He would never give such an order. He had been free from worries long ago. How would he care about my work in Pinglu?"

Song Jiao shut her mouth and stared at Li Ye. Then she turned around and walked into the Taoist temple.

Li Ye stunned and he heard her whisper "fool" when Song Jiao was turning her body.

Li Ye stopped guessing and left the Huabuzhu Mountain.

When Li Ye got back to the Qizhou city, it was the time when the sun was setting. The last drop of sunshine faded away from the top of the city wall. Li Ye walked into the city gate. All the guards from the house of Prince An who were on duty greeted him, "Your Highness!"

Li Ye nodded and walked directly to the house of the Inspector General without saying any more.

A lot of people were gathering in and out of the administrative hall of the house of the Inspector General. Most of them were wearing official gowns. Low leveled officers wearing blue and green gowns occupied the majority of the crowd. Li Zhen did not sit on the major chair in the administrative hall. He saved it for Li Ye. With the help of several scribes, Li Zhen was registering the officers.

The registration was not simple. Li Zhen asked a lot of questions. It was not only about the officers' titles but also about making clear whether they were good or bad, which needed much evidence.

Li Ye came to the outside of the administrative hall where Shangguan Qingcheng led a team to guard in person so to avoid any chance of disorder. Seeing Li Ye approaching slowly, Shangguan Qingcheng's eyes were lightened up. She welcomed Li Ye with a joyful face, "Your Highness really comes back so soon!"

"I said I would come back for dinner." Li Ye told the truth.

The starry light filled with Shangguan Qingcheng's eyes immediately.

Li Ye clapped on her pocket and walked into the moon gate shaking his head. Shangguan Qingcheng touched the place where Li Ye clapped, her white face was puzzled. But suddenly, she blushed and lowered her head.

Li Ye walked into the administrative hall. Li Zhen and his assistants stood up to greet him right away, "Honest Commissioner."

The officers of Qizhou recognized Li Ye as the newly assigned Commissioner. They were shocked since Li Ye looked so young. Thinking of the news about taking down Wei Baoheng and assisting Li Ye to get rid of the eunuch, they felt relieved.

After all, about the young man who had no hope for cultivation for twenty years but suddenly rose up as Huiming, there were so many legends that they were familiar with them even they were as far as in Qizhou.

People bowed to salute, "Honest Commissioner!"

"Forego formalities." Li Ye waved his hand and came to the chief seat, but he did not sit down. Looking around the people, Li Ye said amiably, "You are the backbone of Qizhou. You have administrated the army and government office of Qizhou day and night during all these years without complaining, which is a great contribution to our country. I heartily appreciate what you have done."

Then he folded his hands to salute, "Thank you all."

"No problem. That's our responsibility!"

"Honest Commissioner is flattering us. It's our job indeed. We shouldn't take the credits!"

"Honest Commissioner is a master of both the pen and the sword. You are both brave and resourceful. Pinglu is lucky to have you, and we are lucky to follow you!"

"That's true! We've been looking forward to your inauguration and working for you!"

People all folded their hands and replied. Some of them said they were flattered. Some of them said they didn't deserve the praise. And some of them said some sweet-talks. When they lowered their heads and looked at one another, they all understand the thoughts of the other ones.

Li Ye came to Qizhou in a sudden and killed Wu Huainan as soon as he got into the city. It would be impossible for the officers of Qizhou to be frightened. They were worried at the same time that Li Ye would punish them for their guilt before. After all few of them were clean under the administration of Wu Huainan. Therefore some of them were uneasy and some of them even had a sinister motive in mind.

However, after hearing Li Ye's words and seen his manner, all of them sighed with relief. They found out that the new commissioner was not cold-hearted but quite kind.

Some of them thought that Li Ye's purpose for killing Wu Huainan was to build up his majesty. If he wanted to manage the situation in Pinglu, he would depend on the local powers, on whom he could not be too harsh. Thinking of the above, they felt less afraid of Li Ye.

Li Ye gestured for the people to be quiet and continued to say, "The civilians in Qizhou are having a hard time living. It is common to see them being bullied everywhere. You are the backbone of Qizhou and in charge of the administration of army and government office. That's why I hold you responsible for the situation. I'm here to guard Pinglu on His Majesty's command. What I pursue is a happy and peaceful life for the civilians and officers in Pinglu. Therefore, I will seriously investigate any crimes and dead wood!"

People's faces changed suddenly. The old accounts would be settled anyway!

Those who were disrespectful to Li Ye just now came to their senses and began to worry.

Li Ye glanced at Li Zhen, "How is the distinction going?"

Li Ye would certainly bring his own staff to take the office of the commissioner of Pinglu. Li Zhen was assigned as the assistant to the commissioner of Pinglu. That was of great authority.

"I've finished registering the officers," Li Zhen folded his hands and said.

Li Ye nodded and said to everyone, "It's getting late. I was in a rush to come back and I'll take a rain check to treat you dinner some other day."

People said ok with all kinds of thoughts.

After the officers left, Li Zhen folded his hands and laughed, "Hones Commissioner have conquered the officers in the first meeting by tempering justice with mercy. That was really wise. You have my appreciation!"

Li Ye had a look at him and sat down, "Tempering justice with mercy was by deeds rather than words."

Letting Li Zhen sit, Li Ye continued, "I won't do the distinction by myself. You can arrange manpower. There are 2 principles to follow. One is investigating the Wu family hard since they used to control Qizhou. Punish the guilty ones strictly."

"For the distinction, promotion, banishing of the local officers, you just follow one principle, which is to oppress some, neutralize some and rope some. The Wu family is to be oppressed for sure. Then you can first neutralize the dead wood without big mistakes instead of punishing them. You should promote those who used to be oppressed by the Wu family but stick to their duties."

Li Zhen nodded, "Understood."

Li Ye said, "Second when the water is too clear, there are no fish. Since the civilians in Qizhou are suffering, I think there are not many good officers. That being the case, we should lower the standard. The officers who were oppressed by the Wu family had no opportunity to take bribes and bend the law even if they wanted to. You can promote such kind of officers regardless of their records. Otherwise, there will be too many officers to be punished. The government will not be functioning smoothly without enough replacement."

Li Ye stood up, "In a word, the priority of remediation of Qizhou's government is to control Qizhou firmly in our hands and to make sure my command well delivered. Then we shouldn't be too picky. We can wait until the situation is stable before improving the quality of the officers by selecting the superior and eliminating the inferior."

Hearing Li Ye's words, Li Zhen said sincerely with admiration, "How wise you are."

Li Ye did not reply to the flatter but said, "Let's go have dinner first."

A commissioner had the absolute authority over the vassal state's army and government. He could also assign the staff of his council as he wished, while he could not assign officers of the state. However, Li Ye could execute first and report later because he had Li Yan on his back.

...

That night, there were a few lights over the Ji River outside the Qizhou city, which belonged to the boats at the port. Usually, the lights of the boats were off. There weren't many lights on the river besides those of the painted boats of the brothels.

In one of Changhe Gang's carrier boats, the lights were on. There was no one else on the boat except for Li Ye and Liu Zhiyan who were sitting opposite.

It was in the cabin of the carrier boat where Li Ye had stayed all the way. There were little goods placed in the cabin, which had been reformed into a well-arranged room. It was quite similar to an ordinary room.

The master hands of the Wu family and the Huafuzhu Mountain were almost all taken down by Li Ye. The government and the Jianghu in Qizhou had also been in Li Ye's control. Only some time would be needed to settle things down. Li Ye would not do everything by himself. He just left them to Li Zhen and Song Jiao. Then he prepared to lead his elite team to take the office of Qingzhou directly.

He wanted to surprise the people in Qingzhou by setting off the next day.

Qingzhou was not approachable by way of the Ji River. Therefore, the Changhe Gang and Liu Zhiyan would not follow him. It was a farewell party for Li Ye in this scenario.

There were a lot of food and drinks on the table. The two persons had drunk many glasses of wine.

Liu Zhiyan's cheeks had been colored red because of the wine. Her delicate and innocent face looked like a hibiscus. Her head slightly lowered, Liu Zhiyan raised her eyes to Li Ye and said softly, "Your Highness has conquered the Jianghu in Qizhou. Now the Changhe Gang can travel through the whole of Ji River without any potential problems. Please don't worry. I will manage the gang well."

Then she bent her body and moved towards Li Ye to pour wine for him. Thus the two persons got closer to each other. Li Ye had not noticed the aroma of the wine. Instead, he smelled the body scent of the virgin, which made him relaxed and happy.

He could not help but have a look at Liu Zhiyan's long neck. What he saw was white and smooth, exuded a seductive atmosphere just like a piece of mutton fat jade.

Li Ye pulled back his eyes which accidentally fell onto Liu Zhiyan's chest. Maybe it was because she was tilting her body, the two full outlines were eye-catching. They even shook a little leaning against her clothes while she was pouring the wine. It was quite mind-distractive being so close.

Liu Zhiyan did not wear her hard attire today but blue blouse and yellow skirt. There were no gorgeous decorations but the cloth was exquisite, which perfectly matched her delicate quality as a daughter of a humble family.

Sensed Li Ye's eyes, Liu Zhiyan looked down and blushed to the ears. Her ears were so red to become a little transparent. But her voice was peaceful, "Your Highness?"

The distance between the two persons was no longer than 12 centimeters. Her lips were moving slightly as she talked. Some of her warm breath was blown onto Li Ye's face, smelling like the orchid.

Li Ye saw her long eyelashes. He even heard her heartbeat speeding up suddenly.

Li Ye replied to Liu Zhiyan, "I've never been worried to leave the Changhe Gang to you."

Liu Zhiyan sat back to her seat. She lowered her head embarrassed, her hands putting on her lap. Several hairs came down onto her red cheeks, which she combed back with her white fingers sliding over her red face. The comparison of the colors was sharp in an especially beautiful way. It made one couldn't help to imagine what they would feel like if they were his own fingers.

She answered with a hum which was hardly heard, "Thanks to the grants from Your Highness, the Changhe Gang could accomplish so much today."

Liu Zhiyan had always been a graceful and gentle lady. She would not want to be the Big Master if the Changhe Gang had not experienced the change. Even so, her words were still reserved rather than barefaced and flattering.

Li Ye drank his wine. Looking at Liu Zhiyan who sat there as adorable as a cat, he couldn't help laughing, "Why don't you continue to drink?"

Until then had Liu Zhiyan noticed her own manner, with a little "whoops!", she immediately poured herself a glass of wine and raised it to Li Ye, "To Your Highness!"

Then she drank it up in a hurry and got choked. While she was coughing covering her mouth, she glanced at Li Ye with embarrassment and got even more embarrassed. Her face turned even redder.

Li Ye laughed, "You drank it without pouring for me."

With another "whoops", she felt Li Ye's eyes and picked up the wine pot. Liu Zhiyan bent over to pour the wine for Li Ye. She tried to say something but failed by only babbling a little, which revealed her embarrassment.

Li Ye grabbed Liu Zhiyan's hands.

Liu Zhiyan shook her body suddenly which turned rigid. She raised her head and confusedly looked at Li Ye.

"Come here." Li Ye said.

"Your Highness..." Liu Zhiyan lost her strength.

Li Ye held her body suddenly which made her cried out of shyness. Nervously, Liu Zhiyan fell into Li Ye's hug.

Her body was soft, bouncy and warm. Li Ye didn't want the rabbit to panic anymore and lowered his head to kiss her.

There were only Li Ye and Liu Zhiyan on the carrier boat which was big enough to contain a lot of goods. Still, they made the boat shaking for most of the night. The voice of the nightingale was on and off, making the night more beautiful with the stars decorating the sky.