“This lowly guard doesn’t know what Minister Huang meant by preserving face. Consort Lin has told me that respect is something you earn, while face is something you lose yourself. If Minister Huang isn’t worried about losing face, this lowly guard may carry you away!”

Lin Haihai had told Zheng Feng to knock Huang Wensheng out if he refused to cooperate.

“Who dared make trouble in the Residence of the Minister of Revenue?” called out an icy voice of a woman, her overbearing tone tinged with frost. Then the owner of the voice emerged. It was a noble-looking woman dressed in a light yellow silk dress, followed by a number of female servants whose masculine features were in stark contrast to her delicate face. She bore some resemblance to Imperial Consort Li, while the look in her eyes suggested more shrewdness and fierceness.

“Greetings, First-Grade Madam!” Zheng Feng bowed calmly. It was Yan Lirong, the first young mistress of the Yan Family and a first-grade madam, ranking a grade higher than her husband Huang Wensheng.

“Hmph, Commander Zheng sure is bold. This residence is no place for you to run wild!” Yan Lirong sat down in an armchair and leveled her piercing gaze at...