Chapter 21 I am His Majesty's man

twenty one

Lin Baige asked someone to steam the rice in advance and made a big pot of stew. He mixed lard into the rice, poured soy sauce on it, sprinkled it with chopped green onions, and put sliced ​​meat into the stew.

Although it looks simple, it smells very tempting.

Lin Baige heard the sound of people swallowing their saliva all over the room. "Stop looking and eat. Eat as much as you want. We don't have much time to prepare any good food or wine, so just make do with what you have. Once we kill the corrupt officials and put on a show, we can celebrate with delicious food and drinks for days and nights."

Everyone's eyes were numb and terrified. They had long lost trust in court officials and did not believe that Lin Baige had good intentions towards them.

Only after a bowl of rice was stuffed into each of their hands did they begin to eat with trembling hands.

Lin Baige did not beat them, scold them, or ask them to exchange their children for food. Instead, he directly handed the food to them.

They hadn't eaten anything oily in ages, and the aroma made their heads feel dizzy. Could this imperial envoy really be coming to rescue them? They were afraid it was just a dream.

Lin Baige watched them eat with such relish, the contrast was too great compared to those officials who were tired of all the delicacies.

Lin Baige was so angry that his whole body was shaking, and he wished he could tear those people into pieces immediately.

After they finished their meal, Lin Baige had hot tea served. He moved a chair and sat down, holding a pen and paper in his hand: "Tell me everything you have wronged today."

After he said this, he felt that his words were so fake, and in other people's eyes, he was just talking in official language.

He had no choice but to tell them first: "Those officials were bribed by Jiang State's eldest prince Lin Xing and have become traitors and running dogs. They embezzled part of the disaster relief funds allocated by the court and sent part to Jiang State."

Lin Baige said angrily, "So many victims in our country have starved to death, and he actually sent money abroad. You are still protecting this crooked official. Don't you want to expose the crimes he has committed?"

Lin Baige's last sentence was meant to provoke them deliberately. Sure enough, after he finished speaking, everyone threw down their chopsticks in anger and stood up, talking about the suffering they had endured.

"We wish they were dead! How could we possibly protect them?"

"It's been three years of drought, not a drop of rain. All the food is gone, so we have no choice but to go begging in the city. But the people in the city can't get enough to eat either. The grain merchants have raised the price, and rice is as expensive as gold. We can't beg for anything, and we are driven out of the city."

"After leaving the city, we wanted to flee to other provinces, but those corrupt officials stopped us. They were afraid we would go to the capital to file a complaint. They were also afraid that His Majesty would see the victims, so they would kill anyone who dared to leave the province. They killed a large number of people, and my two sons died at the hands of the officials and soldiers."

"We are trapped outside the city. Not only has the government not given us any disaster relief food, but we are also being asked to exchange our lives for food."

"Trading people for food?" Lin Baige frowned and asked them. He noticed that there was no woman among this group of people. He thought of the dancers in the restaurant just now. Could it be...

"At first, they wanted both strong laborers and women, but later they didn't want men anymore, only women. They even traded my daughter and wife for two kilograms of rice." An old man wiped away his tears. "I don't know if they're alive or dead now. They must have been abused by those corrupt officials. But to have something to eat and not starve to death, there's nothing we can do."

"We really have no other choice..." Everyone started crying as they spoke.

Lin Baige couldn't help but slap his notebook, his hands shaking with anger as he couldn't write any more. "Two kilograms of rice for a living person? The imperial court gave them disaster relief funds and grain, and they were supposed to distribute them to every disaster victim for free. And yet he watched them starve to death, and even used the imperial relief funds to buy people to serve as his slaves?"

Fu Jiangyu handed him a cup of tea and said, "Calm down. They'll have to pay the price soon anyway."

Lin Baige rubbed his head, feeling dizzy with anger: "It's not a pity for those crooked officials to die, but the dead are dead, and the suffering has already suffered... If only I could come here sooner..."

Lin Baige traveled into a novel whose ending he already knew. At first, he only wanted to solve all the difficulties more safely and step by step. However, when he saw these refugees standing in front of him alive and listened to the suffering they had endured, they were no longer a string of words, but living people.

Just at this moment, the secret guard he sent out, Fifteen, pushed the door open and came in.

While they were having dinner with the officials, Lin Baige sent secret guards to investigate the homes of several officials.

Now Fifteen has returned with the account book in his hand: "This was found during a search of Lord Wang's residence. They have embezzled hundreds of taels of silver over the past few years. His residence is magnificent and looks like a royal palace."

When Jiang Erwa and the others heard this, they became even more angry: "He's already so rich, why is he still embezzling our disaster relief grain and taking food from the mouths of us poor people?"

"He is not going to take food from our mouths, he is going to eat the flesh of us poor people!"

"Search for more evidence and try to beat them to death in one go. Confiscate their homes and behead them all." Lin Baige flipped through the account book and became more and more angry. The other officials must have more evidence in their hands.

"Is there any need to investigate? They starved so many people to death, forcing the people to revolt. Even if they weren't corrupt, it's enough to execute their entire clan." Fu Jiangyu ordered grimly, "Marquis Nan'an, arrest all 27 officials, both high and low, and their families across the province. Confiscate their property and execute their heads."

"There might be their family members among those family members, so we have to screen them." Lin Baige hurriedly caught up with the emperor. It was indeed good to have the emperor's support. He was decisive in killing and did not need to waste time looking for evidence. The evidence was found while the house was being searched.

He waved his hand at the stunned Jiang Erwa and the others, "All of you follow me, go and see if your families are there, and watch the beheading to vent your anger."

"You want to see a beheading too?" Fu Jiangyu glanced at him. The little fox was quite excited. But after seeing such a bloody scene, he would probably be so scared that he would shrink into his arms. "Be careful of nightmares."

"Seeing the bad guys get what they deserve, why would I have a nightmare?" Lin Baige hummed happily, "Your Majesty, you looked so handsome when you issued the decree just now."

Seeing his happy expression, Fu Jiangyu leaned over to his ear and asked, "You like me so much, after this matter is resolved, will you return to sleep with me?"

When Lin Baige heard these two words, he froze as if a pause switch had been pressed.

"Have you also learned to flatter me?" Fu Jiangyu knew that the love that this little fox said was fake, and she was just lying to him in order to achieve her goals.

"No, it was all because of His Majesty..." Lin Baige said with a red face.

"There are so many people behind you, aren't you ashamed of saying this?" Fu Jiangyu asked him.

"I'm speaking so quietly, who else can hear it except Your Majesty?" Lin Baige was in a good mood now, and there was a hint of pride in his tone of voice.

Lord Wang went back and said: "This Lord Lin is young and very stupid. He was fooled by my few words. He will go back and say a few good words to Lin Xing, so that Lin Xing will remember me. He will not have to worry about promotion and wealth in the future."

As a result, as soon as he took off his clothes and lay down on the bed to sleep, the soldiers who broke in pulled him off the bed, tied him up and took him away.

The situation of other officials was similar. They were pulled out of bed while they were sleeping, put in shackles and taken away.

They thought that Lord Wang had already appeased the imperial envoy from the capital, and that everything should be as safe as before.

"Master Lin, did you arrest the wrong people? They are the traitors?" When Master Wang was pushed to the execution ground, he looked at Jiang Erwa and the others standing below and seemed to realize what was going on. "Were you trying to trick me? You are not Lin Xing's men?"

"Lin Xing is the prince of Jiang State, how can I be his man?" Lin Baige said, looking in the direction of Fu Jiangyu: "I am His Majesty's man."