Su An felt a sudden relaxation on his scalp, and before he could react, the guards rushed into the group of burly men, throwing a punch to the left and a whip kick to the right.

It's unclear how strong the force was, but anyone who took a few hits from the guards quickly fainted from pain, groaning in agony.

In no time, the dozen or so burly men were lying on the ground, bruised and unconscious.

Seeing that things were not going well, Sun Ming tried to run away, but was kicked hard and fell face-first into the dirt, losing two front teeth with a "plop".

Before he could scream, the guards swiftly bound him, gagged him, and finally lifted him up and threw him in front of Su An.

"Ugh ugh ugh—" Sun Ming looked at Su An, his expression filled with fear and shock.

"Quiet down!" The guard coldly stomped on his face again, grinding it into the floor in disgust.

Su An opened her eyes wide. Through the guard's delicate, upturned eyebrows, she could tell that he was a woman.

Wow! You're so cool, sis!

That skill just now, that dazzling display, that graceful and unrestrained movement.

She fell from the sky, looking so fresh and lovely!

Anwu was also taken aback, not expecting Su An to be so...so direct?

Meeting Su An's sincere and adoring gaze, a blush rose on her face, which was covered by a black cloth, and she coughed shyly: "Ahem, Miss Su, may I call me An Wu?"

"This man is attempting to harm Miss Su. I cannot make a decision on my own; I must take him back to my master for further handling!"

"You're awesome, I'll listen to you." Su An nodded with a smile, looked at Sun Ming who was crying out to heaven in vain, and kicked him to vent his anger.

"You think you're so tough? There's always someone stronger. You're such a fool!"

An Wu's face flushed again. Su An was smug, but why did she feel so embarrassed?

An Yi said it was a bewitching demon, and it seems to have that tendency.

An Wu's face was burning hot, so he quickly grabbed Sun Ming and went back, while Su An followed along eagerly.

Sun Ming was quickly brought before Fu Zhun.

Upon learning what had happened, Fu Zhun's dark eyes darkened, and his sharp, cold gaze fell upon Sun Ming.

"How do you know that the person who filed the complaint is Su An?"

When his master interrogated him, Anwu immediately removed the gag from Sun Ming's mouth.

Sun Ming knew he had bitten off more than he could chew. Cold sweat poured down his back, and his arrogant demeanor vanished. "I...I don't know. I heard that girl caused trouble at the granary, so I guessed..."

Fu Zhun's gaze deepened, and his voice turned icy as he said, "With grain prices rising, there are countless people causing trouble. You, a mere profit-driven grain merchant, don't have the ability to see through such things."

After saying this, he closed his eyes slightly and gave the order: "He's stubborn as a mule, pull out his tongue first."

Su An, standing to the side, couldn't help but shrink his neck.

She knew this was part of the interrogation process, but she still couldn't help but admire Fu Zhun's intimidating presence when he spoke with a cold face.

Sun Ming's face turned deathly pale, and he swallowed hard as he said, "I'll talk, I'll talk! I bribed Li Si, a yamen runner in the county government. He told me that the girl who filed the complaint was named Su An, so I led my men to follow her. I just wanted to vent my anger!"

"I confess everything, please spare my life!"

Fu Zhun indifferently tapped the armrest with his finger: "Take him away, cripple his hands and feet, and hand him over to Lin Yong for sentencing."

"Then arrest those merchants who are disrupting the market and throw them all into the county government office for punishment."

"Yes." Anwu accepted the order and dragged the wailing Sun Ming away.

Su An blinked, still not back to her senses.

That's it?

Is it really that easy?

If she had known it was just a matter of a word from Fu Zhun, she wouldn't have bothered running around outside for most of the day.

She rubbed her aching legs and sighed, "I never thought these merchants could even bribe the yamen runners. Money really can make the devil turn the millstone!"

Upon hearing this, Fu Zhun looked at her, his expression softening, but he shook his head: "I'm afraid it's more than that."

"If you can bribe one, you can bribe another. This is an internal matter of the county government. Let Lin Yong investigate it himself."

Su An recalled Lin Yong's hectic and overwhelmed state, and silently mourned for him for two seconds.

Perhaps it was precisely because this county magistrate was so impartial that he spared no effort in investigating and prosecuting any case of a lost chicken or a stolen silver tael, that he was unaware of the infiltration that had occurred around him.

Su An didn't want to miss the satisfying scene of dealing with the unscrupulous merchant, so he endured his sore legs and went to the county government office.

"Sun Ming, who attempted murder in the street and led the charge in defying orders to raise grain prices, is sentenced to immediate execution by beheading. He will be taken to the market immediately and beheaded as a warning to others!"

When she arrived, Lin Yong was dealing with Sun Ming.

Under normal circumstances, with the added charge of attempted murder, Sun Ming might not have needed to be executed.

But now that the world is in chaos, Lin Yong desperately needs to make an example of someone!

"As for the other grain merchants in the court, after the grain decree was issued, they paid lip service to it, sold inferior goods as superior ones, and pretended to be mutton while selling dog meat. Considering that this is their first offense, all their property will be confiscated and they will be punished with fifty strokes of the cane, to be carried out immediately!"

The crowd gathered outside cheered excitedly.

"Well done! These heartless scoundrels, who greedily profited from the rich, have finally been punished!"

"Hmph, they exploit us ordinary people, they deserve to die!"

The crowd was filled with enthusiasm and followed the group escorting Sun Ming, throwing rotten vegetable leaves at them.

Su An also felt a great sense of relief and satisfaction.

Lin Yong came down from the hall and saw her. He hurriedly walked over and said, "Miss Su, please convey my thanks to the Prince. Thanks to the Prince for taking action and catching these unscrupulous merchants, the price of grain has finally been brought under control."

Su An nodded, looking at Lin Yong's exhausted appearance, and asked with concern, "So you executed Sun Ming so quickly, did you find out all the spies?"

Mentioning this made Lin Yong's face turn much uglier, and it even turned a little ashen.

When Sun Ming was brought over, he was covered in injuries and was terrified.

Before he could interrogate him, Sun Ming, in order to save his life, blurted out everything, finally claiming that he knew one of Sun Ming's concubines and begged him to show mercy!

He followed the clues and discovered that his own concubine was colluding with Sun Ming, and that many servants in the mansion had been bribed!

"The traitor has indeed been identified; bring him up!"

As soon as Lin Yong spoke, a trembling woman and four or five servants, either yamen runners or household servants, were brought over in a neat row.

They were bound hand and foot, their mouths stuffed with cloth, and could only whimper and plead for mercy.

The woman at the head of the group, in particular, had a delicate and pretty appearance. As soon as she was brought up, tears welled up in her eyes, and she stared intently at Lin Yong.

Lin Yong glanced at her briefly before clenching his fist and looking away: "Alas! To my shame, this woman was originally my concubine. I never imagined she would have an affair with a treacherous merchant and repeatedly leaked information about the government. This time, she almost harmed Miss Su."

"Bringing her here to be dealt with together is also to give Miss Su justice."

Su An was stunned for a moment, looking at Lin Yong with surprise and disbelief.

How could Lin Yong so fairly and justly speak out about such a private matter that he was being cuckolded?

A man of God!

Just as she was wondering how Lin Yong would deal with it, she heard him shout fiercely, enduring the pain, "Beat these traitors to death with sticks!"