Chapter 113: A single move affects the entire body

Temporary camp on the high slope.

After continuous search and rescue, the county magistrate and county magistrate were found one after another.

As criminals and potential accomplices in the assassination, the personal guards took extra care of them, which is why they survived, but the county magistrate's condition was very bad.

He was very old, had both arms cut off, and had been struggling in the water for a long time. The bleeding was barely stopped, but he fell into a coma.

Qin Zhaoyue and Yinzhe interrogated the county magistrate who survived the disaster.

"Why did the county magistrate want to assassinate the princess?"

"I don't know... I really don't know!" The county magistrate had his hands tied behind his back and was slumped in the corner. He roared and acted like a madman when he heard the words.

His clothes were disheveled and his hair was messy. There was a big swelling on his left eye socket, as if he had been hit by something or punched. He looked extremely miserable.

"Assassinating the heir to the throne, you know what a crime that is, right? If you can't atone for it, you will surely die, or your family will be implicated."

Yinzhe spoke in a deep voice. This was not a threat, but a statement of fact.

"What's wrong with the county magistrate? Why is the embankment filled with reeds? Why are those river workers so hostile?"

But the county magistrate was so frightened that he just kept repeating that he had no idea.

Meng Jian drew his sword and put it on his neck, roughly grabbed his hair and tried to drag him out of the tent.

Feeling the cold touch on his neck and the stinging pain on his head, the county magistrate finally came to his senses, "No! I'll tell you everything!"

He was thrown hard at the door of the tent, but he used his hands and feet to crawl back to the corner, as if there was great terror outside the tent, and he shrank and dared not look in that direction.

"explain!"

The county magistrate trembled with fear and dared not delay any longer, and finally revealed the truth.

Widening the waterway and building a dock in Longmen County was a major project that took two and a half years. Even though wealthy businessmen contributed part of the capital, the imperial court still had to pay out nearly 500,000 taels.

There is a lot of corruption in the materials and river workers, and it is not uncommon to use reeds and clay as filling materials.

The entire county government, from top to bottom, knew about it and benefited from it.

"There's nothing we can do. The money allocated from the state government was not enough to begin with, so we had no choice..."

"Speak of the magistrate!"

"Yes, yes... Magistrate Lu is a good official... Really!

"For over ten years, Longmen County has been governed peacefully and safely. I really can't understand why he would want to assassinate Your Highness!"

The county magistrate knew that this answer was not convincing enough. He was close to the princess when Magistrate Lu stabbed her with a dagger. This was impossible to deny, so he immediately interrupted and said:

"I know why the River Union is resentful!"

He then told the whole story of how Magistrate Lu had collected grain from wealthy merchants and local gentry, and how the relief grain was mixed with a large amount of bran.

Everyone in the tent was stunned. All they collected was fine grain?

"Wait, you said a lot of bran?"

"Yes, about 50%."

"Impossible! At most 20%."

"It's true. The disaster relief grain was distributed uniformly at the county government office. We checked it many times and it's basically 50%..."

"Who is the one who released the grain?"

"I don't know his name, I only know he's the Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs."

Meng Jian narrowed his eyes and looked at Qin Zhaoyue, "Your Highness, there is no Siwulang among the officials of the Wanmin Division accompanying the disaster relief."

Everything is clear now. Everyone knows that Longmen County is a trap set up long ago, just waiting for the princess to fall into it.

The county magistrate could no longer provide any more valuable information and was immediately taken away.

Qin Zhaoyue briefly explained the follow-up of the illegal iron mining to the two of them, and Wu Gangji also matched them.

"What's the point of them stirring up public resentment? Even if the river workers hadn't revolted, the old county magistrate still had the opportunity to launch a surprise assassination..."

Qin Zhaoyue pursed her lips tightly when she was halfway through her words. She had figured it out.

If the purpose was just to assassinate the eldest sister, there would be no need for such a big fuss.

Collecting fine grain, exchanging relief grain, affecting the mental state of thousands of river workers, the iron-cast black turtle hitting the dike, and the story of the River God, this situation is really too big.

Assassination should be clean and efficient, with as few variables as possible.

The reason for this is that the other party's purpose is not only to assassinate the eldest princess, but also to implicate the empress through public opinion and public grievances.

After figuring everything out, Qin Zhaoyue shuddered. What would have happened if Liu Yan hadn't been hiding by her side?

She would be beheaded at the gate of the county government office. Even if all the guards around her took action, they would not be able to defeat the half-step third-grade sorcerer.

On the other side of the riverbank, the eldest sister was poisoned. As long as the sorcerer could entangle Yinzhe, she would definitely not be spared.

Two princesses died here, there is the legend of He Bo, and the people are outraged. What choice will Longmen County make?

Add to that the iron ore that had been illegally mined for years and the Black Steel Ridge that just happened to appear, and perhaps the smelted and forged ironware did not flow to the north.

"Counter", the three people present all thought of this word, and their faces looked extremely ugly.

It sounds like a joke. How could a mere county rebel?

But what about the illegal iron ore mining and water conservancy corruption cases?

The sorcerer's plan affects the entire body. How many officials are involved in the chain of interests?

A small Longmen County is naturally nothing, but what about the power of two or three provincial capitals?

Going further, the territory of the Dagan Dynasty was divided into nine palaces and twelve roads.

Let’s not talk about the four paths of education and governance in the Ziwei Border Court for now, there are still eight paths left.

Tianxuan Dao, where Hanei Province is located, Canglong East Dao, where Bailu Province is located, and Zhuque South Dao, where Qingyao Province is located, all raised the banner of rebellion.

However, the Shuofeng Dynasty in the north has broken its usual pattern this year and has frequently knocked on the gates.

Under internal and external troubles, Dagan will immediately fall into a precarious situation.

To resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the country. At that time, the nobles and officials might force the empress to abdicate in order to appease the anti-Japanese forces in the country.

Huh... Qin Zhaoyue exhaled a breath of foul air. The consequences were unimaginable!

I clenched my teeth, feeling so much hatred in my heart.

You traveled to a world where the empress was in power and became a princess. But before you could enjoy your good life for a few days, your home was robbed?

Qin Zhaoyue's face was gloomy, and he looked straight at the opposite side. "From the perspective of Xuanji Guard, what do you think of my fifth brother?"

Yinzhe's eyes darkened slightly. The fact that he asked this question showed that the Sixth Princess had figured out all the key points.

If the three states rebelled, they would naturally need a flag, and there happened to be a royal heir left in the relief team.

This level of sensitivity is no worse than that of officials who have been immersed in the court for many years.

"The Fifth Prince has always been a well-behaved man. He has neither formed any cliques nor recruited talented individuals into his residence. However..."

Yin Zhe looked back at Qin Zhaoyue, "Even the Xuanji Guards may not know everything. For example, you, Sixth Prince, we all misjudged you."

Qin Zhaoyue: Not really.

The original body was not much better than her fifth brother. At most, he created the No. 1 Restaurant in the World, but Qin Zhaoyue found it difficult to explain this.

Alas, I was originally just a simple salted fish, but I was labeled as cunning and good at disguise.

Now that the sorcerer's plan has been broken, all he needs is for the eldest sister to survive, and the "lead" will be gone.

But having set up such a big trap, it is hard to say whether the other party has any backup plans.

"Also, with the Warlock's methods, how can we ensure that there aren't more people being controlled around us?"

Yinzhe replied, "It's not that simple. To control someone to do something that goes against their conscience, there are basically only two possibilities.

First, those with weak wills are influenced for a long time;

Secondly, they possess certain emotions, which can be amplified by the sorcerer's influence."

The people accompanying them this time are the Imperial Guards and the Princess' personal guards, so the possibility of infiltration is low.

Qin Zhaoyue pondered for a moment and spoke again:

“The three-state garrison is probably useless. Who knows to what extent it has been corrupted.

I know nothing about military affairs, so I will hide in the dark and think about how to ask the Queen Mother for help.

My suggestion is to mobilize troops to the border in the name of disaster relief to prevent any incidents.

But it’s better not to be the army near Gyeonggi Province, hurry up! "

Yinzhe bowed and saluted, "Yes, Your Highness."

Liu Yan brought a piece of news that the head of Tianyan Sect, who had been silent for fourteen years, "happened" to come to Beijing.

She did not reveal this to the two princes, but the Sixth Princess still considered that Fengjing might be hiding a back-up plan, so she suggested not moving the troops in the capital.

Oh, I don't know anything about military affairs...