The Fuyushi had great powers because he represented the emperor and almost had the power of life and death.

"Catch Zhou Guitong for me!" Li Qingyuan was angry.

The officials from Qinghe Prefecture immediately rushed forward, and Zhou Guitong was still reading aloud.

"Take him away!" Li Qingyuan said and then fled into the government office.

Amidst the angry fists and storms of the people, the officials escorted Zhou Guitong into the government office. The crowd was furious, and there were always those who liked to shout and slam. So someone started shouting, "Release Mr. Zhou! Mr. Zhou is innocent!"

"Release Master Zhou! Master Zhou is innocent!"

The people shouted, they began to howl and rage, the angry people erupted with the howling of the mountains and the roar of the sea.

But the crowd immediately fell silent as rows of crossbows were trained on the unarmed civilians. Li Qingyuan finally regained his arrogant demeanor, "Who dares to rebel? I've been personally sent by His Majesty to investigate this military leak. The example of Kui County is right before our eyes. Do you also want to be attacked by the Mongols and burned, killed, and looted?"

This was effective, and some people began to waver. After all, the Mongols had indeed invaded, and even during the brief retreat, there were always cries of reason. Some people raised their arms and shouted, "Smuggling civilians is unjust!"

It is no exaggeration to say that a large portion of the people had traded with the Mongols. So the crowd started to get angry again: "It is unfair to smuggle civilians!"

But this time the people's shouts were much weaker, because the shining bows, spears, swords and knives in front of them were real.

"Hmph!" Li Qingyuan turned away and returned to the government office. There was no need for him to continue being angry at a bunch of unruly people.

At the Qinghe Prefecture government office, Zhou Guitong was tied up. Li Qingyuan simply stood in the hall and slammed the gavel: "Zhou Guitong, what are you doing! What do you want to do?"

Zhou Guitong showed no fear, as if he had already known what would happen today. He just smiled contemptuously and said, "Master Li, I just want to tell you that the people who were arrested were all wrongly accused."

Li Qingyuan was furious. "Unjust? They were smuggling and breaking the law, and you caught them red-handed. Now you're blaming me for wrongfully accusing them?"

Zhou Guitong shook his head in disdain: "Master Li, we are all officials, so let's put aside these hypocritical masks and speak directly!"

Li Qingyuan immediately stopped talking and fell silent, wanting to hear Zhou Guitong's opinion.

"Sir, you know that I am not talking about their smuggling. I am saying that these people did not collude with foreign countries to leak military secrets." Zhou Guitong continued.

Li Qingyuan was somewhat helpless. "Why? Why are you all telling me this? If it weren't for these people leaking the information, how could the Mongols have exploited our weaknesses and hit us so accurately?"

"Lord Li, please wake up. I know the purpose of your coming here. You want to share the worries of His Majesty and get promoted. But have you ever thought about whether you fell into someone's trap when you raised the butcher knife against those smugglers? They may just want to see you like this, that you kill these smugglers and let the real murderer go unpunished." Zhou Guitong said.

Li Qingyuan finally came to his senses: "Are you saying that the more someone wants me to do this, the more likely they are to be the murderer?"

Zhou Guitong nodded: "Your Excellency might as well think about it carefully. Who is around you who wants you to do this?"

Li Qingyuan thought about it, then shook his head: "No one, no one reminded me to kill these smugglers."

Now it was Zhou Guitong's turn to be stunned. He thought Li Qingyuan was anxious to execute the smugglers because someone had slandered him. In that case, the person who made the slander might be related to the leak. He did not expect that it was Li Qingyuan himself who wanted to execute the smugglers in order to gain credit in front of the emperor.

It seems that these smuggling people are beyond help. Li Qingyuan wants to kill them, and the court also wants to find the murderer as soon as possible and kill them as well.

"Sir, please give me a month. I will definitely solve this leak case!" Zhou Guitong shouted.

Li Qingyuan looked him up and down. "You incited the people to riot outside the government office, and you actually want me to let you go and solve the case? What are you thinking? I have the power granted by His Majesty to execute first and report later. Although you are an official appointed by the court, I have the right to kill you."

He was right. Li Qingyuan had the right to kill a small local county magistrate, and this right was also granted by Zhao Huan.

However, in light of the false cases and miscarriages of justice in the past, and having learned from the lessons of the disaster relief in Langya County, even if Li Qingyuan wanted to kill Zhou Guitong, it was not up to him alone to decide, but required the signatures of all officials above the ninth rank in Qinghe Prefecture to agree.

But in this situation, it was obvious that many people would oppose it. Putting aside other things, if Li Qingyuan really killed Zhou Guitong, the people would not agree.

"Sir, now is not the time to act on impulse. Please give me a month. In one month, I will definitely get to the bottom of the leak!" Zhou Guitong said anxiously.

Li Qingyuan circled around him, and he was still tied up. If he let him go like this, it would be embarrassing, so someone stepped forward to give him a way out.

Zhao Kangping, the prefect of Qinghe Prefecture, hurried over to Li Qingyuan and said, "Master Li, Master Zhou is absolutely right. He's already agreed to investigate the leak, so why not give him a month? If he doesn't solve the case in a month, it won't be too late for you to sentence him."

"Someone come! Untie him!" Li Qingyuan shouted outside, and then an officer came over and untied Zhou Guitong.

However, Li Qingyuan also put forward his conditions: "Half a month, I will only give you half a month. If you can't solve the case, you and those smugglers will die together!"

"Thank you, sir!" Zhou Guitong shouted happily while rubbing his aching wrist.

Of course, it wasn't that simple for Li Qingyuan to agree so readily. He pointed outside the government office and said, "Zhou Guitong, you're the one who attracted those unruly people outside. Go and coax them away!"

"Hurry up and go!" Zhao Kangping gave him a wink.

Then Zhou Guitong disappeared in a flash of smoke.

Outside the government office, the public was in a frenzy, especially after Zhou Guitong was arrested. The Song Dynasty was relatively open-minded, and the people still had a say.

"Everyone, please be quiet!" Zhou Guitong shouted after coming out.

When the people saw that Lord Zhou, who had been tied up, was released, they immediately quieted down and everyone's attention was focused here.

Zhou Guitong continued, "Rest assured, everyone! I will crack the military secrets leak case within seven days and bring justice to the arrested civilians!"

"Good!" The people applauded, and those whose family members were arrested had tears in their eyes. They finally saw hope.

At this time, Zhao Kangping also came out of the government office. He leaned over to Zhou Guitong's ear and said, "Didn't the imperial envoy give you half a month?"

Zhou Guitong chuckled: "Seven days is enough. I said a month and thought that Lord Li would say three days. I didn't expect him to give half a month. That's enough."

"You old fox." Zhao Kangping said.

PS: I would like to recommend my friend’s new book "Carrying AK into the Ming Dynasty". The hero carries AKM and goes to the end of the Ming Dynasty alone. It is based on historical facts, and the writing style is humorous and heart-wrenching. It is a different kind of refreshing story about supporting the Ming Dynasty. Would you like to know more?