On the third day at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), it was completely dark in Changzhou. Gu Yuzhi was about to jump onto Xueye's back and hug its neck to make it run fast when he looked up and saw Qin Yuanpan and Zhang Shiwei standing at the moon gate, smiling at him.

Gu Yuzhi exclaimed with delight, patted Xueye's head, and Xueye rushed towards the two of them, circling around them. Its nose twitched slightly, and after recognizing the two as people from the manor, it stepped back a little, put its front paws on the ground, and let Gu Yuzhi get off its back.

Gu Yuzhi jumped down with a "hey," looked up at the two of them, and said in a cheerful voice, "Judge Qin, Chief Secretary Xie, you're finally back!"

After two days of heavy snow, Changzhou has been enjoying clear skies and blue skies since yesterday. A servant in the manor who is familiar with the weather in the northern desert said that it will not snow in Changzhou for a while.

Gu Yuzhi covered his mouth and chuckled, thinking to himself that tomorrow, Judge Qin and Guard Zhang would rest a bit, pack their things, and then they could set off for Xinliang the day after tomorrow!

At this moment, Xueye was quietly retreating step by step. After retreating to a safe distance, it turned around and ran to the backyard, obviously wanting to go to Granny Xu for food.

Gu Yuzhi chuckled, lightly tapped his toes, and used the momentum to sprint forward, shouting, "No running in the snow! Your training time for today isn't over yet! When you get to Xinliang, your mother will definitely complain about you!"

As it ran, it looked back repeatedly, whimpering softly, its voice full of accusation, as if to say, "It was you who wouldn't let me go out of the city to play!"

The mansion is only so big, and it's tired of running back and forth in these places every day!

Gu Yuzhi touched the tip of his nose guiltily and followed again, shouting, "Granny Xu, you can't give Xueye jerky!"

That's right, all the jerky that Granny Xu made before ended up benefiting Xueye!

Zhang Yuankai stretched his stiff body slightly, then leaped forward to block Xue Ye's path. The two quickly engaged in a fierce battle. Gu Yuzhi, who had been in a hurry, stopped abruptly and stood on the steps watching with great interest.

Gu Yuzhi clenched his little fists, watching Xue Ye get beaten up, and exclaimed happily, "Wow! Guard Zhang is so amazing!"

Hmph, Xueye deserves a beating for daring to steal jerky!

Xueye has been quite lazy lately; he couldn't even last fifteen minutes against Guard Zhang before being beaten to a pulp.

It lay on the ground, its four paws in the air, trying to look up at Gu Yuzhi, howling softly.

Gu Yuzhi strode forward, squatted down beside it, and poked its head hard, mocking it mercilessly: "Now you know you regret it, huh! Hmph, you can't even beat Guard Zhang. When your mother sees you like this in Xinliang in a couple of days, she'll definitely beat you up!"

He mumbled in a low voice, "I asked you to exercise before, but you wouldn't listen. Now it's too late for you to regret it!"

Feeling humiliated on the snowy night, he quickly got up, drooping his ears, and ran away.

Gu Yuzhi smugly admired the disheveled figure in the snowy night, then turned to look at Judge Qin, his voice childish and cheerful: "Judge Qin, Judge Qin, you must be tired from your journey!"

The hardships of the journey seemed to dissipate considerably upon seeing the lively and adorable Gu Yuzhi. Even the usually stern face of the Imperial Physician Qin couldn't help but show a hint of a smile. He cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Your Highness."

Gu Yuzhi seemed to have a lot to say, but he couldn't think of anything for the moment. He scratched his head and asked, "How is the prefect of Qizhou? The Li Ji Escort Agency in Qizhou is gone. Are their merchants still safe when they go on escort missions?"

He turned to Zhang Yuankai and asked, "And also, have all the big bad guys from Li's Escort Agency been confessed?"

His questions came one after another, but Xie Changshi and Zhang Yuankai showed no impatience. They explained one by one: "The prefect of Qizhou is out of danger. He was unconscious not only because of his serious injuries, but also because he had been working tirelessly since taking office, which caused him a lot of internal strain. Now that his mental burden has been lifted, his energy has been relaxed, and his body naturally couldn't hold on any longer."

In Qin Yuanpan's view, Wei Chengrui's coma was simply his body repairing itself, and there was nothing to worry about.

His purpose in being there was merely to reassure everyone in the Wei household and to prescribe some tonics for Wei Chengrui. Before returning, Wei Chengrui's health was much better than when they first met him.

After Judge Qin finished explaining, Zhang Yuankai continued, "Li Ji Escort Agency is gone, but the escort agencies that were previously suppressed have quickly reorganized. In less than half a month, five escort agencies of all sizes in Qizhou have been restored."

Everyone knows that the biggest threat to escorting goods in Qizhou is not mountain bandits, but the people from Li's Escort Agency.

Now that Li's Escort Agency has been destroyed, those wicked escorts are either dead or arrested, and there is no longer any possibility of them causing trouble. Naturally, these escort agencies will quickly rise from the ashes.

Gu Yuzhi's eyes widened, and he gestured with his little hands: "Five families?"

He scratched his head: "Are there so many escort agencies in Qizhou?"

“Yes.” Zhang Yuankai and Judge Qin walked half a step behind Gu Yuzhi towards the council hall, one on the left and one on the right. “Qizhou is mostly mountainous and forested, which is why it is like this. In addition, because the Qizhou Escort Agency was burned down, not enough evidence was found. The chief escort did not admit to Prefect Wei’s accusations and committed suicide by biting his tongue the day after the prison break.”

Zhang Yuankai originally wanted to capture the chief镖头's family, but he didn't expect that the chief镖头's family was not in Qizhou. Only then did he realize that the chief镖头 was afraid that his imprisonment would implicate his family, so he simply committed suicide.

"The other bodyguards knew very little, but Prefect Wei arrested a group of people based on the evidence provided by Deputy General Yuan."

The Qizhou government office, in particular, was practically sieve-like, having been infiltrated by Li's trading company.

This time, with the help of the prince, Prefect Wei arrested some, confiscated their property, and sentenced others to exile. In such a short time, the treasury of Qizhou Prefecture has increased significantly.

Zhang Yuankai remarked with feeling: "Although we haven't found evidence of Li Ji Trading Company and Li Ji Escort Agency committing crimes together, the atmosphere in Qizhou has improved a lot, and Qizhou can have a prosperous year."

In particular, when news of the young prince distributing grain and meat to the people of Xinliang reached Qizhou, Wei Chengrui, though unable to provide these things for free, still opened the granary so that each household could buy three catties of grain at a low price.

Three catties of grain is quite a lot for an ordinary family!

Gu Yuzhi responded with an "oh," his tone low: "The big bad guy in Qizhou has been caught, but there's no way to punish him, and he even committed suicide."

He felt a little depressed, and was afraid that the same thing would happen in Changzhou.

Only then did Judge Qin offer words of comfort: "Your Highness should be happy. In any case, the Li Ji Escort Agency in Qizhou and other merchants closely associated with the Li Ji Trading Company have been eliminated, greatly weakening the Li Ji Trading Company's strength in the northern desert."