Zhu Yunwen looked at the table full of delicious food, but when he ate it, he always felt a little uneasy.

After finally managing to eat a little, I put down my chopsticks and lost all interest in eating anymore.

He had a bad feeling, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The magistrate thought the food wasn't to his liking, so he asked Zhu Yunwen if he wanted some other food prepared.

Zhu Yunwen waved his hand dismissively!

It wasn't that he disliked the food, but rather that he felt inexplicably depressed.

So the magistrate removed the food.

After that, Zhu Yunwen waited quietly among the farmers for the four Imperial Guards who had been sent out.

Soon the four Imperial Guards returned, and their expressions were not very good.

In that instant, Zhu Yunwen immediately realized that there was indeed a problem.

At this moment, a member of the Imperial Guard walked up to Zhu Yunwen and said:

"Sir, none of the people in this village originally lived here. They are all officials from the county government and their families who were temporarily assigned here."

The rice and noodles they served were all brought by themselves, a mere facade to deceive His Highness.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen's face suddenly darkened.

At this time, only Zhu Yunwen, Zhao Qingzhu, and a few Imperial Guards remained in the room.

Zhu Yunwen then stood up, stared at the Imperial Guard, and said:

"Where did the original villagers go?"

The Imperial Guard began to stammer and mumble.

Zhu Yunwen frowned:

"Answer me quickly, Your Highness."

The Imperial Guard lowered his head and said, "He was taken to the county jail by the county officials and locked up..."

Zhu Yunwen suddenly flew into a rage, grabbed a teacup from the table, smashed it on the ground, and roared:

"You bastard."

The commotion inside was heard by the county magistrate outside, who quickly came in and said:

"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Zhu Yunwen glared at the county magistrate and waved his hand, saying:

"Seize him for me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, two Imperial Guards stepped forward and immediately detained the county magistrate.

The magistrate was immediately terrified and knelt on the ground, saying:

"Your Highness, if there is anything I have failed to do in my duties, please feel free to tell me, and I will do my best to make amends."

Zhu Yunwen slowly stepped forward, staring at the magistrate with a stern face, and said:

Where have all the villagers gone?

Upon hearing this, the magistrate spoke:

"They are all at their own homes. I didn't know Your Highness was asking this..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhu Yunwen looked up and slapped him hard across the face:

"You still want to lie to me? Do you think the Imperial Guards I bring are a bunch of good-for-nothings? Do you think you can fool me with these tricks? If you don't tell the truth, I'll kill you right now."

The magistrate, terrified, turned pale and hurriedly said:

“Your Highness, I only did this to give you a good environment and impression, and I didn’t want those common people to taint your eyes… That’s why I had no choice but to do this. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”

Zhu Yunwen snorted and said:

"How dare you! You actually imprisoned an entire village and replaced them with a new group of people to put on a show for me? Do you really think I'm a fool and want to deceive you?"

The magistrate knelt on the ground, trembling, and kept trying to explain himself, but Zhu Yunwen wouldn't listen to his so-called explanations at all. Instead, he pointed at him angrily and said:

"Release all the villagers immediately and restore the village to its original state."

The county magistrate quickly kowtowed, then trembled all over and left timidly.

It took about half a day for villagers to gradually return.

These people were all emaciated and weak, some even missing limbs.

Some children are not only severely malnourished, but also lack proper clothing and are even barefoot in the cold winter.

This scene stood in stark contrast to the officials' families who were playing the roles of villagers.

This is the most authentic scene in this village.

Zhu Yunwen was heartbroken when he saw it.

Among the many people, some were even crying.

Zhu Yunwen stepped forward and asked the crying middle-aged man what had happened.

The middle-aged man knew that the person standing before him was the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, so he quickly knelt down and kowtowed, saying:

"Your Highness, please do justice for us commoners! My father was forcibly taken to the county jail and imprisoned for over a day without any food. My father was already in poor health, and he starved to death in that jail. I don't know where they threw his body away; I can't even let my father rest in peace..."

Zhu Yunwen gritted his teeth in anger and glared fiercely at the trembling county magistrate standing beside him.

The magistrate was terrified and knelt on the ground, saying:

"Your Highness, this humble subject will immediately have his father's body found and will certainly give him an explanation."

Zhu Yunwen gritted his teeth and said:

"You should give an explanation to all the people in this village."

The uncontrollable nod said:

"Yes, yes, this guilty subject will certainly give an explanation..."

Zhu Yunwen snorted and said:

"Since you agree, that makes things easier. Men, drag the magistrate to the village entrance and execute him on the spot."

Upon hearing this, the magistrate was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, his lips trembling as he begged for mercy.

However, Zhu Yunwen had to be severely punished for officials who were willing to sacrifice the people in order to deceive their superiors.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!