Even though Qin Jue was the one who was injured, it was Qin Jue who comforted Xiao Xi'er all night.

"Master, Princess"

Zou Heng walked in, bowed to Qin Jue, and called out "Xiao Xi'er" again.

"This is?"

Qin Ruoxi looked behind Zou Heng and saw a strange man dressed in black. She then asked Zou Heng...

"Princess, these are assassins sent to kill His Majesty."

Qin Ruoxi looked behind Zou Heng, then walked up to the assassin.

His eyes blazed with anger. "Why did you come to assassinate my father?"

"Why??? You're asking me? You've asked the wrong person."

"I'll show you!" Qin Ruoxi angrily kicked the assassin in the chest.

The assassin initially didn't take it seriously, but he didn't expect that Qin Ruoxi had actually studied martial arts.

The assassin leaned back, then knelt down again.

"I never imagined that this pampered little princess would learn martial arts."

The assassin said in surprise

Seeing that the assassin still wasn't going to speak, Qin Ruoxi squatted down in front of him and yanked off the black cloth covering his face.

After Qin Ruoxi pulled off the black cloth, the assassin's face was revealed.

"I didn't expect your assassin brother to be so good-looking."

The assassin was truly taken aback by Qin Ruoxi's words. Just as he was about to speak, he was slapped across the face.

"Smack—"

"Even if you're good-looking, I'll still beat you up!!! Who gave you the right to hurt my father!!!"

"I--"

Before the assassin could say anything, Qin Ruoxi slapped him on the other side of his face.

Just as Qin Ruoxi raised her hand to continue hitting, her wrist was grabbed.

Turning her head, she saw Qin Jue. "Father?"

"Get up, your hands will hurt from hitting them. Let Zou Heng do these things."

Qin Jue pulled Xiao Xi'er away.

The assassin, kneeling on the ground, was still in a daze. He never expected that he would be hit by a woman, and even slapped twice.

The assassin glared angrily at Qin Ruoxi, but received a warning from Qin Jue.

"If you don't want your eyes anymore, then continue."

The assassin immediately lowered his head.

"You can choose to speak, or you can choose 'painful' pleasure."

The assassin shuddered. Kneeling on the ground, he realized that whether he spoke or not, he was doomed to die anyway, so he might as well just say it outright.

After figuring it out, the assassin looked at Qin Ruoxi.

"Little princess, you were born into nobility and have been pampered since childhood. Do you know what life is like for us common people?"

What are you trying to say?

Qin Ruoxi glanced at Qin Jue, then looked at the assassin kneeling on the ground.

"You live in the palace, dressed in clothes made of silk, eating food made from the finest ingredients, and using tributes from all over the world."

"But we ordinary people are neither warmly clothed nor well-fed."

“A few years ago we could still have enough to eat, but in the last two years, with taxes being collected, we don’t have much food left, not enough to last us through the winter.”

"In recent years, many people have starved to death during the winter—no, even in the fall."

"The elderly voluntarily entered the cave to starve to death, leaving their food for the young women and children. When someone died in a family, they would share the remains with each other."

"However, recent torrential rains have caused many houses to be washed away by floods, and after the floods subsided, an epidemic followed."

The more the assassin on the ground spoke, the more agitated he became. Seeing that the assassin was about to rise, Zou Heng immediately pressed him down from his kneeling position.

Behave yourself.

Hearing the assassin's words, Qin Jue and Qin Ruoxi frowned more and more deeply.

Qin Ruoxi walked directly towards the assassin.

"Without any increase in taxes, how could there not be much grain left?"

"If there was no extra charge, who ordered the county magistrate to take half of our harvest?"

"half?"

This time, both Qin Ruoxi and Qin Jue were shocked!

"I have never ordered any additional taxes or grain levies," Qin Jue said, glancing at the assassin.

The assassin was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then began to disbelieve it.

"You think you can just say you don't have it?"

"How dare you!!!"

When Sanhezi heard the assassin address Qin Jue as "you," he pointed at the assassin and shouted.

But Qin Jue waved his hand and said, "When you come to the capital, you will pass through some prefectures and villages. What are they like?"

"A joyful and harmonious atmosphere"

"Since everyone is so happy, is this the result of collecting half a percent of the tax grain?"

The assassin shook his head, and after not hearing Qin Jue and Qin Ruoxi speak, he began to think again.

The assassin quickly realized, "Even so, what does it prove? The magistrate's actions were something you approved of."

Qin Jue rose from his dragon bed and walked to the assassin. "I didn't know. If I had, he wouldn't be alive now."

Where is your hometown?

What do you want to do?

Upon hearing Qin Ruoxi's question, the assassin immediately became alert.

"Don't worry, neither my father nor I will do anything to your hometown. We just want to hear about it and see if anyone has reported it."

"Regarding the rainfall in the south, only the eight northern prefectures reported it, and only the original city among the six western prefectures reported it."

The assassin's eyes widened upon hearing Qin Ruoxi's words.

After saying that, Xiao Xi'er turned to look at Qin Jue, "Father, am I remembering correctly?"

"No, Father thought that Xi'er only ate pastries, drank flower tea, and slept in court."

Qin Jue teased Xiao Xi'er with a faint smile.

The assassin who overheard Qin Jue and his daughter's conversation hesitated. "Ancheng, one of the six western prefectures to the south."

"Anjo?"

Qin Ruoxi asked in confusion, "Father, I remember when we submitted the report, Ancheng was considered, right?"

"I remember that I didn't hear Ancheng report it at the time. Father, you even asked about it and only after confirming that Ancheng was fine and hadn't reported it did you arrange things for the six western city prefectures. Moreover, my eldest brother even made a suggestion in the process."

Qin Jue patted Xiao Xi'er's head. "You remember well."

He then looked at the assassins on the ground, "Do you understand? It's not that I don't care, it's that you didn't report it."

"Impossible! The prefect stood on the city gate and told us that he had reported it to the imperial court."

The assassin's eyes were full of disbelief, and he looked at Qin Jue and Qin Ruoxi with great emotion, speaking loudly.

"Sanhezi, go and bring me all the recent memorials submitted to the court regarding the rains and plague."

“Zha”

Having received the order, Sanhezi went to find the memorial to the emperor. A quarter of an hour later...

Sanhezi, carrying a tray containing memorials, walked to Qin Jue's side.

"Your Majesty, there are seven memorials concerning rainfall, one from each of the six western prefectures in the south, and one from Yuancheng in the six northern prefectures. There are no memorials related to the plague."

"Did you hear me clearly?"

Qin Jue made a gesture to Sanhezi, who understood and placed the memorial in front of the assassin.

The assassin picked up the memorials on the ground and began to read them one by one.

After reading everything, he still couldn't find his own city, Ancheng, and was filled with disbelief.