"stop!"
Siqin rushed over with her men and saw Zhen Wanwan fall to the ground. She angrily cursed at the soldiers.
"Do you have no respect for the law? How dare you bully the people of Leling Prefecture!"
Seeing that Siqin's attire was that of an ordinary wealthy family, the leading soldiers waved her away without taking it seriously.
"What are you doing, causing trouble for the government? If you know what's good for you, get lost..."
Siqin snorted coldly, put her hands on her hips, and said domineeringly, "I think you're asking for death! Do you know who we are?"
"Go away... Even if you're the King of Heaven, I'm still right."
“Take them all back.”
"You...you...you just wait! Chief Fang, why aren't you coming over here and taking him down!"
Seeing that they wouldn't listen to reason, Siqin turned around and told Chief Fang to use force. After all, there were only three or four soldiers, and if things got out of hand, the lady of the house would be there to back them up.
Moreover, the actions of these officials and soldiers were extremely outrageous; they dared to rob ordinary people in public.
In any case, the Fang family is not someone these few soldiers guarding the city can mess with.
The soldiers still guarding the city gate were terrified when they saw that all their comrades had been captured by the Fang family. They scrambled back into the city to report the news, knowing that the enemy outnumbered them and they could not possibly win.
Going back to get reinforcements is the priority!
Inside the prefect's residence.
The huge living room was eerily quiet. The prefect sat in the seat of honor, holding a cup of tea, but couldn't swallow a single drop.
It was all because a murderer had entered the house.
"I was unaware of your presence, strategist. What business do you have with me?"
Looking at Zhu Yuan, who exuded a cold aura, Prefect Fang asked absentmindedly.
He reviewed everything he had done during this period and realized that he had indeed not offended this god of death.
But he came to his door out of nowhere. I wonder if his men have caused some trouble?
Just as he thought of this, a servant came into the room and reported: "Reporting to your Excellency, there is trouble at the east gate of the city."
Prefect Fang was suddenly interrupted by his servant while he was lost in thought. The servant, his face showing anger, said, "What kind of behavior is this, all flustered and disorderly! Don't you see our distinguished guest is here?"
"Please forgive the rudeness of my servant, strategist."
Prefect Fang bowed in apology toward the strategist and then gestured for his servants to leave with his eyes.
Zhu Yuan raised an eyebrow, his eyes still showing indifference. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table and said casually, "Do you remember the matter four years ago when the grain and salary allocated by the imperial court were embezzled?"
Prefect Fang's heart suddenly skipped a beat. This matter had caused quite a stir back then, and due to the lack of food, it almost led to the annihilation of our army.
The man before them, with his remaining tens of thousands of troops, repelled the Northern Hu people in one fell swoop, and even the lost cities were taken back effortlessly according to his plan.
"I will remember this matter very well."
As the saying goes, good flattery can lead to promotion and wealth, and Prefect Fang certainly wouldn't miss the chance to shower his superior with compliments.
This is an essential skill for every official colleague.
"At that time, the Northern Hu were only one step away from breaching our Hua Dynasty's Yanmen Pass. It was thanks to the Grand Preceptor's exceptional wisdom and bravery that we were able to defeat them with a mere tens of thousands of troops..."
Zhu Yuan impatiently raised his hand to stop his flattery and said directly, "I remember four years ago, when the grain and provisions were lost, you went to the fiefdom of the Prince of Yang?"
Prefect Fang nodded affirmatively without needing to recall. He remembered it clearly. At that time, he accompanied his wife back to her parents' home and happened to run into the Prince of Yang's men.
Sigh, I wonder how my wife is doing in Kyoto, and... I'm afraid it'll be difficult for her family to extricate themselves...
"What does the strategist wish to inquire about?"
He was genuinely puzzled. Four years ago, not only had the grain and provisions disappeared, but the officials and soldiers who delivered the grain had also vanished, as if these people had never existed in the world.
"I'll just ask you, did you notice anything unusual about Prince Yang during that period, especially the sudden large-scale transfer of assets?"
Prefect Fang tried hard to recall the past, sometimes frowning, sometimes silent, and finally he suddenly slapped his half-bald head.
"I remember there was a time when Prince Yang would spend his days indulging in pleasure at brothels, making a huge commotion, and often carrying jewels from his mansion to give to the girls at the brothels..."
"Cough cough... We also bought several... songstresses from other places... who work day and night."
Zhu Yuan said expressionlessly, "Just get to the point."
Prefect Fang cleared his throat and continued, "He often travels around with his singing girls, and each time he goes out he carries a lot of luggage, which I heard is full of clothes and jewelry belonging to his concubines."
"Soon afterward, officials from the imperial court arrived and brought his extravagant behavior to a stop..."
On the surface, Zhu Yuan appeared calm and collected, but in his heart, he already knew what was going on. It seemed that the Prince of Yang had used a feint to the east while attacking the west.
While everyone's attention was focused on him, the grain and fodder were secretly transferred to support the army.
Ever since he received the grain from Zhen Wanwan and the others that day, he couldn't figure out what was wrong with the grain no matter how he calculated it.
The document had clearly been tampered with.
The intentions of those behind this are obvious: they want to use the pretext of disaster relief grain to find a legitimate excuse to justify the grain and salary payments from four years ago.
In any case, the documents were all delivered to Prince Yang, and they probably never imagined that someone would steal them.
The thought of the bandits in the military camp, now reduced to rotting flesh, filled Zhu Yuan's eyes with a sense of danger.
He still hasn't figured out how the Prince of Yang managed to hide the grain and people so tightly back then.
Prefect Fang looked at Zhu Yuan with unease, unable to understand what the grain and provisions had to do with the Prince of Yang.
After all, the Prince of Yang's fiefdom is thousands of miles away from Yanmen Pass. Even if he had the will, he would have to have the ability!
"It's nothing. I just came to verify some information. You can go back to your work." Having gotten what he wanted, Zhu Yuan bid farewell to Prefect Fang and left.
After he left the house, he noticed with his sharp eyes that the servant who had brought the news was still standing under the eaves waiting.
"Greetings, strategist."
After Zhu Yuan's figure disappeared from sight, the servant went into the house and truthfully reported the dispute outside the city to Prefect Fang.
Because Prefect Fang did not issue the order sooner, the villagers outside the city had already been imprisoned by the Left Commandant.
Most importantly...
"My lord, I heard from the scout that a girl arrogantly confronted the Left Commandant's men and even said she would personally inform you of this matter..."
Prefect Fang frowned; he didn't seem to know any women.
Could they be relatives from some family?
"Where are they now? Lead me the way."
"They're staying in the dungeon!"
Prefect Fang paced back and forth toward the dungeon.
As soon as I entered, I heard a maid's angry voice, but why did that voice sound so familiar?
He couldn't help but speed up.
"Siqin! What are you doing here? Where is Madam?" Prefect Fang looked at the shouting maid in front of him in shock.
"Master! You've finally arrived... Madam, Madam is here!" Siqin was also very excited to see Prefect Fang. Upon hearing his question, she quickly ran to the cleanest little corner.
"lady!"
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