As more and more people gathered around to watch the spectacle, Su Yan felt the time was right, so she swaggered toward Zhao He, with Shen Yao following closely behind.
Xie Yu, on the other hand, continued to conceal his identity, hiding in a corner and refusing to show himself.
"Oh dear... Lord Zhao, where are you going to investigate a case so early in the morning?"
Zhao He was completely stunned when he saw Su Yan.
How can there be two Su Yans?
Su Yan smiled and patiently explained, "Lord Zhao, don't look at me like that. I am the real Su Yan. The one you just arrested in Chunfeng is a secret agent from my Bureau of Investigation."
"How is that possible? I was definitely drinking with you last night."
"Lord Zhao, you're all drunk. You drank with our secret agents last night, but I was tired from the long journey, so I had the agents go in my place."
Zhao He was completely bewildered. "What exactly is going on?"
Su Yan glanced at Jing Ning.
Jing Ning understood immediately and reached out to remove the human skin mask covering her face.
When a beautiful and radiant face appeared before everyone, Zhao He was stunned.
Su Yan stopped teasing Zhao He and quietly pulled him aside, whispering, "Lord Zhao, you know that working in the Supervisory Council means you're bound to be framed and plotted against, so you have to be cautious at every step. Having a double is a necessary precaution."
Otherwise, I wouldn't have known that Lord Zhao had just hosted a welcoming banquet for me, and then immediately wanted to throw me in jail.
Zhao He gave a bitter smile. "Lord Su, I was misled by the old lady of Chunfeng Tower. You should just let this matter drop."
After saying that, he took out a large stack of silver notes from his sleeve and quietly stuffed them into Su Yan's hand.
Su Yan was delighted when she saw the silver notes Zhao He took out. Everyone knew that Suizhou was poor and backward.
But Zhao He, an ordinary seventh-rank official, could easily take several hundred taels of silver.
This shows that the waters of Suizhou are truly exceptionally deep.
However, bribing the imperial envoy was an even more serious crime, so how could Su Yan not use this opportunity to make trouble?
He took out his token and said to the constable behind him, "I am Su Yan, the Imperial Envoy personally appointed by His Majesty. Zhao He, the magistrate of Luoshui Town, attempted to murder me and bribed the minister. He has been imprisoned and suspended from his duties for investigation."
The constables hesitated, not daring to step forward and arrest Zhao He.
At this moment, Zhao He suddenly burst into laughter, "Su Yan, I didn't originally intend to kill you, but who would have thought you would be so ungrateful? Don't blame me for being impolite."
After saying that, he turned to the constables behind him and said, "Su Yan raped a woman. According to the laws of Liang, he should be punished with flogging. As an official, his crime is even more serious. Guards! Take him to the jail..."
Su Yan had long anticipated that Zhao He would break off relations, so she had already found a powerful backer.
Suizhou and Qizhou are adjacent to each other, and the Qizhou border defense army camp is located fifty miles outside the city.
Moreover, the commander-in-chief of the Qizhou border defense army was Pan Bao, a capable general of the Prince of Zhennan.
Because of the death of the Prince of Zhennan, in order to prevent internal strife in the Zhennan Army, the Emperor dismantled and dispersed the Prince of Zhennan's subordinates one by one.
Pan Bao was assigned to Qizhou. Last night, Su Yan asked Jing Ning to write a letter and send it to Qizhou.
Judging by the time, it should be almost time.
So when Su Yan saw Zhao He tear off his mask, she was overjoyed. She was just worried about how to completely win Zhao He over.
Only a fool wouldn't take advantage of such an opportunity that's practically handed to him.
"Lord Zhao, I never imagined that after serving as an official in Suizhou for over thirty years, you would actually think of yourself as a local tyrant, trying to cover up everything in broad daylight."
"Stop talking nonsense. What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and arrest Su Yan and put him in jail. If anything happens, I will take responsibility."
Zhao He anxiously urged the constables behind him.
The constables looked at each other, but still obeyed Zhao He's orders and went to arrest Su Yan.
Although Su Yan's martial arts skills were not very good, she had a ruthless killer by her side, Shen Yao.
Before a cup of tea could be brewed, all the constables Zhao He brought were beaten down by Shen Yao.
Zhao He was intimidated by Shen Yao's imposing manner and pointed directly at Su Yan, shouting, "How dare you, Su Yan, do you intend to rebel...?"
Upon hearing this, Su Yan couldn't help but laugh. She walked forward and finally stopped in front of Zhao He. She reached out and patted his old face, coldly rebuking him, "Zhao He, you are the one who rebelled. Do you really think you can control everything in Luoshui Town? Do you really think I don't know you sent people to murder me?"
"Zhao He, you've been dreaming for thirty years, it's time to wake up..."
"Su Yan, you're the naive one. Do you think you can leave Luoshui Town alive?"
Su Yan smiled coldly at Zhao He and said in a deep voice, "I don't know when I will die, but you, Zhao He, will definitely die before me."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a commotion of hoofbeats sounded in the street, indicating that Pan Bao had arrived with his men.
With the situation settled, Su Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking around at the crowd of onlookers, he said, "Fellow villagers, Zhao He has been dismissed from his post and is no longer the magistrate of Luoshui Town. If you have grievances, seek justice; if you have grudges, seek revenge."
Upon hearing this, the surrounding people were filled with pent-up anger and began to throw vegetable leaves and stones at Zhao He.
If it weren't for Pan Bao's men stopping him, Zhao He would probably have been overwhelmed by the boiling public resentment.
This was the first time Pan Bao had ever seen an official like Su Yan, who not only failed to quell public grievances but also added fuel to the fire.
Curious, he walked over to Su Yan and asked, "Lord Su, Zhao He's case hasn't even been tried yet, and you've already stirred up public resentment. Isn't that a bit much?"
Su Yan stood in the corner, watching Zhao He being pelted with vegetable leaves by the people, and she couldn't stop laughing as she replied to Pan Bao's words.
"General Pan, you don't understand. This is the way of officialdom, which cannot be explained in words, but can only be understood intuitively..."
Pan Bao still didn't understand the deeper meaning behind Su Yan's words, but Shen Yao did.
He knew that Su Yan was deliberately making a big deal out of this.
Zhao He is definitely just a pawn, not the real mastermind.
Su Yan deliberately made a scene to make the mastermind behind the scenes test the waters and become more cautious.
After all, the waters of Huai'an Prefecture are even more unfathomable.
After Zhao He's matter was settled, Su Yan stayed in Luoshui Town for five days.
They rescued Chunniang's son, discovered that Zhao He had always been under the control of the Luo family in Huai'an Prefecture, and found out that it was the Luo family who ordered the assassination of Su Yan and others.
The Luo family were local chieftains in Suizhou, and they were natives of the area. It wasn't until a hundred years ago, when the Great Liang conquered Suizhou, that Suizhou was incorporated into the territory of the Great Liang.
After discovering this clue, everyone's expression turned serious.
The Qiang people and the Liang people have never gotten along well, let alone the fact that the other party is a chieftain. It is clear that Li Qingming's case is not as simple as a mere embezzlement case.
It is obviously much more complicated than Zhang Jingzhi's case.
After reviewing the letters exchanged between Zhao He and the Luo family, Xie Yu looked at the other three with a serious expression.
"The Luo family are the real local tyrants of Suizhou. Should we continue our investigation?"
Su Yan remained silent for a long time, clearly indicating that if she continued the investigation, the level of danger she would encounter would not be the same as that of Zhao He.
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