Qi Bainian.
Liu Da had introduced him when he left Han Nancheng, so the name was still very familiar to Zhao Cheng.
Liu Da said that Qi Bainian was a well-regarded prefect in Jiangyang County, who was not greedy, lustful, or gambled, and even abstained from alcohol. But he never expected that he would have such a scoundrel as his brother-in-law.
But what Zhao Cheng cared about wasn't the name Qi Bainian, but Miao Shang's identity.
The commander of the local garrison.
Why would an officer who was supposed to be protecting the peace of his region turn around and slaughter civilians?
"Nonsense, trying to pull off a ridiculous charade?" Zhao Cheng said deliberately. "Do you think I'd believe you? You're definitely a pirate!"
"I'm not a pirate!" Miao Shang quickly pulled out his waist token and said, "Look, this prefectural governor's waist token can't be faked! And these people, search them, they all have waist tokens! Even if pirates wanted to impersonate the Jing Army, they couldn't get so many waist tokens!"
Heng Wenhao glanced at the waist tag and nodded to Zhao Cheng.
Zhao Cheng kicked Miao Shang and shouted, "Since you are the team leader and the prefect's brother-in-law, why did you slaughter the people?!"
"I……"
"explain!"
Miao Shang got up, clutching his wounded abdomen, and said, "The task assigned by the imperial court is simply too heavy. You don't know unless you've fought against the pirates. It's not difficult to drive them away, but killing them is extremely difficult. Once they run out to sea, they're impossible to catch..."
Buzz!
Zhao Cheng felt his head buzzing, and suppressing his anger, he asked, "So you slaughtered these villagers to use them to cover your tracks?"
Miao Shang nodded, pointed to the severed heads, and sighed, "The imperial court only looks at the heads and won't really investigate the identities of these people. We target villages with few people, and the village will suddenly disappear in a day, without attracting much attention. Even if it is discovered later, we can say it was done by pirates."
"Damn it!!!" Xu An, who was listening from the side, could no longer bear it. He kicked Miao Shang to the ground and then stomped on his wound.
Zhao Cheng clenched his fists, trembling with anger.
Miao Shang shouted, "It's not just me doing this! It's the same in other parts of Jiangyang County. If we fail to complete the mission, the imperial court will kill us as a warning to others. These defenseless villagers may die, but if we are killed, it will be a loss of imperial military strength. Think about it, if we are all killed, who will help the people fight off the pirates in the future?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Cheng flew into a rage and raised his foot to stomp down, but stopped in mid-air.
"Nonsense!!"
"Nonsense!!"
"I'd feel bad even kicking you!!!"
Zhao Cheng was furious. He remembered reading a book that said the truly evil people are those who believe that the crimes they commit are not actually crimes.
They always have a theory to prove they are right, not to cover up their crimes, but because they genuinely believe they are not wrong.
Some people even think they are great!
Miao Shang is just that kind of person!
Zhao Cheng patted Xu An and said, "Since you're so angry, then you can do it. Chop him into eight pieces!"
“No problem!” Xu An took the knife from a guard.
Seeing that Xu An was about to get serious, Miao Shang quickly said, "Don't be impulsive! Is it worth risking your lives for these villagers who have no relatives or friends? My sister only has me as her brother. If you kill me, she and my brother-in-law will not let you get away with it!"
Zhao Cheng asked, "Does Qi Bainian know about this?"
"My brother-in-law doesn't know, but no matter how well you do it, he can still find out who killed me in Jiangcheng!"
Miao Shang said sternly, "My brother-in-law is the prefect. It's no exaggeration to say that he's the local emperor in Jiangyang County! I know you are a wealthy family, but in Jiangyang County, you can't afford to offend him!"
"Bah!" Xu An stabbed Miao Shang in the thigh with the tip of his knife, shouting, "What's a mere prefect? Do you even know who my father is?!"
"I don't want to know!" Miao Shang immediately said, "And don't tell me your identities. Just let me go, and I'll pretend I've never met you and will never retaliate!"
Xu An grabbed Miao Shang's ear and shouted in his ear, "I'm going to tell you, my name is Xu An! Xu An!!"
Miao Shang shook his head and said, "I can't hear, I'm deaf!"
Xu An then pointed to Zhao Cheng and the others, saying, "His name is Zhao Cheng, his name is Huang Hua, his name is..."
“I have the memory of a goldfish! I didn’t remember a single word!!” Miao Shang knelt down and kowtowed to Xu An.
At this moment, Huang Hua approached Zhao Cheng and whispered, "Boss, I think we should not kill him."
Zhao Cheng looked at Huang Hua with displeasure and said, "Are you worried that Qi Bainian will retaliate?"
“That’s not it.” Huang Hua glanced at Miao Shang and lowered his voice, “I think that instead of killing him here, we should take him and all these people back to Qi Bainian and see how he handles them.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Cheng's eyes lit up.
He understood what Huang Hua meant.
Huang Hua continued, "We need to open up the market in Jiangyang County. Prefect Qi Bainian is key, but Miao Shang has committed many evils. We certainly won't pretend this never happened just because we want to curry favor with Qi Bainian. Sending him to Qi Bainian will also allow us to observe what kind of person Qi Bainian really is. Is he the good official Liu Da described, or a wolf in sheep's clothing?"
"We'll do as you say."
Zhao Cheng raised his hand and said, "Old Xu, have them all tied up."
Xu An asked doubtfully, "Aren't we going to kill them?"
Zhao Cheng looked at Miao Shang, snorted coldly, and said, "Since we're new here, we should at least pay our respects. Let's present the Prefect with a generous gift!"
"Phew..." Miao Shang breathed a sigh of relief.
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