"Don't trust him!" Song Yushu, who was riding a bay horse beside Lu Zhixing, snorted coldly and said loudly, "Don't you realize he's always trying to sow discord? The person who instigated you to rob the ransom must have also said, 'Just take the money and leave.'"
"You--" The thin man wanted to refute, but was interrupted by Song Yushu.
"What do you mean by 'you'? Look at the way you speak with such vigor. You don't look like a refugee at all. It's hard to say whether you are from Yunan County or not. Your accent doesn't sound like a local either!" Song Yushu spoke so fast that no one could keep up.
After hearing what Song Yushu said, the people present became suspicious. They looked at the soldiers who surrounded them, then at Lu Zhixing, and finally threw the silver and money in their hands to the ground.
"I'm telling you the truth. Soldiers will be cooking porridge for everyone in a moment. Just stand in line quietly and you won't be short of food." Lu Zhixing struck while the iron was hot. "I'm bringing ten of my own followers into the city. I hope someone can show me the way."
The appearance of these refugees was strange and they were very disciplined. Lu Zhixing believed that there must be the kidnappers who kidnapped Lu Yanzhou among them.
As expected, after a quarter of an hour of silence, two women pushed through the crowd and came out, bowing to Lu Zhixing. "I greet His Royal Highness Prince Jing. Please put down your swords and let us enter the city together."
Ever since his eye disease was cured, Lu Zhixing started tying ribbons around his eyes intermittently, which helped to hide the fact that he could see.
He "looked" at the two women through the ribbon, then threw the sword in his hand to Liu Bai, who immediately put it away and handed it to his confidant.
"You are worthy of being King Jing. I admire you." Seeing Lu Zhixing calmly throw away the sword in his hand, the woman's face also showed a trace of admiration.
Finally, Lu Zhixing, along with Song Yushu, Liu Bai and eight guards, followed them into Yunan County.
The city of Yun'an County was a scene devastated by the flood. Many people were trying their best to rescue things in the houses, and some people who had lost their loved ones were crying loudly while holding the corpses.
There were more people wearing coarse linen and short jackets who were carrying out rescue and disaster relief work in an orderly manner. Song Yushu watched them all the way and felt that they should be the people who were most familiar with Yunan County and the flood.
After wading through waist-deep water with difficulty, they finally arrived in front of a wooden building. Two women pushed open the door, and a woman in her twenties or thirties was looking at them with sharp eyes.
"Meet Prince Jing."
The woman didn't even stand up, and her expression was cold, with a hint of disdain.
Lu Zhixing didn't say anything, but sat down with the help of Song Yushu. Song Yushu looked at this heroic woman and asked, "Excuse me, who are you?"
This androgynous guy looked like a eunuch from the palace, but considering his achievements in flood control in Hongbao County, the woman still managed to say, "Wei Hongmei, the head of the Cao Gang."
Originally, she was from the Cao Gang. Luoxue Villa was also dominated by women, so she had cooperated with the Cao Gang several times and they got along quite well.
Song Yushu nodded. "Oh, so it's the Wei family leader. If you're from the Cao Gang, how come you're involved in pirate activities?"
This damn eunuch's words were truly rude! Wei Hongmei's eyes widened slightly, and she slammed the table and stood up, "What do you know, eunuch?! I'm robbing the rich to help the poor, it's the code of conduct! He's a dignified prince, and it's fine if he doesn't provide disaster relief, but he's also accepting bribes along the way!"
"So you kidnapped the prince?" Lu Zhixing looked unhappy, not because Wei Hongmei kidnapped the prince, but because of the words she scolded Song Yushu. If Song Yushu hadn't been holding him down, he would probably stand up and scold this ignorant woman.
Wei Hongmei wasn't afraid of Lu Zhixing's questioning. Instead, she held her head high and said, "So what?! The Cao Gang is made up of iron-blooded men. Even if it means exterminating our entire clan, we won't hesitate!"
"Just for a mere ten thousand taels of gold?" Song Yushu really didn't know whether Wei Hongmei was brave or foolish. What kind of crime was kidnapping the prince? "It doesn't matter if you die, but you want the entire city to be buried with you?"
It would be fine if they came out to collect the ransom themselves, but they actually asked the people of Yunan County to come out to collect it. Are they crazy?
When Wei Hongmei heard Song Yushu talking about a mere ten thousand taels of gold, her expression was still very angry, but when she heard him say that the entire city would be buried with him, the expression on her face suddenly changed.
"Well, that person told me that the emperor doesn't dare to deal with so many people, and at most he would just kill us, the leaders..."
The more Wei Hongmei talked, the less confident she became, and she began to doubt what the man said.
"The crown prince of a country was kidnapped. What a big deal! Do you think my father and the Ministry of Justice would care whether these people were civilians or not, and whether they were involved?" Only Lu Zhixing dared to say this.
Wei Hongmei's defenses were gradually broken, and she took two steps back. "No, no, no..."
"You need both courage and strategy. You're already the leader of a gang, but how can you still do things based solely on the passion in your heart?" Song Yushu sighed and shook his head, almost making Wei Hongmei cry.
It is not known whether they were lucky or unlucky, but they captured the prince in one fell swoop.
"If you hand the prince over to me now, I promise you that the people of Yunan County, and even the members of the Cao Gang, will not have to worry about their lives." Lu Zhixing made a promise to Wei Hongmei.
Wei Hongmei was a bit clueless. "Why should I trust you, a blind prince?"
"Even if he's blind, he's still a prince, beloved by thousands of soldiers, a treasure to the Queen Mother and the old master of the Lin Mansion! Who the hell do you think you are to speak like that?" Before Lu Zhixing could get angry, Song Yushu got angry first, "Do you really think you can defy the law just because you're a female knight?"
If Lu Zhixing hadn't held Song Yushu back, she would have rushed to Wei Hongmei and pointed at her nose and cursed her.
Wei Hongmei was frightened by Song Yushu's aura, and she was just being brave when she negotiated with King Jing. After all, King Jing's troops had surrounded Yunan County, and the Cao Gang only had the prince as a hot potato in their hands.
"I believe that you kidnapped the prince only because you believed the slander of a villain. As long as you hand over the prince as soon as possible, there will be fewer deaths, or even no deaths." Lu Zhixing persuaded patiently.
Wei Hongmei just wanted to do good things for the people, but the methods she used were too extreme.
Finally, Wei Hongmei compromised. After all, she had not expected that King Jing would personally go to Yunan County to persuade her to surrender. She also had not expected that there would be such a statement about asking the people to collect the ransom. She felt extremely regretful.
"Okay! I'll let him go!"
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