Previously, Zhuge Zhongshen insisted on taking action against the imperial envoy. A group of officials disagreed, but they could not persuade him and had no choice but to participate. Originally, Zhuge Zhongshen wanted to kill the imperial envoy and his entourage directly.
In the end, it took a lot of persuasion from the officials to get him to give up the idea of eliminating the witnesses. However, now that the imperial envoy and his entourage had been rescued, Zhuge Zhongshen gave these officials a good scolding.
“If it weren’t for your fussing and soft-heartedness, like women, things wouldn’t be like this today. I’ve said before that those who do great things must be decisive and ruthless, but you didn’t listen and even tried to obstruct me. Things will only get worse if we wait too long. Right now, we can only wait for Wanyan Xiong’s reply before we can cooperate with his actions.”
Zhuge Zhongshen firmly believed that Wanyan Xiong could help him ascend the throne. The south was rich, and there were many beautiful women in Jiangnan. When he became emperor in the south, his life would be wonderful.
"By the way, sir, a few days ago someone came to your residence to arrest someone. They didn't give up after not finding the person and kept watch around for several days before leaving. I reckon those people were from the imperial court. The imperial envoy was probably rescued by them. Our situation has been dangerous lately," Prefect Mo Chunshan reminded him.
"Hmph, these blind fools, trying to take my family members hostage? They're dreaming! I won't let anyone hold my weakness against me. The Zhuge family left Xiyan City two months ago, and no one can mess with them." Two months ago, Zhuge Zhongshen learned through his connections that the imperial court had sent an imperial envoy.
He had a vague sense that something was wrong, so he made arrangements in advance. At this moment, he couldn't help but feel proud of his own cleverness; he was truly prescient.
On the other hand, the other officials had a complicated feeling. Their families were still in the prefectural city and had not been settled. If the prefect's family could not be found, they would start looking at their own families. What should they do?
However, even if they were worried, they couldn't show it. Otherwise, given Zhuge Zhongshen's suspicious nature, he would definitely suspect that they had rebellious intentions and would turn around and have someone wipe out their whole family.
After discussing important matters, the officials left in batches from the backyard of the gambling den. The backyard led to a narrow alley, just wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through.
These officials dared not park their carriages in the alley, as that would easily attract attention. They walked a distance, parked their carriages in different places, and pretended not to know each other when they came out, quickly getting into their carriages and leaving.
Watching the carriages depart, Zhu Xichen and Zhu Yueran exchanged a glance, and both of them curled their lips into a smile. They had finally caught this cunning and treacherous Prefect Zhuge; he had really been a long time coming.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have imagined that this guy had actually hidden in the gambling den. It seems that the owner behind the gambling den is this prefect.
"How was it?" Zhu Xichen asked with a light laugh.
"Go straight in and arrest him, lest things get complicated. Even if we can't catch the prefect's family, catching him will be just as useful." Before she finished speaking, Zhu Yueran had already teleported to the roof of the gambling house, and then silently leaped into the backyard of the gambling house.
Zhu Xichen smiled again. This fifth junior brother was really impatient; he didn't want to wait even a moment longer.
Half an hour later, the third and fifth senior brothers carried a human-shaped sack back to their lodging. At this time, Zhu Lin was sitting in the courtyard with Xingxing, looking at a map.
Although the internal affairs of Xiyancheng have not yet been resolved, the plan to evacuate the city's residents must be put on the agenda. First, they need to study the terrain of the Xiyancheng area and then estimate how many people live in the area.
How to relocate a large number of people, where to relocate them, whether there is enough time, how wide the flood will affect, etc., there are just too many things to think about.
These are all within the scope of what can be considered. There are many factors that cannot be taken into account. In short, it is extremely difficult to evacuate the people of a prefecture.
Currently, the military forces in Xiyancheng are all in the hands of Zhuge Zhongshen. We must find a way to remove Zhuge Zhongshen and then appoint a new official to take office.
Imperial Envoy Song Wu has already written a letter to the Emperor, which has been sent to the capital by express courier. The Emperor will surely make reasonable arrangements upon learning of the situation here. At that time, a new official will come to replace Zhuge Zhongshen. Only after the new prefect takes office will it be convenient to gather all the people of the city and then transfer them out together.
"Bang." Zhu Lin was deep in thought when a heavy object suddenly fell in front of him, sending dust flying.
"Who is it?" Zhu Lin asked, frowning as he stared at the human-shaped sack on the ground.
“Zhuge Zhongshen, we caught him at the gambling den and brought him back directly,” Zhu Xichen explained.
"Let's hand him over to Song Wu. He should be better at interrogating criminals than we are." Zhu Lin raised his chin and pointed towards the direction inside the room.
Xingxing looked up from the map and glanced at the person on the ground. "Why isn't he moving? Could he have died from that fall?"
"If he were really that easy to kill, it would save us trouble. It would save us the trouble of interrogating him. It would be the same to just ask other officials. We might as well just throw this guy out into the wild to feed the stray dogs." Zhu Xichen said with a forced smile, and even kicked the person on the ground.
Perhaps upon hearing that he was to be thrown to be fed to wild dogs, the man on the ground dared not play dead any longer and began to struggle and moan.
Zhu Yueran picked the man up, strode to Song Wu's door, threw him outside, and called out, "Lord Song, Zhuge Zhongshen has been found and is now yours to deal with."
Song Wu was talking to his subordinates inside the house when he suddenly heard Zhu Yueran's words. He was stunned for a moment, then immediately got up and came out. Looking at the sack outside the door, he quickly signaled his subordinates to untie the sack.
Upon seeing that the person tied up in the sack was indeed Zhuge Zhongshen, Song Wu wished he could kick him a few times on the spot to avenge the beating he had suffered in the dungeon.
However, being a scholar, he only imagined such an uncivilized act in his mind and did not put it into practice.
His subordinates were much more straightforward. When they saw Zhuge Zhongshen, that corrupt official, their anger surged to the top of their heads. They couldn't help but kick him. By the time they realized what was happening, they had already kicked him more than a dozen times, knocking him unconscious.
"Cough, that's enough. Don't kick him to death. Leave him alive so we can interrogate him. We need to get to the bottom of any dealings he has with the people of the Great Silver Kingdom. Take him away first, and make sure you keep a close eye on him. Don't let anyone rescue him." Song Wu solemnly instructed.
"My lord, why don't we just break his legs? This guy has harmed so many of us, more than a hundred people have died at his hands. He even killed my best brother. If we don't teach him a lesson, I won't be able to vent my hatred, and I will also be letting down the brothers who died."
This subordinate was a military officer named Zhong Beiqiang. He was very tall, with a muscular build and dark skin, but his face was somewhat handsome. He was an honest and straightforward person.
Song Wu, thinking of the still throbbing whip marks on his back, and not wanting Zhuge Zhongshen to have an easy time, nodded, "Be careful not to kill him."
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