Seeing Su An's struggles, Master Lu's sarcasm deepened: "Stop shouting, no one can save you today."
As he spoke, he gestured for the constables to lift up the mixed cement and walk towards the mold where Su An and Lu Ming were.
Su An's heart pounded, and she looked at the approaching cement barrel with a sense of despair, her mind buzzing.
We've overcome so many difficulties, but today we're going to be defeated by a mere monster?
Damn it!
Driven by a fierce will to survive, Lu Ming gritted his teeth and tried to break free of the ropes, but they dug deep into his skin, and he was still unable to escape.
Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats approached from afar.
Anwu rode up at breakneck speed, followed by Lin Yong, whose face was ashen with rage, and more than ten constables who arrived at an extremely fast speed.
"Why did the county magistrate suddenly come?"
Master Lu narrowed his eyes ruthlessly, waved his hand, and signaled the constables to stop.
When Su An saw who it was, her heart immediately settled back into her stomach. With teary eyes, she stared at An Wu in front of her and said, "We're here!"
Thankfully, this handsome woman didn't abandon them!
An Wu leaped off his horse and in a few steps reached Su An and Lu Ming. With a flash of cold light from his dagger, the ropes scattered like a kite with a broken string.
"It's alright," Anwu said in a low voice, seemingly relieved that he hadn't arrived too late.
"Who are you? How dare you be so insolent here!" Master Lu immediately rebuked upon seeing this.
Seeing that Lin Yong had also dismounted, he tried to cover up his misunderstanding by saying, "These two were lazy and negligent in their road repair work. I've only brought them here to give them a little punishment. Don't meddle in other people's business, and don't even think about turning the tables on me!"
Upon hearing this, Su An was so angry that his eyes widened in fury and he gritted his teeth!
She turned to look at Lin Yong, who was striding towards her, and said, "Lord Lin, we discovered a major problem with the cement used for the road repair this morning. We were on our way to the yamen to verify the information when this scoundrel of a clerk stopped us."
"I suspect he embezzled the money and wanted to kill us to cover it up and stop us!"
Ever since An Wu suddenly arrived early in the morning, ordering him to lead troops to rescue people, Lin Yong had been in a state of disbelief the whole way, unable to understand why his advisor would kidnap Su An.
Upon hearing Su An's words, he immediately understood what was going on.
He glared at Master Lu, unable to hide his shock and anger, "Master, did you really do such a thing!"
But Master Lu stood tall, showing no fear: "Sir, I have been working under your yamen for nearly a year, and I have always acted with integrity and uprightness, as you have witnessed."
"This time, I was merely following the rules to punish these two, hoping to make an example of them, and I had no intention of actually taking action. I thought that would be enough to teach them a lesson, but who knew they would be so resentful and would actually try to frame me like this!"
"If you don't believe me, sir, you can produce the evidence. Don't convict me based solely on this woman's one-sided testimony!"
Upon hearing this, Su An exclaimed, "Wow!"
That's a really smooth way to turn the tables!
However, Lin Yong stared intently at Master Lu with a gloomy gaze.
Compared to the advisor, he trusted Su An more!
"Alright, then investigate." Lin Yongqiang suppressed his anger and spoke coldly.
"Guards, take Master Lu and his entourage back to the county office. I will investigate thoroughly to find out who is right and who is wrong!"
Back at the county office, Lin Yong saw the defective materials that Lu Ming had brought up, and his anger grew even stronger.
"This is outrageous! The materials were all purchased with public funds allocated by the government, how could such a serious oversight occur!"
"Continue the investigation!"
To have something like this happen right under his nose is nothing short of blatant defiance and utterly audacious! Lin Yong was furious, but also felt a chill run down his spine.
Fortunately, the mistake occurred at the county government office, and the matter was quickly clarified.
Before long, Gou You, who was in charge of procurement for the government office, was brought over.
"Your Honor, we've found out! It was Gou You who embezzled and falsified accounts, buying inferior materials to pass off as superior ones!"
Gou You was forced to kneel on the ground. When he met Lin Yong's furious gaze, he trembled for a moment and cried out, "Master, I'm innocent! I was forced into this!"
His head slammed against the ground repeatedly, his face filled with panic.
Su An, standing to the side, looked at the other person's appearance and instantly thought of Master Lu.
If we're talking about being forced, apart from that clerk Lu, probably no one in the entire yamen would dare to use coercion or bribery, right?
Lin Yong narrowed his eyes sharply and shouted, "The evidence is conclusive, and you still have the nerve to talk about being wronged!"
Gou Yousheng was afraid of being too slow to speak, so he couldn't wait to confess without being pressed.
"My lord, please investigate! All of this was done under the threat of the advisor. I have served you diligently for so many years. If it weren't for the advisor's coercion, why would I do something that could cost me my head!"
"Just as I suspected!" Su An clapped his hands. "This Master Lu is definitely the one!"
Lin Yong's face turned ashen, and he immediately ordered the clerk to be brought over.
Soon, the advisor, holding a folding fan and with an arrogant air about him, walked in.
Although he was supposed to be taken into custody, he somehow broke free from the constables and appeared arrogantly and domineeringly.
His demeanor was comparable to that of Lin Yong, the county magistrate.
When Master Lu saw Gou You kneeling and trembling, he couldn't help but curse him inwardly for betraying him so quickly.
"Master Lu, Gou You has confessed that you instigated him to embezzle road construction materials. What excuse do you have?!" Lin Yong stared at him, his anger rising sharply.
Facing Lin Yong, he neither bowed nor knelt, but merely scoffed lightly: "Fine, since this spineless coward has confessed and the account books have been checked, the evidence is conclusive, so I naturally won't offer any further explanations."
Su An almost cursed out loud.
They just admitted it so openly? How arrogant! Absolutely outrageous!
Lin Yong glared at him through gritted teeth: "It's a waste that I admired your wisdom and talent and recruited you as my advisor. I never expected to find a wolf in sheep's clothing who is lining his own pocket. You have utterly disgraced the integrity of a scholar-official!"
"Integrity? In this day and age, what's integrity worth? What's more real than gold, silver, and power?"
Having laid his cards on the table, Master Lu no longer pretended, his greedy and despicable eyes revealing his true colors: "Master, considering you recruited me into your household, I'll kindly give you a pointer."
“Prefect of Qingzhou, your superior, all those ill-gotten gains must be sent there intact.”
"Sir, money is a powerful motivator, especially for such a significant project, which involves a lot of hard-earned cash. Who wouldn't be envious? Rather than toiling away here like a slave without any advancement, why not do the prefect a favor? He might just give you a hand!"
He spoke of bribery with extreme pride, as if it were perfectly natural.
Lin Yong suddenly fell silent, shocked and bewildered.
He never expected that the prefect was involved!
It turns out that Master Lu's confidence stemmed from having found a powerful backer long ago!
In an instant, grief, anger, and helplessness welled up in his heart, causing him to slam his fist heavily on the table.
Su An also came to his senses, his heart pounding with fear, and he was furious: "Xiao Dao has really opened his eyes! A road construction project in a county can attract so many people trying to get involved and share the profits?!"
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