His speech was slow, but every word struck like a hammer blow, resonating deeply with everyone present.
Almost instantly, everyone knelt down, trembling.
"Your Majesty is wise and sagacious! Long live the Emperor! We will certainly abide by the law and never dare to disobey!"
The shouts grew louder and louder, but Su An stared at Fu Zhun and listened to his explanation, feeling completely bewildered.
Why was she so skeptical? Would the emperor care about the life or death of a small county town?
Why did Fu Zhun attribute this achievement to the emperor in front of everyone?
Suddenly, Su An clenched his fist, thinking of a certain possibility.
Perhaps during his time in the capital, Fu Zhun compromised with the emperor, or perhaps they reached some kind of agreement?
Su An felt increasingly uneasy, especially since Fu Zhun had told her not to ask any further questions. So, after returning home, she quickly went to the clinic next door to find Xie Qingfeng.
The clinic has been renovated, and the room is filled with a faint aroma of medicine. The cabinets are once again filled with various herbs and medicine bottles.
Xie Qingfeng was casually arranging the medicinal herbs when he saw Su An coming over. He merely raised an eyebrow as a greeting.
Su An walked straight up to him anxiously, "Divine Doctor, I feel there's something going on between Fu Zhun and the Emperor. Do you know anything about it?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Qingfeng shrugged without any politeness and said, "Do you think I'm like you, with so much free time to gossip about such trivial matters?"
"I only care about treating patients and saving lives; I know nothing else."
Su An choked for a moment, then frowned and asked, still unwilling to give up, "But you've been following Fu Zhun the whole time, don't you know even the slightest bit of the inside story?"
Why does she still not believe it?
However, Xie Qingfeng was never one to hold back. Upon hearing this, he simply rolled his eyes at her and said, "Are you really that stupid or just pretending? Do you want me to prick your head to clear your head?"
"Court politics are incredibly complex. If I don't let you know, it's because you shouldn't know. Otherwise, be careful not to get involved and bring trouble upon yourself. And if you want to die, don't drag me down with you."
Su An: "..."
That makes a lot of sense.
Although she was still very worried, Xie Qingfeng's attitude showed that she had no way of getting the information.
He could only hang his head and leave with a sigh.
On the other side...
The opulent palace halls had an atmosphere that was almost suffocating.
"Useless! You piece of trash!" Chu Yi's roar echoed throughout the hall, making the beams of the hall seem to tremble slightly.
"Such a golden opportunity, and you, a piece of trash, have squandered it all!"
"The journey back to the capital with Zhun was a golden opportunity to eliminate him, yet you did nothing and insisted on pushing this thorny matter to my doorstep!"
"Don't you need to think this through with your blockhead? Without a legitimate and compelling reason to kill him, how can I possibly allow myself to take action? How can I appease the officials and the general public? Do you even realize how much trouble you've caused me!"
Below, He Cheng lay prostrate on the ground, his forehead pressed firmly against the earth, enduring the emperor's throwing and cursing without daring to flinch.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. After all, the Prince of Zhenbei holds a high position and wields great power. This humble servant dared not act on his own initiative. It was all out of necessity! If there is a next time, this humble servant will surely cut off his head and present it to Your Majesty to atone for his crime!"
He Cheng spoke with an air of resignation, as if facing death, but in his heart he was already cursing the heavens.
He also wished he could kill Fu Zhun with his own hands, but it was precisely because he had a brain that he did not listen to the emperor and do so.
Otherwise, the emperor at that time would place all the blame for the death of the Prince of Zhenbei on him, and he himself would be the one to die!
No matter how much you want to get promoted and make money, you still need to be alive first!
...
Since Fu Zhun ruthlessly executed a group of people as a warning, there has been almost no further disturbance in the county, and the people have begun to focus on post-disaster reconstruction and live a quiet life.
However, Su An belatedly realized that Magistrate Lin Yong, who had disappeared since the city was besieged, seemed to have yet to reappear?
She immediately ran to find Fu Zhun, who was sitting behind his desk in the study as usual, seemingly reading a letter in his hand.
"No, something terrible has happened! Lord Lin has been missing for a long time, and I suspect he may have perished. Fu Zhun, do you have any way to help us find him?"
Fu Zhun slightly raised his eyes, smiled at Su An's timely arrival, and then handed her the letter in his hand.
"Don't worry, Lord Lin is a man of great integrity. He is currently a guest at the home of the Prefect of Qingzhou and has even helped resolve the epidemic prevention issues there. His contributions are truly invaluable."
"..."
"ah???"
Su An felt a sense of disbelief, as if she had been joked with, and accepted the letter with a bewildered expression.
I didn't know until I looked that the letter was actually sent by the prefect of Qingzhou.
The letter recounts that the prefect had previously invited Lin Yong to Qingzhou as a guest. However, during his stay, a small-scale plague broke out in the city for unknown reasons. Lin Yong, being kind-hearted, took the initiative to stay and help the people of Qingzhou prevent the plague.
The prefect of Qingzhou admired Lin Yong even more and sincerely invited him to stay at his residence for a few more days. That's why he sent a message today to inform the county government.
Xie Qingfeng, standing to the side, clicked his tongue and said, "In my opinion, the prefect of Qingzhou had already detained Lin Yong without permission. Now that the prince has suddenly returned, he has changed his attitude towards Lin Yong immediately. This message is also to test the prince's intentions."
"The so-called reason for keeping Lin Yong as a guest is just a pretext. The prefect of Qingzhou is quite a clever man, very good at judging the situation."
As Su An listened, he suddenly realized what was going on.
Although she felt somewhat relieved, she was still furious and sneered, "Whether he's smart or not, we don't know, but he's definitely a treacherous opportunist."
"It's amazing how shameless he is, a complete tough nut to crack. He besieged the county and set it on fire, harming so many people, and now he acts like nothing happened!"
At this moment, Fu Zhun finished reading the second letter in his hand, frowned slightly and said, "Then the prefect wrote me another letter."
"The letter states that he knew nothing about the city's lockdown, claiming it was all the work of his advisor who acted on his own initiative because the advisor failed to accept a bribe. He has now executed the advisor to prove his innocence to me."
"Innocent?" Su An slammed his fist on the table in anger, speechless with disbelief. "How could a mere clerk mobilize the soldiers of Qingzhou? How could he have the audacity to massacre the entire city? It's clearly the dog-like prefect who pushed this clerk to take the blame!"
"You're spewing filth, and you still have the nerve to claim innocence!"
She looked at Fu Zhun angrily and asked, "What do you plan to do about this? We can't let that bastard get away with it!"
“There’s no rush.” Fu Zhun narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the letter with a cool and profound look.
“If we’re going to take him down, we’ll do it right, leaving him no room for a comeback or any excuses.”
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