Jia Ren quietly gave some instructions to the constables beside him, then waved his hand and shouted loudly at Su Xing, "Men, surround Su Xing for me!"
Although they only surrounded Su Xing, the yamen runners also surrounded Su Muxi, confronting the guards protecting Su Muxi.
After all, judging from Su Muxi's words just now, she wanted to protect Su Xing and take revenge on their county magistrate.
This caused some of the constables who had just felt a little grateful to Su Muxi to instantly lose all goodwill towards her, and their hearts were filled with resentment and other emotions.
If Su Xing hadn't woken up, the people of Fukang County wouldn't be in this situation!
If they hadn't woken up, their relatives and friends wouldn't have contracted the plague!
If Su Xing hadn't woken up, they wouldn't have had to do this dirty and tiring work!
I thought Su Muxi was really the kind of person who distinguished between public and private matters, just like she said before, and that she was sent by the emperor to help them. I never expected that she was just like Su Xing!
Looking at Su Muxi's calm face, Jia Ren had a bad feeling for some reason, but he maintained a serious and hesitant expression.
"Your Highness, Su Xing harmed the people of an entire city for his own selfish gain, which is an unforgivable crime. As the Princess of Yong'an, and with the Emperor's decree on your behalf, you must not aid and abet evil or do anything foolish!"
Jia Ren spoke earnestly, but Su Muxi simply let out a cold laugh.
"Ha! Lord Jia, you say my father harmed the people of this city and his crime is unforgivable? Then you poisoned the people of this city, shouldn't you be executed by being torn to pieces?!"
Upon hearing Su Muxi's words, Jia Ren's expression changed.
As expected, Su Muxi knew everything, but even if she knew, what could she do?
Without evidence, it's all just empty talk!
"Your Highness, I never imagined you would come up with such a ridiculous excuse to exonerate Su Xing! I am the magistrate of Fukang County, how could I possibly poison the people here?! Moreover, all the doctors have examined the infected people, and they have contracted a plague, not poisoning as you claim!"
As soon as Jia Ren finished speaking, the person who had been standing next to Su Xing wearing a cloak slowly took off the cloak, revealing his slightly pale face.
Su Muxi had never met this person before, but she knew his identity.
According to the Marquis of Anyuan, countless people in the city have fallen ill, but only four government officials have contracted the disease.
Therefore, those four must have discovered Jia Ren's conspiracy but refused to collude with him.
Cao San's father was one of them, and Wu Tai, the clerk, was also one of them.
Therefore, Wu Tai, who is still alive, is the witness who identifies Jia Ren's crimes!
That is why Jia Ren showed a look of shock when he saw this person.
"You...how could you..."
"What? You think I should already be dead, that I can't possibly be alive anymore, is that it?"
Wu Tai's voice was cold, and a sneer played on his lips. In the firelight, his expression looked terrifying.
One of the constables exclaimed in surprise, "Commissioner Wu?!"
This shout caused the surrounding constables to show signs of panic and take a few steps back.
Wasn't Wu Dianshi dead five days ago?
Why did it appear here?
Could this be the wronged spirit of Wu Dianshi?
But Wu Dianshi died of the plague. If he wanted to take his life, he should have sought it from Su Xing. Why was he standing next to Su Xing, staring so fiercely at the magistrate?
The other officials looked even more uneasy when they saw Wu Tai.
The shadow beneath Wu Tai's body indicates it is not a vengeful spirit.
So Wu Tai didn't die; he came to settle scores with Jia Ren!
Actually, they weren't aware of Jia Ren's conspiracy at first. It wasn't until the day after Su Xing was imprisoned and learned of Wu Tai's death that they understood everything.
Jia Ren had obviously noticed something was wrong with them, so he went to find them all.
Now that the city gates are closed, they are nothing more than fish on a chopping board. If they do not listen to Jia Ren, their fate will surely be the same as Wu Tai's.
So they could only pretend they knew nothing and follow Jia Ren's arrangements.
But now that Wu Tai is still alive and has even approached Princess Yong'an, they will likely be purged together and their lives will be in danger.
Thinking of this, some officials began to tremble violently, and some even stumbled backward and fell to the ground.
Jia Ren glared coldly at the group of officials. "What are you panicking about?! With nearly a thousand soldiers protecting you, how could some unknown person possibly harm you?!"
Before the officials could speak, Wu Tai sneered, "Jia Ren, are you planning to have the soldiers at the city gate kill us all? I never realized you were such a heartless and ruthless person!"
"What nonsense are you spouting?! I know you're definitely in cahoots with Su Xing. You faked your death to deceive me and try to escape punishment. Now that you see Princess Yong'an can back you up, you feel emboldened and have come out from the shadows!"
In my opinion, you are the one who is truly depraved and insane!
No wonder no one noticed when Su Xing delivered the fake medicine the first two times; it turns out you were secretly covering for Su Xing!
Just how much money did you take from Su Xing to be able to do something so unscrupulous and harm the people?!
After hearing Jia Ren's words, Wu Tai clapped his hands, his sneer deepening.
"Jia Ren, you really know how to cry wolf! You poisoned the people's drinking water to create the illusion of a plague, pretending to care about the people and spending all your wealth to ask the Su family for medicine. In reality, you had already conspired with the Wei family to tamper with the medicine that Mr. Su sent!"
You sealed the city gates to prevent news from leaking out. Anyone who discovers your plot and refuses to cooperate with you will be secretly eliminated!
As he spoke, Wu Tai faced the crowd and said loudly, "I am Wu Tai, the magistrate of Fukang County. I overheard a conversation between Jia Ren and Wei Huan and learned that this plague was a conspiracy set up by the Wei family to annex the Su family."
After being discovered, Jia Ren saw that I was stubborn and refused to obey, so he knocked me unconscious and forcibly fed me poison, making it look like I had contracted the plague.
Fortunately, Mr. Su's men found me in time and told me to hold my breath and pretend to be dead, which saved me from disaster.
Therefore, there was no plague in Fukang County at all; it was all a conspiracy orchestrated by Jia Ren and the Wei family!
After Wu Tai finished speaking excitedly, he took a few deep breaths and then looked at Jia Ren again.
"Jia Ren, there's something I just can't understand. So many people have already been poisoned, why won't you stop? Why do you keep poisoning them?! Do you really want the entire city to die?!"
Jia Ren's eyes flickered, and after a long while, his expression suddenly changed, transforming from an upright and honest official into a sinister and ruthless villain.
"How could the plague not spread and not get worse? If anyone is to blame, it's Su Xing for being ungrateful and refusing the Wei family's kindness. Otherwise, the people in this city wouldn't be suffering like this!"
So, if anyone's to blame, it's Su Xing!
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