"Hmph, just an old codger, what's with the arrogance..."
"Smack..."
The Third Master had just finished speaking with a disdainful look when he received a heavy slap across the face from the county magistrate.
"What do you know to dare spout nonsense here? Everyone, stop!"
The magistrate angrily cursed, ordering the thugs and soldiers to stop their attack. He then bowed with a forced smile and said, "Your Excellency, I was unaware of your arrival. I am deeply sorry for not giving you a proper welcome. Why didn't you inform me in advance so that I could have made preparations?"
His attitude was very good, but he didn't remove the people, which shows that he harbored treacherous intentions.
Zhou Renjun naturally saw through it, but he remained calm and wanted to see what the magistrate would do.
So he said calmly, "I just happened to be passing by and heard someone crying out for justice, so I came to take a look."
The magistrate cursed him inwardly for blatantly lying, but smiled and said, "This man is truly ignorant. Yazhou Ridge is under my jurisdiction. His act of filing a complaint beyond his jurisdiction is really against the rules!"
In the Dasheng Dynasty, filing a lawsuit against someone outside one's jurisdiction would result in being punished with a beating.
"Oh, no, someone reminded me, so I came to check myself," Zhou Renjun said, his words perfectly tactful.
This left the county magistrate feeling frustrated, but he didn't know how Zhou Renjun had gotten here, and there was really nothing he could do about it.
He could only continue to smile obsequiously, "Your Excellency has come from afar. Why don't you come to the yamen first? I will welcome you and treat you well. We can talk about anything else later."
Zhou Renjun understood the magistrate's meaning perfectly well: this was an attempt to win him over and also to test his attitude.
I fear that if he refuses, the magistrate will reveal his true intentions.
However, he didn't care about it.
When he agreed to become the imperial envoy to Qiongzhou, he was already mentally prepared and knew what kind of situation he would face here.
Qiongzhou has long suffered from deep-seated problems, and drastic measures are needed to bring about positive change.
He hadn't found an opportunity before, but now that he could make an example of someone, he naturally wouldn't let it go.
Then, in a slightly cool tone, he said, "If I do not agree, what will the magistrate do?"
Upon hearing this, the magistrate's smile vanished instantly, and his expression darkened.
"It wasn't easy for you, Prefect, to get to your current position. Smart people know that you can only live better by adapting to local customs."
The magistrate said coldly, "If someone is too unsociable, their fate is often quite tragic."
"Oh, then, Your Excellency, please tell me how tragic it is?" Zhou Renjun remained unmoved, his expression stern.
This attitude reassured Yun Zhourong and the others, making them feel that they had indeed trusted the right person.
The magistrate, however, lost his patience and, in a fit of rage, said, "Zhou Renjun, since you refuse to listen to reason and are forced to drink the penalty cup, then don't blame me for being ruthless!"
"What? I am not just a prefect, but also an imperial envoy specially appointed by His Majesty. To harm me is tantamount to treason. Do you intend to commit treason?"
Zhou Renjun roared, and his imposing aura made the people on the county side tremble and feel intimidated.
"Ha, Qiongzhou is a wild and uncivilized place with poor public security. The prefect doesn't stay in his jurisdiction properly and just wanders around. If something happens, it has nothing to do with me."
After speaking, the magistrate took a step back, then waved his hand and said, "Everyone, listen up! There are bandits impersonating imperial officials who are colluding with demons and attempting to instigate a rebellion. Kill them all on the spot immediately! Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"
"yes!"
These officers and thugs had done this kind of thing before. They had previously sent in many tough officials, but they had all been dealt with by them under various pretexts.
Therefore, they did not show the same awe as others when facing high-ranking officials. Instead, they acted decisively and ruthlessly, displaying the arrogance of petty people who had achieved their goals.
"My lord, what do you think?" Yun Hongcheng asked anxiously as he stepped forward.
"Hey, just as you said. In that case, there's no need to hold back."
Zhou Renjun sighed and solemnly said, "All those who resist shall be executed on the spot, but the magistrate and Wang San shall be spared."
"yes."
Yun Hongcheng finally breathed a sigh of relief; now they could finally act without any worries.
"Bang bang bang..."
"boom…"
Soon after, a continuous stream of gunfire and explosions rang out across the field.
The magistrate's party, which had initially been very aggressive, was soon routed and suffered heavy losses.
Zhou Renjun, seeing the one-sided situation before him, was also stunned and speechless.
Although Yun Hongcheng had told him about the power of the special weapon before, seeing it with his own eyes now, he found that it far exceeded his imagination!
"Sorcery! This is definitely sorcery!"
Seeing the mangled corpses of their companions on the ground, the magistrate's men screamed and retreated, no longer having the courage to rush forward; they were all terrified.
"Come back here! Keep charging forward! Don't leave! Come back to me!"
The magistrate was so anxious that he shouted loudly, but no one paid any attention to him. Before long, they all abandoned their armor and fled.
They dared to work for the county magistrate before because they were confident of victory and were willing to risk their lives.
But now, with such a disparity in strength, they see no hope and are naturally unwilling to make any more pointless sacrifices.
Soon, the county magistrate and the third master, who had become isolated, were captured by Zhou Renjun.
Knowing that all was lost, both of them looked utterly devastated.
"Let's go, take these two men to the county government office."
Zhou Renjun gave a brief instruction to his men, then looked at Yun Hongcheng and said, "Go and bring out those slaves. They are important witnesses and must come with you."
"Good." Yun Hongcheng quickly shared this good news with the slaves.
"Mmm..."
The first thing the slaves did after they came out was to kneel down and kowtow to Zhou Renjun, each of them sobbing uncontrollably.
After enduring so much darkness, the dawn has finally broken, how could they not be excited?
Even Zhou Renjun felt a pang of pity at the sight, so he stepped forward to help the people up, saying, "Don't worry, now that I'm here, I will definitely give you justice!"
Afterwards, the group rushed to the county government office overnight.
The Wang family.
At that moment, the Wang family was having dinner when they suddenly saw the butler tumbling in.
"Master, something terrible has happened!"
"Let's talk this out. What kind of behavior is this, all this panic!"
Master Wang slammed his hand on the table in displeasure before asking in a deep voice, "What happened?"
"Master, we just received news that our illegal workshop has been raided, and the prefect himself has taken the county magistrate and Wang San away." The steward didn't even dare to breathe before blurting it all out.
"What!"
Even Master Wang's expression changed drastically at this moment, and his hand trembled, causing his chopsticks to fall to the ground.
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