Back at the county government office in Yuncheng, Wang Han had Yang Zhi and the others hand over the birthday gifts to the magistrate, and said with a smile, "I'm entrusting these 100,000 strings of cash to you to buy me a house and hire some reliable servants."
"Yes, General." Upon hearing this, the county magistrate replied with a bitter expression.
"Oh, right, we're about to hold court. Everyone, please change back into your old clothes first," Wang Han instructed, heading towards the backyard of the county government office.
"Yes." Yang Zhi and the others, who were prepared to be scolded, quickly responded and headed to the backyard of the county government office.
"Sigh!" The magistrate sighed and walked towards the backyard, knowing without a doubt who would be coming soon.
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"Get out of the way!"
Not long after, the general escorting the birthday tribute arrived at the county government office with his soldiers. The leading general angrily pushed aside the yamen runners at the door and went straight into the county government office.
"Where is the magistrate of Yuncheng? Come out quickly!" The leading general shouted as he entered the county government office and walked towards the main hall.
"It's you! How dare you, a court official, collude with thieves to rob the birthday tribute that Grand Secretary Liang was sending to Grand Tutor Cai!" Upon entering the hall and seeing the county magistrate sitting behind his desk, the leading general's face immediately darkened as he roared. This man was none other than one of the thieves who robbed the birthday tribute.
"General, I have never met you before. Why are you cursing me and framing me?" Upon hearing this, the county magistrate also spoke angrily, pretending to be stupid.
"You've been framed! Arrest this magistrate first, and search the county office!" the general ordered. He had originally come to the county office to ask the magistrate to send some constables, but unexpectedly, this magistrate was one of them. This saved him the trouble of searching.
"Search the county government office! Let's see who dares!" Upon hearing this, the county magistrate slammed his fist on the desk in front of him and angrily cursed, "The Divine Might General is currently resting in the county government office. If we disturb the Divine Might General, even Liang Zhongshu would not be able to bear the consequences."
"Great General Shenwei, humph, do you think I'd believe that? Even if the Heavenly King himself were here, I'd still search you! Search everything!" the general roared, ordering his men to search.
“Since they’re here to catch thieves, let them search.” Wang Han, dressed in black armor, led Yang Zhi and others, who were also in armor, out of the backyard of the county government office and said, “Today we’ve recovered a sum of money that bandits stole from the people. I hope that’s not the one you’re talking about.”
"Clang...!" Seeing Wang Han and the others emerge from the backyard of the county government office, the general immediately drew his sword from his waist, pointed it at Wang Han, and shouted, "You thieves are here too, perfect! Take them all down! Anyone who dares to resist, kill them without mercy!"
"Stop! This is General Shenwei!" Just then, Xie, the steward, shouted anxiously from behind the soldiers. He hurriedly pushed aside the soldiers in front of him and ran to the front. He knelt down in front of Wang Han and cried out, "This old servant greets General Shenwei. General Zhou Jin has never seen General Shenwei before. General Zhou Jin has mistaken you for someone else. Please forgive me, General Shenwei."
On the night of the gift-giving, Steward Xie also accompanied Liang Zhongshu to Wang Han's Divine Might General's Mansion to deliver the gifts. Having seen Wang Han before, and being a steward (similar to a secretary or steward), his ability to recognize faces was naturally excellent. Coupled with Wang Han's armor, he immediately confirmed Wang Han's identity. Unfortunately, due to the earlier chaos and being in the rear carriage, he hadn't seen Wang Han. Of course, this was also partly because Wang Han had secretly used illusion magic on him; otherwise, if he had been recognized, how could Wang Han's plan have been carried out?
"Steward Xie, are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?" Seeing Steward Xie's expression, the leading general couldn't help but panic and quickly asked him. If it really was General Shenwei, he would be in deep trouble today.
"Hurry up and pay your respects to General Shenwei!" Upon hearing this, Steward Xie quickly said.
"Isn't it here? The imperial edict is right here! Show it to him and see if it's real or fake." Wang Han said with a sneer, flipping his hand to take the imperial edict out of his backpack space (infinite backpack attachment) and tossing it to Yang Zhi, who was standing to the side.
"Take a good look and see if it's real." Yang Zhi took the imperial edict, walked up to Zhou Jin with a cold smile, neatly opened the edict for Zhou Jin to see, and said with a sneer.
"This humble general knows his mistake and begs for punishment from the Divine General." Upon seeing the imperial edict, Zhou Jin immediately knelt on the ground. Although he couldn't distinguish between genuine and fake edicts, he dared not say it was fake. If it were real, and he said it was fake, it would be a grave offense of disrespect, and his whole family would be ruined. Moreover, judging from Steward Xie's appearance, it was probably genuine.
“Since you’ve come to the county government to arrest thieves, and your miserable state doesn’t seem fake, if you suspect the county government and want to search it, then hurry up and search it!” Wang Han said.
"There are no thieves in the county government office!" Upon hearing this, Zhou Jin quickly replied, no longer daring to search.
“Today I led a group to suppress bandits and intercepted a sum of money and valuables that the bandits had plundered from the people. I brought it to the yamen. Can you tell if this is the birthday tribute you mentioned? Magistrate, have someone bring the stolen goods here,” Wang Han said.
"Yes." Upon hearing this, the magistrate immediately replied and ordered several yamen runners to fetch the birthday gifts that Wang Han had given him upon his return.
Before long, seven or eight yamen runners returned carrying large boxes, which they placed in the main hall. They then opened the boxes, revealing the valuables inside.
"Are they yours?" Wang Han asked.
"No." Upon hearing this, Steward Xie looked at the familiar boxes and the familiar money inside, and immediately denied it. General Shenwei had just said that the money and valuables were seized from the people by bandits, not stolen. If they admitted it, not only would they be finished, but Liang Zhongshu would also be implicated.
"Take a close look, see if it's true or not," Wang Han said with a sneer. The county magistrate, Yang Zhi, and the others also sneered. They had all realized that Wang Han's purpose in robbing the birthday gifts was to deal with Liang Zhongshu (the Grand Secretary).
“It’s definitely not what we lost.” Hearing Wang Han’s words, Steward Xie could only step forward and pretend to take a careful look. Seeing that these were indeed the lost birthday gifts, he firmly shook his head and said, “The amount of the birthday gifts is far less than this.”
"It's not our lost birthday tribute." Under pressure, Zhou Jin also stepped forward to take a look. Seeing that the boxes hadn't been changed, she said with the same certainty.
"If not, how much of the birthday tribute did you lose? What were the contents?" Wang Han asked again.
"They're all local specialties and dried goods, amounting to no more than thirty strings of cash," Steward Xie quickly replied upon hearing this. Sensing Wang Han's intentions, he spoke with extreme caution, carefully choosing each word.
"What kind of thieves were they?" Wang Han asked again. "Judging from your appearance, you must have had a fierce battle and must have seen what those thieves looked like, otherwise you wouldn't have mistaken us for them."
“Those thieves were all masked, and none of us could see them clearly,” Steward Xie quickly said.
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