Chapter 544 As expected, a miraculous escape!
Power does not exist in a vacuum; it only shifts.
No words could better describe the current situation in Xunyang City.
Ouyang Rong was escorted out of the house by Rong Zhen and other female officials from the Censorate, almost in a grand sedan chair. When they arrived at the Xingzifang construction site, many officials were already waiting expectantly.
Yuan Huaimin, Yan Liulang, Chen You, and other officials from the Jiangzhou government office, having received advance notice, rushed to greet them.
As soon as Ouyang Rong came down, they immediately surrounded him, as if they had found their pillar of support.
In particular, Yuan Huaimin's haggard, sleepless face suddenly looked refreshed, as if he had finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Ouyang Rong didn't say anything polite. After understanding the situation from Yuan Huaimin and Yan Liulang, he began to give instructions and make arrangements, issuing a series of orders.
He seemed to understand his fellow officials very well. The orders he issued and the tasks he arranged were all in line with the strengths of the officials in charge, and he would even offer a word of advice based on their personalities.
This near-meticulous knowledge of everything gave the officials a great sense of security. Of course, at the same time, there was also a sense of urgency and seriousness, because they knew that the young official in front of them, who was temporarily exercising the powers of the governor, was not easy to fool, and might even be more knowledgeable than they were about the tasks they were asked to do...
As the entire team's morale was renewed, the complaints and noises throughout the construction site began to disappear, or at least lessened considerably.
It's an atmosphere that's hard to describe; it sounds unbelievable, but it's undeniably effective and produces immediate results.
For example, the laborers and supervisors on construction sites who are controlled and not allowed to leave their posts even for eating, drinking, or relieving themselves.
As objects of untrusted surveillance, surrounded by black-armored soldiers holding torches, they endured a night of mental and physical stress, already bearing tired dark circles under their eyes. Some privately grumbled, others trembled, and still others were filled with pessimism and fear.
Upon hearing that the former chief secretary Ouyang Lianghan had arrived and seeing him appear surrounded by stern-faced "nobles and officials" such as Rong Zhen and Qin Yanqing, it seemed as if he was the one who had returned to restore order.
At first, there was nothing wrong with it. Perhaps not everyone had met this former chief secretary in private, but there was a group of people like Huang Feihong who had worked at the Xunyang Grottoes who understood Ouyang Rong's fair, just, gentle and kind way of doing things.
They naturally breathed a sigh of relief and began to mutter with delight, "We're saved!" "The Chief Secretary is reasonable!" The other laborers, hearing this, were either infected by the emotion or inquired about the deeds of this former Chief Secretary, their faces showing reverence...
Despite the cold, drizzling night and the lack of food and clothing, a warm current called a sense of security gradually gathered and flowed among the crowd, becoming more attractive than a torch for people to approach and warm themselves.
Many of these people had never actually met or interacted with Ouyang Lianghan; they had only heard others praise him and had a faint positive impression of him. But it was these faint impressions that, when gathered together, filled the void of confidence that was most lacking in the entire room.
The two women, Rongzhen and Song Mama, who had been looking serious, were somewhat surprised to find that the whole place had quieted down considerably.
In addition, the atmosphere among the elite black-armored soldiers who were dispatched also subtly changed.
This was mainly thanks to the leaders, including Qin Yanqing. Upon learning that Ouyang Rong had arrived, Qin Yanqing, who was usually stern and unsmiling in front of Wei Shaoqi, Lin Cheng, and Wang Lengran, surprisingly went to greet him personally. In addition, the generals below noticed that Qin Yanqing had a smile on his face.
Having heard Grand Marshal Qin Jingzhen praise the young former Chief Secretary, the generals in various positions naturally relaxed a bit, just like their superiors. They were no longer as cold and serious as before, and this sentiment reached the lowest ranks, where the black-armored soldiers also lost some of their ferocity...
The impact of Ouyang Rong's arrival is too numerous to describe.
What is prestige? Prestige is not violence. In a sense, prestige is a consensus, a specific consensus on a particular person. The title of "Greatest Emperor of All Time" is a consensus, "Supreme Sage and Teacher" is a consensus, and "National Hero" is also a consensus.
A consensus about a person can be either praise or condemnation. Good consensus is naturally difficult to build and maintain, but once a person has such a consensus and is recognized by the masses, he has prestige and can rally a disorganized group at any time to exercise power.
The first thing Ouyang Rong did upon arriving at the Xingzihu construction site was to have the people around him light the brightest torches, and under the guise of inspecting the site, he took a tour of the entire area.
He made sure everyone could see him clearly and knew that Ouyang Lianghan had arrived.
The results are obvious to all.
In the interplay of light and shadow between the torches and the night, pairs of bloodshot eyes, filled with complex emotions and hope, gazed at this tall, slender, and upright figure. They even saw him walk towards the lakeside, where a makeshift altar had been erected by the laborers.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Ouyang Rong offered a libation cup. Some remained silent, some were moved, and some choked with emotion.
Turning around, Ouyang Rong immediately set to work on dealing with this mess... He first reassured the laborers who were the prime suspects, explaining the current situation to them frankly and explaining why the Censorate and the Jiangzhou government had to seal off the area.
He immediately withdrew most of the black-armored soldiers from the construction site, at least not to supervise them like death row inmates, and ordered his men to prepare hot water, set up sheds and fires to improve the conditions at the construction site...
Ouyang Rong also instructed the female officials and soldiers patrolling the city that they must not disturb the rest of people who had closed their doors at night, and that everything should be discussed during the day... and so on, making arrangements one by one.
Seeing the soldiers guarding the construction site withdraw one by one and relax their vigilance, Granny Song immediately curled her lips into a smile.
Next, Ouyang Rong's suggestion was met with even stronger opposition from the old woman with the disdainful eyes:
"Lift the citywide security outside Xingzifang? No, what if we let that thief escape?"
As a result, Ouyang Rong's casual remark left her speechless:
"After the incident, only Xingzifang was sealed off immediately and under the strictest control. If Xingzifang couldn't contain him, what about the other wards? They would have left long ago. Moreover, I heard Lady Rong mention that this boy has the potential to be a legendary swordsman. Are you kidding me?"
"The current lockdown of Xingzifang is only to prevent one possibility: that this boy has temporarily lost his ability to move after killing people with his sword and can only stay in place. This only needs to be checked once... The chances of finding him outside Xingzifang are slim, so there is no point in checking. It will only affect the livelihood of the people. It is unnecessary to involve the whole city for the deaths of a few people."
Granny Song's expression was unpredictable as she stared intently at Ouyang Rong's expression, her lips pursed, refusing to budge.
A moment later, at Qin Yanqing's suggestion, everyone began to vote... Finally, under Ouyang Rong's watchful gaze, Rong Zhen, who had personally invited him, also cast her vote in favor.
Only Granny Song remained to object, and she threatened, "If you let the master of Butterfly Love Flower escape, how will you explain yourselves to the Emperor and the court!"
Ouyang Rong said calmly:
“The one who should report to His Majesty is Vice Director Song. Do you really think that the most important thing right now is to investigate the murderer and bring him to justice? I suggest we put aside personal grudges.”
"What does Ouyang Sima mean?"
Ouyang Rong didn't bother to answer, and instead told Yuan Huaimin to go to the water repair shop to invite the Prince of Xunyang and his heir, so that they could appear in the city the next morning to appease the Xunyang people who had been terrified all night.
Immediately afterward, he turned to attend to other matters.
Granny Song squinted at Ouyang Rong's back, wanting to stop him, but Rong Zhen tugged at her sleeve.
After calming her senior down, Rong Zhen stepped forward and, finding a secluded spot, seized the opportunity to ask Ouyang Rong:
"Ouyang Lianghan, what did you mean by that earlier?"
Ouyang Rong didn't look at her, and casually pointed to the hanging Buddha head that he had already had slowly lowered not far away.
"Lady Rong, don't forget your duties and those of the Censorate. Casting the Buddha statue for His Majesty is your primary responsibility. Investigating cases and catching criminals is just a side job. Don't confuse the main and the secondary."
"If I were you, I would rush to check the condition of the Buddha head immediately, instead of focusing all my energy on venting my anger and catching the culprit. It's understandable that Granny Song lost her disciple, but what about you, Lady Rong? You're just playing along with her. Oh, by the way, it seems that Lady Rong also hates this guy quite a bit."
"Fortunately, the Buddha head doesn't seem to be damaged this time. Let's not even talk about whether the master of Butterfly Love Flower can be caught or not. Even if he is caught, what then? At most, he can take the blame, but he has deviated from the main objective and is still responsible for dereliction of duty... So the better you protect the Buddha head now, the less likely you are to be severely punished by His Majesty, because you are still useful and can be spared to atone for your sins."
"But I still maintain that the legendary swordsman is not so easy to capture. This time, the opposition forces in the Tiannan Jianghu who are suspected of colluding with Li Zhengyan may have set a trap with the Butterfly Love Flower Master. They lured you away and then had the Butterfly Love Flower Master secretly deploy the sword... If it is really that meticulous, do you think they wouldn't have arranged a foolproof escape route for him?"
"Moreover, from another perspective, the fact that the Buddha's head has not been completely destroyed may indicate that this person did not have enough time and could only destroy the Buddha's body to delay the time as much as possible, because the Buddha's head could be transported from Luoyang at any time, but the Buddha's body would take a long time and effort to transport."
"Then why was there not enough time? It's very likely related to his plan to retreat using special methods."
Rong Zhen frowned: "You mean, he has already left Xingzifang with the Dingjian sword?"
"There are two possibilities: one is that they are exhausted and waiting to die; the other is that they have already escaped and left Xingzifang immediately after the murder. And I heard from you that the powerful old musician used his music to help you find the murderer. There are currently no unfamiliar Qi cultivators in Xingzifang, so... that's enough, as long as you show the right attitude."
"Protecting the Buddha's head is already the greatest achievement. What you need to do now is to thoroughly investigate why there was the sound of the zither and why a swordsman was missed. Follow the investigation to figure out this person's modus operandi so that we can prevent this from happening again. This is called learning a lesson, and in His Majesty's eyes, it is also fulfilling your duties."
"Instead of wasting time like this, forever following the rhythm of that Butterfly Lovers Master, does Lady Rong understand?"
His tone was serious and meaningful.
Rongzhen turned her head and silently watched Ouyang Rong's retreating figure with his sleeves tucked behind him as he finished speaking.
A moment later, she went to talk to Granny Song...
The following day, Xunyang City stabilized, and about two days later, Xingzifang was unsealed.
On the third day, the Xingzihu construction site, which had been heavily guarded, was finally reopened.
After only one round of elimination, the blockade was quickly lifted. Of course, Granny Song objected. However, whenever Ouyang Rong cast that look that seemed to say, "Why don't you let her take charge and I'll go back?", everyone silently voted and resolutely chose the latter.
The Buddha's head has been carefully protected.
Only the death scenes of Lin Cheng, Wang Lengran, Wei Shaoqi, and others remained, and were sealed off by the Imperial Observatory.
After checking that none of them possessed spiritual cultivation, the laborers left one by one, including a man in a felt hat with an empty wine gourd tied around his waist.
No one knew that after the man in the felt hat returned home, the entire courtyard was soon deserted. He and his daughter went to Gezao Mountain, but told the neighbors that they had returned to their hometown...
The crucial three days following the collapse of the Xingzifang Buddha statue passed smoothly without further unrest, and the people of Jiangzhou began to quietly await the imperial court's response.
(End of this chapter)
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