When Zhao Qingming arrived, there were two noble-looking men sitting in his main hall, one with two women standing behind him, the other with a woman standing behind him, and a man sitting below them. On both sides of the main hall stood five men wearing black clothes with gold cloud patterns, each holding a long sword and with an expressionless face.
Zhao Qingming swallowed, coughed lightly, raised his hands and clasped his fists as he walked forward, "Your subordinate..." Before he could finish his words, he was stopped by the two Black Cloud Guards standing outside with knives.
"My lord, no one outside is allowed to approach here."
"Hey, misunderstanding, misunderstanding, I'm the county magistrate here." Zhao Qingming hurriedly explained with a smile, and the servant beside him also said: "Yes, yes, this is our county magistrate."
"Are you the servant that the master just asked to go and fetch someone?"
“Yes, yes.”
"Lord Zhao has such great authority. This official and Prince Zhennan have been here for more than a quarter of an hour, and we only just saw that Lord Zhao is so late." Ye Chen was originally holding Chen Qiu's hand and playing with it. When he heard someone coming, he let go of Chen Qiu's hand and looked at the person. The tenderness in his eyes disappeared immediately when he let go of Chen Qiu's hand.
"You are the ones with great power, why don't you let others arrive a little late when you come here in the middle of the night?" Of course, Zhao Qingming would never dare to say such words even if he was beaten to death. He could only lower his head and complain in his heart, not daring to show it on his face.
"Let Lord Zhao in." Ye Chen spoke. They couldn't stay here for too long. The affairs of Wuzhou were the purpose of their trip, but the affairs of the people of Guangwu were not trivial matters either, so they had to solve the problems here in the shortest time possible.
Guangwu Town, although it is a town, is comparable to Wuzhou because of its well-developed waterways, except that one relies on land while the other relies on water. The registered population here is as many as 50,000, so although it is called a town, it has a county magistrate.
There was no waterway from Guangwu to Wuzhou, so they had to transfer to a horse carriage. Fortunately, the two cities were not too far apart, and the journey only took three or four days. Even so, it saved nearly seven or eight days compared to taking the direct land route from Kyoto to Wuzhou.
When Zhao Qingming heard that Prince Zhennan was also there, he came in and knelt down in front of Ye Chen and Lu Chenyuan, "Your humble servant Zhao Qingming, the magistrate of Guangwu, greets Your Highness and Sirs." In fact, there is no need for such a grand etiquette except when meeting the emperor. It is not known whether Zhao Qingming was scared or wanted to leave a good impression on the two people sitting in the upper seats. Anyway, he knelt down as soon as he met them.
"Sir Zhao, what's this? We are colleagues. Although our official positions are higher, there is really no need to perform such a big ceremony. Could it be... Sir Zhao has done something? Is he afraid that we will know?" Ye Chen looked at Zhao Qingming and said it jokingly, but his voice was so cold that it made people tremble. From the time they got off the boat to the yamen, the Black Cloud Guards were sent out to inquire about the people's sentiments. What they found out made Ye Chen almost come directly to raid Zhao Qingming's house.
"Mr. Zhu" Ye Chen knew that he couldn't waste too much time here. Since Zhao Qingming had already knelt down, Ye Chen didn't let him get up. He had no chance to get up after kneeling.
"My subordinates are here"
"Go and gather the people. I will try the case overnight. Let those who have been wronged here come forward to report their grievances. I will redress their grievances for them." Ye Chen almost gritted his teeth when he said this.
Having lived two lives, he knew that everyone has their own bad qualities and it is impossible to do everything perfectly, especially when it comes to being an official. He understood the principle that if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. As long as it does not involve human lives, as long as the people are not treated harshly and can live and work in peace, there is nothing wrong with the court sacrificing some money. However, it is really incredible that someone like Zhao Qingming is a local emperor here.
Zhu Da took his men out, and Ye Chen asked someone to call the legal advisor and the county magistrate here. It would be impossible for someone like Zhao Qingming to dominate here without help. These two men under his command are the ones who move around the most.
Ye Chen called the two men over in the name of Zhao Qingming. As soon as they entered the door, they wanted to go back, but were stopped by Ye Chen's men.
Half an hour later, Zhu Da still hadn't returned. The person he sent back said, "No one has come out. Maybe they are all sleeping."
Ye Chen and Lu Chenyuan disagreed, more out of fear. The people did not dare to go against the officials. They were afraid that the officials who came could not make decisions for them, and they were even more afraid that the officials who came were the same as Zhao Qingming. So they would rather endure it like this than show up, at least they still had their lives.
"Let them come back. Since no one believes it, let's hang these three people on the city wall. We will hold court tomorrow morning." Ye Chen had Zhao Qingming, his legal advisor, and the county magistrate hanged on the city wall.
Anyone who can do what Zhao Qingming did must have assassins under his command. After hanging the three of them, all that is left is to wait for them to come and rescue people.
The people were hung out at the end of the Hai hour, and at the Chou hour, there was movement on the city wall. This was Lu Chenyuan's territory, and the army was completely under Lu Chenyuan's control. The people who came were naturally the county magistrate's own men, all of whom were evil spirits who could not show up in public or see the light.
"Are you sure the defenders here will listen to you?" Ye Chen and Lu Chenyuan were standing on a high place. Of course, Ye Chen was not needed for such a fight. Lu Chenyuan's status was there, so with him by his side, Shen Qiu went to help fight.
"Of course, the guards here are my personal soldiers. There is no way they would betray me." Lu Chenyuan answered firmly.
"Based on the information we have heard, I don't think that your garrison commander, who was once a personal soldier, doesn't know the situation here." Lu Chenyuan knew that what Ye Chen said was right, but he didn't dare to believe it before he saw the person.
"I have already given him the military order, he will be here soon." Lu Chenyuan looked in the direction of the Guangwu guards, his voice becoming less and less confident. He didn't believe that the soldiers he had brought up and the brothers who had shared life and death with him would betray him.
"Here they come." In the distance, at the end of Jingjiang Street, the main street of Guangwu, an army of nearly a thousand people came in a mighty force. Lu Chenyuan did not say anything, but clenched his hands into fists behind his back. With every step those people took, Lu Chenyuan felt his heart beating violently.
In a quarter of an hour, the team arrived at the city gate. "Your subordinate Zhang Jin greets the prince." Zhang Jin came over and saluted Lu Chenyuan directly, but did not go to help Chen Qiu and the others fight the enemy.
Lu Chenyuan was about to go down from the tower when he was stopped by Ye Chen, who asked in a low voice, "Have you given any news from the Silver Armor Army?"
Lu Chenyuan nodded, and then Ye Chen did not stop him. Lu Chenyuan jumped off the city wall, and his aura in black clothes was even more domineering.
"Zhang Jin, the county magistrate here exploits the people. Do you have any accomplices?" Lu Chenyuan didn't like beating around the bush and asked directly. Zhang Jin came from Lu Chenyuan's subordinates, so he naturally knew what Lu Chenyuan meant by this.
"Your Highness, our brothers have to survive too. We have elderly parents and young children at home. We can't let them suffer with us, right?" Zhang Jin was very humble, but his words made Lu Chenyuan feel like a basin of ice water was poured over his head, chilling him to the bone.
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