"Tell me, why do you want to detain corvée laborers who are physically weak?"
Yinzhen asked.
Liu Er had not recovered from his shock yet. He seemed not to have heard Yin Zhen's question and replied blankly,
"Where did I give myself away?"
Yinzhen did not answer.
In fact, the moment Liu Er stepped into the room, he had already figured out this man's character.
Since Liu Er can command the officers, it means that he has a very high say in this port.
But when those ruffians cut in line, they said a lot of bad things about Liu Er.
If he really was a villain, I'm afraid no one at this port would dare to say a bad word about him.
That's why he dared to test Liu Er so boldly.
Looking at his confused look now, the cunning of the person in front of him is much shallower than he imagined.
Yinzhen made up his mind.
After a long time, Liu Er came out of his trance.
"Who are you?"
"It's not impossible for you to know my identity."
"As long as you show enough sincerity, I wouldn't mind helping you and saving your life in the future."
A hint of expectation flashed across Yinzhen's eyes. He was only one step away from the truth.
When Liu Er heard this, he realized that it was not only him who had something to ask for, but also the young man in front of him.
"I have sincerity, but what about you? What can you offer to guarantee that you won't regret it later? Don't use your oath and identity as collateral; that's worthless!"
Hearing this, a look of admiration appeared on Yinzhen's face.
This Liu Er is not a real fool.
But... whether an identity is valuable or not depends on what kind of identity it is.
"From the day I came in, you've been targeting me. Don't say you know nothing about my identity."
Liu Er's eyes narrowed, and thoughts flashed rapidly in his mind. He stayed at this port every day, but his cruel father would send people to deliver messages to him every day.
He only knew that there was a prince outside investigating what was happening at the port.
If his father had known what was happening, he should have hidden all his activities the day he discovered that the port was being targeted.
But he was so reckless that he wanted to have a confrontation with the prince from the capital.
If he could really capture the prince, or find an opportunity to kill him, he could also praise Liu Qingzhou as a hero.
He lived up to the passionate slogans he and his brothers shouted every day.
But now, the prince has run away and they are about to be exposed.
It would have been fine if Liu Qingzhou didn't run away, but he was still fantasizing that the prince was afraid of them and gave up investigating the port.
It's really like an old man hanging himself because he thinks his life is too long!
If he wasn't trapped in this port and couldn't get out, he really wanted to point at Liu Qingzhou's nose and curse him.
That's the prince!
Is he on the same level as the county magistrate he bribed?
That damn old man sent his eldest son out to study and learn calligraphy, but he himself followed him to do such shameful things, living in fear all day long.
He had had enough of this kind of life.
"The one outside is a prince, are you also a prince?!"
Liu Er was shocked by his own idea, and then laughed at himself for being so bold.
"How could a prince come to a place like this to suffer? I've lost my mind! You can't be a prince."
Upon hearing this, Yinzhen really felt like holding his forehead.
"Are you a relative of that prince? You're so arrogant and domineering, so he threw you into this harbor to suffer?"
“…You guessed it right.”
"real?!"
Liu Er's expression instantly changed to one of great surprise.
"Then my life will be saved!"
Yinzhen: “…”
Never mind, let him think whatever he wants.
"As long as you cooperate, I can save your life at the last moment!"
When Liu Er mentioned this, his expression became much more serious.
"Then you have to swear that if you don't keep your promise, your son will be born without an anus!"
When Deng Yunlin heard this, he thought, isn't this a curse on the Fourth Prince?
He opened his mouth and shouted harshly,
"presumptuous!"
Yinzhen's temples throbbed twice.
He really couldn't bear it anymore.
Liu Er was startled by Deng Yunlin's reaction, and then grumbled in dissatisfaction.
"You're just a guard, how can you butt in?"
"I can't possibly make that oath you mentioned. If you believe me, answer whatever I ask. If you don't, you can send me back to that jail. But I have to warn you, if anything happens to me here, this entire county will be slaughtered by my brother."
"Of course, you can't escape..."
Yinzhen's face flickered in the candlelight, and Liu Er was suddenly frightened.
Brother?
Is he a cousin? Or... a biological brother?
Liu Er swallowed hard and made a decisive choice.
"Young Master, ask!"
"So, why are you detaining corvées who have temporarily lost their ability to work?"
"For manpower."
"manpower?"
"My father, Liu Qingzhou, is the leader of the White Lotus Sect's branch here."
Yinzhen's heart sank suddenly.
White Lotus Sect?
As a prince, he naturally understood what these three words combined meant.
He had guessed everything he could, but he had never guessed in this direction.
"Your father is the helmsman, and you are his son, yet you betray him?"
"I'd rather not be his son!"
Liu Er's face suddenly became ferocious.
"His eldest legitimate son changed his name and went to study in Jiangnan, yet he made me, his illegitimate second son, do such unscrupulous things. What kind of father is he?!"
Yinzhen understood.
The other side.
Guard Chen Fei presented the information he had obtained today to Yinreng, and then stood respectfully aside, waiting for Yinreng to finish reading it.
"Jishan outside the city..."
According to the records on the paper, the farms in Jishan outside the city sent vegetables, chicken and pork to Zhou Mansion every day, and the escort personnel were different every day.
After those agricultural products arrived at Zhou Mansion, they never left again.
Yinreng narrowed his eyes.
Even if a clerk has a few more servants at home, there is no need to deliver so many vegetables and meat into the house every day.
To be able to consume so much food, there must be a large number of people hidden in the Zhou Mansion.
Even this farm is probably not simple.
Yinreng suppressed his doubts and continued reading patiently.
——The manager of Zhou’s residence pulled two carts of grain to the county government office. From the difficulty the slow horses were pulling the carts, it was obvious that the weight on the carts was not right.
The two carriages went to the county government office to unload the goods and then returned to Zhou's mansion. In the evening, after finishing his shift, the county magistrate did not go home directly, but went to the residence of the imperial envoy Fuluguo Chong.
Tonight, except for the local county magistrate, most of the officials from the capital gathered in Zhaojia Mansion.
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