"That damned bastard! I was just wondering why the masks we've been sewing lately are made with numbness. I even asked him about it, and he said it was Lord Lü's order!" A peasant woman in charge of sewing masks cried and wailed.
"Yes, sir, Zhao Kang did say that, but it has nothing to do with us!"
As the villagers continued to present new evidence, Zhao Liang, kneeling in the crowd, trembled like a leaf.
Besides him, there was another person whose face looked even uglier, and that was Xiao Zhong.
As the chief steward of internal affairs appointed by Lü Tu, he was responsible for all overall coordination work, which should have been his responsibility. However, he neglected his duties and was allowed to be taken advantage of by a mere Zhao Kang.
He bowed to Lü Tu and readily admitted his mistake, saying, "My lord, it's all my fault! I always thought Zhao Kang was clever and kind, so I entrusted these small matters to him, but I never expected..."
Lu Tu shouted sternly, "Xiao Zhong! Nothing involving embezzlement is a small matter!"
Xiao Zhong nodded upon hearing this, his old face turning bright red with shame and filled with remorse.
"My lord, I failed to properly investigate and correct my oversight. I am willing to accept punishment!"
At this moment, Song Yuxi and Nangong Huiyu also learned about what had happened and stood quietly watching from under the eaves in the distance.
Lu Tu exchanged glances with them and nodded secretly to indicate that everything was alright.
Turning to look at Xiao Zhong, he sneered, "You can't escape punishment. Get up first!"
"Yes, sir!"
The entire village of over 1,000 people waited for Zhao Liang to return at this drill ground.
Before long, Nie Yun and Liu Yang arrived first, followed by a person with his hands bound, who was none other than Zhao Kang.
Before returning, Liu Yang had already learned of the seriousness of the matter from Nie Yun. Although he didn't know what Zhao Kang had done wrong, he knew that Zhao Kang was the one who had chosen the transport team, and he was to blame!
He dismounted and kicked Zhao Kang in the back, sending him sprawling face-first into the dirt. Then he knelt on one knee and said, "Brother, I've brought Zhao Kang back!"
Lu Tu ignored him and turned to Zhao Kang, who was trembling, saying, "Untie him!"
"Huh?" A puzzled voice came from the crowd.
Even so, Liu Yang cut the ropes binding Zhao Kang with a single stroke. After freeing his hands, Zhao Kang took the opportunity to look around and noticed that everyone was glaring at him, especially the coal-mining slaves not far away. He seemed to understand why.
Seeing that Lü Tu had untied him, he saw a glimmer of hope and quickly pulled out a bag from his pocket, then knelt down: "My lord, what can I do for you?"
Lu Tu stared coldly at him: "Do you know why I untied you?"
Zhao Kang forced an awkward smile: "I know, I was just trying to save you money, but I may have misunderstood!"
As he spoke, he held the money bag high in his hand and said loudly, "I have noticed that the number of refugees we have taken in has been increasing recently, and the food in the warehouse is not enough to feed them. So, in the spirit of helping you, I have saved some money for you. All the money is here, a total of 30 taels!"
Hearing this, the most upset were naturally the newly arrived refugees. They hadn't been here long, and these words coming from Zhao Kang's mouth were undoubtedly aimed at them. Their hard-won sense of belonging wavered at this moment. However, they still pinned their hopes on Lü Tu and wanted to see how Lü Tu would treat them.
Upon hearing this, Lü Tu burst into laughter: "So, I should thank you, Zhao Kang?"
Zhao Kang waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, I know I did something wrong, but my intentions were good!"
Lu Tu shouted sternly, "Since when did you become someone who can make decisions for me? Why don't I hand over the captaincy to you?"
Upon hearing Lü Tu's anger, Zhao Kang immediately prostrated himself on the ground, trembling. He was about to retort when Lü Tu interrupted him again.
"You arbitrarily withheld the rations and pay of the military slaves, and replaced all the cotton gauze masks they wore with inferior linen masks. Do you admit your guilt?"
"I plead not guilty! My lord, I was truly doing this for your own good. I was just holding onto this silver for you, waiting for the right opportunity to present it to you!"
It has to be said that Zhao Kang is quite the shrewd old fox; no wonder he gained Xiao Zhong's trust.
However, his propaganda offensive had no effect on Lü Tu. If this had happened in a public relations situation in his previous life, Zhao Kang might have been able to resolve the incident.
But this is the border, Wuchuan, a place where Lu Tu alone can make a decision!
"Liu Yang!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
"Take your men and go to Zhao Kang's house. Search it thoroughly!"
"Yes, sir!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Kang's body trembled almost imperceptibly, but this slight movement did not escape Lü Tu's observation.
Lu Tu sneered: "Zhao Kang, since you speak so righteously, then you certainly wouldn't be hiding gold and silver at home, would you?"
Zhao Kang waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, as I just said, the reason I did this was entirely to save money for you, sir."
"In that case, if money is found, it will prove that you embezzled it from the people's food rations. At that time, I will not only kill you, but I will kill your whole family!"
As these cold words came out of Lü Tu's mouth, Zhao Kang's eyes widened in horror.
A woman's wailing came from the crowd: "Zhao Kang, you heartless bastard! I told you not to do this, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what happened, I'm going to get beheaded too! You deserve to die!"
Zhao Kang turned around and cursed angrily, "You stinking woman, if you don't know, just shut your mouth! Nobody will think you're mute! I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to marry a fool like you!"
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