In the heart of the King of Chu, he was the emperor of Jiangnan, and the people of Jiangnan were all his subjects, who should love him and obey him from the bottom of their hearts.
He never imagined that the people of Huizhou would turn against him for the sake of a prefect!
Previously, the King of Chu was in high spirits, thinking that Qi Chengjun had been impossible to kill for more than a month, and now that he had fallen into his hands, he would definitely torture him properly.
But now, seeing such a shocking scene, the King of Chu only wanted to get rid of Qi Chengjun as soon as possible.
He slightly raised his chin, and Commander Chen kicked his horse's flanks slightly, took two steps forward, raised his spear, and shouted: "His Highness the Prince of Chu has come to Huizhou to arrest the murderer Qi Chengjun. You must open the city gates immediately, surrender your weapons and you will not be killed, otherwise you will be considered accomplices!"
The people didn't say a word, or even make a superfluous movement. They just watched the King of Chu and his entourage in silence, their calm faces as if the King of Chu and his entourage were nothing more than clowns!
King Chu never expected the people of Huizhou to be so united and protective of Qi Chengjun, so he only brought three hundred soldiers to defend the city.
Three hundred soldiers guarding the city were no match for the densely packed civilians on the city walls; they would have been beaten to death the moment they entered.
The King of Chu squinted at the people, then suddenly spurred his horse forward, saying, "I'm only here to apprehend the murderer. If you move aside now, I can let bygones be bygones. If you don't, don't blame me for being impolite!"
The Chu King from Huizhou finally appeared and announced, "Your Highness, we are all citizens of Huizhou, and we are certain that Lord Qi would not commit murder or break the law. We urge you to come to Huizhou and meet with Lord Qi."
The people's intentions were simple: they feared that the King of Chu would take Qi Chengjun away and torture him severely, so they wanted the King of Chu to go to Huizhou alone to talk to Qi Chengjun.
The King of Chu was so angry he almost laughed.
Who do these lowly people think they are, daring to threaten him?!
Do you really think he can't do anything about these lowly people?
The King of Chu pointed his whip at these people and said coldly, "Good, very good. You lowly commoners dare to challenge my authority. I hope you will have the same backbone when my army is pressing in!"
He wanted to see whether these lowly people would think Qi Chengjun was more important, or themselves, when he led his navy to besiege Huizhou!
After uttering these harsh words, the King of Chu turned and left with his garrison.
Only when they saw the King of Chu's figure gradually disappearing into the distance on the official road did the people breathe a sigh of relief.
They looked at each other, their hearts filled with worry.
The man from Jiangzhou turned around, his eyes flickering slightly, and said, "Gentlemen, we may have gotten ourselves into big trouble."
This person had already guessed that the King of Chu would not enter Huizhou. After all, in the King of Chu's heart, the lives of these people were not lives. Otherwise, he would not have concealed the disaster situation in Jiangnan when it was flooded, which led to the spread of the plague.
This person came here with a mission, originally thinking that planning the conflict between the King of Chu and the people of Jiangnan would take a lot of time.
But before he knew it, an opportunity presented itself to him, and he was bound to seize it!
However, the result seems to be somewhat different from what he expected...
The other common people had no idea what the man in front of them was planning. They were all bewildered. Why didn't the King of Chu give them a chance to speak?
"What do we do now?"
All the people of Huizhou are wondering what to do next.
Why won't the King of Chu come in and have a proper talk with Lord Qi?
Ordinary people were unaware of the undercurrents among these adults, and those who had even a slight connection with them were the ones who initially incited the people to protect Qi Chengjun.
They looked at the deserted official road and sighed softly.
These people were originally very famous in the Jiangnan region, but since the King of Chu arrived, he has been cultivating his own power and suppressing them.
Their lives were far more difficult than those of ordinary people, and many of their relatives had died from the plague, so their hatred for the King of Chu outweighed their respect.
The news that the King of Chu had openly sent men to ambush and kill the Mobei Merchant Guild had already spread among them. It was at that time that they united and guessed the King of Chu's true intentions.
It was precisely because of this that the people from Huizhou understood immediately after a brief explanation that they could not allow the King of Chu to take Lord Qi away and make Huizhou return to its former state.
The man from Huizhou sighed softly, "How about this, we, as representatives of the people of Huizhou, go to see Lord Qi and ask him what to do next?"
The people's minds were already blank. Upon hearing this, they nodded repeatedly and turned their gaze to these famous people.
When the man arrived at the yamen, he saw Qi Chengjun standing with his hands behind his back, looking up at the plaque above the yamen, which read "A Bright Mirror Hangs High."
It means to be fair and impartial, like a bright mirror reflecting everything.
Qi Chengjun believed that everything he had done since arriving in Huizhou was worthy of those four words, but now, he suddenly began to doubt himself.
Are these people risking their lives, even their entire families, to protect themselves, truly acting voluntarily?
"Lord Qi!" As the guards entered, they all knelt down upon seeing Qi Chengjun.
Qi Chengjun turned his head and saw one of the familiar faces. His eyes widened in disbelief.
What is this person doing here, kneeling with the people of Huizhou?
Thinking back to what happened today, Qi Chengjun suddenly realized what was going on.
As expected, today's events were no coincidence!
He staggered two steps, then back two steps, his heel hitting the step. He lost his balance and sat down with a thud.
"Lord Qi?" The man smiled. "Is Lord Qi worried about the Ling family?"
Before Qi Chengjun could speak, the man continued, "Don't worry, our lives were saved by Lord Qi. We also know that Lord Qi has been in Huizhou all this time and would never have killed that Chief Secretary Ling."
"Yes, yes, yes!"
As soon as this person spoke, the others quickly echoed, "That's what we think too."
"Lord Qi is concerned about the country and its people, and he has saved the common people from suffering. How could he possibly kill a mere clerk?"
"Exactly, I, the common people, don't believe it anyway."
Qi Chengjun was still in shock when he heard the praise from the people of Huizhou, and he felt a sense of profound tranquility.
He couldn't help but look at the man again, only to see that the man was smiling at him innocently. He sighed helplessly, "You're all too impulsive."
Qi Chengjun gestured with his chin toward the head guard, who then stepped forward to help the group up and shook his head as well.
When he helped the person up, he was stunned and almost cried out.
Fortunately, the man reacted quickly and said first, "Thank you, sir."
The head guard took a small step back, let out a long sigh of relief, and turned to look at Lord Qi…
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