But to their surprise, things changed faster than planned.
Just as Guard Zhang and Mr. Huo were about to leave, the prefects of Yunzhou and Ningzhou arrived after a hurried journey.
Along with them were the three martial arts sects that had already visited before, who were also seeking an audience.
Upon hearing that the prefects of the two places had arrived, Gu Yuzhi hurriedly said, "Quickly, let them in."
While the guards went to inform him, Gu Yuzhi sat behind the screen again.
It was only at this moment that Gu Yuzhi suddenly slapped his forehead, turned around and whispered to Xie Changshi, "Xie Changshi, I actually forgot about these three Jianghu forces."
Although Commander Zhu said that the city guards of Shenzhou and Huzhou were not many, Gu Yuzhi was still afraid that some of the people inside might have been misled by Gu Yufan.
If that's the case, then the men that Commander Zhu and Guard Jiang brought are clearly insufficient.
But he had no choice; after all, they only had so many people.
However, the arrival of these people can temporarily resolve the current predicament.
Gu Yuzhi was pondering this when he saw the group of people walk in together.
As soon as they entered, they lined up and knelt down in the direction of Gu Yuzhi: "Your subject..."
"This humble subject greets His Highness Prince Wen!"
Gu Yuzhi straightened his expression: "Please get up."
He winked at Chief Secretary Xie, who quickly said, "Your Highness, please have them sit down first."
Gu Yuzhi then said, "Young Master Qi, please take a seat."
Prince Qi stood with his hands behind his back, slightly raising his chin, and the group sat down, expressing their gratitude profusely.
Compared to the three江湖人士 (jianghu figures), the prefects of Yunzhou and Ningzhou seemed much more uneasy, especially the prefect of Yunzhou.
That was absolutely unbearable!
After all, he wasn't as clever as the prefect of Ningzhou. Back when the King of Chu came to Jiangnan, he was still thinking about how to curry favor with this powerful figure, so he naturally did some things he shouldn't have done.
However, in the eyes of the prefect of Yunzhou, these matters were insignificant compared to the King of Chu, who had committed the heinous crime of treason. His own affairs were truly not worth mentioning.
On the way here, the prefect of Ningzhou kept trying to mentally prepare himself, but when he actually met Prince Wen, all his mental preparations crumbled.
Because the prefect of Yunzhou knew that Prince Wen was not the pitiful little man "exiled" to the northern desert that everyone saw on the surface, but rather the emperor's most trusted and sharpest weapon.
The prefect of Yunzhou kept wiping his sweat. When he looked up, he saw that Prince Qi was staring straight at him. The look in his eyes made him feel uneasy. He shuddered and almost peed himself in fright.
He chuckled awkwardly, just as he was about to ask the prefect of Ningzhou to break the suffocating atmosphere, when he saw that Prince Qi finally shifted his gaze away.
The prefect of Yunzhou finally breathed a sigh of relief, but unexpectedly, the young master Qi turned his head to look at him again.
Prince Qi chuckled and said, "Prefect of Yunzhou, there's no need to panic. I have already obtained all the evidence of what you've done and have presented it to His Highness Prince Wen."
Upon hearing this, the prefect of Yunzhou immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly to Gu Yuzhi, pleading, "Your Highness, spare my life! Your Highness, spare my life! I was only trying to save my own life; it was all because the criminal Gu Yufan forced me to do it!"
At this moment, Gu Yuzhi was looking at Xie Changshi with a blank expression, and even imitated Teacher Shu's actions, spreading his hands and making a puzzled expression.
He said silently, "When did Prince Qi give me all this evidence of the prefect of Yunzhou's crimes? How come I didn't know?"
Fortunately, there is this screen blocking his view, so people outside can't see his expression and movements. Otherwise, the prefect of Yunzhou would definitely have realized at a glance that he was unaware of the situation.
Chief Secretary Xie shook his head slightly, but his hand kept flipping through the booklet.
Based on his understanding of Prince Qi, this person couldn't possibly be lying. The only possibility was that the evidence was together with Fan Qiu's evidence.
The reason they didn't discover it was simply because Fan Qiu's crimes were so shocking that they knew his fate without even looking further.
Sure enough, on the last two pages, Chief Secretary Xie finally found the evidence of the prefect of Yunzhou's crimes.
After the King of Chu established his fiefdom in Jiangnan, the prefect of Yunzhou increased some exorbitant taxes and levies, but fortunately, they were not much and did not arouse the resentment of the people.
These problems are easy to solve; his biggest problem is that he forcibly abducts women from the countryside.
Gu Senyu took the evidence and read it carefully, word by word, when Shu Xiaohan burst out laughing.
This prefect of Yunzhou is truly a talented individual.
The King of Chu was lustful, and his fondness for women was very obvious, so after the prefect of Yunzhou sent money several times, he found that it had little effect.
Most importantly, this man was rather timid. He dared not ask the king to collect more taxes or embezzle funds intended for riverbank repairs, so the gifts he sent were naturally not appreciated by the king.
He had no choice but to find another way.
After learning of the King of Chu's preferences, he searched throughout Yunzhou. He would seize anything that met the King's tastes, regardless of whether it had been promised to someone else, and send it to the King's residence.
The King of Chu did take in a few people, but released the others, yet he still gained nothing.
After all, for the King of Chu, the women around him were of all shapes and sizes, and his interest in them only lasted a couple of days before they were overshadowed by the women in his harem.
It was only after this that the prefect of Yunzhou finally calmed down.
Others increase taxes and levies and forcibly abduct women because they are greedy and lustful, but the prefect of Yunzhou sends both money and people to the Prince of Chu's mansion.
And not only did they rob her, they also had to compensate the woman's family.
Because of these girls, the prefect of Yunzhou himself lost a lot of money!
Shu Xiaohan's stomach was practically hurting from laughing: "Young Prince, to be honest, the prefect of Yunzhou is quite daring, but he doesn't dare to use the money himself and even pays out of his own pocket."
"Don't you think the prefect of Yunzhou is quite ridiculous?"
This reminded her of a very famous TV series from later generations.
That corrupt official had amassed a whole wall of cash and filled his refrigerator with money, but he dared not spend a single penny of it…
Gu Yuzhi was initially very angry, but after hearing what Teacher Shu said, his big eyes darted around, and he thought to himself that it really was true.
Xie Changshi thought for a moment, then whispered a few words in Gu Yuzhi's ear, which made Gu Yuzhi nod his head repeatedly.
Gu Yuzhi slammed his hand on the table, trying to make his voice sound less childish: "The evidence is already in my hands, how dare you try to deny it! Prefect Qin Duan of Yunzhou, do you really think I have no right to deal with you?"
Qin Duan was startled by Gu Yuzhi's sudden slam on the table, but when he heard what His Highness said, he was so frightened that his whole body went limp, and he kept shouting, "Your Highness, Your Highness, spare my life! I really, I'm really innocent!"
Shu Xiaohan pouted and said, "Of course I'm innocent..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
