Yu Liu, the bandit who robbed the relief grain, actually had nothing to do with the Xu family.

Xu Kun led his men to attack Xishan Island not to reinforce the pirates.

But the common people don’t care what you think. As long as I think something is the way it is, that’s what it is!

All of a sudden, everyone believed that the Xu family was Kunshan's biggest enemy, and Lin Xun'an was the Xu family's running dog.

The situation on the Banshan Bridge was in an uproar, and the curses from the people of Kunshan were almost drowning out Inspector Lin.

Baptized by those foul words, Lin Xun'an felt like he was about to suffocate.

He finally realized that he had reached the most dangerous moment.

If I can't get through this hurdle, let alone my career, it will be a question whether I can even leave Kunshan.

At this critical moment of life and death, Inspector Lin no longer cared about being frightened and panicked. He snatched the gong from the archer of the Inspection Office and struck it loudly!

"What I want to investigate now is the Kunshan arson case, not the Taihu bandit case!" Then he pointed a wooden hammer at Zhao Hao and shouted angrily, "Hey, don't try to confuse right and wrong and get away with it! First explain to me why 16,000 dan of grain disappeared out of thin air?!"

Lin Xun'an made up his mind and would not let go. No matter how many tricks you use, I will only respond with one trick!

"Hahaha, everyone, listen, the thief is crying thief, how ridiculous!" Unfortunately, he met Zhao Hao, who never talked to people in a nice way and only competed to see who had the loudest voice. He pointed at Lin Xunan and said with a sarcastic smile: "Did the Xunan forget? The fire in the reserve warehouse was set by the Xu family!"

"Yes, it's the Xu family!" The people on and off the bridge responded in unison. "The parade that day made it clear!"

"Now the inspector is turning the tables. Who is confusing right and wrong?" Young Master Zhao's eyes sternly said in a deep voice, "And everyone knows that there must be a motive for everything! The Xu family set fire to the warehouse in order to save Zhao from Wei and force us to release Xu Er! The motive is very clear!"

As he spoke, he looked at Lin Xun'an aggressively and said sternly, "And the 16,000 dan of grain was originally obtained by my father using his personal connections for the county. If there was any selfish motive, wouldn't it be easier to just embezzle it? Why did he have to send it to the county?!"

"That's right, isn't that just taking off your pants to fart, asking for trouble?!" Kunshan citizens nodded and said, "Our master definitely didn't embezzle!"

"I didn't say he was corrupt!" Lin Xun'an's face flushed red, and he shouted at the top of his lungs, "I said he treated the people of Kunshan as fools and used a little to cover up the truth!"

As soon as these words came out, Mr. Zhao couldn't help but curl up his lips slightly. This is the problem with the court letting new Jinshi serve as inspectors, they are tender and boring.

Yuan Fang, who was standing behind Lin Xun'an, also felt dizzy. He thought to himself that he was doomed. How could he let others lead him by the nose? Now he could only wait for the gods to save him...

"Why does my father treat the people of Kunshan as fools? Why does he pretend to be rich with few and whitewash the situation?" Young Master Zhao asked leisurely.

"Of course it's because there's not enough grain!" Only Inspector Lin still didn't understand, and he kept saying, "According to what I've learned, it's because of the conflict between you and the top leaders of the Dongting Chamber of Commerce that they ordered not to sell you grain..."

"Hahahaha!" Young Master Zhao laughed out loud and snapped his fingers.

The guards then unfolded the second flag on the bow. The green silk flag fluttered in the wind, with the four eye-catching words "Dongting Merchants" written on it!

There was thunderous cheers on and under the bridge, and the people of Kunshan felt relieved and laughed heartily!

People who don’t live in Suzhou all year round cannot imagine the huge influence that the Dongting Merchants Group has on the common people...especially the citizens.

Citizens worked directly or indirectly for the Dongting Merchants Group to earn money to support their families.

When they spend money, food, clothing, housing and transportation are all the business of the Dongting Merchants.

It can be said that from opening their eyes to closing them, from birth to death, the people of Suzhou cannot escape from the clutches of the Dongting Merchants for even a moment.

Therefore, when rumors of the Dongting Merchants' embargo on Kunshan spread, it immediately caused great panic.

Even though Xu Wei handled the situation properly and minimized the negative impact, the citizens' concerns and doubts still lingered.

Until this moment, when the flag of the "Dongting Merchants" was seen on the bow of the ship, the fear that shrouded the hearts of Kunshan citizens was finally completely dispelled.

Amid the cheers of the citizens, a tall middle-aged man appeared beside Mr. Zhao, bowed to everyone on and below the bridge, and said loudly:

"My fellow Kunshan elders, I am Liu Zhengqi, the vice president of the Dongting Chamber of Commerce. I came to Kunshan with Master Zhao to clarify the false rumors that were spread a while ago."

He cleared his throat and said loudly to everyone: "The Dongting Chamber of Commerce has never targeted Kunshan County. It has never done that in the past, it will not do that now, and it will not do that in the future!"

"Great, great, great job to President Liu! Support the Dongting Chamber of Commerce!" Kunshan people cheered and clapped their hands. "Punish those who spread rumors and cause trouble severely!"

Yuan Fang and those Xu clan gentry glared at Liu Zhengqi with flaming eyes, wishing they could eat this traitor who stabbed the Xu family alive!

"The Dongting Chamber of Commerce has taken root in Suzhou. The seven counties of this prefecture are our bread and butter. How could we cut off our roots?" Mr. Liu raised his hands, signaling everyone not to get excited, and then announced loudly:

"In any case, the rumors during this period have caused great trouble to the elders of Kunshan. To express our apologies, our Chamber of Commerce has decided to donate 20,000 shi of rice to Kunshan County. We also promise that during the flood control period, Kunshan will be given priority and the price will never be raised!"

"Great, that's great! President Liu is so righteous!"

"Suzhou Chamber of Commerce is benevolent and righteous!" The people of Kunshan burst into even louder cheers.

~~

Amid the thunderous cheers, Lin Xun'an and his men turned pale.

They all realized that it was useless to say anything now. With Liu's betrayal, no one would believe anything they said.

It’s more important to escape quickly.

While no one was paying attention to them, the Xu family gentry quietly got off the grain ship and got on the carriage parked at the dock, trying to sneak away.

But the citizens on the Mid-Levels Bridge can look down from their high vantage point and have a clear view of the situation at the dock.

With so many eyes watching, there's no way they could find any loopholes and slip away.

"The red men are trying to escape!" the people on the bridge shouted loudly. "Don't let them escape!"

When the people living under the bridge heard the noise, they immediately surrounded the dock.

The archers on guard at the dock all looked towards the inspector.

Inspector Zheng whistled and looked up at the sky.

The archers did not stop them and allowed them to surround the gentry's carriage.

The common people shook the carriage vigorously, shaking the gentry in the carriage so much that he fell to the ground. Then they were lifted up high by many hands and thrown into the river with a splash.

The gentry sitting in the sedan chair suffered an even worse fate; they were lifted up with the sedan chair and thrown directly into the river.

The children who were fishing for wood in the river grabbed up river mud and threw it at the drowning dog.

ps. The first of three consecutive updates, please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes~~