The next day, as soon as Gu Mu stepped out of the inn, he saw more than a hundred people kneeling neatly at the inn's main entrance.
Their heads were covered with burlap sacks, but the clothes that were visible on their lower bodies looked to be made of fine silk, something that ordinary people couldn't afford.
They were tied up with ropes, forced to kneel on the ground, their mouths stuffed with rags, only able to make muffled sounds.
His queen, Shen Ling, moved a row of stools and sat in front of the group of people as if interrogating a criminal, with her hands on the armrests, looking somewhat languid.
But that's only what it looks like.
Her eyes were half-closed, and her expression was gloomy.
Behind Shen Ling stood tens of thousands of people, their eyes fixed intently on those kneeling in the corner with sacks in their hands.
As soon as Gu Mu stepped out of the inn, Shen Ling stood up first and performed a curtsy.
The people behind her all knelt down: "Long live Your Highness!"
"Long live Your Highness!"
"Long live Your Highness!"
"Rise." Gu Mu had anticipated this scene.
When the assassin told him that the princess's maid, Lu Ming, had kidnapped all the officials.
He turned a blind eye only because the princess did what he wanted to do.
"Your Highness." Shen Ling faced Gu Mu and gave him a sweet smile. Her two mischievous little tiger teeth softened her cold and aloof demeanor, giving her a slightly devilish air.
"These are officials who harmed the people during the famine. After extensive investigation, it has been confirmed that none of the 132 people here are innocent."
Gu Mu listened as Shen Ling explained the identities of the people covered in burlap sacks to him, word by word.
But when he heard the number 132, his heart skipped a beat.
Sure enough, this dynasty was rotten from the very root.
Shen Ling arrested officials, not insignificant underlings.
In the entire Jiangnan region, there are only about two hundred truly influential officials.
It's like most of the officials, during the famine, didn't think about how to solve the people's problems, but instead... were afraid that the people would steal the food from their own homes, so they harmed the people.
And this does not include those who did nothing; just those who harmed the people, there were as many as 132 people arrested by Shen Ling.
What Shen Ling said was basically consistent with the information sent back by the assassins; she wasn't lying.
"Your Highness, what do you intend to do?" Shen Ling asked.
She deliberately summoned so many people because she wanted to use public opinion to control His Highness.
After all, executing all 132 officials would have far-reaching consequences, as they were all powerful local figures, and would inevitably involve various factions within the imperial court.
If these people are removed, the imperial court will likely be thrown into turmoil.
The regent had only recently come to power, and there was still the threat of the empress dowager…
Shen Ling knew that the safest course of action at present was to spare those people's lives and then make further plans.
But... these people truly deserved to die.
"Take off the sacks," Gu Mu ordered.
Soon, people removed the sacks from the 132 officials one by one, revealing their bruised and swollen faces.
Each of them had a rag stuffed in their mouth, unable to speak, their eyes filled with fear.
It seems that Lu Ming did not follow a policy of treating prisoners of war well; those officials suffered a lot of torture in her hands.
When they saw the regent, the officials craned their necks, their eyes gleaming with hope, and their whimpering became even more frequent.
"Take off the rag," Gu Mu ordered again.
Gu Mu was the regent, and no one dared to question his words.
Soon, the rags in the officials' mouths were also removed.
The 132 officials who had regained their freedom of speech hurriedly cried out, "Your Highness, save me!"
"Your Highness, please save us!"
"We are the people's bread and butter; how can you treat us like this?!"
"Your Highness, we are all your subjects, governing a region on your behalf. You cannot abandon us!"
"Your Highness, my uncle is the Minister of Justice. He would be very sad if he knew I was like this!"
Although the regent held power, the empress dowager was always eyeing him covetously, and the regent's position was unstable. If he was not careful, his power could be taken away by the empress dowager.
At this time, the support of various factions within the imperial court was crucial, as it indicated who had the strongest power base.
Uprooting the tree trunk and branches, those in their positions have very close ties with the imperial court.
For the sake of those insignificant common people, the regent wouldn't kill them; at most, he would just criticize them a few times.
Thinking of this, they were all relieved—thankfully, they saw the Regent.
Gu Mu remained silent, looking at the officials who were dressed in fine clothes but looked disheveled.
Those people were mediocre yet confident, convinced that Gu Mu would definitely save them.
They forgot that what they should be doing now is not begging Gu Mu, but apologizing to the people who lost their loved ones because of their cruelty.
Gu Mu turned his head and saw the ragged people, all of them emaciated. Even though they had been provided with food and drink all this time, they had not recovered.
Because they toil in the fields every day, their skin is dark from working in the soil.
Even a twenty-year-old man can look like he's in his thirties because he's exposed to the sun every day.
There were also elderly people with gray hair, hunched over, carrying bamboo baskets filled with leaves for feeding pigs.
Many of the people here have lost loved ones. Some of those lost loved ones starved to death, while others were beaten to death by officials instigated by those officials.
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