Within Jiashan County…
Song Huaigu was both troubled and happy. The problem was, all the various aristocratic families were looking for him to ask about the Mi Family’s caravan, and he could only put them off time and again. And the happy thing was that he had gotten whatever the trade caravan had promised him, not a single cent less. Considering the tens of millions of investments obtained through his referral, he had received more than 500,000 taels of silver from the commission alone. In the end, the caravan had even rejected his own investment request. In other words, everyone had suffered great losses except for himself!
However, he hoped that the caravan would return quickly. He knew that he would not be under such pressure for long. However, how could he know that Su Wen was leading the Martial Inspectorate’s people on the streets right now, heading straight for the magistrate court! When he arrived at the magistrate court, Su Wen shot a look sideways. Zhao Jin immediately stepped forward and kicked open the county magistrate court’s gate! “Song Huaigu! You’ve been caught!” Zhao Jin roared.
When the gatekeepers saw the entourage Su Wen had led over, he was stunned.
This was too overbearing. At this moment, Song Huaigu also rushed out and roared, “What are you doing?”
Su Wen pointed at Song Huaigu and shouted, “Song Huaigu, you colluded with others to set up a scam to steal the wealth of the citizens in my territory. I am now officially arresting you as the commander of the Secret Shadow Guard! If you dare to resist, you will be treated as a rebel and will be executed on the spot!”
Obviously, Su Wen’s words were spoken for everyone to hear. The commoners were all stunned. One had to know that the matter of the Mi Family’s trade caravan had spread throughout the entire Li Province. Many commoners were envious of these old men for having the means to earn money even while lying down. But now, Su Wen had openly said that this was a scam! Song Huaigu roared, “Bullsh*t! The caravan is just a few days late. Who would be able to do business smoothly? It’s inevitable for them to stumble and for delays to occur!”
Pa!
Zhao Jin immediately slapped him! He had unknowingly become unbelievably skilled at this technique. Zhao Jin said fiercely, “Who the f*ck is farting? If you dare spout nonsense again, I’ll cut your brain off!”
Song Huaigu wasn’t afraid at all. He shouted at Zhao Jin, “You dare to beat up a court official?” Su Wen sneered, “Royal court official? You are no longer a court official! This official here has already written a letter to Consort Mi in the capital to verify that the Mi Family had not deployed any trade caravans here in Li Prefecture! Furthermore, they have never done this sort of practice of giving interests and dividends based off one’s investments! Song Huaigu, you still dare to talk back?!”
As he spoke, he took out the small notebook that Emperor Zhou had given him and said, “According to the guidelines of the Secret Shadow Guard, with concrete evidence, those officials who ignore the law and engage in embezzlement can be taken down directly!”
Song Huaigu was in a state of confusion. He knew that Su Wen was definitely not lying to him if he could speak so confidently. There was no such caravan? How was that possible? No practice of giving dividends??! Then who was the one trading with him and the various families of Li Prefecture?
If the caravan was not from a wealthy family, how could they have such wealth?
It had to be known that just in terms of profits, just the money given to Song Huaigu already numbered in the millions!
In reality, he didn’t know that Su Wen was basically just recycling the invested money to give it to him.
“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!” Song Huaigu shook his head furiously. “You’re lying, you’re definitely lying!” He pointed at Su Wen and said in a deranged manner, “You’re just taking revenge! What you said is absolutely impossible!”
Su Wen could not be bothered with him. Song Huaigu was clearly agitated and could not accept the truth that was in his face for a short period of time.
“Take him away!”
With an order, the Secret Shadow Guards immediately escorted him away. Su Wen coldly said, “The assistant will temporarily take over the county’s affairs while we wait for His Majesty to send someone over.”
He looked at the surrounding citizens and said, “There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world, so everyone must not believe this rumor. Whoever has a way to earn money will also want to only make a fortune in secret. A person who gives you money for no reason must be a liar!” After Su Wen explained the situation to the citizens, he left with his men. The entire group of commoners were left there with their mouths agape.
“Is he telling the truth?”
“Then wouldn’t those Lords be in trouble?”
“Haha, it seems like these scholars aren’t smart. Just think about it. Isn’t this giving money for nothing? There’s someone that actually believes it!”
“I remember you said a few days ago that it was a pity that you didn’t get a chance to invest!”
“You remembered wrongly, brother!” As bystanders, the commoners could naturally sit high and watch these guys in schadenfreude.
To be honest, as a commoner, most of them were secretly pleased to see such a situation!
The news spread. Naturally, the entire Li Prefecture started to bubble once again. It should be known that even though these people were anxious previously, they still had hope.
However, no one expected that Su Wen would actually capture Song Huaigu. On the same day, Su Wen received invitations from all the aristocratic families. They were all inviting Su Wen to a banquet at their place as they wanted to find out about the situation.
After coming to the Li Prefecture for two months, Su Wen, who no one cared about, had become a hot commodity. “Lord Su, I beg of you. My master said that he must invite you over today!”
“That’s right. Lord Su, why don’t you just secretly tell us what happened?”
“Please, Lord Su. If you don’t go today, I’ll kowtow to death in front of your door.” Every family had sent people to deliver the invitations and wanted first-hand news. These people blocked the entrance of Su Wen’s residence and shouted loudly! “Shut up!” Suddenly, the door opened. Zhao Jin pushed it open and walked out, saying, “My lord said that if you want to know what’s going on, you can go to the second floor of the Great Guest Pavilion tonight! The direct descendants of each family can enter. If you’re a steward, then don’t bother. Seats are limited, and it’ll be first come, first serve.” With the news, everyone dispersed.
That night, at the entrance of the building, Zhao Jin led his men to verify their identities.
Only those that were verified and given a number plate could be admitted. After entering, they saw Su Wen sitting behind a table. The table was filled with dishes and wine while Su Wen was eating by himself. In front of Su Wen were rows of chairs.
It seemed to resemble that of a press conference from our time… Obviously, those who came had nothing to eat. Su Wen hated these people to the core and naturally wouldn’t give them a comfortable environment.
“Sit properly. Don’t walk around or speak. Whoever dares to violate the rules, get out immediately!” Chu He was responsible for maintaining order. With a cold face, he assigned them to their seats one by one. In the entire pavilion, there was only the sound of Su Wen gorging himself. As for the people from each family, they were all very anxious, yet were helpless. Su Wen only focused on eating, thus the aristocratic family representatives could only wait. Many of them started to feel their palms and backs sweating.
(Ding-Dong, the host has made Ma Mingyu anxious. +20 Emotional Value.]
(Ding-dong. The host has made Zhang Sanshun anxious. +32 Emotional Value.] .
[Ding-Dong…]
Su Wen was very satisfied with the increase in his Emotional Value. He did not manage to collect much in the past two months. That d*mned system would even send a notification of his remaining debt amount every afternoon. It was really annoying. Although he had to borrow the Emotional Value to save his life, it was not an enjoyable thing to have to repay a debt. Furthermore, it was not beneficial for him to keep owing the system either. Seeing that there was an influx of Emotional Value, Su Wen felt a little better. Su Wen was almost done eating. He burped and drank a mouthful of water. He waved his hand and someone came to take the dishes and put some fruits in front of him.. Su Wen picked up an orange and spoke out whilst peeling the orange, “Hello everyone, I am Su Wen.” “I was very satisfied after I came into Office, because none of you treated me to a meal, and none of you gave me any presents. This proves that the culture of Li Prefecture is good, it’s really good! I hope you guys can maintain it in the future.”
Everyone was stunned and couldn’t tell if Su Wen was speaking the truth. “Is this him hinting that he wants money?” “Indeed like father, like son.”
“Heh heh heh!”
Su Wen continued, “But, you guys disappointed me today. How could you request to treat me to a banquet? As an outstanding Secret Shadow Guard of Great Zhou, aren’t you guys asking me to make a mistake? So, I rejected all of your invitations.”
“As a Secret Shadow Guard, it is my duty to take care of corrupt officials, maintain the integrity of the government, and protect everyone’s rights and interests. However, my salary is meager and I can’t afford to treat you all to a meal, so I can only trouble you all to watch me eat.” Finally, someone couldn’t bear it any longer and said, “Lord Su, we just want to know what is going on with Song Huaigu!”
The moment he spoke, Chu He walked to his side and slapped him!
Pa!
The slap was sharp and powerful. After hitting him, Chu He threw him down through the second floor window! Following the miserable scream, everyone in the room sat up straight. Su Wen also finished his orange. With a calm expression, he patted his hand and knocked away the orange fibers on his hand. He said, “There are so many people here, so there must be some rules. Therefore, before I ask you all to speak, you are not allowed to speak. If you speak one after another, wouldn’t it cause chaos? Don’t you all agree?”
Everyone nodded, but no one spoke. Su Wen said, “Now, let me explain the situation. Firstly, the caravan that Song Huaigu mentioned has already been confirmed to be fake. This is the information that I received after contacting the Mi family. So everyone should have been deceived and that caravan won’t be coming back.”
As soon as these words were spoken, many people present had faces full of emotion, but they could not speak, so they could only suppress their words until they turned red. Su Wen continued, “As for Song Huaigu, I suspect that there is some connection between him and the caravan.
After all, he obtained close to 500,000 taels of silver from the caravan and additionally did not participate in the last gathering of funds. Hence, I suspect that he is in cahoots with the caravan. It can even be said that he knows about the caravan’s plan. We are currently investigating to find out if there is anyone else involved. If anyone has any questions, please raise your hand!”
The moment Su Wen finished speaking, everyone raised their hands. Su Wen casually pointed at someone and said, “State your family name and question.” That person hurriedly said: “Gu Family, Gu Fei of Shou County. Lord Su, can we still get back our money?”
This was a question that everyone was concerned about. Whenever someone was cheated of their money, the first thing they cared about was whether they could get it back. Su Wen smiled and said, “I don’t know if I can find them, but I will try my best to investigate. However, you guys have to understand that so many days have passed, and it will be very difficult for me to investigate. Moreover, to be honest, a mere county magistrate like Song Huaigu dares to commit such a huge crime? Is there a mastermind behind this? It’s all unknown. I’m not familiar with the Li Prefecture, and there are some people that I can’t easily touch!”
He sounded aggrieved.
However, his actions were overbearing. At this moment, someone raised his hand and Su Wen pointed at him. That person said, “Li Prefecture, Ma Family, Ma Mingyu. Lord Su, feel free to investigate. If you encounter any obstructions, let’s not talk about anything else, we’ll be the first ones to support you. Even if we have to bring this up to the Li Prefecture King, we have to seek justice. With us behind you, you can do whatever you want!”
“Alright!” Su Wen stood up and said excitedly, “With Young Master Ma’s words, I can finally have some confidence in myself. Everyone, don’t worry, I will definitely find out the truth! I will try my best to get back all your money!” As he spoke, he looked at everyone in the room and said, “Everyone, I have official business to attend to. That Song Huaigu still needs to be interrogated overnight, so I will leave now. Please forgive me!”
After Su Wen said that, he went downstairs and got into the carriage. Chu He followed closely behind. The carriage slowly left, and the faces of everyone in the building turned ashen. “F*ck! We were actually tricked!”
“This is too hateful. Who came up with this idea? I curse him to give birth to a child without an an*s!” “It’s over. We’ve suffered huge losses this time. I only hope that Lord Su can find the culprit as soon as possible and get our money back.” “Hehe, our family gave them 100,000 kilograms of food! They’ve all been cheated away.”
“My family also gave quite a bit…”
The carriage pressed against the road, making a series of sounds. Seeing that there was no one around, Zhao Jin asked in a low voice, “Sir, are we going to the Secret Shadow Guard?” Su Wen rolled his eyes. “Of course it’s to go home! Are you crazy? It’s already so late, why shouldn’t I get off work?” Zhao Jin laughed, “Didn’t you say that Song Huaigu hasn’t been interrogated yet?”
“What’s the hurry? These people won’t go and kill Song Huaigu now. They are the most afraid that Song Huaigu will die! What will happen to the money if he dies?” Su Wen said indifferently. “Work isn’t done in a day. We have to ensure that we have sufficient rest and use our energy every day to welcome new challenges.
This is the attitude of being responsible.” Su Wen thought to himself, ‘I’m not a mule working in a sweatshop. How much did the emperor only give me? Could it be that he expects me to work overtime?’ Suddenly, Su Wen noticed that his Emotional Value had begun increasing again!” [Ding-dong. Congratulations Host, you have incurred the hate of Ma Mingyu. +120 Emotional Value.]
[Ding-dong. Congratulations Host, you have incurred the hate of Gu Fei. +144 Emotional Value.]
. [Ding-Dong…] Eh? Why was it still that group of people from before?
Why did these people suddenly start to hate him? How would he know that these people were expressing their hate for the person who cheated them of their money? In the end, Su Wen was the one who cheated them of their money! This emotional outburst was naturally attributed to Su Wen.
Su Wen thought for a moment and understood. He could not help but smile.
Resent, hate, suffer the beating of a society that transcended time and space! Su Wen didn’t know what these people were like, but he felt good about his Emotional Value increasing As he watched the debt gradually disappear, Su Wen suddenly felt that if he really hardened his heart and lied to the commoners, the system’s debt would be paid off very quickly.
What a pity! Humans still had to have a bottom line…
The next morning, Su Wen realized that his system debt had decreased by tens of thousands overnight! Obviously, many people had cursed him the night before. These wealthy families probably hated the person who cheated them of their money. After washing up and having breakfast, Su Wen leisurely set off for the Secret Shadow Guard’s prison. “My lord, Song Huaigu didn’t sleep at all.” At that moment, Song Huaigu was sitting in the cell, staring blankly at the wall. He mumbled, “Impossible, absolutely impossible, it’s definitely not a lie, definitely nonsense…”
Even now, he refused to believe that the trade caravan was a lie.
He thought about it for the entire night. At that moment, Su Wen walked in. Song Huaigu suddenly jumped up and shouted, “Lord Su, I’m innocent! I’m innocent! You must believe me! Those people are really not liars! Even if they are liars, it has nothing to do with me. How could I dare to do something that offends everyone? Lord Su, please let me go! I’m really innocent!”
It was obvious that although he mumbled that he did not want to believe it, he had regained much of his rationality. Su Wen looked at him and only said, “Bring him to the interrogation room!” In the interrogation room, the lights were dim. This sort of dark place was designed to increase the psychological pressure of the criminal. Hence, the interrogation rooms were rarely brightly lit. Closed and sealed. Song Huaigu was brought in. “Kneel!”
Song Huaigu did not dare to resist and obediently knelt in front of Su Wen! “Milord, I am framed. I am truly framed.” “I really don’t know those people!” wailed Song Huaigu. “I was just relying on the connections of others. Sir, I’m innocent!” Su Wen smiled and said, “According to your family’s private accounts, you received 500,000 taels of silver just for the benefits, and everyone else was cheated. Why are you the only one who didn’t continue investing at that time?”
“I don’t know! I really don’t know!” Song Huaigu wanted to cry but had no tears. He didn’t know how to explain either, so he could only tell the truth. “It was that caravan’s Steward Luo who rejected my last investment. I don’t know why either!”
Su Wen looked at Song Huaigu and smiled. “Do you think I believe you?” Did he believe him? Of course Su Wen did! Because this was what he had planned! However, Su Wen wanted to use this pressure to crush Song Huaigu!
11 re
‘I can’t explain, because no one will believe
me.’
Song Huaigu had been a county magistrate for many years, so he naturally knew that if he met such a person, he wouldn’t believe him. “Men, prepare the torture chamber!” Song Huaigu only had one sentence. “Sir, Lord Su, I’m really innocent!”
At this moment, Su Wen shouted, “You’re wronged? If I’m wrongly accusing you, then where did the 700,000 taels of silver come from? Even if you get rid of the 500,000 taels, where did the rest come from?” Song Huaigu said with a bitter expression, “A portion of it is my savings from being an official for so many years, and a large portion of it is through the disaster!” Su Wen smiled. “Disaster? What happened? Tell me!”
Seeing that Su Wen did not use torture, Song Huaigu heaved a sigh of relief. In his view, Emperor Zhou had already forgiven them for the disaster, so there was no need for him to hide it.
V
He slowly said, “The disaster happened last year. At that time, there were starving people everywhere, and when I was eating with many family stewards, we discussed using this as an opportunity to earn money. Although there was still enough food in the city, it was barely enough for disaster relief. So, I sealed the city and prohibited the people outside the city from entering. I only cared about the people in the city. Later, the various large families took over the land and gathered the able men. After that, they gave me a considerable amount of benefits.”
Su Wen coldly said, “Haha, Lord Song, you even took such money? Aren’t you afraid of going to hell?” Song Huaigu shook his head and said, “What can I do? These aristocratic families are all local tyrants. How can I not agree?”
Su Wen stood up and kicked him!
Pa!
Song Huaigu was sent flying and landed on the ground. He spat out a mouthful of blood and Su Wen shouted, “Why do you have so many excuses? You don’t dare to not agree? Don’t you know how to write a memorial for the royal court? If you don’t dare to disagree, then why are you an official? Do you know how many lives were lost?” Suddenly, Su Wen stood in shock. To a certain extent, he and Song Huaigu were the same kind of people.
In the mystic realm, he had killed many people for the sake of benefits.
And the price he paid was to experience the life of every ant. He had experienced being killed countless times! He was even more aware of the despair and anger! As for those who were sacrificed by Song Huaigu, they were as insignificant.
But it was real. They truly existed. Su Wen remembered the words in the mystic realm.
“Life is akin to an ant. One should never look at it cheaply.” “The Heavens and Earth have their own Daos. Those who become almighty can exterminate countries, exterminate clans, and exterminate even an entire species.” “However, the Dao of Heaven and Earth has its own set of rules. It cannot be manipulated at will.”
“Now that the tribulation has passed, I hope that there is still a trace of good still left in you, and that you will proceed with caution!” He suddenly realized that perhaps the greatest gain from his trip to the mystic realm was not an increase in cultivation level, nor was it the Great Solar Supreme Policy, nor the Vermilion Bird’s blood, but these words.
“Lives are as insignificant as ants, yet cannot be taken lightly. Retain that trace of kindness in your heart.” Perhaps this was the only way he could never lose the essence of being a person!
Otherwise, how could they be of use in the bigger picture? Just a mere county magistrate could already destroy so many people, let alone a pinnacle expert?
But could such a person still be considered human?
Song Huaigu crawled up from the ground and looked at Su Wen. He said in a miserable voice, “Lord Su… No matter how angry you are, His Majesty has already forgiven us. And this time, I am really innocent!”
Su Wen glanced at Song Huaigu and took a deep breath. He knew that this fellow couldn’t die yet.
Su Wen sneered and said, “Don’t try to play dumb with me. Let me ask you, how many benefits did those aristocratic families give you? Was your family’s private property given to you by the families as well? Why don’t I believe you? Do you dare to say that you didn’t engage in embezzlement and the like?” “Absolutely not!” Song Huaigu said loudly.
Su Wen looked at him and said softly, “Believe it or not, as long as I go and ask those wealthy families now, I will know how much money they gave you during the disaster! You still dare to be stubborn!”
Su Wen was very clear about this kind of person. If he could push someone, he would definitely do so, what more a person who had their everything handed down from an aristocratic family!
Su Wen didn’t believe it! He just wanted to make use of this opportunity to legitimize some of the money that he had been involved in previously. That was why he said that on purpose! As expected, Song Huaigu fell silent upon hearing Su Wen’s words.
Su Wen walked to his side, squatted down, and said in a low voice, “County Magistrate Song, you have to know that someone has to take the blame when something happens, right? Those people have already run away, so how can we catch them back? If you don’t take the blame, where can the others vent their anger? Whether it’s the people who were cheated or the commoners, don’t we all have to give an explanation?”
Looking at the terrified Song Huaigu, Su Wen enticed him. “How about this? I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself. As long as you bite an official and give me sufficient evidence, I’ll help you absolve your blame from this matter! It’s not a big deal to be greedy for money. So long as you move your mouth enough, you can still preserve your life. I can even get my father to help you get out of this!”
Song Huaigu looked at Su Wen and asked, “Why are you doing this?”
Su Wen smiled and said, “I’m a Secret Shadow Guard. If I want to climb up the ranks, I have to knock down a few officials. Otherwise, how can I have any achievements? Trust me, as long as my father pleads for you, you won’t die! My father is the prime minister!”
When he spoke to this point, he stood up and continued in a low voice. “Lord Song, think about it carefully. You only have this path! Because you’re already unable to explain anything clearly. If the matter of swindling money is placed on you, then not to mention beheading, it wouldn’t be strange even if your entire clan were to be annihilated! Using my idea, I get political achievements, and you live. Very good, right?”
