“Midnight.”
Hearing this answer, Hong Jianzhang’s eyes turned sinister. He said maliciously, “Take these useless servants and beat them to death.”
“Sir, it has nothing to do with me!”
“Please have mercy, my lord…”
The two of them kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, but Hong Jianzhang was unmoved.
Then, he gritted his teeth and instructed the guard, “Gather everyone now. We’ll go to Cao Dezhi’s residence and settle this score.”
The group of people walked out of the door and bumped into Fan Mingyuan, who had finally found out about the imperial envoy’s residence and specially came to interview him.
“Lord Hong, I have…” He cupped his hands and stepped forward.
Hong Jianzhang did not even look at him. He waved his hand and summoned two people to restrain Fan Mingyuan. He led his men towards Cao Dezhi’s private residence.
On the other side, Cao Dezhi also received news that Hong Jianzhang had brought people to his private residence.
He had already suspected that Hong Jianzhang had pretended to help Anyang County so that he could punish him.
Lord Hong was afraid that he would hold a grudge against him for what happened back then and take revenge one day. Therefore, Lord Hong would probably try to frame him and kill him.
Thinking about it this way, the causal links in this matter seemed to make sense.
“This is too much.” Cao Dezhi slammed the table and stood up. He immediately gathered his men and rushed over.
However, he was still too late. When Cao Dezhi arrived at his own residence, he saw Hong Jianzhang coming out.
Meanwhile, his men were tied up and thrown outside the residence.
“Lord Hong, what is the meaning of this?” Cao Dezhi took a step forward and stood in front of Hong Jianzhang with a fake smile.
“Are you asking me that right now? In fact, I want to ask about what you’ve been up to. Who gave you the guts to kill my men and rob my food?”
Previously, when someone wrote Hong Jianzhang to inform him that Cao Dezhi had secretly been selling grain at a high price, he did not believe it. He thought that someone was simply trying to sow discord. He did not expect this thief to dare to have designs on his grains.
Cao Dezhi was stunned by Lord Hong’s words. When he saw the guards behind Hong Jianzhang pushing the cart out of his residence, he suddenly reacted.
“Hong Jianzhang is not only unwilling to let me off, he’s also trying to frame me for stealing food. Are you trying to force me into a corner?” Cao Dezhi thought.
In that case…
Cao Dezhi suddenly sneered. “Guards, the imperial envoy has embezzled food and committed a crime. Now, the evidence is conclusive.
“For the sake of the people of Anyang County, I will detain this corrupt official today. I will report this to His Majesty in the following days.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his people surrounded the people Hong Jianzhang brought with him.
Hong Jianzhang glared at the arrogant person in front of him with red eyes. He did not expect him to be so bold.
Although Cao Dezhi was only a county magistrate, Hong Jianzhang knew that he was currently in Cao Dezhi’s territory.
Since Cao Dezhi dared to do this, he definitely wouldn’t let Hong Jianzhang return to the capital alive.
It was said that even a powerful dragon could not suppress a snake on its home ground. However, he had no choice.
With a wave of his hand, the two sides started fighting. The scene was chaotic.
Hong Jianzhang didn’t care about the food anymore. He wanted to escape with a small group of people protecting him.
Cao Dezhi naturally would not let him off. He immediately chased after him with his men.
Unexpectedly, after the two of them ran for a while, a group of refugees rushed over from all directions.
“Look, the lying officials are there. They have food but they won’t give it to us. Kill them!”
Someone in the crowd shouted.
The victims of the disaster, who were already cold and hungry, remembered the pathetic bowls of porridge given by the government and the carts of food.
In addition, someone fanned the flames. The angry refugees immediately swarmed over.
All of them wanted to strike a blow at these corrupt officials.
When Hong Jianzhang and Cao Dezhi saw this scene, a thought appeared in their minds. They had fallen into a trap!
However, it was too late to react now. There were too many disaster victims, and they were furious.
Not to mention the two of them, who lived a pampered life, even the guards beside them could not do anything.
The Mahjong Brothers, who were among the victims, looked at each other and quietly approached the two of them. When they were not paying attention, they went straight for their vitals.
By the time the victims reacted, the two of them had already fallen to the ground without a sound.
The crowd fell silent. Their minds suddenly cleared up.
Everyone let out panicked cries and scattered.
When the two parties who were fighting just now arrived, other than the dozens of guards lying on the ground, bleeding and wailing, there were only two corpses left.
Song Jingchen was about to put down his pen when he thought of something. He pondered for a moment and finally added one last sentence at the end of the letter.
Shen Yijia leaned over and saw Fan Mingyuan’s name at the end.
After putting the letter into an envelope and sealing it, Song Jingchen gave a few instructions and entrusted the letter to One Dot.
After this incident, they admired their master even more.
“Hubby, what did you write in those two letters?” Shen Yijia’s eyes were sparkling.
He made the two officials fight each other. If the capital were to investigate, they would only come to the conclusion that the two had died in the riot.
“They’re just guilty.” Song Jingchen sneered.
It was an unexpected gain for him that Lord Hong had come as part of the disaster relief envoy.
Back then, he had instructed that if anyone else came, there was no need to send out the two letters.
At that time, as long as he confirmed that Cao Dezhi had stolen the food, the official in charge would deal with him for the sake of saving himself.
As for Lord Hong.
Thinking of this good-for-nothing official who lied in the royal court to testify about the crown prince’s rebellion, Song Jingchen narrowed his eyes.
Just like Grand Tutor Zhao, he pretended to be on the side of the crown prince, but he had another master in secret. This kind of person deserved to die.
He had previously suspected that the masters behind these men were the same person. They stocked up on food and sold slaves. How could he not think deeply about this?
And the only person who had the brains to do this without revealing anything was probably the person hiding behind the scenes.
He had only sent the letter to test the waters, but it did not disappoint him. It seemed that it was as he had expected.
As for the person behind this…
Song Jingchen sneered, his gaze unfathomable.
“The snow has stopped.” Song Jingchen suddenly said. “Let’s go out for a walk.”
Shen Yijia looked out of the window. The golden sunlight shone through the thick clouds and onto the snow, adding some warmth to her heart.
She nodded. “Okay!”
The riot in Anyang County caused the death of a second-grade official and the local county magistrate. This matter naturally caused a huge commotion in the royal court.
Moreover, the Lizhou county magistrate filed a complaint against the Minister of Revenue for disregarding the lives of the commoners during the disaster relief. He also accused Lord Hong of protecting corrupt officials and accepting bribes.
The crimes were clear, and no one dared to stand up for him. Unfortunately, as soon as the Minister of Revenue’s residence learned of their master’s death, the imperial guards raided their residence.
Another group of local officials was implicated. For a moment, everyone in the imperial court was at risk. Everyone recalled the incident half a year ago when the crown prince was deposed.
