Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 369: Idle People Are Not Idle
Although they had just shouted to kill the dog official and then followed the crowd in clamoring for Xu Cheng to commit suicide, the people watching in front of the county government office were unable to recover from their emotions for a long time after witnessing Zhu Tingfang killing Xu Cheng, who was resisting stubbornly with his sword.
Even though everyone in Cangzhou knew that General Zhu Tingfang was decisive and resolute in killing people, and there were already clear examples before him, they still didn't expect that someone could do this! There may be many people here who like to go to the execution ground to watch the killings and cheer when they see blood, but witnessing the killings suddenly in such an unexpected situation, the shock is completely different from watching a beheading.
It was not until Zhang Shou sent people to the palace to escort Xian Yunhe and others, and then the officers in the county government office hurried out, dragged away Xu Cheng's corpse, which was still open-eyed, and began to wash the road casually with well water. Seeing Zhang Shou and Zhu Tingfang return to the county government office one after another, everyone came to their senses.
The two students from Wendaoyi Academy who were just at the door reporting the trial in the county hall became excited after their initial shock. One of them said excitedly, "Dr. Zhang's questioning just now made Xu Cheng speechless. He is really good at speaking. No wonder he can become a doctor of the Imperial College! Without such good knowledge, he can't say such refreshing words."
"Yes, yes, and Dr. Zhang also specifically said that people like Mr. Xu are true scholars!"
When the two of them talked, the others heard it and couldn't help but discuss it. They didn't have a good memory like the two scholars, so they could only remember a little bit, but they all felt that Zhang Shou's words were very impressive. Someone even shouted on the spur of the moment, "No wonder he is the future son-in-law of the Duke of Zhao's mansion. That young lady has good taste!"
Although Zhu Ying had not been ostentatious in the past, there were many people in the county government office and rumors had spread. No one thought that the young lady was here to visit her two brothers. They all thought that she was chasing her ideal husband. This was because most people did not know that Zhu Ying had followed Zhang Shou out of the city, otherwise there would be more speculation.
But now, many people are talking about the talented man and the beautiful woman, and some people are even speculating about the wedding date, so that Xu Cheng, who just died tragically, has been deliberately forgotten.
Zhu Ying, who was wearing men's clothes and a bamboo hat and hiding in the crowd, was so excited that she completely forgot that she had just seen Xu Cheng approaching Zhang Shou with a sword. Even though she had been informed by Ah Liu and knew that the sword was unsharpened, she was still so nervous that she held her breath.
At this time, she squeezed out of the crowd under the protection of Zhu Hong and Zhu Yi, and sneaked into the county government office through the side door, with a deep smile between her eyebrows. When she saw Zhu Er and Zhang Chen with serious faces, she couldn't help but joked: "Why are you so serious? Big brother and A Shou are working together. That dog official is dead, even the old officials in the court can't say anything!"
"Who cares about Xu Cheng!" Zhu Er wiped the sweat from his forehead in exasperation, and then whispered, "Yingying, when you were outside just now, did you notice how many spinners and cotton farmers came?"
Zhu Ying was immediately amused: "Whether they are spinners or cotton farmers, there is no word engraved on their foreheads, so how can I recognize them? But if you are talking about the group of people who followed Xian Yunhe to occupy the palace, although I have never seen them, I think they should be strong and sturdy. There are many people with such physiques outside. And I heard many people say that Xu Cheng deserved to die, and Xian Yunhe and others were innocent."
"Oh, that's right!"
Zhu Er sighed, and Zhang Chen next to him said, "Last night, Master Ge summoned me and asked me about the results of my investigation into the landless and jobless people. He then told me indirectly that Xian Yunhe and the others would probably not be able to escape death. The eldest prince was deprived of his inheritance rights, and before that, Boss Zhu had dealt a heavy blow to those wealthy families, and now Boss Zhu has killed Xu Cheng..."
Although Zhang Chen stopped talking before he finished, Zhu Ying was no fool. After a moment's silence, he said thoughtfully, "That's true. The court has suffered a severe blow. Others are either dead or unlucky. How can we not kill a few of the so-called rioters? If we don't kill them, the old men in the court will push the responsibility onto Shou, after all, he was the one who made the things!"
"Yes, that's what I'm worried about!"
Zhang Chen punched the wall in anger and said irritably, "After all, it was me who caused this. If the young master really spared Xian Yunhe and his men, but was later slandered by those people in the court who didn't like him in the first place, wouldn't I be guilty of a heinous crime? Moreover..."
As if he didn't know how to organize his sentences, he paused, and then said word by word: "Besides, I don't think Xian Yunhe and the others did anything wrong! Faced with a greedy person like the eldest prince, a despicable and shameless local official like Xu Cheng, and a group of wealthy families who have absolute power in the local area, what else can he do?"
"Go to the capital to file a complaint? The drum of denunciation is not something that ordinary people can just beat casually! Even a desperate dog will jump over the wall. If it were me, I would not care about the prince or the county magistrate if I was forced into a desperate situation!"
Zhu Er glanced at Zhang Chen in surprise. He didn't expect that the eldest son of the Duke of Qin, who was born in a noble family and was always regarded as the top figure among the playboys, would actually sympathize with the group of rioters. Although he actually felt that Xian Yunhe and others had done nothing wrong, he was not immature enough to say it casually.
However, when he turned his head to look at Zhu Ying again, he found that his sister was nodding in agreement. He immediately forgot about being mature or immature and quickly agreed, "I also think that those eight guys are indeed wronged. It is said that officials force the people to rebel. If they can't survive, who would do such an incredible thing? But, Zhang...your family's personality, Yingying, you should know."
After much thought, Zhu Er decided to make his words vague, and his use of "the one in your family" to refer to Zhang Shou really pleased Zhu Ying.
Zhu Ying nodded without thinking and said, "You are right. With Ah Shou's kind character, even if he heard what Grandpa Ge said about the attitudes of those guys in the court, he might not necessarily kill Xian Yunhe and the other eight. He looks gentle, but he is actually very stubborn. Even if he knows that some people will take advantage of the situation, he will still stick to his own opinion! So..."
She paused and said firmly: "Then I might as well go back to Beijing first!"
"This..." Zhu Er's scalp suddenly tingled. Miss, you come when you say so, and leave when you say so? He instinctively said what he was thinking: "Even a powerful person like Ge Zushi had to go to Cangzhou, obviously to persuade my future brother-in-law, who is also his most valued disciple. It is obvious that he has no other choice. What's the point of you returning to Beijing, Yingying?"
"Usefulness is not a matter of words, but actions." Zhu Ying said it proudly, but the sudden elbow hit Zhu Er hard, indicating that she was actually very angry about this. When Zhu Er was so scared that he covered his chest and ran away a few steps, she turned to look at Zhang Chen and smiled.
Zhang Chen used to be obsessed with Zhu Ying because of her stunning appearance. Even though he had basically given up on this thought, he still felt dry-mouthed and speechless when he saw her smile at him.
"Zhang Chen, I heard what Ah Shou said about what you did in Xingtai. Although it is true that Cangzhou is in such a mess now, it is a little bit because of you, but it is mostly because of other people's greed. You just did what you had to do!"
If it were the Zhang Chen of the past, he would have been ecstatic to hear such praise, but now he did not feel much comfort - when he realized from Ge Yong's words that the series of events he was involved in might implicate Zhang Shou, he felt extremely annoyed.
He had completely forgotten how angry he felt when he first found out that the other person was Zhu Ying's fiancé last year. Of course, even if he remembered it, he would definitely insist on being stubborn. He just felt that he had not done things perfectly.
Therefore, at this moment he turned his eyes away unnaturally and said stiffly: "I know all this, you don't need to comfort me." I'm not a child who needs comfort!
"Who comforted you? What I mean is that my eldest brother and Ah Shou always seem to be a little incompatible, and my second brother is a little stupid. Although Ah Shou has Ah Liu by his side, Ah Liu can't help him in many areas. So, it's up to you!" Zhu Ying smiled and said complacently, "If you really want to marry a stunning beauty in the future, then show your true ability this time!"
"Remember, beauties all like heroes!"
Seeing Zhu Ying walk away lightly after saying this, Zhang Chen was stunned for a long time, until he heard Zhu Er's chuckle, he became angry and rushed over to grab the man. The two guys who had always disliked each other wrestled half-seriously for a while, and when they finally separated, Zhang Chen straightened his messy collar with a fierce face.
"Beauty loves heroes, Yingying is right." Zhu Er felt that the marriage was already finalized, although he still didn't know where the girl came from, but it didn't stop him from advising Zhang Chen with the attitude of being taken. "Although many of the rich girls in the capital don't get along with Yingying, there are some who are good friends with her. She can be a matchmaker for you, which is more useful than anyone else!"
Seeing Zhang Chen's silent face, Zhu Er said in a gentle and persuasive way, "Let's not talk about anything else. Didn't Fatty Lu rely on Yingying's matchmaking to meet the little girl from the Liu family? Even if the second prince suddenly appeared, he actually seized the opportunity to show his heroism. As a result, you saw that his matter was brought to the attention of the emperor, and that damn fat guy became a model of a prodigal son who turned over a new leaf!"
"Why are you talking about Fatty Lu?"
Zhang Chen was angry, but he didn't completely agree with Zhu Er's words in his heart - Lu Sanpang's talent was indeed outstanding, no wonder he stood out, even Lu Wan, who always disliked this young boy, had to look at him differently. However, Zhang Shou's asking Zhu Ying to matchmake for Lu Sanlang did work well. He even remembered that he heard Zhang Wu mention that someone had asked Zhang Shou to arrange a marriage.
Now, Zhang Wu is the future prince consort, and Zhang Lu is the future concubine, just waiting to get married, but where is his stunning beauty? Not only did Zhang Shou promise him, but his father also personally entrusted his marriage to Zhang Shou!
After hesitating for a while, Zhang Chen realized that it was meaningless to hesitate like this. If it was really the beauty who loved the hero, then what he did was not heroic at all, at least not as heroic as Lu Sanlang scolding the second prince in the street.
He took a deep breath, then looked at Zhu Er and forced himself to change the subject: "We only investigated three streets for the landless and jobless population, and it's not very accurate. After all, we are not locals. Didn't the Jiang family and the Qi family's workshops merge? Let's go see Jiang Siyuan and ask him to come forward and carefully check a few more streets and settle the workshops at the same time..."
Zhang Chen did not mention the next case that Zhang Shou was going to try, but he had already made up his mind. Everyone has their own responsibilities. If the bigwigs in the court are really furious, he will come out to take the blame! He was the one who pretended to be the confidant of the second prince, and he was also the one who pretended to buy cotton at a high price... He didn't believe that his father would just stand by and watch!
If the Zhu family, Duke of Zhao, and the Zhang family, Duke of Qin, join forces, he doesn't believe that they can't defeat those old stubborn people!
Seeing that Zhang Chen refused to pick up his words, Zhu Er regretted that he could not continue to tease him. But he was listening absentmindedly, and suddenly remembered another thing he found in the morning. He quickly whispered, "Oh, when I went to look for Old Salted Fish and Little Peanut last night, I found that they were suddenly missing. Will the old and young do something stupid?"
Zhang Chen and Lao Xianyu were not familiar with each other at all, and he could not help but frown. After thinking for a moment, he said in a distracted manner: "Don't worry about them for now! Du Heng from the Ruiqi Battalion will definitely bring people here in person. Even if they want to cause trouble, the Ruiqi Battalion will not be a pushover!"
The scene in the county court was still the same as before, the only difference was that Zhang Shou and Zhu Tingfang had switched seats. As for Ge Yong, the old Grand Tutor sat in his original seat calmly, with his eyes closed, as if he was dozing off.
The officers on both sides of the court stood straight, with their heads held high and their chests puffed out. Even the most critical superiors could not find fault with them. However, even though they stood straight, some of them would occasionally glance at the three people in the court. Even though Ge Yong had the highest status, the number of people who spied on him was far less than those who spied on Zhu Tingfang and Zhang Shou.
Compared with the previous ones, more than half of these escorts have been replaced - and judging from Xu Cheng's experience, no one thinks that those people can come back safely. The people who are still detained in the palace are filled with disciples recommended by various escort agencies and martial arts schools such as Cao Wu. Although escorts are regarded as menial tasks by some scholars, regular service is still very attractive.
The monthly money and food and various benefits are much better than the risk of living in the open air! Just as everyone was waiting impatiently, a voice suddenly came from outside: "Reporting to the three imperial envoys, General Du of the Ruiqi Battalion has sent all the prisoners!"
Hearing this, Zhang Shou thought to himself that it had finally come, and then he said in a deep voice: "Please invite General Du to the court to listen, and bring in all the prisoners!"
