Chapter 494
~ THE LESSER OF THE TWO EVILS ~
The next day, Mu Yunyao received the news from Servant Qin: All the salt merchants investigated before had been killed except Jiang Jin, who was seriously injured. She wrote a letter back and asked Servant Qin to take good care of Jiang Jin and must be rescued. He may be the only witness among the salt merchants.
Not long after, Si Qin walked in with a confession in her hand. “Miss, Linjiang Tongzhi already confessed.”
“Mm. Now, go and bring over the Linjiang City Government clerk in charge of dredging the river.”
Si Qin was taken aback when she heard her words: “Miss, is there a problem with the Linjiang City Government clerk?”
The Lord in charge looked at and cared about the people. Even when other officials did not act, he took the lead in repairing the river, and he was also very attentive to the victims. During this period of time, whether it was the distribution of food or decoctions, he was the first to rush in front. She recalled it carefully, but she really didn’t find any problems.
Mu Yunyao’s eyes flashed with a cold light. “If I didn’t have the guidance of the Lord, how could I have easily found out that there’s a problem with Linjiang Tongzhi? In addition, I didn’t say that there was a big problem with him, but I just called him over to have a chat.”
“Yes, this servant will bring the person over now.”
When the Linjiang City Government clerk was brought over, his body was still stained with the imprint of dried mud and water. Upon seeing Mu Yunyao, he hurriedly bowed in apology, “This lowly official is extremely rude to meet the Princess with incomplete clothes. Please forgive me, Princess.”
“The Lord is being too courteous. Someone, come and serve him some tea.”
Si Qin prepared a seat and stood at Mu Yunyao’s side, making it convenient and easy for her to protect her.
Mu Yunyao raised her eyes, her lips carrying a faint smile. “Has His Royal Highness Ling Wang been well?”
The Linjiang City Government clerk’s hand, which held the teacup, swayed as he raised his head to look at Mu Yunyao in confusion. “Princess, what do you mean by this? Why can’t the lower official understand it?”
Mu Yunyao knocked on the confession beside her. “Most people don’t understand that the heart should be as clear as a mirror. “Linjiang Tongzhi had already confessed what he had done. It is truly shocking to look at crimes he has committed one after the other.”
“How come this official does not know what crime Linjiang Tongzhi has committed?”
Mu Yunyao chuckled and indicated for Si Qin to give him the confession of Linjiang Tongzhi at hand to check. “Take a careful look. Are there any other mistakes or any omissions?”
When he saw the contents of the confession, the Linjiang City Government clerk’s eyes flickered, and a look of shock flashed through his heart. “This … falsified salt tax accounts, counterfeited salt tax silver, destroyed evidence, and blew up river banks, caused three cities to be flooded and countless people to be displaced … This … This is too despicable!”
Mu Yunyao looked at the Linjiang City Government clerk, who spoke well, and a cold smile appeared on her lips. “You have interacted with Linjiang Tongzhi for so long, so you should be clear about his character. Isn’t it strange that he had confessed so quickly in the blink of an eye?”
“This …” Immortal Lin Jiang was stunned, and his body involuntarily stiffened.
“I gave Linjiang Tongzhi a poison. This poison is extremely overbearing. After swallowing it, he need to consumed the antidote once every hour. If he doesn’t, his body will feel like it’s being eaten by ten thousand ants and he’ll felt be pain and itchy. The pain is so painful and itchy that peopleso much that can’t wait to tear off his whole skin, but if he scratching, it will increase the pain by ten times. That kind of contradictory feeling, does Lord want to experience it?”
“Princess, you sure know how to joke around. Is there even such a poison in the world?”
“The world is full of wonders, haven’t you heard this sentence? In addition, this kind of medicine wasn’t that rare. I’ve seen a more overbearing one before. After consuming it, all the organs in the body will slowly rot away from the inside to the outside. Even the bones will slowly decay into residues. Only the skin on the outside is good, but even so, this person will not die. In the end, he will become pus wrapped in human skin....”
The Linjiang City Government clerk couldn’t help but clutch his chest and retched. The whole person’s face was terribly awful. He saw Mu Yunyao’s eyes, and his heart filled with fear. Even though she had a beautiful and slender figure, her methods were so bloody and cruel that people couldn’t help but feel the chills in their hearts when they saw her face.
Mu Yunyao looked at him. “Why do you have such a large reaction? Don’t worry. If you cooperate well, I won’t use these two poisons on you. After all, you are one of His Royal Highness Ling Wang people. I must at least give some face to my eldest uncle. ”
“Princess, I really don’t understand what you mean.”
“You don’t need to understand. You just need to report my words back to your master. Remember, it’s your true master. I have taken over Linjiang City. I will truthfully report the confessions of Linjiang Tongzhi to the Emperor. As for the others, when His Royal Highness Yu Wang comes, he will find out one by one and then report it to the Emperor. Therefore, don’t operate those methods secretly. After all, the Emperor will not say anything in anger once these things break out. Thus, his reputation among the people will be reduced to the extreme! I think your master doesn’t want such an outcome, does he?”
Facing Mu Yunyao’s eyes that seemed to penetrate people’s hearts, the Linjiang City Government clerk’s face became even paler. His expression slowly turned into one of panic. “Princess …”
“My patience is also limited. If you say that you don’t understand what I mean, I’ll change someone else to help me relay a message. In any case, there’s more than one person in Linjiang City who can contact the Capital. What do you think?”
“… Yes, the lower official understands. I will definitely pass on the Princess’ meaning word for word.”
Mu Yunyao raised the corner of her lips. “Good, you’re really a smart person. Then, where has Yu Wang been blocked?”
“This … the lower official doesn’t know....” The Linjiang City Government clerk wanted to shake his head and deny it, but when he saw Mu Yunyao’s half-smiling appearance, he recalled her threats and couldn’t help but clench his teeth. “His Royal Highness Jin Wang’s men used a mountain rock to break off the official road to Linjiang City in private, then incited the refugees to cause trouble and trapped His Royal Highness Yu Wang on the road before entering Tongling City.”
“I see. The Lord, please go and get busy yourself.”
“Yes.”
When the Linjiang City Government clerk left, Mu Yunyao took the confession of Tongzhi Linjiang.
“Miss, do you think you can trust Linjiang Tongzhi’s words?”
“Naturally, we cannot believe him based on his words alone. We lack physical evidence now.” Mu Yunyao slightly shook her head. “This matter was too shocking, and it was hard to believe in a single person’s words alone.
“I’m afraid the physical evidence is hard to find, right? After all, many things were washed away after the river broke its banks, and we don’t know where it went.”
Mu Yunyao shook her head, “No, we’ll soon be able to see the evidence.”
“What? Is Miss has already thought of a way to find physical evidence?”
“Do you think that the reason I called the Linjiang City Government official’s clerk over was to say those two words?”
“Is it not?”
“The moment we entered Linjiang City, we saw many old people, weak women, and children inside, but we didn’t see any young or strong males. In the beginning, I thought that those young men had followed the Linjiang City Government official’s clerk to fix the river. However, when I saw those who repaired the river, I was sure that many of them were definitely not ordinary people. Moreover, the river has been repaired for more than half a month, without piling piles or protecting the dikes. What do you think they did by digging and searching continuously on both sides of the river?”