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Chapter 42: Grievance
Zhu Yu watched from the side, feeling a little puzzled.

She could see that Lu Qing was planning to punish Li Wencai by starting with the wasteland and agricultural tax in Qingshui County, and he mobilized the imperial guards to dispatch them so that he could launch drastic actions more conveniently.

But why do we have to go to Runzhou government office to ask the prefect Zhao Xin to borrow a runner?
Whether it is the county government or the provincial government, the yamen runners are still somewhat majestic in front of ordinary people. However, if they encounter extremely vicious criminals, they may not be able to show enough respect, and they can never be compared with the imperial guards who are proficient in daily training.

Isn't this like holding a powerful crossbow in your hand and asking someone to borrow a horsewhip?

Unless, what he wanted was not a few yamen runners to run errands, but something else.

For example, the other party’s attitude and position.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yu suddenly understood. Previously, when Lu Jingxing mentioned Zhao Xin, the prefect of Runzhou next door, he said that unlike the indifferent and blind attitude of Congzhou Prefecture where the capital was located, Zhao Xin had used some unknown method to persuade the farmers in the state to stay on their farmland and farm as usual, and the harvest seemed to be good every year.

Previously, Lu Qing said that Li Wencai worked hard to gain personal connections and eventually became a disciple of the second prince, Prince Yi Lu Zhang, in name only. In fact, his purpose was to squeeze himself into the faction of Lu Zhang's grandfather, Duke Yan.

With a mere seventh-rank official like Li Wencai, it was natural that he could not even touch Lu Zhang's shoes. The superiors who were able to provide him with protection over the years were most likely the people he had connected with when he was trying to gain personal advancement.

Then the person who came from the provincial government office is most likely Duke Yan’s man.

On the surface, Lu Qing asked Fu Lu to go to Zhao Xin to borrow people, but in fact he wanted to guess who Zhao Xin of Runzhou Prefecture supported through the subsequent reactions brought about by this action.

It is estimated that Lu Qing's action of breaking the stone with a knife really shocked all the servants in Li Wencai's family. The news soon spread throughout the Li family's house. Usually, Li Wencai was probably not particularly kind to his servants, so these people were afraid that they would really suffer with Li Wencai, and they were so scared that they wanted to hide as far away as possible.

In the afternoon, a few maids were pushed out and timidly carried tea and snacks to the side courtyard for Lu Qing and Zhu Yu. They didn't even dare to approach the door, but just put the food and drinks on the stone table in the courtyard, shouted, and ran away.

Zhu Yu felt that there was nothing wrong with this. Originally, the runes and talismans had all gone out to do their work, and only Lu Qing and herself were left in Li's house. She felt a little uneasy.

When it comes to autopsies, she does it with ease and without blinking an eye.

When it comes to dealing with villains, she is giving them away for free.

So now the servants are so scared that they dare not even approach the side yard, which is actually a good thing.

But there are exceptions to everything, and there are always people who are eccentric.

Just when all the servants of the Li family acted as if there was a ghost living in the side courtyard - afraid but not able to offend, there was one person who was particularly brave.

"That man is here again." Zhu Yu stood at the window and caught a glimpse of the bun sticking out from the wall outside from the corner of his eye. He whispered to Lu Qing, who was sitting at the desk with his eyes closed and resting.

Lu Qing opened his eyes and glanced at Zhu Yu: "Then please trouble the Chief Secretary to invite this person in. If I go, I'm afraid I'll scare him away."

Zhu Yu walked out as he was told. The figure on the wall shrank back, as if he wanted to leave, but then stopped and didn't really leave.

"Since you're here, why are you sneaking around outside? Come in and tell me what you want to say!" Zhu Yu said loudly to the people outside the wall.

The bun moved in the hole in the wall, and soon there were footsteps. A young woman who looked about the same age as Zhu Yu took small steps from the wall and appeared outside the Moon Gate.

The woman was beautiful, her hair still in the same spiral bun that Zhu Yu had seen before. She wore no hairpins or hairpins, and she was wearing a plain white dress. The material was obviously good, but the lack of color didn't match her delicate features at such a young age. The woman looked up at Zhu Yu. Although her face couldn't be seen due to the leather mask, she didn't look as burly as Fu Lu, and she seemed a little less nervous.

She walked into the courtyard cautiously and bowed to Zhu Yufu from a distance: "I am Zhu Qiaoyun, your humble servant. I am honored to meet you, sir. I beg you to make the decision for me."

"Don't panic, come forward and talk." Zhu Yu gestured for her to come to the door of the main hall.

Zhu Qiaoyun twisted a handkerchief in both hands, pursed her lips, and walked closer step by step. Every step seemed to be made with great determination.

Zhu Yu saw that she was wearing a pair of plain hemp shoes, as if she was in mourning for someone.

But it clearly didn't look like anyone had died recently in Li Wencai's family.

She glanced at Zhu Qiaoyun's hands inconspicuously. They were white, tender and delicate, not like those of someone who did rough work. She had a rough guess about the woman's identity.

Zhu Qiaoyun entered the main hall and knelt down in the direction where Lu Qing was sitting, prostrating herself on the ground. "I am Zhu Qiaoyun, the humble lady. Please, sir, make a decision for me!"

"Who are you? What's your grievance?" Lu Qing looked indifferent, his voice low and indifferent.

"My Lord, I am the daughter of an ordinary family in Taiping County. When I was seventeen, I went to the city with my family to watch the Lantern Festival. I met Li Wencai by chance, and he took a fancy to me. He then wanted to take me as his concubine.

I have been engaged to Sanlang Zhou from the same village since I was young. Zhou Sanlang and I are childhood sweethearts and are in love with each other. We had planned to choose a suitable date to get married, but we never expected that Li Wencai would pop up in the middle of the process.

He was the county magistrate and we couldn't afford to offend him, but he was domineering in Taiping County and we all hated him so much. My parents and I didn't want me to be his concubine, so we could only arrange with the Zhou family to let the two of us escape at night and go to another place and come back after the storm had passed.

By that time, Zhou Lang and I will have already made a living, and Li Wencai is not a loyal person, so this matter may be over. At most, they will suffer some punishment, which is better than letting me become someone's concubine.

As a result, Zhou Lang and I traveled all night, but were still caught up by Li Wencai and his men. Not only did they capture me, but they also beat my Zhou Lang to death with clubs... and threw him into the river to feed the fish... They didn't even save his body..."

At this point, Zhu Qiaoyun was overwhelmed with grief, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, falling down, and she sobbed uncontrollably.

Zhu Yu suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the woman was dressed in white. It turned out that she was mourning for her lover who was killed by Li Wencai.

Judging from her current appearance, she seems to be around twenty years old. It seems that she has been abducted to Li's house and served as Li Wencai's concubine for a few days. She is always wearing a white dress and hemp shoes. It can be seen that Zhu Qiaoyun has never thought about pleasing Li Wencai. Instead, she uses her clothes to remind Li Wencai how much she hates him.

"So you want me to make the decision for your Zhou Sanlang?" Lu Qing asked.

"I would like to ask you to make a decision for the people of Qingshui County!" Zhu Qiaoyun wiped her tears and said in a trembling voice, "As long as Li Wencai is still the magistrate of Qingshui County, I don't know how many evil things he will do. I don't know how many more people will be killed by him like my Zhou Lang!

I originally thought that the Lord was the honored guest invited by Li Wencai, but I was not sure, so I only dared to wander around outside and did not dare to come in.

Today, when I heard that you were here to punish Li Wencai, I plucked up the courage to come again!
"I know that Li Wencai has an account book that records how much he spent to bribe officials at the prefectural government. I also know where he has hidden it. I am willing to tell you everything. I only ask that you punish this evildoer and not give him a chance to rise again. Don't let him harm the people of Taiping County again!"

　Thanks to 11gch86 x4 and Vegetarian Pig x6 for their monthly tickets!
　　I wish you all a Happy New Year!
　　Starting from tomorrow, I will continue to publish one chapter at 12 noon and one chapter at 6 pm, and strive to update twice a day.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)