All the members are good people, only the host is a pervert

In the midsummer of Yangzhou City, the scorching sun burns the salt fields and the air is filled with a salty smell.

Lin Ruan stood on the high slope outside the salt field, looking at the salt workers working like ants below, with a sharp light flashing in his eyes.

"Sir, I've let Lin San and the others in as you instructed," Zhezhi whispered. "But I'm worried that these salt workers, who have been oppressed for years, might not dare to resist easily."

Lin Ruan gently stroked the jade pendant at her waist and said calmly, "When starved to the extreme, even domesticated cats and dogs will become dangerous. These salt workers are squeezed to the limit, and all it takes is a spark..."

Before she could finish her words, there was a sudden commotion in the distance. A thin salt worker collapsed beside the salt pond, and his colleagues surrounded him in panic.

"Another one has fallen." Zhezhi sighed, "I don't know how many times this has happened this month."

Lin Ruan narrowed her eyes. "The weather is exceptionally hot this year. Let Lin San and the others seize this opportunity and continue to encourage these salt workers to go to the government office to file a complaint. Life is tough, and if there's a glimmer of hope, they'll be ready to fight."

In the following days, Lin San and her team continued to work at the salt fields, not only delivering medicine and food to the workers but also collecting evidence of the salt merchants withholding wages and abusing the workers.

Every few days, a group of salt workers would come to the prefectural government office, their numbers growing and their momentum growing.

Two or three months passed, and Lin Ruan felt that the time was ripe.

Lin San and her companions found several salt workers whose families had been ruined by the salt merchants. They looked at them with a determined gaze, "Sisters, this is our last chance. Only by making a big noise and attracting the attention of the higher-ups can we truly change our fate."

The next morning, hundreds of salt workers gathered in front of the prefectural government office, holding up blood-written letters and shouting their grievances.

The prefect Sun Xiuying wanted to deal with the matter perfunctorily as usual, but she found that the guards of the Censorate had already been taking notes.

"Sir Sun, with so many people crying out for justice, won't you hold a trial in court?" Lin Ruan appeared in the court at some point and asked with a half-smile.

Sun Xiuying's fat face was covered in sweat. "Lin, Master Lin, these unruly people..."

"A scoundrel?" Lin Ruan sneered. "I didn't know Lord Sun had the ability to solve cases with such precision. If I had known sooner, I would have reported this to His Majesty and appointed him the Grand Court Justice."

Sun Xiuying's eyes, shrunk by the fat, gleamed with a fierce gleam. She said, "Lin Junran, you and I are both officials in Yangzhou City. Are you sure you want to press us so hard? After all, you're just a deputy envoy. Lord Gu probably doesn't know that you brought guards to my government office today to support these lowly people, right?"

Lin Ruan smiled and said gently, "Master Sun, what are you talking about? I'm just performing my duties as an inspector and listening in on you handling a case. How can I be said to be pressuring you?"

"Alright, alright," Sun Xiuying gritted her teeth and said, "Since you want to see it, I'll let you see it clearly. Come, prepare a seat for Lord Lin and proceed to the court!"

But before he could finish his words, there was a sudden howling and uproar in the courtroom, and chaos broke out.

It turned out that the salt workers were getting more and more agitated when they saw that Sun Xiuying was reluctant to accept the case.

Suddenly, a scream was heard and an elderly salt worker was pushed to the ground by the yamen runners. His head was bleeding and he died instantly.

"Murder!" Angry roars erupted among the salt workers.

Lin Ruan saw the right moment and shouted, "As the Deputy Envoy of the Censorate, I will take over this case immediately! Come, arrest all those involved!"

This murder case instantly caused a stir in Yangzhou City, and the news quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys.

Gu Mingyi was furious when he found out.

She growled, "Lin Junran, you're absolutely crazy! You're just a deputy envoy. Who gave you the authority to bypass me and take over this matter directly with your guards?"

"Master Gu, please don't be angry," Lin Ruan replied calmly, "First, take a look at what this is, and then discuss whether I have the authority to do so."

Lin Ruan held up a golden plate in his hand, engraved with the royal emblem and the four large characters "As if I were here in person".

Seeing this, the people around him knelt down one after another. Gu Mingyi did not dare to stand there blatantly, so he knelt down angrily, shouted "Long live" loudly, and then said:

"It really is you! Wang Tongchun, Sun Xiuying, everything is because of you. Lin Junran, are you crazy? When did you confiscate the silver for maintenance? That skinny horse is still being kept in your house. Don't forget, the laws of our dynasty strictly prohibit the trafficking of human beings. Even if you are the emperor's cousin, under the clear legal principles, are you sure she can protect you?"

It’s not that Gu Mingyi didn’t suspect Lin Ruan, but it was precisely because she was indeed involved in every detail that Gu Mingyi never dared to confirm.

Who knew that Lin Ruan really dared to do this, and was willing to drag herself down to overturn the Yangzhou city!

"Master Gu, you're joking. What crime have I committed?" Lin Ruan asked with a seemingly innocent look, "Before I joined forces with you, I had the permission of the emperor. I had no choice but to do so."

Lin Ruan, who had been pretending to be a pig in Yangzhou for two and a half years, finally showed his fangs and started to bite the tiger.

"You! Come here, Deputy Shi Lin Junran openly defied her superiors, arrest her!"

Now Gu Mingyi has become somewhat reckless. He is going to die anyway, so he might as well give it a try. Maybe if Lin Ruan dies, there will be no evidence to prove the matter, and no one will investigate it anymore.

After all, the salt workers are rioting, and the deputy envoy of the Censorate went to maintain order but unfortunately died. Isn't that normal?

What's more, in the eyes of the salt workers, Lin Ruan was just a corrupt official like other officials who accepted bribes from salt merchants and oppressed them.

Unfortunately, except for Gu Mingyi and a few of his confidants, the rest of the Censorate not only did not obey her orders, but instead protected Lin Ruan.

"Master Gu, you're still so naive." Lin Ruan laughed, "If the sky falls, there's always someone higher up to hold it up. You'll be dead sooner or later, but they're still alive. Maybe after this round of purges, they'll still be serving as guards in the Censorate. After all, the law doesn't punish everyone. Now you raise your hand and expect them to die with you. Is that possible?"

As she spoke, her face turned cold. She said, "I have informed His Majesty that the imperial envoy will arrive in a few days. Come, to prevent those salt workers from colliding with Lord Gu, send her to the Gu Mansion and protect her well. No harm will be done to her."

"Yes, my lord!"

Gu Mingyi was placed under house arrest by Lin Ruan and could no longer investigate the matter. Under the leadership of Lin Ruan, the Censorate officially intervened and launched a comprehensive investigation into the case of harsh treatment of salt workers.

At this point, the ugly deeds of the salt merchants hidden deep in the darkness were finally revealed, and a clue was revealed.

The Censorate's investigation proceeded smoothly under the leadership of Lin Ruan. She guided the investigation, gradually focusing the clues on the salt merchants' illegal salt trafficking.

The censor's men discovered some hidden warehouses in the hidden corners of the salt field, which were filled with illegal salt without official markings.

Further questioning of the salt workers also revealed key clues about the salt merchants' private salt transactions.

As the investigation deepened, a huge illegal salt trafficking network gradually surfaced.

In order to make huge profits, salt merchants not only withheld wages from salt workers, but also sold private salt, seriously disrupting the salt administration order.

Lin Ruan was the first to get the evidence before the prefect, the salt administrator and the chief envoy of the Censorate, and without any hesitation, he immediately reported the details to the court.

Yes, she actually only reported the matter to the emperor at this time. All the words she said in the Censorate were just lies to deceive Gu Mingyi.

Gu Mingyi should have realized it by now, but it was too late. Lin Ruan had temporarily brainwashed the guards using the system, and no matter what Lin Ruan said, they believed it and obeyed.

In the imperial palace in the capital, after reading the memorial, the emperor immediately decided to send an imperial envoy to Yangzhou to thoroughly investigate the matter and severely punish those responsible.

The news of the imperial envoy's impending arrival hung like a dark cloud over Yangzhou City, sending officials and salt merchants into an unprecedented panic.

The salt merchants involved in the illegal salt trafficking were worried all day long, trying to destroy evidence, transfer property, and even spend a lot of money to hire killers to assassinate Lin Ruan wave after wave, but everything was under Lin Ruan's control.

The more killers there are, the better. It's all thanks to her!

Of course, Lin Ruan did not display his extraordinary martial arts in front of everyone. Instead, when Duke Lin went to the palace to hand over the 20,000 taels of silver to Lin Ruan, he asked the emperor for the protection of the Imperial Guards.

This is the way to be an official.

Ten days later, the imperial envoy's procession arrived in Yangzhou. Lin Ruan presented the evidence he had compiled: the account books of salt merchants withholding wages and selling illegal salt; the lists of bribes accepted by officials; and the tearful confessions of the salt workers.

The Imperial Envoy flipped through the evidence, his expression growing increasingly serious. "Lord Lin, are these all true?"

Lin Ruan said solemnly, "I guarantee this with my life. Furthermore, I suspect these salt merchants are colluding with the Cao Gang to smuggle government salt through the canal."

"How dare you!" The imperial envoy slammed the table and stood up. "Come here, immediately seal off the assets of all salt merchants involved in this case!"

"Sir, the Yangzhou salt administration has been corrupt for a long time. These evidences are just the tip of the iceberg. I hope you can investigate carefully and completely eradicate this evil trend." Lin Ruan said respectfully.

The Imperial Envoy nodded solemnly, "Don't worry, Vice Envoy Lin. I will definitely not let your Majesty down."

With Lin Ruan's full assistance, the imperial commissioner launched a vigorous investigation. Faced with overwhelming evidence, the dark conspiracy between the salt merchants and the state officials was gradually revealed.

For the next month, Yangzhou was in a state of panic. Salt merchants were investigated one after another, and officials were dismissed one after another.

Lin Ruan was busy until late every day, examining cases, collecting evidence, and writing memorials.

Late that night, Lin Ruan was reviewing documents in his study when a sudden noise came from outside the window. Ling Xiao, standing next to him, had a glare on his face and quickly fired a hidden weapon towards something.

"Ah!" A man in black fell from the eaves with a scream. Immediately afterwards, three more dark shadows attacked.

Lin Ruan did not make any other moves. Ling Xiao and Zhe Zhi took off the soft swords wrapped around their waists and started fighting with the assassin.

After a while, the sound of orderly footsteps was suddenly heard outside the courtyard - the Royal Guards had arrived.

Under the siege of the crowd, the three assassins fell to the ground in a few breaths.

Lin Ruan stepped on the chest of the last assassin and looked down at her from above: "Tell me, who sent you?"

Of course, the assassins would not confess. In order to prevent them from committing suicide, Ling Xiao and Zhe Zhi had already cut off their jaws cleanly and neatly.

"Sir! Are you okay?" the commander of the Royal Guards asked nervously.

Lin Ruan retracted his foot, shook his head and said, "It's okay. Take these assassins away and interrogate them thoroughly."

"I obey my orders."

In the court, the officials and salt merchants involved in the case were brought in. Their former dignity had long since vanished, and they lowered their heads, not daring to meet the imperial envoy's dignified gaze.

"Tell the truth! How did you collude with each other to sell illegal salt and withhold the wages of salt workers?" the imperial envoy shouted angrily.

Faced with irrefutable evidence, the officials and salt merchants had no choice but to confess their crimes. It turned out that they had colluded with each other, with officials providing protection for the salt merchants and the salt merchants using money to bribe the officials. Both sides worked together for personal gain.

The imperial envoy showed no mercy and convicted all those involved in the case according to the law.

The three major salt merchants and people such as Gu Mingyi and Sun Xiuying were confiscated and executed, and twelve officials were dismissed and exiled.

For a time, the prison in Yangzhou City was overcrowded, and corrupt officials and illegal salt merchants all received the punishment they deserved.

This major purge gave Yangzhou's officialdom a new look, and the haze of corruption that had long shrouded Yangzhou was finally largely dispelled.

Before leaving Yangzhou, the imperial envoy left Lin Ruan alone and said, "Sir Lin, this case went so smoothly thanks to you. I have already submitted a memorial to the court to commend you."

Lin Ruan said modestly, "I just did my duty."

The Imperial Commissioner said meaningfully, "However, you must be careful. These salt merchants have backers in the court, and I'm afraid they won't let us off easily."

Lin Ruan smiled slightly: "Thank you for your concern, sir. I have always acted in an upright manner and am not afraid of any villain's plot."

What's more, when it comes to backing, whose backing is as strong as hers?

After solving the problem of collusion between salt merchants and state officials, Lin Ruan had not yet completed her term and could only continue to serve as the deputy envoy of the Censorate. As the chief envoy had not yet been decided, Lin Ruan knew that the emperor wanted her to succeed him and was currently playing a game of chess with court officials.

She is not in a hurry, she waits.

Anyway, the centipede is still alive and well, and she still has several waves of assassinations to deal with.

Half a month later, the imperial court finally issued the appointment: Lin Ruan was promoted to the chief envoy of the Yangzhou Censorate, a third-rank official.

At the same time, a secret decree was delivered to her.

If the three major salt merchants were gone, others would take their place. The illegal salt trade persisted despite repeated bans, and now it was time to investigate the Cao Gang.

At this moment, Zhezhi came running in: "Sir! A letter came from the palace saying that the princess and the young master are almost at the dock!"

"Tell someone to prepare and ask the butler to bring a few servants to pick up the lady and the young master into the mansion." Lin Ruan put down the teacup and gave the order.

At the Yangzhou dock, a magnificent official ship had just docked. A handsome man in a light blue robe, holding a one-year-old boy, was looking out from the bow.

The boy blinked his big eyes and looked at this strange place curiously.