Noble Lady

The next day.

The eunuch surnamed Wang escorted the bandit leader Pei Erhu and several others back to Beijing as he wished, while the others were handed over to the Haicheng County Magistrate for execution on the spot.

Originally, the man surnamed Wang wanted to watch He Yuanju's execution with his own eyes, but he seemed to be urged by someone or something, so he had to take the bandit leader back as soon as possible, so he could only stay behind to supervise.

Situ Zhen did not comment on his behavior, pretending not to see it. He also asked He Yuanju to issue a notice to let everyone in Haicheng County know that the bandit was going to be executed.

The wider the news spreads, the better.

His exact words were: "It must be known to everyone."

Therefore, Xue Chenyu and his friends' trip back to Beijing was postponed again.

After all, it would take time for the entire Haicheng County to know that the bandits were going to be executed; and it would take even more time for the people of Haicheng County to gather and watch the beheading. ...

On the day of the public execution, the people of Haicheng crowded around the execution ground.

People from Zhushan and Huaiyuan counties in Lin County also came over after hearing the news.

The people in the three surrounding counties have suffered from these bandits for a long time. Now that someone is finally going to execute them, they are naturally overjoyed.

"Eliminate the bandits and the world will be at peace!"

The knife fell from the hand, and the head fell to the ground.

The bloody smell of beheadings alone was enough to keep the place bloody for three days.

But everyone just felt very happy.

Beheading the three bandits is the only death penalty that can be carried out by an official at the level of county magistrate.

They are all other important criminals, and they all need to be sentenced by the Ministry of Justice in the autumn and be beheaded after the unified autumn.

These bandits burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil. According to the law, they should be executed, so their deaths are not unjust.

Seeing these bandits brought to justice, Chu Yao finally felt relieved.

She returned to the carriage on the street and bowed deeply to Xue Chenyu.

"Thank you, Miss Xue. From now on, I will take good care of the Salesian Home and the Jinyi Pavilion."

Jinyi Pavilion was the shop that Xue Chenyu had promised to buy and hand over to her to manage. It was dedicated to selling clothes, jewelry, rouge, powder, etc. from the capital.

The salesian home built for homeless women was supported by a shop selling women's items, which is also a lie.

Xue Chenyu gave her a fake hand and said, "Miss Chu, there's no need to be so polite. My Dongyue will still be doing business here in the future, and I'll rely on Miss Chu to take care of her."

"Miss Xue, what are you talking about? This is what I should do." Chu Yao said quickly.

Xue Chenyu glanced at Dongyue, and Dongyue also said: "Don't worry, young lady, I will not let you down."

"Okay, then I'll wait for your good news in the capital."

The bandits were brought to justice, and there were still people like the county lieutenant in jail who needed to be dealt with.

But those are not Xue Hou’s jobs anymore, it’s time for him to return to the capital.

The same goes for Chen Mingxuan.

They received secret orders to suppress the bandits.

As for why they had to hide even the suppression of bandits, it was probably closely related to the eunuch named Wang who appeared in Haicheng County.

But those are the court's affairs, and Xue Chenyu cannot explore them for the time being, but I believe she will know the inside story later.

Only Situ Zhen could stay. How he dealt with those people in the prison who colluded with the bandits depended entirely on his decision.

Xue Chenyu finally got her maids to pack up their things and set off back to Beijing as she wished.

Only Mother Li stayed with Dongyue.

Her exact words were: "I have failed to complete the task assigned by the young lady, and I am speechless in returning to Beijing to see the lady."

Xue Chenyu was not the kind of person who would force others, so she asked her what she thought.

Mother Li said that she hoped to achieve some success here before returning to Beijing, and she also asked Xue Chenyu to help bring some things to her goddaughter, Qinnan, who lived far away.

Xue Chenyu also agreed.

On the day Xue Chenyu and his party returned to Beijing, the people of Haicheng spontaneously got up early and lined the streets to see them off.

The line stretched from the county government office gate to the city gate, and it was packed with people.

But more of it is reluctance.

Because of famine and taxes, they were forced to abandon their homes and businesses.

They almost all became refugees.

Refugees are illegal immigrants. To become a refugee from a good citizen means leaving one's hometown and wandering around.

If you are lucky, you can find hard labor work, but if you are unlucky, you will die in a foreign land.

Once a severe famine occurs, people will become refugees because they cannot survive. There are many precedents for this, as the elders in the village have said.

They are still able to farm and survive these days, all thanks to the blessings of Miss Xue Chen and the prince.

"Miss Xue, have a safe journey."

"Have a bon voyage. Please come back to visit us if you have the chance."

"Yes, we will remember you!"

Xue Chenyu and his group were in the carriage, waving outside.

"Take care, everyone."

"Take care of yourself.……"

Bon Voyage.

……

The journey back to Beijing was relatively smooth.

Because of the presence of Marquis Xue, Chen Mingxuan, and the grain transport team, this is the greatest guarantee.

Until the eve of entering Beijing.

"Haven't you heard? It was here that the bandit leader being escorted to Beijing was kidnapped."

"What nonsense are you talking about? This is the Emperor's territory. Even the bravest of them wouldn't dare to pick someone up here. Besides, didn't you tell me where those people were from?"

Qiuhua went downstairs to get some water when she heard the guys in the post station talking about something that shouldn't be discussed.

She immediately restrained her breath.

Because it is close to Shengjing City, dignitaries often pass through here, so the post station here is many times better than the one in Haicheng County.

Naturally, there would not only be two postmasters, but also corresponding servants to serve the officials coming and going.

There are also a certain number of troops guarding the safety inside and outside the post station.

But, is it such a coincidence?

Didn’t the eunuch named Wang in the palace set out with Pei Erhu and others just a few days earlier than them?

"Imperial Guards, it's the Imperial Guards." The person who spoke lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear it.

"The leader has a white face and no beard. He looks like a purged man. He must be from the palace."

Another person immediately sneered, "That's even more impossible. The people in the palace are being escorted by the imperial guards. Who would be so bold as to kidnap the bandits they are escorting?"

The person who had spoken initially waved his hand dismissively, "Fool, there's no point trying to reason with a fool like you, a single-minded idiot. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes and experienced it myself, how could I tell you this?"

When Qiuhua heard this, she also felt that something was wrong. She didn't even bother to pour out the water, nor did she dare to attract other people's attention. She quickly returned to her room.

At this time, Xue Chenyu had already changed into her pajamas and was only wearing an apricot-colored undershirt and a thicker coat on the outside.

There are several charcoal braziers and floor heating in the room, so it's not that cold.

At least it is much more comfortable than the Lingnan area where they left.

Thinking of the damp and cold winter there, Xue Chenyu felt uncomfortable all over.

Qiuhua brushed off the remaining snow on her body before entering the house and told Xue Chenyu in detail what she had heard.

"Did you hear that clearly?" Xue Chenyu frowned.

Qiu Hua nodded solemnly, "I heard it clearly. I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but the more I listened, the more I felt something was wrong. It's probably not such a coincidence that the eunuchs in the palace led the team, or that they were some bandit leader being escorted by the imperial guards."

"I was robbed."

Xue Chenyu murmured these words, and a light flashed through his mind.