Transmigrating to the Song Dynasty: Water Margin Business Management

The prefect paced back and forth in the hall, deliberating for a long time before finally succumbing to a wicked impulse and deciding to poison Zhao Tianming as Gao Qiu had instructed. He summoned Liu An, the old man in charge of the stables in the prefecture. Liu An was over sixty years old and was an honest and kind man.

The prefect, with a gloomy face, said to Liu An, "Liu An, I have a matter for you to handle. This matter is of great importance, and you must handle it properly."

Liu An, puzzled, respectfully asked, "Master, what is the matter?"

The prefect took a food box from the back room and handed it to Liu An, lowering his voice to say, "Take the food and wine in this box to Zhao Tianming in prison. Remember, make sure he eats it."

Liu An acknowledged, took the food box, and was about to turn and leave when the prefect grabbed him again, his eyes dark and menacing as he warned, "This matter must not be leaked in the slightest. If you mess it up, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Liu An's heart skipped a beat. He nodded in agreement and carried the food box toward the prison. Along the way, he was filled with doubt, wondering what secret the food box held.

Upon arriving at the prison, Liu An met Zhao Tianming. Zhao Tianming looked haggard, but still retained his heroic spirit.

"Uncle Liu, what brings you here?" Zhao Tianming asked in surprise.

Liu An looked at Zhao Tianming, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He recalled how Zhao Tianming had helped the people in the past, and how his own family had benefited greatly from it. Now, however, Zhao Tianming was about to harm him, and he felt extremely reluctant to do so.

After hesitating for a long time, Liu An finally spoke up: "Young Master Zhao, to be honest, the Prefect asked me to deliver this food box to you, but... the wine and food in this food box may be poisoned."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tianming was first startled, then sighed deeply: "I, Zhao Tianming, have a clear conscience, yet I have suffered this calamity. Uncle Liu, it is truly a righteous act for you to tell me this."

Tears streamed down Liu An's face. "Young Master Zhao, you are a good man. How could I, an old man, do such a heartless thing? But the Prefect..."

A trace of grief and indignation flashed in Zhao Tianming's eyes: "It must be that Gao Qiu and his gang of wicked villains who are ruthless and want to kill me."

Liu An said with great worry, "Young Master Zhao, what should we do now? If the Prefect finds out that I did not act according to his orders, my whole family may be in danger."

Zhao Tianming pondered for a moment and said, "Uncle Liu, don't panic. Go back first and pretend this never happened. I will find a way to deal with it."

Liu An nodded helplessly and left the prison with a sense of guilt.

Zhao Tianming paced back and forth in the prison, his mind racing with thoughts. He knew his situation was dangerous, and if he couldn't come up with a solution soon, he would surely die.

Meanwhile, Liu An returned to his residence. Upon seeing him return, the prefect hurriedly asked, "Has the matter been settled?"

Liu An forced a calm demeanor: "Master, I have already handed the food box to Zhao Tianming."

The prefect nodded in satisfaction: "Very good, you may leave."

Liu An turned and left, feeling uneasy.

Tianming decided to play along and fake his death by poisoning. He lay motionless in the prison, his breath faint, as if he had truly perished.

Before long, the prefect arrived in a hurry with a group of constables. He entered the prison cell and saw Zhao Tianming's "corpse." He was initially delighted, but then became somewhat suspicious.

The prefect cautiously approached, checked Zhao Tianming's breath with his hand, and found no breath. Only then did he feel relieved and said, "Hmph, finally dead. It saves me the trouble of worrying about him."

Just then, Zhao Tianming suddenly used a freezing spell, instantly immobilizing the prefect and his entourage. Their faces remained frozen in place, unable to move, their eyes filled with terror and astonishment.

Zhao Tianming slowly stood up, looked at the prefect's terrified face, and sneered, "Prefect, you didn't expect this, did you?"

The prefect's eyes widened, but he couldn't utter a word.

Zhao Tianming quickly changed into a constable's uniform, mingled with the crowd, and swaggered out of the prison cell.

However, they hadn't gone far from the prison cell when they heard the prefect shouting behind them, "Catch him! Don't let him escape!"

It turned out that the immobilization spell had a limited duration, and the prefect and others quickly regained their mobility.

Zhao Tianming quickened his pace and ran towards the city gates. The servants from the manor chased after him closely.

Zhao Tianming was quite familiar with the city's streets and alleys. He turned left and right, trying to shake off his pursuers. But the constables were hot on his heels, and the distance between them was getting closer and closer.

Just as Zhao Tianming was feeling somewhat overwhelmed, he suddenly saw a horse-drawn carriage loaded with goods ahead. He had an idea, and taking advantage of the driver's inattention, he quietly climbed onto the carriage and hid among the goods.

The constables chased after him to this place, but Zhao Tianming was nowhere to be found. They searched everywhere.

"Search separately, he can't have gone far!" the prefect shouted in exasperation.

At this moment, Zhao Tianming, who was in the carriage, held his breath and dared not make a sound.

After a while, the carriage slowly started moving and headed towards the city gate. Zhao Tianming was secretly delighted, hoping to use this opportunity to leave the city smoothly.

However, at the city gate, the guards were strictly checking passersby.

The carriage stopped, and the guard asked, "What's on the carriage?"

The driver replied, "They're all ordinary goods."

The guards didn't believe it and began to investigate.

Zhao Tianming's heart jumped into his throat again.

Just as the guards were about to spot Zhao Tianming, a commotion suddenly erupted in the city. A shop had caught fire, and people were shouting to put it out.

Upon seeing this, the guards, without bothering to inspect the carriage, turned and ran towards the direction of the fire.

The carriage took the opportunity to drive out of the city gate.

Zhao Tianming breathed a sigh of relief. When the carriage reached a secluded place, he quietly jumped off and ran towards the distant mountains and forests.

After entering the mountains, Zhao Tianming found a secluded cave to hide in. He knew that the prefect would not let the matter rest and would definitely conduct a large-scale search in the city.

At this moment, the prefect of the city was furious and ordered the city gates to be sealed off and a house-to-house search to be conducted.

"Even if we have to turn this city upside down, we must find Zhao Tianming!" the prefect roared.

Meanwhile, Zhao Tianming rested in the cave, recovering his strength while pondering his next move. He knew that to completely escape his predicament, he had to expose Gao Qiu and his associates' conspiracy and clear his name.

A day later, Zhao Tianming quietly went down the mountain to gather information about the city. He discovered that the search was still ongoing, but the atmosphere seemed less tense.

After hiding in the cave for several days, Zhao Tianming had already made up his mind. He decided to send a signal to his friend Wu Yong, seeking help.

He found a stone and carved a secret code on the cave wall that only they understood. Then, under the cover of night, he quietly rolled the stone with the code to a conspicuous place at the foot of the mountain.

Wu Yong, ever since Zhao Tianming's incident, had been extremely anxious and had been secretly keeping an eye on all sorts of news. One day, one of his henchmen reported that they had found what appeared to be a coded message left by Zhao Tianming at the foot of the mountain.

After careful examination, Wu Yong confirmed that it was left by Zhao Tianming, and immediately summoned Shi Xiu, Yang Xiong, Shi Qian and other heroes.

"Brothers, Brother Tianming is trapped and has sent us a distress signal. We must rescue him and expose Gao Qiu's conspiracy!" Wu Yong said solemnly.

Everyone responded in unison, "We are ready to obey your orders, brother!"

After Wu Yong made some arrangements, the group headed towards the mountain forest where Zhao Tianming was located.

Zhao Tianming waited anxiously in the cave, and finally heard the familiar coded signal coming from outside. Overjoyed, he quickly stepped out of the cave.

"Brother Tianming!" Wu Yong called out.

"Brother Wu Yong!" Zhao Tianming quickly went to greet him.

When brothers meet again, they are naturally filled with emotion.

"Brother, we owe you a great debt of gratitude this time," Zhao Tianming said.

Wu Yong patted Zhao Tianming on the shoulder: "Between brothers, there's no need for many words."

Shi Xiu said, "We shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's find a safe place first and then discuss this further."

The group found a secluded spot in the mountains and forests to sit down.

Yang Xiong said, "Now that the prefect is conducting a large-scale search and arrest in the city, it will be difficult for us to clear our brothers' names."

Shi Qian's eyes lit up: "Why don't we sneak into the city, gather more information, and find evidence of the prefect's crimes?"

Wu Yong nodded and said, "Brother Shi Qian, this plan is feasible, but we must proceed with caution."

Zhao Tianming said, "I must settle my score with that prefect and Gao Qiu."

After discussion, everyone decided that Shi Qian and Shi Xiu would first sneak into the city to gather information.

With their excellent skills and quick wit, Shi Qian and Shi Xiu successfully infiltrated the city. In the restaurants and teahouses, they overheard many rumors about Zhao Tianming, all of which were slanderous words deliberately spread by the prefect.

Meanwhile, the prefect was still furious at his residence because he couldn't catch Zhao Tianming.

"A bunch of useless trash! So many people and they can't even catch Zhao Tianming!" the prefect cursed.

The subordinate replied tremblingly, "My lord, please calm down. We have already sent more men to continue the search."

Meanwhile, Shi Qian and Shi Xiu discovered some clues about the prefect's corruption and bribery in the city, and secretly passed them on to Wu Yong and others who were waiting outside the city.

After receiving the news, Wu Yong discussed it with Zhao Tianming and others.

“Now that we have these clues, we can use them to blackmail the prefect and force him to reveal the mastermind behind it all,” Wu Yong said.

A determined glint flashed in Zhao Tianming's eyes: "Alright, let's do it this way!"

After some further discussion, the group decided that Zhao Tianming and Wu Yong would go forward with the evidence to the prefect.

When they arrived at the prefect's residence, the prefect's guards were shocked to see that it was Zhao Tianming.

"Quickly inform the prefect that Zhao Tianming has arrived!" Wu Yong shouted.

When the prefect heard that Zhao Tianming had actually come to his door, he was startled, but then he thought that he had many people and was not afraid.

"Let them in!" the prefect said.

Zhao Tianming and Wu Yong entered the mansion. The prefect sat in the hall with a gloomy face.

"Zhao Tianming, how dare you walk right into our trap!" the prefect exclaimed.

Zhao Tianming sneered: "Prefect, we are aware of all the shady dealings you have done."

With that, Wu Yong threw the evidence in front of the prefect.

Upon seeing the evidence, the prefect's face changed drastically: "You, where did you get this from?"

Zhao Tianming said, "Prefect, if you know what's good for you, you'll expose Gao Qiu's conspiracy. Otherwise, if this evidence is sent to the court, you can imagine what your fate will be."

The prefect was caught in a dilemma, secretly pondering the situation.