After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

As soon as Zhu Yixuan entered the old town, he found that it had been completely changed. All the familiar scenes were gone, leaving only devastation. There were also some thugs wandering the streets, their eyes darting around as if they were sizing up their next target.

Upon meeting Zhu Yixuan's murderous gaze, the thugs scattered in terror.

Zhu Yixuan slowed down and waited until they arrived at the Zhu residence.

The butler saw that he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Before the butler could speak, Zhu Yixuan instructed, "Settle the eldest young mistress in first."

The butler's face turned deathly pale. "Young Master, Young Madam, isn't that right?"

Zhu Yixuan gave him a cold glance. "Just go when I tell you to. Why ask so many questions?"

The housekeeper dared not say a word and quickly went to do it.

Zhu Yixuan went to Master Zhu's courtyard. As soon as he entered, he saw his father, whose legs were wrapped in bandages and who looked haggard. He felt both heartache and anger. "Father, how are you?"

Seeing his handsome and imposing son, Master Zhu's pent-up grievances and resentment all turned into tears. "Yixuan, you're finally back! Your father was bullied so badly! Waaah!"

"Father, don't cry, tell me what happened!" Zhu Yixuan frowned. When they entered the city, they were stopped by the garrison. He immediately realized that these garrison soldiers were different from those at the border. He wanted to find out their background, but they were rude and ignored him.

In addition, he was also carrying Cen Mingzhu, a child he couldn't let see in public, so he could only grit his teeth and endure it.

Old Master Zhu sobbed and cried, snot and tears streaming down his face. When he got emotional, he slammed his fist on the table repeatedly. "It's all because of those two bastards, Lu Tong and Shen Yi! One's a country bumpkin who hasn't even left Zhaohua County, and the other's a peasant who's become arrogant now that he's in power. How dare they humiliate and scheme against us like this! They're utterly hateful!"

Zhu Yixuan frowned. "Father, what's going on with those stationed troops? Lu Tong and Shen Yi don't seem like the kind of people who can command those troops."

In his letter to Zhu Yixuan, Master Zhu only mentioned that Lu Tong and Shen Yi were committing all sorts of evil deeds and were targeting the Zhu family, and that he was about to collapse. Only then did Zhu Yixuan rush back.

He had planned out how to deal with Lu Tong and Shen Yi on the way, but he was given such a big "surprise" as soon as he entered the city.

He still has ways to deal with Lu Tong and Shen Yi, but it's hard to say about the garrison troops. He doesn't even know who is in charge of them.

Master Zhu shook his head. "I don't know either. I can't find out. It seems that even the prefect can't command them."

"You don't even know who's in charge?" Zhu Yixuan almost laughed out of anger.

His father doesn't seem like the type to do something so foolish.

Seeing his son's displeasure, Master Zhu felt even more aggrieved. "Do you think I didn't want to find out? It's just that I couldn't find out at all! I even tried to get information from Lu Tong to find out the details of the garrison, but Lu Tong's mouth was sealed shut and he didn't reveal a single word! The other day, Master Gao and his group went to cause trouble for the garrison and three of them were killed, and one of our clansmen was also beheaded."

When he spoke of this, Master Zhu's hand trembled slightly, betraying his inner fear and unease.

Having lived a life of tyranny in Zhaohua County, everyone treated him with utmost respect! This was the first time he had encountered such a troublesome person who was completely untouchable, and he truly didn't know what to do.

Zhu Yixuan's expression changed drastically. Seeing that Master Zhu had no useful information, he could only try to appease him first, and then go out to find the steward.

"How is the eldest young mistress?" The butler bowed respectfully. "The eldest young mistress has not come out since she entered the courtyard, and she has not given any instructions."

Zhu Yixuan nodded, "Send more people to watch over her and don't let her leave her room. Just bring her three meals a day."

The butler stammered in agreement, wanting to ask but not daring to.

In just a short while, Zhu Yixuan had already left the Zhu residence.

When Zhu Yixuan arrived at the county government office, he found the gates tightly closed and only a drowsy gatekeeper outside. He quickly stepped forward and said in a gentle voice, "Sir, I am Zhu Yixuan from the Zhu family. I wish to pay my respects to the county magistrate."

The constable snapped out of his daze upon seeing the silver, accepting it with remarkable ease, his tone becoming more humane as he said, "Young Master Zhu, you've come at an inopportune time; our magistrate is still recuperating!"

"To recuperate?" Zhu Yixuan raised an eyebrow, his eyes full of doubt.

Seeing that he didn't believe him, the constable almost swore to the heavens, "Young Master Zhu, I can't lie to you, our magistrate is really sick. I don't know who instigated those thugs to cause trouble and beat our magistrate. They say it takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, and our magistrate still can't walk!"

Zhu Yixuan was stunned again. His father hadn't mentioned such important news, which meant that his father was very likely behind Lu Tong's beating.

Thinking about it, Zhu Yixuan's face darkened even more. He then gave the constable another tael of silver and said in a polite tone, "Officer, I dared to come back, but I don't know what the situation is like in the city now. Could you tell me in detail?"

"No problem!" The constable gave up his seat for Zhu Yixuan and moved to the other side. "To be honest, Zhaohua County has changed a lot in the past few years. It's understandable that Young Master Zhu doesn't understand. Putting aside other things, just take this mining. It was ordered by the Emperor and supervised by an imperial envoy. This area of ​​our county has long been out of our magistrate's jurisdiction."

"You say those people's commotion is useless! We adults can't control everything. These days, he can only manage the common people; when it comes to mining matters, he can't get involved, absolutely nothing."

The constable kept waving his hands.

Zhu Yixuan's expression remained unchanged as he continued to press, "You mean those garrison troops are under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Envoy? And who is the Imperial Envoy?"

The constable shook his head. "I don't know about that. I guess even we, the magistrates, don't know. The garrison was initially brought by the prefect. As soon as the prefect arrived, he told our magistrate that the mining was entirely entrusted to the garrison. From now on, we, the magistrates, only need to cooperate with the garrison and cannot interfere in other matters."

The garrison commander looked like someone of importance; even the prefect treated him with great respect. I only caught a glimpse of him from afar, so I couldn't see him clearly.

The more the constable spoke, the heavier Zhu Yixuan's heart became, and he began to regret bringing Cen Mingzhu back.

Just as Zhu Yixuan was in a daze, Shen Yi arrived.

The constable hurriedly stood up and bowed, "Your Excellency, are you alright?"

Shen Yi waved his hand gently and smiled, "I'm much better now. I came to the county office today to handle the official business that has accumulated over this period of time."

Upon hearing the words "County Magistrate," Zhu Yixuan felt a complex mix of emotions. Not long ago, Shen Yi was a minor commander who was slightly inferior to him in the military camp, but now that the other party had become a proper official, he was now considered inferior in front of him.

"Brother Shen!" Zhu Yixuan suppressed his complicated emotions and greeted him with a fist and palm salute.

Shen Yi seemed oblivious to the complex expression on his face, only nodding politely and distantly, "Young Master Zhu is back. Judging by the time, the three-year mourning period is over. Why didn't you go to the border to make your mark, instead of traveling so far to return?" (End of Chapter)