Discuss with you

Chapter 46 Death with a Rod
Lu Qing looked at the two sets of grain weighing tools on the ground, one large and one small, and sneered, "Take all these with you. Leave two people to guard the government warehouse, and the rest of you take those daring officials with you. Let's go to Lord Li's rice and flour shop to check the accounts."

Those imperial guards were usually very strict people, and they had never seen anyone so bold as to secretly replace the grain in the government warehouse!
On the way from Runzhou where they were stationed, when they passed through the border of Taiping County in Congzhou, they were shocked by the barren farmland here. Now looking at the government granary full of straw and yellow sand, they had an idea in their minds.

After hearing Lu Qing's arrangement, he immediately responded loudly, tied up the pale-faced yamen runners, and half-dragged and half-pulled them behind Lu Qing and others, heading straight for the rice and flour shop that Li Wencai opened privately.

There were originally seven or eight curious people from Qingshui County outside the official warehouse. They were separated by the imperial guards at a distance of three meters and could only crane their necks to watch from afar. They could not see what was happening inside. When they saw the warehouse guard with his hands tied and being dragged behind, they immediately burst into cheers.

"Great! These big rats in the granary! Someone finally comes to take care of them!"

These people followed the dejected yamen runners happily, and were overjoyed all the way, as if they were celebrating some festive holiday.

Unlike the government granary located in a remote area, the rice and flour shop opened privately by Li Wencai was located in the most prosperous area of ​​Taiping County.

As they walked along, people's attention would be attracted by Lu Qing and his group wherever they went. At first, some people were confused about the situation, but the people behind them would immediately help them understand.

As a result, more and more people followed behind to celebrate happily.

By the time they reached the street where the rice and flour shop was located, there were already countless people following behind them. Those walking in front could at least see something, but those behind could see nothing at all.

Not to mention that they couldn't see, the scene was so lively that the people at the back couldn't even hear any of the sounds in the front. All they could hear were the loud cheers and applause from the people around them.

Despite this, they are still willing to follow closely and no one is likely to leave.

Zhu Yu rode on his horse, looked back at the jubilant crowd behind him, and sighed.

As expected, the people of Qingshui County had been suffering from Li Wencai for a long time! Now, just seeing them dragging Li Wencai's men out for a parade, they were already so excited. If it was Li Wencai who was dragged out, who knows how happy they would be.

The three rice and noodle shops were almost in the center of the street market. The three stores were located on both sides of the street, giving people the feeling that they had no choice and could not escape from Li Wencai's control no matter what.

The shopkeepers and clerks in the three stores were usually arrogant people. Even when people came to buy food, they looked down on them and had no good attitude at all. They had heard the rumors a long time ago and realized that something was wrong. They wanted to abandon the stores and run away before Lu Qing and the others blocked the door.

Unfortunately, they heard the news, and so did the people of Qingshui County on the streets outside.

These shopkeepers and their employees didn't even have a chance to run out of the street. They were captured by the excited people and brought back.

When Lu Qing and the others arrived at the door, those people were being forced to their knees by several young men. They could only beg for mercy and did not even have the ability to resist.

Lu Qing ignored these minions and directly ordered Fu Lu to go into the store and search the account books. After a while, they found everything.

Lu Qing flipped through the account book that Talisman presented to him, and looked down at the three shopkeepers kneeling on the ground: "You three rice and flour shops are really doing a booming business, making a fortune every day!
Before, I had only heard that the rain fell from the sky, so it was called rootless water. Today, I have broadened my horizons. It turns out that in Qingshui County, there is also this kind of rootless rice that can fly into the store by itself!
Where are the main warehouses of your three stores?

Stealing rice from the government warehouse is a capital crime. I'll only give one person a chance to speak. The first person to speak up will be spared, while the other two will be beaten to death on the spot." His words were firm and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation. The three shopkeepers were so frightened that they almost lost their minds. While one was still stunned, two others had already spoken, fearing that if they were a little slow, the other would beat them to the punch.

Lu Qing waited for the two men to finish their speeches, then kept his promise. He waved his hand, summoned several imperial guards, and pointed to the shopkeeper who first revealed the location of the granary: "Take this man and the other shop assistants to the county government office, lock him up in jail, and retry him later."

As for the remaining two, they are causing trouble here and should not disturb others. Drag them to the open space in front of the county government office and have them beaten to death according to the law!"

The shopkeeper, who had temporarily saved his life, breathed a sigh of relief and fell to the ground like a puddle of mud, allowing the imperial guards to drag him away. The remaining two were much noisier when they were taken away, shouting for mercy at the top of their lungs. One of them was so scared that he foamed at the mouth after shouting a few times, and his eyes rolled back before he fainted.

Half of the people following Lu Qing immediately dispersed and followed the imperial guards, ready to witness with their own eyes how the two shopkeepers were beaten to death.

"The Chief Secretary wants to supervise the execution?" After Lu Qing gave the order, he saw Zhu Yu staring at the direction where the two shopkeepers were dragged away, and thought she wanted to go over and take a look.

Zhu Yu shook her head without hesitation. She was a little uncomfortable with Lu Qing's willingness to execute someone in public.

Seeing this, Lu Qing said nothing more and rode his horse forward. The group arrived at the rice and flour shop's warehouse, which was indeed full of rice.

The rice in this warehouse was also sealed and handed over to the imperial guards for guarding. Before the case was finally decided, no one was allowed to approach or open the warehouse door.

After finishing all the matters and returning to Li Wencai's mansion, it was already dusk. Zhu Yu didn't say much along the way. After returning to the side courtyard, he didn't eat anything and went straight back to his room to rest.

Fu Lu didn't know why she was like this. He thought that after they sealed off the warehouse, it seemed that when they returned to Li's house, they passed by the county government office. The two shopkeepers had already been beaten to death there. Their bodies had been dragged away and were probably going to be thrown into a mass grave.

When they passed by, there were only two frightened old yamen runners carrying buckets of water and scrubbing the bloodstains left on the stone slabs.

It seemed like my wife's expression started to look strange after that.

But... that shouldn't be the case! Fu Lu was a little confused.

His wife is no ordinary woman. Not to mention ordinary women, even ordinary men don’t have the courage and ability that she has.

She was not even afraid of dead, rotten and smelly corpses. Just a little bit of blood was no different from killing two chickens. How could the lady be so upset that she even refused to eat because of this?
"Sir," Fu Lu said, holding the hot meal he had just retrieved, "would you like me to send some to the Chief Secretary?"

Although there were yamen runners borrowed from Runzhou Prefecture guarding outside the side courtyard, Fu Lu was still extremely careful in his address.

Lu Qing looked at Zhu Yu's darkened room and shook his head. "It's okay. If you don't want to eat, just rest. You won't starve to death if you skip a meal. Tomorrow morning, just ask the chef to make a few more dishes that she likes."

(End of this chapter)