I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

Just then, a shout came from the doorway.

Zhu Youjian turned his head and saw that it was Shao Zongyuan, who was being helped in and limping in.

"Your Majesty, I humbly beg you to grant me justice!"

"You are injured, so there's no need for such formalities!"

Zhu Youjian reached out and helped Shao Zongyuan stand up shakily.

"Your Majesty, I thank you!"

Immediately afterward, he pointed at Hong Niangzi, his face flushed, and said, "It's this woman... she publicly humiliated me! I beg Your Majesty to do me justice!"

After carefully examining her, Hong Niangzi said, "So it's you! I spared your life yesterday; you should be thanking me."

"You, you..."

Shao Zongyuan felt his blood rush to his head, and after a long while, he said, "Now that you've fallen into His Majesty's hands, let's see how long you can remain arrogant!"

Hong Niangzi pouted and said, "Your Emperor said he'd let me go!"

"What...what did you say?"

Shao Zongyuan was greatly alarmed and turned around, saying, "Your Majesty, this man is the leader of the rebel army; we cannot release him!"

"Please calm down, my lord, please calm down!"

Zhu Youjian waved his hand and explained, "I am indeed prepared to let her go, on the condition that she submits to the court and serves me."

Shao Zongyuan remained reluctant but had no choice but to say, "This person is cunning; Your Majesty must be careful that she doesn't feign surrender!"

"Don't worry, I have my own plans!"

After Zhu Youjian finished speaking, he turned to Hong Niangzi and asked, "What did you just say you wanted?"

Hong Niangzi said, "Do you know why I rebelled?"

"I remember you saying that you couldn't survive if you didn't have enough to eat. Isn't that true?"

"It's true that we don't have enough to eat, but there are other reasons why we can't survive!"

Hong Niangzi paused for a moment, then slowly said, "My parents died when I was young, and I had no relatives to rely on, so I begged for food on the streets. One day, I was about to starve to death when a troupe of acrobats took me in and I made a living by performing with them. I remember that year we went to Shangcheng County..."

"Because the local area suffered a disaster, the people themselves couldn't even get enough to eat. Our troupe performed for three days, but we didn't earn any money, not even a bite to eat. Just as we were about to leave, we were stopped by several officials."

"Those people claimed to be county officials, saying they wanted to collect taxes. But we were penniless, how could we possibly pay taxes? The troupe leader argued with them a few times, and then he was arrested. They even said that if we wanted to ransom him, we had to pay two taels of silver!"

"We had no money, so we had to sell our belongings and barely scraped together two taels of silver. We went to the county government to redeem the people, but to our surprise, they still wouldn't release them. They said that the two taels of silver was for taxes, and if we wanted them released, we would have to pay another five taels of silver."

At this point, Hong Niangzi stared intently at Zhu Youjian and asked, "Can you feel the despair we felt back then?"

Feeling somewhat embarrassed by the question, Zhu Youjian asked, "What happened next?"

"We are truly penniless, have sold all our possessions, and have nowhere else to turn but to beat the drum and appeal for justice, hoping that the county magistrate can uphold justice for us!"

"What was the outcome? Did the local magistrate intervene on your behalf?"

"snort!"

Hong Niangzi scoffed and said, "We didn't even see the magistrate. The one presiding over the case was the county clerk named Xie Jinrong. He initially said he would stand up for us, and we believed him, but we never expected..."

Zhu Youjian asked, "What exactly happened?"

Hong Niangzi looked somber and said, "Xie Jinrong said that he can release our troupe leader, and that I can stay to go through some procedures, while the rest of you go back and wait."

Zhu Youjian seemed to have guessed the reason and listened quietly as Hong Niangzi continued.

"He lured me into the inner room and demanded that I drink with him. I refused, and he became enraged and prepared to force himself on me. After all, I was just a woman, and I was small and thin at the time..."

Hong Niangzi's tone gradually turned angry as she continued, "Luckily, I had studied acrobatics for a few years and was quite agile. Taking advantage of his unpreparedness, I smashed a teapot on his head and escaped."

Zhu Youjian's face had turned grim, and he slowly said, "And then?"

"Then the county government posted notices saying we were rebels and bandits, and issued a city-wide warrant for our arrest. They also dragged out our troupe leader and beheaded him as a warning to the public!"

"We've come to this point, we have no other choice but to rebel!"

Zhu Youjian asked, "You still haven't said what your request is?"

"After our team grew stronger, we went back to look for Xie Jinrong, but he was no longer in the mall..."

Hong Niangzi raised her head and said coldly, "My life was given to me by the troupe leader; he is my second father. I want you to find Xie Jinrong and avenge our troupe leader!"

Zhu Youjian frowned, secretly calculating in his mind.

These words may be true, or they may be something Hong Niangzi made up to exonerate herself.

If she doesn't agree, she will have a reason to refuse the offer of amnesty.

But where can we find this county magistrate named Xie Jinrong?

Henan was the first province to be captured by the rebel army, and the government was in complete chaos.

If it were the county magistrate, he could at least check the list, but it would be more troublesome for the county clerk.

Because some officials were not appointed by the imperial court, but rather obtained through donations from local officials!

That's right, during the Chongzhen reign, it was possible to purchase an official position.

With frequent wars and natural disasters, the national treasury was struggling to cope, so the imperial court had no choice but to introduce a donation policy, allowing ordinary people to directly obtain official positions or even noble titles by donating money and valuables.

Of course, the people who could afford to spend large sums of money were not ordinary people; they were local gentry and wealthy households. The policy of donating official positions was equivalent to opening up another path to officialdom besides the imperial examination.

The surroundings were eerily quiet; no one spoke.

Hong Niangzi sneered, "I knew it! Officials protect each other; you, the emperor, won't stand up for people like us!"

Zhu Youjian sighed and said, "It's not what you think. The problem now is, where am I supposed to find someone for you?"

"Alright, enough with the pretense, just kill me!"

"That Xie Jinrong..."

Zhu Youjian looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker was Shao Zongyuan.

"Do you recognize this person?"

Shao Zongyuan's face was rather grim. To be honest, he really wanted to kill Hong Niangzi immediately to avenge the humiliation he suffered yesterday!

However, judging from Emperor Chongzhen's behavior, he seemed genuinely interested in being granted amnesty.

Left with no other choice, he could only say, "Your Majesty, the magistrate of Dingxing County is named Xie Jinrong, but I am not sure if he is the person that Hong Niangzi mentioned."

After hearing this, Hong Niangzi quickly asked, "That man was a bit short and stout, and he was about thirty years old at the time... Oh, right, he had a very noticeable mole on the tip of his nose!"

Zhu Youjian hurriedly asked, "Is it this person?"

Shao Zongyuan said, "I just visited Dingxing last month. The magistrate, Xie Jinrong, is forty-five years old. He was a Juren (successful candidate in the provincial examination) in Xinyang Prefecture in the third year of the Tianqi reign (1623) and is a candidate for county magistrate. His physique and appearance match the requirements!"

"That's him!"

Hong Niangzi immediately became excited and said, "I've been searching for so many years, but it turns out this person wasn't even in Henan!"

Shao Zongyuan then said, "During his tenure, Magistrate Xie achieved considerable political success and was deeply loved by the people. I urge Your Majesty to reconsider your decision!"

Hong Niangzi angrily retorted, "Impossible! How could such a corrupt official be supported by the people?"

Zhu Youjian raised his hand to stop him, then said, "We'll find out the truth once we go and see for ourselves!"

Shao Zongyuan said, "If Your Majesty punishes court officials based on the one-sided account of the rebels, it will be difficult to convince the people."

"I didn't say I would punish him!"

Zhu Youjian looked at He Fu and said, "Minister He, Dingxing County is under your jurisdiction. Shouldn't you also be responsible for the assessment of the counties?"

He Fu hurriedly replied, "It is my responsibility, but I have only recently taken office and am not yet familiar with the various counties..."

"Then let's go and familiarize ourselves with it?"

"this……"

Zhu Youjian looked at Li Ruolian and said, "The prefect has failed in his duty; someone should accompany him. Minister Li, take a few people, change into plain clothes, and find me a set as well. Let's go and investigate this Magistrate Xie!"

Li Ruolian bowed and said, "As you command!"

Shao Zongyuan said, "Your Majesty, I..."

"Don't go, stay home and recover!"

Zhu Youjian waved his hand at him, then turned to Hong Niangzi.

"Madam Li, would you like to come along?"

Hong Niangzi exclaimed excitedly, "If I can take revenge myself, I'll do whatever you say!"

"very good!"

Zhu Youjian nodded and said, "I must make it clear beforehand that your words are not conclusive evidence. Before the matter is thoroughly investigated, you must not take any action. Otherwise, don't blame me for turning my back on you!"

After thinking for a moment, Hong Niangzi agreed, "Don't worry, I'll follow your arrangements!"