In ancient times, the powerful and wealthy seized power step by step.

The word "ordinary" is undoubtedly a huge blow to a beautiful woman.

Since Lord Gu had already ordered her to leave, Liu Yiyi dared not stay any longer. She bowed and took her leave, tears welling in her eyes.

Prefect Liu of Yangzhou and Governor-General Gao of Liangjiang were now even more alarmed. It was all over. Their gift had failed to please Lord Gu. They had intended to apologize, but it had backfired and made their punishment even worse.

Gu Zhao's pent-up frustration hadn't dissipated, and he had no time for further bureaucratic banter. He went straight to the point:

"I am here on imperial orders to oversee the Lei Dawu case. In my experience, the checkpoints along the rivers and lakes used to inspect smuggled salt are practically non-existent. Salt smugglers' ships travel freely north and south, and merchants openly smuggle salt in bustling markets. This region along the Yangtze River has become Lei Dawu's domain. No wonder he is so arrogant, daring to assassinate an imperial envoy in public. I am attending this banquet today to ask you two gentlemen on behalf of the Emperor: Lei Dawu has been at large for almost a year. What is the difficulty in apprehending him? Are you afraid to arrest him, unwilling to arrest him, or simply reluctant to arrest him?"

Not daring to take action is cowardice.

Not wanting to arrest them is dereliction of duty.

If they are reluctant to arrest him, they are accomplices.

Lord Gu casually uttered three sentences, each accusation more severe than the last, all of them capital offenses. Lord Liu listened, sweating profusely, and immediately knelt down:

"Your Excellency, please understand, I am truly innocent and had no such intention."

As a fellow second-rank official, and in front of his subordinates, Lord Gao didn't have the face to kneel as well. He took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Brother Shouming, you are unaware of the situation. Lei Dawu has many men under his command, and they are well-equipped. Capturing them would be extremely difficult. In my humble opinion, perhaps we should offer them amnesty?"

Gu Zhao laughed when he heard this:

"Oh? To offer amnesty? He's just a lowly salt smuggler, what kind of person is he that deserves the Emperor's decree to offer amnesty? Governor-General, have you been in the gentle embrace of Jiangnan for too long and lost your senses? The Emperor transferred you to the Liangjiang region because he valued your military background and wanted your courage and boldness to kill. Today, Lei Dawu has disregarded the Emperor, so it is only right that we take his life as a warning to others and establish the authority of the court. And you want to offer amnesty and appease him? We are all officials in the same court, serving the Emperor. Since the Governor-General is in a difficult situation, I will not make things difficult for you. I will kill this chicken. As for how you two gentlemen choose, that is up to you."

Lei Dawu's arrogance in Yangzhou must mean he has powerful backers in the government. Gu Zhao, not hesitant to assume the worst about the current state of Yangzhou's officialdom, naturally starts by warning the highest-ranking official, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, to expose his backers.

Only after Gu Zhao finished speaking and left did the lowly and insignificant Lord Liu dare to get up, supporting himself on the table leg, and ask tremblingly:

"Governor, what should we do? The Vice Minister won't accept money or women. A few days ago, he detained those salt-carrying ships without even asking anyone. He's so unreasonable. I'm afraid when he returns to the capital, he won't speak well of us to the Emperor."

Gu Zhao didn't just accept everything. The day after Xie Ze was assassinated, he took away Gao Daren's military power with the imperial decree.

Although the governor-general oversees the military and political affairs of Liangjiang, he still needs the emperor's decree to mobilize troops each time. Now, this decree for troop deployment is in the hands of Imperial Envoy Gu Zhao, and all the admirals and generals in Liangjiang are under his command. Governor-General Gao has become a general without troops, with no soldiers to mobilize. Otherwise, why would Governor-General Gao be so frustrated?

Master Gao threw the handkerchief, almost soaked with sweat, onto the table and sneered:

"I simply don't believe that there is truly a person in officialdom who is selfless and devoted to the public good. Could Gu Shouming possibly be a saint? If you refuse to accept it, it's because you didn't present it to the right person, you didn't reach the heart of Lord Gu."

Lord Liu cried out that he was wronged:

"To be honest, sir, I am foolish and have tried everything. I really don't know what Lord Gu likes. Take this beauty, for example. Yiyi is the most beautiful woman I have selected in Yangzhou. If that's all, I really don't know who else can catch Lord Gu's eye."

Lord Gao gave Lord Liu a meaningful look:

"Why are you pretending in front of me? Can't you tell what Gu Shouming likes? That person downstairs just now, I think it was Zhang Jingyan. Do you know who that young lady with him is? Bring Zhang Jingyan here and give him a good talking-to, so he can open his mind a bit."

As the local official of Yangzhou, Lord Liu knew the city's wealthy merchants intimately, and immediately replied:

"Oh dear, Your Excellency, this is inappropriate. That is Zhang Jingyan's legal wife, Madam Zhang, not some unknown person. My wife says they are very much in love. When Madam Zhang visited our residence before, Zhang Jingyan would make a special trip to pick her up. I've known Zhang Jingyan for several years. He may seem gentle, but he has a very strong temper. If we ask him rashly and he refuses, it could cause a big problem."

Already feeling frustrated today, and with his subordinates making excuses, Master Gao was instantly enraged.

"A merchant's family? There are eight hundred ways to kill him. Does he even have a choice? Do you think he'll cause a scene? Lord Liu, is your official hat made of paper? Since she's the eldest daughter of the Zhang family, isn't that even better? A dignified imperial envoy, committing adultery and driving a respectable family to their death, even killing the entire family to cover up his shame—he's committed such a heinous crime. If I impeach him, won't he slink back to the capital in disgrace? Lord Liu, if you don't get rid of Gu Shouming and let him continue investigating like this, think carefully: whose head will be the first to fall?"

This tall man was a military officer, and his usual actions were somewhat simplistic and brutal. Even when threatening people, he would make it clear that he would use a knife to kill.

He held the highest official position in the Liangjiang region, making him virtually the only one who could command respect. Others fawned over him, but he never fawned over others. He was also quite inept at flattering his superiors.

In short, whether using a soft or a hard approach, the methods were too crude.

Lord Liu was extremely disgusted, but since it was his superior, he had no choice but to appease him.

"Your Excellency, whether Zhang Jingyan makes a scene or not is really not a big deal, but we still don't know what kind of person Lord Gu is. From what I can see, even if Lord Gu is just pretending, he wants a good reputation and cherishes his image. He may not be easily fooled. We need to think this over carefully, otherwise we might make things worse."

Upon hearing this, Lord Gao pondered for a moment and replied:

"That's true, you've thought it through. We can't be reckless. So, tell me, how should we do it?"

Lord Liu looked around and, seeing that no one was there, covered his ear with his hand and whispered in Lord Gao's ear:

"Since Lord Gu is both a member of the imperial family and a close minister of the emperor, it's better for us to win him over than to make enemies. Although it's hard to find someone who looks like Madam Zhang, we can try to find someone who resembles her. Let's look for someone like Madam Zhang to help Vice Minister Gu. We need to get a good feel for the Vice Minister before we can come up with a plan."