In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era: I became Yang Guozhong's eldest son.

As dawn broke, the atmosphere on the streets of Yanjing County was already quite different from usual.

Last night's quiet arrest at Liuji in the south of the city, though it didn't alarm many people, is a case in a place like Yanjing County, where real news is never seen with the eyes, but rather gleaned from the wind.

In the study of the Tian family mansion, Tian Chengyi's face was so gloomy it could drip water.

"They didn't leave?"

Sitting at the head of the table, Tian Boyong, the head of the Tian family, was twirling two walnuts in his hands, making an annoying crackling sound.

He was nearly fifty years old, with a fair complexion, and looked like a kind and wealthy old man, but the light shining through his triangular eyes was like a poisoned knife.

Tian Chengyi swallowed hard and lowered his head, saying, "Last night, Hu Rong and I watched him burn the tent and get on the mule cart. But this morning, the people who went to the ferry to meet him reported that Liu Shenxing hadn't arrived at all. When we went to the back alley, the man driving the cart was found unconscious by the roadside. The man, the cart, and the bag of gold were all gone."

Hu Rong, sitting at the lower end, was already feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"No need to think about it anymore," Hu Rong gritted his teeth. "It must have been the county government officials. Yesterday, that princess in the inner quarters made it so clear, how could they not be keeping an eye on the south of the city? That bastard Liu Shenxing probably already had our backs on us and kept a secret!"

Tian Boyong suddenly stopped eating the walnuts in his hand.

"Bottom account?"

"If he had dared to keep the accounts, they would probably all be on Yang Xuan's desk by now." Tian Boyong's voice was icy cold. "If the accounts of 680 dan are ever exposed, none of our families will escape unscathed. Even that person in the prefecture will get tainted."

"Master, what do we do now?" Tian Chengyi asked anxiously. "Are we just going to wait for him to take the case and interrogate us?"

"Wait?" Tian Boyong sneered. "In Yanjing County, it's not up to some brat from Chang'an who's just been weaned to question my crimes."

He slammed the walnuts on the table and stood up.

"Isn't he trying to set rules? Isn't he trying to investigate the true accounts?"

"Then let him investigate."

"However, he needs to be alive to continue the investigation."

Tian Boyong looked at Tian Chengyi and Hu Rong, his eyes turning extremely sinister.

"Go. Inform your men that, starting today, cut off all funds allocated to the county government. The rice shops in the West Market are forbidden from selling a single grain of rice to the county government; the pharmacies on South Street are forbidden from selling a single ounce of medicine to the county government. And any porters transporting firewood from outside the city who dare to deliver even a single piece of firewood to the county government—break their legs!"

Hu Rong hesitated, "Uncle Tian, ​​this... this is blatant defiance of the government. What if the higher-ups blame us..."

"Up there?" Tian Boyong looked at him like he was an idiot. "What kind of person is Yang Xuan? A discarded son whose leg was broken by his own father and who was driven out of Chang'an! Do you think the state will stand up for him? As long as he doesn't expose the Qing'ao Well incident, the state would be happy to see him die in this poor, remote place."

"Besides," Tian Boyong sat back down in his chair, picked up his teacup, "we didn't kill any officials or rebel. We just have 'no grain to sell' and 'no medicine to treat.' It's normal for border areas to lack medical care and medicine. If Yang Xuan can't endure it and dies of illness or starvation in the county office, then he can only blame his own bad luck."

Upon hearing this, Hu Rong broke out in a cold sweat, but was immediately roused to ferocity by the ruthlessness in the air.

"Alright! I'll take care of it right away. There are dozens of mouths to feed in the county government, and Yang Xuan still has the bruises from the court flogging. Let's see how long he can hold out!"

……

The main hall of the county government.

Cui Shen and Han Jitong had stayed up all night, their eyes were bloodshot, but they were both unusually excited.

"My lord, it matches."

Cui Shen presented Yang Xuan with both hands a newly compiled file, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.

"Based on the accounts handed over by Liu Shenxing, and compared with the side records, household registers, and corvée labor registers we have on hand, the total amount of official salt lost from Qing'ao Well in the past three months is 1,740 dan."

"Of this, the Tian family took 30%, Hu Rong's salt business took 25%, and the head of the well took 15% to bribe officials. The remaining 30% was all given to Mo San."

Yang Xuan took the file, his gaze sweeping over the shocking numbers, his eyes as cold as icy stars.

Han Jitong added from the side, "It's not just salt. It also records that, in order to cover up these accounts, Liu Shenxing, through Liu's Cloth Shop, falsely reported more than seventy accounts for bridge and road repairs and the purchase of consumables, shifting all the deficit onto the miscellaneous expenses of the government and the common people."

"The evidence is irrefutable." Cui Shen slammed his hand heavily on the judiciary. "My lord, if we hold court now and bring Liu Shenxing in for questioning, neither the Tian family nor the Hu family will escape!"

Yang Xuan did not speak immediately. He closed the file, stood up, walked to the entrance of the hall, and looked at the gradually brightening sky outside.

"There's no rush to begin the court proceedings."

Yang Xuan's voice was calm, yet it exuded an undeniable composure.

"This case is too big, too big. Liu Shenxing and these few ledgers alone are not enough to completely crush them. The Tian and Hu families are deeply rooted in Yanjing County, and they also have people in the prefecture behind them. If we hold court now, they can easily deny that Liu Shenxing forged the accounts, and may even directly cause trouble in court."

Cui Shen was taken aback: "Then we just stayed up all night for nothing?"

"It wasn't all for nothing." Yang Xuan turned around, his gaze deep. "This tent is a knife. But how to use a knife, and when to use it, is a skill in itself. What we need to do now is not to rush into killing people, but to force them to make the first move."

Just then, Afu suddenly stumbled in from outside, his face deathly pale.

"Young...Young Master! Something terrible has happened!"

Ah Fu was panting heavily from running, and he didn't even care about the rules anymore.

"What happened?" Yang Xuan frowned slightly.

"It's broken! All broken!" Afu stamped his feet in panic. "Uncle Wen just took some people to the West Market to buy rice, but all the rice shops were closed. We went to South Street to get medicine, but the pharmacist said the herbs were damp and wouldn't sell a single ounce. And the firewood carriers didn't come at all today. Even... even that sweet water well outside the city has been dumped with manure, they say it's from livestock!"

The hall fell into a deathly silence.

Cui Shen and Han Jitong exchanged a glance, their expressions turning extremely grim.

"Cut off food, medicine, firewood, and water." Han Jitong gritted his teeth, forcing out the words, "This is the dirtiest and most despicable tactic of the border tyrants. They're trying to starve us to death!"

Cui Shen grew anxious: "My lord, this is no child's play. We've brought dozens of men, including the old constables from the yamen. Without food, firewood, and water, morale will crumble within three days. Besides, you need to apply medicine to your wound every day!"

Yang Xuan remained calm.

After hearing Afu's report, he not only did not get angry, but instead smiled very lightly.

"It seems that capturing Liu Shenxing last night really hurt them. They even resorted to such despicable methods."

He walked to the table, picked up the cup of tea that had gone cold, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Do they think that by blocking these things, they can force me to back down? Force me to hand over Liu Shenxing and the account books?"