After marrying the fierce god, her handsome young husband was pampered to the extreme.

Wang Zhao was incredibly impressed by how easily he had gained the other party's trust.

With this person leading the way, the officials successfully found the cave where the children were hidden.

The cave meanders deep underground.

The cave was cold and damp; even the burning torches could only illuminate the path beneath one's feet.

Upon arriving at a cave, everyone froze on the spot.

Beneath the cave, a group of children were fighting like monsters.

When Lin San saw dozens of children being forced to kill each other in the pit, he already understood the cause and effect of this child abduction case.

It turns out that the Iron Fist Master wasn't trafficking people at all, but rather capturing these children to train assassins.

It's no wonder that a child abduction case in a remote county could involve collusion with officials in Beijing.

Anyone who dares to secretly train assassins must be someone of considerable importance, perhaps even connected to the Yin royal family...

However, there's no rush to delve into these matters; the immediate priority is to rescue these children from their suffering.

Just as the person leading the way was about to speak with Lin San, he was struck on the back with a club.

Seeing him fall straight down, Wang Zhao immediately exclaimed in panic, "Did I kill him?"

"No." Lin San instructed the constables to tie him up and take him back to the prison first.

Although this person deserves to die, he still needs to be convicted according to the law first.

These children are the most important thing right now.

The older ones among them were around fourteen or fifteen years old. When they were rescued from the cave, they were incredibly powerful and even injured the constables.

It wasn't until the doctor came and prescribed sedatives that they calmed down.

These children suffered greatly, both mentally and physically, and became neither human nor monster.

Some even need to be tied up with ropes because they will attack anyone who gets close indiscriminately, making them very dangerous.

Wang Zhao felt an indescribable sadness.

They were all innocent and carefree children, yet they were turned into murderous tools by those in power.

Fortunately, they have all been saved now, and with proper care, they have a great chance of recovering and returning to normal life.

Besides the living, the constables also carried out several corpses from the man-eating cave.

The number of people, both alive and dead, was calculated to be as high as four hundred.

However, only a handful of people came to the government to report the case.

Many more children die in places no one knows about.

Following a court verdict, all those involved in the child abduction case were convicted and beheaded.

The registrar who extorted money from the people and exploited the local community had his property confiscated and was forced to perform corvée labor.

The county government also issued a notice asking families who had lost children to come to the county government office to reunite with their relatives.

The real culprit in the kidnapping case was brought to justice, and the people were all overjoyed.

On the day of the execution, crowds of people lined the outer perimeter, all waiting to see these human traffickers get their comeuppance.

After the sentence of immediate execution was handed down, the executioner's blade fell.

The dark clouds that had been hanging over the people of Song County have finally dispersed.

The people praised the magistrate as a reincarnation of a righteous official, and Lin San quickly became the heart and soul of the people.

Lin San, however, was not happy.

He didn't consider himself a righteous official who spoke up for the people; he was very self-serving.

He requested to leave the capital in order to pave his own path to becoming a powerful minister.

The Lin family has marital ties with the royal family. If he had stayed in the cabinet, even if he wasn't given important positions, he would still have been a favorite of the emperor.

However, His Majesty's favor is so elusive and unreal.

Only political achievements can give an official confidence.

The emperor naturally understood his intentions.

The emperor wanted to see if he was truly capable of shouldering the great responsibility, and readily agreed.

Lin San knew from a very young age that the Lin family was a hidden blade of the emperor.

This hidden blade has existed since his father's generation.

Otherwise, the emperor would not have arranged for the young Lin Si and Lin Wu to be stationed in the southwest after his father's death.

The emperor wanted to have the Southwest Army completely under his control, so their only role in the capital was to restrain the twins in the southwest and ensure that they would never betray him.

Lin San only wanted to find a way out for his family.

Useful people will not be abandoned.

He was neither an honest official nor wholeheartedly devoted to the people; his selfish motives were obvious.

But when the people sincerely thanked and loved him, he was still touched.

At that moment, he seemed to understand what the country, the people, and the nation truly meant.

Preface by Lin Yun.

Don't forget the way you came.

He said this to himself in his heart.

-----------------

Wang Zhao also has things he wants to do.

Although some children have been picked up by their families, many more remain unclaimed.

These children cannot stay at the county government office indefinitely; they need to be cared for by someone.

After all, they are still in great danger. Releasing them rashly would only hurt both themselves and others.

After much deliberation, Wang Zhao decided to open a charitable institution in Song County.

But he can't take care of so many children by himself, so he still has to pay someone to look after them.

This put him in a difficult position again.

He was unfamiliar with the place and the people there. If he went to the brokerage to look for someone rashly, what if he brought back a bad-hearted person? Wouldn't these children have to suffer again?

I don't know where to find a reliable person.

He struggled with the thought all night, and then suddenly thought of Yang Hong'er.

He heard that Yang Hong'er had been completely distraught since losing her child, and the couple still didn't have a second child.

It would be wonderful if we could get him to take care of these children.

Wang Zhao was a man of action. Once he had an idea, he drove his carriage to find the person the next day.

Yang Hong'er immediately agreed after hearing Wang Zhao's idea.

Wang Zhao borrowed a small amount of money from his third brother before leaving home, and now he was handing it over to Yang Hong'er as a deposit.

Yang Hong'er quickly waved her hand, "No need to pay, no need to pay."

"Yes, I will," Wang Zhao insisted. "Besides, I plan to entrust all the purchasing to you. The children's clothing, food, and herbs all cost money."

"You and your husband need to eat and drink too. You can't just work without eating, can you?" Wang Zhao said, handing over two one-hundred-tael silver notes.

Yang Hong'er said, "Alright then, since you trust me, I will definitely handle this matter well."

Before leaving, Wang Zhao had a question she wanted to ask him, but when she met his eyes, she didn't know how to ask it, so she gave up.

It was already dark when I returned to the county government office.

Seeing that he looked travel-worn, Lin San didn't ask any questions, but simply told him to get some rest.

Wang Zhao was in high spirits at the moment, so he went to the kitchen and slurped up a bowl of noodles.

The worst part is that instead of going back to his own room to slurp, he went to Lin San's study and sat next to him to slurp.

Lin San: "...Be more reserved."

Wang Zhao paused in his slurping of noodles, his lips trembling sadly.

Lin San had a headache. "I'm not saying anything more. You can continue eating."

Wang Zhao then happily continued slurping his noodles.

After finishing a bowl of steaming hot oil-splashed noodles, Wang Zhaosi politely wiped the grease from his lips.

"Third Brother, I..."

"Just say what you have to say, don't beat around the bush."

Wang Zhao said, "That's right, I'm a little curious."

As he spoke, he reached out and pinched a tiny bit of his fingertip to indicate that it really was only a little bit.