Stop acting, Your Majesty, the queen knows you're faking it

"This..." Xu Ruxuan probably didn't expect Chi Xinian to speak like this. He opened his mouth, but couldn't answer Chi Xinian's words for a long time.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Chi Xinian said to himself again: "The magistrate Xu should still be loyal to the imperial court, if that's the case, tell me what you know.

"My palace and His Majesty use the eagles specially trained by the Chi family to send messages, which are safe and will not leak secrets.

"If your news reaches this Palace, you are not afraid of being known or modified by a third person before it reaches His Majesty's ears.

"This is a good opportunity to let go of the burden. Mr. Xu think carefully before returning to the palace to ask questions."

"Minister..." Xu Ruxuan hesitated for a moment, and finally let go of his swaying emotions, and lowered his head, "Your Majesty, if you want to ask anything, just ask directly."

"Okay." Probably because Xu Ruxuan's reaction had been expected before, Chi Xinian was not surprised to see him let go.

After all, he is still a good official, so naturally he doesn't want to see those court moths and water bandits who endanger the people succeed in doing evil.

Therefore, Chi Xinian's first question directly cut to the point: "Why did the magistrate Xu conceal the existence of water bandits when he reported the flood problem to the court? Is it because he was threatened?"

"Yes..." This time, Xu Ruxuan didn't have any illusory words in his mouth. He opened his mouth and told the truth, "The water bandits made trouble, robbed the supplies and money that should have been distributed to various places, and the government organized a counterattack. Not only were they defeated, they also Caught by them...

"They detained some people related to me, such as my distant relatives in the countryside, my wife's cousin, servants on my farm, and... the stewards of my house.

"Many lives are in their hands. Even if I have hatred in my heart, I dare not deal with them lightly. I can only make false claims with them and secretly look for opportunities to get rid of them."

"So they threatened you not to mention the existence of water bandits in the report to the court, so you agreed to them?" Chi Xinian could roughly understand Xu Ruxuan's concealment.

It sounds like what the other party controls are only some unimportant little people around Xu Ruxuan, but these little people are the foundation of his life.

These familiar faces are flesh and blood in Xu Ruxuan's heart, not just illusory names.

There were not many people, and it didn't even cause a storm in the outside world.

But this is the best way to handle Xu Ruxuan.

Because it is impossible for Xu Zhifu not to care about the life and death of flesh and blood beings in his memory.

"Yes." Xu Ruxuan nodded slightly. They threatened me with the lives of these people not to reveal their existence. I had no choice but to follow suit.

"However, when I reported the specific situation in Pingxing, I deliberately wrote down the details of the disaster in detail and truthfully. At the same time, I wrote the reasons for the disaster in a vague and unreliable manner.

"I think, with His Majesty's intelligence, seeing such a report, he will definitely feel that something is wrong. Then, he will send imperial envoys to check the real situation.

"In this way, although it will be later, it will also let His Majesty know that there are water bandits making trouble in Pingxing."

"No wonder." Hearing this, Chi Xinian couldn't help raising his eyebrows, "No wonder you specifically mentioned in that report that Pingxing was severely flooded, and the government alone might not be able to support it alone, and His Majesty had to send sailors to help.

"It seems that you want to ask the navy to help, not for disaster relief, but for suppressing bandits?"