Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Chapter 588 Reporting False Information
Feng Zhong'an thought for a while before saying, "Tell him that if he can get in here without being seen by other people, I will see him."

Not long after the messenger left, there was another knock on Feng Zhong'an's door.

It was the same person again. "Sir, he's here."

Feng Zhong'an opened the door and saw an old man dressed in coarse linen clothes standing next to his confidant.

The old man had messy hair, a hunched back, and a drooping head, but he slightly raised his head the moment Feng Zhong'an appeared.

It really was Mao Chunfang.

Feng Zhong'an took a step back. "It's cold outside, old man. Let's go inside and talk."

The door was closed again. The subordinate did not leave, but instead watched cautiously before standing guard at the door.

Inside the room, Mao Chunfang changed her posture, brushed the messy hair from her face, and bowed to Feng Zhong'an.

Feng Zhong'an asked him, "What do you want to see me about?"

"My lord," Mao Chunfang said in a low voice, "you were in Beishan County the other day, so there are some things you may not be aware of."

Feng Zhong'an sat down in the chair, and Mao Chunfang stood beside him and continued, "Do you know that Prefect Liu almost broke into Weishan Camp, which displeased General Song?"

"What?" Feng Zhong'an couldn't understand this at all. "Why did he break into Weishan Camp?"

"I suspect it's mostly because of you," Mao Chunfang said. "Some time ago, Prefect Liu saw me and said that you were trying to find fault with him and pin the poisoning of Vice Prefect Sun Xiang on him. He asked me to help him find a way to deal with this."

Feng Zhong'an's gaze toward Mao Chunfang held a hint of hostility.

With a forced smile, Mao Chunfang continued, "I felt I had some connection with you, so I vouched for you to Prefect Liu, saying I could come to you to plead for leniency. Perhaps he misunderstood you?"

At this point, Feng Zhong'an got up and walked to the window.

Mao Chunfang followed up, saying, "It would be fine if the two sides talked things out."

But to my surprise, Lord Liu was unwilling to do so and earnestly instructed me not to tell you about this matter.” “What does this have to do with his raid on Weishan Camp?” Feng Zhong’an asked. “When did he raid Weishan Camp?”

"That's right. Lord Liu came up with a plan to deal with you. He was determined to kill Sun Xiang before you could find Magistrate Sun, so he sent me to find out where Sun Xiang was."

"Did you tell someone at Weishan Camp?" Feng Zhong'an asked.

"No, no, no, it was Lord Liu who told me that Sun Xiang was probably in Beishan County, so I went to find him myself and asked Magistrate Meng in person. Of course, I didn't tell Meng Changqing why I was looking for Magistrate Sun."

Magistrate Meng told his subordinate that Sun Xiang felt Beishan County was not safe enough and had fled to Weishan County.

"Before I had a chance to go to Weishan County to investigate the situation, Prefect Liu was about to take you all to Beishan County. I was worried that if Prefect Liu entered Beishan County, the information I gathered would be difficult to relay, so I sent someone to the city wall of Yangmen County to inform Prefect Liu of the news."

Feng Zhong'an also recalled the scene at the time; it was indeed true that such a thing happened that day at the city wall.

"Upon hearing this, Prefect Liu immediately led his men to Weishan County," Mao Chunfang said. "However, after searching the Weishan County government office, they found no trace of Sun Xiang."

It was truly Prefect Liu's carelessness; if he couldn't find it, he should have returned to the prefectural office first, thought things through, and then acted.

Unexpectedly, after listening to Cao Hongxing's nonsense, they rushed to Weishan Camp that very night to demand the release of the people.

Sigh! You can't just walk into a military camp whenever you want.
I heard that General Song had archers on standby at the time; if Prefect Liu had insisted on storming the camp, he would surely be seriously wounded and bedridden by now.

Feng Zhong'an paced back and forth a couple of steps, then asked Mao Chunfang, "Where did you hear this from?"

Mao Chunfang quickly explained, "It was Lord Liu himself who said it. He couldn't get the person from the military camp, so when he returned, he summoned me to the prefectural government and threw a huge tantrum."

Although I tried my best to comfort him, I could not ease Lord Liu's anger.

It was Prefect Liu who came up with the idea that he could use your influence to get Weishan Camp to hand over the people.

I persuaded Lord Liu to abandon this plan after much persuasion. I asked him to first thoroughly investigate the whereabouts of Magistrate Sun, lest he fall into Cao Hongxing's trap, and even more importantly, not to use my name to make things even more complicated.”