Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

"Go and fetch Zhao Chuan," Song Qingfeng said to the kneeling guard.

"Yes." The guard ran away trembling.

Song Qingfeng then looked eastward.

With the guards ahead reporting the news, the guards who came after them dared not hide. As soon as Song Qingfeng glanced at them, they immediately knelt down and begged for mercy.

Even if a guard reports the news, those who don't come simply don't come. These empty positions can't be filled instantly, and you can still only see a guard from a great distance on the city wall.

Aside from his initial rage, Song Qingfeng was now already thinking about how to handle the situation.

This is a very serious matter. If the imperial court finds out, Song Qingfeng will not fare well, regardless of whether he is aware of it or not.

It would be best to stop here.

The key question now is how to stop him here? That would require making Zheng Jie feel that his handling of the situation was correct.

After walking about five or six miles along the city wall of Hongjia County, someone hurriedly came to greet them. It was Zhao Chuan, whom Song Qingfeng had specifically requested to see.

"Greetings, General." The man who ran all the way and slid to his knees as he approached was Wang Shancai, who commanded the border defense of Hongjia County. Before kneeling and kowtowing, he had already seen the background of the group, so he read on without raising his head, "Greetings, Prefect and Magistrate Meng."

"Where is Zhao Chuan?" Song Qingfeng asked.

Unlike Beishan County, Hongjia County's magistrate held military power, and there were military camps within the county. The patrol and guarding of the border city walls were all the responsibility of the military camps.

The deputy commander of the camp is Zhao Chuan, whom Song Qingfeng is looking for.

This man's power is below that of the magistrate of Hongjia County. He usually obeys the magistrate's orders, but now that the new magistrate of Hongjia County has not yet arrived, he can obey Song Qingfeng or Zheng Jie during this period. He can also disobey no one.

This was entirely due to the unclear division of powers and responsibilities among officials of the Liang Dynasty.

“He… has already sent someone to fetch him,” Wang Shancai said. “However, the camp is not close to here, and he probably won’t be able to get there for a while.”

"Very well." Song Qingfeng sneered and then turned to Zheng Jie, saying, "Prefect Zheng, it seems we have no choice but to wait for him here."

Wang Shancai listened to his words, breaking out in a cold sweat. The cold sweat seeped through the fabric of his back, and when the cold wind blew, the chill went straight into Wang Shancai's heart.

He thought to himself, "This is it, it's all over. I don't even want to think about what kind of punishment I'll face next."

Zhao Chuan was woken up in the middle of the night by his men. When he heard that General Song and Prefect Zheng had climbed the city wall, he was so frightened that he couldn't even put on his clothes or breathe.

It took me a while to recover, but I still couldn't understand, "How did they get onto the city wall? Why didn't anyone inform us beforehand?"

"They came up from Beishan County," the subordinate mentioned. "Lord Meng from Beishan County is also on the city wall."

Zhao Chuan gritted his teeth, "Where's Wang Shancai? Didn't we tell them that the number of people near Beishan County couldn't be changed?"

"Captain Wang has already climbed the city wall."

"What was the situation on the city wall when Prefect Zheng and his men went up? How many people were on duty?" Zhao Chuan was still trying to find out more when another subordinate came in to report: "Someone from the city wall is coming to urge you to go over quickly."

When Zhao Chuan arrived, another innocent, good official, deceived by his subordinates, appeared on the city wall.

Watching his performance, Meng Changqing felt nothing but absurdity.

Such a person could command military power in a region, and the emperor would rather trust such a person than trust her.

“Zhao Chuan, Zhao Chuan, would they dare to be so bold as to do this without your approval?” Song Qingfeng said. “You’re right here in Hongjia County. If they really wanted to keep it from you, wouldn’t you have seen it with your own eyes?”

"General, it was my oversight that I failed to check regularly." Zhao Chuan wasn't admitting his mistake, but rather trying his best to shirk responsibility.

Song Qingfeng waved his hand dismissively, "Shut up, I don't want to hear what you have to say."

After calming down a bit, Song Qingfeng said to Zheng Jie, "Prefect Zheng, this way please." He led Zheng Jie several steps away.

Meng Changqing, oblivious to the situation, followed along, determined to hear what was going on.

Song Qingfeng asked softly, "Prefect Zheng, in your opinion, how should this matter be handled?" (End of Chapter)