Thief Emperor

Chapter 338: Conspiracy within conspiracy

If Li Yun were older now, he might really suspect that he was drunk one day and sent someone to do this secretly.

But he is young and sober now, and he knows clearly that he has never done such a thing.

His subordinates, such as Li Zheng, Zhao Cheng, etc., would not have the energy to arrange such a thing. Those who were interested in doing this, such as Xu Ang, Zhuo Guangrui, etc., were not in Nanjing.

Unless, Du Qian sent someone to do it.

But the possibility is not high. Not to mention whether Du Qian would do such a thing because of his personality, even if he really did it, he would at least inform Li Yun in advance.

Since it is basically certain that it was not done by our own forces, then the matter is not difficult to guess.

These grassroots leaders, when asked casually, would call Li Shijun all the time, and it was obvious that someone had taught them to say that.

It’s not about teaching them to discredit Li Yun. After all, these bandits are not that stupid and it is impossible for them to do such a thing in front of the real boss.

Instead, someone told them that if they encountered government troops, they should tell the so-called "truth" so that the government troops would spare them.

So Li Yun just grabbed someone and easily asked them the so-called truth.

But the problem is, if Li Yun can ask the question, others can naturally ask the question as well. Rumors can spread like wildfire, let alone the "truth" that comes from the mouths of these bandits?
It is foreseeable that it won’t be long before these so-called “truths” will spread throughout Changzhou and even throughout the entire Jiangdong. What kind of person will Li Yun become by then?

A despicable villain who, in order to fight for power and profit, first kills civilians as a bandit, and then presents himself as a good guy.

At that time, all the sins committed by these thieves in Changzhou City will be blamed on Li Yun!
Even if Li Yun used heavy hands and killed all these bandits, in the eyes of others, it might be seen as murder to silence them.

“It’s really vicious.”

Li Yun took a deep breath, stood on the city wall, and frowned slightly.

This is the difficult part about rumors. If any rumor breaks out, the people trying to debunk it will have to run around running around.

Now, if Li Yun wants to completely smash the conspiracy of the mastermind behind the scenes, the best way is to turn around and leave Changzhou, and not become the hero who saves the city. In this way, those so-called rumors will naturally fall apart.

But if this were really the case, and Changzhou City fell into the hands of a group of thieves, and the Recruiting Office sat back and watched, it would be criticized.

The person who came up with this plan had a very deep understanding of people's hearts, making the situation in Changzhou extremely difficult.

Neither left nor right, this is an unsolvable situation.

Just as Li Yun was thinking, Yang Xi strode over, bowed his head and clasped his fists and said, "Sir, the city gate has been occupied. You can open it at any time to let the brothers outside the city in."

Li came back to his senses, looked at Yang Xi, then looked at his brothers outside the city, thought for a while, and then made up his mind.

Li Yun exhaled a breath of foul air from his chest and sneered: "What's so special about him? Why should I be afraid of him?"

"Open the city gate!"

Yang Xi naturally didn't know what his general was talking about, but after hearing the order, he quickly bowed his head and saluted: "Yes!"

After saying that, Yang Xi turned around and shouted to the soldiers behind him, "Open the city gate!"

The gate of Changzhou City was slowly opened.

Li Yun took off the mask on his face and turned to look towards Changzhou City. There was no expression on his face, but he knew in his heart that someone was secretly competing with him.

In fact, they have already gone to war with him, and Changzhou is the first battlefield between the two sides, and it is far from being a matter of just taking it down.

Two thousand Jiangdong soldiers entered Changzhou city like wolves and tigers.

Li Yun also followed the army into the provincial capital.

Although the Jiangdong soldiers did not have complete armor, it was like a pair of shoes for a family, which everyone who went out wore. Since they were going out to fight, naturally everyone who could wear armor would put it on. The two thousand soldiers he brought with him were basically all wearing armor.

In addition, there was a huge disparity in the combat effectiveness of the two sides. Although Changzhou City was not small, the battle started in the morning and lasted until the evening. The rebellion in the entire city was basically quelled.

As night gradually enveloped the earth, Li Yun walked on the streets of the city, and there were corpses everywhere on both sides of the road.

All the houses had their doors closed, and in the darkness of the night, there was almost no sound, except for the calls of a few unknown birds and the occasional burst of crying.

Li Yun walked from the beginning to the end of the street. There were hundreds of corpses on this street alone, almost all of which were the bodies of the people in the state capital.

It was all done by the thieves who occupied the city.

It took only two or three days from the time they occupied the city to the time Li Yun came to quell the rebellion. Li Yun alone saw perhaps a thousand people slaughtered by these bandits in Changzhou.

As for the reasons, there are too many reasons. They went to rob money, women, and things, and when the people refused to give them, they killed them with knives.

In this world, killing is too easy. It’s just a matter of swinging a knife.

And if the rumor spreads, all the sins in Changzhou City might be blamed on Li Yun by public opinion.

Seeing that Li Yun said nothing, Yang Xi and the others did not dare to speak either. After a long while, a brigade commander stepped forward cautiously, bowed his head and clasped his fists to Li Yun and said, "Sir, the leader of the bandits has been captured and is under custody in the governor's mansion."

Li Yun rubbed his brows and asked slowly, "Have the thieves in the city been cleared out?"

"almost."

The brigade commander bowed his head respectfully and said, "My subordinates made a rough inquiry and found that at first, these bandits only numbered two to three hundred people. However, after they seized the city and the government office, some people in the city surrendered to them, so together, there were four to five hundred of them."

"Half of them have been executed, and the rest have been arrested."

"But, but..."

He hesitated and didn't continue.

Li Yun glanced at him and said slowly: "But among those arrested, some people said bad things about me, right?"

"Yes Yes…"

The brigade commander lowered his head, clenched his fists and said, "Some thieves, in order to escape punishment, even shouted that it was you who ordered them to do it. How could your subordinates tolerate this? They were executed on the spot for making nonsense."

Li Yun nodded silently, looked at the brigade commander, and said slowly: "Lu He, you take people to clear out the prison in Changzhou City, put these people in, let the brothers rest on the spot, and do not disturb the people in the city."

"Leave the rest to me."

Now, the team has gradually expanded. Li Yun can no longer remember the names of many new officers, but most of the generals at the level of brigade commander were trained by him. He has a good memory and can remember most of their names.

The brigade commander named Lu He immediately bowed his head and said, "I obey your command!"

After arranging these people, Li Yun put his hands behind his back and strode towards the governor's mansion.

Yang Xi followed closely behind Li Yun, bowed his head slightly and said, "Sir, it seems that some of these thieves have ulterior motives and are trying to discredit you. It is not convenient for you to take action on this matter. Please leave it to me. I will definitely handle it properly."

At this time, the captain of the guard who had been following Li Yun was full of murderous intent.

Although he is still the brigade commander, because he has always been with Li Yun, his status is relatively much higher than other brigade commanders, and he is also closer to Li Yun.

As someone close to Li Yun, he naturally felt the strange atmosphere in Changzhou City and heard some rumors.

After following Li Yun for a long time, he naturally knew that sometimes it was not convenient for Li Yun to do some things, and he was willing to do these things for Li Yun.

For example...kill all those thieves, leaving no one alive.

Rumors will naturally disappear into thin air.

Li Yun looked back at him, then narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Don't meddle in things that are not your business. Just stay with me."

"You can't get involved in this matter, and you can't handle it."

Li Yun walked towards the governor's mansion with a blank expression, and there was no emotion in his voice: "Only I can do it."

Soon, Li Yun arrived at the governor's mansion. At this time, there were already four or five people tied to pillars in the front yard of the governor's mansion. As if they were worried that they would talk nonsense, these people had their mouths tightly tied with cloth strips. They could only whimper and could not utter a word.

The moonlight shone down and illuminated Li Yun's face. Envoy Li walked towards them in the moonlight.

He looked at a middle-aged man in his forties with a horrified face and asked, "Are you the leader of the Bailong Village in Guodi Mountain?"

The village chief was trembling all over. He looked at Li Yun tremblingly, nodded in fear, and then whimpered a few times, but could not utter a complete sentence.

Li Yun stepped forward and tore off the cloth in his mouth with a casual pull. The huge strength of his hand made the man feel pain. He couldn't help but scream. The skin on his mouth was scratched and blood flowed out.

"Who told you to kill people everywhere in the city?"

The village chief looked at Li Yun, who had a gloomy face, and became even more frightened. He said tremblingly, "Li... Li Shijun's subordinates said..."

"The more trouble we make in the city, the more grateful the people in the city will be to Envoy Li..."

(End of this chapter)