Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 177 Ruyan's Methods

Perhaps sensing that Chang Ping'an disagreed with her decision, Murong Ruyan simply offered another explanation—

"This place is, after all, my fiefdom. I am responsible for this incident. I must thank you for your investigation, senior brother. I will handle the rest myself. Senior brother, aren't you going to Taiyue Sword Sect with Sect Leader Qu? Sect Leader Qu should be at Bailuquan right now. Senior brother, you should focus on the matters Master has instructed you to attend to."

It turns out that yesterday, Qu Zhiweng received a hint from Chang Ping'an and left Pingding County, intending to head towards Baishi Mountain along the official road.

Unexpectedly, the paper puppet bird repeatedly led him eastward. Helpless, Qu Zhiweng had no choice but to follow the paper puppet bird eastward, where he encountered Murong Ruyan, who was hurriedly leading two thousand Shuntian soldiers on a rapid march in the middle of the night.

"When I heard my senior brother's message, I knew that something strange must have happened in the whole county!" Murong Ruyan said to Qu Zhiweng, who had rushed over. "No matter how small Weize Pass is, it is still a proper pass. How could it be controlled by a little demon whose bones haven't even been refined? There must be something fishy about this! If something strange has happened in the whole Weize Pass, then it won't just be Pingding County that's in trouble. It will affect Baozhou and even Xiao Kingdom!"

"Therefore, I rushed to the Shuntian Army camp in Baozhou overnight and asked General Heshilie for two thousand men to lead me on a rapid march to Pingding County."

"The key to this matter is urgency and ruthlessness. Once we surround Pingding County, any tricks we may have will be insignificant in the face of the elite Shuntian Army!"

Qu Zhiweng couldn't help but admire Murong Ruyan's keen political sense and decisive decision-making. He immediately followed the army back, describing everything he knew as they went.

As dawn broke, the group approached Pingding County. The Shuntian Army camp in Baozhou was only a little over a hundred miles from Pingding County. With the support of the martial arts formation, the light cavalry arrived overnight.

After traveling all night, both men and horses were exhausted. Murong Ruyan first released the paper puppet bird to convey the message that she had arrived. Then she ordered the Shuntian Army to rest on the spot for a while before suddenly advancing to Pingding County and surrounding the entire county.

Qu Zhiweng, on the other hand, was hinted by Murong Ruyan to first return to Bailuquan to appease the disciples of Taiyue Sword Sect and take a rest.

Knowing that he was not a native of Xiao Kingdom and an outsider to the White Stone Immortal Sect, Qu Zhiweng decided it was inappropriate to get involved. He then bid farewell to Murong Ruyan, citing the need for his care for the disciples of the Taiyue Sword Sect, and returned to Bailuquan Village.

This is also the origin of what Murong Ruyan said to Chang Ping'an.

Chang Ping'an thought about it carefully and realized it made sense.

The things Master instructed are of course the most important. Since Murong Ruyan is in charge here, and there is also the Shuntian Army under General Heshilie's command, there should be no problems.

So he took the weasel demon out of his [Qiankun Bag] and said, "Junior sister, this is the little demon who was instigated by Magistrate Zhou to do things. I don't think it is a vicious demon. It hasn't even refined its crossbow bone... Now I'll leave it to you to deal with as you see fit."

"Instigated?" Murong Ruyan clearly had a different opinion. She sneered, "It's a demon. If it doesn't want to, even if it can't beat an ordinary person, can't it hide or escape? I don't think it was instigated. I'm afraid it was bribed and got a lot of benefits!"

Seeing that Murong Ruyan's tone was unfriendly, Chang Ping'an quickly advised, "This place is a remote and impoverished area. What good could it possibly be? It's nothing more than food and drink. If you're using food and drink to trick this little demon into doing things, I think the blame should fall more on Magistrate Zhou."

Upon hearing this, Murong Ruyan's expression softened slightly. She nodded, looked at the trembling weasel demon curled up in a ball, and said, "That's true. In that case, I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself."

These words were spoken to the weasel demon.

Knowing that the weasel demon had gained sentience and could understand human speech, she leaned the giant hammer against herself, took the weasel demon, and held it in front of her. Expressionless, she pried open the weasel demon's tail, which it used to cover its face, stared into its terrified eyes, and slowly said, "You'd better help me find out the whole story, including how many people Magistrate Zhou has harmed and how much evidence he has left. If you do well, I can spare your life and let you guard the garden at the White Stone Immortal Sect to atone for your sins."

"However, if I don't do it well, killing a single sinful demon, this princess isn't really afraid of any heavenly tribulation!" *Whoosh—*

Upon hearing Murong Ruyan's "threat," the weasel demon was so frightened that it immediately urinated, the foul-smelling urine spreading all over the ground, narrowly avoiding splashing onto Murong Ruyan's dress.

This was all thanks to the fact that when Murong Ruyan was carrying the weasel demon, she had almost stretched out her arm, keeping it several feet away from him!
"presumptuous!"

Murong Ruyan's face darkened with anger. She threw the weasel demon to the ground, took several steps back in disgust, and held back her anger for a long time before finally managing not to retaliate.

The weasel demon was so frightened that its tail stood straight up. It huddled up, curled into a yellow fur ball with a long tail, and trembled incessantly.

Murong Ruyan frowned, glaring angrily at the smelly yellow furball, before turning to ask Chang Ping about serious matters: "Senior brother, although Sect Leader Qu has told me a thing or two, how much do you know about the specifics? Please tell me more."

Chang Ping'an sighed and quickly recounted everything he had seen and known, including the story the constables had told him in the dungeon about selling women to marry men in the county.

"Oh, by the way, this constable also said he knew a confidant of Magistrate Zhou, and he was just about to take me to find him!"

Chang Pingan added.

Murong Ruyan nodded, her face as calm as still water: "Alright, I've got it all in mind!"

As the two were talking, a soldier in armor rushed over, knelt on one knee in front of Murong Ruyan, clasped his hands and said, "Princess, there are rebels breaking out with weapons in the west. General Heishui is unsure of what to do and has come to ask for your instructions!"

Murong Ruyan answered without hesitation: "Shoot them down, as a warning to others!"

"Yes!"

Upon receiving the password, the soldier immediately got up and hurriedly ran away.

Upon hearing this, Chang Ping'an's eyes widened in disbelief: "Ruyan, these rioters, shouldn't they also be considered ordinary people?"

“The rioters are traitors. When I led my troops to surround Pingding County, I had already ordered the Shuntian Army to inform the people that it was Magistrate Zhou Wenfang who abused his power for personal gain and rebelled against his superiors. Those who are not involved will not be investigated.”

As she spoke, Murong Ruyan let out a disdainful snort and continued, "Even so, some people are still inciting the common people to try to break through the siege. Guess why?"

Upon hearing this, Chang Ping'an felt that there was some truth to it, but he was still somewhat unaccustomed to this kind of "presumption of guilt" political tactic.

However, trusting Murong Ruyan, he simply scratched his head and then said, "Alright, since Junior Sister knows what's going on, I'll go find Sect Leader Qu. I'll leave this to you!"

(End of this chapter)