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

Chapter 178 Interrogation
Before leaving, Chang Ping'an mentioned the people in the dungeon, saying, "However, those victims in the dungeon are still staying where I ordered. Junior Sister, give me a few people to lead the way, and then have your people bring them over. After that, I'll leave!"

Murong Ruyan nodded and immediately selected two attendants to follow Chang Ping'an to the dungeon to pick up the person.

After Chang Ping'an left, Murong Ruyan breathed a sigh of relief.

She turned around, stared at the trembling yellow fur ball on the ground, sneered, and said nothing. Then she looked at Magistrate Zhou, who was gagged and tied up like a dumpling.

At this moment, Magistrate Zhou was dressed like the yamen runners, just like his cronies beside him.

Logically speaking, Pingding County is a small county, so there should be at least thirty or more yamen runners. If it were a large county, there would be more than a hundred.

However, based on the testimonies of many people and the mutual identification of several yamen runners, the Shuntian Army only arrested less than twenty yamen runners. According to their confessions, there were more than a dozen positions that were set up for "ghost employees" who only reported their names to higher authorities, while the salaries were divided up among the people in the county.

Compared to others, this matter was a minor one. Almost every dynasty had such corruption, and Xiao Kingdom was no exception. Murong Ruyan was not emotionally affected by it. She simply had the weasel demon tied up with iron chains and bound together with Magistrate Zhou. She left some people to guard it before hurriedly following the Shuntian Army soldiers who came to report again to the western intersection.

The Shuntian Army surrounded a hundred light cavalry here, led by Heishui Changqing, the deputy sent by General Heshilie.

"Princess!" When Heishui Changqing saw Murong Ruyan in pink carrying a huge iron hammer, he couldn't help but twitch his lips. But he quickly lowered his head, concealed his emotions, dismounted, clasped his hands and reported, "Your Highness, just now several hundred rioters attempted to break through the siege. This humble general led his men to shoot and kill the leader, and the rest are being held here!"

As he spoke, he slightly turned his body and pointed to a group of "commoners" who were being guarded by a dozen or so Shuntian Army light cavalry.

Although they were called "commoners," they showed little fear; instead, their faces were filled with resentment. Almost all of them were young and strong, with ruddy complexions and robust physiques, no less than ordinary soldiers in the army.

Murong Ruyan looked at the "commoners" who seemed to want to devour her flesh and blood, sneered, and asked, "How many did you kill?"

Hei Shui Changqing replied, "There are eight people."

Murong Ruyan gave the order without hesitation: "Cut off ears as a reward, treat it as treason, behead them and hang their heads at several intersections, and burn their bodies on the spot."

Upon hearing her words, the "commoners" who had been staring at her with hatred all changed their expressions drastically. The quick-witted ones hurriedly knelt down and cried out their grievances: "Princess, spare our lives! We were all bewitched by those few traitorous leaders! Princess, spare our lives!"

"Oh? Bewitchment?"

Murong Ruyan took a few steps closer with interest, looked down at him, and asked, "Then I'll give you a chance. Tell me, what exactly do you people do? Who are the leaders? And what is your relationship with Magistrate Zhou?"

Upon hearing this, the man nervously swallowed, glancing furtively at Murong Ruyan out of the corner of his eye. He then kowtowed and said, "We are all law-abiding citizens, Princess! It was the dead Zhao Da and Wang Liu who deceived us, saying that the imperial court had mobilized troops to massacre the entire county. We believed them and made a mistake in a moment of carelessness, which is why we offended the Princess! Please, Princess, see the truth!"

"With your eloquence, it's a real waste of your talent to be an ordinary citizen."

Murong Ruyan sneered, waved her hand lightly, and ordered, "Such a cunning and deceitful person dares to deceive the imperial family; he must be tired of living! Drag him away and behead him! Let him join those eight!"

Upon hearing Murong Ruyan's words and seeing the young general in black draw his sword and rush towards him, the man was so frightened that he wet his pants. He kowtowed repeatedly, his head bleeding, and pleaded, "Princess, spare me! Princess, spare me! I know my crime! I'll tell you everything! We are all servants employed by Magistrate Zhou, and we do business with the Zhou Kingdom in secret!" However, even after he confessed a few things, Murong Ruyan remained expressionless. Seeing this, Heishui Changqing dragged him out like a dead dog without hesitation.

"Don't kill me! I'll never do it again! Spare me—"

The voice pleading for mercy was shrill and distorted, but before the man could finish speaking, Heishui Changqing swiftly raised his knife and brought it down. The next moment, a terrified head rolled to the ground.

Then, Heishui Changqing bent down, grabbed the severed head by the hair, and lifted it up before bowing and saying, "Princess!"

Murong Ruyan nodded: "Just deal with them along with the eight people we shot earlier."

"Order!"

Heishui Changqing responded and handed the severed head to the guards behind him.

Then, Murong Ruyan looked at the group of "commoners".

This time, the resentment in the crowd turned into fear. Although they were all burly men, they were all pale and trembling like leaves, and finally seemed to have become obedient.

"That man just now said that you are all unpaid servants employed by Magistrate Zhou. Is that true?"

As they were talking, Heishui Changqing brought over a chair from somewhere and respectfully placed it next to Murong Ruyan, whispering a hint: "Princess!"

Murong Ruyan nodded, sat down, and glanced at Heishui Changqing.

No wonder General Heshilie sent him to lead the troops; he is indeed a shrewd person.

Her mind was only distracted for a moment before she raised her chin and addressed the "common people": "If any of you tell everything you know, you can atone for your sins. The more you tell, the lighter your punishment will be."

As soon as the words were spoken, the crowd fell silent for a moment, then erupted into a cacophony of voices, each eager to share what they knew, afraid of being left behind. Some even fought over who should speak first.

Murong Ruyan silently observed the chaotic crowd, saying nothing, until one of them, seemingly the strongest, subdued two burly men with a single punch and silenced the others. Only then did he crawl a few steps on his knees with a fawning expression, kowtowing to Murong Ruyan and saying, "Your Highness, the two of us who died, Zhao Da and Wang Liu, were originally trusted confidants of that Zhou man. Later, because Zhou wanted to engage in smuggling, he dismissed us from our posts. Years ago, Zhao Da even served as a bandit in the Zhou Kingdom, specializing in robbing smuggling merchants. However, he didn't take much, only 80% of the goods, and he would release them two or three times out of ten, giving them hope. That's why merchants were willing to take this route..."

"However, later on, not many people came anymore. Zhao Da brought the younger ones back to work as laborers. They were not registered and received half of the salary. The other half was taken by the higher-ups. Then they took the goods that the man surnamed Zhou found and sold them to the Zhou Kingdom. I don't know where those goods came from, but Master Dong, who was with the man surnamed Zhou, must know!"

"...All of this was the idea of ​​that man surnamed Zhou. I was just following orders. Please, Your Highness, see the truth!"

(End of this chapter)