In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

If this had happened in the past, Dugu Meng would have thought Shen An was too cold-blooded upon hearing his words.

But while she was with Shen An, she not only witnessed the bullying of officials and gentry, but also the ruthlessness of ordinary people.

Not all poor people deserve pity.

Just because someone is rich doesn't mean they must be despicable!

At this moment, Shen An had no intention of slaughtering all the people of Nanling Prefecture.

It really shows that Shen An has shown great kindness.

"Shen An, I just said 'Saint' again..." Dugu Meng suddenly couldn't remember a word that Shen An often used.

"A heart of sainthood!"

"Yes, I just felt too compassionate. Every cause has its effect. They were criminals for willingly funding Yuwen Bingyu's invasion of Qingyang County. They deserve to go hungry!"

"Then follow me and charge into the city! We'll kill anyone who gets in our way, even Buddha!"

After Shen An finished speaking, he spurred his horse and headed towards the county town in the southern suburbs.

Dugu Meng's lips curled up slightly. It was truly astonishing that the dignified Emperor of Liang would join local officials in plundering and looting. She and Liao Bing and other soldiers followed.

When their three thousand cavalrymen arrived at the city gates...

The soldiers guarding the city in the southern suburbs were completely dumbfounded.

But there's no intelligence suggesting a powerful enemy is attacking.

Their total number was only a few hundred, how could they dare to compete with three thousand cavalry?

Without any resistance, Shen An and his men stormed into the city, heading straight for the granary and armory, and also ransacked the county's warehouses and the homes of the officials.

You don't know until you investigate; once you start investigating corrupt officials, they're exposed.

The county magistrate, the county seat, and the county constable—every household was searched and found to contain items worth more than three thousand taels of silver.

The registrar, constables, and others also found several hundred taels of silver.

In the end, more than 12,000 taels were found in their home, while only a few hundred taels were found in the county town's warehouse.

This situation infuriated Dugu Meng, who stomped her feet in anger at the group of corrupt officials.

This fueled her murderous intent: "Shen An, can't we just kill all these corrupt officials?!"

"They're all here to loot the grain, so what's wrong with killing a few corrupt officials?"

At Shen An's command, Liao Bing ordered that anyone found in their home with more than two hundred taels of silver be killed on the spot.

When the people saw this scene, they didn't know for a moment whether bandits had come or justice had descended from heaven.

As for the grain in the granary, there was not much, only enough to feed a thousand people for about a year.

The armory did have a lot of items, including nearly two thousand iron weapons and nearly ten thousand arrows, all made of pure iron.

The fact that they have such weapons suggests that there were probably two thousand soldiers stationed here before, but Yuwen Bingyu transferred them away in order to attack them.

After completing this job, Shen An arranged for a hundred men to escort the grain back, while the rest continued towards the neighboring northern suburbs county.

The Nanling Prefecture comprised a total of six counties and one prefecture.

Shen An needs to seize all the grain and supplies from the six counties and kill all the corrupt officials before Yuwen Bingyu realizes it!

On her way to the northern suburbs, Dugu Meng reflected on everything that had just happened and realized that she actually quite liked this kind of life.

It's not about chivalry or serving the country and its people; it's simply about doing what makes me happy.

In the past, she was always coerced by various powers and unable to be herself.

Only by following Shen An could she be her true self again. She watched Shen An galloping along on horseback with her.

She was becoming more and more attracted to him...

Over the next two days, Shen An did not stop at all, and he plundered all six counties.

They not only received enough food to feed 30,000 people for a year, but also gold and silver jewelry worth more than 80,000 taels.

It really proves the saying: "A clean prefect for three years can amass 100,000 taels of silver!"

Compared to other prefectures, Nanling Prefecture was economically weak, yet these county officials still managed to squeeze out 80,000 taels of silver.

Yuwen Bingyu boasted all day long that he loved the people like his own children, but in the end, he condoned his subordinates' corruption.

Or perhaps, she's incompetent, useless, and can't figure it out!

As they were about to leave Nanling Prefecture, Shen An arrived at the nearest post station, tossed a courier fifty taels of silver, and handed him a letter: "Deliver this letter to Nanling Prefecture and personally give it to Yuwen Bingyu!"

The courier's eyes lit up when he saw the money: "Sir, I'll definitely deliver it to you today!"

After finishing his work, Shen An didn't linger for a moment longer and quickly returned to Qingyang County.

Although they still have more than two thousand cavalrymen with excellent mobility, they would still find it difficult to escape if they were surrounded and annihilated by Yuwen Bingyu's army.

When it's time to leave, you have to leave!

Two hours later, Yuwen Bingyu received news that the granaries and weapons of the six counties had been robbed, and the county officials had all been killed.

Upon learning of this, Yuwen Bingyu was furious.

"Who did all this?"

"They didn't give their names, but judging from the accents of many soldiers, they should be from Qingyang County!"

"Qingyang County! It's that damned Shen An! That bastard! Men, men, send troops! Make that Shen An pay the price!" Yuwen Bingyu shouted, "Who is willing to lead troops there?"

But the civil and military officials around him were all speechless.

Why aren't you saying anything?

After a long silence, Deputy Military Governor Chen Guangming finally spoke: "Sir, didn't we just suffer a defeat? If we were to attack Qingyang County now, I'm afraid..."

Yuwen Bingyu then realized what was happening.

The attack on Qingyang City had become her nightmare these past few days.

Every time she went to sleep, either her soldiers would fall into traps, or they would be struck by flaming arrows and perish in flames beneath Qingyang City.

Now, just hearing the name Qingyang makes her soul tremble.

She was furious just now, but now that she's sober, she doesn't dare go anymore.

"Hmph! It's not that we're incompetent, it's that Wang Junfeng is incompetent at leading troops. After we rest and recuperate in the spring, we'll make that Shen An pay the price for his plundering of various counties!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

They had already sent people to find out the details in the past few days. Such a tragic situation was caused by Yuwen Bingyu, and Wang Junfeng was just taking the blame.

But no one dared to say it.

They all shared a consensus: never go looking for trouble with Qingyang City again.

"Report! A courier has brought a letter to deliver to the military governor!"

"A letter delivered by a courier? Could it be that the imperial court is here again to collect the poll tax?" Yuwen Bingyu was exasperated. She had just gotten rid of Shen An, and now the imperial court was here again!

"Your Excellency, regardless of whether the court demands a head tax or not, the court's orders can reach us, and they can also reach Shen An."

Shen An is incredibly audacious. In broad daylight, he robbed grain supplies from various counties and killed county officials. He has long been guilty of a capital offense.

"Why don't you submit a memorial to the imperial court impeaching him?" Chen Guangming suggested.

"The imperial court can't control this, can it? If it could, would there be so many warlords in the world?" Yuwen Bingyu retorted.

"Times have changed. The court suddenly started collecting poll taxes. I think the purpose is to regain control and see who is obedient and who is not."

The one who disobeys may become the target of the imperial court's crackdown.

"Shen An is just a county magistrate, yet he dares to be so arrogant. If we impeach him, the imperial court might take notice and deal with him, using him as an example to warn all the warlords and princes!" Chen Guangming analyzed, stroking his beard.

Yuwen Bingyu instantly became radiant.

If the imperial court really targets Shen An, no matter how powerful he is, he will still die!

"Well said, then so be it!" Yuwen Bingyu was in a great mood and immediately ordered the letter to be presented.

However, after receiving the letter, it was discovered that the cover was not for the exclusive use of the imperial court.

"Could it be that the imperial court has switched to using secret letters now?" Yuwen Bingyu muttered to herself before opening the letter.

But after she saw the contents of the letter...

Everyone could clearly see that Yuwen Bingyu's expression was becoming increasingly tense.

Her face gradually turned ugly, and even though she tried her best to control it, she couldn't.

"Your Excellency, what does this letter say?" Chen Guangming asked.

"You, see for yourself..."

Yuwen Bingyu, as if she had lost her soul, threw the letter to Chen Guangming.

When Chen Guangming picked it up and took a look, his heart jumped into his throat!