Keqing, it’s just cultivating immortality, is it that difficult?

If the imperial court still doesn't know about it at this point, then someone must be concealing the truth. And who could be capable of concealing the truth? The meaning is self-evident.

"Yeah...why did he do that."

"Even if a natural disaster occurs, his crime is only dereliction of duty. The emperor will not do anything to him no matter what. As long as he behaves himself, at most he will be demoted to a county magistrate."

Geng Hu frowned.

"But he did this. He mined iron ore privately, concealed the disaster, and colluded with bandits! These are all capital crimes! What is he trying to achieve?"

What is the picture?

Keqing also has the same idea.

Iron ore, natural disasters, the Goddess Cult, siege, refugees, food...

Keqing recalled the experiences and various news along the way and seemed to understand something.

She ordered the maid to call Tan Mingruo over.

"I remember you said that the road you took was very safe, but even so, you still encountered the Goddess Cult?"

"Yes, Princess, that road is a very safe road for our Tan family. Logically, no one should know about it."

Tan Mingruo frowned slightly and said with some entanglement:

"But those guys from the Goddess Cult had already ambushed there long ago, and their goal was very clear... It was as if..."

"It's as if I knew it long ago..."

Keqing said softly.

"It seems that the matter is very clear."

"Is the matter clear? Princess, do you know anything?"

Geng Hu inquired.

"General Geng, any action a person takes has its own logic, and any logic is nothing more than selfish but purposeful."

"Illegal mining of iron ore, allowing the disaster to happen, keeping bandits in captivity, the ambush of the Goddess Cult, and the food donated earlier..."

Keqing propped her chin up with her hands and looked out the window.

"General Geng, what do you think his purpose is?"

"Iron ore can be used to forge weapons, and grain can be used to feed the army. If natural disasters are left unchecked, it will lead to widespread grievances and countless refugees, which will then allow the Goddess Cult to take advantage of the situation and move in."

"You mean! Song Zhi... is a member of the Goddess Cult."

Geng Hu's face was full of surprise!

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, the Song Zhi who is in power now should be a member of the Goddess Cult."

In office now? What does that mean?

Geng Hu was puzzled, but it did not prevent him from understanding that Song Zhi was an enemy, not a friend.

"Princess, then, what should we do next..."

"How to do?"

Keqing pinched her hair with her fingertips and stroked it carefully several times.

"If he is really a member of the Goddess Cult, then he must not be very powerful. We should not be afraid of him and there is no need to worry."

Time

Qing said calmly.

"Why does the princess think so?"

"Because if he really had become powerful, he wouldn't have induced Tan Heng to donate grain and used this method to force the local tyrants. If he really had power over Tongzhou Prefecture and controlled the entire Tongzhou Prefecture, he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to hide the bandits and forge weapons."

"Don't forget, there is a commander in Tongzhou Prefecture. If the commander is really in cahoots with him, then why would we go through so much trouble?"

"Besides, the Goddess Cult started from humble beginnings, but it was also born out of refugees and thugs, so it naturally doesn't get along with the powerful. If Song Zhi is really a member of the Goddess Cult, he was the commander of the Tongzhou Prefecture soldiers before, and later he became a local tyrant, so maybe things are not that bad."

Keqing made her own judgment based on previous information.

To sum up, there is no need to worry.

Geng Hu also thought it made sense. The young princess was very smart and made a reasonable and effective judgment of the situation.

Of course, what is said above is indeed fine under normal circumstances if there are no accidents.

However, even if some accidents happened, Keqing felt that it would not be a big problem.

Even if the situation changes, she has other options.

Chapter 562 Special Poison (Part 1)

There were too many bandits and Keqing didn't know how to deal with them.

This group of bandits worked for Song Zhi, so it was inevitable that there would be some bloodshed on their hands, but it would be a waste if they were killed directly.

Geng Hu was unsure.

"Well, how do you usually deal with these bandits?"

Keqing asked Geng Hu, there were no large-scale bandits around the capital and she didn't know how to deal with them, as the situation in each place was different.

"According to the court's laws, the principal offender shall be executed, and the accomplices shall be sent to hard labor or exiled three thousand miles away."

"Of course, the specific situation depends on the extent of the crimes committed by the bandits. If the crimes are minor, the punishment will be more lenient, and the main offender will not have to be executed."

Geng Hu explained based on his experience. He looked at the little princess and said hesitantly:

"However, this group of bandits is different from usual ones. There is evidence that the leader of the bandits has been in contact with Song Zhi. I'm afraid he can't be killed cleanly."

"That group of bandits seemed to be focused on robbing people and illegally mining iron ore. They didn't commit many murders, but they were not innocent. It would be a pity to kill them directly."

Geng Hu explained, then glanced at Keqing and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

"General Geng, do you have anything to say to me?"

From the beginning, Keqing felt that General Geng was about to make a move and wanted to say something to her, but stopped himself.

"It is like this, Princess. Since Song Zhi has colluded with a hundred bandits to support him, he may have other private...property, just like these bandits."

"Then Tongzhou Prefecture is also his base camp. We are going to Tongzhou Prefecture like a wolf walking into a tiger's mouth. Although the escort team has doubled in size after your hard work along the way, and those people have some tricks, they are still a little short. There are only 400 people, which is far from enough."

Geng Hu paused for a moment before handing over the tray of business:

"So you see, this group of bandits...is there any way you can use them for your own benefit?"

If this group of bandits can be subdued, the guard team will be able to gain more strength. Others may worry about not having enough food, but with the princess, there is no need to worry so much. Not to mention other things, the current food alone is enough for the guard team to eat for more than a year.

Not to mention that he just found out that the boss behind the grain merchant Tan Mingruo was actually the young princess, and the princess had unknowingly run a grain merchant in Tongzhou Prefecture. In this case, food would not be a problem for the princess.

Since food is not a problem, can these people be recruited like those death squads? After all, those bandits look capable and strong, and with a little training they can become qualified soldiers.

"So the general wants those people..."

Keqing suddenly realized.

Although she felt it was dispensable, since the general wanted it, she would accept it. She did not lack food for more than a hundred people.

"You can keep them and interrogate them separately first, and let them confess on their own."

"If someone has a bad character and is hard to get rid of, and if he kills people wantonly or takes no life, then we don't need to keep him. After all, we can't let a bad apple spoil the whole pot of soup."

"Yes, the princess is right. If he is really this kind of person, he cannot be kept, otherwise he will corrupt the morale of the army."

"But I'm afraid these cubs won't be easy to tame..."

Seeing him looking at her expectantly, Keqing returned to the carriage and rummaged around, finding a small porcelain bottle.

"This is?"

Geng Hu looked at the white jade bottle in the monarch's hand.

"Since he was a bandit in the past, it's impossible to control him in a short time. There are some medicines in the porcelain bottle that I researched when I was bored."

Put the bottle in Geng Hu's hand.

"I think the general should know how to use it."

"I understand! It turns out that the princess has a solution!"

In order to control the assassins, the noble families gave each assassin poison and antidotes regularly. The princess probably wanted to use this thing to control them. I have to say that this method is indeed good, but...

"What effect does this poison have?"

"You may have diarrhea..."

"Eh?"

"If you don't take the antidote, you will have diarrhea all the time and you won't be able to control the toxicity in your body. You will have diarrhea after eating anything, and it will be hard to hold it back. In the end, you will just collapse and die."

Geng Hu's mouth twitched. What kind of poison effect is this?

He couldn't help but think that if the poison took effect, he would poop while walking and would be out of control, and his face looked strange.

How should I put it? The effect is so shocking. Not only is it socially disastrous, but it is also so "vicious"!

"Why, is there a problem?"

"No, this poison is quite good..."

Geng Hu thought, after poisoning someone, he could make an example of them. He could pick out a bad guy to take the poison, and then see the effect of the poison in front of those people to scare them. Wouldn't this be a good effect?

He thought so and actually did it. Afterwards, he conducted a special experiment on those disobedient and escaping ones, tying them to pillars as a punishment.

His accomplices also saw the effect of the poison and instantly became obedient. After all, the effect was too sour and no one wanted to endure it.

"Of course, it's not that we won't give them a chance. If they make meritorious contributions or reach a certain age and atone for their sins, they can be released, provided they are not dead by then."

"I know that. Hang a carrot to give them some hope!"

Geng Hu understood this very well, so he hurriedly took the medicine and left.

Geng Hu was very efficient. After interrogating them separately, he found out a lot of information. He did not show any mercy to those people and simply chopped off their heads and buried the bodies in a remote place. He solved the problem so neatly.

Every time he killed someone, he would hold the head and walk it around in front of the rest of the people. After doing this several times, half of the bandits were killed, and although the remaining people made some minor mistakes, it was still acceptable.

Moreover, they were frightened by Geng Hu's thunderous methods. After he said that he could take them in but required them to take poison, they nodded in agreement hurriedly!

After all, who wants to die when you can live?

After getting the poison, Geng Hu separated the group and began to train them.

Some of them wanted to escape, and some even succeeded. Geng Hu didn't even care and let them get away.

The few individuals who escaped were actually let out by him on purpose.

However, as happy and excited as they were when they escaped, they were as miserable when they came back. When the poison took effect, they could no longer hold back the feces and urine in their stomachs, and they became like vegetables, defecating after eating. They changed their pants several times and their whole bodies stank.

He looked like he had just crawled out of a toilet, with a pale face and dry lips.

As a last resort, they could only return in a mess.

There is no need to say much about the punishment that followed. After this incident, everyone felt even more terrified of the horror of the poison, especially after hearing the person involved's description. It was even more chilling than those poisons that could cause bleeding from all seven orifices.

It's okay for a grown man to die, but the effect is really terrible.

No matter how I think about it, it's chilling!

Who on earth invented this poison? It's really funny! Could it be that the predecessor of this poison is a modified version of some laxative?

Keqing: Hey, how did you know?

Chapter 563: County Magistrate Zhang Sheng (Part 2)

In Hengshan County, a scream suddenly rang out.

"What did you say? Princess!? You are not kidding!"

"No, I'm kidding. There's a long convoy coming to the city gate, with hundreds of soldiers! They're all very fierce and capable!"

The chief constable wiped his sweat.

"I thought they were bandits from somewhere, but who could have imagined that a strong and sturdy fellow wearing armor and riding a horse came to the city and said he was a general and was escorting the princess!"

He was shocked at the time. After all, that densely packed team looked very powerful. There were only a few constables in their small county and they could not resist so many people.

"Princess? There is only one person in this dynasty who has been given the title of Princess... What is the title of Princess?"

"What do you mean by Pingle Princess Le?"