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

"It's actually Princess Pingle!"

County Magistrate Zhang was stunned and quickly asked the constable to take him to the city wall!

When he climbed up the city wall and looked down, as expected, he saw densely packed heads standing in neat rows outside the city. Those people were holding spears and swords and wearing leather armor. It was obvious at a glance that they were an army. Their aggressive momentum was far beyond the ability of a few small constables in their county to resist.

The refugees in the corner all moved away and did not dare to approach.

Is this...really the princess? Why didn't the court tell me this at this time?

Magistrate Zhang thought about it and guessed that there must be some reason why the official report was not received. After all, besides the natural disaster, the prefect also...

Thinking of this, he broke out in a cold sweat. What should he do? Now that the princess is here, she might know about the natural disaster.

Not to mention that Tongzhou Prefecture is the fief of this princess!

"Open, open the city gate..."

"Really? What about those refugees?"

"They are just some refugees. How dare they come in when the princess is here?!"

Zhang Sheng scolded, his heart beating fast, not knowing what to do next.

The only thing we can do now is to quickly write a letter to the prefect to ask him about it, and then we can deal with it ourselves.

Keqing waited outside for a while and looked at the refugees around her.

There are not many refugees, probably because most of them have already poured into Tongzhou Prefecture. There are not many refugees here, but even if there are not many, there are still a few hundred people. Now the county gates are closed, and it seems that they have been closed for a long time.

The refugees around had numb eyes and lay half-dead on the outskirts of the city.

When they saw the convoy approaching, their numb expressions showed desire, but when they saw the black iron gleaming in the sun, the eagerness in their eyes instantly disappeared.

Given the previous situation, the convoy is now on high alert and won’t let outsiders take advantage of any loopholes.

With a creak, the city gate opened wide, and soon a middle-aged man in official uniform came forward attentively with a dozen soldiers dressed like constables.

"Who is this……"

"My last name is Geng, and my household name is Geng..."

"So it's General Geng. Where is the princess?"

Keqing opened the curtain and got out of the carriage.

"Are you the magistrate of Hengshan County?"

"I didn't know the princess was coming. I'm sorry for not coming to greet her."

Zhang Sheng bowed hastily and secretly glanced at Keqing. As expected, the rumors said that the princess was a lucky star. She was a child, but now she looked like a teenager.

His heart skipped a beat, thinking that this might be the real Princess Leping.

Zhang Sheng smiled awkwardly and prepared to say something.

However, Keqing walked up to him and looked him up and down.

The scrutinizing look made Zhang Sheng, the magistrate of Hengshan County, stiffen a little.

"My Lord, do you have any opinion?"

Keqing ignored him and waved.

"Take him down"

"Yes!"

In an instant, dozens of soldiers suddenly rushed out and captured and subdued Zhang Sheng and his group.

"My Lord, what are you doing?!"

"General Geng! What mistake have I made!"

How could the half-baked yamen runners around him be a match for the strong and sturdy soldiers of the escort team? They were subdued in an instant after their weapons were seized. As a civil servant, Zhang Sheng could not bear it any more. He was restrained by others and he actually twisted his waist and cried out in pain.

"What's your fault? You concealed the disaster and didn't report it. You let it happen and only wanted to make the world chaotic. As a county magistrate, you have already failed in your duties. What's your fault?"

Seeing that he was still being stubborn, Keqing questioned him.

Zhang Sheng cried out that he was wronged.

"Natural disasters are not caused by human power. I can do nothing about it. The refugees are rushing in and the county doesn't have enough food. I can do nothing about it!"

"Natural disasters are indeed unpreventable, so why didn't you report it? Why didn't you open the warehouse to store grain?"

Whether it is a state or a county, there are granaries. The imperial court collected land taxes from the people, part of which was paid into the national treasury, and part was used to store grain in the granaries for emergency use.

At this time, the county magistrate usually makes the decision to execute first and report later.

"This, this official has already informed the court, it's none of my business... Unfortunately, the two meals were burned down in a fire a few months ago... So..."

"Really? A big fire is burning... hehe"

Keqing coldly watched him sweating profusely as he made up lies

"Yes! It must be. The weather is too hot, and the warehouse has been on fire for several months. I can't do anything about it. I reported the disaster to the court immediately, but for some reason the court didn't get the news. This... is not my fault."

Zhang Sheng argued bitterly, but the little princess looked at him and said meaningfully:

"Zhang County Magistrate, when did this princess say that the court was unaware of the disaster?"

Zhang Sheng's heart skipped a beat.

"Normally, you should have argued that something went wrong at the post station or that something happened to the messenger, but you seem to be very sure that the court didn't know about the disaster."

Keqing looked at him and said slowly.

"You explained it this way because you are sure it is not the messenger's fault. You know that in this situation, the possibility of the messenger having a problem is very low. After all, when a natural disaster occurs, three reports are sent in a row with an interval of three days."

"This, this official does not know. This museum did exclude the three messengers who sent three requests for help to the court. Princess, you put the blame on me right away. I just subconsciously thought that the court did not know..."

"Maybe there was something wrong with the messenger..."

Zhang Sheng explained haltingly.

"What's the problem? Encountered robbers?"

"Yes, maybe we encountered robbers. I remember there was a place with rampant robbers a few dozen miles away. Maybe they were the ones..."

"Are you talking about him?"

As a man approached, Zhang Sheng looked up, and when he saw his face, his pupils shrank.

"You..." Why are you here!

He swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth. He was sweating all over!

"Well, it seems that you, the County Magistrate, know him."

"I don't understand what you are saying, my lady. Who is this person? I don't know what you mean."

"You're still trying to make excuses. It seems the county magistrate has a strong desire to survive."

"Since you said you submitted a memorial, wouldn't others have also submitted one? Even if all the eighteen counties in Tongzhou Prefecture submitted a memorial, there would be seventy or eighty messengers, and none of them reached the court. Do you think this princess believes it?"

"This...maybe there is some accident."

"Accident? Are you referring to Song Zhi? Or are you referring to the fact that you are a member of the Goddess Cult?"

"you……"

Zhang Sheng’s eyes suddenly widened and he looked at Keqing!

"Search..."

At Keqing's command, the soldiers searched everywhere and soon found a tag from Zhang Sheng's clothes.

There is an image of a goddess carved on it. Although the plaque is rough, the portrait is lifelike.

Chapter 564: Entering the City (3 more chapters)

"Zhang Sheng was shocked. How could it be possible that you!"

However, before he could finish his words, he was covered with his mouth and dragged away.

go with.

Geng Hu took a look at the sign...

I didn't expect the county lord wanted to do that...

That's right. If Zhang Sheng was a man of the imperial court, the young princess would naturally not be able to deal with him. Even if she could, she would get into some unspeakable troubles.

But if this court official was impersonated by the Goddess Cult, then he would not be dealt with as a court official, but as a traitor.

Seeing the little princess signaling towards him and pointing at the refugees who were watching from afar with their heads stretched out, Geng Hu quickly understood, then raised his eyebrows and shouted angrily:

"I never thought that you, the people of the Goddess Cult, would actually kill officials appointed by the imperial court, disguise yourself as an official of the imperial court, harm the people, and allow natural disasters to wreak havoc! Those who conceal your intentions should be killed!"

"If Princess Leping hadn't discovered it, how long would you traitors have been allowed to wreak havoc on the Zhou Kingdom? You are so audacious and lawless!"

He shouted loudly, and the yamen runners and the onlookers were all stunned.

The bailiffs looked bewildered.

The county magistrate is a member of the Goddess Cult, how come they don’t know that?

And the refugees were whispering!

No wonder the imperial court did not provide disaster relief. The Hengshan County magistrate actually refused to let them enter the county and left them to starve to death. It turned out that he was a member of some cult!

They had heard from the refugees before that there was a disaster in the south, and that the Goddess Cult was promoting the slogan of clearing away all filth in the world, creating a peaceful and prosperous era, and ensuring that everyone had enough food.

They thought they were a good group who were just forced into a corner, but they didn't expect them to be such a cult!

There was a lot of discussion at once. The refugees looked at the bound Zhang Sheng and glared at him. If it weren't for him, they wouldn't have ended up like this and all their loved ones would have died.

Zhang Sheng felt the angry gazes around him, and when he looked at the strong and powerful soldiers around him, he felt like crying but had no tears.

It's over, completely over!

Seeing that this shout had a good effect, Geng Hu continued to make efforts and shouted:

"I didn't expect that such traitors would go out so recklessly, murder court officials, and harm the people of our Great Zhou. Fortunately, the princess came to find out the truth for you and brought food to everyone!"

Geng Hu said loudly, then turned his gaze to Keqing and winked.

Keqing was helpless. Couldn't she just continue as they had agreed before?

"Ahem, I have understood your situation clearly. Traitors should be executed. You have suffered a lot. It is the court that failed to supervise you."

Keqing spoke some official language and then got to the point.

"In two hours, this princess will open the granary to provide relief to you and others."

The last sentence is the key point. When the refugees heard the little princess say that she would provide relief food, their eyes lit up and some of them kowtowed and expressed their gratitude.

"Thank you, my lord!"

"The princess is a good person!"

"Woo woo woo, I finally got the food!"

For a moment, they were so excited that they were speechless and kowtowed to Keqing, talking nonsense.

When Keqing saw this, she glanced at Geng Hu and thought, "That's it."

Geng Hu scratched his hair, thinking that there should be no problem now.

The princess did a great job in showing favor.

First, on the grounds of the Goddess Cult, Zhang Sheng, an irresponsible official of the imperial court, was labeled a traitor. In this way, the people's resentment would be transferred to the Goddess Cult instead of the princess of the imperial court.

Now that the princess has shown favor again and the people are on her side, things will only go more smoothly in the future and there is no need to worry about the anger of the refugees.

He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. Keqing understands this principle. She kills people first and then saves them. After all this, she has a stable foothold in Hengshan County.

In this way, in the eyes of the people, she was the Princess of Leping who killed traitors and saved the people; instead of some extremely arrogant noble who came from the court and was ignorant of worldly affairs.

Keqing wanted to resolve the current situation as soon as possible, so as soon as she saw Zhang Sheng, she dealt with him swiftly and decisively. She cut the Gordian knot in front of the resentful refugees and was able to quickly integrate into Hengshan County.

After all, being warmly received by the county magistrate and being able to deal with the county magistrate at will have different meanings and positions among the refugees.

After tying up Zhang Sheng, the convoy marched into the city in a swagger.

Hengshan County is not poor, so the surrounding houses are quite exquisite and do not look as dilapidated as the small villages.

However, due to the natural disaster, everyone who could leave had left. Even the county town was very depressed, with few people on the streets. But surprisingly, there were no riots or anything like that.