When Yang Yun was brought here, other than an obvious look of lethargy and mental sluggishness, nothing about him changed much.
He was wearing the same old robes, the only difference was that it turned slightly wrinkled and worn. However, in the eyes of others, he looked like an entirely different person.
He had lost the air of having everything within his power. Before the Imperial Order arrived, he was still the Governor of a Prefecture by law, but in truth, he was no different from a prisoner.
Yang Yun ignored all the gazes that fell upon him; he did not even look at Cui Buqu.
A book of accounts was in Pei Jingzhe's hand, placed down in front of Yang Yun.
Before this, Li Yan hid all the secrets pertaining to their exchange in erotic paintings, using them to hide the existence of those records. Firstly, it was to be used against Yang Yun when necessary, and secondly, it was to leave an alternative path for himself to fall back on. One cannot deny that he truly did have some smarts, but it was a pity that he encountered a great devil like Feng Xiao, who immediately overturned that cherished nest of his where he kept his mistress. Even those erotic paintings had nowhere to hide and fell into Cui Buqu's hands.
During that time, time was pressing on to defeat Yang Yun. Cui Buqu could not take his time sniffing out all the accounts hidden in these erotic paintings. But after Yang Yun and Wu Yi were caught, this countermeasure of Li Yan's was rendered useless. On the contrary, in order to lighten his own sentence, to receive a more merciful punishment, he would even enthusiastically offer them information, rewriting all the accounts from those erotic paintings.
Only then did Cui Buqu and the others realise that in the same erotic painting was hidden two sets of accounts. One set was meant for Yang Yun and those distinguished families, and the other was meant for Li Yan and Wu Yi themselves. This also meant that, when these officials from Guangqian County received orders to emulate those rations, they had also secretly, without Yang Yun's knowledge, embezzled their own fill.
If these sort of little smarts had been used on matters pertaining to the county, on the secret messages going to and fro between Göktürk and Goguryeo, they might have been of use. Yet, Li Yan did not have such foresight, so he would forever be just an Assistant Magistrate all his life. In fact, it's too soon before even this would be taken away from him.
"These records contain the benefits the Li and Ding families obtained by donating rations and having their taxes waived. Is this true?"
Slender and white fingers pushed the accounts in his direction.
Yang Yun wanted to retreat. These harmless and beautiful fingers looked like those of demons and ghosts to him, causing everyone to feel suspicious.
"…It's true." Yang Yun hoarsely said.
The Li family said displeased, "Governor, how would you know whether it's real or fake if you have not flipped it open? Surely even an Imperial Envoy could not give a false account of facts?"
It was unknown what trance Yang Yun had fallen into. He had lost his previously high and mighty air, and once he heard Master Li's words, he instead spilled everything out. "Although I belong to the Yang family, due to the early death of my parents, I do not share a close relationship with His Majesty, and neither do I have much wealth. It was only because of this, I thought I could earn more while I have a position. After the calamity this time, I originally wanted to leave behind some grains for the granary to avoid things going out of hand. It was Li Geng who tolerated me, said that grains were far more precious than gold during a calamity so more could be earned if we embezzled more. The Imperial Court would not stand by and watch Guangqian Prefecture falling into starvation, so when the Imperial Censor arrived, we could convince him to beg for help, and the Imperial Court would definitely send more rations here, and when that time came it could be used to fund the calamity…"
Li Geng could no longer remain still. He leapt up and interrupted Yang Yun, "The orders are your choice to make, what role do we have in this?!"
Yang Yun stared at him coldly. He neither talked back nor spoke.
Li Geng inhaled deeply. He turned to Rong Qing and Cui Buqu and put his hands together. "Both Lords, Yang Yun is the Governor of this Prefecture, and before that, what kind of power and influence did he hold? Without his approval, how dare we make our own decisions? During that time, in order to gain his favour, we had just spoken a few sentences of flattery, but the one who made the decision, in the end, was still Yang Yun!"
He knew that compared to Rong Qing, Cui Buqu was the superior between the two, so when he spoke, his gaze was mostly on Cui Buqu.
But Li Geng was disappointed. Cui Buqu looked calm the same way when he came in and sat just now. Even his eyebrows were at the same angle, and it was impossible to read any secrets from them.
Cui Buqu did not even pay attention to Li Geng's explanation. Just as he was speaking, Cui Buqu wasted no time to add his own part to the speech: "In order to lighten your sentence, I think that if you surrender the grains you've stored in your residence now, it would not be too late."
They have once again returned to where they began. Li Geng's face twitched, and spoke with a bitter face: "This humble one truly has no grains left! If you refuse to believe it, you can send people out to search!"
Cui Buqu asked: "Truly, none?"
His voice was very soft, that one could not even hear if they stood anyway further away. His tone was also very gentle. If Feng Xiao was here, he would know that when he used this sort of tone, it was a sign of the lull before a storm.
But it was a pity that Feng Xiao wasn't present.
And so Li Geng nodded his head, trying to gain favours by saying: "Truly. But if there are, this humble one will surrender them immediately!"
As he finished speaking, he added: "Thankfully, there are Master Cui and Imperial Censor Rong here, only then can this county town be at peace. Otherwise, those flood victims would have raised a riot!"
Cui Buqu smiled as if Li Geng's flattery was working on him, then he turned to Pei Jingzhe: "Go, bring those people here."
Pei Jingzhe answered and left, bringing five people back after a while.
To put it specifically, it was five corpses.
Li Yan, Wu Yi, and a few people Li Geng couldn't name. They have now all turned into cold corpses, blood that was dried or hasn't all implied that they have been undergone torture, even their faces weren't exceptions. One of those corpses even had their eyes dug out, leaving behind two bloody holes.
But as people who often interact with them, they could all tell the dead from their appearance and clothes.
A thick, dense scent of blood filled the hall; even incense could not overcome them.
Which person present here would have seen these sort of things before? Nauseous sounds began to rise.
Even Rong Qing could not help the colour of his face changing; he covered his mouth and turned his head away.
Li Geng realized he had stared at Wu Yi for a long time until he could even paint the bloody scar on Wu Yi's forehead clearly in his mind. There was a sour taste that brimmed up from his chest, and from his ear, he heard a vomiting sound. He couldn't help vomiting every single thing he had eaten in his last meal.
The stench of blood, corpses, and vomit; each one of them could make one suffocate, so let alone all of them at once. Everyone could feel themselves practically choking to death, and some of them couldn't remain any longer, they got to their feet with the intention to leave this suffocating place, yet their paths were blocked by a Zuoyue guard holding a sharp blade who stood by the gate.
"Wu Yi and Li Yan are all subjects of the Imperial Court. Even if you are the Zuoyue Commander, you cannot kill them as you please…" Yang Yun trembled as he spoke. He stared at Cui Buqu as if he saw a ghost.
"But I already did." Cui Buqu remained calmed and gentle.
Yang Yun: "…"
All of a sudden, he felt that being boxed in the cellar wasn't such a bad thing, at least he still had his life.
Cui Buqu looked at Li Geng and the others. "As accomplices of the embezzling of rations, Wu Yi and Li Yan have been put to death. Yang Yun, as the mastermind, will be seized and sent to the capital to be questioned. I will not kill him. But you people cannot even compare to Li Yan."
Li Geng could no longer remain calm. He glared at Cui Buqu and put up a tough front, but felt afraid inwardly. "The present State Duke of Tang came from the same clan as I…"
He was an intelligent person, knowing how to use his background to threaten others. But knowing is a matter in itself; presently, the events have transpired into a situation he was far from familiar with. When a person has lost themselves, they could only grab on to their last saving grace.
Cui Buqu gently and calmly interrupted him: "I could seize even His Majesty's own cousin, let alone you who only mentioned a distant relative. Whether the State Duke of Tang is willing to recognize you as a relative, that is another story entirely. I am asking you for the final time: Are you willing to surrender those grains to fund the calamity?"
As they stared at each other, Li Geng heaved his chest.
He knew that the wisest choice he could choose now was to give in and obediently surrender those grains.
But Li Geng had been in Guangqian County for far too long; although he hadn't assumed the title of an official, the Li family had all the say. Even if they were beneath Yang Yun, people like Huang Lue and the others would have to offer them three parts of politeness.
He wasn't willing to just give in like this.
Li Geng was pondering as he looked Cui Buqu in the eyes, and after just a few breaths, Cui Buqu said, "Fine".
Fine?
What does it mean by 'Fine'?
Li Geng understood nothing, and heard Cui Buqu say: "Call for Second Commander Feng."
Feng Xiao appeared quickly.
Li Geng didn't know who he was, but it didn't stop him from being attracted to the other's dazzling exterior.
It was the same for many people in the hall.
When Feng Xiao walked in, it was as if the stifling, choking scent that made one want to vomit had dissipated quite a lot.
Cui Buqu introduced, "This is the Second Commander of the Jiejian Bureau, Feng Xiao."
Many of them were still confused; they didn't know what sort of place was the Jiejian Bureau, but at the very least the officials knew. Li Geng too had heard about it.
Feng Xiao didn't speak. He didn't even look at his surroundings. He walked towards Li Geng, carrying a proud and judgemental gaze.
"And you are the patriarch of the Li family?"
Li Geng answered with a "Yes", but before he could put his hand together and bow, he would never have guessed that that would become his dying words in this life.
Dying words that only consisted of a single character.
The sword had pierced through his clothes and chest.
Blood spluttered onto the adjacent people. Li Geng screamed; when a big man like him screamed he was no inferior to women. It made everyone's eyebrows furrow and cringe.
Li Geng's eldest son shouted and ran forward, but he was kicked aside by Pei Jingzhe, his entire person rolling to the side.
Feng Xiao immediately pulled the sword out. Li Geng fell back stiffly.
A sword to the heart, leaving no room for rescue.
"Shut up, or the killing will continue." Cui Buqu coughed twice, speaking in the chaos of people hiding and screaming.
Everyone forcibly controlled their own voice and expression. Some of them even covered their mouths.
"I've killed Li Geng. There is no difference in a few more."
Cui Buqu surveyed the hall, and practically everyone hid their gazes before Cui Buqu's could reach them, dared not look him in the eye.
Before the eldest son of the Li family could speak, the Ding family's patriarch was the first to act. He lunged forward and knelt, repeatedly saying, "I surrender! I surrender! I have some grains at home, hidden in the cellar of a manor across the street to our residence. I will bring you there now!"
Cui Buqu sighed, regrettably said: "If you've done so earlier, wouldn't there be no need for death?"
The others all shivered, fighting for the chance to come forward and surrender, as if they came any later, their lives would be forfeited.
Only Pei Jingzhe looked at Feng Xiao, who carried out those orders dutifully, that stood behind Cui Buqu. Realization struck him afterwards: His Lord was still in seclusion. This should be Qin Miaoyu in disguise. It was no wonder he appeared unused to everything since the beginning. Had it been his Lord, he could not have been so quiet during a time like this. He would have at least praised his own swordsmanship for being flawless and unsurpassed.
As if he could feel his thoughts, that "Feng Xiao" turned around and cast him a brief smile, coquettishly and mischievously. It really wasn't the smile that Feng Xiao would have given.
Pei Jingzhe twitched his lips.