The First Lackey Under The Empress

A day later, the grand imperial envoy's entourage once again became the focus of the entire city.

This time, however, the deployment was completely unannounced, and no prior arrangements were made.

Therefore, when hundreds of cavalrymen silently surged out like a tide along the main street of the prefectural city's south gate, the city's residents panicked and dodged, their eyes filled with fear and doubt.

"Prefectural Inspector Chen, where are we going?"

Surrounded by the cavalry, Sun Xiaozhun, barely keeping up, rode a horse, clutching the reins, and craned his neck to loudly ask the middle-aged Prefectural Inspector beside him.

As he spoke, his eyes darted towards the front of the procession, still disguised as Zhao Du'an, surrounded by the Embroidered Uniform Guard of Pear Blossom Hall, the fake imperial envoy.

Although Chen Hong was a civil official, his horsemanship was surprisingly good.

He grinned, revealing his teeth, and replied loudly:

"How would I know where the imperial envoy wants to go? But I suppose he's going to inspect the mines."

Inspect… Was there such a sudden inspection?

It was practically like a sneak attack, not wanting us to follow at all… Prefect Sun grumbled inwardly.

But he felt a little more at ease in his heart.

— He had repeatedly instructed and strictly supervised the mines.

With County Magistrate Wang Chusheng in charge, even if the imperial envoy made a surprise attack, it wouldn't matter.

At this moment, the procession grandly exited the city gate and headed towards the mines.

Taicang was a slightly special place. In ordinary prefectural cities, the prefectural yamen and the county yamen were in the same city.

The Taicang county yamen was originally like this, but later, due to the silver mine's exploitation, a large number of factory areas emerged.

In addition, the miners' food, drink, and waste caused the town near the silver mine to gradually expand.

It soon exceeded the scale of an ordinary small town. Later, to facilitate management, the Taicang county yamen simply moved out of the prefectural city and came here.

Therefore, the prefectural city and the county yamen were separated by the mines, but the distance was not far.

The autumn wind was biting, and the clouds overhead drifted.

Prefect Sun hunched over his horse, jostled for a while, and a huge silver mine pit, as if hammered out by a god, appeared before him.

The group also slightly slowed their horses. The workers stationed at the mine and the people from the county yamen saw them from afar and took the initiative to greet them.

"After the criminal Wang Chusheng disappeared, to ensure the mine wasn't in chaos, this official ordered the Taicang County Clerk to temporarily take over the duties of the County Magistrate."

Prefect Sun introduced loudly while still on horseback.

After speaking, Sun Xiaozhun rode forward and scanned the approaching group, frowning:

"Where is County Clerk Wang?"

The leading Taicang Jail Warden was terrified, already frightened by the imposing manner.

He had guessed that it was likely the imperial envoy's arrival. Seeing the Prefect inquire, he hurriedly responded tremulously:

"Reporting to the Prefect, the County Clerk was just here, but there were some temporary matters in the yamen, so he rushed back to deal with them… This subordinate, shall I send someone to find him?"

Useless, can't be found at a critical moment… Sun Xiaozhun was displeased and turned to look at "Zhao Du'an":

"Lord Zhao, I'm quite familiar with this area, why don't I take you all on a tour…"

"Which direction is the county yamen in?" the leading "Zhao Du'an" suddenly asked.

Sun Xiaozhun was stunned for a moment, then pointed to the distant town with his horsewhip: "It's over there."

"Zhao Du'an" spurred his horse forward:

"Go to the county yamen."

Rumbling…

The procession enveloped by iron cavalry passed the mine pit without entering, like a black torrent sweeping up Prefect Sun and flowing towards the county yamen.

The distant mountains were red, and the iron cavalry nearby was like a black line. This scene could be painted.

And in the distance, on another fork in the road, Instructor Xie reined in his horse, watching with surprise and uncertainty as the distant imperial troops left.

"Master, why are the government soldiers here?"

Behind him, Xiao Wu, who had insisted on following on a poor horse, had a dazed expression.

In the young man's eyes, there was both fear and a strong envy:

"So imposing, like protecting some high official."

"Imperial envoy…"

Instructor Xie muttered, "Did you see the one in the red official robe in the procession just now?"

"Ah, it seems like there was. Could it be the Prefect?"

The young man, bruised and swollen but not actually internally injured, was stunned.

With his knowledge, he also knew that only the Prefect could wear the crimson official robe in the entire Taicang Prefecture.

"The Prefect is personally accompanying him, it must be the imperial envoy inspecting the countryside. Let's go, we'll follow them."

Instructor Xie thought for a moment and turned his horse around.

He had entered the city to find Prefect Sun, but now that he had run into him halfway, he could only follow behind.

"Oh, oh,"

Xiao Wu nodded excitedly, his heart already filled with curiosity, wanting to know what the imposing imperial envoy looked like.

…

…

Taicang County Yamen.

Zhao Du'an and his party, after being escorted back to the county yamen, were not thrown into prison or treated too harshly.

Whether it was because of Song Juren's reputation or because the constable couldn't figure out their identities.

In short, they were temporarily confined to the side courtyard of the county yamen and not allowed to leave.

The side courtyard was small, with only a stone table and three stone stools in the yard.

Besides, there was a cluster of brilliant chrysanthemums.

Zhao Du'an, Xu Junling, and Song Juren occupied the three stools, while Lü Qingfeng and the others stood.

None of them had weapons in their hands, and their swords had been taken away by the constables—this, of course, was also tacitly approved by Zhao Du'an.

"What exactly do you want to do?"

Xu Junling disdainfully ran a jade finger across the rough tabletop, and as expected, her fingernail was covered in dust.

As a royal princess, she had never suffered such "grievances" since she was a child.

In the Huai River area, let alone an eighth-rank county clerk, even a seventh-rank county magistrate would be obsequious in her presence.

Who would dare not give the Prince of Huai'an face?

"The situation is stronger than people, could we possibly fight the constables?"

Zhao Du'an was at ease, and didn't seem to care about being in a difficult environment.

"Heh, do you think I'll believe your nonsense?"

Xu Junling rolled her eyes, and actually looked a little cute. She suddenly smiled and said:

"Be careful they throw you into prison later. A surveillance commissioner and a county magistrate have disappeared. Do you think they'll mind if we disappear too?"

"Wouldn't that be even better?"

Beside them.

Song Juren, who was out of his mind, listened to the two's carefree conversation, his heart pounding.

He wanted to ask something, but he was afraid that the walls had ears, so he swallowed it back.

Everyone waited for a long time, and when their patience was almost exhausted, there was finally movement outside.

"Lord County Clerk."

The voice of a clerk came from outside the closed courtyard door.

Then, the wooden door was opened, and an official wearing an eighth-rank green robe, a seventh-rank black gauze hat, and dressed inappropriately.

He looked tired, and had a sneaky appearance walked in.

County Clerk Wang was not in a good mood.

According to his original plan, he would first arrest the people and take them back, let his subordinates interrogate them, and he would try not to participate, so as to avoid being blamed.

But the constable of the county, seemingly crude, actually had his own way of surviving. He turned around and reported it.

He said that Song Juren was involved, and they were arrested together, asking the County Clerk how to deal with it.

If they were just foreigners with unknown identities, wealthy young masters and young ladies, it wouldn't be a big problem to detain them temporarily.

But Song Juren was a local gentry, the head of the Song clan, and a guest of the Prefect.

Now, County Clerk Wang couldn't pretend not to know, so he had to come back and interrogate them himself.

"County Clerk Wang!"

In the small courtyard, Song Juren hurriedly got up and cupped his hands:

"You're finally back. Is there some misunderstanding?"

County Clerk Wang, a professional scapegoat, was expressionless and didn't answer. His gaze fell firmly on the men and women in the courtyard.

He frowned. As a local official, he had seen the children of families with status in Taicang Prefecture, but none of them were the people in front of him.

"Could they not be from this prefecture?"

Muttering to himself, County Clerk Wang pretended to be official and spoke pretentiously:

"Who are you people, and why are you in Song Family Village? Why are you spying on the imperial silver mine, what is your purpose? Who sent you here? What is your motive? Are you allowed by the government to approach the official mine without permission? Who is behind you? …"

A preemptive strike, using a strong interrogation posture to shock the prisoner's mind.

Zhao Du'an clicked his tongue in wonder, thinking that this set of words sounded a bit familiar…

Beside him.

Song Juren hurriedly explained:

"It's all a misunderstanding. These two passed through this county and came to visit this old man in the village. They accidentally had a quarrel with the younger generation…"

"Mr. Song, this official is interrogating criminals."

County Clerk Wang pointed to the black gauze hat on his head, his expression serious and his tone solemn:

"The county is not peaceful now. This official is temporarily in charge of the County Magistrate's duties. Any suspicious person must be strictly investigated!"

Song Juren closed his mouth.

Thinking that this old man wanted to help you, but you wouldn't listen…

Zhao Du'an sat on the stone stool without getting up, and smiled:

"You are the County Clerk here? Wang Chusheng's deputy? A mere eighth-rank, temporarily wearing a seventh-rank hat, I really shouldn't say whether you're lucky or unlucky."

Who are you… Talking in such a tone…

County Clerk Wang was first displeased, but when he heard the second half of the sentence, he felt inexplicably sad.

"This is the county yamen! This official is interrogating you! This official has seen many young masters and young ladies like you, relying on the power of your families, acting recklessly. You even dared to beat the people of the Song clan, do you still have the law in your eyes?"

County Clerk Wang pointed and ordered, vaguely having the air of a county magistrate:

"This official doesn't care where you come from, but let me tell you, the current imperial envoy Lord Zhao is in this prefecture. No matter how big your families are, can they be bigger than Imperial Envoy Zhao? Speak quickly, what is your purpose?!"