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The steward stormed in, and upon hearing Wang Jinhe’s words, he didn’t bother to identify anyone and immediately ordered, “Seize them.”
The county magistrate looked at the steward with an unpleasant expression and gritted his teeth. “Steward Song, who do you want to seize?”
He had no idea the steward would be so arrogant outside.
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Steward Song was taken aback. When he saw the angry county magistrate, he was completely dumbfounded.
Looking at the woman beside the county magistrate, who exuded a simple yet extraordinary aura, Steward Song immediately thought of someone.
The County Princess of Changning.
He wasn’t qualified to meet the County Princess yet. Every time the County Princess visited, it was always with the magistrate, and he never had the chance to accompany her.
And now, it turned out that the person his nephew had offended was the County Princess?
And he had actually intended to arrest the County Princess. Was he out of his mind? How could he dare to do such a thing?
“Sir, I… I…” He couldn’t explain to the magistrate why he had brought people to arrest a commoner, especially now that he realized the person in front of him was the County Princess.
“Steward Song, you are truly audacious. Allowing your nephew to commit such outrageous acts is bad enough, but daring to attempt an arrest without the authority to do so. Even I, as the county magistrate, don’t have such power. How dare you, a mere steward,” the county magistrate’s face turned red with anger.
Taking a deep breath, he turned to Wang Jinhe. “County Princess, could you please have your people help me investigate him? I need to see what he’s been up to.”
This was his negligence. If he hadn’t been negligent, things wouldn’t have escalated to this point.
With a cold glance at Steward Song, the county magistrate trembled with anger.
If Steward Song was so arrogant and overbearing when he wasn’t aware, then…
The county magistrate didn’t dare to think about it.
“Yuan Xu, go and investigate.”
“Yes.”
“It’s all my fault,” the county magistrate said dejectedly.
This year was too important. He and the Governor were very busy, and he hadn’t paid much attention to his subordinates. He never expected such a serious oversight.
Wang Jinhe knew the county magistrate was blaming himself and was worried about Steward Song’s potential wrongdoings.
“Don’t dwell on it, sir. You and the governor are busy working with me this year, so naturally, you don’t have time to manage your subordinates,” Wang Jinhe reassured.
“But it’s still my fault. If he has done too much, I can’t escape blame,” the county magistrate said, his brow furrowed with concern.
“We’ll know when Yuan Xu returns.”
About an hour later, Yuan Xu finally returned, and Steward Song had been kneeling for an hour.
When he heard that the county magistrate wanted to investigate him, Steward Song was completely dumbfounded. If the county magistrate found out, he would be finished.
As time passed, Steward Song still held a glimmer of hope that the County Princess’s people wouldn’t find anything.
However, what he didn’t know was that Yuan Xu and his team had sources from the number one building and the Flowing Toast Pavilion. It was only a matter of time before they uncovered the truth.
When Yuan Xu returned, Steward Song’s heart raced with nervousness. He anxiously watched Yuan Xu, who seemed unfazed, and handed the gathered information to Wang Jinhe. “Madam.”
Wang Jinhe didn’t even look at it and passed it to the person beside her.
The county magistrate took a deep breath and looked at the information. After reading it, his face turned ashen. “Steward Song, you have quite the audacity. Allowing your nephew to suppress his peers is bad enough, but conspiring with wealthy merchants to harm the people’s land is unforgivable.”
“May I ask for your assistance once more?” the county magistrate said to Yuan Xu.
Yuan Xu nodded coolly, indicating the county magistrate to continue.
He aedmored people like the county magistrate, an official who is dedicated to the people.
“Help me notify all the affected people and ask them to come to the yamen. I will ensure justice for them.” There were over ten families who had been abused and assaulted because they had no means to seek justice.
“Do you need the list of those who colluded with Steward Song?” Yuan Xu thought that it was best to help a good person to the end and decided to assist further.
“Thank you for that.”
“Please go and invite the Governor.”
“Understood.”
After everyone had been arranged, the county magistrate looked at Wang Jinhe. “County Princess, my governance has been lax. Please accompany me to the yamen. I should be punished.”
“You don’t need to do this,” Wang Jinhe said, frowning.
A man may make mistakes, and a horse may stumble. He had done a lot for the people. Was it really necessary?
“I must, County Princess. Only by doing so can I show all the people that they can come to the yamen to seek justice for any grievances in the future, without fear of obstruction by others,” the county magistrate had his own considerations. It was his indulgence of the steward that had led to the current situation.
If he simply glossed over this matter, how could the persecuted people believe in him? Only by being punished himself would he have more credibility.
“In that case, I will accompany you,” Wang Jinhe quickly understood the situation.
“Yuan Lin, go and bring that uncle here too. He is also a victim.”
“Understood.”
Steward Song slumped to the ground, feeling that everything was over. The county magistrate was even punishing himself, let alone him. He knew how much he had done. If the county magistrate and the Governor pursued the matter, would he even survive? He didn’t dare to think about it.
“Take them away.”
Wang Jinhe instructed Qiuyi and the others to take care of Xiao Bao and the others before accompanying the county magistrate to the yamen. When they arrived, the persecuted people were already there. Seeing Steward Song and his nephew kneeling below, some of the people were so angry that they wanted to tear them apart.
The governor arrived a little later and knelt down to pay his respects to Wang Jinhe. “I pay my respects to the County Princess.”
“No need for such formality, governor.”
After the governor stood up, he looked at the county magistrate. “What’s going on?”
“Sir, look, it was Steward Song who did all this. It’s all my fault,” the county magistrate said with a bitter smile, as he had caused too much harm to the people.
The more the governor listened, the more unpleasant his expression became. Finally, he kicked Steward Song hard in the chest.
Suppressing his anger, the governor turned to the people outside. “Today, anyone who has been threatened or harmed by these two individuals abusing their power can come forward. Both the County Princess and I will ensure justice for you.”
Wang Jinhe nodded in agreement. “As the governor said, if anyone has suffered any injustice, you can speak up today.”
“Sir, County Princess, this despicable steward abused the county magistrate’s authority to forcibly take a young girl from our family to be his concubine. We refused, so he had our home vandalized and injured my father,” one of the people accused.
Upon hearing the people’s words, the county magistrate immediately knelt down. “I am guilty of lax governance.”
“Sir, this has nothing to do with you. We all know that you and the governor have been very busy since the second half of last year. This is not your fault,” a family member who had just accused Steward Song spoke up.
They were not ungrateful people and understood that the county magistrate had always been working for their benefit, hoping to improve their lives.