She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

Chapter 441 The Prefect's Schemes

Feng Zhihuan's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly ordered his men to prepare a carriage to go to a mansion.

As he stepped off the carriage, he was met with a strong, pungent smell of blood.

Feng Zhihuan stood beside the carriage, his face grim as he looked at the half-open gate. He strode into the courtyard. There lay soldiers lying haphazardly, their blood staining the ground.

He clenched his fists at his sides and walked toward the corpses, only to find that they had all been killed with a single blow.

The fatal wounds were to the neck and chest.

Li Yong came over and reported, "Sir, no one was left alive. All the beggars locked in the house have escaped."

Feng Zhihuan's temple veins throbbed as he suppressed his anger: "Have you found out who did it?"

Li Yong's expression was grave: "We couldn't find anything."

Feng Zhihuan's face turned ashen. His first thought was to kill the mob and rescue the beggar.

On second thought, it seemed impossible.

After all, the rioters were all kept outside the city, and if they managed to sneak into the city, it would surely alert him.

But apart from the mob, he couldn't think of any other forces that would dare to oppose the government.

Suddenly, he thought of someone—the Prince of Guangling.

Could it be that the Prince of Guangling has come to Yongqing County?

At this moment, Li Yong spoke up: "Our men have been waiting outside the city for several days, but we haven't seen the Prince of Guangling. According to the normal schedule, the Prince of Guangling should have arrived in Yongqing County by yesterday at the latest."

He asked suspiciously, "You mean... did the Prince of Guangling guess our intentions and have already disguised himself and entered the city?"

Feng Zhihuan's tone was ambiguous: "You also believe that these soldiers were killed by the Prince of Guangling?"

Upon hearing the word "also," Li Yong knew that Feng Zhihuan had also guessed that it was the Prince of Guangling. He couldn't help but say, "The mob has no ability to rescue the beggars. Besides the Prince of Guangling, I can't think of anyone else. After all, other forces are either after money or power. Why would they offend the government for a group of beggars?"

“The Prince of Guangling must know his position to have infiltrated the city. He openly murdered government soldiers for a group of beggars. If I report this to the Emperor, he will be in deep trouble.” Feng Zhihuan frowned and raised a point of doubt: “The Prince of Guangling shouldn’t be such a brainless person.”

Having said that, Feng Zhihuan seemed to have thought of something and ordered, "Go to the Plum Garden."

He never let his guard down around Zhao Yi.

Now that the officials and soldiers have been killed, he suspects Zhao Yi even more. He suspects that Zhao Yi is a man of the Prince of Guangling, who used his identity as a merchant to successfully infiltrate Yongqing County and work for the Prince of Guangling.

At first, Feng Zhihuan even suspected that Zhao Yi was the Prince of Guangling, but he dispelled his suspicion when Zhao Yi sold grain for thirty coins a catty.

The Prince of Guangling, who wanted to seize the throne, would never dare to sell grain at such a high price.

Otherwise, once exposed, the Prince of Guangling would lose his popularity among the people.

But the timing of Zhao Yi's arrival in Yongqing County was too coincidental.

Even if he wasn't the Prince of Guangling, he was still inextricably linked to him.

Feng Zhihuan planned to test the waters. If Zhao Yi had the backing of the Prince of Guangling, it would give him leverage to pin the assassination of the soldiers on Zhao Yi.

In this way, not only could Zhao Yi's family fortune be confiscated, but the Prince of Guangling could also be overthrown.

Kill two birds with one stone.

-

Meanwhile, Zhao Yi sat in his study, listening to Jiang Mu report: "Master, seven or eight grain merchants have been transporting grain to Yongqing County. Once their grain arrives in the city, it should temporarily alleviate the food shortage."

He couldn't understand why his master wanted to sell grain before, but after this incident, he understood completely. His master was using high grain prices to attract grain merchants.

Jiang Mu remembered something else and said worriedly, "We sold the grain for thirty coins a pound. Will that be alright?"

Just as Zhao Yi was about to reply, Jiang Chao's voice came from outside the door: "Master, the Prefect has arrived."