Chapter 169: Causing Trouble
Yamen.
They had not yet gotten off the carriage when a large crowd gathered at the door, everyone excitedly shouting.
“Lord Li, is there no grain now? Are you trying to starve all the city’s people to death?”
“We want grain, we want grain.”
“Now grain costs ten times more than before, and your yamen doesn’t care? Are you trying to beat us or crush us common people to death? We can’t even afford grain now. It’s you yamen and those merchants colluding to squeeze us common people.”
“.”
Jiang Ruanxi frowned slightly; the current situation did not look good.
After they got off the carriage from the side door, someone was already waiting for them.
The servant stepped forward and said, “Second Master, you’ve arrived. This way, please.”
Seeing Jiang Ruanxi beside him, he was stunned for a moment.
Although the servant did not know Second Master’s identity, he knew that Wei Chang was his cousin, so Second Master’s arrival represented Wei Chang’s intentions.
He just had not expected that a woman had come with Second Master.
Although this woman wore a veil hat, obscuring her appearance, one could vaguely sense her elegant poise.
The servant guessed she was his newlywed madam but did not say more.
After leading them into the yamen through the dedicated passage, Lord Li came to greet them. “This official has seen Second Master and Madam.”
“Lord Li, what exactly is going on?” Wei Chang asked directly.
“Second Master is unaware, but last night we had already arranged with Crown Prince to transfer grain from nearby prefectures and counties. However, the time has not yet come, and for some reason, some people in Lingnan City already know about it and are making a fuss demanding grain.
This official has already transferred all the yamen’s stored grain, but it’s still not enough. Now we don’t know when these people will settle down.”
Lord Li simply explained the problems they encountered to Wei Chang.
After speaking, his face was full of seriousness.
Wei Chang frowned. “Suppressing them like this or letting them be is not a solution.”
Lord Li nodded and respectfully said, “Second Master is right. As long as there is grain now, these people will not make a fuss anymore.”
“But the problem is, where do we find grain now?”
Indeed, the root of the fuss was the grain. As long as there was grain, most problems could be solved.
But Jiang Ruanxi had a different opinion. “Second Master, it seems the root is with the grain now, but what if this is a trap?”
Wei Chang’s mind stirred; he felt she spoke great sense and looked at Jiang Ruanxi. “According to Madam’s view, what should be done?”
“The grain matter was originally a yamen secret, but these people knew it, and right at this critical moment. Does Master think this is just a coincidence?”
With her reminder, Wei Chang instantly understood everything. His gaze swept over the noisy people and finally stopped on a few who were making the most fuss.
“The government is deceiving us; they have hidden the grain…”
“The yamen doesn’t care about our lives. People regard food as heaven; we can’t even afford rice, so why care about so much?”
“…”
Every word precisely and flawlessly incited the people’s hatred toward the yamen.
Wei Chang narrowed his eyes slightly and pointed at those few. “Arrest the ringleaders for me. I want to interrogate them personally.”
“Yes.”
With Wei Chang presiding, Lord Li’s efficiency was extremely high.
In no time, the people were arrested.
“Let me go! What right does your government have to arrest me?” The middle-aged man was extremely angry and appeared very shrewd.
Seeing his stubborn raise of the neck, Wei Chang frowned slightly. Soon, an officer kicked him in the body. “You don’t kneel before Second Master? Do you want to die?”
“You… who are you? I want to see Lord Li.”
Wei Chang touched the jade thumb ring on his finger. “Here, Lord Li has no say. I call the shots.”
“You… who are you?”
He shrank back. This man exuded icy coldness, giving a sense of oppression, especially those eyes that pierced the heart, as if the little secrets in his mind had nowhere to hide.
“Who sent you?”
Wei Chang’s voice was icy and piercing, making one’s heart tremble.
Seeing he did not answer the question, the man raised his neck. “Let me ask you… ah…”
Before the words were out, the man was kicked to the ground, his face harshly stomped on the ground.
“Second Master asks you something, you answer. Where does all this nonsense come from?”
After saying that, the foot on his face twisted a few times. Only then did the man realize he had offended someone he could not afford to.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m an upright citizen of Lingnan. I just want to protect the people’s justice…”
“Drag him away and chop off his hands. If he still doesn’t tell the truth, keeping his tongue is useless; just pull it out.” Before the words were finished, Wei Chang waved his hand and said.
The man’s face paled, but it was too late; his body was already dragged away.
In no time, Wei Chang heard the screams from outside.
Immediately after, the guard came in and said, “Second Master, his hands were not yet chopped off when that man confessed.”
“Who instigated it?”
The man hesitated, and Wei Chang’s expression changed. The guard mercilessly chopped off one of his fingers.
“You just said you’d confess, and now you’re mute? Are you playing with me?”
“Ah…”
The scream echoed through the back courtyard; the man’s face twisted in agony, convulsing.
“I’ll talk, I’ll talk.” Though in extreme pain, the man did not dare delay and quickly confessed. “It was Jiang Family who sent me…”
Jiang Family?
Not only Wei Chang, but even Lord Li’s face looked very ugly at this time.
“They said as long as I lead the fuss and make a big deal of the grain matter, they would give me one thousand taels of silver.”
The man was already crying from the pain.
“I just took their money to eliminate disaster for them. If Sir wants to blame someone, blame Jiang Family; it has nothing to do with me.”
“Drag him away and lock him up.”
The icy tone made the man completely afraid, and he shouted loudly, “No… don’t…”
But unfortunately, Wei Chang could not be bothered with his life or death now.
Jiang Ruanxi came out from inside, her expression grave. Wei Chang said, “Madam heard it all?”
Jiang Ruanxi nodded slightly. “Husband, what do you plan to do now?”
“Naturally, revenge for revenge. For Jiang Family doing such a heaven-defying wicked thing, handle matters according to law.”
“Jiang Family must be punished, but for Lingnan people’s matter, how does Husband plan to solve it?”
Wei Chang’s face was as somber as water. “We can only have Lord Li go out first to appease the people. Three days later, when the grain arrives, everything will naturally calm down.”
“Second Master, bad news…”
