PNB Chapter 207: Almost Tried and Scammed
Chapter 207: Almost Tried and Scammed
Hearing his wife's concern, He Jinnian's chaotic heart finally calmed down a bit.
But he still felt unwilling.
Because, why is it that everyone else is a wife and husband, but Pei Yan can be with his wife anytime, and sometimes, he doesn't even know what the two of them are doing?
Fang Xiaoxiao checked his pulse again, and after confirming that there was nothing seriously wrong, she gave him a few words of advice.
"I'm recovering quite quickly. In a few days, I'll be jumping around again."
Just in time.
The assassin jumped down from the courtyard wall, looking flustered and pale, appearing extremely nervous.
He quickly approached the two of them.
"This humble servant pays his respects to Lord He, the Chief Justice, and begs for your life!"
Without the slightest hesitation, the assassin recounted in detail the events surrounding the execution of the elderly, women, and children of the Li family who had been arrested from the inn by the prefect.
His face grew increasingly grim, and he felt even more uneasy.
Although the official in front of me had once arrested the county magistrate in Changle County and pleaded for the people.
But all of that was just hearsay; who knows if the official might refuse to help if he heard it was the prefect, for fear of getting into trouble.
Upon hearing this, He Jinnian's expression grew even more solemn, and his voice was filled with anger.
"This dog of a prefect dares to kill ordinary people at will for his own selfish reasons. I have never seen such a vicious person before."
"Don't worry, I will go to the prefectural office immediately and arrest him, and overturn the case for the Li family!"
At this point, he immediately looked at his wife beside him.
You should know that the assassin just said that the lady was also framed by the corrupt official and is now wanted by him.
"My wife, don't worry. As long as your husband is here, I will never let you suffer any more grievances. I will set off for the prefect's office now."
Fang Xiaoxiao, who was initially feeling quite pleased and thought she would soon be cleared of her name, suddenly remembered something important.
Given He Jinnian's current status, even if he went to the prefectural government office, the prefect would probably imprison him on the grounds that he was an imposter of the Chief Justice. After dealing with the Li family, the prefect would then use the pretext of verifying He Jinnian's identity to make him apologize.
In this way, even if He Jinnian wanted to overturn the case for the Li family later, the person would be dead, and there would be no way to verify the facts, making it difficult to deal with the prefect.
She had seen such political maneuvering on television before.
That was during Emperor Qianlong's southern tours, and something similar happened.
"Don't rush, we need to plan this carefully."
Fang Xiaoxiao quickly spoke up to dissuade He Jinnian.
The assassin, not understanding why, asked anxiously.
"Madam Fang, what do you mean by this? This person is about to be executed, what's the point of discussing or deliberating!"
Faced with the other party's impatient questioning, Fang Xiaoxiao shook her head and said slowly.
Don't rush to conclusions.
"May I ask, what is the prefect's most pressing concern right now?"
"Think about it again. It's been almost half a month since we were arrested and thrown into prison. Why didn't they execute them sooner or later, but only after Lord He recovered?"
The reason for saying this is that there is another very important question: who poisoned He Jinnian?
At first, she asked He Jinnian, but did not get any useful answers. She could only vaguely guess that a woman had poisoned her and described the woman as having a scar on her cheek.
Women with scars are few and far between, let alone those with exceptional skills.
There was only one person, and that was Xiaoman, who had been poisoned.
As for Xiaoman, she was poisoned because she was investigating the prefect's affairs and was discovered while fleeing.
Based on He Jinnian's experience, the two were poisoned by the same kind of poison, only one was a little less potent and the other a little more potent.
This is the thought.
Fang Xiaoxiao spoke again.
"Jin Nian, I have some questions for you. You must answer carefully and not overlook any clues!"
Seeing her serious expression, He Jinnian didn't dare to argue further and could only answer truthfully.
Fang Xiaoxiao's question wasn't anything particularly obscure.
She knew He Jinnian's mission in Jiangnan Province: to find out the whereabouts of the Crown Prince.
Ask him the questions that are on your mind and get the answers from him.
Fang Xiaoxiao then spoke.
"I've roughly guessed most of what's going on..."
The two of them were somewhat confused and didn't quite understand.
Seeing their reaction, he had no choice but to tell them the answer in his heart.
After the explanation, He Jinnian felt a tremor in his heart.
If I had acted impulsively and followed the assassin, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
This is the thought.
He immediately said.
"So what should we do next?"
His wife's words left him somewhat at a loss for what to do.
Fang Xiaoxiao thought for a moment, then said.
“We need to think this through carefully. Jin Nian, you should first follow the assassin to the garrison, reveal your identity, and tell the garrison commander that you are acting on orders and need their help.”
"Immediately afterwards, send someone by express courier to the capital to truthfully report what happened in Jiangnan Province to His Majesty, so that he can make a decision on this matter and issue an imperial edict..."
She calmly and methodically explained her solution.
The purpose of sending He Jinnian to the garrison first, instead of directly rescuing people, was to gain recognition of his identity.
He was to rush to the capital to report, even if it meant traveling another 800 li by express courier, so that the Emperor would know how the Prefect of Jiangnan Province was abusing his power here...
Both of them were surprised to hear her arrangement.
In He Jinnian's eyes, his wife was simply a genius, completely beyond the scope of ordinary people's thinking. She was able to make such accurate arrangements in such a short time, which was truly admirable.
The assassin was filled with admiration for Fang Xiaoxiao, even feeling that she was comparable to the current prime minister.
The two immediately stood up and offered their compliments.
"I will do as you say, my lady!"
"I am willing to accompany Lord He on his journey and risk my life to protect you along the way."
I watched the two of them leave.
Fang Xiaoxiao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, she was now gambling that the corrupt official wouldn't immediately execute the Li family.
But just to be on the safe side, she chose the most dangerous option.
That is to personally intervene and delay the execution of the corrupt official.
Just in time.
Pei Yan reappeared.
His face was cold and his tone was unfriendly.
"You've been hiding it quite well; even I almost mistook you for someone who just loves money."
Upon seeing the person who had arrived, Fang Xiaoxiao ignored his words and instead spoke.
"Whether you hide it well or not, what's the point if you don't even know it?"
"I just did what I thought was right. If you just want to make sarcastic remarks, then please wait until I come back alive!"
It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to the other person, but she just needed to hurry to the execution ground to save them.
Besides, what use are Pei Yan's words? They're just the jealousy of a petty person towards a virtuous one.
Pei Yan wanted to say more, but she swallowed her words back.
He was naturally proud, and at this moment he said no more.
"What do you want to do next?"
After a long pause, he finally voiced the question that had been bothering him.
Deep down, I felt that she still had something she hadn't said.