Under Monk Hui Shi’s escort, Qian Cang arrived at the grand hall of Juhe County Office.
Cui Heng was sitting here.
However, before Qian Cang could greet Cui Heng, he saw a familiar figure.
Fang Nanzheng, who was also Liu Litao’s trusted aide.
“Fang Nanzheng, you actually betrayed the Prefect?!” Qian Cang’s eyes widened as he couldn’t help but exclaim. He looked at this middle-aged man who was almost 50 years old in disbelief.
This person was one of Liu Litao’s earliest trusted aides. He had followed Liu Litao since he was still a county magistrate.
He did not expect that the person who surrendered before him was actually this guy!
Fang Nanzheng also saw Qian Cang and sneered. “Too? Looks like I wasn’t wrong about your temperament. You really betrayed the Prefect. What an ingrate.”
“Pfft! Who are you to criticize me?” Qian Cang could not help but curse. “If I’m an ingrate, then what are you? Governor Liu trusts you greatly!”
“I’m a person who understands the times. The County Lord is an Immortal. When I saw the County Lord, I instantly bowed down to him and abandoned the dark to join the light.” Fang Nanzheng actually had a righteous expression. “Unlike you, who wanted to betray him before even seeing the County Lord, this is betrayal.”
After saying that, he cupped his hands at Cui Heng and said, “County Lord, this person is ungrateful and rebellious. County Lord, please…”
“Alright.” Cui Heng interrupted their argument.
Monk Hui Shi immediately stepped forward and swept his threatening gaze over the two of them. They immediately fell silent and shrank their necks, not daring to speak again.
Compared to Cui Heng’s calm demeanor, Monk Hui Shi’s murderous aura made them tremble in fear.
“I don’t want to hear about the feud between the two of you, and I don’t care what that Governor Liu wants to do.”
Cui Heng slowly said, “How many people are there in Lu County, how many counties are under your jurisdiction, and how many people are there? Tell me about them.”
Information transmission in this world was extremely difficult. Even as the county magistrate of Juhe County, he could only understand the situation in his county and could not come into contact with the detailed data of the other counties.
Qian Cang and Fang Nanzheng were shocked when they heard this.
This county magistrate really wanted to seize the position of governor. Otherwise, why would he care about the number of commoners?
He only needed to care about this when attacking a city.
However, they could no longer care about what would happen to Governor Liu.
Hence, they rushed to explain the situation in Lu County to Cui Heng.
Lu County had been established for two thousand years.
In this long period of time, the administrative divisions had changed several times. To this day, the land was still a thousand miles wide. There were a total of 21 counties under its jurisdiction. Ten years ago, the household register had been checked, and there were a total of more than 1.3 million people.
There were more than 300,000 residents in Lu County alone.
And this was only the local population.
Lu County City was the waterway hub of Fengzhou. There were countless merchants in the city. Coupled with these people, the number of people in Lu County City daily was estimated to be close to 500,000.
The population of the various counties was different.
Juhe County was considered medium-sized. There were a total of 110,000 people in the county, and 80,000 people in the city. The rest were scattered in the villages.
“Previously, I only collected the emotions of the 80,000 people in Juhe County and managed to gather a lot of the seven emotions…”
Cui Heng fell into deep thought when he heard this. He thought to himself, “If I can collect the emotions of the nearly 500,000 people in Lu County, what kind of scene will it be?”
As for mobilizing the emotions of more than a million people in Lu County, he had never thought about it.
After all, such a huge population was scattered throughout the various counties and towns. It was impossible for them to gather together.
Thinking up to this point, Cui Heng looked at Qian Fang and said with a smile, “I’ll let you go back. You can report the situation here to Liu Litao truthfully.”
“County Lord, I’m willing to follow you to the death!” Fang Nanzheng knelt down with a plop and begged, “I’ve completely submitted to you the moment I saw you. Please take me in.”
When Monk Hui Shi heard Fang Nanzheng’s words, his expression turned ugly as if he had eaten a fly.
Because he had said something similar, and now this guy had said it as well. What would the county magistrate think?
Qian Cang did not cry like Fang Nanzheng.
His thoughts were quick. His eyes darted around and he immediately understood Cui Heng’s meaning. He immediately bowed and said, “Qian Cang will not let you down.”
Fang Nanzheng was stunned as he looked at Qian Cang in shock.
That gaze seemed to be asking, “What are you talking about? What do you mean by not letting the County Lord down? What mission were you entrusted with just now?”
“Trash, this kind of trash dares to compete with me?”
Qian Cang mocked in his heart. Seeing Fang Nanzheng’s current appearance, he was very pleased with himself. “You don’t even know how to figure out your superior’s intentions. It’s meaningless if you only know how to kneel down and lick!”
“Alright, the two of you can leave.” Cui Heng waved his hand.
“Yes, County Lord.”
Qian Cang and Fang Nanzheng left in unison.
After the two of them left the county office, Fang Nanzheng went to Qian Cang’s side to ask, but the latter ignored him and he could only watch as Qian Cang left.
After Qian Cang pulled his horse over, he rode towards Lu County.
His current mentality was completely different from when he came. He was no longer confused.
After listening to Cui Heng’s words and thinking about what Cui Heng had asked him earlier, he successfully guessed the County Lord’s “higher intentions”.
First of all, County Lord Cui definitely wanted to seize the position of governor.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked about the population of the various counties.
Moreover, with his ability to summon the wind and rain, this shouldn’t be a difficult task.
Now, he let these two defectors back to truthfully explain the situation in Juhe County to Governor Liu.
Actually, it was just giving Governor Liu a chance to choose.
Should he take the initiative to hand over the position of governor or wait for such an Immortal to attack?
This County Lord Cui was obviously more inclined to take power with the first method.
It was probably because Immortals were benevolent. If they did not need to use force, there was naturally no need to.
Moreover, in Qian Cang’s opinion, this was also a test of the abilities of the two defectors.
It was Cui Heng’s mission to convince Governor Liu to hand over the position of governor!
Whoever completed it well would be the better one!
As for whether he would be killed by Governor Liu when he returned…
Qian Cang was not worried.
With his understanding of Liu Litao, as long as he described the strength of this side as real and powerful, Liu Litao would definitely not dare to attack.
Thinking of this, Qian Cang couldn’t help but praise in his heart, “This County Lord Cui is indeed an Immortal-like big shot!”
Just a few simple words had such a profound meaning.
Not only did he directly reveal the plan to deal with Governor Liu, but he could also test the abilities of the two defectors.
Killing two birds with one stone!
It was really too powerful!
….
After Qian Cang and Fang Nanzheng left.
Monk Hui Shi asked curiously, “County Lord, what mission did you assign them?”
Qian Cang’s confident look just now made him wonder if he had missed something.
“How would I know?” Cui Heng shook his head and laughed. He looked outside and said, “I let them go back because there’s no use for them to stay here. Why don’t we return them to Governor Liu?”
He did have plans to seize the position of governor of Lu County, but not now.
After dealing with King Yan’s army.
At that time, as long as he arrived in Lu County, the position of governor would naturally be his.
There was no need to send out any missions.
….
King Yan was in Xiling County, 500 miles away from Juhe County.
Although Yan Sheng did not ride a horse, he was a Qi Transformation Grandmaster after all. His footsteps were extremely fast.
It took him less than a day to return to Xiling County.
It was midnight.
At this moment, Wang Shun had yet to be beheaded in Juhe County.
The soldiers guarding the city gate recognized Yan Sheng and bowed.
“Greetings, Military Commander Yan.”
Yan Sheng was not allowed to be placed in an important position in King Yan’s army. He had always been a commander.
In the past, every time he heard someone call him a commander, his mood would become extremely bad.
However, he was not in the mood to care about this now. He hurriedly said, “Quickly inform His Highness that I have urgent military intelligence to report in person. It’s extremely urgent!”
At this moment, the self-proclaimed King of Yan, Wang Tong, was holding a banquet in his temporary palace.
This temporary palace had been converted from the former county magistrate’s office. It was not large, but it was enough.
After all, those who could attend Wang Tong’s late-night banquet were all important confidants.
There were only six people in total.
The entire Xiling County was already silent. Corpses of commoners could be seen everywhere.
In the palace, it was time for pleasure.
Wang Tong sat on the throne at the top, and the seats below were divided into two rows.
On one side sat three military officials. On the other sat a civilian official and two monks.
The musicians played decadent music behind the seats on both sides, while nine beautiful dancers swayed in the middle.
They were all 16 or 17 years old young girls. They were wearing thin gauze that could barely cover their charming bodies. Every move they made was infinitely beautiful.
Peaks rose and fell, and peonies bloomed.
The dancers were all smiling, looking quiet and elegant.
However, there was a barely perceptible frown on their faces.
They were actually the daughters of the local officials of Xiling City and were once the beloved daughters of the family.
In this chaotic world, once the war arrived, they were immediately reduced to mere toys.
Wang Tong’s gaze swept across these dancers as he thought about how he was going to fight the nine young girls tonight. Which ones were the main ones and which ones were the secondary ones.
At this moment, a soldier rushed in and knelt on the ground. He said respectfully, “Your Highness, Commander Yan has returned. He said that there’s an urgent military situation and he wants to report it to you personally.”
“Yan Sheng? This dog came back on its own?” Wang Tong frowned.
He was displeased to have his train of thought interrupted.
“Your Highness, there’s indeed only Military Commander Yan,” the soldier replied.
“Hahaha! Great!” Wang Tong suddenly laughed loudly. He stood up and said with a clear voice, “It’s only him! It must be my good brother, Wang Tong, who won a great victory and let this dog come to me to report the good news!
“Let him in quickly. I want to hear now how my good brother took down Juhe County!”