Chapter 23 Zhang Yong Confession
While Zhao arrested the man at night, Di Renjie, Hu Jinghui and Li Yuanfang interrogated Zhao Chuanchen in the East Flower Hall.

Zhao Chuanchen mentioned that several county magistrates in Youzhou, other than him, either died of illness or resigned because they refused to embezzle the relief funds.

This was consistent with what the Chief Clerk Qiao Tai said. Di Renjie nodded as he listened, knowing that Zhao Chuanchen was telling the truth.

But just when Zhao Chuanchen said that Fang Qian ordered him to deposit the compensation money somewhere, he suddenly stopped moving, and the last word he uttered was "sky".

Di Renjie was quick to notice something was wrong and immediately shouted, "There's an assassin!"

When Li Yuanfang and Hu Jinghui heard Di Renjie's shout, they pushed open the door like lightning to check, but there was no one outside except the guards.

"Sir, there's no one here." Hu Jinghui looked back at Di Renjie with an innocent face.

Di Renjie had his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed, his face tense.

His eyes were colder than ever before, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Hu Jinghui and Li Yuanfang were both a little frightened by Di Renjie's performance and did not dare to make any move.

After a long time, Zhao Chuanchen's body was dragged away, and Zhao Ji also came to report with Zhang Yong, Hu Jinbao and Fang Hongliang.

"Sir, here comes Zhang Yong. Sir?" Zhao Ji bowed.

Zhao Ji repeated it twice before Di Renjie came to his senses.

Di Renjie rubbed his brows and said, "Bring it up."

Seeing Di Renjie's absent-minded performance, Zhao Ji roughly guessed that Zhao Chuanchen must have been silenced by Hu Jinghui.

Zhao glanced at Hu Jinghui intentionally or unintentionally, but he seemed calm and composed, as if nothing had happened, and there was nothing unusual about him.

Not long after, the Qianniu Guards brought Zhang Yong and the other two to Di Renjie.

Di Renjie had also calmed down. He just saw that three people were arrested, not just Zhang Yong.

So Di Renjie asked Zhao Ji, "Who are these other two people?"

Zhao Ji quickly explained, "The other two are Fang Hongliang and Hu Jinbao who are also in Zhang Yong's residence. In order to prevent the news from leaking out, they were invited together."

Di Renjie nodded, indicating that he understood and didn't care.

He put on a serious expression and asked Zhang Yong, "Zhang Yong, let me ask you, were you the one who sent the assassin to kill Zhao Chuanchen?"

Zhang Yong fell to the ground, refusing to confess, and argued: "Sir, I am innocent. I really did not send any assassins."

"Hmph, isn't Wang Xiaoer your subordinate? Do you want to call him over for a confrontation?" Di Renjie was in a bad mood and spoke in a bad tone.

Zhang Yong was hoping for the best, thinking Di Renjie was trying to trick him and get away with it: "What Wang Xiaoer? I've never heard of him."

Seeing Zhang Yong's quibbling, Di Renjie called out, "Come on, bring Wang Xiaoer up here."

Then the Qianniu Guards escorted Wang Xiaoer to the East Flower Hall.

As soon as Zhang Yong saw Wang Xiaoer, his face changed drastically and he became flustered.

Wang Xiaoer knelt down and greeted Di Renjie: "Greetings, Your Excellency the Imperial Envoy."

Zhao Ji walked up to Wang Xiaoer, pointed at Zhang Yong and asked, "Wang Xiaoer, did he send you to assassinate Zhao Chuanchen?"

Wang Xiaoer glanced at Zhang Yong and answered simply, "General, he was the one who sent me to assassinate Magistrate Zhao."

Zhao Ji nodded and said, "Tell the master again the confession you made in the Sanhe County government office."

Wang Xiaoer naturally refused, and told the story again about Zhang Yong's repeated instructions to the soldiers to kill people to silence them.

Di Renjie waved his hand, signaling the guards to take Wang Xiaoer away, and asked Zhang Yong, "What else do you have to say?"

Zhang Yong was already sweating profusely. He knew he couldn't deny it, so he said, "Sir, this is the order of the governor. I had no choice but to do it."

Di Renjie heard Zhang Yong's words and asked, "Oh? Did Fang Qian instruct you to do this?"

"That's right. Fang Qian often ordered me to instruct my soldiers to do some shameful things. Generals Fang and Hu were also involved."

Zhang Yong saw that he could not clear himself, so he simply dragged Fang Hongliang and Hu Jinbao, who were watching, into the water. Seeing this, Fang Hongliang and Hu Jinbao turned pale and kowtowed in panic, saying, "General Zhang, you can't slander me, sir, it's unjust."

In order to protect himself, Zhang Yong said, "Wang Xiaoer can testify that everything I said is true. If there is even a single lie, I am willing to die."

Di Renjie looked at Fang Hongliang and Hu Jinbao, slammed the table and shouted, "Why don't you two tell the truth!"

The two men hurriedly explained: "Sir, this is all Zhang Yong's false accusation. We really don't know anything about the assassin!"

Di Renjie was too lazy to talk nonsense, and waved his hand and said, "Come on, drag these two out and chop them up!"

Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang were about to take action and drag the two men out.

Fang Hongliang and Hu Jinbao were very anxious when they saw this, and they struggled to beg for mercy, saying, "Sir, please wait, please wait."

"I am willing to confess. I know that there are many people in the army who are Fang Qian's followers. I am willing to provide a list." Seeing that Di Renjie was going to kill someone, Fang Hongliang had to confess.

Di Renjie sneered and said, "Okay, give them paper and pen, and ask them to write a list. Whoever's list is missing a person will be taken out and beheaded immediately."

Zhang Yong and the other two did not dare to be negligent in the slightest. They racked their brains and knelt on the ground to write the list.

These three good-for-nothings were spineless and kept exposing each other. Hu Jinghui was so angry that his teeth were itching and he was so anxious that his heart was burning, but he couldn't do anything.

Watching Zhao Ji patrolling beside Zhang Yong and the other two, Hu Jinghui secretly hated him in his heart: "This kid is really troublesome. One Di Renjie is powerful enough, and adding Zhao Ji..."

He carefully recalled what Zhao Ji had done along the way: he rescued Di Renjie in Tuyao, rescued the elders of Daliushu Village in Youzhou, and now he has caught the assassin who assassinated Zhao Chuanchen, and now implicated Zhang Yong and the other two.

Each and every incident hit the vital point of Jin Mulan's plan.

However, Hu Jinghui has no time to target Zhao Ji now. He must first consider how to remedy the current situation.

After all, if today's matter is not handled properly, most of the foundation that Jin Mulan has painstakingly built in Youzhou will be uprooted.

Hu Jinghui's brain was working at a very fast speed, assessing the current situation and frantically thinking about countermeasures.

The people in the hall didn't care about Zhao Ji and Hu Jinghui's ideas. Zhang Yong and the other two quickly wrote the list and rushed to hand it to Di Renjie, fearing that they would be slower than others.

Di Renjie picked up the three lists and compared them. After looking at them for a moment, he threw the lists on the table.

"This is outrageous. I never thought Fang Qian had infiltrated the army to this extent." Di Renjie said angrily.

He guessed that Fang Qian had influence on the Youzhou army, but he didn't expect that there were so many of Fang Qian's followers in the army.

The entire Youzhou almost became Fang Qian’s independent kingdom.

Seeing this, Zhao Ji reminded him, "Sir, I have already cleared Fang Qian's spies in the Governor's Office and left guards behind to block the news of Zhang Yong's arrest."

He paused and told his inner plan: "Fang Qian should not have noticed our actions tonight. Should we take this opportunity to take the initiative and capture Fang Qian and his followers?"

After hearing Zhao Ji's suggestion, Di Renjie was silent for a moment, then paced back and forth, thinking carefully: "Chengyuan has foresight and blocked the news in advance. Now is the best opportunity to eliminate Fang Qian and his party while they are unprepared."

After a moment, he said with a firm look: "Chengyuan's words make sense. We must prepare for a rainy day and strike first. Otherwise, once Fang Qian reacts, it will probably bring even greater trouble."

At this point, Di Renjie had made up his mind and without hesitation, he gave the order:

"Jinghui, take a list and a thousand imperial guards and head straight to the camp outside Youzhou City. Seize the military power and purge Fang Qian's followers in the army. Make sure to ensure the stability of the army."

"Yuan Fang, you hold my imperial sword and take part of the imperial guards to take over the city defenses and armories in various parts of Youzhou to ensure peace in the city. Remember, do not let Fang Qian's men leave the city and cut off their connection with the camp outside the city."

"Chengyuan, take this list and lead your men to the governor's mansion to arrest Fang Qian and his followers. Make sure they are all captured in one fell swoop and not a single one is allowed to escape."

Zhao Ji, Hu Jinghui and Li Yuanfang each claimed to have received orders and acted according to Di Renjie's instructions.

Everyone took the order and left, while Di Renjie sat in the East Flower Hall, waiting for good news.

He knew that this was destined to be a sleepless night: "I hope everything goes well!"

　Please recommend, please collect, and please comment.
　　

(End of this chapter)