13: Your Majesty and the Crown Prince have not given you such power

Ten days later, Yang Yun and the others, riding tall horses, arrived at Fengyang Prefecture.

Fengyang Prefecture, like Yuanyang Prefecture, is one of the two prefectures under Qingzhou's jurisdiction.

With the previous precedent, Yang Yun ordered everyone to dismount, leave their horses at the inn outside the city for care, and then walk into the city.

Fengyang Prefecture, located in the heart of Qingzhou and serving as the seat of the Provincial Governor's Mansion, is equivalent to a provincial capital, and naturally much more prosperous than Yuanyang Prefecture.

Yang Yun was very satisfied with just the urban planning.

Inside Fengyang Prefecture City, there was a small pond every hundred steps and a larger pond every thousand steps, making it feel as if one were in a misty, rainy town in Jiangnan.

Along the small river, a food street was built, with an endless stream of people, filling the entire city with the breath of life, a scene of national prosperity and peace.

Yang Yun looked at the scene before him, couldn't help but nod, and said with satisfaction, "The officials of Fengyang are not bad."

No sooner had he spoken than a group of people dressed as constables appeared on the street, cursing and swearing. The shopkeepers all took out silver and voluntarily handed it to a tall, thin man with pointed ears and a monkey-like jaw.

The man's clothes were darker than the others', making it clear at a glance that he was the leader of the group.

Collecting from one end of the street to the other, when the man reached the last shop, his footsteps stopped.

"What! You won't pay?"

"Officer, officer, please be kind and give this humble citizen a few more days. Once I earn some money, I'll pay it immediately, alright?"

An old man selling straw sandals pleaded with the man. The old man was dressed in yellowed and tattered hemp clothes, and the wrinkles on his Face were like ravines, clearly a person of hardship.

Who knew that the tall, thin man was merciless, kicking over the old man's stall and drawing his saber, wantonly chopping the straw sandals into pieces.

"You old Immortality, this customary fee is for the current King! How dare you not pay!"

"I'll smash your stall!"

The old man was knocked to the ground by the rushing constables, and seeing his stall and straw sandals destroyed, he sat paralyzed on the ground, helpless.

His Face was pale, and layers of ripples appeared at the corners of his eyes, but not a single tear fell, as if he had cried all the tears of his life.......

Yang Yun's veins bulged on his Face, and just as he was about to step forward, a team of people appeared before everyone.

The person leading them rode a tall horse, wore an official's hat, a red official's robe, and a sash around his waist. He had a round Face and a mustache above his mouth, presenting a look of righteous awe.

"Stop!"

The red-robed official dismounted, came to the straw sandal stall, helped the old man up, and angrily shouted at the tall, thin constable:

"Who allowed you to do this? Is there still any law!"

"Ah!"

The tall, thin constable trembled as if he had seen the King of Hell.

"Liu... Lord Liu, this humble one... this humble one was just performing routine duties, just routine duties!"

"Routine duties?"

"Routine duties allow you to act recklessly and oppress the common people!?"

The red-robed official, referred to as Lord Liu, sternly rebuked the constables, "You abuse your authority, create false pretexts, and under the guise of collecting taxes, you are actually extorting money."

"Today, I will throw you scoundrels into prison!"

"Lord Liu, I am the brother-in-law of Prefect Long, you can't arrest me!"

"Hmph."

The red-robed official paid him no mind, as if he hadn't heard, and let out a cold snort.

Then he waved his hand, "Come, disarm them and take them to prison!"

Just as the red-clad constables behind Lord Liu were about to act, a voice came from the street:

"The Prefect has arrived......."

The tall, thin constable looked as if he had seen a savior, quickly ran towards the voice, and arrived in front of the carriage.

After the sedan chair slowly stopped, a pot-bellied, full-faced middle-aged man awkwardly got out of the sedan chair.

Looking at the tall, thin constable, he slapped him, "This is outrageous! Look at what good things you've done!"

But those who were close knew that the slap had no force behind it.

The tall, thin man did not dodge, but stood weeping in front of the middle-aged man, constantly bowing his head and saying, "Brother-in-law, save me! Liu Yishan wants to arrest me, and he said he wants to put me in prison!"

"I don't want to go to jail, brother-in-law!"

"Hmph."

The middle-aged man, as if putting on a show, scolded the tall, thin constable a few times, then forced a smile, puffed out his belly, and slowly walked to the red-robed official, saying with a laugh:

"Oh, my Lord Judicial Commissioner, what brings you here today to show concern for the people?"

Liu Yishan was already red in the Face, pointing at the tall, thin constable and angrily said: "This Qin Lang of the Provincial Administration Commission arbitrarily oppresses merchants, creates false pretexts, and under the guise of collecting customary fees, wantonly extorts money."

"This person must be severely punished."

"Alas."

The Prefect shook his head, "Lord Liu, collecting a small customary fee is not that strange. It's not unique to our Fengyang. Isn't it the same in other prefectures and counties?"

"We're all brothers, don't be so particular."

"Come, my old friend, I'll treat you to a drink."

"As the saying goes, 'no discord, no concord.' You know that Qin Lang is the younger brother of my new concubine. Let's all go together and have a few drinks at the table."

"All misunderstandings will naturally be resolved, haha."

Liu Yishan pulled away the Prefect's hand and loudly shouted, "Who are 'brothers'?"

"What do you mean 'brothers'!?"

"How can a subject of Great Chu do something so unprincipled!"

Then he quickly walked to Qin Lang, pointed at his forehead, "You think you can use your power just because your pockets are empty, is that right?"

"Who do you think you are!?"

"Are you the Prefect, or the Provincial Governor overseeing a province?"

"Alas, Brother Liu, don't get so angry. Let's go for a drink, a drink."

The Prefect quickly came to mediate, pulling the agitated Liu Yishan.

Liu Yishan again pushed the Prefect away, "I won't drink!"

Pointing at Qin Lang again, "I'm telling you!"

"Even if you are the Prefect, or the Provincial Governor, you don't have this kind of power, do you understand!?"

"Your Majesty and the Crown Prince have not granted us such power!!!"

"Good!"

"Well said!"

The surrounding merchants and common people applauded loudly.

"Lord Liu is a good official......."

Even Yang Yun couldn't help but nod, "He's a good cadre."

Prefect Long Yiming was somewhat angry, his Face slightly sinking. As the head of a prefecture, he had been publicly dismissed twice on the street.

And without any Face at all.......

Long Yiming came in front of Liu Yishan, trying hard to control his emotions, and gritted his teeth as he uttered a few words, "Lord Liu, must you make things so difficult?"

"Hmph, I'm just doing things according to the law. Qin Lang knowingly broke the law and must be severely punished."

"Take him away!"

Liu Yishan waved his hand again, ordering the constables behind him.

"You can't take Qin Lang today, I said so!"

Long Yiming stood in front of Liu Yishan, staring intently at him.

"Hmph."

Liu Yishan glared coldly at Long Yiming, "What if I insist on taking him?"

"Then we'll have to see your capability!"

No sooner had he spoken than the people from the Prefect's Mansion instantly surrounded them, their numbers more than five times that of Liu Yishan and his group, glaring menacingly at the people from the Judicial Commissioner's Office.

"It seems the Prefect is determined to protect him."

"Hmph."

Liu Yishan's eyes were bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth and nodded, glancing at the constables behind him.

"Swish!"

He drew the sword from his waist and pointed it at Long Yiming.

"Swish!"

The people behind Long Yiming also drew their weapons. Facing enemies several times their number, Liu Yishan was fearless.

Just as the two sides were in a standoff.......

An angry roar came.......

"Stop!"

..........

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