Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 304 Used as a weapon, each strike aimed at a fellow villager~

Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said in a low voice, "Didn't Qu Mingjie confess? He said it was Wang Shaoyu from Yongjia..."

Lan Yu gasped and looked at Yang Shaofeng, saying, "You little rascal, are you determined to pin the blame on Liu Bowen and get him to investigate his fellow townsmen from Zhejiang?"

Yang Shaofeng was very dissatisfied, but considering that Lan Yu was ultimately related by marriage, he still snorted coldly out of respect for elders and love for the young, saying, "Uncle is wrong. What do you mean by 'putting a pot on someone's head'?"

"Whether it's Wang Shaoyu or Liu Qingyuan, they are all connected to the Zhejiang East region. And it was Qu Mingjie who confessed to the names Wang Shaoyu, Wang Shaoyuan, and Liu Qingyuan, not us who tortured him into confessing."

"We're just trying to help Mr. Qingtian clear his name, aren't we?"

Lan Yu thought about it and realized that it made sense. If breaking both legs and stepping on the wounds of the broken legs didn't count as forcing a confession, then...

"What are you going to do?"

Lan Yu frowned and said, "Liu Bowen is a slippery old mudfish. You want to pin this on him... he might not appreciate it."

Yang Shaofeng chuckled. "Now it's not a question of whether he appreciates it or not, but about Qu Mingjie's testimony."

Qu Mingjie's statement definitely needs to be compiled and submitted.

In other words, regardless of whether Yang Shaofeng intends to pin the blame on Liu Bowen, Liu Bowen's reputation will never be clean.

That is why Liu Bowen had to cut down his fellow villagers from eastern Zhejiang one by one, and only in this way could he clear his name of suspicion.

Unless Liu Bowen had a moment of madness and decided to sacrifice his entire family for the sake of his fellow villagers, taking all the blame himself.

The question is, would Liu Bowen be willing to do that?

……

Just as the officials from the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Personnel were arriving in Zhaoyuan, Qu Mingjie's confession was also sent to the capital by fast horse and reached the hands of Emperor Zhu.

Then, Liu Bowen got anxious.

"I am innocent!"

Liu Bowen looked at Emperor Zhu with a look full of grievance, and even the hand holding the memorial was trembling: "I have not returned to Qingtian for more than two years. Not to mention Yongjia, Yuyao, or Changguo, I have no contact with my fellow townsmen in Qingtian."

"Moreover, Your Majesty knows me well. If I wanted to make money, I would never leave such an obvious flaw. It is clear that someone wants to use the Prince Consort to deal with me. I hope Your Majesty will see the truth!"

Ok?

At this point, you, Liu Bowen, are still playing tricks on us and trying to undermine us?

The Emperor Zhu was greatly displeased and gave Li Shanchang a meaningful look.

Li Shanchang stroked his beard and smiled, looking at Liu Bowen and saying, "Brother Qingtian, now that things have come to this point, does it still matter whether you made money or not, or whether someone used the Prince Consort to frame you?"

Just as Liu Bowen was about to speak, Li Shanchang interrupted, saying, "None of that matters. What matters is what you should do, Brother Qingtian—even if the higher-ups and the Prince Consort clear Mr. Qingtian of suspicion, won't those people say that the higher-ups are intentionally protecting Brother Qingtian?"

Emperor Zhu also snorted coldly and said, "Some people are going too far. Don't worry, Mr. Qingtian, we will definitely give you an explanation."

Liu Bowen really wanted to say: I'm so relieved! You black-hearted rotten-necked bastard and Li Shanchang colluded to bury me in a pit. How could I not see it?

But the bonds of nine clans...

For the sake of his family's future, Liu Bowen could only bow slightly and clasp his hands in greeting to Emperor Zhu, saying, "Your Majesty, I request that a warrant be issued for a nationwide arrest warrant and that inspectors be dispatched to Qingtian, Yongjia, Yuyao, Changguo, and other places to thoroughly investigate. No matter who is involved in this case, even if my son is implicated, I beg Your Majesty to investigate to the end!"

As Liu Bowen finished speaking, a smile flashed across Li Shanchang's eyes. Emperor Zhu nodded slightly and turned his gaze to Yang Xian: "Did you all hear that? Send out inspectors to investigate! We also want to see who could cause such a commotion!"

After leaving the palace, Liu Bowen stopped Yang Xian and said in a deep voice, "Xiwu, I'm entrusting this case entirely to you. No matter what, you must help me find out the truth."

Yang Xian hesitated for a moment, then asked, "If it really involves Qingtian..."

Liu Bowen said with a dark face, "No matter who is involved! They are here to take my life! If it weren't for avoiding suspicion, I would like to go to Zhejiang myself!"

After a brief silence, Liu Bowen continued, "Qu Mingjie has changed his testimony several times, and there are many inaccuracies in it. You can ignore him for now."

Yang Xian was slightly taken aback and asked, "Where should the students begin?"

Liu Bowen hummed in agreement, and while pondering in his heart, he said, "Thirty thousand catties, or possibly more, of refined iron, they would never dare to take it by land, much less transport it openly during the day."

"Here's what you do: start at sea. Ask the fishermen and locals along the coast if they've encountered any boats with little cargo but a very deep draft, or any boats sailing at night. If so, find out where those boats are going and trace the trail."

"If the fishermen and people along the coast have not encountered this, then search northward along the coast of Shandong Province. As long as they travel by sea, they will inevitably leave clues."

"In addition, send out another group of people to investigate all the workshops in the Jiangzhe area to see if there is anything wrong with their materials input and output, especially the blacksmiths in the countryside, who should not be overlooked."

"More than 30,000 catties of refined iron, unless they sell it all to Hu Yuanyou or Japanese merchants, no one can swallow it all in one bite."

At this point, Liu Bowen's expression turned somewhat ferocious: "I also want to see who exactly is capable of setting up such a massive scheme against me!"

Yang Xian nodded in agreement, but after a moment he hesitated and said, "Sir, this matter is clearly caused by that madman Yang..."

Liu Bowen shook his head slightly and snorted coldly, saying, "This time, I not only cannot blame Yang the Madman, but I also owe him a favor."

This is what made Liu Bowen most upset.

Being used as a tool, with each blow aimed at his fellow townsmen from eastern Zhejiang, was still within Liu Bowen's acceptable range.

But after killing his fellow villagers from eastern Zhejiang, he still had to owe Yang the Madman a favor...

What a terrible thing this is!

After a long silence, Liu Bowen continued, "Also, have someone go to the Five Cities Garrison to retrieve the files and see how many officials from Zhejiang have visited the capital in the past two years and who they have visited."

"You should do this in a big way. Also, send people to stake out several gates in the capital to see which family has sent people out of the city recently."