Chapter 159 - The Swindler

Chapter 159: Chapter 153: The SwindlerThe crowd heard and sneered; Xiping County already had three emissaries from the Inspector’s Mansion, so a couple more were no big deal.

Zhao Erlang was the least afraid, but he was a rational person. When he first arrived in the county town, his sister had instructed him to follow the town’s rules, not to let others bully him, but not to bully others either. So he kindly answered, "My name is Zhao Yong. I came back late and got locked out of town. I’m waiting under the city wall for the gate to open."

"Don’t get angry. My sister said that when we come to Xiping County, we must follow its rules. They’ve already gone to call my sister. The gate will open in a moment," he paused, then added, "If you bully them again, I’ll hit you."

Emissary:...

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan galloped over to receive the people. As soon as they dismounted, someone from the city tower rushed down to report.

Upon learning that besides Zhao Erlang, two emissaries from the Inspector’s Mansion had arrived, she exchanged a glance with Fu Tinghan.

It can’t possibly be another visit concerning the previous three emissaries, can it?

"Open the city gate." Zhao Hanzhang showed her best smile, ready to welcome the two emissaries.

The soldiers did not have time to inform her that one of the emissaries seemed to have been scared unconscious by the Second Young Master.

The city gate opened, and Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan came out.

Zhao Erlang, upon seeing his sister, immediately rushed forward, half to seek credit, half to clarify, "Sister, I’ve behaved and followed the rules. They told me to wait, so I did. It was they who didn’t follow the rules, constantly asking to open the gate, and then they all fainted by themselves. I didn’t hit anyone!"

Zhao Hanzhang’s smile faltered slightly, "Fainted? Why?"

Zhao Erlang sincerely replied, "I don’t know."

Fu An stepped forward and quietly reported, "Reporting to Third Lady, we were standing in the shadows, and it seemed the emissaries didn’t see us. When we spoke, they might have mistaken us for ghosts, so..."

Zhao Hanzhang understood.

In the pitch-black night, suddenly having several figures appear would be enough to scare anyone to death, especially considering that Xiping County had recently gone through a disaster, and there were undoubtedly plenty of ghostly rumors going around.

Zhao Hanzhang put away her smile. Oh well, since the gentle approach was not applicable, she would change her tactics.

Zhao Hanzhang waved to the soldiers, "Invite the emissaries into the city."

The soldiers bypassed Zhao Erlang and his group, moving forward to carry the emissary lying on the ground inside and "assist" the mounted emissary down and carried inside as well.

The two horses were pulled in.

Zhao Hanzhang reached out and patted the two horses, feeling they were quite good, very satisfied, "Take them away."

Ji Yuan went to buy horses, directly negotiating with the horse merchants, haggling down the price time and again. Even the cheapest war horse cost three hundred thousand coins, with no upper limit.

The people were carried away to the county government, and it was this point that Zhao Hanzhang finally took a good look at Zhao Erlang, casually asking, "Why are you so late?"

Zhao Erlang replied, "I was late paying respects, and when I came out, it was dark."

Zhao Hanzhang was taken aback and asked, "What hour did you finish paying respects?"

"I don’t know," Zhao Erlang replied confidently, "I can’t tell time, but it was definitely dark."

"Did you inform Fifth Uncle that you were returning to town?"

"Do I have to inform Fifth Uncle when I’m returning to town?"

Zhao Hanzhang understood. She called out to the person about to close the city gate, "Send two fast riders to the Wu Castle to inform them that Erlang has returned to the county town."

"Yes."

Zhao Hanzhang said, "In the future, if you return to town late, remember to inform the elders so they won’t worry, understand?"

Zhao Erlang obediently replied, "Okay."

Once they returned to the county government, Zhao Hanzhang told Zhao Erlang and Fu An to wash up and eat, while she and Fu Tinghan went to see the two emissaries.

Zhao Ju was also in the county government hall, observing the two emissaries. When Zhao Hanzhang entered, he immediately bowed his head in salute, "Miss Zhao, they haven’t woken up yet."

Zhao Hanzhang was also afraid that they might have been scared to death and said, "Invite the doctor to take a look."

The other bound emissary immediately began to struggle and cried out, muffled.

With a prompt from Zhao Hanzhang, Zhao Ju stepped forward and removed the gag from his mouth.

"I am an emissary from the Inspector’s Mansion, and I have urgent military orders to see County Magistrate Zhao!"

Zhao Hanzhang moved to the main seat, sitting in the chair reserved for the County Magistrate, "County Magistrate Zhao is not in town. You can tell me whatever it is. What are the urgent military orders from the Inspector’s Mansion?"

The emissary widened his eyes, staring at Zhao Hanzhang in disbelief for a long time before finally finding his voice, "You, are you Third Sister Zhao?"

Zhao Hanzhang arched her eyebrows, nodding, "Indeed, that would be me." It was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise to find that people outside Xiping County also knew about her.

The emissary hesitated momentarily before saying, "I have urgent military orders..."

"Mm-hmm." Zhao Hanzhang signaled for him to continue.

The emissary said helplessly, "Could Miss Zhao untie me first?"

"The world is chaotic nowadays; not everyone in an official uniform is truly an official. You claim to be an emissary, so where are these urgent orders?"

The emissary, seeing that Zhao Hanzhang neither feared nor respected him, said, "The orders are in my bosom."

Zhao Ju, searching inside his robe, soon found a roll of silk and quickly handed it to Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang unrolled it and looked directly at it.

The emissary’s mouth dropped open, not expecting them to be so unceremonious.

Seeing that the orders were to aid Yu Yang, Zhao Hanzhang let out a sigh of relief, feeling as if a giant sword lifted from her heart.

She quickly corrected her expression, immediately got up anxiously, and rushed down with the orders. "Quick, quickly untie the emissary."

She then bowed and said, "I beg your pardon, emissary. There have been so many fraudsters lately. I’m just a young woman managing a city on my own and may have been overly cautious. Apologies for any offense."

Fu Tinghan: ... In all their time in Xiping County, they had seen everything but fraudsters.

If there were any, it would only be...

Fu Tinghan’s gaze fell on Zhao Hanzhang, and he couldn’t help but form a slight smile at the corners of his mouth.

Zhao Ju obediently untied the ropes.

Facing Zhao Hanzhang’s smiling eyes, the emissary inexplicably lost some of his nerve and shivered slightly, averting his gaze. "Miss Zhao, we cannot afford any mistakes on the battlefield. Please send someone to fetch County Magistrate Zhao to mobilize troops for Yu Yang."

Zhao Hanzhang skipped over the first half, directly responding to the latter part, "But Xiping County’s troops have long been exhausted; there are no soldiers here to deploy."

The emissary slightly furrowed his brows, "Miss Zhao, are you trying to deceive me? As I entered the city, I saw plenty of soldiers guarding the tower."

"They are not soldiers; they are Zhao Family clansmen. They’re simply keeping watch to protect Xiping. Once the county government recruits new officials and troops, they will inevitably be replaced."

The emissary stared at her blankly, "Zhao Family clansmen?"

Zhao Hanzhang gravely nodded, "Exactly, we Zhao are a major family in Xiping, with clansmen spread throughout Xiping County. For those with the surname Zhao, if not ten thousand, there are at least five thousand. You could say Xiping is our family’s home. To protect our family, it’s only right for us to temporarily guard the city gates."

Emissary:...