Chapter 480: None of Them Are Good People

"Thump, thump!"

Suddenly, a series of urgent drumbeats came from outside the State Yamen, startling Shen Yu, who was in the middle of handling official business.

Since he began taking charge of Xiaozhou, the prestige of the State Yamen had gradually been established, and a reputation was slowly forming.

Especially after Shen Yu hung those who had once acted tyrannically in Xiaozhou—the existences that made all the common people tremble with fear—one by one on the city walls, the commoners had been discussing it incessantly.

In their eyes, there was gradually hope, a beginning of vitality; they were no longer as numb as they had been before.

As someone who had lived in a world of information explosions, Shen Yu knew that governance and propaganda must both be grasped with two hands, and propaganda was perhaps even more important.

However, at the very beginning, even if Shen Yu advertised it to the skies, no one dared to come; everyone was just watching from the sidelines.

In the past, in everyone's eyes, the State Yamen was an existence that could be dispensed with. The deep-rooted impressions left over so many years could not be changed in an instant.

In the end, it was Shen Yu himself who had people stage a play to trick the entire city's commoners into coming to watch the excitement, which finally opened up the situation.

Later on, even the drum outside began to be struck by people. And no matter how busy Shen Yu was, he would make time to handle these matters; this was a question of attitude, intended to establish hope for those commoners.

Doing this was telling those commoners: as long as you come to report to the official, I dare to accept the case, and I will handle it for you clearly and thoroughly, leaving you with no worries behind.

By now, the drumbeats outside could be heard every few days, and Shen Yu had become accustomed to this.

After another period of time, once the drumbeats outside became more frequent, he would have to consider replacing himself with someone else to hold the fort. After all, he was too busy, and everything was waiting for him to make the final decision.

"My Lord, please make the decision for us, My Lord!"

The moment Shen Yu walked onto the main hall, several ragged old men who had been kneeling on the ground were kowtowing desperately toward Shen Yu.

These people were all white-haired and aged; judging by their appearance, they were at least seventy or eighty years old, and even their movements were trembling.

Seeing this, Shen Yu very skillfully helped them up and even had people bring over chairs; he did not feel he could bear being bowed to like this by these old people.

"A few elders, what exactly has happened?"

"My Lord, please save our Anping Town!"

While speaking, the few old men looked at Shen Yu with slight fear. Shen Yu had seen such gazes many times; if they hadn't been forced into a corner, they wouldn't have taken the risk to report to the official.

Everyone knew that if the report to the official failed, they would inevitably be retaliated against, and the outcome would be a fate worse than death.

And for the elderly to come and report to the official had also been the norm for this period of time. These lonely, widowed elders, having no family and being all alone, meant they had no worries behind them.

Xiaozhou had been too bitter and too chaotic these years; those forced to the point of being unable to survive were everywhere, and those with bitterness and resentment in their hearts were countless.

In Xiaozhou, the imperial court had no prestige to speak of, and those famous righteous sects would not establish branches here; the forces existing here were completely without any constraints.

Without constraints, this meant the utmost possible exploitation; how they treated ordinary people depended entirely on their own moods and moral bottom lines.

However, morality was truly a rare thing in Xiaozhou, and as for bottom lines, forget it—with places like Cannibal Valley and Evil Man City existing, how could those who acted tyrannically in Xiaozhou have any bottom lines?

Therefore, human tragedies were countless in Xiaozhou, and there were those forced to jump over the wall like a cornered dog and rise up in resistance, but under absolute force, these resistances were quickly wiped out without a trace.

It was precisely because of this that his yamen could slowly open for business, and gradually more and more people began to report to the official.

It was not that they were not afraid, but that they were truly forced into a corner, and only then would they choose to take the risk.

If the report to the official failed, perhaps they would choose to commit suicide the moment they stepped out of the yamen gate. It would save them from falling into the hands of those people, being tortured to death, and finally dying in miserable wails.

"A few elders, what grievances do you have?"

"My Lord, please judge clearly, our Anping Town is suffering! All these years, our Anping Town has been under the protection of the nearby Hufeng Stronghold, and every year we must pay Hufeng Stronghold ten thousand taels of silver and twenty beautiful young maidens!"

Speaking to this point, the old man couldn't help but pause, and only then did he say in a low voice, "My Lord, you also know that in Xiaozhou, if one has no one to provide protection, one probably cannot survive at all."

"Moreover, Hufeng Stronghold calls it protection, but isn't it just blatant robbery! If Hufeng Stronghold cannot receive these, these murderous bandits will start a massacre!"

"Back then, Anyang Town and Lin Family Town didn't manage to scrape together the annual quota, and as a result, they were razed to the ground by the people of Hufeng Stronghold overnight, with no survivors!"

"My Lord!" Kneeling down from the chair again, the old man said with a face full of sorrow, "But this year, this year we truly cannot scrape it together."

"If it were just ten thousand taels of silver, it might be manageable if we scrape it together, but twenty beautiful young maidens are truly impossible to gather!"

"When the time comes, Anping Town will be retaliated against by the people of Hufeng Stronghold; out of the tens of thousands of people in the whole town, not a single one will survive!"

"My Lord, I beg you to save us, save us!"

Looking at these timid old people, Shen Yu remained silent.

Anping Town, having to hand over twenty beautiful young maidens every year—were they really all people from their own town? Were there any among them who had been robbed or trafficked?

There were, there definitely were, and there were bound to be many. And as for the rest, even if they were from the town, how could they be willing to go to their deaths? There must have been resistance.

Hufeng Stronghold was a threat and intimidation to Anping Town; Hufeng Stronghold would slaughter a town at the slightest provocation, which was coercion. And were the people of Anping Town not the same toward the families whose daughters had to be sent away?

In Xiaozhou, this was the norm; the society here was already nearly deformed. If some things were investigated deeply, probably more than half of the people in Xiaozhou would have to die.

After a long while, Shen Yu slowly opened his mouth and said, "Cheng Lin, what is the situation with Hufeng Stronghold?"

"My Lord! There is indeed such a place, and what they said is true; our people are also currently investigating Hufeng Stronghold."

"It is just that Hufeng Stronghold is in the deep mountains and old forests; currently, the Black-Clad Guard has not yet found their location. Once it is investigated, we will report to My Lord at the first opportunity!"

"Hmm!" He nodded; this was also the work norm for the Black-Clad Guard during this period.

The territory of Xiaozhou was basically all mountains; within the stretching great mountains, there were all kinds of places to hide. Those forces in Xiaozhou were well-versed in the art of hiding, all of which they had learned from Cannibal Valley and Evil Man City.

Looking at the kind of leading role Cannibal Valley and Evil Man City had played, it was truly a headache.

Building their own forces in the deep mountains and old forests, although life was a bit troublesome, at least they would not be easily wiped out.

This was also the reason why the remaining major forces in Xiaozhou had not been wiped out by Shen Yu for the time being; it was not that he didn't want to wipe them out, but that he didn't have their exact locations yet.

Once their locations were found, Shen Yu would take action personally and take all those people away in one go.

"Elder, go back and tell the people in your town that from this year on, including the future, you don't need to pay the silver or the maidens. Believe this official, Hufeng Stronghold will cease to exist very soon!"

"This, this..." Looking at Shen Yu, the few old men looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.

You just say a few words, how are we supposed to believe you? If we go back and then the people from Hufeng Stronghold come to kill us, what then? Isn't this setting us up?

"Cheng Lin!" Ignoring these old men, Shen Yu just said indifferently, "Have your men take a troop to garrison Anping Town. This official wants to see if they really dare to jump out?"

The matter was handled quickly; with a troop of Black-Clad Guards stationed there, the few old men also left very tactfully. As for what would happen later, they didn't dare to ask, fearing that even this troop of Black-Clad Guards would be gone.

After these people left, Shen Yu stood up and asked quietly to the side, "Cheng Lin, did you see anything?"

"My Lord, they indeed did not lie, but they definitely concealed something. This subordinate does not know what they wanted to conceal, but it is definitely not anything good!"

"Is that so?" With a light laugh, although Cheng Lin did not spell it out, the meaning was already very clear. These old fellows looked pitiful, but they were definitely not good people.

Don't be fooled by their ragged clothes; it was clear they didn't match their appearance at all. The reason they were like this was entirely to put on an act. In other words, it was also a form of probing.

"Send someone to follow them and report back at any time if anything happens!"

"Xiaozhou, just how much evil is hidden in this wretched place? Is there not a single good person here!"