Chapter 283: The Emperor Arrives

"What did you say?"

"It's you?"

Those bewitched soldiers of the Liangzhou Army only just reacted at this moment. It turned out that everything, from beginning to end, had been instigated by this Qiao Guang!

Someone recalled that Wang, the Thousand-Man Commander, had been invited to a brothel to drink that day because Qiao Guang had used his birthday as an excuse...

Yet, that groom who had committed adultery with the Liang woman was also Qiao Guang's cousin...

In this entire affair, Qiao Guang had also consistently played the role of the "atmosphere setter."

Qiao Guang's expression changed several times in an instant.

"Qiao Guang, what is the meaning of this?"

"To use the life of Thousand-Man Commander Wang to achieve your own goals, you are truly ruthless!"

"Scum of the Liangzhou Army!"

The group of Liangzhou Army soldiers glared in anger.

Seeing that the matter had been exposed, a look of ferocity flashed in Qiao Guang's eyes. He cursed "Liu Family dog thief" and suddenly pulled a sharp Dagger from his boot, stomped his feet hard on the ground, and lunged at Liu Zheng with all his might.

"Young Master, watch out!"

"Watch out!"

The people nearby exclaimed in alarm.

This Qiao Guang was able to serve as a Thousand-Man Commander in the Liangzhou Army, so his skills were quite remarkable. Furthermore, he was not far from Liu Zheng, and his sudden attack made the situation extremely dangerous.

"Do not harm my Young Master!"

However, despite this.

Liu Zheng had been prepared long ago. Pei Qianyun glared, let out a shout, and although his body was burly, he moved as fast as lightning. One hand turned toward Qiao Guang's wrist, and the next moment, only a "Crack!" was heard. The Dagger in Qiao Guang's hand fell to the ground, and his entire hand had already been twisted by Pei Qianyun in the opposite direction!

"Ah..."

Qiao Guang felt the pain and nearly fainted, but before he could make another move, Pei Qianyun kicked him in the head. Qiao Guang's vision went black, and he rolled onto the ground.

At this moment, the Yinzhou Army and Liangzhou Army soldiers nearby rushed over and held their swords against Qiao Guang's neck.

Qiao Guang dared not act rashly, but knowing his affairs were exposed and he could not escape death, he gritted his teeth in pain, stared fiercely at Liu Zheng, and shouted: "Prefect Liu, you will come to no good end sooner or later!"

Liu Zheng smiled faintly: "Who sent you to deliberately sow discord between the Liangzhou Army and the Yinzhou Army?"

Qiao Guang refused to speak. He sneered a few times, then suddenly bit down hard. Fresh blood spilled from his mouth; he had actually bitten his tongue to commit suicide.

"This..."

The generals of the Liangzhou Army were very embarrassed at this time, and then they all cupped their hands toward Liu Zheng: "Thank you, Prefect Liu, for clearing the name of Thousand-Man Commander Wang!"

"Prefect Liu, we have offended you much in the past few days!"

"Young Master Liu..."

Liu Zheng hurriedly smiled modestly: "Generals, you were also bewitched by others, so why speak of apologies? Yinzhou originally belongs to Liangzhou; we are all brothers, why distinguish between you and me? It is also my fault for being weary from travel; having just returned to Liangzhou, I did not have time to reminisce with the brothers of the Liangzhou Army, which allowed the treacherous to take advantage of the situation. Now that the misunderstanding is cleared, I hope we can guard Liangzhou together and serve the imperial court in the future!"

The generals responded in unison: "We shall follow the lead of Prefect Liu!"

Seeing that Liu Zheng was not looking for trouble with them and was so humble and respectful, these Liangzhou Army generals were truly convinced.

Liu Zheng then smiled freely: "You are all veteran generals in the army and are familiar with military affairs. I believe you should maintain your original positions. What do you think?"

"Thank you, Young Master!"

The crowd was overjoyed.

This time, Chen Ping had met with disaster, and the Liu father and son had moved into Liangzhou. What they feared most was that a new ruler would bring new officials, which was why they had followed Qiao Guang to cause trouble. Now that they heard Liu Zheng say this, their hearts were naturally set at ease.

The news of Prefect Liu's judicial reform, which was met with universal acclaim, soon spread throughout the Longyan Dynasty.

Throughout all of Liangzhou, people of all classes praised it highly.

Judicial reform was a major matter, concerning social order. As soon as Liu Zheng arrived in Liangzhou, he started from this aspect, which also allowed people to see his confidence in stabilizing the situation in Liangzhou.

Liangzhou had just been ravaged by a plague, the hearts of the people were in chaos, and with Chen Ping falling from power and being imprisoned, the people were leaderless.

This move by Liu Zheng, however, gave the people a shot of adrenaline.

He used his own actions to tell the world that Liangzhou would not fall into chaos. Not only would it not be chaotic, but it would get better and better! He and Liu Dahao would surely govern Liangzhou better and better.

The thirty prefectures and counties of Liangzhou also received the decree for judicial reform at the same time.

Each Prefect and County Marquis indicated that they would certainly implement the decree of the Liangzhou Prefecture quickly. This would be a major event; the Supervision Department of every prefecture and county would be split into three departments: the Supervision Department, the Inspection Department, and the Sentencing Department—actually, in a feudal dynasty, this could also be considered a ruler giving a sweet treat to the officials of their fiefdom.

Why say that?

With more departments, the number of officials would naturally increase as well.

How many people in the Supervision Department, how many in the Inspection Department, and how many in the Sentencing Department.

In this way, the number of official positions in each prefecture and county would increase significantly, allowing them to arrange for some of their connections—people from Powerful Clans, people from clans, and people from various factions.

How could they not be happy?

Of course.

This was a matter for later, and Liu Zheng could not manage it for the time being.

For now, he just wanted to make the situation in Liangzhou stable. He wanted the Prefects and County Marquises of those prefectures and counties to truly submit to Liu Dahao and no longer harbor ulterior motives...

After all, the Emperor would be coming to Liangzhou soon.

As for the army...

Liu Zheng thought of the famous Zheng Yuxing in Beijing and could only sigh slightly, planning to deal with it slowly.

This day.

Qingyang Shuo sent Jiang Xuan to bring Liu Zheng to his room.

As soon as Liu Zheng arrived, he saw that the space around Qingyang Shuo was almost full of people. Seeing this formation, Liu Zheng could neither laugh nor cry.

He knew what these people had come for...

Is it possible that I still cannot avoid it?

It is true.

Seeing Liu Zheng arrive, Qingyang Shuo gave a chuckle: "Young Master, Liangzhou has just been pacified, and the Emperor will arrive any day now..."

"The first order of business will be this matter of the arranged marriage."

"Young Master, I fear this time it truly cannot be avoided. What are your thoughts?"

Liu Dahao chuckled upon hearing this, and with a *crack*, he took the "Roster of Beauties" out of his pocket: "Son, come quickly, come quickly, let us all deliberate together!"

"What did you say? Qiao Guang committed suicide?"

At this moment.

Rongshan Pass in Liangzhou.

Upon hearing this news, Zheng Yuxing's expression changed instantly.

His subordinate reported the news he had obtained exactly as it was.

Zheng Yuxing heard this and *bang*, he slammed his fist onto the table, shouting angrily: "What is Qiao Guang doing! Even if that Prefect Liu treated me with neglect, he shouldn't have used his own life to pull such low-down, dirty tricks!"

He felt deep heartache.

Qiao Guang was a general he had brought up himself; this time, he must have felt aggrieved and could not help but want to disgust Liu Zheng, but he never expected to lift a rock only to drop it on his own feet...

Beside him, the Third Prince Xie Ling also frowned upon hearing this: "Uncle, this Prefect Liu is truly ruthless! Qiao Guang's crime did not warrant death, yet he struck at his heart like this... It seems this Liu Zheng must have long known that Qiao Guang was close to you within the Liangzhou Army!"

Others also chimed in to agree with the Third Prince.

Zheng Yuxing's eyes flickered, his face cold and silent.

Xie Ling added fuel to the fire from the side: "Uncle, this Liu Zheng must be planning to pull out all the roots you have planted in the Liangzhou Army! This..."

He exclaimed deliberately: "He is planning to make a move against you, Uncle!"

The atmosphere at the scene.

Instantly turned cold.

Although Zheng Yuxing was brave and possessed excellent Strategy, he was a straightforward person and not skilled in the political infighting of the court. Although he knew Xie Ling was sowing discord, he was still very angry.

Pull out my roots?

Preposterous!

In this Liangzhou Army, among those capable of leading troops into battle, who wasn't brought up by Zheng Yuxing himself? Even when Chen Ping was in office, he had to treat him with great respect.

Could it be that this Liu Family father and son really intend to pull the firewood from under the cauldron?

Xie Ling sighed: "Uncle, we must make plans early!"

Zheng Yuxing finally turned his head, looking coldly at Xie Ling: "How does His Highness think we should proceed?"

Xie Ling gave a cold smile: "Uncle, if he is unjust, he cannot blame us for being unrighteous! My Rongshan Pass still has 150,000 elite cavalry; if there is any contingency, the Prince of Lu can provide support at any time. Currently, his Yinzhou Army is too scattered and not suited for battle..."

Zheng Yuxing's expression changed slightly: "Does His Highness mean for me to rebel?"

Xie Ling gave a wry smile: "Uncle, be flexible, be flexible... This Prefect Liu insists on having a legitimate excuse for everything. Why can't we find an excuse to trigger a conflict?"

Zheng Yuxing frowned: "What kind of conflict?"

Xie Ling chuckled, leaned over to his ear, and muttered in a low voice.

Zheng Yuxing's eyes lit up with brilliance as he listened.

As soon as Liu Zheng saw this formation, he wanted to find a way to escape.

But he also knew.

In this general environment, in this feudal dynasty, this matter was something he absolutely could not escape.

On the roster, beauties were as numerous as clouds, and each introduction made one feel very moved. Qin Zhangfeng and Jiang Xuan, at this time, fully exerted the enthusiasm they had when choosing a wife for Qin Zhangfeng, helping Liu Zheng deliberate.

The daughter of this Minister is not bad...

The niece of that Vice Minister is passable.

The County Princess of that Feudatory King is famous throughout the world for her literary talent.

This family has strong soldiers and sturdy horses; that family occupies a vital position. All sorts of introductions, all sorts of analyses.

Liu Zheng really did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Suddenly, for some reason, the image of Xie Chan, who was currently "undergoing labor reform" in Cheshi in the Western Regions, flashed through his mind.

That face that could topple cities and states, that face with a hint of stubbornness, remained lingering in his mind. He had to admit that since coming to this world, his impression of this woman was the deepest.

Several times, when their eyes met, Liu Zheng could see the complex emotions in her gaze.

What kind of girl was she, really?

Xie...

The Xie Clan.

The Xie Clan of the Western Regions...

He had always suspected what kind of relationship this Xie Chan had with Xie Xuan of the Dayuan Kingdom. It was just that time was tight, and he had no time to investigate and understand further.

Thinking of this, he lost all interest in the women on this "Roster".

But looking at the people in the room, with their posture of not letting him leave unless he made a choice, he could only give a deliberately mysterious smile: "I already have an idea in my heart. Don't ask me who it is; when the time comes, it will be revealed."

Once these words were spoken, it made this group of people even more unbearably curious.

However, Liu Zheng would not say it even if he were beaten to death.

Seven days later.

The Emperor's carriage finally arrived, albeit belatedly.

The entire Liangzhou had been preparing for this for nearly a month. The streets were clean and tidy, decorated with lanterns and colored streamers, with every household hanging festive lights, awaiting the Emperor.

This day.

Early in the morning, Liu Dahao appeared ten miles outside of Liangzhou City, accompanied by the civil and military officials of Liangzhou.

Liu Zheng was also among the entourage.

He had been craning his neck in anticipation.

What kind of person was the Emperor of the Longyan Dynasty, exactly?

What was his true intention in coming to Liangzhou this time?