Chapter 696: Local Emperor

Qiao Yuan.

He is forty-eight years old this year.

As a descendant of the Qiao family, he had followed the previous Liaodong Commissioner, his own father, to this place since he was a child.

At the age of eighteen, he inherited his father's mantle and took the post of Liaodong Commissioner.

At this age, reaching such a position is absolutely an incredible thing. But in Liaodong, it is not strange at all. The reason is that absolutely no one is willing to come to Liaodong... and so, even though his father was never enfeoffed as a king, he was still able to achieve the hereditary succession of the Commissioner.

Liaodong is just such an eccentric place.

But Qiao Yuan likes Liaodong very much.

Because the heavens are high and the Emperor is far away.

Because no one else can control him, he can be the local emperor here!

He can do whatever he wants here, acting as he pleases!

He has whatever he wants, and if he wants beauties, he has beauties!

For days like these, he wouldn't trade them even if the Emperor came to swap!

It is just that.

Just a few months ago, an Imperial Edict suddenly arrived.

It ordered him to step down as Liaodong Commissioner and go to serve as the Western Regions Commissioner?

The Western Regions?

What would he go to the Western Regions for?

How could anyone else know the goodness of this Liaodong!

Qiao Yuan gave a cold laugh, sat back in his seat, and his sinister gaze swept around the room.

Everyone was as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to let out a single fart.

Qiao Yuan is rather thin and frail, but at a glance, he is the type of person who is extremely vicious. His personality is the same.

He is the local emperor of Liaodong!

Even without being enfeoffed as a king, he demands that others call him Great King!

"Vice Minister Liu? What kind of thing is that?"

Qiao Yuan suddenly held a cup of wine and laughed heartily: "Remember, this is Liaodong, this is My Liaodong! If a dragon comes, it must coil for Me; if a tiger comes, it must lie down for Me! Want to take My seat? Keep dreaming! He is here to deliver goods for us!"

The crowd knelt and kowtowed one after another.

"Great King is mighty!"

"Great King is mighty!"

Only then did Qiao Yuan fiercely pull a beauty beside him over, groping her all over, his cold, gloomy eyes looking at an official nearby: "How is that batch of goods?"

The official trembled all over and hurriedly lowered his head: "Great King, the handover went smoothly, the ships have already set sail..."

Qiao Yuan frowned slightly: "Tell those Nanyang barbarians that the situation in Longyan has changed; next time, it must be payment before goods!"

"Yes!"

Qiao Yuan then laughed loudly again: "This time, how much cargo has this Vice Minister Liu brought us? He is truly a lucky star descending! You tell Me, should I let him die sooner, or later?"

The crowd followed with uproarious laughter.

"Play for Me!"

The sound of strings and bamboo instruments rose again, and the beauties began to dance gracefully once more, with all sorts of coquettish gestures.

Liu Zheng is actually still very puzzled.

Even Qingzhou, which is so close to Liaodong, is completely in the dark about the situation in Liaodong.

This is very abnormal.

Whether it is the Prince of Wei or the Prince of Yong, neither knows much about this Qiao Yuan.

The biggest reason for this is, of course, that Liaodong has truly too little presence in Longyan.

Not knowing about Qiao Yuan, they naturally know even less about Liaodong.

The heavy rain is still falling.

Liu Zheng and the Prince of Yong, after disguising themselves, came to the streets of this Taixi Stockade. Because the number of people gathering here has started to increase over the past few days, this border town has become exceptionally lively, with people coming and going.

The owners of the inns and restaurants are the happiest.

Without taking off their raincoats, the two walked into an inn.

"Two guests, what would you like? We have excellent Drunken Yinzhou here!"

The waiter immediately walked over, nodding and bowing.

The Prince of Yong chuckled, casually took out a silver ingot, and tossed it out: "Find us a seat by the window on the second floor."

When the waiter saw the silver, his eyes lit up. Although wealthy people have been running rampant these past few days, guests who can be this generous are still rare. He shouted loudly: "Coming right up, two distinguished guests, second floor by the window!"

"Looking at this, I'm afraid this rain won't stop even after ten days."

The Prince of Yong sighed.

Liu Zheng smiled faintly: "The Prince of Yong need not worry about this. What the Prince of Wei is transporting over immediately is not ordinary gunpowder. It is basically unaffected by the weather."

The two sat down, and only then did the Prince of Yong breathe a sigh of relief, smiling: "That is good, but Vice Minister Liu, what do you think about this Wangchuan City..."

At this moment, the waiter brought up a few plates of side dishes, and the two did not speak.

Liu Zheng looked out the window; in the hazy autumn rain, the vaguely visible mountains looked like a vicious dragon waiting to devour someone.

He smiled slightly and did not answer the Prince of Yong's question.

"Hey, have you heard? That Vice Minister Liu is going to forcefully break into Wangchuan City in ten days!"

"You only just found out?"

"Haha, what does everyone think!"

"He must be crazy!"

"In my opinion, he is truly overconfident! He is definitely going to take a tumble this time!"

Everyone eating and drinking here was discussing this very matter.

"Let me tell you, last time, it was my neighbor! That was a veteran hunter of over twenty years! Someone who claimed to have roamed the mountains and forests of Liaodong for many years. He refused to believe in evil and insisted on breaking into Wangchuan City! And the result? A team of over twenty people, and not a single one came out!"

As the wine flowed and spirits ran high, some people began to boast.

Liu Zheng could not help but look over.

The others also exclaimed in succession.

"Is that true or false?"

"Not a single one came out?"

"How long ago did this happen?"

"Three months ago!"

"Sigh, how tragic..."

Hearing the voices at that table, someone else over there was unconvinced and chuckled, "What are twenty-something people? Have you ever heard of that Ghost Sealing City incident?"

As soon as these words were spoken, many people's expressions changed.

Those who had come from out of town looked over with even more curiosity.

Ghost Sealing City!

This story sounded very exciting!

Liu Zheng and the Prince of Yong also exchanged a glance, listening while they drank.

That man had indeed drunk quite a bit; he let out a hiccup, and seeing that he had successfully attracted the attention of the entire room, he feigned a mysterious expression: "Thirty thousand exiled prisoners!"

"Listen clearly..."

"Thirty thousand!"

Many people gasped.

It seemed they had already anticipated what he was going to say, but they were still looking forward to him continuing so they could confirm their guesses.

"They were gone!"

"All of them were gone!"

A look of terror flashed across the man's face.

"What?"

"Is that true or false?"

"How is this possible..."

Everyone at the scene turned pale.

Thirty thousand people, all gone?

Not a single one survived?

"That day happened to be the fifteenth of the seventh month, the Ghost Festival. The jailers escorting the prisoners were in a rush to get back, refused to listen to advice, and insisted on forcing their way through... As a result, this became the Wangchuan Ghost Sealing City; that mountain ghost devoured thirty thousand people in one go! The entire Wangchuan City was filled with wailing ghosts and howling wolves, and the yin energy was overwhelming! Even the people at Taixi Stockade could hear it!"

"Ah!"

"Thirty thousand people!"

Fear gripped everyone's hearts.

The color drained from the face of the Prince of Yong as well.

Liu Zheng smiled slightly.

As expected.

The facts were getting closer and closer to his guess.