Chapter 286

First Volume, Chapter 286: Night Visit to the Village

When the Ming Prince was young, he achieved great military exploits, yet the Liang Emperor not only failed to reward him, but banished him to Fuyun County under soft detention—clear evidence of the Liang Emperor's deep suspicion of him.

The Ming Prince is a clever man; he made Fuyun County a den of corruption, a self-pollution tactic reminiscent of Xiao He in the early Han Dynasty—seemingly a disgrace to his later years, yet in truth a method of survival.

Li Zhang, though hot-tempered, is straightforward and simple-minded, posing little threat to the Liang Emperor.

In contrast, the man before him, Li Zhang, steeped in scholarly pretension, looked anything but a law-abiding citizen.

The deeper one associates with Li Zhang, the greater the danger becomes.

Qin Feng silently resolved: once the affairs in Pingyao County were settled, he would rid himself of Li Zhang at all costs, keeping as much distance as possible to avoid getting burned.

After watching Li Zhang depart, Qin Feng no longer hesitated; he led Li Lang and Shu Feng out of the Wine House, turned into an alley, and slipped through the night toward the City Gate.

Pingyao County's garrison defenses were still relatively intact; Qin Feng was no flying thief, and escaping the city would be no easy feat—so he had Li Lang bring silver to bribe the City Gate guards.

As Qin Feng expected, the City Gate guards, upon seeing the silver, readily let them pass.

After leaving the City Gate, Li Lang let out a contemptuous "chī" sound: "All crows are black the world over—where there's milk, there's a mother. As long as there's profit to be made, it's no trouble to pass through the City Gate—even charging straight into the Yamen's Inner Courtyard would be effortless."

Li Lang's implication was a subtle jab at Qin Feng: he was overreacting, treating Pingyao County as if it mattered.

This damned place had rotted to its very bones.

Facing Li Lang's sarcasm, Qin Feng didn't get angry—he laughed: "You know shit!"

Li Lang, naturally, was indignant: "Then you know everything."

Qin Feng lifted his head, smug: "Of course. About Pingyao County, your big brother sees far clearer than you. This Pingyao County is the Ancestral Land of Grand Commandant Gao Ming; Zhou Yufu is Gao Ming's loyal servant. Pingyao County is nominally under Shedynasty rule, but in truth, it has long been turned into Gao Ming's personal Rear Garden."

"Three County Magistrates have met untimely ends; the County Yamen has lain abandoned for years. Do you think these Country Gentlemen alone could hold the whole county in their grip? Ha—let me put it this way: without Gao Ming's backing, the Ministry of Personnel could send any inspector with a few hundred soldiers and turn Pingyao County upside down."

"Do you believe that, right now, at this deadline, the City Gate guards have already reported to Zhou Yufu?"

Hearing Qin Feng's words, Li Lang frowned: "You know full well that every move we make is under Zhou Yufu's surveillance—why take the risk?"

Qin Feng grinned, unconcerned: "Risk? Li Second Brother, you clearly don't know me at all. In my dictionary, the word 'risk' doesn't exist. The brave die exposed in the Huang Ye; the cautious live long and prosper."

Though Li Lang despised Qin Feng in his heart, calling him "cunning, lazy, greedy, and slippery," he could not deny that whenever Qin Feng faced danger, he always escaped unscathed.

This was tied directly to his Adaptation Response and strategic planning.

He recalled how, back in Jingdu, he had set up a Hongmen Banquet to trap Qin Feng—only to be beaten black and blue, then rescued by Qin Feng himself.

Li Lang's emotions were a tangled mess.

Dislike as he might, he was slowly understanding his brother's intent: if anyone could save his family from Fuyun County, it was surely this man.

Even for the sake of his family, Li Lang had no choice but to sincerely follow Qin Feng.

At that moment, Shu Feng beside him suddenly muttered in confusion: "This area around Pingyao County is too desolate, Master. Look—the trees by the road are all dead. Pingyao County isn't one of the Thirty-Six Counties of Jingdu, yet it's so close to the capital—how could it be this barren? I've never heard of a drought here."

Qin Feng glanced at the dead trees by the roadside and sighed: "They didn't die of drought—they were eaten by starving peasants."

Shu Feng's eyes flashed with shock; she covered her mouth in disbelief: "Eaten?"

Qin Feng nodded, remembering the tragic sight of the starving mother and child, his heart growing heavy: "Before even entering Pingyao County, I noticed all the trees nearby had no bark, and the grass on the ground was nearly nonexistent—even when present, it was only scattered, young sprouts."

"Clearly, the starving masses, like locusts, have stripped this land of every edible thing."

Shu Feng was even more stunned, her eyes filled with disbelief: "How is this possible?! The South has floods, the Northwest has drought—but no one has ever said the Central Plains' rear area suffered famine. And this place is so close to Jingdu—if starving peasants wandered here, the Holy One would surely know."

The Holy One would know?

Qin Feng had considered this before arriving.

But what puzzled him was: if the Liang Emperor knew Pingyao County was this desolate and ruined, and if successive County Magistrates kept meeting untimely ends, why did the old bastard show no interest in intervening?

Logically, the Liang Emperor was a brilliant ruler, and his Black Guards were a terrifying intelligence agency.

Even if this was a place where Grand Commandant Gao Ming held absolute power, even if the Black Guards' focus had shifted north toward Di, such a massive issue should have stirred at least some ripple in the Imperial Palace or the Imperial Court.

And even if he himself had been assigned to investigate Pingyao County, the reason was plausible—but why would the Ministry of Personnel be so foolish as to repeatedly and openly sabotage him?

Behind Gao Ming, who else was pushing this forward?

The more Qin Feng thought, the stranger it seemed—and the more seriously he took it…

At that moment, a village came into view.

It was deep night; the village was utterly lifeless, not a sound stirring.

Silent. Terrifying.

Li Lang growled: "Why doesn't this village even keep a dog?"

Qin Feng shook his head, sighing helplessly: "People can't even feed themselves—how could they spare grain for dogs? Besides, even if they had dogs, the villagers ate them long ago."

With the National War ongoing, even counties in the Central Plains' rear area must station village heads or local patrols to prevent Enemy Nation Spies from infiltrating.

Yet Qin Feng walked all the way to the "most grand" farmhouse in the village without attracting any attention.

Moreover, Qin Feng noticed many civilian households in the village were abandoned.

Qin Feng called through the Gate: "Is the Village Chief here?"

After a long while, an old woman, fifty or sixty, her temples streaked with white, emerged shivering in a hemp robe.

Seeing Qin Feng and Li Lang standing tall, their bearing noble, the old woman's eyes filled with fear: "The Village Chief isn't here. What do you, sir officers, require?"

Hearing this, Li Lang raised an eyebrow, irritable: "Officers? Which eye do you see us as officers?"

Qin Feng glared at Li Lang, signaling him to shut up, then smiled warmly at the old woman: "Old lady, don't be afraid. I'm an official sent from Jingdu, here to inspect Pingyao County."

The old woman's expression didn't change; she pulled at her robe: "What does the official require?"

Seeing her indifferent reaction, Qin Feng found it odd and asked: "If you have any grievances, speak them plainly—I will see justice done for you."

The old woman shook her head blankly, repeating: "This humble woman lives well—she eats enough, drinks enough, has no grievances at all."