Chapter 149 The public is furious

Chapter 149: Public Outrage

It is the busy farming season now, and the fields are already filled with farmers working in the fields.

Because Li Guodong started to uproot Xu Erdan's land without any explanation, many people had already gathered around out of curiosity, watching from a distance.

It shows that when they saw Li Guodong being beaten, although these people didn't say anything, they were all cheering for Ye Xuan in their hearts!
However, Li Guodong has always been like a local tyrant in Beishanhuangzhuang. Although the people are very happy, they are also worried about Ye Xuan.

After all, in their eyes, Li Guodong is already the highest-ranking official they will ever see in their lifetime.

How could he recognize Ye Xuan's Jinyiwei official title and the rank of a fifth-rank captain?

So when they heard Li Guodong threaten to impeach Ye Xuan, they couldn't help but worry about this young official.

Li Guodong looked at Ye Xuan with anger and pride, and said, "The emperor's handwritten order clearly stated that it was good for me to cooperate with you in planting potatoes, but it also said that I should choose a suitable place to plant them."

"Now I feel that Xu Erdan's land is not suitable. Can't we find another place? I am clearly here to help the emperor. How can I be said to be disobeying his order?"

Ye Xuan suddenly laughed out of anger, "You are such a sharp-tongued Li Guodong."

"You were the one who said yesterday that I was in charge of everything, but now you're jumping out and saying these lies hypocritically!"

Li Guodong's face froze, but after a moment, he regained his smug look and said, "Really? How could I not remember saying these words? Besides, I should do my best to carry out His Majesty's order. How could I say such a thing? Don't slander my innocence out of thin air!"

"Okay, okay," Ye Xuan sneered, "You are not worthy of claiming innocence. Don't you know what you did in the Sadness Royal Manor?"

Li Guodong suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart and looked at Yao Guang fiercely.

As Yao Guang lowered his head and dared not look him in the eye, Li Guodong's heart immediately skipped a beat.

It was expected that Ye Xuan must have known something, but it was only one night, so even if he knew something, he couldn't do anything to him.

Even if Yao Guang betrayed me, let's not talk about whether Yao Guang dared to go against me, even if he was really persuaded by Ye Xuan, what would it matter?

Could it be possible that Ye Xuan could kill himself just based on Yao Guang’s confession?
Thinking of this, Li Guodong forced himself to calm down and sneered, "Ye Xuan, you don't have to scare me. I am innocent!"

"What a clean man is clean!" Ye Xuan snorted coldly, looked at the onlookers and said: "Dear fellow villagers, tell me, do you believe that Li Guodong is an honest official?"

When the common people heard this, they were speechless and dared not express their opinions. The older ones immediately realized that this was a conflict between the two officials. They all lowered their heads and dared not make any unusual movements for fear of bringing trouble upon themselves.

However, there were still some young people who showed some indignation on their faces when they heard Li Guodong's shameless words.

Seeing that the people were silent, Li Guodong became even more proud.

"What do you think, Lord Ye? I have always been an honest official. Please don't listen to the slander of this villain!"

As he said this, he glanced at Yao Guang. Yao Guang met Li Guodong's gaze and suddenly felt a little regretful. He shouldn't have listened to Ye Xuan's words last night and told Li Guodong's crimes all at once. Now he has blocked his own way out.

Ye Xuan snorted coldly, looked at the onlookers again, and said earnestly: "The eyes of the masses are sharp. They may not be silent because they have nothing to say, but they may be angry but dare not speak out!"

Li Guodong became furious when faced with Ye Xuan's blunt words.

However, before he could open his mouth to argue, he saw Ye Xuan slashing at the people and solemnly said, "My fellow villagers, perhaps you don't know my identity yet. Now let's get to know each other again. I am Ye Xuan, a captain of the Jinyiwei of the Zhenfu Division!"

"Do you know what the Jinyiwei do? They are the emperor's personal guards, responsible for monitoring all officials! In other words, they are specifically responsible for catching corrupt officials!"

When the people heard this, their originally indifferent looks began to soften.

The crowd began to discuss in low voices.

"What is the position of Jinyiwei? Does anyone know?"

"I, I, I, when I was visiting relatives in Yingtian Prefecture a few days ago, I heard from my eldest brother's second sister-in-law's aunt that the Jinyiwei was specifically responsible for catching corrupt officials. I heard that they killed tens of thousands of officials for just one empty case!"

"And more, the Prime Minister knows, right? He is the most powerful person besides the Emperor, but I heard that he also fell into the hands of the Imperial Guards. I heard that the officials are most afraid of the Imperial Guards!"

As the common people began to review the Jinyiwei's battle record, not only did they marvel at it, but even the men brought by Li Guodong began to look at each other in bewilderment. They couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.

Unlike ordinary people, who had only a vague understanding of the importance of the Empty Seal Case and the Zuo Cheng of the Secretariat, they were at least minor clerks in the Ministry of Revenue. Although they were not in the mainstream, they understood better than ordinary people how terrifying it was to be able to overthrow Yang Xian!

Even the boss of their Ministry of Revenue, the Minister of Revenue, was just a small fry in front of Yang Xian.

Not to mention these minor officials who are not even of the ninth rank. If the Jinyiwei want to kill them, it would be a piece of cake with just a flick of their fingers.

Some of the more clever people, after seeing the performance of Li Guodong's men, suddenly understood that the handsome and tall young official in front of them might really be an extraordinary person, and their minds suddenly became active.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty had just been founded, and the people were not as numb as they were in the middle and late periods. They could only accept the exploitation of officials silently, but there were still some people who dared to fight back.

Seeing the people's reaction, Ye Xuan immediately revealed a cruel smile, glanced at Li Guodong who was beginning to feel uneasy, and continued to lie: "In fact, the emperor knows that everyone's life is not easy because of corrupt officials like Li Guodong, so he has been telling me that when I go to the local area, I must eliminate corrupt officials for the benefit of the people!"

"Now that I am here, if you have any grievances, speak out boldly. If you don't speak up now, don't complain after I leave, saying that the court doesn't care about the lives of the people!"

As Ye Xuan said this, the people's discussions suddenly became noisy.

If he was still concerned about Li Guodong and didn't dare to speak loudly just now, now he was more reckless.

Yao Guang behind him also gritted his teeth, thinking to himself that he didn't know what had gone wrong with Li Guodong today.

(End of this chapter)