Chapter 516 - 143: The Prime Minister Arrives! Clash of Grandmasters (Part 2)

So.

The one actually manipulating these water bandit villains—is it Fu Zhengqing?

"Prime Minister coming here, I must say I’m rather surprised!"

Fu Zhengqing’s expression remained unchanged, and the middle-aged man at this point also withdrew his hopeful look, returning to his earlier blank stare.

Because of Fu Zhengqing’s arrival, his heart had finally settled down.

"Out on an autumn outing, I didn’t expect to encounter Governor Ye in a place like this!"

The group of officials behind Fu Zhengqing, upon seeing Ye Liuyun, all instinctively edged back behind Fu Zhengqing.

Clearly, none of them had expected to run into Ye Liuyun here.

They had just been hoping to latch onto Fu Zhengqing, so they’d tagged along for the autumn outing—and with Fu Zhengqing leading, ended up in Lishui City.

"Speaking of which, wasn’t it said there was a rebellion in Lishui City some time ago? From the looks of it, Governor Ye has already put it down!"

Fu Zhengqing looked perfectly at ease.

No flaws could be seen by anyone.

At this, Fu Zhengqing even praised Ye Liuyun.

"For our Great Qian to have a Governor Ye—it is truly our Dynasty’s honor!"

With that.

Fu Zhengqing didn’t care what Ye Liuyun’s attitude was, nor whether he’d respond.

He simply turned his gaze to the middle-aged man standing before Ye Liuyun.

"Is this the mastermind behind the rebellion?"

"Not necessarily. After all, who knows if anyone else stands behind this man—wouldn’t you agree?"

As he spoke.

Ye Liuyun smiled and looked at Fu Zhengqing.

The glint in his eyes made Fu Zhengqing suspect that Ye Liuyun had probably guessed something.

Well, if Ye Liuyun were a fool, he’d be dead already—he wouldn’t have survived till now.

But even so, Fu Zhengqing’s expression barely wavered.

Such composure—Fu Zhengqing certainly possessed.

He wouldn’t be so easily exposed.

"Since that’s the case, we really ought to interrogate thoroughly—rebellion is no trivial matter!"

With those words.

Fu Zhengqing suddenly turned his head to look at one of the officials behind him.

"Just so happens Minister Qian of the Ministry of Justice is present. Take this man back and conduct a rigorous interrogation at the Ministry—I’m sure the culprit hiding in the shadows will come out!"

"Huh?"

Lord Qian, who’d been hiding like a quail, was suddenly name-dropped. He stood frozen for a moment.

They still didn’t know exactly what was going on.

But they could see enough—this was some kind of contest between Ye Liuyun and Fu Zhengqing.

Naturally, none of them wanted to get caught between these two. Neither party was easy to mess with—best to keep one’s head down and act invisible.

But unexpectedly, his name was called out just like that.

The other officials, upon hearing this, visibly let out a sigh of relief.

Better someone else than me.

As long as I’m not vulnerable, I can accept whatever happens to the rest.

What’s more—

They all quietly edged further away, all acting terrified they’d get dragged into the affair.

",,,"

Damn it, so much for camaraderie!

Lord Qian now wore a face full of misery—how could he not realize he was being used? Had he known, he wouldn’t have joined this mess.

"Someone from the Ministry of Justice?"

Ye Liuyun raised an eyebrow slightly, letting his gaze drift over.

"Y—yes, Governor Ye!"

Feeling Ye Liuyun’s eyes on him,

Lord Qian of the Ministry couldn’t keep playing the quail.

He could only lift his head and force a smile at Ye Liuyun.

In terms of rank, this Lord Qian of the Ministry definitely outranked Ye Liuyun as Southern Governor.

Except.

Facing Ye Liuyun, he didn’t even dare look up and meet his eyes.

The reason?

It’s Ye Liuyun’s ruthless reputation. In the Great Qian Dynasty, anyone with power had crossed paths with Ye Liuyun’s troubles, yet look—Ye Liuyun is still alive and well.

That says it all, doesn’t it?

"Governor Ye, rest assured!"

Fu Zhengqing was still wearing his faint smile as he spoke to Ye Liuyun.

"The Ministry of Justice is quite skilled in interrogation—I’m certain we’ll get useful information!"

",,,"

Those words—

Lord Qian’s face flushed. He was a Ministry man, yes—but he’d never set foot inside the Celestial Prison.

Just how skilled he was at interrogation, he couldn’t say.

Mostly he knew how to take bribes and let people off.

Now—

Lord Qian realized he had to make a choice: offend Ye Liuyun, or offend Fu Zhengqing.

Damn it.

He didn’t want to offend either!

But at this moment, not only Ye Liuyun, but even Fu Zhengqing were both looking in his direction.

If he kept silent any longer, he’d risk offending them both!

No way out.

"G—Governor Ye! How about I first escort this man to the Celestial Prison? If we can’t get anything out of him, then hand him over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard—how about that?"

This took him ages to come up with.

Even if he’s offended, it should be relatively mild!

But it was clear he’d prefer to side with Fu Zhengqing. After all, they were all civil officials—and as the chief of the civil service, Fu Zhengqing couldn’t directly dismiss them, but it’d be nothing for him to demote them to powerless posts.

Compared like that—

Of course he’d rather offend Ye Liuyun less.

"And what if I say no?"

"Uh!"

Ye Liuyun’s words left Lord Qian at a loss for what to do.

Was he really supposed to force Ye Liuyun to hand the man over?