Prefectural Magistrate Song thought for a moment and said, "How did he come up with the idea of having you lower the grain prices?" Since his own rice shops were few, and besides, these matters were managed by his wife, he hadnāt inquired much about them.
"He claims it was discovered by chance." Prefect Liu thought carefully, realizing something was amiss, "Could it be that he already knows these shops are run by us? He must have investigated us."
"If thatās the case, Iām afraid that affair wonāt remain secret for long." Prefectural Magistrate Song said in a gloomy tone.
"Then what should we do?" Prefect Liu instinctively asked.
He hadnāt expected that as a Prefect himself, he would always defer to a Prefectural Magistrateās opinion.
Prefectural Magistrate Song narrowed his eyes, thinking that since the issues with Great Qi likely wouldnāt be traced back to him, he might escape death by buying his way out of it. But those shops, profiting from power, were undeniable; if they found one, theyād find the other. With Ye Ziāanās ruthless methods, even if he wasnāt put to death, heād be sentenced to a decade or so in prison.
Moreover, no response came from his letters to that side, and he had no idea what had happened. He couldnāt escape to Great Qi.
In this situation, unable to flee to Great Qi and not wanting to be punished by Great Zhou, the only option was to silence someone.
Thus, he made a throat-slicing gesture toward Prefect Liu.
"Ah?" Prefect Liu was startled and then asked, "Do we really have to?"
"What else can we do? Do you want to be stripped of your rank or sentenced?" Prefectural Magistrate Song rolled his eyes, "Ye Ziāan is impartial and incorruptible. You mentioned trying to bribe him before, but Iām telling you, that wonāt work. Would someone like him ever lack money? The result of doing so would only be to provide him with more evidence. We might as well go all the way."
"Could it be that weāre overthinking it, and maybe he hasnāt discovered us at all?" Prefect Liu hesitated, still reluctant to commit murder.
Prefectural Magistrate Song almost coughed up blood from his indecision, "Are you stupid? First, he has you lower grain prices, and then the court unifies the grain prices. Have you ever thought about why? He must have known these shops were ours. He feared youād raise the prices again after he left, so he reported to the court to unify grain prices."
"If he can find out about these shops, why wouldnāt he uncover other things?" Prefectural Magistrate Song added, "Do you really think heās just here looking for children? If Iām not mistaken, he must have received a secret order from the Emperor; otherwise, why would he come straight to Zhejiang? As far as I know, Zhejiangās tax remittances have been decreasing over the years. Such a prosperous area, yet it turns over so little silver each year. Anyone with a brain can see thereās a problem."
"See? As soon as Ye Ziāan arrived, the issue came to light." Prefectural Magistrate Song said angrily, "When he came to our Xining, he had you adjust the prices; he must have investigated. Otherwise, if he was only here for personal matters, he wouldnāt have meddled in these affairs."
Prefect Liu thought for a moment and then said, "Alright, letās do it. Iām used to my current life; I donāt want to go back to living humbly in my hometown or being locked in a cage. I canāt accept either of those."
"Remember not to use the guards from the prefecture. Donāt we have a group of bandits who fled here from other prefectures in our Xining?" Prefectural Magistrate Song narrowed his small eyes again, "Use those people. Let them fight it out with Ye Ziāanās men. By then, both sides will suffer, and our Xining will be calm and safe."