The yamen runners on both sides immediately shouted, "Yes!"

As they spoke, two yamen runners holding fire-and-water cudgels stepped forward, ready to drag Jing Yue down for punishment.

"Hold on!"

Jiang Chen spoke slowly at this moment.

"Oh?"

Hearing Jiang Chen speak, Lü Changyang wasn't annoyed; instead, he felt somewhat happy.

You've finally spoken!

Dealing with the emperor's subordinates is nothing; dealing with the emperor himself is what's interesting.

"What do you have to say?" Lü Changyang asked.

"That a commoner who sues an official should be beaten with twenty strokes – which law is that?" Jiang Chen asked.

Lü Changyang sneered. "Of course, it's a law of my Great Wei!"

"Is that so?"

Jiang Chen looked at Lü Changyang as if he were an idiot. "If I remember correctly, hasn't His Majesty already changed that law to where the accuser gets at least twenty strokes?"

Lü Changyang was stunned, instinctively looking to the side, where the strategist had originally been standing. But now, it was empty.

Without his legal advisor, Lü Changyang couldn't be sure if what Jiang Chen said was right or wrong.

But he had plenty of ways to deal with it.

"Bang!"

Lü Changyang slammed the gavel heavily and shouted, "Are you questioning this official? Men, seize this troublemaker and hold him down. I will personally slap his face!"

Immediately, two yamen runners stepped forward to restrain Jiang Chen.

Zhao Ting had long been disgusted with Lü Changyang's behavior, and seeing the yamen runners dare to disrespect Jiang Chen, he couldn't bear it any longer.

Before the two yamen runners could approach, Zhao Ting stepped forward and directly lifted them up, throwing them to the ground.

"Ouch!"

Only when they hit the ground and cried out in pain did the two yamen runners realize they had been beaten.

Lü Changyang had originally wanted to personally enjoy the thrill of hitting the emperor, but he hadn't expected Jiang Chen's subordinates to act so quickly.

Lü Changyang immediately jumped up from his chair like a rabbit, hid toward the rear office, and shouted, "What do you want? Are you rebelling?"

"Let me tell you, in my Great Wei, rebellion is punishable by extermination of the nine generations!"

"Is that so?"

Jiang Chen smiled coldly. "Then what is your crime for ignoring the laws of the imperial court, privately raising the tuition fees of government schools, and even forbidding the construction of private schools?"

Hearing this, Lü Changyang wasn't alarmed; instead, a gleam flashed in his eyes.

That the other party could say these things proved their identity.

This hint of joy didn't escape Jiang Chen's notice.

From the initial targeting to the current joy, all of this indicated that the other party had guessed his identity.

A county magistrate who violated the laws of the Great Wei, yet wasn't afraid when the emperor arrived – there must be something strange about this.

Thinking of this, Jiang Chen had a guess in his mind.

Could it be like the county magistrate of Baozhou, wanting to mobilize troops from outside the city?

Jiang Chen quickly rejected this idea.

The county magistrate of Baozhou didn't know his identity at all, thinking he was a troublemaker, so he mobilized troops from outside the city.

But the current magistrate of Xiangzhou clearly already knew his identity.

Knowing his identity, yet deliberately stalling for time…

A cold light flashed in Jiang Chen's eyes.

This person probably has thoughts of rebellion!

But a county magistrate couldn't possibly have such courage.

Behind him, there must be someone else hidden!

At this moment, Lü Changyang said, "What is your identity that you dare to point fingers at me?"

He shouted again to the yamen runners, who were both shocked and angry, "Why haven't you quickly captured this person?"

The yamen runners immediately shouted and waved their fire-and-water cudgels, stepping forward to capture the three of Jiang Chen.

Bang bang bang!

Zhao Ting and Jing Yue acted simultaneously, knocking down the yamen runners in the blink of an eye.

"What?"

Lü Changyang was shocked. He hadn't expected these yamen runners to be so vulnerable, failing to stall for time at all.

What to do?

Seeing Jiang Chen approaching with the menacing Zhao Ting and Jing Yue, Lü Changyang turned to run toward the rear office.

At this moment, a loud shout came from outside the main hall.

"Who dares to be presumptuous within Xiangzhou's borders?!"

Hearing this voice, Lü Changyang was overjoyed and quickly shouted, "Head Constable Wu, I'm here!"

Wu Hong had already seen the scattered yamen runners in the main hall and couldn't help but be shocked.

Clang—

He drew his saber and shouted to the nearly hundred burly men behind him, who were also holding shining long sabers, "The magistrate is in trouble, everyone, kill the villains!"

"Kill!"

Hundreds of people poured into the county yamen's main hall, instantly filling it to capacity.

After the crowd rushed into the hall, they discovered that Lü Changyang had already been restrained.

Zhao Ting grabbed Lü Changyang's neck with one hand and shouted angrily, "If you dare take another step forward, I'll kill him!"

Wu Hong was taken aback and shouted, "Release Magistrate Lü!"

Zhao Ting naturally wouldn't release him. He said, "Young Master, Jing Yue, you go first."

Jing Yue strongly agreed with Zhao Ting's suggestion.

"Young Master, you go first, we'll cover your retreat!"

For Jing Yue, an assassin, protecting Jiang Chen, the emperor, was their greatest mission.

Jiang Chen's gaze swept over Wu Hong and the others, gradually turning cold.

According to the laws of the Great Wei, the armed forces that county yamen could possess couldn't exceed twenty people.

But there were at least a hundred people in front of him!

Not to mention that some of them had fierce auras, clearly not good people.

No wonder there were so many unreasonable things happening within Xiangzhou, yet no one dared to report them to the capital.

It seemed they had all been stopped by these people!

Seeing his usual henchmen arrive, Lü Changyang's confidence soared.

The situation was now back in his hands.

"The best thing for you three to do is to surrender obediently!"

Even with his life still in Zhao Ting's hands, Lü Changyang couldn't help but threaten.

"Otherwise, these hundred-plus people, one knife each, could chop you into mincemeat!"

Wu Hong echoed, "Magistrate Lü is right! Quickly release the magistrate!"

Zhao Ting sneered, putting some strength into his hand. "Do you think we're stupid? If we release him, will you let us go?"

Wu Hong couldn't say anything. Of course, they wouldn't let these three people go.

The scene froze for a moment.

Jing Yue and Zhao Ting kept urging Jiang Chen to leave, but Jiang Chen didn't agree.

He still wanted to see who was hiding behind all of this.

Jiang Chen's persistence wasn't in vain. After the two sides were deadlocked for a quarter of an hour, another burst of footsteps came from outside.

Wu Hong looked back and was overjoyed to see the strategist.

This strategist was resourceful and known as Little Zhuge.

He would definitely have a way to deal with the current situation.

Lü Changyang also breathed a sigh of relief and called out, "Strategist, quickly think of a way to save me!"

The henchmen made way, allowing the strategist to walk in.

However, they were somewhat surprised that following closely behind the strategist was someone they didn't recognize.

Moreover, judging from the strategist's attitude, he was very respectful to this person.

This puzzled everyone – who exactly was this person?

The moment Lü Changyang saw the person behind the strategist, his heart skipped a beat.