Sure enough, shortly after they sat down at the teahouse, they attracted the attention of many disaster victims.
The disaster victims pointed at Lord Gu in the prisoner’s cage, and most of their words were not kind.
At the same time, Ping Jiang also arrived from the city.
Seeing his spirited demeanor, Song Chaoyu knew that he had likely caught Lord Gu in a compromising position!
Upon seeing Ping Jiang, even Lord Gu himself sat up a little, seemingly curious about what Ping Jiang had to say to Mu Changxi.
Mu Changxi did not ask Ping Jiang to beat around the bush, saying instead, "Just say what you have to say. I, this prince, have nothing to hide from others."
Of course, perhaps only Lord Gu had so many secrets?
Song Chaoyu clearly saw Lord Gu’s throat move, as if he nervously swallowed.
Mu Changxi glanced at Ping Jiang, gesturing for him to sit to the side, and then asked, "How is it, have you found anything?"
"Yes."
Ping Jiang, however, stood with his fists clasped: "Your Highness ordered me to investigate Lord Gu's residence, and it has all been thoroughly investigated. In Lord Gu's residence, I discovered many things."
"Oh?"
Mu Changxi's voice grew a bit louder: "Tell everyone, what did you discover?"
Ping Jiang understood Mu Changxi's intention and raised his voice as well: "My subordinate found quite a lot!"
No one had expected Ping Jiang and his men to thoroughly search Lord Gu's residence, and certainly not Lord Gu's family.
Therefore, Lord Gu's family had not made any preparations whatsoever.
Ping Jiang discovered three thousand taels of silver and six thousand taels of gold of unknown origin from Lord Gu's residence!
In addition, there were countless bolts of fine silk and precious jewelry.
Ping Jiang said to Mu Changxi, "My subordinate had people estimate. These silks and jewelry alone are worth around one hundred thousand taels. Adding the six thousand taels of gold, three thousand taels of silver, and many precious calligraphy and paintings, the items hidden in Lord Gu's residence are worth approximately one hundred and fifty thousand taels at most!"
One hundred and fifty thousand taels?! This far exceeded the amount expected of a prefect of a prefecture!
At this moment, Song Chaoyu finally understood what others meant by "corruption"!
If a mere prefect of Haizhou City's residence could harbor so much ill-gotten wealth, then what about others? What about Prince Ning?
Perhaps in the past two years, his residence had also accumulated quite a few good things?
"Corrupt official!"
After hearing Ping Jiang's words, before Mu Changxi could speak, some of the onlookers from the crowd could no longer control their outrage.
Someone picked up a stone and hurled it fiercely at Lord Gu: "Corrupt official! You are unworthy of being the parent official of Haizhou City! Corrupt official, may you die a terrible death!"
Once one person acted, others naturally followed suit.
In an instant, whether it was stones or dirt, they were all thrown towards Lord Gu's prisoner cage!
Song Chaoyu even thought she saw something like a rotten shoe sole being thrown at Lord Gu.
Just looking at Lord Gu cowering in the corner, covering his head, Song Chaoyu couldn't help but want to laugh.
It truly was a case of reaping what one sows; Lord Gu had his day today!
Only when Lord Gu kept crying out "Ouch, ouch!" and his body was covered in bloodstains did Mu Changxi nod to Ping Jiang, signaling him to stop the disaster victims.
Then he pushed the wheelchair forward and said to the disaster victims, "Everyone, rest assured. No matter how much this Lord Gu has consumed in the past, I, this prince, will make him spit it all out! I will use all these discovered items for disaster relief. If you disaster victims trust me, you are welcome to enter Haizhou City and see if I, this prince, keep my word!"
"Good, good!"
Was this not like "timely rain after a long drought" for the disaster victims?
In an instant, everyone applauded, and even Song Chaoyu couldn't help but curve her lips as she looked at Mu Changxi. She had known from the beginning that Mu Changxi was by no means an incompetent or powerless person.
Even now, sitting in his wheelchair, he seemed as passionate and dazzling as the sunlight above.
If he had not experienced those hardships since childhood, he would likely have already become the "left and right arms" of the Emperor and the Crown Prince!
Song Chaoyu couldn't help but secretly vow in her heart that no matter where Mu Changxi went in the future, she would follow closely behind him, accompanying him! She would help Mu Changxi accomplish whatever he wished to achieve.
No matter what awaited them ahead, as long as the two of them could be united in heart, wouldn't that be enough?
Before Song Chaoyu's eyes, the people's support for Mu Changxi and their scorn for Lord Gu formed an extremely stark contrast.
This brought an indescribable sense of peace to Song Chaoyu's heart.
Seeing that Lord Gu had been sufficiently pelted with stones, Mu Changxi nodded to Ping Jiang: "Let's go, it's time to enter the city. Let me see what else awaits me in this Haizhou City!"
After such a long time, many of Haizhou City's officials had arrived, and Song Chaoyu recognized most of them.
Now that Lord Gu had become a prisoner, the person in charge of affairs in Haizhou City was named "Lei Hu." He was Lord Gu's "right-hand man" and the prefect of Haizhou City.
Naturally, there was also Zhang Qi, the general of the Haizhou City garrison.
The two of them had had a good relationship with Lord Gu before, but now, facing Mu Changxi, they were naturally even more cautious.
As Song Chaoyu pushed Mu Changxi through the city gate, Lord Lei and Lord Zhang were already waiting at the city entrance.
They knew that Lord Gu must have suffered a great deal on the journey, but they had not expected to see Lord Gu at this moment, covered in dirt and huddled in the corner of the prisoner's cart.
The two of them exchanged glances, realizing that they could not underestimate Mu Changxi!
They had previously heard that Prince Chang was merely a cripple with a broken leg, but now it seemed that Prince Chang was likely much more difficult to deal with than they had imagined.
Especially Lord Lei, who usually followed Lord Gu's lead, now only knew to hide behind Lord Zhang, not daring to say a word.
Mu Changxi paid him no mind. Upon seeing Lord Zhang and Lord Lei, he said, "Since I, this prince, have arrived, from today onwards, all affairs in Haizhou City will be under my personal command."
"Yes."
Lord Zhang cupped his fists towards Mu Changxi: "The Haizhou City garrison of ten thousand men is entirely at Your Highness's disposal."
Lord Lei also quickly stepped forward, expressing his willingness: "Furthermore, anything in Haizhou City, if Your Highness needs it, just tell this subordinate, and this subordinate will do his best!"
"Heh—"
Seeing Lord Lei's guilty look, Mu Changxi let out a cold laugh: "What is Lord Lei afraid of? Could it be that your residence, my lord, also contains something that I, this prince, cannot see, just like Lord Gu?"