Within a few short hours, the order painstakingly established by the imperial court was destroyed!
Moreover, it set an extremely terrible precedent!
From now on, whenever there was any injustice, people would attack in droves!
How could the court restrain the populace!
Xu Hengyan was so berated that he dared not utter a sound.
Let alone Xu Hengyan, even the Duke of Wei would only listen if he were present.
As Xie Jiang and the other two eavesdropped by the window, Yue Rong was counting on his fingers how many egregious acts had occurred during this riot.
There were a total of forty-seven cases of robbery, twenty-one homicides, and thirty-six cases of assaulting women! The number of homicides might continue to increase, and not all women who were violated and committed suicide could be saved!
A total of nineteen shops and residences were burned down! Those affected had no one to turn to for help and could only weep in despair with their families!
Xia Zeshi and Xu Hengyi listened, dumbfounded. They knew the disturbance had a significant impact, but they had not expected it to be so terrifying.
The ugliness of human nature was fully exposed in the chaos.
"Who's lurking outside! Get in here!" Yue Rong's sudden roar was heard.
Xia Zeshi and Xu Hengyi's faces turned ashen.
Xie Jiang poked her head out of the window, smiling and waving at Yue Rong.
At first glance, Yue Rong was stunned to see Xie Jiang.
For a moment, he felt that the eyes of this young man seemed somewhat familiar.
But upon closer inspection, he felt that he must have never seen such beautiful eyes.
Otherwise, he would surely have been deeply impressed.
Xu Hengyan was almost blinded by Xie Jiang's smiling face.
Helpless, he was not surprised at all.
Only she could smile in front of the Duke of Qian.
Xia Zeshi and Xu Hengyi followed Xie Jiang into the study like quails.
Yue Rong, who had inspected the scenes of the disaster, was furious. He had been busy appeasing the public for days, and when he finally had some free time, he went to the Dali Temple, intending to teach the scoundrelly instigator a good lesson.
However, the Dali Temple informed him that the person had been released by Duke Xu's protection!
The brat who caused such a great disaster, without receiving any punishment, was actually released by Xu Hengyan's protection!
This was simply outrageous!
Was there no law in this country!
Enraged, Yue Rong went directly to their door.
"Duke of Qian."
"Youngster Xie Jiang greets the Duke of Qian." Xie Jiang's attitude towards Yue Rong was unusually proper.
Xu Hengyi became increasingly fearful. Would this seemingly innocent young man be planning some big move?
Yue Rong completely ignored the other two, his sharp eyes scrutinizing Xie Jiang, who stepped forward calmly.
"So it was you, brat, who did this good deed!" He had only heard that it was a young man, but he did not expect him to be so much younger than imagined.
Such young, yet so ruthless, if not strictly disciplined and restrained, he would surely endanger the country when he grew up!
Xie Jiang, however, seemed not to be afraid at all, "I dare not accept the praise, I was eliminating a scourge for the people."
She really thought the Duke of Qian was praising her!
Xu Hengyi broke out in a sweat for her.
"Even to eliminate a scourge for the people, you cannot use such drastic methods! Have you heard the tragic cries on the streets outside!" Yue Rong's angry spittle even splashed onto Xie Jiang's face.
"Do you know how many families were broken, how many people have no place to live..."
The barrage of criticism, originally directed at Xu Hengyan, now fell entirely upon Xie Jiang.
Xia Zeshi and Xu Hengyi, huddled to the side, had pale faces.
Xie Jiang lowered her head and played with the carpet with her toes. She felt that Yue Rong's spittle had mostly subsided, and she casually poured a cup of tea and offered it to him.
Yue Rong realized that he had wasted his breath for nothing. This brat was like a stubborn mule, impervious to reason, and had not listened to a single word!
"To say that Xie Jiang acted out of selfish motives is a great injustice to Xie Jiang."
The more Xu Hengyi listened, the more he felt Xie Jiang was wronged. Seeing that Yue Rong's angry scolding had temporarily stopped, he couldn't help but muster his courage to defend Xie Jiang.
"Xie Jiang has never met Lu Baofang, nor has she any past grievances or recent enmity with the Marquis of Nanxiong, so how could she have any selfish motives?"
Seeing Yue Rong look at him, Xu Hengyi's scalp tightened, but he still puffed out his chest and continued.
"It was merely pity for the hardships of Wu Hongyun and her daughter, a moment of compassion. Upon learning of Lu Baofang's heinous crimes, she decided to fight against overwhelming odds."
"However, Xie Jiang did not expect that the furious populace would become so crazed and terrifying. Xie Jiang only wanted to expose Lu Baofang's ugly face, and what happened afterward was beyond her expectations."
"No one wanted such a thing to happen, and Xie Jiang feels deeply remorseful. As soon as she was imprisoned, she fell into a coma."
Yue Rong looked at Xie Jiang thoughtfully. Although her appearance was too dazzling and easily made people overlook other things, upon closer inspection, she did indeed look sickly.
Would such a brat feel remorse?!
To make Yue Rong believe that the subsequent developments far exceeded Xie Jiang's imagination and that Xie Jiang was truly remorseful and sincerely repentant, Xu Hengyi quickly added, "Really, if my second brother had not promptly obtained the Emperor's decree, Xie Jiang might have already perished in the Dali Temple prison."
Yue Rong raised his eyelids and glanced at Xu Hengyi with an unreadable expression.
Xie Jiang patted Xu Hengyi on the shoulder, saying there was no need to explain so much to Yue Rong. Yue Rong had come to their door today not to condemn her.
"Although I did not wish for this to happen, it has happened. I have never intended to shirk responsibility. It is my responsibility, and I will bear it entirely."
Xie Jiang raised her palm, "I will pay five thousand taels of silver to compensate for the losses. Within an hour, it will be delivered to the Shuntian Prefecture Office. I request the Duke of Qian to supervise."
Her offer was a sum too high for Yue Rong to argue against.
Yue Rong couldn't help but scrutinize Xie Jiang again.
Could it be that he had misjudged her? Although this brat was rebellious and lawless, his conscience had not been eaten by dogs?
To prevent another menace from appearing in this world, Yue Rong lectured Xie Jiang thoroughly once more before leaving.
However, this time, he did not resort to shouting but spoke earnestly, teaching Xie Jiang how to conduct herself.
Xu Hengyan, seeing Yue Rong leave in a hurry, immediately chased after him to see him off.
He had initially thought that since Yue Rong had come to their door in such an imposing manner, he would surely skin Xie Jiang alive, or he himself would be skinned in Xie Jiang's place.
He had not expected to be merely scolded.
Now it seemed he had underestimated Xie Jiang.
Xu Hengyi was stunned by Xie Jiang's immense wealth.
Five thousand taels of silver!
She could casually produce such a large sum of money!
Xie Jiang sat down casually with her legs crossed, tapping her fingers on the table.
Xia Zeshi, well-trained, poured a cup of tea and handed it over.
Then, he looked as if he had something to say but hesitated, appearing to be full of unspoken words.
Xie Jiang acted as if she saw nothing.
Finally, Xia Zeshi could not hold back, "I heard that after opening the several treasuries of the Marquis of Nanxiong's mansion, they were all empty."
Xie Jiang responded with a faint "oh," as if it had nothing to do with her.
However, Xia Zeshi remembered what she had said at Chunse Manyuan.
She had booked the entire Chunse Manyuan and mobilized all its staff to help print and distribute flyers.
She had also said that Lu Baofang would pay a considerable fee for this.
And now she was producing five thousand taels of silver without batting an eye.
He did not believe that she had nothing to do with the emptying of the Marquis of Nanxiong's mansion's treasuries.
But how had she managed it?