Chapter 226: Ying City

Chapter 226: Yingzhou City

Two days later, Cheng Ge and his party arrived in Yingzhou City, tired and dusty from the road.

Just as the reports said, Yingzhou bordered Yuanzhou, sitting on the north-south trade route, and was once a bustling hub of merchants and caravans.

Yet, the moment they entered the city, Cheng Ge sensed something amiss.

The Yingzhou he saw now was far from the prosperous big city he'd imagined.

The streets were wide, but nearly empty. Most shops on either side were desolate, many with their doors and windows boarded up, their plaques covered in dust.

The few stores that were open felt half-dead, with clerks leaning in doorways, dozing off, hardly any customers in sight.

The road was full of potholes and hadn't been fixed in ages, with rainwater from two days ago still pooled in the hollows.

A gust of wind swept by, kicking up leaves and scraps of paper, making it look even more desolate.

"This…" Ling Feng looked at the scene before him in disbelief.

Though he had never been to Yingzhou, he had heard of its nickname, "Little Jiangnan," a reputation for wealth and prosperity. Hard to believe it had fallen apart this badly.

Cheng Ge squinted. Even his fake belly didn't look as ridiculous in this run-down setting.

He said nothing, his gaze slowly sweeping across the empty streets and dilapidated shops.

"Master, you've been walking for a while. How about we take a break?" Funiang suggested softly, pointing to a relatively clean wonton stall at the street corner.

Cheng Ge nodded, stuck out his fake belly and waddled over with his three "wives" and two servants.

The stall was run by a middle-aged couple. The proprietress lit up at the sight of customers and hurried over with a warm smile.

She wiped the already clean table with a rag anyway and beamed at them.

"Welcome, honored guests, please have a seat. How about some wontons to rest your feet?" She poured each of them a cup of cheap tea.

Cheng Ge plopped down on a stool, which creaked in protest. Adopting his nouveau riche drawl, he said, "Hmm, a rest is in order.

This Yingzhou City… isn't what it's cracked up to be, is it? Ma'am, give us each a bowl of wontons."

"Coming right up!" the proprietress replied, busying herself as she chatted. "You folks are from out of town, right?"

"From the north, just passing through on business," Cheng Ge started weaving another tale.

Hearing this, the proprietress was taken aback. "Oh wow! It's rare these days for merchants to take the Yingzhou road. Most go around via Feng City."

Cheng Ge jumped on the chance. "Exactly! I was just thinking it's strange. Yingzhou is supposed to be a big city, but… why is it so run-down?

I was hoping to find a nice place to relax after this hard journey, but I haven't even seen many decent inns."

Just then, the stall owner came over carrying several steaming bowls of wontons. Overhearing the conversation, he sighed and chimed in.

"Esteemed sir, you must not have been here for a few years, right?

A few years back, our Yingzhou was nothing like this! Merchants from north and south came and went, the streets were so crowded you could hardly move! All ruined by those damned mountain bandits!"

Cheng Ge picked up his spoon, about to scoop up a wonton and bring it to his mouth.

Beside him, Lü Rou swiftly reached out, took his bowl and spoon from his hand, and carefully blew on the hot wonton to cool it.

Only after confirming it was no longer scalding did she place the spoon and the small bowl of wontons back in front of Cheng Ge.

Cheng Ge took it naturally and continued, "Mountain bandits? Ah, I heard a mention of them on the road. They're called… Axe Ridge, right?"

The owner, seeing the guest was informed, grew more animated. He pulled up a stool and sat down, lowering his voice.

"It's not just Axe Ridge! Bandits from several nearby mountain strongholds are rampant!

Like Blackcloud Stockade, Vulture Gully… They've basically locked down all the trade routes leading to Yuanzhou.

Out of every ten merchant caravans that set out, if one makes it back intact, the bandits must have been feeling merciful that day.

Who would dare come after that? With no caravans, our city just withered."

He grew more excited as he spoke, unconsciously raising his voice. "And I've heard…"

He leaned in close to Cheng Ge, his voice dropping to almost a whisper.

"I've heard that the prefect has been well-fed by those bandits for years, which is why the annual bandit-suppression campaigns always come up empty.

They're just for show! Otherwise, how could bandits never be wiped out?"

The proprietress's face changed color. She quickly grabbed his ear and scolded in a low voice, "Are you looking for death?! Spouting such nonsense! Do you have a death wish?"

The owner winced in pain, pulled his ear free with a grimace, and muttered rebelliously, "What's there to fear? All the neighbors say the same thing. I'm not the only one…"

Cheng Ge scooped up the now-lukewarm wonton and slowly chewed it.

His eyes darted between the couple. Beneath the exaggerated tycoon expression, his gaze was sharp as a blade.

Bandit troubles weren't limited to one place. Rumors of the prefect's incompetence in suppressing bandits and his collusion with them were already circulating among the people…

He swallowed the wonton, smacked his lips, and put on an exaggerated look of fear and relief.

"Oh my! That's terrifying! Thank you for the warning, boss! Looks like we've had a stroke of bad luck on this trip! I'll finish my business quickly and get out of this dangerous place!"

With that, he buried his head in his bowl, slurping down the wontons as if truly frightened and just wanting to fill his belly.

---

"Boss, three more bowls…"

After they finished eating, Cheng Ge and his party left the wonton stall and slowly strolled along the desolate main street.

They seemed to be aimlessly wandering, but in reality, they were mentally mapping out the city's layout, its alleyways, and the slightly shabby location of the government office.

When they reached a less frequented alley, Ling Feng could no longer hold back and lowered his voice to ask.

"Master, this prefect is clearly problematic. The people's grievances all point to him. Should we start by investigating him?"

Cheng Ge did not stop walking. His gaze swept over a patch of moss on the wall. He slowly shook his head and replied in an equally low voice.

"No need. In my view, this prefect should be innocent."

"Innocent?" Ling Feng was taken aback, his face showing confusion. "But the stall owner's story was so detailed, and the common folk spread the same tale…"

Cheng Ge turned his head slightly. Beneath the bloated disguise, his eyes were clear and sharp.

"Ling Feng, you can't judge things solely by appearances, nor should you rely on just one source of hearsay. Think about three points."

He raised his fingers, counting them slowly and deliberately, matching his current appearance. He looked like a miserly landlord calculating the price of rice, but the content of his words was clear-headed and struck at the heart of the matter.

"First, the timing's wrong. The banditry in Yingzhou has been a problem for years—it didn't happen overnight.

The current prefect only took office last year. How many fools make it to a position like this?

If he truly intended to collude with the bandits and share the spoils, the smartest move would have been to 'follow the predecessor's playbook' and continue his predecessor's 'hands-off' approach. Why stir up a deeply rooted nest of bandits?

A strong dragon doesn't mess with a local snake. If this new prefect really wanted to play ball with the corrupt, his first act should have been to pay respects to the local bosses, not to court trouble.

His repeated military campaigns against the bandits—this alone defies common sense."

"Second, the interests don't align. Even if, as a newcomer, he wanted to make a splash and show off for his superiors, one or two campaigns, met with 'failure,' would have been enough.

Why keep sending troops, time and again, suffering losses each time? What benefit does that bring him?

Performance evaluations look at real peace and prosperity, not losses of men and matériel.

Repeated failures in bandit suppression will only trash his performance reviews, dashing any hope of promotion.

A corrupt official wants profit. Losing troops and poor performance only hurt his own interest—that makes no sense."

"Third, his reputation stinks." Chen Ge sneered, "Throughout history, true corrupt officials value their reputation and care deeply about their official image.

Even if they engage in all sorts of filth behind the scenes, they put up a facade of peace and prosperity, even claiming the title of 'incorruptible judge' to cover themselves.

And listen to what that shopkeeper said: 'Everyone in the neighborhood is saying it,' 'I'm not the only one.'

What does that mean? It means the rumors about the prefect colluding with bandits are widespread across Yingzhou, highly targeted, and completely undisguised.

Does this feel like natural popular discontent? More likely, it's a deliberate smear campaign, designed to dump all the blame on this new prefect, leaving him with no way to clear his name."

Ling Feng listened, his brows gradually relaxing, a look of sudden realization and admiration appearing in his eyes.

"The young master sees through it! I was careless in my thinking, nearly misled by the rumors."

Funiang added softly, "So then, this prefect isn't at fault at all; instead, he might be a capable official who truly wants to get things done but is blocked at every step, even smeared maliciously?"

Chen Ge nodded, squinting toward the slightly worn gate of the government office in the distance.

"I'd say ninety percent sure. The waters of Yingzhou run deeper than we thought.

The banditry is the surface; the real currents lie in the human heart—the scheming and malice in both official and public circles.

Someone doesn't want peace in Yingzhou, and even less does he want this new prefect to uncover anything."

He patted his round belly, a slick, mercenary smile spreading across his face again.

The night was pitch black and the wind howled, inside the inner residence of the Yingzhou government office.

In the study, the lamp had burned to its end; with a crackle, a tiny spark flared and died.

Song Yunzhi rubbed his sore eyes and closed the last official document; deep exhaustion was etched on his face.

The banditry, the rumors, the aftermath of failed suppression campaigns, the city's increasingly bleak economy... a thousand tangled threads bound him like an invisible net.

His brows were tightly furrowed. Clasping his hands behind his back, he paced into the courtyard, hoping the cold wind would clear his mind.

Looking up, a full moon hung in the sky, but it was utterly veiled by a thick, murky cloud that refused to budge, letting no clear light through.

"Alas..." he let out a long sigh, his chest tight with a stifling heaviness.

He turned back into his bedroom, undressed, lay down, and forced himself to close his eyes.

He had no idea how long he'd slept when a sudden, intense feeling of suffocation washed over him like a tide.

It felt like someone was covering his nose and mouth; his chest was bursting with pressure.

Song Yunzhi jolted awake from his dream, instinctively opening his mouth to shout, but barely a sound came out.

His blurry eyes suddenly met a face—a face enlarged and almost pressed against his.

Moonlight had somehow seeped in, outlining the features: curved brows and a smiling mouth.

A faint smile lingered at the corners of the lips, with an almost innocent yet eerie vibe in the dim light.

Song Yunzhi froze, stunned.

His heart stopped for a second; all sleep vanished.

He gasped for breath twice, and the first thought that popped into his mind was:

'Me, Song Yunzhi, old and fairly clean official, encounter a male fox spirit coming for my soul in the middle of the night? How... weird.'

The hand pinching his nose released him.

Fresh air rushed into his nostrils, making him cough twice.

"You're awake?" the "male fox spirit" said cheerfully, his voice low but clear.

It had an ease and familiarity completely out of place given the situation, as though he were merely waking a sleepy friend.

Song Yunzhi steadied himself and looked closely in the faint moonlight.

The man before him, though dressed in night clothes, had an extraordinarily noble and handsome face.

He instinctively looked behind him, where several men dressed in fighting gear stood.

All were expressionless, with long swords at their waists gleaming coldly in the dim light.

These were no ordinary people! Bandits? No. Enemies? He prided himself on being careful in office and had made no such enemies.

His internal alarm bells rang loudly. He instinctively shrank back, his back pressing against the cold bed frame.

"You... who are you? Why are you in this official's bedroom in the dead of night?! Come—"

But before the shout for 'guards!' could fully leave his mouth, a cold, hard object appeared out of nowhere and shoved right in front of his face, almost touching his nose.

The jade token was smooth and warm to the touch, carved with intricate dragon patterns.

In the center, a bold character 'Yu' (Imperial) shone clearly in the moonlight, symbolizing supreme imperial authority and the power of oversight.

Song Yunzhi's pupils contracted sharply; the rest of his cry got stuck in his throat, turning into a sharp gasp: "!!!"

Before he could react, the noble young man handed him another document. The cover bore the vermilion seal of the Censorate, glaring in the candlelight.

When he recognized it, Song Yunzhi's mind went blank. He practically tumbled off the bed.

Without even bothering to straighten his disheveled clothes, he knelt with a thud on the cold brick floor.

"This lower official, Song Yunzhi, Prefect of Yingzhou, pays... pays homage to Lord Censor!"

I didn't know the Lord Censor was coming, I failed to welcome you properly, and I've been very disrespectful. Please... please forgive me, Your Excellency!

Only then did Cheng Ge puff out his chest, clear his throat, and try to make his voice sound more befitting his status.

"Mm, no offense taken—ignorance isn't a crime. Lord Song, there is no need for such a grand bow. Please rise quickly. The night is late and the dew is heavy; don't catch a cold."

Song Yunzhi stood up trembling and hastily straightened his loose robes.

He still kept his head lowered, not daring to look directly, and asked cautiously.

"Does... does the Lord Censor's late-night visit mean... mean some urgent orders?"

His heart was pounding. Could it be that the Censorate had come so quietly to investigate him?

Thinking of the rumors about him in the city, a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

Cheng Ge, however, had already slowly strolled over to the couch and plopped down as if it were the most natural thing.

He even shifted inward to find a more comfortable position, his tone as relaxed as if chatting about everyday matters.

"I, by imperial decree, am on an inspection tour of the region. Passing through Yingzhou, I heard some unfavorable rumors and came by to have a look."

"Lord Song, there is no need to be nervous. I'm just here to check on how the people are doing and get a sense of the situation. Please sit down."