Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 521 - 472: Bloodshed

Chapter 521: Chapter 472: Bloodshed
Master Xi Yangyu raised his right hand and with a casual wave, those soldiers submerged in the crowd were picked out by Telekinesis and cast aside on the road.
The common people who were almost at the city gates were also pulled back into the city by Telekinesis.
The Mind of a Telekinesis Master could split steles and stones, stop rivers and cut off their flow, but for every bit of concentration divided, the strength of the Telekinesis would be weakened slightly.
Only a Candle Cloud Telekinesis Master could effortlessly control over a thousand people in an instant without injuring anyone.
Luckily, I arrived in time.
He Fanshuang scanned the scene, her gaze lingered for a moment on the young men disguised as ordinary commoners carrying coffins, but she said nothing. She turned to look at the Taiyuan Governor.
The Taiyuan Governor also understood that this was an opportunity to rectify the situation. He stepped forward a few paces, took a deep breath, and shouted to the dazed commoners of Taiyuan Prefecture, who had been freed from their restraints, "My fellow townspeople, I know that you have all been bewitched by the thieves’ flyers and temporarily lost your way. That’s why you attacked the city gates.
Please rest assured, the court always prioritizes the safety of the common people the most. The Taiyuan Government has heard your demands.
Our Observer Li is still engrossed in researching the remedy at the mansion, and he will soon make progress. The days of the city being sealed will end soon..."
"Nothing but lies!"
A young man who had been carrying a coffin to ram the gates cried in grief and anger, "You always say to trust the government office, but before the city was sealed, who was it that said there was no need to panic?
Who said that people from workshops far from the plague zone needn’t rush to leave the city?
Who brags in the newspapers every day, taking the credit for the work of volunteers, and only s the good news but not the bad? Isn’t it you?
After all, you don’t need to stay in the worst plague areas. You just need to sit in the government office with talisman boards installed every day, enjoying the breeze, and flipping through the list of plague victims submitted.
The dead bodies carried out from the workshops daily are just numbers to you.
How could you possibly understand the feeling of being locked at home, anxiously listening to the news of neighbors to your left and right being taken away every day?"
The young man’s cries echoed over South City, and many commoners of Taiyuan Prefecture who peeked out showed expressions of empathetic distress.
"I don’t understand, so I’ve come."
A calm statement came from outside the city gates, drawing everyone’s attention simultaneously.
Looking over, they saw a figure dressed in a purple robe, broad and stout, walking slowly toward the city gates. He wore an ornamental jade belt and had a mask on his face; his appearance was clearly that of...
"Prince Yue?"
Xi Yangyu and the Taiyuan officials who had had the fortune to see Prince Yue, Li Hui, before, exclaimed in astonishment.
Li Hui was not alone. More than twenty riders stopped in front of the city gates, including not only his assistant officers and guards but also Li Leqing.
Seeing Li Leqing’s appearance startled He Fanshuang, who arched her eyebrows.
Li Leqing also noticed He Fanshuang and nodded in greeting from a distance.
"I am Prince Yue of Yu Country, the Great General of the Left Guard, the governor commanding Xiangzhou from afar, and I oversee the military affairs of the seven prefectures: Du Xiang, Wei, Li, Wei, Ming, Xing, and Bei."
Li Hui declared aloud, "Yu Country never abandons her citizens, and neither does the court forget those troubled by the plague.
I will eat and live together with the people of Taiyuan Prefecture, standing guard within the city!"
Li Hui’s words resonated powerfully, and the officials of Taiyuan Prefecture were visibly moved. Even the crowd in the streets looked at each other, unsure whether to continue their desperate rush for the gates.
"Governor Guo."
Li Hui called to the Taiyuan Prefecture Governor, "Please give the order, let the people return home."
"Oh, yes."
The Taiyuan Governor, as if waking from a dream, quickly said, "My fellow townspeople, please go back home. Today’s incident was caused by flyers spread by thieves. The government office will not pursue this matter further."
With Prince Yue intervening and the promise from the Taiyuan Governor, the crowd in the streets eventually dispersed to their respective homes.
The Taiyuan Prefecture Governor then pulled aside a garrison officer and whispered a few sentences.
To quietly gather so many common people, someone must have orchestrated it from behind the scenes. Considering those youths carrying coffins, suspected to be Cultivators, the mastermind was practically obvious—only a few in the entire Taiyuan Prefecture had such capabilities.
The garrison officer had his subordinates secretly follow the suspicious individuals to see where they were heading.
Li Hui approached, waving his hand at the Taiyuan officials who were eager to flatter and ingratiate themselves, and said, "Let’s go to the Governor Mansion first."
The group returned to the Governor Mansion, where Li Hui visited the laboratory to discuss the progress on the production of the specific remedy with Li Ang.
Meanwhile, He Fanshuang pulled Li Leqing into a corner and whispered, "Le Ling, why have you come?"
"I came to deliver a letter."
Li Leqing stuck out her tongue and took out a letter signed by Galuo from her bosom. "Galuo’s letter arrived in Chang’an yesterday," she explained. "Due to the blockade, it couldn’t be delivered to Taiyuan Prefecture.
So I had my fourth brother bring me to Taiyuan Prefecture—he just happened to be assigned to Hebei Dao to oversee preventive measures against the plague in places such as Xiangzhou."
"Is that so?"
He Fanshuang glanced at the letter. No matter how important the letter was, there was no need for a Princess from Yu Country to deliver it personally.
It was clear Li Leqing was worried about Li Ang’s condition and had come specially for him.
He Fanshuang’s gaze paused briefly but she didn’t call Li Leqing out on her excuse. She said calmly, "Taiyuan Prefecture isn’t safe, and as a friend, I still suggest that after you deliver this letter, you return to Chang’an as soon as possible."
Li Leqing hesitated, "The unsafety you mentioned is..."
"The noble families in the city."
He Fanshuang said indifferently, "The crowd that carried coffins into the street just now was obviously secretly gathered by the likes of gentry.
If Master Xi Yangyu had not arrived in time today, and those people had managed to break open the city gates with the coffins, allowing the commoners to flee outside,
even if the Taiyuan Prefecture’s garrison could capture all the people afterward, it would cause an irreparable adverse impact.
And, if we assume even more malicious intent, those Cultivators hidden among the people might just want to see Sergeants brutally beat the common people, and the common people killing Sergeants in retaliation, hoping for both sides to bleed rivers, thereby undermining public morale in Taiyuan Prefecture.
As long as the bloody incident is big enough and brutal enough, it could completely cause the Chang’an Court to revoke its orders, compelling them to compromise with the noble families, allowing them to leave the State Mansion first to preserve themselves.
Using human lives as pawns and the current situation as the chessboard—those thousand-year-old noble families are certainly capable of such things.
Moreover, they have been entrenched here for too long and don’t need family members to take action in person; appointing subordinates can accomplish the plan.
For example, those pamphlets were privately printed by certain rich merchants, seemingly unrelated to the Prince Manor on the surface.
It is also hard for the garrison to find evidence to convict the Wang Family."
For her friend Li Leqing, He Fanshuang was exceptionally sincere, saying far more than usual.
"What about Li Ang..." Li Leqing asked, her expression filled with worry.
"He’s fine. Even if the noble families are insane, they wouldn’t dare sneak into the Governor Mansion to harm him—that would be tantamount to treason."
He Fanshuang said earnestly, "What we can do is to reduce his worries, allowing him to research the remedy without any burden."
"..."
Li Leqing was silent for a long time, then suddenly looked up and said, "I understand, but I still want to stay."
He Fanshuang frowned slightly, "Hmm?"
"Fanshuang, you also said that the fundamental goal of the city’s noble families is to abandon the common people in the city and flee.
For this, they are willing to use common people as pawns, aiming for rivers of blood."
Li Leqing took a deep breath and said with a smile, "A Prince and a Princess remaining in the city, to some extent, should give the noble families a bit more concern, right?"