Do you know: I, a commoner prime minister

Chapter 25 The Mastermind

Stone kicked the man who was rushing in front of him back, causing him to crash into the two people behind him, fall to the ground, and clutch his chest, crying out in pain.

Seeing this, the others quickly gathered around to check on the man's injuries; it seemed that the man was the leader.

"What are you doing surrounding me? Get him!"

The man was helped up and, after a while, gritted his teeth, stared at the stone, and shouted at the people surrounding him.

Seeing that they still wanted to cause trouble, Shi Tou knew the importance of striking first, so he quickly stepped forward and, just as they were about to get up, quickly dealt with them.

These people are just thugs and scoundrels; when they can't beat someone, they kneel down and beg for mercy.

"Speak! Who sent you?"

Zhou An and Jiang Fan got out of the car, walked forward, and asked.

"Young master, we brothers lost money and are trying to extort some," the leader of the group said hastily.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Zhou An sneered, "You didn't even ask for money. As soon as my driver got out of the carriage, you rushed over. It's more like you wanted to kill me for money!"

"I'm innocent! I was afraid the driver would panic and drive away, so I tried to restrain him first," the man said urgently.

Zhou An was too lazy to waste words with him: "In broad daylight, you intend to rob and kill for money. At the very least, you will be hanged. I still have the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the imperial examination). As long as I hand you over to the government, no matter who is behind you, you will all die!"

Furthermore, your identities might be discovered, and your families could be implicated!

This is the road from Jinling City to the dock. Only a madman would act here if he were only after money.

They were obviously coming for him.

Zhou An guessed that these people were likely sent by Fei Guang.

Since Fei Guang left from Wangjiang Tower last time, he has indeed not appeared in front of Zhou An again.

But as the first line of the couplet spread, the story between the two also became known.

However, Zhou An always stayed in the city, and even when he went out to play, he was with Hai Simian and the others.

Fei Guang couldn't find an opportunity at all.

Now that he is leaving Jinling, it may very well be his only chance.

Upon hearing Zhou An's words, the expressions of the others all changed.

"Young master, I am willing..."

"Anyone who dares to speak out of turn should think about the consequences!" the leader shouted hastily.

"Stone!"

"Behave yourself!"

Upon hearing this, Stone kicked the leader of the group to the ground.

Zhou An smiled at the man who had been about to speak and said, "Don't hold back. If you talk, I'll let you go first and give you time to escape!"

Upon hearing this, the man's hesitation vanished instantly, and he asked with delight, "Is what you say true, young master?"

"I am a scholar who values ​​integrity. Why would I deceive you? Besides, your accomplices are all listening. When the officials interrogate me, I won't be able to hide it from them," Zhou An said calmly.

Whether it was his status as a scholar that had an effect, or the man's desire to take a gamble, he immediately recounted his identity and the events that had transpired.

They were from a nearby village, and they usually helped manage the tenant farmers.

A few days ago, the son of the manager of the village where they lived came to them and said that they would be given ten taels of silver each after they did a good job.

As for why they did this, they didn't know, but the estate they were in belonged to the Marquis of Yongyi.

Early this morning, the steward's son led them to wait by the roadside. When they saw Zhou An's carriage approaching from afar, they told them to tidy up the people inside the carriage.

They even pointed out where the steward's son was hiding.

"Young Master!"

Upon hearing this, Shi Tou looked at Zhou An. He wanted to arrest the person, but he was also worried about Zhou An's safety.

"No need, they've already escaped!"

Zhou An waved his hand, pondered for a moment, and said, "I won't send you to see the officials. Go back and tell them that I am the son-in-law of the Sheng family of Youyang. If you don't give me an explanation for this matter, you will bear the consequences!"

"Did you understand?"

"I've got it!"

"Repeat it!"

Zhou An made them repeat it once to make sure they remembered it, then let Shi Tou let them go.

"Young master, are we just going to let this matter drop?" Stone asked doubtfully.

"Even if we take them to the authorities, there isn't enough evidence to prove that the Marquis of Yongyi's mansion sent them. Even if there is, it won't implicate the real instigator!" Zhou An shook his head.

Upon learning the identities of these people, he knew they must have been sent by Xu Beiwang.

These people's testimonies can be used as evidence, but they can only point to Zhuangzi's son who is in charge.

Don't be fooled by their claim that they are in charge of managing the tenant farmers; they are actually tenant farmers themselves.

With so many tenants on the estate, the people from the Marquis of Yongyi's manor certainly couldn't manage it all. They needed to find some idle people from the estate to help manage it.

Although they were tenant farmers, being a tenant farmer is not the same as selling oneself into servitude.

This is why they were willing to confess as soon as Zhou An threatened them.

But the steward's indenture must be in the Yongyi Marquis's mansion. A slave betraying his master, unless it's a rebellion, is still a capital offense, even if it's true.

Even if the matter goes to the authorities, the steward's son will take the blame and not implicate Xu Beiwang.

Moreover, Xu Beiwang was probably being used as a pawn by Fei Guang, and if the matter continued, Fei Guang would not be implicated.

But letting these people go back is an option.

.........

Upon arriving at the dock, they met up with Shi Keng and his wife, who had been waiting for several days.

In the past six months, Shi Keng and Che San Niang have visited the stone several times.

Zhou An set a date for his return and then wrote to inform them.

The couple arrived in Jinling a couple of days ago. Zhou An originally wanted them to stay in the city, but the rented courtyard was too small, and the two were worried about the boat, so they waited for them on the boat outside the city.

Upon learning that Zhou An had been attacked on the way, Shi Keng felt very guilty and felt that he should have gone to pick up Zhou An.

"I'm fine, aren't I? Stone's martial arts are pretty good; he took care of those people before they even got close."

Zhou An chatted with Shi Keng for a while, and only returned to the cabin when it was time to set sail.

As the ship set sail, Xu Beiwang learned that the men he had sent had failed.

He was about to curse in anger when the steward quickly relayed Zhou An's words.

"What?"

When Xu Beiwang learned that his plan had failed, he was only angry, not afraid at all.

On the contrary, he felt that the reason Zhou An released the people and didn't make a big fuss was because he was afraid of the Xu family.

But when he learned that Zhou An was the son-in-law of the Sheng family, he felt as if the sky had fallen.

After the death of her parents, Old Madam Sheng never returned to the Xu family. Later, she completely lost contact with the Xu family because of Sheng Hong's marriage.

But he had heard about his great-aunt's personality.

His grandfather inherited the title by being adopted by Old Madam Sheng's father.

Even though Old Madam Sheng had severed ties with the Xu family, his grandfather was still nominally Old Madam Sheng's elder brother.

If Old Madam Sheng writes to question us, the Xu family won't care, but what will outsiders think of the Xu family if word gets out?

Having inherited someone else's title, he's now sending people to beat up their grandson-in-law.

If word gets out about this, the Xu family will be laughed at to death.

Xu Beiwang wanted to keep it a secret, but he was afraid that Old Madam Sheng would send someone to the Xu family to question him, so he could only tell his father, Xu Gong, about it.

When Xu Gong found out, he was furious and cursed, "You idiot! They're using you as a pawn. If he, the son of a prefect, wanted to deal with someone, couldn't he send someone himself?"

"Isn't that because you wanted me to make friends with the sons of officials?" Xu Beiwang retorted.

"you…"

Xu Gong was so angry that he raised his hand to hit him, but when he saw Xu Beiwang's stiff neck, he held back.

"You unfilial son, come with me to see your grandfather!"