They were from the court, not mountain bandits!
The official seal that Du Rulin produced completely shattered Liu Wu’s resistance.
If the other party had been bandits, he could still have blustered and postured. But since they were from the imperial court, their purpose was obvious.
His confidence vanished in an instant.
Liu Wu hung his head in dejection, realizing that his end had come. He no longer dared to shout or resist.
Du Rulin’s main target was him. Seeing that Liu Wu was now cooperative, he gave a cold snort and ordered him to lead the way to the study.
Evidence of crimes—one always found it in the study.
While Du Rulin was searching Liu Manor for evidence, Guo Xiu was already packing up and preparing to sneak out through the back gate.
About a dozen people were escaping with him—his old mother, his wife, his two most beloved sons, and the rest his most capable subordinates.
The carriage was ready at the back gate. As his wife and children were getting on, Guo Xiu quickly asked his men:“Which gate did they come in through?”
Typically, a prefectural city had eight gates, while a county seat had four—east, west, south, and north.
There weren’t many bandits. Guo Xiu knew it was impossible for them to seize all four gates in one night, so he planned to use the time lag to escape through the least guarded point.
“My lord, they came in through the south gate!”
Perfect.
If it was the south gate, then the north gate should have the fewest people—assuming he remembered correctly.
Guo Xiu jumped into the carriage. “Quick! To the north gate!”
Guo Xiu made a quick escape. When the Second Prince arrived with his men, the gates of the Prefect’s manor were wide open. Several servants clutching bundles were just fleeing and screamed in shock upon seeing them.
The scream was sharp. The so-called bandits lacked awareness, so the Second Prince’s own guards stepped in to silence them.
Once the servants were subdued, Gongsun Yi, seated in the carriage, questioned them.
“Where is Guo Xiu?”
Of the three servants, two’s legs buckled from fear. Only one maid replied nervously, “R-replying to my lord… Lord… Lord Guo has already fled…”
As expected.
Gongsun Yi didn’t appear flustered. Instead, he smiled faintly and turned to the Second Prince. “Second Young Master, Guo Xiu has already run. Maybe he’s hiding somewhere in the city—or maybe he’s trying to escape through one of the other three gates. Want to guess?”
“Guess where Guo Xiu will be caught?” The Second Prince smiled coolly. “Our people are stationed at all three gates. Unless he can fly, I doubt he’ll get away.”
Words like that could only be said by someone not lifting a finger.
Tian Hu, watching them from behind, moved his lips slightly but chose not to share what he was doing on his end.
After all, they weren’t close. Though his superior might be shameless and was the Second Prince’s brother, his master wasn’t the Second Prince.
They said catching corrupt officials earned merit. If he caught Guo Xiu, it would be the same as his master gaining merit.
Brothers may be like hands and feet, but accounts must still be settled clearly.
Commoners didn’t understand the intricacies of power struggles, but they had their own kind of wisdom.
Contrary to the Second Prince’s assumption—that all those acting with Tian Hu tonight were Wei Yu’s men—in truth, apart from Tian Hu himself, the rest had nothing to do with Wei Yu!
Who were they?
They were ordinary citizens from the city who had once been bullied or oppressed by the Guo and Liu families, now rallied together by Tian Hu.
Some were from poor families and had their lives ruined in an instant by the Guo family’s whims. Some were modestly wealthy, running stalls or shops, only to have them smashed by the Liu family. Some had beautiful daughters who were kidnapped by the lustful Guo family…
As long as Guo Xiu had ruled Ji Prefecture, the Guo and Liu families had run wild in Yuanyang.
Each incident—each tear of the people—had long dried into salt and then been covered over again.
Too many people hated these two families. But most of them had neither the means nor opportunity to seek revenge. In those years of helplessness, they could only curse the two families to die miserable deaths each night.
That was life—until Tian Hu found them. Until Yuanyang was besieged by bandits… those who had once been wronged by the Guo family finally had their chance for revenge.
They ambushed officials at night, opened city gates, secretly watched over the two manors…
Just as the Second Prince had sent people to guard the other three gates, these citizens with clubs had long been watching the two family compounds, ready to strike.
The Liu family had Du Rulin and others get to them first, so the citizens outside could not vent their anger directly and had to stand guard with regret. But the Guo family—
Sorry. Rather than say Guo Xiu escaped on his own, it’s more accurate to say he played right into the people’s hands!
There were too many guards in the Guo manor, and the citizens couldn’t just barge in and kill them. But if the Guo family ran out themselves—how could they be let go?
Of course they’d be stopped somewhere open and beaten to death with clubs!
The rage of the people is terrifying—especially when they lack legal awareness and are full of hatred.
When a person’s emotions are suppressed for too long and finally find a crack to burst through—it’s not catharsis. It’s the final breaking point.
Just one street from the north gate, Guo Xiu’s carriage was suddenly blocked by two pushcarts.
“Whoa—”
The servants pulled the reins hard. Those inside were thrown around by the jolt.
The sudden development gave Guo Xiu a bad feeling. Before he could speak, a servant’s terrified voice rang out from outside the carriage.
“M-my lord! P-people… so many people!”
At a time like this, what “so many people” meant could only be one thing—Guo Xiu immediately thought of the mountain bandits.
Had they already stationed people at the north gate?!
Panicked, he dared not lift the curtain. But the four-year-old son beside him wasn’t as cautious and lifted the curtain without worry.
Outside, torches blazed bright, lighting up the interior of the dark carriage.
Guo Xiu raised his eyes and was shocked to see the area packed with townspeople holding clubs!
Men and women, old and young, poured in from all directions, layer upon layer, all glaring at him with hatred.
“Guo Xiu, you damn dog of an official—get out here!”
Someone recognized that long-hated face and immediately raised a torch, roaring in fury.
One voice rang out, and a hundred echoed in response.
The fury spilled out.
“You bastard! Give me back my daughter’s life!”
“Scum! Bring my grandfather back from the dead!”
“Kill this animal—!”
No one knows who ran toward the carriage first, but like a swarm, the crowd charged. Their rage was united, and driven by vengeance, they didn’t care that armed servants stood guard outside.
That kind of fury could even terrify servants used to committing evil.
There were just too many people, and too little space to fight back. In a few moments, Guo Xiu’s entire party of over ten people were like lambs to the slaughter.
They were dragged off the carriage and tossed about.
Clubs rained down—each strike like a flash flood.