The princess was ordained by Heaven.

Chapter 217 Marry You

Marquis Chang Le began to worry that he had grand ambitions, but Zhang Zheng finally had no choice but to suggest that he give him a minor official position.

Zhang Zheng already held official titles, so obtaining a minor official position wouldn't have been difficult for him.

His request was practically ignored, which made Zhang Zheng appear all the more tactful and measured.

[The Marquis of Chang Le sighed deeply and finally presented Zhang Zheng with more than a dozen choices. Zhang Zheng hardly hesitated before choosing Fengliang County, which was far to the south.]

Fengliang County is not considered wealthy; it is almost the worst of all the options, and even the Marquis of Changle cannot protect him.

Zhang Zheng was stubborn and could not persuade him otherwise. He could only admire Zhang Zheng's understanding. Zhang Zheng could easily become the magistrate of Fengliang County on his own, without needing the help of the Marquis of Changle.

Therefore, after Zhang Zheng took office, the Marquis of Chang Le took good care of him and even adopted him as his son to prevent him from being bullied.

He was pleased that Zhang Zheng never abused his power, and that he was a competent county magistrate who brought him great honor. Little did he know that Zhang Zheng was wicked.

[Such a restrained and patient person, who had maintained his facade for so long, was ultimately corrupted by prolonged comfort, revealing his decaying nature beneath.]

Tao Heng concludes: So, the princess forced everyone to roll up their sleeves because she was afraid they would be corrupted by comfort. So, the princess was doing it for their own good!

Well, as a good subordinate of the princess, one must learn to brainwash oneself and make oneself more loyal to the princess.

At this moment, Wu Yuan knelt down again: "Your Honor, please see the truth! Yu Xiaosheng committed suicide..."

Zhang Zheng suddenly looked up, gritting his teeth as he asked, "Suicide? You deliberately set me up?"

Wu Yuan gave a mocking smile: "That's right, because we all have people we care about. My sister, who is Yu Xiaosheng's childhood sweetheart, was framed by you on trumped-up charges and eventually died in prison!"

Zhang Zheng had no idea who her sister was, but he knew exactly what he had done.

So he was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to refute it.

Seeing this, Wu Yuan laughed loudly, "Zhang Zheng! Heaven's justice is clear, and retribution is inevitable. Even without me, Lord Tao had already set his sights on you. You couldn't escape. But... it feels really good to push you to the Yellow Springs with my own hands! Zhang Zheng! You've finally met your match!"

Her undisguised joy, tinged with madness, swept everyone present into her emotions.

Zhang Zheng is now in a state of complete despair. He is somewhat annoyed that he was not careful enough in the past, and also that he encountered Tao Heng, who is a busybody.

He raised his eyelids and glanced at Wu Yuan: "How stupid. Using a human life and a body full of indelible scars to scheme against me. Ha, utterly stupid."

Wu Yuan remained unmoved by his words: "You don't understand."

They just missed the deceased so much that their longing lingered in their hearts, and they felt compelled to do something about it.

Seeing that quite some time had passed, Tao Heng finally interrupted them: "Bring it up."

In order to put Zhang Zheng to rest, he didn't just place his hopes on Wu Yuan.

He found the families of several people who had died unjustly.

The process of uniting them is undoubtedly difficult and needs no further explanation, but that's enough for now.

One by one, friends and family members of the victims came to court to testify. Zhang Zheng listened silently, knowing that he was doomed this time.

But it doesn't matter. Marquis Chang Le still owes him a favor. He saved his life, so he can't just dismiss him with a county magistrate position, can he?

His thoughts were not hard to guess, Tao Heng sneered.

If he were to escape this punishment, then Tao Heng would be nothing but a useless piece of trash, let alone gain the princess's trust.

After everyone had finished making their accusations, Tao Heng looked sternly at Zhang Zheng: "Zhang Zheng, do you have anything else to say in your defense?"

Suddenly, a tattered, smelly shoe was thrown out from the crowd outside. Moreover, the person who threw it was quite skilled, as the shoe hit Zhang Zheng squarely on the back of the head.

As the shoe flew off, a furious roar followed: "Shut up, I'll see if he even has the nerve to talk back!"

Zhang Zheng covered the back of his head, feeling frustrated, and thought: Of course I have, but what can I say in my defense?

He clenched his fist and said bluntly, "Yes, so what if I did it?"

"You show no remorse! You treat human life like dirt, and you're unworthy of being an official of the imperial court!"

"So what? I am the savior of the Marquis of Chang Le and the sworn brother of the Empress. What? Does Lord Tao really want to arrest me?"

"I advise you to give up any hope of escaping this fate. Even if the Heavenly King himself came, he wouldn't be able to save you!"

"Tao Heng! Do you not want to keep your official position anymore?"

"Nothing to do with you."

"Can you even understand human language? I said I am the Empress's savior."

Tao Heng burst into incredulous laughter: "Did you save the Marquis of Chang Le or the Empress?"

"No matter who you are, you can't touch me!"

"Zhang Zheng, you've lived all these years and served as an official for so long, don't you know the principle of 'a life for a life'?"

"But those who died were all lowly commoners! How could they compare to the life of the Empress!"

His words caused an uproar among the people.

Tao Heng had been waiting for this very moment.

He rebuked her sternly, "How dare you! Who do you think you are, to dare to implicate Her Majesty the Empress? Her Majesty is wise and loves her people like her own children. How could she possibly call the common people lowly? Zhang Zheng! You have slandered Her Majesty the Empress, your crime is doubled!"

Before Zhang Zheng could react, he ordered his men to take him away.

Zhang Zheng's true colors have been exposed; the next step is to wrap things up.

Those long-standing injustices he caused need to be retried one by one.

He became the county magistrate not overnight, so the files piled up and filled an entire table. If there were any resentment on those papers, they could probably rise three feet high.

To prevent the truth from being exposed, Zhang Zheng silenced most of the murderers he identified under legitimate pretexts.

These cases would be a huge undertaking to clean up, but that's the next magistrate's job; Tao Heng only needs to supervise.

In the end, Zhang Zheng was executed by slow slicing.

Wu Yuan's injuries will take a long time to heal, and she made a special trip to thank them and see them off before they left Fengliang County.

To everyone's surprise, Qi Wuyu stared at her for a long time before suddenly asking, "Miss Wu, would you like to come with me?"

Wu Yuan: Huh?

For some reason, a look of vigilance gradually appeared on her face.

Tao Heng blinked and whispered in Zheng Xun's ear, "Xiao Qi has taken a liking to someone?"

Zheng Xun didn't check the system. Looking at Qi Wuyu's appearance, he narrowed his eyes and said, "It's just a hint. Let's wait and see."

Wu Yuan was grateful for his help, so her tone was relatively gentle: "No need, I don't plan to leave Fengliang County."

"But...you'll face a lot of gossip and rumors here."

Wu Yuan belatedly realized and said, "So, you want to help me?"