Chapter 83

Yang Chenglie felt a buzzing in his head, as if his thoughts had turned into a pot of porridge.

County Magistrate Wang Xian is a fake? An impostor?

He couldn't quite process it, and his mind was in chaos, so much so that he didn't hear clearly what Lu Yongcheng said afterward.

County Magistrate Wang He, is he really an impostor?

In an instant, many things that had puzzled him before seemed to have answers.

Since Wang He took office, he hadn't returned home for three years; he rarely went out and seldom interacted with others.

After the murder case, Wang He unexpectedly wanted to settle the matter quietly, unwilling to make a big fuss...

It wasn't that he didn't want to go home, but that he didn't dare to; it wasn't that he didn't want to interact with others, but that he was afraid of exposing himself. After the murder case, Wang He was always unwilling to make a big fuss. Was it really because he was afraid of being implicated? In fact, he was just afraid of being exposed as an impostor.

"Da'an, are you sure?"

Yang Chenglie, having seen the world, quickly calmed down.

Lu Yongcheng's lips curled slightly, and he said solemnly, "Would I say such things lightly?

"Didn't you see how County Secretary Wang acted like a madman, losing all his usual composure? This incident in Changping County will surely become a laughingstock. When it spreads to Luoyang, the Taiyuan Wang family might also be implicated."

Indeed, if this were true, the entire Changping County would become a laughingstock in the Youzhou official circles.

An impostor had been the county magistrate of Changping for three years.

If this news spread, the entire Youzhou official circles would be implicated, and even the Wang family behind County Secretary Wang would have a hard time.

Yang Chenglie took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

He carefully recalled that he and Wang He didn't have much interaction.

Although they had been closer recently, they still maintained a certain distance.

"County Lieutenant Yang, where is County Magistrate Wang now?"

Just as Yang Chenglie was deep in thought, County Secretary Wang came to him, looking fierce and demanding an answer.

Yang Chenglie's eyes narrowed, but he remained calm on the surface.

"How would I know where County Magistrate Wang is? He is the county magistrate, and I am just a county lieutenant. How can I control his movements?"

After saying this, he turned to Chief Clerk Lu and said, "Chief Clerk Lu, with such a big incident, we should inform County Vice-Magistrate Li. If what you said is true, County Vice-Magistrate Li is now the main official in Changping. When there were no issues, it was unnecessary to trouble him with County Vice-Magistrate Li's illness. But now, we must ask him to take charge."

"That makes sense."

Lu Yongcheng thought for a moment and agreed with Yang Chenglie.

At this moment, finding someone to share the responsibility would lessen his own burden.

If the county magistrate is a fake, then County Vice-Magistrate Li is now the highest official in Changping County, and it is natural for him to take charge.

Thinking of this, Lu Yongcheng found someone to go and invite County Vice-Magistrate Li.

At the same time, he stopped the furious County Secretary Wang, "County Secretary, don't be angry. What County Lieutenant Yang said isn't wrong. No matter what, the criminal is still the county magistrate, and County Lieutenant Yang is his subordinate. How could he know where the criminal is? Let's go directly to the back office to look for him."

County Secretary Wang glared at Yang Chenglie and nodded in agreement.

He and Lu Yongcheng walked in front, while Yang Chenglie followed behind, with a group of soldiers accompanying them.

It was clear that Lu Yongcheng was deliberately showing his relationship with County Secretary Wang.

Although Yang Chenglie was one of the four major figures in Changping, he had unknowingly been suppressed by Lu Yongcheng.

He had originally planned to make a comeback, but this incident had thrown everything into chaos.

Yang Chenglie didn't think Lu Yongcheng would make up such a story. Since he dared to do this, he must have confirmed it. However, he didn't know how Lu Yongcheng had confirmed it, but that wasn't important to him.

What was important was that Lu Yongcheng, together with the County Secretary of Youzhou Governor's Office, would not let this go easily.

To some extent, the FanYang Lu family and the Taiyang Wang family might have already reached an agreement. With such an incident, neither the Lu family nor the Wang family would want it to be publicized. Therefore, Lu Yongcheng didn't inform the Youzhou Governor but directly sought help from the Youzhou Governor's Office to minimize the impact.

Yang Chenglie, from a prominent family, with his ex-wife being a daughter of the Xingyang Zheng family, could easily guess the situation.

However, this would likely ruin his plans in Changping.

Even if he publicized this matter, it wouldn't affect the situation and might even make it worse.

He believed that the Youzhou Governor wouldn't want to publicize this either.

Even the Menxia and Zhongshu provinces in Luoyang might not want this to be known.

So, no matter what the outcome, Lu Yongcheng would control the power in Changping. The appearance of County Secretary Wang was likely to help Lu Yongcheng suppress him. If that happened, the situation would be truly dire...

Yang Chenglie remained silent on the way, his thoughts racing.

Looking up at the backs of Lu Yongcheng and County Secretary Wang, he smiled bitterly: All his schemes had come to nothing.

Lu Yongcheng and County Secretary Wang rushed into the back office and immediately ordered the soldiers to seal it off.

A few servants who usually served Wang He were brought over. After exchanging glances, Lu Yongcheng and County Secretary Wang stepped forward and asked solemnly, "Does anyone know where the county magistrate is now?"

The servants turned pale and all looked at a young boy.

The boy was Wang He's book servant.

He hurriedly replied, "To Chief Clerk, the county magistrate caught a cold a few days ago. He left early this morning to get medicine from the clinic, but he hasn't returned yet. We don't know where he went, but he told us not to wait for him before he left."

"What?"

Lu Yongcheng and County Secretary Wang exchanged glances and immediately asked, "Do you know which clinic he went to?"

Before the servant could answer, Yang Chenglie's face changed, and he suddenly turned and shouted, "Guan Hu, go to the city gates and find out if the county magistrate has left the city."

Guan Hu had been discussing matters with Yang Chenglie earlier. When Lu Yongcheng and others arrived, he followed Yang Chenglie to the back office.

However, Guan Hu hadn't understood what was happening. Hearing Yang Chenglie's order, he instinctively replied, "Yes!"

"Wait, no one is to leave without my order."

County Secretary Wang shouted, but Lu Yongcheng stopped him again.

"Headman Guan, go and find out."

After saying this, he looked at Yang Chenglie and said softly, "Wenxuan, do you think the criminal has fled after hearing the news?"

...