Zhu Ying suddenly wanted to leave the city with Zhang Shou. On the surface, Zhu Tingfang had a fierce quarrel with Zhu Ying, which made his sister slam the door and leave in anger. But in fact, he was just using anger as a cover, hoping that the two of them would stay away from Cangzhou for a few days and not see some bloody scenes. Because after he dealt with those powerful families with a ruthless hand, he immediately chopped the knife at those idle people in the market.
In his opinion, these idle, aggressive guys were the most unstable factors wherever they went. Therefore, without the eldest prince who needed the protection or surveillance of the Ruiqi Battalion, he directly ordered Du Heng to lead the Ruiqi Battalion to arrest a bunch of small gang leaders who were bullying the city, and beheaded two of them in the market that day.
These two men were the organizers of the first wave of counterattack on the palace, bribed by Changlu County Magistrate Xu Cheng with a large sum of money. However, as soon as Lao Xianyu said that we were the righteous army, the motley crowd they brought with them were dispersed by Xian Yunhe and others who rushed out.
Until the two men were killed, they didn't know why they lost their lives, whether it was because they had been Xu Cheng's lackeys, or because of their past bad deeds such as extortion and resulting in death or injury.
These were the first two people Zhu Tingfang killed after arriving in Cangzhou. Compared with the crackling boards on the platform in front of the county government hall, compared with the several beheadings and a large number of exiles he sentenced, and compared with the "rioters" Xian Yunhe and others who were imprisoned in the palace waiting for the court to decide, the scene of two heads falling to the ground undoubtedly had a stronger deterrent effect.
At least, among the idlers who accompanied the executioners, seven or eight of them peed their pants out of fear, and the rest fainted or were pale and shaky. Only one in ten could stand firm as if nothing had happened. As for those heroes who were not tied to the execution ground to watch the execution, but spontaneously hid in the crowd in groups of three or two, or hid in nearby wine shops and teahouses, their mood was even more complicated.
The rioters were detained, the wealthy families were dealt with, but the court regarded those idlers with martial arts but no proper jobs as the most restless factors who needed to be killed as a warning to the rest, or to make an example of them. This was undoubtedly a very dangerous sign!
When Cao Wu hurried back to Cangzhou City the next evening, he learned from his apprentice who was waiting for him at the city gate that Zhu Tingfang had beheaded two people the day before. The first batch of people who were to be executed immediately were still in the death row, but the two people in this batch were suddenly taken to the execution ground. He felt nervous when he heard this, until his apprentice called him "Master" twice in a low voice, and then he came to his senses.
"Anything else?"
"The chief escorts from the other three escort agencies all came to our house. They said they couldn't sit still at home, so they had to come here to wait for your news... Now that you're back, should we go back quickly?"
Cao Wu's face suddenly darkened. "When I'm not here, you can treat them to a cup of tea and send them back. Why keep them here? Two people were killed yesterday, and they still don't know how to behave themselves. They are actually colluding with others everywhere? I still have things to do. Go back and tell them that I have met the person I wanted to see. If they want to be safe, they should go home and wait!"
Seeing his young disciple startled for a moment and then ran away, Cao Wu shook the reins and finally ran straight to the Changlu County Office. When he got off his horse at the entrance of the county office, a few riders happened to come galloping over from the other side.