People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 624 Something is wrong

There was silence in the Qingzhou government office. Two groups of people were confronting each other in the courtyard of the government office. One group was the officials and clerks of the government office itself, and the other group was twenty or thirty stern-looking officials from the Censorate. Although they all belonged to the Xuanxia system, the atmosphere at this moment was somewhat tense.

Among the group of Qingzhou officials, the leader was Guan Hai, who had just put on his clothes. Although he knew that this group of people must be coming for him, he was still very calm.

Guan Hai naturally understood what the Censorate meant. Ever since the imperial court reformed the official system after the war, the Censorate, as a regulatory agency directly under the central government, had suddenly become a feared existence for all officials.

Over the years, countless corrupt officials have fallen into the hands of the Censorate. When any official hears these three words, it basically means that the time has come for him to fall. It is no exaggeration to say that the Censorate is the nightmare of corrupt officials all over the world.

But Guan Hai was still able to keep his composure at this moment. After all, although the Censorate had made great military achievements, the highest-ranking official they had handled so far was only a county magistrate, and he himself was a provincial governor, and they were not someone they could easily touch.

"This is the provincial capital, what do you want to do?" Guan Hai did not take the officials from the Censorate in front of him seriously.

An official came forward, looked at everyone first before setting his eyes on Guan Hai, and then calmly bowed to Guan Hai and said, "We have an important case that needs to be examined by you, Lord Guan. I hope you can cooperate so that we don't lose face."

"You want to check me?"

Guan Hai stood with his hands behind his back and sneered, "I am the governor of Qingzhou. I am responsible for the stability of the people. How can you take me away so easily? It's okay for me to cooperate. Let's call Tian Shitou first!"

The reason why Guan Hai was so confident was because he relied on his status as the governor of Qingzhou.

Although the governor was the chief official of a local government, he was a real frontier official with a high enough rank and qualifications as a founding general. Guan Hai naturally would not take ordinary officials seriously, even those from the Censorate.

An official of his level cannot be investigated casually. At least the central court needs to give the nod. If he is unwilling to cooperate, the local censorate will have no way to deal with him.

"Since Brother Guan specifically asked me to come, I have no choice but to come here as invited!"

When the two sides were in a stalemate, a voice suddenly sounded from behind the officials of the Censorate. Then the officials of the Censorate parted ways and a man walked forward from the back.

Guan Hai was sneering a second ago, but when he heard the voice and saw who was coming, his smile froze on his face.

Who else could it be but Tian Shitou, the person he had just named.

Today, Tian Shitou is Xuanxia's Imperial Censor, the sharp sword that makes officials all over the world tremble in fear. But this sword has now appeared in Qingzhou, pointing at himself.

Guan Hai's heart sank to the bottom of the valley. He never expected that Tian Shitou would actually come.

Just because of a case of cheating in the imperial examination, isn't this too much of a fuss?
Tian Shitou walked forward and saw Guan Hai with a gloomy face and without saying a word. He immediately smiled and then took something out of his arms.

Tian Shitou spread out a piece of white paper and displayed it in front of Guan Hai. On the top of the paper were three big red characters "Investigation Order". In the middle of the paper was the unified template of the investigation order. The key point was at the bottom of the paper, where there was a seal and a signature.

When he saw the following, Guan Hai's eyes went dark and he almost suffocated.

It clearly had the seal of the Prime Minister, and Xu Chen's autograph. "I am under the order of the Prime Minister to go to Qingzhou with an investigation order. This case is of great importance, and we need the cooperation of the current Qingzhou governor Guan Hai. If you have no questions, you can come with us now!"

Tian Shitou asked Guan Hai to read the investigation order carefully, and then he slowly put it away. His face was as cold as a stone, and he just looked at Guan Hai quietly.

Guan Hai felt as if he was being stared at by a sinister eagle, and a strong sense of crisis enveloped his whole body.

"What kind of case would involve the governor of this state?" Guan Hai stared at Tian Shitou.

Tian Shitou smiled faintly, stepped aside, and led the way to the back: "When Envoy Guan arrives at the Censorate, he will naturally know what the case is. Now just follow us."

Guan Hai was silent for a while, then said: "I can cooperate, but this matter is too sudden, and I still have some personal matters to settle. Can you give me two days?"

Tian Shitou just shook his head calmly, his attitude was self-explanatory: "It would be better for you, General Guan, to cooperate actively. If we are forced to use coercive measures, then we will lose all dignity."

Guan Hai was shocked when he heard this, and finally had to accept his fate.

He shook his sleeves, glanced at the Qingzhou officials around him, and said in a deep voice: "Don't panic, I am just cooperating with the case. I can come back smoothly after the case is clear. Before that, the affairs of Qingzhou will be handed over to you. You must be careful and meticulous in everything you do, and don't make any mistakes. If it harms people's livelihood, it will not be good."

Many officials saluted and responded: "We know."

Guan Hai nodded, then glanced at Tian Shitou, shook his sleeves, snorted coldly, and walked forward.

Until now, Guan Hai still hasn't figured out why, although the imperial examination cheating case was not a small case, it caused such a big fuss. The Censorate did not leave any face at all by doing this, and it was obvious that they wanted to punish him to death.

Isn't it ridiculous that a fraud case could lead to the fall of a prominent Qingzhou governor?

Intellectually, Guan Hai felt that this matter was unreasonable. He should believe that he could get through this disaster successfully, but intuitively he still had an uncontrollable sense of uneasiness. The source of this uneasiness was the signature of the Prime Minister and Xu Chen on the investigation order.

Soon, Guan Hai was taken out of the office, and another person was taken out right after him. It was Guan Liang who had just come in to report the news.

Guan Hai was not surprised by this result. When he heard about the fraud case, he knew that he would definitely be implicated in this matter. As the direct person involved, Guan Liang naturally could not escape the investigation of the Censorate.

However, he was somewhat prepared for this. As a high-ranking official, he would not be so foolish as to leave any clear evidence in such matters as taking advantage of connections. Even the arrested official now does not know who he helped, so he cannot trace himself back.

The reason this matter could be found here is actually just because Guan Liang was implicated as a candidate in this cheating case.

However, this was also the thing that puzzled Guan Hai the most. He thought that the Censorate might come, but they should be here to find Guan Liang, not to find him!
Something is wrong, very wrong.

(End of this chapter)