Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

The people of Taoyuan County returned to their respective homes.

Fang Zheng Yi casually found a reason to let the Crown Prince go off and have fun on his own.

The safety within the county was not a concern; his eyes and ears were everywhere, so there shouldn't be any problems.

As for himself, he went to the county government office as quickly as possible.

He hadn't been back for too long and didn't know what had happened in the county.

Fortunately, Ao Chen was in the county government office, and upon seeing Fang Zheng Yi, he immediately exclaimed with surprise: "Lord, you're back?"

Fang Zheng Yi sat back in his seat in a carefree manner.

He asked: "How has the county been recently? Any special situations?"

Ao Chen immediately perked up and said: "Yes! There's only one major event!"

"Lord, didn't you send two spies to the Wu Royal Palace? One of them has been discovered! And they know he's from our county."

Fang Zheng Yi immediately became alert: "Who?! Bring him here!"

The people in Taoyuan County's government office were the elite of the elite; how could someone be easily discovered?

Soon, the spy was brought before Fang Zheng Yi.

He looked disheveled, clearly having rushed over upon receiving the message.

As soon as he arrived at the county government office, he prostrated himself on the ground, lamenting: "Lord! I've disgraced you!"

Fang Zheng Yi frowned upon seeing him: "Gan An? Tell me, how were you discovered? What's the situation at the Wu Royal Palace?"

Gan An remained prostrate on the ground, unwilling to get up, and said dejectedly: "Lord, I was wrong! I didn't find out anything!"

"The Royal Palace was recruiting gardeners, so Feng Ya and I snuck in... Feng Ya is fine, though."

"Wait? Feng Ya? How could he go with you?"

Fang Zheng Yi was completely confused.

Feng Ya was a croupier at the Taoyuan County casino, ostensibly a croupier, but in reality, he had been helping Fang Zheng Yi manage the casino.

Back in Hengjiang Prefecture, he was a famous gambling king, with excellent card skills.

Most importantly, he had good character and had been secretly helping some orphans.

Later, he heard of Fang Zheng Yi's reputation and took the initiative to come to him; the two got along very well.

Fang Zheng Yi gave an on-the-spot demonstration of inventing playing cards, immediately winning Feng Ya over.

Later, he dragged Feng Ya to play 'Golden Hook Fishing,' and with ten Jacks in his hand, he lost thirty-two consecutive games.

Out of anger, he called a hundred beggars, making Feng Ya understand on the spot that the most awesome gambling skill was actually martial arts.

Later, he forcibly brought Feng Ya to Taoyuan County, where he also settled down.

He had been steadily running the casino.

The establishment of the casino was similar to that of the brothel, created to eliminate the underground casinos in Taoyuan County.

Over the years, it had screened out many mathematical talents for Taoyuan County.....

Ao Chen leaned in and said: "Lord, Feng Ya overheard this matter at the county government office. He insisted on volunteering, saying he wanted to play something exciting, so I let him go."

"Good heavens, is gambling not exciting enough?"

Fang Zheng Yi scratched his head: "Forget it, get up and talk, tell me from the beginning how you were discovered?"

Gan An slowly got up and sighed: "Actually, the Wu Royal Palace is quite strange; they even require an exam to hire a gardener."

"Everyone was given a piece of paper to answer questions, all about flowers and plants. As a result, anyone who answered the questions on the paper was rejected!"

"Feng Ya saw through it and gave me a hint, which allowed me to pass by luck."

Fang Zheng Yi and Ao Chen exchanged glances; it was indeed a bit strange. A gardener position requiring an exam?

Recruitment by royal palaces was not uncommon, but not frequent either. Occasionally, some information, similar to recruitment notices, would be posted outside the walls of the various royal palaces.

Nannies, grooms, and the like, all sorts of things, were sought as needed.

However, it was the first time he had heard of only wanting illiterate people; would someone who could read the recruitment information be illiterate?

"Well, continue."

Gan An continued: "After entering, there was nothing special; every day, I was just arranging some flowers and plants in the courtyard."

"There was nothing special at all!"

Fang Zheng Yi hurriedly asked: "Then how were you found out?"

Gan An stammered: "I don't know either. I ran into the Prince of Wu... We looked at each other, and he said something was wrong with me. At that time, there was a guard beside him who kicked me unconscious."

"Too fast, that kick was too fast... I didn't react at all. When I woke up, I was in prison..."

Just by looking at his eyes, he could discover a spy? Does this Prince of Wu have mind-reading abilities?

Fang Zheng Yi walked up to Gan An and stared carefully into his eyes.

Gan An was a little creeped out by his gaze and stared anxiously at Fang Zheng Yi: "Lord, what's wrong?"

The two looked at each other, and Fang Zheng Yi suddenly understood.

"So that's it!"

Ao Chen hurriedly asked: "What is it, Lord? Could there be something in Gan An's eyes?"

Fang Zheng Yi chuckled, completely understanding.

Gan An's gaze at him was unwavering and unafraid, daring to look directly at him.

The people of Taoyuan County lived prosperous lives, and with the officials not bothering the people, most were like this.

He had just returned from the disaster area, and although the people in the disaster area trusted him, no one dared to look him in the eye.

Even the people in the capital would avoid eye contact with ordinary officials.

How much more so would a gardener seeing a prince?

He had just returned from the disaster area, and seeing Gan An's gaze, the contrast was particularly obvious, and the difference could be clearly distinguished at a glance.

He didn't expect this Prince of Wu to be so meticulous? He's got something!

"Continue."

"After I was discovered, I was locked in a prison, hanging on a cross. Initially, someone interrogated me simply twice, and I used the fabricated false identity to follow their lead."

"They didn't ask anything, and no one tortured me."

"Then the person left, and I was locked in the prison, as if they had forgotten about me."

"That prison was really torturous! It was similar to the little black room we used for training; someone would bring me something to eat at regular intervals every day."

"I kept counting, and it was about three days before someone came back to interrogate me."

Fang Zheng Yi stroked his chin, thinking carefully.

Good heavens, playing psychological warfare, locking people in a small black room.

Fortunately, his people were all trained; in order to create an elite force, the people in the county government office were all well-fed and well-treated.

During the war, they had also watched a lot of TV and used special forces methods to train them.

He didn't expect it to work here.

Fang Zheng Yi paced back and forth, feeling that something was being overlooked.

Suddenly, he slapped his forehead and said: "They tied you up for three days, didn't they let you down to relieve yourself?"

"No one cared about me, I peed in my pants."

"Okay, continue!"

Gan An suddenly blushed beet red: "Three days later, someone came to interrogate me, probably feeling disgusted, and ordered people to strip me naked and splash water on me."

"Then I was stripped naked.... They...."

Fang Zheng Yi couldn't help but become nervous: "What! Did they discover something?"

Gan An covered his face, stammering: "I... Before leaving the county, I bought a few of the county's latest underwear."

"With our emblem printed on them......"

Fang Zheng Yi: ".........."