Disguised as a man, she became the biggest villain in the book.

Chapter 242 Maximizing Utilization

Seeing Erhua's bewildered expression, Zheng Luoqi changed to a gentler tone and asked, "Erhua? Who named you that?"

"It's Father!"

"Where is your father now, and where is your mother?" Zheng Luoqi continued to ask.

Erhua's eyes were slightly lowered, and her little head seemed to be deep in thought.

She shook her head and whispered, "Father went hunting and hasn't come back yet... Mother, Erhua hasn't seen you..."

The moment she finished speaking, Erhua burst into tears. Sobbing, she rushed towards Zheng Luoqi, clinging tightly to her legs and repeatedly crying, "Sister, waah..."

Erhua cried her heart out, her face streaked with tears, looking utterly heartbroken; it was a truly pitiful sight.

A sense of powerlessness welled up in Zheng Luoqi's heart. He reached out, grabbed Erhua's clothes at the back of her neck, and then flung her aside with a sudden force, throwing her like a weightless rag doll.

Zheng Luoqi's sudden action really startled everyone present.

“Remember, you must call me ‘Sir,’ not your sister!” Zheng Luoqi said with a helpless expression.

After he finished speaking, he casually waved his hand, signaling the guards beside him to take action.

The guards immediately understood and quickly stepped forward, arresting all the children present.

He Jin was blind, but he knew something bad had happened. He was extremely anxious and wanted to plead for everyone, but before he could utter a single word...

Then they heard the cries of children and the chaotic footsteps of guards, all mixed together and echoing in the air.

Just when He Jin was filled with despair, feeling that he and the others were doomed to die this time.

They discovered that Zheng Luoqi didn't seem to really intend to kill them; she had simply arrested them all.

Zheng Luoqi had carefully considered the situation before coming here. If these children knew about the mine, they couldn't be kept alive; if they didn't, then they should be given a way to live.

However, there's no guarantee they won't lie, so Zheng Luoqi doesn't intend to let them go, but instead chooses to maximize their use.

Judging from the recent probing, they seem to be completely unaware of the iron and gold mines; in the end, they were innocently dragged into this mess.

Moreover, the culprit behind this was Cao Yan. What Cao Yan did was incredibly stupid. After forcibly conscripting commoners, those people disappeared without a trace. How could this not arouse suspicion?

The mysterious disappearance of Bai Ding caused widespread panic.

Afterwards, he caused the families of these commoners to be destroyed and their lives ruined. Some mothers of children wanted to go to him to inquire about news, but almost without exception, they were all dealt with by Cao Yan and disappeared.

With such a huge mess left behind, Zheng Luoqi really wanted to drag Cao Yan out and whip his corpse, but even that wouldn't be enough to vent her anger.

Zheng Luoqi really couldn't understand how Cao Yan, who didn't seem stupid, could do something so foolish.

If you want the horse to run but don't feed it, even if you were more professional and paid those commoners more wages, you wouldn't have driven those people to desperation.

The news won't leak that quickly.

Now, Zheng Luoqi is caught between two difficult choices: to execute these children and ordinary people, or not to execute them. There are too many of them, and if she were to kill them to cover up their deaths, she would have to kill their families as well. Who can guarantee that she won't miss one or two in the end?

If they don't execute him, they're afraid the news will leak out and implicate the Prime Minister's Mansion. There are many people in the capital who want to bring down the Prime Minister's Mansion, especially the Chen family.

Zheng Luoqi felt a headache just thinking about it. After much deliberation, she decided against going all out to eliminate them, but she couldn't let her guard down either, as these people were always a threat.

Therefore, Zheng Luoqi planned to turn them all into his own people. All the conscripted civilians were sent to the army by Zheng Luoqi.

The soldiers that Chong was not the emperor's soldiers, but the prime minister's private army. After they knew they were private soldiers, they must have known that their identities could not be exposed, as doing so would be a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of their families.

As for those children, some of them had parents who died in this forced conscription incident, so Zheng Luoqi trained them to be loyal servants of the Prime Minister's mansion.

All the children whose families were still alive were sent to Xuzhou by Zheng Luoqi, because Zhi Zi's opera house in Xuzhou still needed manpower, so sending them there to collect information would be good, and Zhi Zi could also supervise them.

Furthermore, these children are also considered hostages, which would likely make the commoners forced into military service a little more obedient.

He Jin, along with the petition written in blood by the people, was taken back to the capital by Zheng Luoqi.

Zheng Luoqi is traveling in secret this time, so after arriving in the capital, he will need to go with Jin to seek justice. At that time, Zheng Luoqi will naturally give him special treatment.

The matter in Yangzhou has come to an end.

After resolving matters here, Zheng Luoqi rushed back to the capital without stopping, as the Empress's birthday was approaching and he had to be present.

And then there's Consort Jiang, whose "child" is almost due. A suitable pregnant woman has been found, and the child will be born soon.

As for the matter in Yangzhou, Zheng Luoqi had already written to Zheng Yuxiang to inform him of the situation. By the time Zheng Luoqi returned to Beijing, Zheng Yuxiang had already arranged for someone to take over Yangzhou.

Now all that's left is for Zheng Luoqi to bring the witnesses and evidence back to the capital to confirm Cao Yan's crimes before we can send someone there.

As for Quan Yuyuan's wedding, Zheng Luoqi simply couldn't find the time to attend, so she asked He Jinyu to pick out a few rare items from the warehouse and send them to Quan Yuyuan.

The story of him coming to Yangzhou to pick out gifts for Quan Yuyuan was just a false message he leaked to Cao Yan.

On the third day after Zheng Luoqi arrived in Yangzhou, she managed to win over Cao Yan's steward, mainly because Zheng Luoqi offered him so much that the steward simply couldn't refuse.

Although the butler was turned, Zheng Luoqi still dealt with him after the matter was settled, because people who know too much cannot be allowed to live.

Moreover, someone who is so easily turned must be someone who can't keep a secret.

three days later

Under the cover of night, Zheng Luoqi returned to the Prime Minister's residence. As soon as she arrived, Zheng Yuxiang summoned her to discuss important matters.

"Father!" Zheng Luoqi had just returned and hadn't even had a chance to rest when Zheng Yuxiang summoned her to the study to discuss matters in the capital.

Zheng Yuxiang sat upright at his desk, his brows slightly furrowed, holding a scroll of documents in his hand, seemingly deep in thought about something important.

When he saw Zheng Luoqi rushing over, his tense expression relaxed slightly, but he still couldn't hide the worry between his brows.

Zheng Yuxiang looked up at his daughter, his eyes showing concern and tenderness, and said softly, "Are you tired? You must be exhausted from your journey. Come and sit down and rest." As he spoke, he raised his hand slightly, gesturing for Zheng Luoqi to sit down on the chair next to him.

Zheng Luoqi, looking slightly tired, slowly walked to the chair and gently sat down.

Zheng Yuxiang got up and personally poured a cup of hot tea for his daughter, then pushed the teacup in front of Zheng Luoqi and said, "Have a sip of tea to soothe your throat first."