"Everyone, calm down first." Hu Qi sat down on the chair next to him. In his panic, he didn't care about the etiquette and drank a bowl of tea. "You have to say it first. If you are in a hurry, everything will be over."
Wan Heshun looked surprised. He calmed down after a moment and nodded slowly.
"While we were still discussing, Lu Fangxuan had already sent someone to the Yamen to file a big-picture complaint against the unjust murder of the dyer. Although the window paper had been pierced before, no one had proven it, so it was quite reassuring; but Today, it is said...it is said that the former Wang Shangshu was invited here." After Hu Qi said it with difficulty, he sighed again.
"Wang..." Wan Heshun tried his best to turn his mind, and suddenly thought: "Could it be the Minister of the Ministry of Industry?"
"yes."
"Isn't he dead?!" Wan Heshun jumped up, his face turned pale.
"Hu doesn't know either," Hu Qi saw that he couldn't hold back his emotions and became even more nervous. "I guess, I guess... forget it, I don't know anything."
"It must be that guy Wei Chong!" Wan Heshun couldn't bear it anymore, "He must have hidden it from me in the beginning and used some means to let him go privately, causing endless troubles after today!"
Hu Qi kowtowed angrily and said, "Please kill this thief as soon as possible to thank the world!"
"I also intend to get rid of them. But I can use a plan to kill two birds with one stone so that I don't come back empty-handed."
All the confidants came up and said, "I would like to hear the details."
"The Lu Party has also taken advantage of Wei Chong many times, and he has a lot of stains on him. Let's not rush to kill him now, let Hu Shangshu compile the charges, point out how he protected Qi Zi, and how he accepted stolen money, then we can It is a grave sin to ask the Lu Party. One way is to eliminate the immediate fire, and the other is to eliminate the long-term worries. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"
Hu Qi then understood and hurriedly accepted the order.
If it is as Hu Qi said, Lu Fangxuan's posture can really be called a grand gesture. He was very well prepared. Before Qi Zi died, he had secretly sent someone to make an appointment with Wang Xian Cheng and asked the latter to make plans. Now that the house was cleared, Lu Fangxuan quickly organized thirty or fifty A team of people went to the restaurant to meet Wang Xiancheng.
Watching the time approaching, Wang Xiancheng hurriedly ran upstairs, opened the window, and saw dozens of people riding tall horses on the street, carrying a wooden sign in the middle with the four embroidered characters "Justify the People"; Holding a notice in his hand, he read loudly: "Dear citizens and elders, Wan Heshun is an important minister of the country, but he has no moral character, covers up the facts, and pretends to be a gentleman, so that you can't recognize his face. Now the Ministry of Industry of the King When I come back, I will expose the thief and avenge the people!"
More and more people gathered around, and the county magistrate Wang felt confident. He walked out of the restaurant boldly and shouted: "I am the former Wang Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry!"
"Okay!" The leader supported him on his horse, held the bridle, and then bowed to the people: "I think there have been a lot of rumors in the past two days, and you may not be able to tell the truth from the false. If you want to know the facts, follow us to the Yamen go!"
After that, he threw the notice away. The notice paused in the wind for a while. After it landed, it was trampled to pieces by the people who were chasing the truth, and it fell into pieces.
At that time, Ye Yongjia was at home due to illness, and the person sitting in the Yamen was a fellow magistrate. Hearing reports that a large number of people had come outside, clamoring to open the church, he hurriedly changed into official uniform and was promoted to a director.
“The complainant’s name is known, who is suing him?”
With a wave of water and fire sticks on both sides, Tongzhi Xingmu slapped the wood, and Wang Xiancheng was brought up.
The county magistrate hesitated for a while, then put down his dignity, knelt down and said, "My surname is Wang, and I am now the magistrate of Chaoxian County. In the past, I paid homage to the Minister of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing and sued Wei Chong and Wan Heshun."
Tongzhi's eyes widened, and his newly-appointed mind was confused: "How brave! How dare you pretend to be an official and discuss privately with the king of the county. What crime should you do? Drag him down and hand him over to the palace for disposal!"
"Wait a minute, you, my friend, are pretending to be powerful, this is incredible!" The officer from the Yue Mansion climbed over the railing and rushed up to scold him harshly.
Tongzhi recognized that he was a member of the Lu Party, so he didn't dare to disturb the situation anymore. He followed Wang Xiancheng's words and asked: "Then... what do you want to sue him for?"
"Back then, because Wan Heshun protected the dye house, a dyer was made a scapegoat. But before he died, he sued the government, saying that the matter had been artificially concealed and should be found out; I was in the Ministry of Works and was coerced by the thieves and had to I suppressed this report, but still reported the truth to the current magistrate, hoping to investigate the case thoroughly. Unexpectedly, Wei Chong was ordered by Wan Heshun to burn the evidence documents, and he was afraid that I would report again, so he sent an assassin to kill me. Fortunately, I was not there At home, the assassins killed all the servants in the house in revenge, which was really shameful. I fled to Chao County, where I disappeared, and I asked someone to file a new petition before I was granted a minor official position as the county magistrate. Now I can’t eat. I was full, didn’t have warm clothes, and my family was almost destroyed. I couldn’t help it, so I came to explore the wolf’s den in person, and I had to fight hard!”
After hearing this, everyone clapped their hands and applauded, causing a lot of noise.
Tongzhi hurriedly patted the tree a few times and said to Wang Xian Cheng: "You have some courage. However, this matter needs to be investigated in detail. Let you leave the people first and discuss it slowly."
Wang Xiancheng smiled and said: "I feel free to investigate, Tongzhi, there are a lot of documents left in the dyefang case, all of which can be corroborated."
Wan Heshun was still collecting charges against Wei Chong, but Lu Fangxuan had already accused Wei Chong an hour after he came to him. He hurriedly stopped this plan of 'killing two birds with one stone', and said to Hu Qi: "I thought Wang Shangshu could not sue Wei Chong, but who knew that the first sentence was aimed at Wei Chong? It seems that Lu Fangxuan I also want him dead.”
Hu Qi quickly interjected: "Then with this two-pronged approach, wouldn't it be possible to punish Wei Chong to death?"
"Wei Chong's matter is small, but it is related to my crime. Compared with the unjust murder of the dyer, Lu Fangxuan's little trouble is much lighter. If I insist on killing him, I will be the only one who suffers, so how can I kill two birds with one stone?"
Hu Qi gritted his teeth: "At this point, there is no turning back. Only by catching Wei Chong quickly while the investigation is still unclear can we have a chance of survival."
Wan Heshun was noncommittal, but looked worriedly at the dusk sky.
Within a few days, the palace issued an official document, listing Wei Chong's crimes, and stating that whoever got this man would be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver. But the people didn't believe it, and they were afraid that Wanfu would kill people and silence them. Therefore, in a short period of time, no foolish person dared to risk beheading for this money.
Before the money-hungry people could wait, the government issued arrest documents and offered a reward of 500 taels to catch the thief. As a result, the city was filled with uproar and the whole of Nanjing was in an uproar.
Wei Chong hid in Tibet and slept in a dark alley for two days, feeling extremely frightened every day. He realized that he couldn't hide anymore, so he calculated: "Although both sides are coming to arrest me, Mr. Lu has less hatred and treats me warmly. Why not beg for mercy and put an end to Wan Dang's thoughts!" After thinking about it, I was still complacent and walked out of the dark alley resolutely.
