readsfreenovel Chapter 482: Retaliation is inevitable
Chapter 482: Retaliation is inevitable
Chapter 482 A Vengeful Spirit
In the Gongzhou government office, Wang Wenzhou, acting as prefect, presided over a court hearing.
In the main hall, beneath the table, Park Ri-joo and Choi Jung-seol knelt on either side of Wang Wen-zhou's thighs.
Park Ri-joo looked up at Choi Jung-seol with tears in her eyes.
Cui Jingxue lowered her head and smiled bitterly. Wang Wenzhou, that madman, was really too wicked.
Wang Wenzhou just gave Cui Jingxue to Shen He to play with in front of Park Chengyou, obviously to spite Park Chengyou. Wang Wenzhou wasn't that kind-hearted to give a pretty girl away to someone else, especially since Shen He had brought prisoners to beat him up.
Shen He stood beside Wang Wenzhou, acting as his advisor. He leaned close to Wang Wenzhou's ear and whispered, "Lord Wang, that's enough! Stop fooling around!"
"What?" Wang Wenzhou turned around and glared at Shen He, asking coldly, "Old Shen, you want to play the criminal? That's easy, you go down and kneel down next to Cui Zhe right now!"
Shen He quickly shook his head; he didn't want to be tormented by Wang Wenzhou either. Shen He truly regretted it; he hadn't expected "Wang Wenzhou" to be a madman, so reckless when he went mad! Although the real Wang Wenzhou was called a mad dog by the Ming Dynasty's civil and military officials, you're a fake, a fraud! Don't act so convincingly, or you'll be in trouble!
Now that Wang Wenzhou had turned his life around, he naturally wanted to take revenge on those who had bullied him. So Cui Zhe, who had extorted money from him and slapped him several times at the yamen gate, was arrested and interrogated by Wang Wenzhou in court.
"Bang!" Wang Wenzhou slammed the gavel and asked coldly, "Cui Zhe, do you know your crime?"
Cui Zhe hurriedly kowtowed and begged for forgiveness: "I know I'm guilty. I was blind and didn't recognize your greatness. I offended you, sir. Please forgive me. I'll return all the silver notes I received!"
After Cui Zhe finished speaking, he took out the silver notes and respectfully held them above his head with both hands.
Wang Wenzhou glanced at the constables in the hall. Their faces were all grave. Cui Zhe was their colleague, and even if some didn't get along well with him, they still saw each other every day and had some feelings for each other. Now that Cui Zhe was in trouble, they felt a sense of shared misfortune.
Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "Brothers, this is your first time assisting me on a case, so I don't have much to reward you with. You can divide these silver notes among yourselves. We Ming people don't care about such a small amount of money; we care about our reputation!"
The foreman took the silver note and saw it contained a full three hundred taels of silver. He had initially felt some sympathy for Cui Zhe, but immediately hated him. "You bastard! How dare you hoard the money! You deserve this fate!"
The foreman whispered to the constables, "Three hundred taels in total!"
"Wow!" The constables were all stunned. The imperial envoy from the capital was indeed generous, giving away three hundred taels of silver in one go. This Cui Zhe was really outrageous, daring to eat it all by himself!
"Thank you for your generous gift, sir!" The head constable and his men quickly expressed their gratitude.
"Alright! Let's begin the interrogation." Wang Wenzhou pointed at Cui Zhe and cursed, "The criminal Cui Zhe, as a government official, violated the law while enforcing it, extorted and plundered, oppressed the people, harassed an innocent old woman, and forcibly slept with an old sow at the village entrance. His evil deeds are numerous and abhorrent to both gods and men!"
"Pfft..." Everyone was stunned. Lord Wang, could you please put some effort into fabricating charges against Cui Zhe? What kind of nonsense is this? Although everyone felt that the charges were baseless, no one spoke up for Cui Zhe.
"Lord Wang, I'm innocent!" Cui Zhe said hurriedly.
"Damn it!" Wang Wenzhou pointed at Cui Zhe and cursed, "You dare to yell in court? Guards, knock all his teeth out!"
"Yes!" The squad leader accepted the order and carried out the execution himself. He was furious. Cui Zhe, you are my subordinate. You accepted a huge sum of three hundred taels of silver, but I haven't seen a single penny. Is this outrageous?
The squad leader swung his stick and started hitting him. In just a few moments, Cui Zhe was covered in blood, and all his teeth were knocked out.
"My lord, spare my life!" Cui Zhe now understood that he had incurred the wrath of the masses. His colleagues wished him dead because he had secretly accepted three hundred taels of silver.
Wang Wenzhou snorted and scolded, "Shut up! I haven't finished speaking yet. Do you even have a place to speak? Don't you want your tongue anymore?"
Cui Zhe quickly shut up. Wang Wenzhou really lived up to his reputation as a mad dog; he had so many tricks up his sleeve when it came to bullying people.
Wang Wenzhou said coldly, "Cui Zhe has committed numerous evil deeds and deserves to be executed."
Upon hearing this, Cui Zhe's legs went weak, and he immediately wet himself in fear.
Wang Wenzhou continued, "But Heaven cherishes life. Although Cui Zhe has committed an unforgivable crime, he is still a constable of the government. You have worked with him for many years, and I think you would not bear to see him die. So, for your sake, I will spare his life."
"Lord Wang is so considerate of his subordinates, we are deeply grateful," the squad leader quickly flattered.
The foreman genuinely admired Wang Wenzhou. As expected of an imperial envoy from the capital, Lord Wang was well-versed in the unspoken rules of officialdom. Anyone working in the government office, regardless of rank or position, was essentially exempt from execution unless they committed a heinous crime like treason. Although Lord Wang was acting to avenge himself, his actions were fair.
"Bang!" Wang Wenzhou slammed the gavel and said, "Although the criminal Cui Zhe has committed a capital crime, I will consider that he has served the yamen for so many years and has worked hard even if he has not made any great contributions. The sentence is as follows: He is dismissed from his post and will be investigated and punished. He will never be employed again. All ten fingers on his hands will be cut off, and he will be castrated."
"Yes!" The squad leader nodded, kicked Cui Zhe hard, and yelled, "Why aren't you thanking Lord Wang for sparing your life?"
Cui Zhe looked miserable. "Wang Wenzhou has tormented me like this, and now he wants me to thank him?"
Although Cui Zhe was unwilling, he still kowtowed and thanked him, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Wang Wenzhou waved his hand and said coldly, "Take him away and execute him."
"Yes!" The squad leader quickly ordered his men to drag Cui Zhe out.
Standing next to Wang Wenzhou, Shen He broke out in a cold sweat. This little bastard really knows how to torture people! Dealing with Cui Zhe like this is worse than killing him!
At this moment, Shen Maowei led Li Mei and Jin Jizhong into the lobby.
Li Mei was overjoyed to see Wang Wenzhou and rushed into his arms with tears in her eyes.
"Husband! You're alright, that's wonderful!" Ever since Li Mei escaped, she and Jin Jizhong had been trying to find a way to rescue him, but they hadn't been able to come up with a solution. Li Mei was so anxious that she wanted to cry, but now that she saw that Wang Wenzhou was alright, she finally burst into tears.
"Good girl, sister-in-law!" Wang Wenzhou gently patted Li Mei's back.
"Hmm?" Li Mei felt something was wrong. She looked down and saw two pretty girls kneeling under the table.
"Sigh..." Li Mei sighed softly, complaining, "Husband, your wives and concubines must have been frantic with worry after this accident, and you've been sleeping with other girls again..."
Before Li Mei could finish speaking, Wang Wenzhou quickly kissed her and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, these aren't babies I found for myself. These two are ones I picked out for Brother Jin. I'll check them out for Brother Jin first, and after a few days, I'll give them to him to play with."
"Sigh..." Li Mei was both amused and exasperated. "You rascal, can't you be serious for once? Liu Rushi is right, I have to keep an eye on you all the time, otherwise you'll turn around and bring home a complete stranger."
"Lord Wang, great news!" Park Seong-woo rushed in, panting.