Chapter 227: Lure the Tiger Away from the Mountain

After Zhang Daming arrived, Wang Yuanbao quickly took his place. As soon as he entered the hall, he threw himself in front of Wang Yuan and tearfully expressed how precious the things he had broken were.

"Sir, please help me. The broken bracelet and stolen painting are worth millions of gold!"

In fact, Zhang Daming's face had turned grim since the moment Wang Yuanbao appeared. He already regretted coming here. One was the Qingping Palace, whose chances of recovery were uncertain, and the other was the local tyrant, a wealthy local tyrant.

Wang Yuanbao was actually quite pleased with himself. His influence was mainly concentrated in Qingshi Town, and Zhang Daming, the county magistrate, had been accepting his gifts, both openly and covertly. He wouldn't be so servile at such a crucial moment as to turn his back on others, right?

"Sir, I'm afraid what Manager Wang said is not right. He's already making a preconceived accusation against us. We can't even say we dropped the bracelet or stole it, let alone other things we haven't even seen before."

Cheng Weiyao was a discerning person. She quickly caught the conflict in Zhang Daming's brow and launched a counterattack. A momentary display of weakness would lower the defenses of Wang Yuan and the others, but simply accepting the enemy's attack was not her style.

"Sir, the bracelet fell off when I collided with this escort. This doesn't mean it was stolen by me!"

Wen Liyu then began to cry as well. She was already beautiful and charming, and her pitiful appearance made Zhang Daming feel pity. Especially since she was a rich woman, calling herself a commoner, Zhang Daming's back straightened up a lot.

But the other escorts were dissatisfied and began to speak up for Wang Yuan: "What nonsense are you talking about? This is our first time in Qingshi Town and we don't know you at all. There is no hatred or grudge between us. How could our brother Wang frame you?"

"Don't try to get away with it by using your beauty. You must pay the full amount of compensation. You broke the bracelet. You might have stolen other things too. Your old lady was even talking to my brother Wang yesterday!"

There were only a few bodyguards and two women from the Prince of Qingping's palace kneeling in the hall, but Zhang Daming felt as if he saw a group of ducks in the hall, and the noise was so noisy that it hurt his ears.

Seeing Cheng Weiyao and Wang Yuanbao's calm demeanor, Zhang Daming knew it was just a game of chance. His years of experience as an official had given him a hunch that once the Qingping Palace gained momentum, it would be unstoppable. Even if he didn't rise to prominence, at least leaving Qingshi Town and transferring to a higher-level provincial government shouldn't be a problem.

After making up his mind, Zhang Daming coughed a few times to signal the guards on duty to establish his authority. As the wooden stick struck the ground, the situation quieted down for a moment.

"Alright. Cut the spittle. I've got a general idea of ​​the case. Does the plaintiff have any witnesses or physical evidence against the defendant? Present them to me, and I'll make the decision!"

The escorts presented the broken jade bracelet and claimed to be witnesses. Zhang Daming saw so many eyes staring at him that even if he wanted to cover up, it would be difficult.

"You are all from the escort agency, so the credibility of your testimony remains to be tested. Besides you, the plaintiff and the defendant, was there any third party present at the time?"

Zhang Daming had handled a lot of trivial matters before, so he quickly found a way to exonerate Cheng Weiyao and the others. It was just some small things worth a few dollars. At most, after the case was closed, he would personally go to Wang Yuanbao's house with the gifts to apologize to our shopkeeper Wang.

As soon as these words were spoken, even a fool could see that Zhang Daming's heart was clearly crooked. Wang Yuanbao had a cold face and didn't respond. The owner of the goods also didn't say anything. The other escorts also frowned, but they were worried about the reputation of the escort agency being damaged and having to pay compensation for the losses.

Wang Yuan pursed his lips tightly. This path was a dead end. He probably really needed to kill the person himself...

"Sir, there was no third person present at the time. However, I did lose something, and it was during the encounter with the escort. Why don't we investigate this together?"

Seeing that the scene was getting dull and the case was about to end, Cheng Weiyao started to stir up trouble. She insisted that the sachet on her waist was lost at the crime scene and that the escorts present were all suspects.

Zhang Daming originally thought that as long as there was no third party involved, the case would be over. Unexpectedly, Cheng Weiyao jumped out at this time, and the plaintiff became the defendant, and the trial time was extended again.

The real meaning of Cheng Weiyao's move is to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Shuntian Restaurant, Wang Yuan’s private room.

Wen Chengyun and Wu Qi had already begun to explore the escorts' quarters. It turned out that when Wang Yuan made his move last night, Wu Qi, who was in the shopkeeper's office, had witnessed the entire process.

Originally, he thought it was just a common case of embezzlement, but considering that Wang Yuan had intentionally or unintentionally inquired about the people in the Prince of Qingping's Mansion yesterday, Wu Qi judged that this person must have bad intentions.

"My Lord, should we return the goods we found? The princess and the others should still be stalling for time at the government office."

Wu Qi and his men had accurately found the goods that had been hidden by Wang Yuan before, and in the end only Wang Yuan's compartment was left to be searched.

Wen Chengyun himself was in charge of searching Wang Yuan's chambers, and he actually found something hidden in the man's outer robe. It was a letter from the capital, a piece of irrefutable evidence.

The letter Concubine Sun left for Wang Yuan clearly stated at the end that it should be burned after reading. However, Wang Yuan had suffered from lovesickness for years and finally waited for a letter from his beloved, so he was not willing to do so easily. He had never thought that he would fail from the beginning, so he confidently kept the letter.

"Put it back, and have the restaurant staff report it to the government office. Let them know that the stolen goods have been found, right in their room..."

Wen Chengyun leisurely folded the letter and put it close to his body. Since Wang Yuan was crying wolf, he might as well just retaliate by accusing him of stealing from the inside. After all, no one was a good person; they would always take revenge.

After receiving the order from Wu Qi, the owner of the Shuntian Restaurant, the waiter rushed to the government office. The atmosphere in the government office was tense. The waiter shouted, "We found the item! It wasn't lost at all! It's in the escorts' room!"

"Humph, you're still trying to put the blame on me. Maybe you were drunk yesterday and brought it back yourselves..."

Wen Liyu crossed her arms and grumbled a few words. Everyone saw how much wine the escorts drank yesterday. Wine has a strong aftereffect!

The escorts blushed, they were indeed heavy drinkers, and now that the goods appeared in the room, they had some self-doubt for a moment.