Chapter 17 Wang Yang is in a state of panic

Wang Yang had always been very tolerant of her, but today he was filled with anger. He immediately shook off her hand and shouted, "It's already this hour, and you're still arguing with me. The Wang family is about to face disaster."

Fan Sheng is obviously plotting against me. Do you think it's over if the yamen runners can't find the painting?

Fan Sheng's son still had the pawn ticket issued by Xiangyun Pawnshop, but now Xiangyun Pawnshop caught fire and the "Brocade Book, Clouds and Geese Picture" was destroyed.

As long as Fan Sheng's son Fan Zhiyu takes out the pawn ticket in his hand, it will be irrefutable evidence.

If I can't produce the painting, I will not only have to pay Fan Zhiyu a hundred thousand taels, but I will also have to be prepared for him and the Queen to join forces to retaliate against us."

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Madam Wang immediately calmed down, tugging on Wang Yang's sleeve and saying sadly, "What should we do? If we offend Fan Sheng and the Queen, we might not be able to survive in the capital."

Wang Yang glanced at her coldly and said in a deep voice, "For now, we have no choice but to seek refuge with Li Shufeng as soon as possible. With his protection, the other two will have to be cautious if they want to make a move on us."

"Go get me that Xuanqiong rhinoceros belt. I need to go to the Li Mansion."

After hearing this, Madam Wang hesitated. "Didn't Master instruct us not to give the rhinoceros belt to Li Shufeng right away? If we did, I'm afraid he'd... kick us in the face."

Wang Yang frowned and said, "In this situation, we can no longer afford to consider further. Hand the Xuanqiong Rhinoceros Belt to Li Shufeng. Even if he's just pretending, he should at least protect me. Otherwise, who would dare to join him in the future?"

Even if Li Shufeng kicks me out in the future, I will have enough time to plan and make new plans.

If I don't hand over the Xuanqiongxi to Li Shufeng, the Queen will definitely take my life when she gets angry."

Mrs. Wang was startled when she heard this and quickly responded, "I'll get it right away."

Mrs. Wang hurried back to the back house to get the rhinoceros belt.

Wang Yang stood in front of the hall, his brows furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.

After a while.

Madam Wang stumbled out of the main hall in a panic, crying out in alarm, "Master, Master, the Black Sky Rhinoceros is gone!"

"What?!"

“Gone?!”

Wang Yang's face darkened.

"It was still there when I checked last night. How come it's gone? Has anyone been here?"

"Fengtian Mansion..."

Mrs. Wang immediately thought of the yamen runners from Fengtian Prefecture.

"Yes, they must have taken it..."

Wang Yang froze in place as if struck by lightning, his voice trembling: "Fengtian Prefecture...Fan Prefecture...Song Jian..."

Wang Yang's pupils trembled, and he blurted out in disbelief: "Could it be that the Queen and Song Jian have joined forces?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he was stunned.

"impossible!"

Not long after this idea came into Wang Yang's mind, he rejected it immediately.

Given Song Jian's personality, it is absolutely impossible for him to join forces with the Queen.

Song Jian was a stern man, and he had always been deeply dissatisfied with the empress's interference in state affairs as a woman. He repeatedly made direct criticisms in the court, and openly accused the emperor of doting on his concubines too much, which led to the empress's interference in state affairs, which was against the ancestral system.

How could the Queen join forces with him?

"But if they hadn't joined forces, why would the Fengtian Prefecture officials help Song Jian retrieve the rhinoceros belt? And why would Fan Sheng frame me at this moment?

What on earth is going on? What should I do next? "

Wang Yang was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, spinning around in circles.

"Brocade Book and Cloud Geese" is gone!

It is impossible to please the queen now.

The Xuanqiong rhinoceros belt is gone too!

Even his last hope of currying favor with Li Shufeng was dashed.

What's even worse is that in order to curry favor with Li Shufeng, he also offended Song Jian and Zhang Yan.

He felt that Fan Sheng was plotting against him behind his back, but he could not figure out why the other party did this and how he planned it.

He never expected that the person who forced him into such a predicament was just an insignificant little person.

It was just such a small person who, with just a little trick, put this imperial official in crisis.

Although Wang Ju mentioned Song Qianzhao to him at the door of Xiangyun Pawnshop, he didn't take it seriously.

He didn't think Song Qianzhao would plot against him, nor did he think he had the ability to do so.

"Master, Master, something bad has happened. Fan Zhiyu from the Fan family has come to the Xiangyun Pawnshop with a pawn ticket, saying he wants to redeem a painting."

The palace steward ran into the palace panting.

Wang Yang, who was already fidgeting, suddenly paled at the sound. He stared at the palace steward with wide eyes, "Fan Zhiyu wants to redeem the painting? Fan Sheng has already reported me to Fengtian Prefecture. What painting is Fan Zhiyu still coming to redeem?"

At this point, Wang Yang suddenly realized something was wrong and immediately ordered the housekeeper, "Go, send someone to Fengtian Prefecture to ask if Fan Sheng had reported me."

"I'll send someone right away."

Wang Yang felt a chill in his heart, vaguely feeling that he had been tricked during the search of Fengtian Prefecture.

If Fan Sheng really reported him to Fengtian Prefecture.

There was no need for Fan Zhiyu to come to Xiangyun Pawnshop to redeem the painting.

He could go to Fengtian Prefecture with his father and wait for the government to make a fair decision.

The servants of the palace were extremely fast and soon returned. They hurriedly reported, barely catching their breath, "Master, I've inquired, and no petitions have been submitted to the government office today. I also made a special inquiry, and found that, of the three shifts of Fengtian Prefecture's yamen runners, one went to Heming County under its jurisdiction to handle a murder case, while the remaining two shifts remained in Fengtian Prefecture."

"Bang!"

Wang Yang's legs went limp upon hearing this, and he fell to the ground. He growled in disbelief, "Someone's pretending to be an official from Fengtian Prefecture and plotting against me!"

The housekeeper hurried forward to support them, angrily saying, "How dare these people be so arrogant! They dare to pretend to be Fengtian Prefecture officials. I will go to Fengtian Prefecture and beat the drum immediately. When the officials arrest them, they will be beheaded!"

“I can’t go…”

Wang Yang's voice trembled as he asked, "What did you file a complaint for in Fengtian Prefecture? Did you file a complaint for theft? Or did you file a complaint for trespassing into an official's residence?"

If it's the former, Fengtian Prefecture will accept the complaint. But the prefecture hasn't suffered any losses, so do you think the government will investigate thoroughly?

Who would believe someone who dares to impersonate an official if he has no one to rely on?

That group of people didn't do anything wrong under the banner of Fengtian Prefecture, and Fengtian Prefecture suffered no losses, so it would definitely not investigate thoroughly.

This matter was covered up, and nothing happened in Fengtian Prefecture.

If this gets out of hand, the Fengtian Prefecture Governor will be charged with dereliction of duty."

The housekeeper frowned and asked in confusion, "Fengtian Prefecture didn't do anything wrong, so why should they be held responsible?"

Wang Yang glared at the housekeeper and said in a deep voice, "What do I, your master, do? I'm a censor! I monitor all officials and report on matters that come to my attention! Fengtian Prefecture is the capital's government office, and most of the prefects who have served in the prefecture will become prime ministers. How many people have their eyes on that position!

When the news of someone impersonating a yamen runner from Fengtian Prefecture spread, regardless of whether it was Fengtian Prefecture's fault or not, the censors would take advantage of the situation and submit a memorial to impeach the Fengtian Prefecture governor.

Even if he has done nothing wrong, he still has to be charged with a crime.

He could have been safe and sound, but he got into trouble because we exposed this matter.

Do you think he will bear a grudge against us?"

The housekeeper frowned and said, "But Fengtian Prefecture did nothing about this matter. How can they find fault with it?"

"Where are you finding fault? Let me ask you, where do the Fengtian Prefecture yamen runners' white robes come from? Fengtian Prefecture's white robes are unique to Dasui, specially made by the weaving bureau."

"The Weaving Bureau is under the purview of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. You want me to criticize the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs is the Empress's confidant. What's the difference between criticizing him and criticizing the Empress? If the censors impeach the Ministry of Internal Affairs, do you think the Empress will approve? She will definitely not approve. Since the Empress does not approve, it means that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not wrong. If the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not wrong, then the only one who made the mistake is Fengtian Prefecture."

"Those who pretended to be Fengtian Prefecture officials..."

"Are you asking where the yamen runners got their black clothes from? Who else could have gotten these things from the palace besides Fan Sheng? That's why I'm sure it was Fan Sheng who was plotting against me."

Wang Yang beat his chest and stamped his feet, full of regret: "I have already made many enemies. If I offend the Fengtian prefect again, there will be no place for me in the court."

The palace steward said angrily, "We can sue them for theft."

"Steal what? The Black Sky Rhinoceros Belt that the late Emperor bestowed upon Song Jian? I stole that from the Song family, using a scheme that wasn't entirely fair, let alone shameful. If this were to come to light, Song Jian would certainly be in trouble, but our master would be even worse off.

Song Jian was guilty of not keeping well the gifts bestowed by the late emperor.

But your master used tricks to obtain the imperial gift, so he is equally guilty, and his crime is even greater.

The most important thing is that the Xuanqiong rhinoceros belt is now lost.

If the imperial court demands that we hand over the gift, and we can't produce it, the entire Wang family will suffer!"

Wang Yang explained the pros and cons of the matter in detail to the housekeeper.

After hearing this, the butler's face suddenly turned pale.

"This matter... is this the only way to endure it?"

Wang Yang frowned and said, "I can't bear it, but what else can I do?"

"How hateful! I have no grudge against Fan Sheng, why would he harm me like this?"

The housekeeper frowned and asked in a low voice, "Master, what should we do in this situation? Fan Zhiyu is still waiting at Xiangyun Pawnshop."

Wang Yang sighed deeply and stood there for a long time with a frown on his face.

The palace is now in a precarious situation.

The source of all these troubles was the "Brocade Book, Clouds and Geese Painting" sent by Fan Zhiyu.

The key to the problem lies in Fan Zhiyu, so the only breakthrough can be found from Fan Zhiyu.

See if you can survive from death.

"Help me prepare the sedan chair, I want to go see Fan Zhiyu!"

After hearing this, the palace steward immediately began to prepare a sedan chair for Wang Yang.

After the sedan bearers were ready, Wang Yang took the sedan and rushed to Xiangyun Pawnshop.

In front of Xiangyun Pawnshop.

Fan Zhiyu, accompanied by a group of followers, pulled two carts of copper coins and looked at the blackened remains of the shop in front of him with a smile.

The reason for pulling two bronze chariots was to give the other person a taste of his own medicine.

"Brother Song is really good at this!" Fan Zhiyu praised sincerely.

At this moment, his admiration for Song Qianzhao had reached its peak.

Even the way he addressed me unconsciously changed from his full name to Brother Song.