The third branch of the Wang family has a son who has been plagued by illness since childhood.
Dozens of doctors predicted that he would not live past twenty.
He is exactly thirteen now.
He should have been a handsome and promising young man, but he was pale and looked sickly.
But the words he spoke were thunderous, striking Zheng Ruqian squarely in the head.
"You, you, you..." Zheng Ruqian's mouth opened, and it took him a long time to close it. "What nonsense are you talking about? This is the Wang family."
Why are there still people who side with outsiders?
“I know this is the Wang family,” the boy said with a casual smile. “I also know why you are here at the Wang family.”
Sweat beaded on Zheng Ruqian's back again. His face was slightly pale as he stared intently at the sickly eldest son of the third branch of the Wang family, his eyes filled with scrutiny.
"My name is Wang Fufeng." The boy said calmly, "It means exactly what you're thinking. My family thought I was frail and delicate, so they named me Fufeng."
“I am plagued by illness and will not live much longer, but I also know that the Wang family is in complete chaos.” A flash of pain crossed Wang Fufeng’s eyes. “Everyone wants to be in power, but they don’t care about this family at all. They have all forgotten their grandfather’s teachings. They have forgotten that the surname ‘Wang’ is the foundation of their glory.”
Whether it was the Sun family or the Wang family's illegitimate sons, they were only interested in controlling the Wang family. None of them ever wanted to make the Wang family better or to solidify and elevate its position in the prefectural city.
They were short-sighted, they forgot their grandfather's teachings, and they went mad for fame and fortune, even at the cost of killing each other.
Wang Fufeng's pale face flushed slightly with excitement. He took a deep breath and paused for a moment before saying, "I don't have many years left to live, and I have no reason to scheme against you. This evidence is something I painstakingly collected. If you don't believe me, you can check it yourself."
After saying that, he took out a stack of papers from his sleeve and handed them over.
Zheng Ruqian hesitated for a moment.
The sounds of the Wang family's chaotic life could still be faintly heard, but the young man before me seemed serene and peaceful. His illness was so obvious, yet his eyes were so resolute.
Zheng Ruqian reached out and took it, but couldn't help asking, "Destroying the Sun family, isn't that helping the second branch of the family?"
The third son's offspring are sickly and weak, while Wang Mingyu from the second son's family is lively and energetic. It's obvious to anyone with eyes that the power of the family will be given to someone else.
To everyone's surprise, Wang Fufeng shook his head seriously, "No, I'm not helping the second wife."
"I just don't want outsiders to interfere in the Wang family's affairs."
After he finished speaking, he left without lingering.
Zheng Ruqian stuffed a stack of papers into his pocket, listened to the commotion for a while longer, and then decided to take his leave.
Fortunately, no one stopped him.
As Zheng Ruqian stepped over the high threshold of the Wang family's house, preparing to walk home, a carriage stopped in front of him.
Jiang Si, who was rushing to catch the carriage, smiled sheepishly and said, "Second Young Master, get on the carriage."
"Why are you here?" Zheng Ruqian was a little surprised, but still jumped onto the carriage shaft by cleverness.
When he lifted the carriage curtain, he was stunned.
There were five people sitting inside, brothers and sisters, a large group of them.
Xu Mo was the calmest, only offering a slight smile.
Fang Heng wore a cone-shaped hat, but dared not lift it inside the carriage.
Wen Zhiyun held the small medicine box, looking nervously left and right.
Changyan leaned against his fourth brother, his face pale.
"Second brother, we've come to pick you up." Only Jiang Sheng remained cheerful and sweet. "Third brother said that if you shout for help at the Wang family, we'll rush in and save you immediately."
Even if their identities are exposed, even if they have to flee for their lives, they will not abandon Zheng Ruqian.
This is what family is.
Zheng Ruqian felt a lump in his throat, but he still remembered what had just happened. After sitting down next to Xu Mo, he explained the matter of Wang Fufeng and took out a stack of papers from his pocket.
"They're all here."
Xu Mo was the first to reach out and pick it up. Looking at the delicate calligraphy on it, he couldn't help but exclaim, "What a thoughtful and elegant person!"
It is said that one's handwriting reflects one's personality; some people love cursive script, while others prefer small regular script, which is more delicate and graceful.
The small regular script style, often called "Zan Hua Xiao Kai," is usually favored by young women and rarely by men, yet it is written without any affectation.
Just by looking at this character, Xu Mo felt a good impression of Wang Fufeng.
After browsing through the contents of the paper, his appreciation turned into silence, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
Seeing this, the others also looked down at the papers and then fell silent.
All I knew was that Madam Sun was vicious and would stop at nothing to seize power in the family, but I never imagined that the Sun family behind her was even worse.
Sun Yu, the younger brother of the Sun family, who wanted to succeed Sun Yu as the governor of Anyang, was actually responsible for more than a dozen deaths.
Years ago, when he was serving as a county magistrate in the south, he took a fancy to a wealthy man's small jade mine. After several attempts to coerce and bribe him failed, he bought gunpowder and blew up the jade mine, killing the wealthy man's eldest son inside. His elderly parents were heartbroken and passed away not long after.
The jade mine naturally fell into Sun Yu's hands.
That wasn't the end of it. After acquiring the jade mine, he set his sights on the beautiful new bride of the wealthy man's family. Under the pretext of taking care of her, he forcibly took her back from the Sun family.
When the bride resisted, he used the fact that she had seven or eight family members to coerce her. The bride had no choice but to become his concubine with tears in her eyes, and she bore him children until this day.
The poor woman never knew that after she left, because her brother threatened to report her, Sun Yu cruelly slaughtered the entire family of seven or eight.
In the end, the case was closed with just the word "accident," which brought two happy and harmonious families to an abrupt end.
Now, Sun Yu actually wants to take over the position of governor of Anshui County.
Xu Mo's eyes were bloodshot, and he accidentally slapped Zheng Ruqian's thigh. "We must never allow him to take over as the governor of Anshui County."
If it was driven by personal grudges before, it is now driven by the anger of the people.
Such lawless and greedy people will only bring misery to Anshui County, just like that unknown little county in the south, where people have nowhere to seek justice and nowhere to cry out for their suffering.
Wang Fufeng was very intelligent. He not only collected evidence of Sun Yu's cruelty to the people, but also recorded how much effort the next county magistrate put in to restore the people's trust in the government, even to the point of exhaustion and vomiting blood.
"How many years will it take to restore the trust between officials and the people and to bring the whole county back to what it used to be when a corrupt official has ruined the people's love and respect?" Fang Heng said with great distress.
Chang Yan stared blankly, tears welling in his eyes, a mixture of sorrow and helplessness.
After a long silence, Xu Mo wiped his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Jiang San, notify Jiang Yi and Jiang Er to go to this county to investigate whether Sun Yu's actions are true."
Jiang San accepted the order.
“We can also get close to this Sun Yu’s…concubine.” Zheng Ruqian touched his thigh and gasped. “She lives in the prefectural city.”
If Wang Fufeng's investigation is true, then he does need to get close to this new bride in order to obtain support and evidence.
But who will approach them?
Xu Mo looked at Zheng Ruqian, Zheng Ruqian looked at Fang Heng, Fang Heng looked at Wen Zhiyun, and Wen Zhiyun looked at Chang Yan.
During the long banquet, he looked up at the top of the carriage.
Although they were young, only in their eighties or nineties, they were still men.
Boys and girls are different; children under seven years old should not sit together.
After much consideration, only Jiang Sheng, the younger sister who was drooling over the candied hawthorns outside the carriage, seemed suitable.
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