Chen Sheng did not answer immediately, but stared intently into his eyes: "Why are you helping me?"
Zuan knew that a ruthless man like him would not trust people so easily, so he thought for a moment and replied, "I originally didn't want to get involved in this matter. Killing you would have been the end of it, but my good sister pleaded for you, and I'm not one to kill indiscriminately, so I'm taking the risk to help you."
Qiao Xueying chimed in, "That's right, Brother Chen, you can trust him. Although he may seem a bit bad on the surface, he's actually a good person at heart."
Zuan looked annoyed, wondering if Zuan was praising or insulting him.
Seeing Chen Sheng remain silent, Zu An immediately dropped another bombshell: "If you disagree, I will kill you right now. I won't risk you revealing what I just said."
Hearing him say that, Chen Sheng breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, I promise you!"
The group then discussed some details, and then Zu'an went out to fetch Lord Wang: "He has confessed that he secretly carved the characters."
Lord Wang was overjoyed: "Your Excellency the Censor is truly resourceful! I am truly impressed!"
He then ordered his men, "Men, execute this traitor on the spot!"
"Wait!" Zu'an hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, pulling Lord Wang aside and whispering, "Such an important suspect, are we just going to kill him like that?"
"Having committed such a heinous crime, what else can we do but kill him?" Lord Wang asked in surprise.
Zu'an said, "In my opinion, it would be better to escort him back to Xianyang and let His Majesty deal with him personally. His Majesty will be very pleased and will surely reward him handsomely."
"That makes sense, that makes sense. Your Excellency, the Censor, is very thoughtful." Lord Wang's eyes narrowed with laughter. "Guards, tie up the suspects inside and put them in the prison cart. I will personally escort them to the capital. Would Your Excellency, the Censor, like to come along?"
“I have another mission, so I won’t be joining you,” Zuan shook his head and refused.
Lord Wang was secretly delighted: "Thank you for your guidance and help, Censor. I will certainly live up to your kindness in the future."
"Lord Wang, you flatter me." Zu An thought to himself, "I'll be lucky if you don't hate me in the future."
When the villagers learned that Chen Wei had carved the words, they all cursed him. Even those who were on good terms with him started to criticize him. Clearly, having just escaped death, no one was in a good mood and naturally wanted to vent their anger on the culprit.
Thinking that he had sacrificed so much to save these people, only to be insulted and blamed by them, Chen Sheng's eyebrows furrowed, and he was about to lash out.
Zu An arrived at his side at the right time and transmitted his voice through his vital energy: "The common people have limited understanding, so don't take it to heart. You can think of it on the bright side. If public opinion is easily instigated to harm you today, it will also be easy to instigate to help you in the future."
A glint flashed in Chen Sheng's eyes, and he nodded imperceptibly. Then, with his head down, he said nothing more and quietly followed the bailiffs into the prison cart.
Zu An and Qiao Xueying exchanged a glance, then left in another direction. After they were out of sight of everyone, they took a long detour and ambushed the place that the escort was bound to pass through.
In the end, Chen Sheng was rescued without much effort. Firstly, the yamen runners and soldiers were not highly skilled, and secondly, Lord Wang was eager to claim credit, so he only took a small number of people with him. He never expected that someone would dare to kidnap a wanted criminal.
"Lord Wang, what should we do now?" Several of his men, who had been knocked to the ground, hurriedly gathered around Lord Wang. Losing a wanted criminal was a capital offense for them.
"How should I know!" Lord Wang was also sweating profusely. Not only had he lost his promotion and title, but now it seemed he was about to lose his head.
Another subordinate suggested, "Why don't we go back and kill everyone in Chenjia Village, and say that no one admits to carving the inscription, so..."
"Idiot!" Lord Wang slapped him on the head. "I already informed the court. Saying this now is practically suicide!"
Another person said, "I think we should lie and say that Chen Wei tried to escape from prison and injured some of our brothers, and then we should kill him on the spot?"
Lord Wang nodded slightly: "Your method is good, but what about the corpses?"
The subordinate replied, "A death row inmate died of illness in the county government last night, but we haven't had time to report it yet. Why don't we use his body to substitute for his own and slightly alter his appearance? Anyway, no one in the imperial court knows Chen Wei."
Lord Wang's eyes lit up: "Your idea is excellent. Quickly, get to work. We're all in this together now, so we absolutely mustn't let this matter slip."
The others all agreed.
Zu An and Qiao Xueying led Chen Sheng to a secluded place: "Now that Chen Family Village is definitely out of the question, what are your plans for the future?"
Chen Sheng hesitated, "But what about my father's funeral arrangements..."
"Don't worry, I've already sent people to bury your father," Zu'an replied. "Of course, it wasn't a grand funeral; you know you're carrying a criminal charge now."
"Thank you so much, my benefactor. I am already deeply grateful that my father can be laid to rest." Chen Sheng hurriedly bowed several times before continuing, "Please rest assured, my benefactor, I will change my name and surname from now on and will never implicate you. As we agreed before, I will change my name to Chen Sheng. In addition, I plan to go to Yangxia City to seek refuge with an old friend of mine."
Zu An looked at him strangely: "Your friend isn't named Wu Guang, is he?"
Chen Sheng looked astonished: "How did my benefactor know?"
Zuan chuckled awkwardly, "Just a random guess. In that case, farewell. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors."
Chen Sheng cupped his hands in greeting: "I will definitely repay the great kindness of my benefactors in the future. Farewell!" He then turned and left, his back view showing a resolute expression.
Watching him leave, Qiao Xueying couldn't help but ask, "Is there something you're hiding from me?"
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That should be two updates today. I'll see if I can build up some backlog and get my update schedule more regular before catching up on the chapters I owe.
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