Chapter 246 Dog bites dog
Zhou Huaining nodded. "That's right! Don't underestimate Xianchuan County because it's poor. There are actually quite a few wealthy families here. Wang Zude's family is not short of money. Madam Wang's family has been doing great business in recent years, so five thousand taels is nothing to her. The scholar who delivered the answers to Wang Zude by carrier pigeon today was hired by his family at a cost of five hundred taels of silver!"
The academician and the prefect's faces turned pale in an instant, as if they had been slapped hard in the face.
Zhou Huaining observed the two men's expressions. "Have you two adults finished the interrogation? Has Wang Zude confessed anything?"
The academician stared at Wang Zude fiercely and said through gritted teeth, "You haven't explained anything. Perhaps I'm too lenient!"
The prefect said bitterly, "The academician is right. This kind of person must be severely punished!"
The academician gave a signal, and the guards held Wang Zude down and began to beat him with a stick.
Wang Zude was beaten so hard that he cried out, "Master Xuezheng, prefectural officials, what are you doing? I've already been disqualified from the Tongshi exam. You haven't lost anything!"
Wang Zude’s implication was very clear. I didn’t get to take the next two exams. You took my family’s bribe for nothing. Why did you beat me?
"My lords, what does he mean by this?" Zhou Huaining pretended not to understand.
"How would we know?" the academician and the prefect said in unison.
When she had been hit with more than ten boards, a burst of crying and shouting was heard, and the fat Mrs. Wang hurried over with the support of her maid.
The onlookers watched from afar.
Wang Zude screamed, "Mom, save me quickly, they want to beat me to death!"
Mrs. Wang knelt on the ground and cried, "My Lord, County Magistrate, you said you would release my son if he confessed! Now you are beating him with a stick! How can you go back on your word?"
Zhou Huaining waved his hand, "This is none of my business. This is the case handled by the prefect and the academician!"
Mrs. Wang looked at the two prefects expectantly and said, "Master Xue Zheng, Master Prefect, my son's surname is Wang, and his name is Zude!"
The two snorted, "The one being beaten is Wang Zude!"
Mrs. Wang opened her mouth and asked, "Why?"
Naturally, the two of them would not answer.
The sound of the beating continued, and Mrs. Wang cried, "My son has been punished for cheating. How could you do this, my two adults?"
As he was speaking, Wang Zude, who had been crying, suddenly felt his head sink and he fell silent.
"My lords, he's dead!" the bailiff beating him with the stick screamed.
"What!" Madam Wang rushed over, took a breath, and then cried out to the sky, "Oh my God, my son has been beaten to death!"
The crowd was in an uproar.
How could he be beaten to death so suddenly?
…
In the teahouse across from the post station, Zhao Xingjian asked curiously, "What happened? He didn't even get hit with twenty boards, so how could he die?"
Ye Buwei twisted a peanut in his hand and whispered, "Not dead."
My Qi and blood are just blocked temporarily, let's see how they fight each other.
Madam Wang let out a long howl, then climbed up from the ground and rushed towards the prefect and the other two. "You bastards, my son's cheating isn't punishable by death, yet you beat him to death! I'm going to fight you!"
The yamen runners stopped her, and Madam Wang cried hysterically, "You two, you bastards, you are so cruel and ruthless, I won't hide it anymore! You each accepted five hundred taels of silver from my family and promised to give you the first place in the case! Now you want to kill me to silence me. You are so vicious! Even if I die today, I will seek justice for my son!"
"Stop slandering me, you scoundrel!" The prefect looked a little flustered.
"If I tell a lie, let me be struck by lightning!" Madam Wang's eyes were red. "You bastard official! You took my family's money, but beat and killed my son. Even if I become a ghost, I will not let you go!"
As he said this, he rushed forward like crazy.
The two prefects looked panicked. "Stop her! She's a crazy woman! She's talking nonsense!"
The crowd shouted angrily, "No one will believe what you, a dog official!"
"The pretentious interrogation before was just a trick to fool everyone!"
Mrs. Wang was held aside by the yamen runners and cried out loudly, "Neighbors, they've taken bribes from more than one family! There will be no fairness in the exams from now on!"
"Cover her mouth! Don't let her speak!" the academic official shouted. "She's spreading rumors to confuse the public!"
A piece of rag was immediately stuffed into Mrs. Wang’s mouth.
Everyone was angry, "Even if you don't let her say it, we can guess it!"
"What's the point of taking exams tomorrow and the day after tomorrow? It's useless even if we take them!"
"We can't let these two bastards be the chief examiners! We need to change the chief examiner!"
The crowd was outraged, and the academician and the prefect hurriedly retreated into the inn. Everyone was so angry that they grabbed the vegetables in the baskets and the pebbles on the ground and threw them at him.
"Don't be so arrogant, you scoundrels!"
As they talked, they covered their heads and ran into the house in a panic.
"Don't even think about running away, you bastards! You have to give an explanation for the exams tomorrow and the day after tomorrow!"
The people rushed forward and started fighting with the yamen runners and guards who tried to stop them. Ye Yanping mixed in with them and knocked out those guards who were capable of fighting in no time.
"Huaining..." The prefect was about to speak when Zhou Huaining screamed.
"Damn it, who hit me!"
Then he rolled his eyes and fainted on his guard's body.
"Young Master!"
"What's wrong with you, sir?"
"If anything happens to the young master, we're dead!"
More than a hundred guards carried Zhou Huaining and ran away like a gust of wind.
The remaining guards were no match for the people and were beaten by them. When the academician and the prefect retreated to the gate, they were suddenly tripped for some reason and fell head over heels.
The people pressed forward and surrounded the two men. "You bastard official, how many people have you taken bribes from? Where do you put us poor people?"
The prefect was in a state of panic. "Don't believe what that crazy woman says! You're beating up an official appointed by the imperial court, you'll be beheaded! Take my advice, retreat now, and I'll let bygones be bygones!"
"We don't believe it! You dog officials are always fooling people!"
The academician tried his best to maintain his dignity, his tone full of grievance, "Whether you believe it or not, I have never accepted bribes. I have a clear conscience!"
"You Huashi!" A milky little voice came clearly.
The academic official laughed, "Swear? Of course I can swear!"
He is not afraid of swearing.
Only ignorant women and children believe in oaths.
He just doesn't believe that a random oath can come true!
"Anai, come down!"
The little dumpling let out a whoosh and slid off Luo Qiuyue's body and onto the ground.
She had discovered that as soon as she knelt, there would be thunder.
So she has already made up her mind, as long as that bastard official swears, she will kneel down!
Let a thunderclap expose his true form!
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