Crack!
A large slap came over and landed on Hu Song's face, leaving him stunned.
"Brother-in-law, why did you hit me!" Hu Song said, covering his face.
"Pah! Who's your brother-in-law?" Wang Huiling glared fiercely at Hu Song, his eyes filled with hatred as if he wanted to devour him.
Hu Song was completely taken aback. He thought that since he had captured those people, the prefect would surely remember his merit.
"Do you even know who the person you arrested is? If you hadn't been so clever as to lure him into that secret room, I wouldn't be in this predicament. You've practically ruined me!" Wang Huiling glared at Hu Song and cursed angrily.
"Brother-in-law, what are you saying? Explain yourself clearly!" Hu Song was scolded by Wang Huiling, but he still didn't understand.
"Fine, today I'll tell you, so you can die knowing why. Do you know who the person you arrested is? He's Prince Yong of the current dynasty. Why did you lock him up in the secret chamber?" the magistrate said angrily. "Do you know that if it weren't for you, I would still have a way out? Now even I have been driven to the point of having no way out because of you?"
Hu Song was immediately dumbfounded. At that time, he naturally did not believe what Fourth Master said and thought he was fooling him. So he used his familiarity with the manor to lure Fourth Master and the others into the secret room.
But he never expected that the person he had captured was actually a prince!
Thump!
Hu Song immediately knelt down and crawled to Wang Huiling's feet, pulling on his official robe and saying, "Brother-in-law, you must save me. I thought I could help you share your burdens."
After saying that, he really started crying with snot and tears streaming down his face.
"You still have the nerve to cry? Do you know you've offended Prince Yong? Even I can't escape this mess. I'm packing my things and taking my family to avoid disaster. You, drag him away and behead him!" Wang Huiling was so angry that he wanted to chop him into pieces, thinking that his career of over thirty years had been ruined by this kid. He had no intention of saving him.
"Ah, spare me, brother-in-law! Please, for my sister's sake, spare me!" Hu Song wailed as if his own mother had died when he was lifted up.
"Sister? What sister? I don't know your sister!" Wang Hui ordered. As for Hu Song's sister, his third concubine, she had long been dealt with, and no one would remember that he ever had such a third concubine.
Hu Song immediately understood the meaning behind Wang Huiling's words. He hadn't expected this person to be so ruthless, killing so easily, especially a woman he loved so dearly.
Hu Song was too frightened to speak; he was dragged away in a daze.
"My lord, there's no time to lose. The people you wanted to take away have been settled, and the rest have been dealt with. As for this estate?" Master Zhou was Wang Huiling's confidant, and he knew everything about Wang Huiling, which is why he couldn't help but be implicated as well.
"Release them tomorrow, then burn it down!" Wang Huiling said resolutely. He never imagined that his hard work over the years would end in such a complete failure.
Master Zhou looked at his retreating figure with a hint of pity and said, "Sir, is there really no way to turn things around?"
“What other room is there? The higher-ups have made it very clear that they will not get involved in this matter and forbid us from revealing anything, otherwise our entire family will be implicated. The fact that they are letting me flee with my family is already a testament to our long-standing relationship; otherwise, I fear I would not live more than a few days,” Wang Huiling said.
At this point, Master Zhou realized that there was no way to reverse the situation, so he could only silently retreat to carry out his duties.
Hu Song's head had been chopped off, but he still felt aggrieved until his death, wondering what he had done.
Wang Huiling disposed of all his belongings in the shortest possible time, then packed his bags and quietly left Xudu with his confidants, more than a dozen cartloads of valuables, and his family.
When the prison doors that had been locked for Fourth Master and his men were opened, his men were already hundreds of miles away. Fourth Master and his men were released, only to find that large parts of the estate had been burned down.
Fourth Master randomly grabbed someone and asked them, and they all said they were tenant farmers on the estate and knew nothing about their master. But when Fourth Master asked them who their master was, none of them could name Wang Huiling.
Ling Feng and Gesang were both unharmed. Shui Ling tried several times to go to the prefect to ask for help, but Ling Feng stopped her each time. They had been very worried about Fourth Master and the others since they saw the fire at the manor the first day.
Fourth Master ordered Ling Feng and Gesang to arrest several people from the estate and question them. Basically, none of them knew who owned the estate; they only recognized the head steward and Hu Song. However, Ling Feng and his men couldn't find these two men at all. It turned out that none of the servants here knew who their master was.
The Fourth Prince, seeing that victory was almost assured, was suddenly swallowed up by a great fire. He immediately ordered Ling Feng to inform the prefect of Xudu that he had arrived in Lanzhou and Xudu and to order them to arrest Wang Huiling immediately.
"Master, do you mean that Wang Huiling is no longer in the Tongpan Prefecture?" Lanqin asked, seeing the Fourth Master standing silently in front of this desolate estate, where most of the houses had been burned down.
“He’s definitely gone. He knows he can’t escape Master’s pursuit, so why would he just sit and wait to die?” Fourth Master said. “He will definitely disappear without a trace and cut off all ties with the capital. It seems our plans are going to fall through.”
“We can check the accounts of Eighth Master and Ninth Master. If they dared to intercept tribute and sell it privately among the people, that would be a grave crime of deceiving the emperor,” Lan Qin said.
“It must have been wiped clean. He’s always been meticulous in his work; he would never leave any evidence,” Fourth Master said.
Lanqin naturally knew who the Fourth Prince was referring to. She thought about the Eighth Prince's actions in Kangxi's later years and realized that nothing major had happened. Although Kangxi also looked down on the Eighth Prince, he still granted him the title of Beile and did not strip him of his title.
“Master, perhaps the Eighth Prince is destined for this. Let’s put this matter aside for now. The matter of going to Wudang Mountain to find a virtuous monk for Father Emperor hasn’t even begun yet!” Lanqin said.
"Yes, you're right. I'll think about it some more," said the Fourth Master.
Lanqin knew how shrewd Fourth Master was; this was the perfect opportunity to bring down Eighth Master. Fourth Master didn't want to give up, but he didn't manage to catch the big fish he hoped for. His opponent simply gave up and severed all ties, just like Eighth Master's character.
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