The old man had never begged anyone before. The only people he had wronged in his life were his wife and Rong'er. With tears welling in his eyes, he pleaded with Zhang Wen, "Zhang Wen, do you still have a conscience? Please spare your mother..."
Zhang Wen's brows furrowed with impatience, and his tone was quite cold, "I need to explain things to the Imperial Advisor. Father, do you think I would give Mother a way out?"
Watching the two men have their throats slit, blood splattering onto Zhang Wen's face, Zhang Wen dazedly touched his face, then threw himself onto their corpses and burst into a loud cry.
"Father! Mother!"
Zhang Wen buried his head in the old man's arms, his body trembling, and a slight smile playing on his lips.
Father, you are watching from heaven. Your and Rong's insistence on caring for the people and being loyal to the country was all wrong.
Only I, Zhang Wen, can create brilliance for the Zhang family, Father.
The news of the old man and woman's deaths spread like wildfire. When Mingyue and Ji Yong'an arrived at the courtyard, they saw Zhang Wen holding the bodies and weeping bitterly.
Ji Yong'an, "What's going on?"
Zhang Wen wiped away his tears, his eyes glazed and lifeless. Perhaps he had cried too hard, his chest was tight with suppressed emotions, and his lips were pale. "When Father learned that the gold in the secret passage had been discovered, he wanted to commit suicide. Mother and I tried to stop him, but we couldn't... Mother and Father were a loving couple all their lives, and they went with him too!"
Ji Yong'an felt nauseous at Zhang Wen's hypocritical act. How could there be such a despicable person? These were his own parents!
"You! Zhang Wen, how can you be so shameless?"
How could such a shameless person be worthy of sitting in the city lord's mansion?
Zhang Wen lowered his head dejectedly, devoid of any fighting spirit, and said, "Whatever General Ji says, I will listen to General Ji."
Enraged, Ji Yong'an raised his foot to kick Zhang Wen, but Mingyue stopped him. "Commander Zhang, please accept my condolences. The matter of the former Commander's embezzlement will still be reported to the Emperor. I wonder if Commander Zhang has told the former Commander how he embezzled so much gold?"
Zhang Wen sighed and began to speak with great sorrow, "Father was foolish. He secretly collected exorbitant grain taxes from the people in the city, handing over part to the imperial court and embezzling the rest."
"The imperial court issues a grain tax of 20%, but I found out that the city lord's mansion is secretly collecting 50%. That means for every 100 catties of grain the people pay, the city lord's mansion pockets 30%."
Mingyue asked, word by word, "Where did all this grain go?"
Zhang Wen closed his eyes, his heart filled with despair. "Father sold it to Zhang's Rice Shop in the city. I tried to stop him, but to little avail. Father made a muddled decision in his old age, and as his son, I am heartbroken."
"After last time, I also went to the rice shop. Half a catty of rice was sold for five taels. How much does the city lord's mansion take?"
“Fifty split…” Zhang Wen collapsed at Mingyue’s feet, his bloodied hands grabbing her embroidered shoes. “My lord, please let my father be buried. I will take full responsibility. I can’t bear to see my father burdened with all this and unable to even find a proper burial!”
Mingyue frowned and took a step back, her clear, cold voice icy and piercing. She raised her foot and stepped on Zhang Wen's hand bones, "Dirty, let me wipe my feet."
Zhang Wen, whose hand bones ached from being repeatedly crushed, gasped, large beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. "My lord..."
“Zhang Wen, one wrong step leads to another. You can just stay in the City Lord’s Mansion and wait for me to throw the evidence in your face. What are you trying to shirk? It’s really despicable.”
Originally, she didn't expect it to end so quickly; watching a clown jump around was quite entertaining, but he had to touch her with his dirty hands.
That's absolutely disgusting.
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