Chapter 039 Chapter 39

When the Qingchai entered the village, he happened to see the scandal in the village. The news soon reached the ears of the village chief who had been paying attention to the Qingchai's movements.

When he brought a few elders to Xiaocui's house, Xiaocui had been released. She hugged her mother and cried very sadly.

Ah Hua stood behind Xiaocui and her mother like a wooden stake, with the heartache in his eyes almost overflowing, but he did not dare to go up to comfort them.

As for Yong Wang, he seemed much more relaxed, half lying lazily on a chair. On the newly set up small tea table, the tea was steaming, and the guards put a few plates of exquisite snacks.

Several elders had never seen King Yong before, and seeing his extravagant behavior, they all looked suspicious. He was even less reliable than Wei Fusheng, and they all began to think that Ah Hua and Ah Dao were young and were deceived by him.

"I have seen you, sir." The village chief came with several elders to pay their respects, and almost knelt down again. Several guards quickly approached and helped them up.

King Yong said, "I told you not to be polite."

The village chief stopped kneeling after hearing this, of course because he was being held up and couldn't kneel down.

"The village chief has come at the right time." Yong Wang said, "According to the laws of this dynasty, the unauthorized sale of two girls must be dealt with by the local village chiefs and elders first, and those who cannot be dealt with will be handed over to the government. Although I am the inspector of eight prefectures, I am responsible for supervision and will not interfere. Today's case will be handed over to the village chief for decision."

After saying this, he lay down, looking like he would never interfere.

The village chief wiped the sweat from his forehead, took the order and began to judge the case.

Xiao Cui's father had confessed, and there was no suspense in the case. It was handled soon.

"Expel Boss Li from Nangang Fishing Village, and transfer all his house, savings, and land to Li Cui. Your Excellency, do you think that my judgment is fair and reasonable?"

Upon hearing this, King Yong put away some of his frivolousness and replied, "It is fair to Li Cui and her daughter, but it is not reasonable to Boss Li."

The village chief's heart sank, and he couldn't help but start to worry about Li Cui, and asked, "What do you mean, Your Excellency?"

"Boss Li sold his daughter to pay off his debts. Gambling debts are still protected by law. Will expelling Boss Li from the village lead to Li Cui and her daughter being targeted?" He looked at Boss Li with a smile in his eyes: "It would be better to let him serve in the salt drying field for life. The money he earns can be used directly by the village chief to repay the debts, thus eliminating a hidden danger." Boss Li's

face changed drastically. He was a lame boy, and it didn't matter to him whether he was expelled from the village or not, but it would be better to kill him directly than to sell him to the salt drying field as a coolie.

Without waiting for the village chief to respond, he quickly said, "I owe money to the black gambling house in the village. Just drive me away. They won't look for Xiao Cui and the others!"

The village chief frowned. The debts of the black gambling house are not protected by law, but those people are more vicious and cruel. They will not talk about reason when they come to the door. Moreover, Wei Fusheng has not only gambling houses, but also brothels. He saw with his own eyes that the people in the gambling house forcibly took the daughter of the gambler to the brothel to pay off the debt.

However, the official said that Wei Fusheng would be punished...

The village chief couldn't help but cast his eyes on King Yong.

King Yong took a sip of tea and said calmly, "Black gambling house? I didn't know that a small fishing village could run a private gambling house. You lead the way, I want to see it with my own eyes."

The guards followed the order and grabbed the collar of Boss Li. Boss Li dared not say anything but nodded.

The village chief watched King Yong get up leisurely and walked into the sedan chair with the help of the guards. Suddenly, an absurd idea came to his mind.

Perhaps he already knew all these things, and he came here not to meddle in other people's business, but his real purpose was the Wei family's casino...

Just as he was daydreaming, King Yong turned and looked at him: "Will the village chief not go with us? Strictly speaking, the village chief should be in charge of the privately set up casinos in the village. If you ignore it, it is hard to say that you are not suspected of condoning it."

The village chief sighed: "I will go with you, sir."

King Yong left, and Yuan Ming and others naturally followed.

Ah Hua's heart was completely attached to Xiao Cui. Seeing this, Ah Dao did not intend to force him. He patted his shoulder and comforted him: "I will follow my father to the casino, and I will leave this place to you."

Ah Hua cast a grateful look at him and nodded.

The location of the casino is relatively remote, deep in the village, under a dilapidated thatched house.

Boss Li pointed the way, and the guard slapped him unconscious, and then several people rushed in.

King Yong sat on the sedan chair and said to everyone: "It's dark, dirty and noisy in here, we won't go down, just wait here."

After a while, Xiao Wu came out, holding a familiar person in his hand - Manager Li. After

what happened yesterday, Manager Li was so scared when he saw King Yong that his legs went limp. As soon as the guard let go, he knelt down.

"See you again." King Yong's mouth curled up.

Li Guanshi's face was covered with cold sweat, and he kept apologizing: "Please spare my life, my lord. The casino belongs to Wei Fusheng. I just came here to help him count his debts. It has nothing to do with me! Please investigate!"

King Yong gave a look, and the guards beside him took a rag to cover Li Guanshi's mouth. He nodded with satisfaction: "I will find out the truth."

Soon, several other guards came out one after another, and two of them carried a huge box together.

The box was placed on the ground with a bang, and it was opened to see that it was full of copper plates.

When Li Guanshi saw these boxes, his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

Prince Yong only glanced at the boxes and then looked away. He asked the guards to lift the sedan chair and said, "Take all the loot back. A small fishing village can hide a lot of filth. Tell Wei Fusheng that I'm waiting for him at the town government office."

The last sentence was said to Li Guanshi.

After rushing all the way, it was past dinner time when they arrived at the town. Prince Yong waved his hand and invited everyone to go to the restaurant for dinner.

The guards wearing silver masks did not seem to follow. Yuan Ming and the other four sat at the same table with Prince Yong.

As soon as he sat down, Prince Yong let out a long sigh and said in disdain: "I originally came here just to travel and see the local customs and people, but I didn't expect to be involved in a case. It really doesn't give me a break at all."

The waiter brought the drinks, and Zhao Yucheng took it and poured him a glass, saying: "Your Majesty is seeking justice for the country and the people, and for the villagers of Nangang Fishing Village. They will definitely thank you."

"I hope so." He said casually.

After the meal, Yong Wang felt much more relaxed and his expression became much better. He played with the wine glass in his hand, and his eyes swept over everyone at the table, and finally stopped at the wine glass in front of him.

"A small fishing village dares to set up a private casino. I don't believe that Wei Fusheng alone has such great power, but I am a newcomer and I know the people and things here. Who of you would like to tell me your opinion?"

He said this tactfully, but his purpose was very direct, which was to ask everyone's opinion on Zhenshou.

But the problem is that they are just students without any achievements. Who dares to directly say that Zhenshou is wrong? Unless they don't want to stay in Fangyuan Academy anymore.

Silence spread at the dinner table, and everyone put down their chopsticks and silently looked at the rice bowls in front of them.

Prince Yong chuckled, "Why are you silent? Is this question so difficult to answer?"

He looked at Zhao Yucheng beside him and said, "I heard that Yucheng's father is a clerk in the town government and is highly regarded by the governor. You won the first prize in this year's chrysanthemum banquet, which won praise from the governor. In your opinion, will the governor bend the law for personal gain?"

Zhao Yucheng slowly clasped his fists and raised them above his head. Hesitantly, he said, "My father asked me to focus on my studies. I don't know much about other things."

Prince Yong The king said, "It's true that the imperial examinations are tested on books, but if you only learn from books, it would be too superficial."

Zhao Yucheng pursed his lips and said, "I know. Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty."

King Yong waved his hand and said, "I don't have the habit of being a teacher. But I also heard that you, Yucheng, seem to have a close relationship with the daughter of the town governor. Do you have any plans to get married?"

Zhao Yucheng clenched his fist and then unclenched it, and replied, "I haven't achieved any fame yet, and I haven't even cultivated myself. It's too early to talk about marriage."

"That's wrong. Isn't Yuan Ming already married?"

When Yuan Ming heard these targeted words, he was not angry, but also felt that it was as he expected.

It seemed that King Yong had been targeting him intentionally or unintentionally since he met them. He seemed to have a special appreciation for him, but in fact, he was setting a trap for him every step of the way.

Yuan Ming was a little puzzled. With his current status and position, it was impossible for him to offend King Yong, and King Yong could not have known him in advance. Why?

"I think what Zhao Xiong said makes sense. A gentleman should establish a career before starting a family. However, I am not a gentleman, but an ordinary person who cannot escape the constraints of seven emotions and six desires." Yuan Ming said.

King Yong raised one eyebrow, but seemed very satisfied with his answer, and the smile in his eyes became much more sincere.

At this time, the town guard hurried over and knelt in front of King Yong.

"I am guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty."

The wine house was crowded with people and it was not a good place to talk. The group returned to the town government.

Under the words "Mingjing Gaoxuan", the place where the guard used to sit became the Yongwang. The person who interrogated the prisoner now knelt in the hall, and Wei Fusheng and two stewards were beside him.

"Yuan Ming, take paper and pen to write a confession for me." Yongwang said.

Yuan Ming nodded and sat on the desk to his right. Soon a servant brought pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

"What is Lord Fu doing? I have always regarded Lord Fu as a friend. How can you kneel like this? Stand up." The

guard's body shook and he hurriedly said, "Your humble servant is guilty."

"Oh?" Even sitting on this judge's chair, King Yong still maintained a lazy and leisurely attitude: "What crime has Lord Fu committed?"

The guard glanced at Wei Fusheng beside him. Ever since he knew that the imperial envoy this time was the younger brother of the current emperor, he became extremely dull and even his eyeballs could not move.

"Your Highness, I am greedy for pleasure and cowardly. I know that some of my subordinates are causing trouble for the people, but I turned a blind eye to it. I did nothing and let it develop. I did not fulfill my duties as a parent official. I deserve death!"

He said it sincerely and did not make excuses for himself. Everyone looked up at the Yong King, wondering how he would decide.

Yong King knocked on the wood of the hall with his fingers. Unexpectedly, he had no intention of punishing him. He said, "Master Fu cares about the people and has good intentions. Even if he made some small mistakes, it is not completely unforgivable. You stand up first."

Everyone was shocked.

Especially the people in Nangang Fishing Village, their eyes were red. The way King Yong dealt with the town guard, didn't it reveal his intention to protect them? Wouldn't their hopes be dashed again?

The light in the village chief's eyes gradually dimmed, and he sighed.

Ah Hua said, "Wait a minute, I don't think this gentleman is that kind of person. He said he would seek justice for me. The black gambling house has been closed down. There is no reason for him to be in the same group with Wei Fusheng."

Seeing the stubbornness and trust in his eyes, the village chief hesitated and finally said nothing.

The town guard stood up obediently and stood aside respectfully.

Just when people were in a state of anxiety, there was a bang, and the alarm wood was knocked down heavily.

King Yong said to Wei Fusheng and his men, "Master Fu has admitted his fault. It's your turn now."

After saying this, he looked at them quietly.

Wei Fusheng was very panicked. He had never seen anyone judge a case like this. Shouldn't there be questions and answers? Why was he the only one allowed to speak?

With the case of Zhenshou in front of him, Wei Fusheng felt a little lucky.

He knocked his head on the ground and burst into tears: "I know I was wrong and I admit my guilt. It was me who was blinded by money and had the guts to do anything. I held the control of the beach and the sun salt land but only wanted to make a profit from it. I betrayed the trust and cultivation of the government, failed to supervise my subordinates, and allowed them to hurt people. I beg Master to punish me."