Chapter 337 Treasures stir the heart, and the human heart is insatiable.
Shen Wuzheng glanced at him and then said, "My younger sister has arranged for someone to escort us to the Duke of Sheng's side, and we have been well taken care of by the Duke's people these days. I think it would be inappropriate to go there empty-handed."
Yuwen Ye's eyes narrowed slightly.
Shen Wuzheng's words were very polite and tactful, but as a scion of a prominent family, he understood their meaning perfectly.
Although the Duke of Sheng held a high position and wielded great power, and the Shen couple had long been dismissed from their posts and exiled, they were clearly not on the same level. However, the two families were still considered old friends, and although their official positions differed, their personal relationships remained equal. But now that the Shen couple had gone to seek refuge with Yuwen Yuan, they were in a completely disadvantaged position. Even if the Duke of Sheng did not care, this situation still caused some disparity for the Shen couple.
If left unchecked, the Shen couple will surely suffer greatly in the long run.
For Duke Sheng, it was also difficult to treat his former acquaintances equally.
It's not that people are cold-hearted, but rather that human nature is subtle.
Therefore, Shen Wuzheng wanted to make some arrangements in advance, which is what he meant by not going empty-handed.
Yuwen Ye asked, "So, what brings you here—"
Shen Wuzheng said, "I'm thinking of taking over Wanggang Village as a gift for our first meeting."
"...!"
"...!"
The entire pavilion fell silent once again.
This time, even Yuwen Ye was somewhat moved, frowning as he looked at him. Shang Ruyi was even more dumbfounded. She looked at Shen Wuzheng for a while, but did not speak immediately. Instead, she turned her head to look around. This picturesque place was indeed only occupied by them, along with Mu Xian and a few others who were standing by the carriage, cautiously and carefully looking at the painting.
She then looked at Shen Wuzheng again, and said incredulously, "Brother, you—alone?"
Shen Wuzheng nodded.
He spoke so casually, his expression so indifferent, as if it were nothing more than bending down to pick up a fallen leaf at his feet.
But Wanggangzhai!?
This is one of the most powerful rebel groups in the world today. Not to mention that it has tens of thousands of followers, as soon as they arrive here, they can tell from the mountain terrain of this stronghold that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Not to mention him alone, even when the imperial court wanted to capture Wang Quyi, it sent countless generals and soldiers, almost all of them were buried in the camp behind this mountain.
How could he possibly manage alone?!
Just as she was thinking about it, a sudden inspiration struck Shang Ruyi. She turned around and looked at Yuwen Ye.
A cold glint also flashed in Yuwen Ye's eyes.
He said to Shang Ruyi, "It seems we've found someone who shares my thoughts."
Shang Ruyi then turned to look at Shen Wuzheng.
Shen Wuzheng watched their eye contact, and upon hearing Yuwen Ye's words, his handsome brows furrowed slightly, revealing a hint of gloom. However, he calmly said, "You've come here, is it also because—"
There's no need to say anything more just by looking at their expressions.
At this moment, Shang Ruyi felt somewhat dazed. Everything that appeared before her eyes shocked her so much that she couldn't quite come to her senses. After a long while, she finally managed to clear her thoughts and looked at Shen Wuzheng, saying softly, "Brother, was the map of Zuo Gong's suspected tomb given to the people of Wanggang Village by you?"
Shen Wuzheng raised an eyebrow slightly: "You all found out too?"
Shang Ruyi nodded hurriedly.
Meeting her questioning gaze, Shen Wuzheng smiled and calmly said, "I gave Li Wenyang and Wu Gan the map; I gave them their deaths."
"...?"
Shang Ruyi was somewhat unfamiliar with these two names, but Yuwen Ye, who was standing behind her, had already put his arm around her shoulder and walked to her side. He slowly sat down and said, "Li Wenyang is the sixth leader of Wanggang Village. He joined Wang Quyi not long after he started his rebellion. He is a treacherous and cunning villain. Wu Gan is the eighth leader. I heard he is quite skilled."
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi immediately understood that these were the two people the tea stall owner had mentioned earlier.
Shen Wuzheng glanced at Yuwen Ye but didn't respond. Instead, he said to Shang Ruyi, "I've been trying to figure something out since I got to this area. I happened to run into the two of them. Wu Gan had a subordinate with him, while Li Wenyang was alone. It seems they each went to complete some mission and came back at the same time. I managed to give them the map separately. After they meet up and return to Wanggang Village, I'll wait for the results in this area."
"result?"
Although the two words were simple, Shang Ruyi understood them immediately.
A cold glint flashed in Yuwen Ye's eyes as he said in a deep voice, "Treasures tempt people's hearts, and people's greed is insatiable."
"..."
"You used these two maps to incite them to kill each other?"
Shen Wuzheng nodded.
Yuwen Ye asked, "And what was the result?"
Shen Wuzheng raised his hand and pointed to a dense forest opposite him, saying, "Wu Gan and his men's bodies are in there."
"...!?"
Upon hearing this, Yuwen Ye and Shang Ruyi exchanged a surprised glance.
Although they had never met Wu Gan and Li Wenyang, based on the general information they had just learned, Wu Gan was highly skilled in martial arts and had a subordinate by his side, while Li Wenyang was all alone. If they really had evil intentions to seize the maps from multiple parties, then it should have been Wu Gan and his subordinate who killed Li Wenyang together.
Why were they the ones who died?
Could it be that Li Wenyang is so powerful that he can fight two opponents at once?
Seemingly noticing their surprise, Shen Wuzheng calmly said, "Although Wu Gan has a subordinate by his side, once he gets the map, even the closest person becomes a target of suspicion."
Yuwen Ye suddenly understood.
He said, "Wu Gan's wariness of his subordinates actually made them distrustful of each other; and Li Wenyang took advantage of this distrust to win over Wu Gan's men?"
Shen Wuzheng nodded and then said, "The two of them conspired to kill Wu Gan. Although Wu Gan was highly skilled in martial arts, he had no way to deal with two people under these circumstances, especially since one of them was his own subordinate."
Shang Ruyi said, "What about Wu Gan's men—"
She stopped halfway through her sentence.
Actually, the answer is already quite obvious.
Li Wenyang didn't win over Wu Gan's subordinates just to share these two maps with him. After conspiring to kill Wu Gan, these subordinates were naturally superfluous.
So, Wu Gan and his men died one after the other in that dense forest...
Yuwen Ye withdrew his gaze from the dense forest and looked at Shen Wuzheng, his eyes deepening. He said, "In ancient times, there was a story of two peaches killing three warriors, which was about calculating people's hearts; you killed these two people with just two maps, which is no less impressive."
Shen Wuzheng calmly replied, "You flatter me."
"..."
"In such a chaotic world, with neither money to rely on nor weapons to protect you, it is difficult to survive if you do not understand people's hearts."
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