Chapter 11: Orders to kill the adulterous couple.
Yun Xiuwen gave an awkward smile, "The Marquis's mansion has been robbed clean, and there's nothing left. If I don't wear the steward's clothes, then I'll have nothing left to wear. Lord Zhang, you must catch the thieves and recover our mansion's valuables!"
Lord Zhang said politely, "Please rest assured, Lord Yun, I will do my best to capture the thieves and recover the stolen goods."
Yun Xiuwen bowed and thanked him, "I'm counting on you, Lord Zhang!"
Magistrate Zhang waved his hand and ordered, "Search! Don't miss any corner, find the slightest clue, and be sure to catch the thief."
Behind him, the yamen runners with knives split into two groups and rushed towards the backyard.
"Lord Zhang, please sit down." Yun Xiuwen scolded the servants, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and serve Lord Zhang tea."
These servants are getting lazier and lazier, they have no sense of propriety at all, really.
The tables in the main hall had also been moved out, leaving only a dilapidated square table in the corner. The carpenter repaired it and made it barely usable, and they also gathered a few small stools from the servants' quarters that wobbled and creaked with every movement.
The maid wanted to say that all the tea leaves had been poured out, so where would the tea be?
But she didn't dare to say it, and forced herself to say, "Yes!"
There is no more tea in the manor, but there is a tea tree in the old lady's courtyard.
After a flurry of activity, tea was brewed, and the constables who had gone to search the backyard quickly returned with the items they had found.
"My lord, we have searched the entire backyard. Except for the madam's and the steward's courtyard, which were not looted, all the courtyards of the masters, first-class maids, and old women in the mansion have been looted. All the tables, chairs, and beds are gone."
"Sir, we also found these two items in Madam's room." The constable then presented a token and an account book.
Lord Zhang analyzed his guess, "How could this be? It would take hundreds of people and resources to move it. How could no one in the manor have noticed such a commotion? Could it be the work of someone we know?"
"acquaintance?"
Lord Zhang asked the bailiff, "Did you see any footprints?"
The constable replied, "Sir, no, and we found no trace of the footprints being covered up."
"Could it be a ghost?"
Suddenly, another small team of constables ran back. "Sir, we also found an account book in the steward's room."
"It has been confirmed that neither the person's nor the housekeeper's room was burglarized."
"Your Excellency, I confirm."
Only Wang's clothes were missing from her room; the bed, chairs, bedside tables, and other large items were still intact.
Wang retorted, "Who said it wasn't stolen? All my clothes are gone from my room."
"Go and examine it more carefully."
"yes."
The constables withdrew and continued the search.
Lord Zhang examined the suspicious evidence. "Does Lady Hou recognize this token?"
"What token? I've never seen it before."
"This is the Assassin's Guild's token. It was found under your pillow, along with this ledger."
Wang Shi looked arrogant and disdainfully said, "How could a woman from the inner quarters of the house know anything about the Assassin's Guild? My father was the prime minister of the previous dynasty and was honored with a place in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. How could he possibly know such lowly people? Slander! It's all slander!"
She sent her maid to bribe the assassins, instead of showing up herself.
She only bribed the assassin; she didn't empty the Marquis's mansion.
She denies it.
"The token is in the lady's room, so what do you say?"
"The thief is trying to find a scapegoat to pin on me. I beg Lord Zhang to investigate thoroughly and clear my name."
Lord Zhang also felt it wasn't her.
If she really did it, why would she hide the token and ledger under her pillow and have them found during a search?
Only a simple-minded person with strong limbs would believe such flawed evidence.
"Wang, is that you?"
However, Yun Xiuwen was simple-minded. He had just had another big argument with Wang Shi, and the resentment had been building for a long time. He grabbed Wang Shi's arm and questioned her, "Wang Shi, tell me honestly, where did you take the treasures from the storeroom? You colluded with outsiders to empty the Marquis's mansion, are you crazy? Why did you do this?"
"My lord, it wasn't me. Someone framed us. It must have been yesterday. I suspect it was Yun Zhaoxue. That little bitch came back yesterday demanding her dowry, and we didn't give it to her. To get revenge, she emptied the Marquis's mansion. It must have been her."
"She's only good at being spoiled and causing trouble, how could she have such great abilities? Don't try to fool me!"
"Who else could it be but her? And what a coincidence, the things disappeared the day after she asked for her dowry."
"Besides her, it could also be you. I've never seen this ledger before, so why is it in the steward's room? Are you two conspiring to embezzle my money?"
Lord Zhang advised, "My lord, please calm down. This case is full of doubts, and we cannot draw any conclusions at this time."
The constable found a token in the corner. "Sir, we've found another token here."
Lord Zhang took the token and saw it was another Assassin's Guild token. "My lord," he said, "I am certain that this case is inextricably linked to the Assassin's Guild! Has anyone in your household had contact with them?"
Who else could it be but the Wang family?
Yun Xiuwen turned his head and glared at her.
At this moment, Aunt Chen's personal maid suddenly rushed out and knelt down, reporting: "Master, this morning the maids and servants found the undergarments of the Madam and the steward outside the Madam's room."
Aunt Chen covered her mouth in feigned surprise, looking utterly incredulous: "What? Such a thing actually happened? Are you saying that Madam and the steward are having an affair?"
"Cai Lian, this concerns the lady's reputation; you cannot speak recklessly! The Prefect is here; if you lie, I cannot protect you."
Wang, engrossed in her pleasures and unaware of what had happened, was no longer calm and immediately jumped out, slapping Cailian across the face. "Smack!"
“You lowly servant, shut your mouth! Slandering the mistress is a capital offense.”
Cailian quickly shook her head, "Auntie, this servant dares not lie. I was not the only one who saw this; many servants saw it too."
"Is what Cailian said true? And who else heard it? Tell me everything in detail."
The servants all knelt down with a thud, burying their heads and pretending to be dead.
Despite being the head of the household, Yun Xiuwen was less respected than Wang Shi among the servants, which enraged him. He smashed a teacup with a loud "Bang!"
"Good! Very good. None of you will speak, are you? I can't command you anymore. If you don't speak, you will all be given thirty strokes of the cane and thrown out to be sold."
The servants were so frightened by the prospect of being sold off that they nearly wet themselves.
"My lord, spare me! What Cailian said is true. This morning we discovered the kitchen had been burglarized and went to report it to the madam. Then suddenly... that thing fell from above our heads."
Yun Xiuwen was so angry he vomited blood. He didn't love Wang Shi, but he absolutely wouldn't allow her to cuckold him and even collude with her lover to empty the Marquis's mansion. How could he tolerate this?
His temples were bulging with veins, his eyes were bloodshot, his expression was fierce and his face was ferocious as he grabbed Wang's neck.
“Uh, Lord Marquis, please let me explain…” Wang struggled, grabbing and scratching him.
Seeing that she still dared to struggle, Yun Xiuwen slapped her, knocking Wang's head to the side.
"Smack!—"
Yun Yanzhe and his two siblings, Yun Jiaoyue, couldn't bear to watch their mother being strangled to death and stepped forward to intervene. "Father, Father, this matter is not yet settled. There are still suspicious circumstances. Father, please calm down..."
Steward Wu and the old women around Madam Wang also stepped forward to break up the fight.
Yun Xiuwen had been fighting all night and was exhausted when Chen Mama threw him to the ground, where he fell flat on his back, clutching his aching waist and crying out, "Ouch, ouch..."
Despite her own injuries, Aunt Chen rushed forward, "Master, Master, are you alright?"
The old women shielded Wang behind them, asking, "Madam, Madam, are you alright?"
They were Wang's dowry maids, so naturally they were on her side.
Yun Xiuwen, who was helped up, was so angry that his eyes turned red. He pointed at Wang Shi and cursed through gritted teeth: "Wang Jinzhen, you unfaithful slut, I'm going to divorce you or kill you and drown you two dogs in the pond."
"My lord, I have been framed. Why won't you believe me? Last night, the thief knocked the steward unconscious and put him in my room, scattering his clothes everywhere, but nothing happened between us..." Wang Shi cried, covering her swollen cheeks.
The hall was in complete chaos.
Yun Xiuwen ordered his servants to tie up Wang Shi and Steward Wu, and to administer family punishment, intending to beat them to death on the spot.
Wang cried out that she was wronged.
When her children learned that their mother, who had always been a model of propriety, had committed adultery with the housekeeper, they were thunderstruck and stood frozen in place, none daring to plead for her.
Concubine Chen fanned the flames from the side, "Master, you've been so good to Madam, handing her over the management of the household and requiring her approval even to withdraw a few thousand taels of silver. Yet she conspired with outsiders to falsify accounts and steal the Marquis's money. I feel so sorry for you..."
Yun Xiuwen's temples bulged with veins, his jaw clenched so tightly it trembled, his facial muscles twitched, and he let out a beast-like growl, "Beat them! Beat them hard! Beat these damned adulterers to death!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com