Chapter 23: False Confession "Mrs. Chen, are you awake? I'm here to take you...
"Mrs. Chen, are you awake? I'm here to bring you breakfast."
"Come in."
Chen Weiyu, who was dressing up, responded gently.
As the door opened slightly, a plate of steaming breakfast was placed on the table.
Chen Weiyu turned around and saw the person coming, with a look of surprise on his face.
"Ah Xi? Why are you the one sending me off today?"
Ah Xi smiled without saying anything. After placing the breakfast, she walked to Chen Weiyu, took out a neatly folded piece of paper from her lapel and handed it to him.
Chen Weiyu took the note and asked doubtfully,
"This is?"
"It was given to you by Lord Guo."
Ah Xi answered in a low voice.
"Master Guo?"
Chen Weiyu repeated it, then unfolded the note and saw that it read,
"Wang Gui has been detained. If the joint lawsuit encounters any obstacles, this can be used as a breakthrough point."
After reading, Chen Weiyu looked at Ah Xi,
"Did Lord Guo, under Pavilion Master Fang, ask you to deliver this letter?"
Ah Xi nodded, his eyes seemed to contain thousands of words, but he remained silent.
Chen Weiyu immediately understood in his mind that Ah Xi must be the internal accomplice planted by Fang Buyu in Ningxiangju.
After knowing Ah Xi's identity, Chen Weiyu trusted Ah Xi even more.
"Ah Xi, then tell Master Guo that I've learned about this and that he shouldn't worry. Even if Wang Gui isn't caught, most of us sisters in Ningxiangju have already made up our minds and are willing to stand up and jointly expose the crimes of Wang Gui and Lin Bowen. We swear to fight him to the end, even if it means we all die."
Speaking of this, Chen Wei Yu recalled the in-depth conversations she had with many sisters in Ningxiangju over the past few days.
At first, she was worried that under the shadow of Wang Gui's power, it would be difficult to convince the sisters to stand up and accuse together.
But what she didn't expect was that after she proposed this idea, after a brief hesitation, the vast majority of sisters resolutely expressed their willingness to stand up and fight alongside her to expose Wang Gui's crimes.
Everyone is determined.
Perhaps in the eyes of the world, they are rootless duckweed.
But in fact, they are deeply rooted in the soil and as tough as cattails!
*
At the same time, in the underground dungeon, Wang Gui had spent a long and torturous day and night.
He started out roaring and struggling, but gradually became exhausted.
When Fang Buyu walked down the stairs step by step like a ghost in the dark night and appeared in front of him, Wang Gui was terrified but still forced himself to remain calm and threatened,
"Fang Buyu, how dare you detain an imperial official without reason? I will file a complaint with the court and make sure you are punished!"
Fang Buyu smiled calmly and said sarcastically,
"Lord Wang is so majestic. I am really terrified. I must quickly prepare my horse and go to the Prime Minister to apologize."
The word "Prime Minister" was like a bolt from the blue, and Wang Gui's face turned pale in an instant.
“You…you…”
He widened his eyes in astonishment, his lips trembled slightly, and he couldn't utter a word for a long time.
"Master Wang, please don't be angry. I invited you here to answer my questions."
Fang Buyu said calmly,
"Recently, we intercepted more than a dozen carriages leaving the capital late at night at the city gates. Not only were their movements suspicious, but they were also carrying tokens from the Prime Minister's residence. Even more surprising, the one leading them was your steward, Wu Yong. This matter is so bizarre that I must ask you to come and explain it in person."
Wang Gui's expression became even more flustered when he heard this, but Fang Buyu did not give him a chance to breathe and continued,
"After careful interrogation, the butler revealed a shocking secret. Fang was terrified, so he specially asked Lord Wang to come and verify it.
As he spoke, he pulled out a letter from his sleeve and gently threw it in front of Wang Gui.
"Oh, by the way, this is the letter Butler Wu left for you after the interrogation. I'll pass it on to you."
Wang Gui picked up the letter with trembling hands. With the dim candlelight in the cell, he could only see a few words on the letter.
"I feel bad for my lord. Wu Yong has failed to live up to your trust."
That was indeed Wu Yong's handwriting. He was shocked and frightened, and tore the letter to pieces in anger.
"What do you want?"
Wang Gui glared at Fang Buyu, but then he quickly calmed down and retorted,
"What can we really say based on Wu Yong's confession and a token?"
Fang Buyu smiled slightly and asked,
"What do you think this means, Your Majesty? Or, I will present this to Your Majesty and let you see what it means."
Wang Gui was speechless for a moment. After a moment of silence, he suddenly laughed and said,
"The Prime Minister's fifth concubine, Wang Xin, is my sister. What's wrong with siblings giving each other some money and property?"
After hearing Wang Gui confirm the items to be transported, Fang Buyu felt relieved, but he was also surprised that Wang Gui had such a relationship with Prime Minister Tuoba Xuan.
He continued to ask calmly,
"Lord Wang is the bookkeeper of a prefecture or county. How did you get such a huge fortune?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Gui's face turned pale, and he quickly thought of a countermeasure in his mind.
He knew that he had no way to escape this time, but he knew even more clearly that once Tuoba Xuan was involved, he would completely lose the chance to turn things around.
So, he quickly adjusted his mood, his face instantly changed into a look of panic, and he seemed to be holding back tears in his eyes.
"Pavilion Master Fang, please have mercy! Lin Bowen is behind all of this. To satisfy his greed, he opened numerous brothels in Weizhou and even forced me to find beautiful women for him to visit Ningxiangju to attract more customers. Even more outrageous, as far as I know, the imperial court allocated a huge sum of 150,000 taels of silver for the construction of the Yulan Bridge, but Lin Bowen, to enrich himself, cut corners and used cheap sandstone and reeds instead of expensive bluestone, causing the actual cost of the bridge to fall far below the budget. He then took the opportunity to embezzle over 100,000 taels of public funds!"
Wang Gui raised his hand and wiped the corners of his eyes pretentiously, even though there were no real tears.
"Master Fang, you know I'm just a small county clerk. Lin Bowen is the prefect, and his orders are like destiny to me. How dare I disobey him? I'm just an ordinary person. I was dragged into this storm, and the money I gained is just a small fraction of Lin Bowen's huge illicit funds..."
Wang Gui's flawed and illogical remarks made Fang Buyu feel both angry and amused.
He had never expected that this man could be so shameless as to push all the blame onto Lin Bowen, while leaving himself and Tuoba Xuan completely clear of the blame.
It seems that it will not be easy to get evidence of Tuoba Xuan's guilt from Wang Gui in a short period of time...
*
After leaving the dark cell, Guo Yan came forward to greet him.
"Bu Yu, is the note okay?"
"It's okay. The prison is dark, and Wang Gui has been tortured for a whole day and night. Naturally, it's difficult for him to distinguish the authenticity of the handwriting."
Fang Buyu replied.
"Has he admitted to sending money to the Prime Minister's Mansion?"
Guo Yan asked.
"Yes, but he put all the blame on Lin Bowen."
Fang Buyu frowned,
"However, he mentioned a brother-sister relationship with Tuoba Xuan's fifth concubine. You should quickly check whether this is true."
"What? They actually have such a relationship?"
Guo Yan was shocked when he heard this, and then he said,
"Okay, I'll go check it out."
The two walked out of the cell, and the white snow flying all over the sky came into view. Fang Buyu stared at this white world and made a decision in his heart.
"It seems that it is time to interrogate Lin Bowen again."
"Mr. Zhou, Mrs. Zhou, please take a look at this mansion. It is definitely one of the most luxurious homes in Weizhou!"
Old Qian, the man from the village, enthusiastically led Zhou's father and mother into a newly built luxurious courtyard, introducing the place as they walked.
These were the prefect's parents, so naturally he wouldn't dare to neglect them in the slightest.
As soon as you step into the house, what comes into view is the spacious courtyard.
Although the trees look a little bleak in winter, you can still feel their elegance, just like a delicate ink painting.
“It’s truly extraordinary.”
Father Zhou nodded. He looked around carefully as he walked, and was interested in every detail here.
His eyes were first attracted by a rockery in the yard. Several green grasses had stubbornly grown in the cracks of the rockery, and they looked particularly bright against the backdrop of the white snow.
Old Qian interjected at the right moment: "Look at this rockery, it's so artistic!"
"Yeah, not bad."
Zhou's mother also agreed, her eyes wandering around the yard, imagining the scene of living here in the future.
Then they went into each room.
Each room is arranged in an orderly and exquisite manner.
Although there was a cold wind outside the window, the room was warm as spring.
The sunlight shines through the carved window lattices and falls on the ground, creating mottled light and shadows.
The furniture in the room, both in terms of carving and material, appears to be extremely exquisite.
Father Zhou gently touched the edge of the yellow pear flower table, and he couldn't help but admire the smooth and delicate touch.
But Zhou's mother couldn't help but feel a surge of sadness in her heart.
She couldn't help but think of her daughter Zhou Tiao again.
In the past, their family was so poor that they could only squeeze into a small, dilapidated courtyard, and their daughter didn’t even have her own room.
Zhou's mother's eyes wandered in the empty rooms. She seemed to see her daughter walking around and laughing in these rooms.
But it was only a momentary illusion, and then disappeared without a trace.
She sighed softly. Her living conditions were better now, but her daughter was no longer alive.
Father Zhou didn't notice Mother Zhou's inner fluctuations. He continued to admire the house and couldn't help but exclaim,
"The layout of this house is truly ingenious!"
"Of course, it was designed by the most famous craftsman in our city."
Old Qian said proudly, straightened his back, and spoke more politely.
"It would be a real blessing for you two to live here!"
After touring the entire house, Old Qian asked Zhou's father and mother with anticipation,
"What do you think of this house? Are you satisfied with it?"
Father Zhou stroked his beard, thought for a moment and then said slowly,
"This house is truly extraordinary, both its layout and scenery are amazing. However, for a family of three like us, living in such a large house might seem a bit empty. We'd like to find a place more suitable for our family size. Do you have any other recommendations?"
When Lao Qian heard this, he still had a smile on his face and said quickly,
"No problem, no problem. I'll show you other houses. There must be one that's suitable."
So, Zhou's father and mother got on the carriage and headed to the next house.
On the way, when passing a busy street, Zhou's mother suddenly thought:
Isn't this the street she was on that day? It was on this street that she met a girl who looked very similar to Tiao'er...
"parking!"
Zhou's mother stopped the carriage.
Father Zhou was a little surprised.
"Ma'am, what's wrong?"
At this time, Lao Qian also walked to the car window.
"Mrs. Zhou, what's the matter?"
"I……"
Zhou's mother hesitated and began to think of excuses.
"I'm a little hungry, I want to go downstairs to buy something to eat..."
"Oh, I'm so careless. Madam Zhou, what would you like to eat? I'll go get it for you right away."
Old Qian said quickly.
"No, I want to go down and see for myself."
Mrs. Zhou insisted.
"this……"
Old Qian looked at Zhou's father hesitantly.
"Just let her do it."
Zhou's father said.
After helping Zhou's mother get off the carriage, she looked around, trying to find the shadow of the girl from that day among the numerous streets and the people coming and going.
Her eyes fell carefully on every figure that resembled her daughter, but unfortunately, none of them was her.
"lady?"
Father Zhou looked at Mother Zhou's strange expression.
"What are you looking for, ma'am?"
Mother Zhou shook her head in disappointment.
"Nothing. Let's go, just buy some buns."
"Okay, Mr. Zhou and Mrs. Zhou, please wait here. I will go buy it right away."
Lao Qian was just about to turn around and leave to buy buns.
At this moment, a voice sounded from a distance.
"Boss Qian!"
They turned around and saw a girl in a plain cotton-padded jacket running towards them.
"Oh, it's Miss Tang..."
Old Qian said.
Father Zhou was a little unsteady on his feet, with a look of shock and surprise on his face:
How come this girl looks so much like his dead daughter?
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