RPAGF Chapter 450 was truly an unexpected turn of events.
Chapter 450 was truly an unexpected turn of events.
Chapter 450 was truly an unexpected turn of events.
Wang Wenzhou asked coldly, "Who is it?"
Wang Wenzhou was determined to kill the person who instructed the women in white. He reasoned that without their interference, he wouldn't have been late, and if he had been in court during the debate, Gao Yingxiang might not have died.
"Your Excellency, they said they did so on the advice of Hou Fangjiang," Jiang Zhenghe replied.
"Who the hell is Hou Fangjiang?" Wang Wenzhou didn't remember any high-ranking official in the court named Hou Fangjiang, but the Minister of Revenue, Hou Xun, did have the surname Hou.
“Sir, have you forgotten that at the Fushe Poetry Gathering, you cut off the fingers of several people, one of whom was Hou Fangjiang, the second son of Hou Xun,” Jiang Zhenghe said.
"Oh!" Wang Wenzhou remembered. He cursed and said, "I knew it. This must have been the work of the Donglin Party. I didn't expect Hou Xun to be so stupid as to send his son to do it."
Hou Xun is a cunning old fox. How could he send Hou Fangjiang to take the lead? The key is that Hou Fangjiang harbors deep resentment towards Wang Wenzhou because Wang Wenzhou cut off his finger. Upon learning of this conspiracy against Wang Wenzhou, he secretly went to the scene himself, just to vent his anger.
"Old Chen, did you hear that!" Wang Wenzhou said to Chen Qianfu, "The Donglin Party is truly lawless. My younger brother has just made a great contribution, and they use such despicable schemes to slander him and ruin his reputation. This is intolerable!"
Chen Qianfu nodded and said righteously, "Lord Wang, rest assured, I will immediately impeach Hou Xun."
"No!" Wang Wenzhou waved his hand, smiling bitterly, and said, "You're at the Dali Temple, so you should know that my three children were assassinated. But we haven't been able to find any clues in the case. It was actually the Donglin Party's doing. What's the use of impeaching them?"
Wang Wenzhou said helplessly, "To be honest, even these women in white are only guilty of minor offenses. Not to mention Hou Xun and the others, they'll try to wash their hands of it completely. They use tricks and schemes, and so do I! Old Chen, let's start with that idiot Hou Fangjiang, follow the clues, and drag Hou Xun down with us first!"
Chen Qianfu regretted his decision earlier, thinking he shouldn't have agreed to stand on Wang Wenzhou's side, but it was too late now.
Chen Qianfu cupped his hands and said, "I will obey Lord Wang's orders."
"Little Jiang!" Wang Wenzhou waved to Jiang Zhenghe.
Jiang Zhenghe quickly bent down, and Wang Wenzhou whispered a few words to him. Jiang Zhenghe then obeyed and left.
Chen Qianfu knew he was already on Wang Wenzhou's pirate ship, and if he wanted to jump ship, Wang Wenzhou would kill him first. Since that was the case, Chen Qianfu accepted it; after all, Wang Wenzhou had the Emperor's backing, and even if the Donglin Party retaliated, they would target Wang Wenzhou first.
With this in mind, Chen Qianfu felt completely at ease, calmly drinking and chatting with Wang Wenzhou.
……
The next morning, as soon as the city gates opened, a carriage sped through the streets of the capital.
On the second floor of the teahouse, Jiang Zhenghe glanced at the approaching carriage and made a gesture to the secret agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard outside the window.
Just as the carriage was about to cross the intersection, a tripwire suddenly appeared on the road. The horses pulling the carriage were tripped by the tripwire, and the carriage flew upside down.
With a loud bang, the carriage shattered into pieces.
Three figures, one man and two women, were thrown out of the train car.
The spies on the roadside rushed forward to check, and after confirming that the three were no longer breathing, they quickly stripped the three of their clothes off, then hurriedly left with the clothes in hand.
The deceased man was Hou Fangjiang, and the two women were Zhang Shuiqin, the top courtesan of a brothel and the daughter of Zhang Fengyi, the Minister of War.
Zhang Shuiqin and Hou Fangjiang were engaged, but they did not marry. The reason these three were all on the carriage at the same time was actually a setup by Wang Wenzhou's men. They were drugged, carried onto the carriage, and then the accident was staged.
Although it was just dawn and there were few pedestrians on the road, it wasn't long before a passerby saw the horrific scene of the car accident. He looked down at the body and recognized it as Hou Fangjiang, the second young master of the Hou family. He immediately ran towards the yamen (government office).
Jiang Zhenghe hurriedly ordered, "Go quickly to the Zhong Yi Mansion and invite the lord here."
"Yes!" Someone immediately went to fetch Wang Wenzhou.
When Wang Wenzhou arrived at the scene, Liu Zongzhou, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, had just arrived as well.
Wang Wenzhou asked knowingly, "What happened, Lord Liu?"
"A traffic accident, Lord Wang, are you in court?" Liu Zongzhou didn't want Wang Wenzhou to know that the three who died were all naked, and two of them were descendants of important officials.
“Yes! I got up early today. Anyway, I have nothing to do, so I’ll go to the morning court for a while.” Wang Wenzhou pushed aside the yamen runner blocking his way and said coldly, “Move aside, I’ll go in and take a look.”
The yamen runners knew Wang Wenzhou's identity; even Lord Liu couldn't afford to offend him, let alone them.
Wang Wenzhou walked up to the corpse and burst into laughter: "Oh my! This young master, you've got quite the fun! Having sex with two girls in the carriage, you must have gotten carried away and the carriage was going too fast, causing you to crash into an obstacle on the road and have an accident."
"Lord Wang has a discerning eye, and I agree. Lord Wang, it's getting late, you should go to the morning court soon," Liu Zongzhou urged Wang Wenzhou to hurry up.
How could Wang Wenzhou leave? He used his foot to turn the male corpse over so that its face was facing upwards.
"Haha!" Wang Wenzhou laughed loudly, "Isn't this Hou Xun, the young master of Lord Hou's family! Young Master Hou really knows how to have fun!"
"Alas..." Liu Zongzhou sighed. "Lord Hou, it's not that I didn't want to keep it a secret, I've already done everything I could."
"Everyone needs to know this! Someone! Shout it out immediately: Young Master Hou and two young ladies were found naked and died in a car accident!" Wang Wenzhou ordered.
The guards of the sedan chair carriers immediately shouted.
In no time, the scene of the car accident was surrounded by people.
Liu Zongzhou wanted to send his constables to disperse the onlookers, but Wang Wenzhou refused and insisted on supporting the crowd's gathering.
Liu Zongzhou had no choice but to let him watch if he wanted to; after all, it wouldn't be long before everyone in the capital knew about it.
"Ah! Isn't this Xiao Fengxian from Zui Feng Lou?" Suddenly, a passerby pointed to a female corpse on the ground and said.
"Young Master Hou really knows how to have fun!"
"To be able to go to the underworld with two such beautiful girls, this life will not have been in vain."
"The other naked girl is the daughter of Zhang Fengyi, Lord Zhang."
"Oh? Isn't Miss Zhang still unmarried?"
"Who can argue with that! Young Master Hou is truly remarkable!"
Passersby were buzzing with discussion. Wang Wenzhou chuckled to himself; the effect was good. It was time to go to the morning court and slap Hou Xun in the face.
Wang Wenzhou cupped his hands in greeting to Liu Zongzhou and said with a smile, "Lord Liu, you're busy, I'm going to court!"
"No need to see me off!" Liu Zongzhou shook his head with a wry smile. Wang Wenzhou, the mad dog, was finally gone.
"Someone! Quickly go to the Hou and Zhang residences to report the news!" Liu Zongzhou saw Wang Wenzhou's sedan chair disappear into the distance and hurriedly ordered his yamen runners to go and report the death.
When Hou Xun learned of this, he was already standing on the imperial road, and the messenger was a late-arriving official.
Hou Xun wanted to make an excuse to leave early and go collect his beloved son's body. He wanted to speak.
Wang Wenzhou loudly proclaimed, "Your Majesty, your subject Wang Wenzhou hereby impeaches Hou Xun, the Minister of Revenue..."