Wei Heng’s hands slammed down onto the hall table once more, "Who else do you want to deal with? Why don’t you just take me down too!"
Yang Ge shook his head with a chuckle, "I won’t deal with anyone else, who else can I deal with when you’re around? There are just some loose ends to tie up before I can leave; I can’t just kill someone and leave a mess for others to clean up, right?"
He paused, then spoke more slowly, "In terms of my public role, although what I did was excessive, it should not be within the scope of you invoking a secret decree to remove me from my position as an imperial envoy!"
"On a personal level, I know you mean well; you’re anxious for my life. However, for now, my life isn’t in great danger, so there’s really no need to be so rushed."
Wei Heng looked at him for a few moments, then let out a heavy sigh, mixed with both frustration and disappointment as he pointed at him, "You, you, what am I to do with you!"
Yang Ge just smiled, "Honestly, if I hadn’t done this, you wouldn’t be so fired up for me, right?"
He and Wei Heng didn’t have any particular friendship.
Wei Heng was so fired up over his matters... simply because he was a good person, simply because he did what everyone else wanted to do but didn’t dare to do.
Wei Heng sighed again, settling his emotions before asking, "What else do you have to do?"
Yang Ge tapped on the documents on the table, "I’ve killed the men, but the money and lands they’ve gathered are still in their possession..."
"What are you planning to do now?"
Wei Heng interrupted him warily, warning, "I must tell you, you cannot lay your hands on that money and land! Everyone is watching!"
Yang Ge smiled, "It’s no use whoever watches!"
Wei Heng stared at him, "What do you mean?"
Yang Ge, "This money and land have their rightful owners; it should go to whoever it belongs to."
Wei Heng was stunned, then suddenly realized, and exclaimed, "You want to distribute this money and land?"
Yang Ge corrected him, "Not distribute, return."
"No, no, no..."
Wei Heng shook his head like a rattle drum, "The case was handled by the court; the corrupt officials were arrested by the court; naturally, their properties should be confiscated by the state to replenish the treasury!"
The imperial coffers are waiting for this large sum of money to fill the gaps!
Yang Ge’s smile slowly faded, "Why don’t you re-examine your own words and see what nonsense you’re talking? Corrupt officials steal money and land from the people, the court then takes the corrupt officials’ money and land; isn’t that essentially the court taking the people’s money and land?"
Wei Heng closed his mouth and thought for a few moments, then said more gravely, "It has always been so!"
Yang Ge, "Just because it has always been so, does that make it right?"
Wei Heng, "Who do you think you are?"
Yang Ge, "I handled the case, I killed the corrupt officials, and I’ve seized the money and land back; who do you say I am?"
Wei Heng, in a fiery rage, slammed down on the hall table and yelled, "Do you even know what you’re doing? You’re trying to buy people’s hearts, to build a reputation! Are you really planning a rebellion? How many heads do you have to spare?"
Yang Ge calmly said, "I do indeed have only one head... but everyone only has one head!"
Wei Heng’s expression of anger paused, and without a trace, he took a step back, "What exactly do you want to do? What are you asking for?"
"What I want to do..."
After pondering for a long while, Yang Ge finally answered, "Before, I just wanted to live a good life for myself, but now... I want everything and everyone in front of me to be as they truly should be."
Wei Heng was taken aback for quite some time before he slowly exhaled a murky breath and smiled wryly, "Someone told me before that what you fear least is death. I didn’t believe it previously, but now it seems... you really don’t fear that thing."
"Who said that?"
Yang Ge couldn’t hold back and rolled his eyes, "Was it Shen Fa, that gossip?"
Wei Heng joked, "You don’t know, but he regrets bringing you into the imperial guards. He says if you hadn’t joined, he could’ve lived ten years longer!"
Yang Ge said angrily, "He’s the one to complain? If not for him, I would still be in Lu Ting right now, happily and comfortably working as a bartender! Would I have bothered coming all this way, worrying so much, killing so many people?"
Wei Heng just sighed, "Ah, you really aren’t suited to be an official; the emperor said you’re too proud, too fierce; if you were in a high position, you would surely not meet a good end!"
Yang Ge laughed, "Look at that, the emperor knows me so well!"
Wei Heng, "Then have you made arrangements for yourself?"
Yang Ge settled into a comfortable position, "Being an official is definitely off the table, but dying won’t be so easy; at worst, I’ll be sent back to continue working as a bartender, which isn’t too bad either!"
Wei Heng stared at him, "Do you look down on the civil and military officials of the entire court too much?"
Yang Ge sneered, "It is you who think too highly of them, a bunch of cowards who are afraid of both the wolf in front and the tiger behind. If I stuck my neck out now, there wouldn’t be many who dare to chop it off!"
Wei Heng, "Who gave you this confidence? Just because of that one cut of yours?"
Yang Ge thought for a moment, pointed towards the gate, "Just because of that one cut, it’s enough to leave my name in history, isn’t it?"
Wei Heng followed his pointing finger and looked outside, suddenly realizing, nodded with a face full of envy, jealousy, and hatred, "It certainly is enough. Although I haven’t read many books, you little bastard... indeed are unique, like a scorpion’s shit!"
Yang Ge spoke unhurriedly with a soft voice, "Attacking me openly is equivalent to sending themselves to an eternal pillar of shame. Those with some status and position certainly wouldn’t want to dirty their hands, and those without it couldn’t move me even if they wanted to... Give me more time, and if I don’t deal with them, they should light incense in thanks!"
Wei Heng smacked his lips, pondered carefully for a long time, and said angrily, "I really am an idiot, to worry about you, a little bastard full of evil schemes!"
Neither of them mentioned whether the emperor would deal with him.
The more than three hundred cuts on the execution ground had promoted Yang Ge from a dirty disposable glove to a formidable weapon that intimidated the officials!
As long as Yang Ge stood his ground, the emperor would never sever his own finger.
Of course, Yang Ge’s path in the imperial court was completely severed from then on.
If he were to go to the court, the entire court of civil and military officials would certainly put aside their previous grievances and band together to suppress him with all their might!
But from another perspective, isn’t this precisely what the emperor wants to see?
"The big matters are all settled, and there’s no harm in waiting a bit more!"
Yang Ge picked up the brush and continued to bury his head in writing, "Please allow me two more days. Once I finish up the loose ends, we can set off for the capital... I miss home too."
Wei Heng tiptoed to look at the documents under his brush, "You’d better hurry. I estimate the imperial edict will set out from the capital in another two days... By the way, what should I do with the money and land here in Yangzhou?"
Yang Ge smiled, "What, do you also want to leave your name in history?"
Wei Heng, "I’ve taken such a big hit for you, don’t I deserve to bask in some of your glory? I’ll be acting under the official banner; it will save you from some gossip, won’t it?"
"No problem!"
Yang Ge casually flipped through the documents on the desk and handed one to Wei Heng, "Take this document and look for Hundred Household Liu Yongguang. He will arrange people to cooperate with you to return the money and fields in Yangzhou to their rightful owners... Let’s get it straight first, someone is keeping accounts on my side, you better manage your people well, don’t let them stretch out their hands!"
"Rest assured!"
Wei Heng pounded his chest with a "bang bang" sound, "Whoever dares to reach out, I’ll be the first to chop off their hand!"
He took the document and left the room cheerfully.
That old face, blooming like a chrysanthemum, made all the imperial guards outside the hall stare in astonishment.
It must be our Centurion. He is competent indeed!
This eunuch had such a gloomy face when he went in, as if a storm were about to break!
How much time has passed?
And now he comes out all happy and pleased...
Not long after Wei Heng left, Fang Ke, drenched and with a face turned blue from cold, hurried into the hall.
He immediately spotted Yang Ge, busily writing at the table, and exclaimed, "My Lord, this isn’t what you told me before!"
Yang Ge put down the brush and glanced at him, then immediately put down the brush, got up from behind the table, and beckoned Fang Ke over.
Fang Ke walked over in a daze.
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Yang Ge slapped him on the chest, and the surging True Qi flowed from his palm into Fang Ke’s body, instantly raising a heat all over him.
"I can’t leave!"
Yang Ge said indifferently, "If I leave, I would be wrong!"
He wasn’t as relaxed facing Fang Ke as he had been with Wei Heng.
Because this matter was not as easy as he had said to Wei Heng.
Fang Ke stared at him, "Is right and wrong that important?"
Yang Ge, "It’s very important to me, and even more important to the world!"