Chapter 481: Other Purposes
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Wang Jianan’s son was a famous talent in Liangzhou. His calligraphy could be said to be priceless.
Five years ago, Princess Ni Yang asked Wang Jianan’s son to paint for her. Wang Jianan’s son did not like Princess Ni Yang’s style and was unwilling to paint for her.
This matter made Princess Ni Yang very unhappy.
Not long after, Wang Jianan’s son had his hand broken and he could no longer write or draw.
Wang Jianan knew very well that this matter was most likely done by Princess Ni Yang.
However, he had no evidence and could not identify Princess Ni Yang. He could only swallow his anger.
Because his hands were crippled, his son never recovered and chose to commit suicide in the lake one morning.
Wang Jianan’s daughter-in-law could not take the blow and fell sick. Not long after, she died.
Only Wang Jun was left.
Wang Jianan had always protected Wang Jun as his darling, but Wang Jun still fell into Princess Ni Yang’s hands.
Princess Ni Yang used Wang Jun’s life to threaten Wang Jianan to compromise.
After hearing Wang Jianan explain his encounter, Xiao Juan asked.
“What did Princess Ni Yang ask you to do?”
Wang Jianan shook his head.
“She didn’t ask me to do anything.”
“She knew I wasn’t really obeying her and that I would turn on her at the first opportunity. So she was very wary of me and never told me her plan.”
“Her only request to me is to keep my mouth shut and say nothing. I was to be an obedient and incompetent county governor.”
It was not that he really did not want to care about anything, but because of his grandson’s life, he had no choice but to pretend to play dumb.
Xiao Juan said calmly, “You’ve been the County Governor of Liangzhou for so many years that you’re more familiar with this place than anyone else. There are some things that you should be able to sense even if Princess Ni Yang doesn’t tell you.”
Wang Jianan admitted frankly,”Yes, I know that the Prince Consort secretly transported some shameful things into Liangzhou.”
“I also knew that the person who helped him transport those things was from the military camp.”
“The military power in Liangzhou was in the hands of the City Protection Lieutenant, Yuan Gui.”
“Since the Prince Consort could mobilize troops to help him transport things, Yuan Gui must be involved.”
“However, what the Prince Consort did not know was that Yuan Gui had already hooked up with Princess Ni Yang in private.”
“Now that the Prince Consort is dead, the things he brought into the Liang Province might very well fall into the hands of Princess Ni Yang.”
At this point, Wang Jianan looked at Xiao Juan deeply and his tone was very solemn.
“Although I don’t know what those things are, something that even the Prince Consort and Princess Ni Yang want must not be simple. Your Highness must have come all the way to Liangzhou for those things, right?”
Xiao Juan nodded. “Yes.”
Wang Jianan carefully put down the portrait and knelt on one knee towards Xiao Juan.
“Your Highness, I’m already half-buried. There’s nothing to care about anymore. The only person I was worried about was Ah Jun.”
“As long as you can help me save Ah Jun, I’ll do anything you want!”
Princess Ni Yang was violent and unpredictable. As long as Wang Jun was in her hands, Wang Jianan would not be at ease.
He had to save Wang Jun as soon as possible while he was still alive.
Xiao Juan asked him to stand up before saying.
“At this point, I don’t have to hide it from you. The Imperial Court has lost a batch of stolen silver, amounting to tens of millions of taels. The emperor ordered me to recover the stolen silver.”
Wang Jianan understood.
“I see!”
It was no wonder they fought over such a large sum of money.
Xiao Juan said in a low voice, “You’re more familiar with the situation here. Can you tell me if Princess Ni Yang and Yuan Gui have done anything special in the past few years?”
He did not believe that Princess Ni Yang had racked her brains to obtain such a large amount of dirty silver just to eat, drink, and enjoy herself.
She must have other motives!
Wang Jianan thought for a moment.
“Princess Ni Yang has always been like that. Her mood changes easily. She does whatever she wants. She’s really unpredictable.”
“If there is anything different about her in the past few years, it would probably be her wanton search for handsome men.
“This is ridiculous. Not only did she keep gigolos in her residence, but she also got someone to search for outstanding young men outside.”
“If those men did not obey, Princess Ni Yang would order someone to capture their entire family and send them to serve as laborers.”
“There were once people who came to beg me to uphold justice, but I was worried about Ah Jun’s safety and did not dare to care about these things.” At this, he let out a long sigh, ashamed.
Xiao Juan asked, “Do you know how many families have been captured?”
Wang Jianan said, “I’m not sure about the details, but there are at least a hundred families.
Xiao Juan quickly calculated. If there were ten people in a family, there would be more than a thousand people!
Why did Princess Ni Yang capture so many people?
What endeavor needed so much labor?
Xiao Juan asked again, “Is there any place in Liangzhou that has been building rapidly recently?”
Wang Jianan shook his head no.
Xiao Juan frowned. That was strange. Since there was no construction, where did the captured commoners go?
He spoke to Wang Jianan.
“Don’t worry, we’ll help you save Wang Jun as soon as possible.”
Wang Jianan was overjoyed. “Thank you! I’ll never forget your kindness. I’ll definitely repay you in my next life!”
With that, he knelt down towards Xiao Juan.
Xiao Juan reached out to stop him.
“Alright, I should go. Tonight, pretend I didn’t come.”
Wang Jianan nodded vigorously. “I understand!”
He watched Xiao Juan leave and turned around to return to bed. Thinking of his grandson, he could not fall asleep.
In the princess’s residence.
Yu Niaoniao was dozing off by the bed.
She woke up immediately when she heard the door open. She propped her head up and opened her eyes. She looked anxiously at the door.
She saw Xiao Juan push open the door and walk in.
Xiao Juan closed the door and asked her, “Why aren’t you asleep?”
Yu Niaoniao quickly went up to him. “I’m worried about you. How is it? What did County Governor Wang say?”
Seeing that she was so worried about him, Xiao Juan was naturally very happy.
Whether she meant it or not, as long as she was still willing to pay attention to him, he was satisfied.
Xiao Juan roughly repeated his conversation with Wang Jianan.
After Yu Niaoniao heard this, she began to count with her little fingers, trying to smooth out the logic.
“Cheng Qi had designs on that batch of stolen silver because of Yuan Gui’s instigation, and Yuan Gui was secretly colluding with Princess Ni Yang. In other words, Cheng Qi had been used from the beginning. He was just a pawn in Princess Ni Yang’s hands.”
Xiao Juan nodded. “That should be the case.” Yu Niaoniao had mixed feelings.
“In that case, Cheng Qi is actually a little pitiful.”
After Cheng Qi lost his value, Princess Ni Yang should have already planned to send him to the afterlife. However, his actions at the birthday banquet sent him to his early death..
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