Chapter 065: The Poisonous Plot in the Public Hall

  He started performing autopsies in his teens, and his rich experience made him one of the few in the entire Mingchuan Prefecture. He first put on a pair of white gloves, walked to the autopsy table, and unapologetically grabbed the head with his hands.

  Soon, the coroner said respectfully: "Sir, the head is real. After my examination, it matches the characteristics of Wang Yonggui that we have on file very well, and it can be basically confirmed that it is indeed Wang Yonggui's head."

  Wu Qi waved his hand and ordered: "You go down."

  He bowed and withdrew.

  Jiang Shan burst out laughing and said, "If we can confirm that it's Wang Yonggui's head, then it's easy to handle. Wu County Magistrate, and all of you present here, from now on, remember this for me: the head of Wang Yonggui was brought by Third Master, which means Third Master has done a heroic deed, staining his hands with blood, killing countless people, and bringing disaster to the common people for many years. Have you all remembered?"

  The several officials present were all stunned, isn't this a case of stealing credit? The Third Master is obviously a person of noble status, how could he snatch the merit of even someone like Li Wenjun, an ordinary citizen?

  Although they were dissatisfied in their hearts, the officials dared not speak out. Their own backsides were not clean either, and some of them had even done similar things before, but the credit they got was far less than what the Third Master got this time. More importantly, none of them could afford to offend the Third Master, so they chose to keep a low profile for self-protection, which was an unspoken rule for survival in officialdom.

  Why are they speaking out for Li Wenjun when he is not their son?

  Jiang Shan smiled coldly, ignoring the reactions of the yamen runners. He wasn't afraid that someone among them would dare to disobey his orders; they should understand better than outsiders the severe consequences of leaking secrets.

  "All right, you all retreat now. For the next few days, stay on duty at the county yamen. Without the consent of this county, no one is allowed to step out of the gate of the county yamen. Those who disobey orders, don't blame me for not being polite, I'll break their legs." Wu Qi said sternly.

  After the officials withdrew, Wu Qi said: "Lord Jiang, this matter of usurping credit can be big or small, we still need to plan carefully, and it's best if we can smoothly take the credit from Li Wenjun's hands and give it to Third Master. We must not let any unexpected branches grow."

  Jiang Shan let out a cold snort, her killing intent surging as she said: "A small, rootless commoner like him, if he's willing to listen and yield the credit to Third Young Master, then that's fine. But if he refuses to listen and dares to bare his teeth at me, I'll annihilate his entire family."

  Wu Qi said: "Li Wenjun is an ordinary citizen, but he can kill Wang Yonggui, so he must have some means. Please be careful, Lord Jiang. In my opinion, it's better to use gentle methods to deal with this matter."

  Jiang Shan waved her hand and said indifferently, "What's the fuss about? Wait for me to make arrangements. When the time comes, I'll make Li Wenjun face a life-or-death dilemma, even if he doesn't want to give up his merits. Also, Wu County Magistrate, prepare a secret prison cell in the great prison, ready to be used to detain Li Wenjun."

  "Lord Jiang, isn't this a bit too much?" Wu Qi seemed somewhat reluctant.

  "We want to snatch Li Wenjun's credit, and after snatching it, we won't arrest him, but let him go. What is this? This is releasing a tiger back into the mountains, leaving endless troubles behind. If he goes around spreading rumors outside, slandering the reputation of the three gentlemen, what can be done? Those who know will think he's making false accusations, while those who don't will really believe that the three gentlemen stole credit from him. To ensure stability, we have no choice but to keep Li Wenjun under guard for life, which is the best strategy. Not killing him is already a mercy from the three gentlemen."

  Jiang Shan Yi was stern and had not yet snatched the credit from Li Wen Jun's hands, but instead credited it to San Gong Zi.

  Actually, Jiang Shan wasn't unwilling to directly kill Li Wenjun with one slash, which would have been the best way to avoid future troubles. However, since Third Master is about to enter the capital for the imperial examination, Jiang Shan was worried that killing someone wouldn't be auspicious, so he spared Li Wenjun's life.

  Jiang Shanke was not kind-hearted, planning to let Li Wenjun live forever. He had thought it through long ago. As soon as the imperial edict was announced, he would send someone over to end Li Wenjun's life.

  Wu Qimao sighed and said, "Forget it, let's just wait until we've sent Li Wenjun to the great prison, then he can live a comfortable life for the rest of his days."

  Li Wenjun did not know that just by bringing Wang Yonggui's head to the county government office, someone would think of killing him. If he had known, perhaps he would not have brought Wang Yonggui's head to the county government office.

  To be honest, Li Wenjun is willing to do so. On the one hand, the government has an advantage in resources, and through the government's confirmation and publicity, his reputation can be spread quickly in a short period of time. On the other hand, it may not be that Li Wenjun still has some illusions about the government subconsciously, otherwise, he would not have thought of finding the government at the first time.

  After leaving the county government office, Li Wenjun bought some cooked beef and roasted chicken from a food store, then headed to the Sun's home with Sun Baicao and his son Sun Jianing.

  Sun Bao Cao's wife was also very happy when she saw Li Wen Jun and pulled him to ask about his well-being.

  After finishing a sumptuous dinner, Li Wenjun chatted with Sun Baicao and his family for a while before returning home. The house was very clean, almost spotless, all thanks to Auntie Sun's efforts, who had been coming over frequently to help with the cleaning since Li Wenjun left.

  Details see true feelings!

  Li Wenjun nodded in satisfaction. He took off his shoes and climbed up to the window, tonight he didn't plan on sleeping, he was going to cultivate for a whole night. Now that he no longer had enough herbs to brew medicine, he could only use the Zhou Tian Loop, the most primitive and basic way of cultivation.

  In a place like Sanshan County with almost no spiritual energy, if you don't seize the time tightly, how can you succeed?

  In the blink of an eye, three days had passed. Li Wenjun did not leave his house, nor did he take a step outside the door. He spent most of his time cultivating Long Spring Skill. These three days of cultivation resulted in a negligible increase in his skill level, barely better than nothing at all.

  However, without accumulating small steps, one cannot cover a thousand miles. No matter who it is, anyone who achieves something does so through continuous effort, especially when it comes to spiritual practice, where even the slightest bit of hypocrisy is unacceptable.

  Li Wenjun was also helpless about this. He had the idea of leaving Sanshan County to find a suitable place for cultivation, but thinking that he hadn't received news from his parents yet and that he could still collect herbs on Wufeng Mountain, he dispelled the thought and decided to wait and see. If after some time he still couldn't get any news from his parents, he would have to carefully consider whether he should leave Sanshan County or not.

  The Sun father and son were busy every day, with little time to accompany Li Wenjun. Li Wenjun didn't go to disturb them either. For the big or small matters of the medicine shop, he made it clear that he wouldn't interfere, and let Sun Baicao handle it. He only asked Sun Baicao again to help him purchase medicinal herbs and gather information about hundred-year-old medicinal herbs.

  That night, Li Wenjun was in the middle of his training when he was startled by a fierce barking sound.

  Li Wenjun furrowed his brow slightly, but still ended his cultivation and walked into the courtyard, asking: "Who is it?"

  "Is it Lord Li? I was instructed by the county magistrate to invite you over, to come to the county yamen. The county magistrate told me to tell you that the imperial reward for the prefectural city has arrived." Someone outside the courtyard gate replied.