Chapter 2: The First Snow (Part 2)

  "You're lying again, you're lying! I'll kick you to death, kick you to death!" Wang Xuan lifted his foot and kicked the bars of the cage with a loud "thud". "You can just rot in here, no one will think of getting you out if you don't tell the truth!"

  After scolding, he quickly lowered his head and asked in a barely audible voice: "How did you get involved with him?! You were caught by the government, why didn't they come forward to bail you out?"

  "Second brother, second brother, save me, save me!" Yuwen Zhi cooperated very well, wailing as if he had been beaten badly. "I'm really innocent, I'm really innocent!", after shouting, he quickly responded: "My brother is under the Dongjia's command behind that person, how can I not listen to his orders? The incident happened suddenly, I think Dongjia hasn't reacted yet!"

  Wang Xuan's heart skipped a beat as he listened. Yuwen Zhi had sold himself to serve him, only to help his half-brother, who was an official, advance his career and revive the Yuwen family. But what he didn't know was that less than an hour after he was taken away by the bailiffs, his brother Yuwen De had swallowed up all their family property and driven him out of the house on the pretext. However, this news, no matter what, he couldn't tell Yuwen Zhi at present. Otherwise, the other party would lose heart and really die in the prison of Wannian County. After a moment's hesitation, Wang Xuan squatted down again, stretched his hand through the gap between the wooden bars, grabbed Yuwen Zhi's collar, and shouted sternly: "Fine, fine, fine! Are you still stubborn? Keep being stubborn? You're just asking for death, I might as well kill you cleanly!"

  After saying that, he quickly lifted his hand and stuffed several small silver ingots into Yuwen's chest. "Hide them well, they might help you avoid some suffering at a critical moment. Don't give them away all at once, remember to make them last!"

  "Second, Second Brother. Ah, ah, ah......" Yuwen Zhi pretended to be out of breath and cried out for mercy. He immediately lowered his voice and responded quickly, "I have an account book hidden under the fourth chicken coop on the left in the backyard of the cockfighting arena. Second Brother, please help me keep it safe, maybe it will come in handy!"

  "You're still not stupid enough!" Wang Xuan scolded in a very low voice. He nodded to agree with Yuwen's request and asked if there were any other instructions.

  Yuwen Zhi took the opportunity to ask Wang Xun to go home and take a look, telling his brother and sister-in-law not to be too anxious and try not to get involved. He also asked Wang Xun to pass on a message to his two maidservants, asking them to keep an eye on the accounts to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation. Wang Xun listened with growing distress in his heart, forcing himself to stay calm and agreed to everything.

  In the blink of an eye, time had passed, and before Yuwen could finish entrusting his affairs in a roundabout way, the dark corridor was filled with the detestable voice of Sun the captain, "Cousin, time's up. Hurry out now. Don't cause trouble for everyone!"

  "Got it!" Wang Xun quickly responded, reaching out to pat Yuwen Zhi's shoulder. "Stay here honestly, you stupid pig. Let's see how long you can be stubborn!"

  "I didn't do it, I'm innocent!" Yuwen Zhi choked with his neck and cried out, half of the time pretending, but the other half was heartfelt.

  Everyone ignored him and followed Sun's lead out of the prison. When they reached a quiet spot, Wang Xun pulled out his personal pouch and poured all the remaining small silver ingots and copper coins into Sun's sleeve. "Thanks for your trouble today, brother. My friend is an old buddy from childhood, please put in a good word for him with the others at the yamen so he doesn't have to suffer too much these next few days. Although the Yuwen family has fallen on hard times, they still have deep roots. If you can keep him safe, I'm sure they'll show their gratitude with a generous gift later!"

  "Alright, alright! I'll go and greet the warden in a bit, and have him switch your friend to a better room!" Sun Ruyu smiled with his eyes wide open, nodding repeatedly. He thought to himself that it's indeed good to be a prison chief in the capital city, where one case can bring in dozens of taels of silver as income. If he could take on several more cases like this, he'd be able to buy an estate in the suburbs within a year.

  "If your family insists on using punishment, please ask the brothers who are in charge of punishment to show mercy. If there is not enough money for the medicine to treat his injuries, we can still make up for it at any time!" Lei Wanchun followed from behind and added a sentence calmly.

  This man is a seasoned expert! Sun Ruyu turned back vigilantly. The beating in the government office has its own way of distinguishing between light and heavy, forty big boards can beat a person to death, can make a person disabled for life, but also can let a person finish the beating without needing help to get up, lively and energetic, walking back to the prison cell by himself. Wang Xuan didn't know this, so he could only vaguely entrust Sun Ruyu to take care of Yuwen Zhi more. Lei Wanchun's words hit the nail on the head, making people not dare to casually deceive him.

  Seeing Sun Renyu's unsuitable expression, Lei Wanchun smiled and continued: "Brother Sun is a sensible person, so I won't beat around the bush. Just please inform the friends in the yamen to be careful not to be tempted by others and do something shortsighted. Otherwise, even if the Yuwen family doesn't take action, I, Lei Wanchun, will not let off those who take action!"

  He said, and lifted his foot to stamp on the ground. Suddenly, the green stone pavement was cracked into four or five pieces.

  Sun Ruyu was so scared that he trembled with fear and never dared to make promises again. He made a bow to Lei Wanchun with his hands, and said in a very low voice: "This older brother, since there is the face of Young Master Hou here, we will definitely give you the convenience of doing it for your friend in prison without missing a single penny. However, you don't know that this case was suppressed by the higher-ups, and we may not be able to cover up for your friend for several days. He's lucky, he lost his title, and it's up to our Wan Nian County to handle the trial. The other few who still have hereditary titles on their heads were taken away by the Dali Temple yesterday afternoon as soon as they arrived at the case. It is said that they were tried all night and were tortured until they were unrecognizable. Even the things they did in childhood, such as peeking at their sisters bathing in Rui Mountain Hot Springs, were all confessed!"

  "Ah!" Wang Jun was shocked and took a cold breath, "Then why didn't you tell me earlier?"

  "I just found out too! Young Master Hou, I'm just a humble servant in the yamen who fetches vinegar, how could I possibly have access to such timely information!" Sun Ruyu made a bitter face and bowed, fearing that Wang Xun would ask for the reward he had given him earlier to be returned.

  Fortunately, the third person who had been silent all along seemed to understand things a bit more than Wang Xun and the mustachioed big man. He sighed and said in a low voice: "Don't make it difficult for Captain Sun. This matter has indeed gone beyond his control. Captain Sun, we don't ask for anything else, just guarantee that the Yuwen brothers won't die in your Wan Nian County prison. As for where they will be taken later, we'll think of another way!"

  "Alright, alright!" Sun, the captain, who had just been grumbling in his belly about Zhang's stomach, suddenly acted as if he had received a great pardon and bowed repeatedly to him. "Don't worry, brother, with me around, I guarantee that the Yuwen brothers won't suffer anymore in the Wan Nian County government office!"

  "Then I'll have to trouble Sun Futou!" Zhang Xun bowed his hands in response, the ritual meticulous.

  "I dare not, I dare not!" Seeing Zhang Zhou in a rage, speaking and acting with even more clarity and reason, Sun the captain did not dare to underestimate him. He vowed that he would do his best to protect Yuwen Zhi within the Wan Nian County government office.

  Zhang Xun and the other two didn't have the energy to deal with the petty officials, so they quickly left the county government office. Once again seeing the clear blue sky outside, their mood didn't improve at all. Wang Xun was seeing the darkest side of Chang'an City for the first time, and naturally couldn't bear the weight of it. Zhang Xun, on the other hand, was shaken to his core by the filthiness of the imperial court, which exceeded his imagination, causing him to question his long-held views on life. Only Lei Wanchun, who had seen the most, recovered from the blow the fastest, let out a long sigh and said with a bitter smile: "I finally understand why you, Zhang Xun, always get top grades in your evaluations but never get promoted. Under your governance, our Qinghe County government is so poor that even mice don't come near it. If you were to get promoted and govern a province, then all the officials in that province would suffer along with us. If you were to govern a circuit, then all the officials in that circuit wouldn't be able to take bribes. And if you were to become a high-ranking official in the imperial court? Ha! All the officials in the country would have to hang themselves!"

  "Nonsense!" Zhang Xun gave him a glance, but ultimately couldn't refute it, and could only pretend he hadn't heard anything just now.

  "I can give you a good evaluation, and it's also a clear conscience for your superior! Just now stimulated, Wang Xuan's temper also became agitated, coldly laughed several times, shook his head and commented, 'If he really has a dark heart, I'll write on Zhang's evaluation: "Incapable of integrity!" Let Zhang thoroughly give up hope of promotion, to warn all officials to take it as an example!'"

  After finishing speaking, I only feel that the sky above my head is pitch black, and I am so depressed that I want to knock my head against a tree.

  As an official appointed by the imperial court, although he had lost his actual position for the time being, Zhang Xun couldn't just let Lei Wanchun and Wang Cong blacken their own people. He smiled and diverted the topic to Yuwen Zhi's case, "Stop wagging your tongues for now. Solving things takes time, you can't expect it to be done in one go. Let's not worry about that for now, let's think of a way to solve Little Yuwen's troubles first. Mingyun, what's the story with that Zhu fellow that Zida mentioned earlier?"

  "What else can be the reason! The brother of the current imperial concubine is standing behind him!" Mentioning the person behind Zhu, Wang Xun couldn't help but smile bitterly, "In this capital, more than 60% of the rare goods transported from Guangdong are from Zhu's store. If it weren't for the protection of the imperial concubine's brother, who would have the ability to occupy such a large share?"

  "Are you referring to Yang Guozhong?" Zhang Xun's face suddenly changed color, "That other immortal, isn't his background even more impressive!"

  "Didn't I just say so?" Wang Xuan punched the maple tree by the side of the road, causing red leaves to flutter everywhere. "The Metropolitan Governor and the Supreme Court have both taken action. The Metropolitan Governor, Wang Kuo, also serves as the Grand Justice and the Minister of Revenue, with power rivaling that of the Empress's brother. Moreover, who in the entire capital doesn't know that he and Prime Minister Li are like two peas in a pod? Ha! I thought I could basically do whatever I wanted in Chang'an City, but now it seems that compared to these three families - the Wangs, the Qins, and the Yuwens - even the imperial family itself is nothing!"

  Note 1: The Dali Temple, according to the Tang Dynasty official system, was responsible for handling cases related to nobles and high-ranking officials. Yuwen Zhi was a bastard son and did not inherit the title, so he could only be considered a commoner, under the jurisdiction of Wannian County. If it were Wang Xun, there might have been a possibility of being transferred to the Dali Temple.