Chapter 57: Reason to Admit to Mistake
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Yet, Shen Lang continued to say, “Father-in-law, we have to kill Xu Wenzhao!”
After hearing that, the people around him were astonished.
Xu Wenzhao, who was hugging onto Shen Lang’s legs, froze.
The Earl rarely killed people, especially elderly like Xu Wenzhao.
Even though he embezzled such a huge amount of money, the most severe punishment would be to confiscate his property and send him to the countryside for the rest of his life.
Yet, Shen Lang said to kill him directly.
Old Mister Lin said, “Young master, Xu Wenzhao is not the servant of the Palace of the Earl, he is merely our employee. We have no right to kill him, at most, we can only send him to the city lord.”
That was one of the new rules in the new governance of the Yue State.
None of the aristocrats had the right to meddle in civilian affairs. They only had the right to punish servants who sold themselves. They had no right to punish or kill an employee.
Shen Lang said, “Xu Wenzhao did not only embezzle a huge sum of money but also ganged up with external parties. If we handed him over to the city lord, he would probably get away unscathed a few days later.”
Xu Wenzhao shook in fear when he heard that.
“Alright, bastard, I have been begging you like a dog but you insist on killing me?”
He hissed, “Shen Lang, don’t accuse me.”
Shen Lang said, “You embezzled nearly 30,000 gold coins in total, but there are only 11,000 gold coins in your gold mine. You purchased so many apartments and your family has been living an extravagant life. However, that will only add up to about 5000 gold coins. Adding the 2000 gold coins needed for you to hire the people in the accountant’s room, where did the remaining 10,000 gold coins go?”
When the Earl heard this, his expression changed.
Shen Lang said, “If I am correct, all of these gold coins have been given to the governor and city lord. Where did your second son go if he is not in Xuanwu City? He probably went to the capital. If I am correct, he will probably be on the next scholar list.”
“Xu Wenzhao, you did not only embezzle the money of the Palace of the Earl, but you also betrayed the Earl and is in kahoots with our enemy, trying to go against the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu,” said Shen Lang, “therefore, not only are you a corrupted individual, but you have also completely betrayed the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu.”
Xu Wenzhao said angrily, “You have no proof, don’t accuse me.”
Shen Lang slammed the secret account booklet onto Xu Wenzhao’s face and said, “Open your eyes and look, you have written down every single sum of money in this book.”
The Earl took over the book.
Indeed, every single sum of money had been written down clearly.
However, he did not write the names but used numbers to substitute.
However, one could easily guess who the people were.
The Earl closed his eyes and let himself calm down. Then, he asked, “Xu Wenzhao, why? What have I done to displease you?”
With concrete evidence, Xu Wenzhao knew that he could no longer refuse to admit to his crime.
Instead, he felt even braver. He stood upright and said emotionlessly, “Sir, you seem to have forgotten how you refused to let my second son enter the private army of the Palace of the Earl to be an official?”
“Because of that? You betrayed me?”
The Earl said, “I gave him chances, but he could not pass the martial arts examination and the written examination, how can I possibly let him assume the role of an official? The private army of the Palace of the Earl is the foundation of the Jin Family, how can I be unfair? I even refused my own nephew from entering.”
Xu Wenzhao sneered, “I have been working for you for 20 over years, and you refuse to give my son a future, isn’t that being merciless? Moreover, with the new governance, the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu is like a ship that is about to sink, why should I die along with you? I have the right to look for a way to save myself.”
The Earl said, “So you decided to betray me?”
“A person who makes big accomplishments doesn’t care about the details,” said Xu Wenzhao.
“I will kill you...” the Earl whipped out his sword.
“Sir, you can’t kill me!” laughed Xu Wenzhao, “I have given out so many gold coins not only because of my son’s future but also for today. I am merely your employee and not the servant of the Jin Family. No matter what crime I have committed, you have no right to punish me or kill me. Or else, you will be interfering in regional affairs and disobeying the law. Moreover, I have the name of the Yue State.”
Mister Lin grabbed onto the Earl.
“Sir, you cannot kill him,” said Mister Lin, “if you killed Xu Wenzhao, then you would have exposed a vulnerability, don’t forget how the Earl of Donghai died under Zhang Chong?”
Shen Lang said, “Father-in-law, this thief deserves to be killed but not now and not here.”
He had killed Xu Tian earlier on but did it secretly and burned his body into ashes before throwing it into the ocean.
Yet now, Xu Wenzhao was in the Palace of the Earl and countless pairs of eyes were looking at them. If the Earl killed him, the Earl would have breached the law under the new governance. The monarch would probably punish him in a few days’ time.
Seeing that, Xu Wenzhao suddenly became arrogant again and said, “Sir, you have always been a law-abiding person. Therefore, the only thing you can do is to hand me over to the City Lord or the governor and hand over the evidence of my corruption. Let the governor decide on what to do with me.”
Once he was handed over to the governor, anyone could think of the outcome.
Find someone who looked like Xu Wenzhao and allow Xu Wenzhao to escape.
Xu Wenzhao said loudly, “Nobody can kill me in the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu. Or else, you will be breaching the law.”
Shen Lang smiled mysteriously and said, “No, we can kill you without breaching the law.”
“Dream on,” Xu Wenzhao laughed, “the governors are all eyeing on you and waiting for you to make a mistake. If I die in the Palace of the Earl, the governor will send people over to investigate within two days’ time.”
Shen Lang said, “Xu Wenzhao, why are you like this? I am speaking the truth, we can really kill you.”
“Dream on,” sneered Xu Wenzhao.
Shen Lang said, “Patriarch, it’s your turn to kill him.”
Then, a few people walked in.
Xu Wenzhao’s face was drained of blood when he saw it and his heart almost fell out of his mouth.
That was because the people who walked in were the patriarchs of the Xu Family. Along with them were also a few strong men. 1
Shen Lang bent down and said, “Xu Wenzhao, the Palace of the Earl cannot kill you, but... based on the family rules of the Xu Family, you can be beaten to death!”
The Patriarch of the Xu Family bent down to the Earl and said, “We have been relying on the Palace of the Earl for many years, yet our family has a betrayer like Xu Wenzhao. Sorry for not teaching him well, we apologize.”
After that, the Patriarch knelt down.
“No, please don’t!”The Earl hurried forward and helped the Patriarch up.
The Patriarch said emotionlessly, “Come, bring this bastard back to the ancestral hall of the Xu Family and beat him to death!”
Xu Wenzhao struggled with all his might and hissed, “Why? Even if I committed crime in the Palace of the Earl, I did not breach our family rules, our family clan has no right to kill me.”
Shen Lang walked over and said, “Xu Wenzhao, we are not killing you because of corruption. We are punishing you because you seduced your niece and have something seriously wrong with your character!”
After hearing that, Xu Wenzhao was completely stunned.
That was an extremely secretive thing. How did Shen Lang know?
Although the woman was Xu Wenzhao’s niece, she was only slightly over 30 years old and was still very young. 1
“Xu Wenzhao, not only do you have financial issues, but you also have something wrong with your behavior. You have indeed let your family down,” said Shen Lang, “however, I have underestimated you. I thought you are already too old, but you managed to seduce a young and beautiful woman.”
Why couldn’t he seduce her? Anything could be done with enough money.
With money, they could let the woman betray Xu Wenzhao.
It depended on who gave more money.
Xu Wenzhao said in pain, “That b*tch betrayed me, is she not scared of being criticized and beaten to death?”
Shen Lang said, “Give her some money to let her reunite with her husband and leave for good. Of course, she would be willing to say everything.”
“Drag this bastard away,” ordered the Patriarch of the Xu Family.
Xu Wenzhao screamed, “Save me, sir, save me! I will admit! I gave the money to the City Lord and the Governors!”
The Earl’s expression changed.
Shen Lang shook his head, “There’s no use. The City Lord would not accept his money personally. Zhang Pu will also let the Xu Family accept the money and send it over to the Zhang Family in the form of dowry. Moreover, even though we got Xu Wenzhao to admit his crime, who are we going to report it to? The Governors?”
The following scene would happen.
“Who is this, why are you reporting on me?!”
“You will submit this evidence to the monarch?”
The monarch would immediately wonder what the Earl meant. Why was he so eager to defeat the official. Was he trying to go against the new governance and show dissatisfaction?
The Earl sighed and gave up on that idea.
Xu Wenzhao was dragged out of the room.
“Sir, I have a huge secret to tell you.”
“Young Master Shen Lang, Master Shen Lang, I have money, I still have money...”
“Shen Lang, someone is trying to kill you, Tian Heng wants to kill you!”
After a few hours!
In the ancestral hall of the Xu Family.
Xu Wenzhao was stripped off all his clothes and his thin body was exposed to the wind.
Then...
In front of several hundred people, he was beaten to death!
...
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