Chapter 153: Catch those who should be caught, kill those who should be killed
Zhu Bingchong's words made Governor Zhou's heart rise to his throat. Cold sweat broke out on his body. He knelt on the ground with his eyes rolling around, thinking about countermeasures .
The middle-aged man knelt on the ground, slowly raised his head, and said, "Reporting to the prince, I received a report from the prefect saying that there is a bandit in Jingyan Lake who is killing people and it is out of control. So I brought the city guards here!"
Zhu Bingchong was stunned: "A big thief?"
Then he looked around and asked, "Who is the bandit?"
"It's me!"
Shen Lang smiled, pointed at himself and spoke.
"My lord, you must be joking. You are fighting for your country at the border, how could you be a bandit?" Zhu Bingchong smiled, thinking that Shen Lang was joking with him.
"Your Highness, I'm not kidding!" Shen Lang said.
"Oh?" Zhu Bingchong was stunned and asked, "What's going on?"
Shen Lang first pointed at Zhou Ming who was lying on the ground in a pool of blood and said, "I don't know who he is, but he molested a decent woman in broad daylight and threw a man into the lake. My wife couldn't stand it, so she stepped forward to stop him!" As he said that, he looked at Wanyan Ruyu.
"Your Highness!" Wanyan Ruyu bowed slightly as a greeting.
"Are you the princess of the Nanyue Empire, Wanyan Ruyu?" Zhu Bingchong looked at Wanyan Ruyu.
"Yes!" Wanyan Ruyu raised her chin slightly and answered.
"Oh oh oh, my excuse me, my excuse me!" Zhu Bingchong said with a bow. Although she was now engaged to Shen Lang as a hostage, she was, after all, a princess of the Nanyue Empire. In terms of rank and status, the two were equal. What's more, she was Shen Lang's wife now, so her identity and status naturally made Zhu Bingchong pay attention to her.
After all, Shen Lang's importance is too great now. Even Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang made an exception and conferred a title of nobility on him. It is conceivable how much the emperor values Shen Lang.
"Then, he laid hands on my wife. Your Majesty, if it were you, what would you do?" Shen Lang continued.
When Zhu Bingchong heard this, his face darkened and he said, "What's going on with those people?" He pointed at Jia Feng and Wang Ling lying on the ground.
"He, he and he are his lackeys, helping him commit the crime!" Shen Lang glanced at He He who was kneeling on the ground and trembling, and said, "He also wants to kill me and then get his hands on my wife!"
Zhu Bingchong pointed at the dozen or so dead guards on the ground and said, "They are the people the prefect brought to arrest you, right?"
"Um!"
Shen Lang nodded: "He didn't ask any questions and just committed the crime. I have no choice but to take action!"
"My Lord, you don't have to worry about this!" Zhu Bingchong spoke directly, looking at the middle-aged man in black robes, and said, "Go to the Ministry of Justice and receive a hundred strokes of the cane!"
"Yes!" The middle-aged man wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke quickly. Then he stood up and left with a dozen city guards.
"Someone come here!"
"Your Majesty!"
At this time, two middle-aged men got off the boat. They were two civil officials holding important positions in the imperial capital.
"Dismiss Magistrate Zhou from his post and investigate him. There must be no mistake!" Zhu Bingchong said to one of the civil officials.
"Yes!" A middle-aged man said, "I am the Minister of Justice, He Zhiwen. I will arrest Prefect Zhou!"
"yes!"
This was their top leader. Upon hearing this, the yamen guards who were kneeling on the ground stood up and took Magistrate Zhou down.
"He, he, and his family should all be punished and investigated according to the law. Those who should be arrested should be arrested, and those who should be killed should be killed!" Zhu Bingchong spoke again.
"Yes!" another civil official said, "Come with me!" As he said that, he pointed at He He. He He was so scared that he turned into a pile of mud, kneeling on the ground and couldn't get up.
"My Lord, please come aboard and have a drink to calm your nerves!"
After dealing with all this, Zhu Bingchong spoke with a smile and made a gesture of invitation to Shen Lang.
"Obedience is worse than respect!" Shen Lang was not polite and took Wanyan Ruyu's hand and went straight onto the boat.
A storm was calmed down just like that.
On the boat, Shen Lang and Zhu Bingchong were chatting happily, toasting each other, and it was very lively. It was not until dusk that the cruise ship slowly approached the shore. Shen Lang and Wanyan Ruyu said goodbye to Zhu Bingchong and left Jingyan Lake.
When he returned to the street, Shen Lang heard that Prefect Zhou was corrupt and committed crimes, and allowed his son to commit crimes and behead him on a chosen day. The homes of Jia Feng, Wang Ling, and He He were all raided, their properties confiscated, and their family members were either imprisoned or beheaded.
"Finally someone has punished this evil playboy!" sighed a fruit vendor.
"I heard that Zhou Ming was molesting a woman and molested Lord Shen. He also happened to meet the Seventeenth Prince visiting Jingyan Lake, so he took action!"
The fruit vendor next to him said, "When Magistrate Zhou heard that his son was flirting with the princess of Nanyue, Lord Shen's wife, he almost peed his pants!"
"Serves him right! He should have died long ago!" The fruit vendor cursed, "He is a devil, relying on his father being the prefect to bully others in the city!"
"That's right. He took my fruits a couple of days ago and didn't even pay me. I'll just consider it as a funeral for him. Haha!" The man selling fruits nearby was very happy.
…
This incident spread throughout the streets in just one afternoon, and the common people all applauded when they heard about it. It can be imagined how despicable Magistrate Zhou and his son were.
"I didn't expect that this father and son are such good-for-nothings!" Shen Lang bought two strings of candied haws on the street, one for himself and one for Wanyan Ruyu.
"As an official, how many good things can you get?" Wanyan Ruyu did not refuse. She took a string and ate one.
Upon hearing this, Shen Lang ate a candied haws and looked at Wanyan Ruyu: "Hey, have you ever bullied men or women? No, have you ever bullied women or men?"
When Wanyan Ruyu heard this, she glared at Shen Lang and said, "Get lost!"
"Ha ha……"
Shen Lang grinned and continued to walk through the streets and alleys holding Wanyan Ruyu's hand. As night fell, the lights in Jingyan City gradually lit up.
The lights are bright, as if it is daytime, and the place is crowded with people, even more lively than during the day.
“Boom boom boom!”
Not far away, fireworks were set off, blooming colorfully in the night sky.
Shen Lang took Wanyan Ruyu's hand and went up to the restaurant. He sat down by the window, ordered a pot of good wine and some side dishes, and looked at the fireworks outside and the crescent moon in the night sky. He felt really comfortable and emotional.
After a few more glasses of wine, Shen Lang was slightly tipsy. Wanyan Ruyu surprisingly also drank two glasses, her pretty face slightly flushed.
"I didn't expect that my wife can drink so well!" Shen Lang said with a smile as he looked at Wanyan Ruyu in front of him.
Wanyan Ruyu rolled her eyes and ignored him. She just drank by herself, looking out at the brightly lit night scene outside with her side profile, a little absent-minded.
"Seriously, why do we want to start a war with China?" Shen Lang asked after drinking a glass of wine.
Wang Yanruyu did not speak immediately, but drank the wine in the glass. Then she looked at Shen Lang and spoke.
"There is no reason!" Wanyan Ruyu said, "Individuals become strong through cultivation, obtaining elixirs and medicinal materials, while a country becomes strong through a vast territory!"
"A country will become stronger only if it has a vast territory!" Wanyan Ruyu added.
"In fact, I have been preparing for hundreds of years. I just prepared everything and started it. I just didn't expect..." Wanyan Ruyu said, looking at Shen Lang: "I didn't expect to meet you!"
"At that time, the intelligence did not mention you, but Wei Guo. Although that person is also very difficult to deal with, we have prepared a foolproof plan and can definitely win!"
Wanyan Ruyu did not hide anything: "But I didn't expect that it was not him who came, but you!"
"All the countermeasures we prepared are invalid! " Wanyan Ruyu sighed, looked at Shen Lang and said, "Seriously, why didn't Weiguo come? How could you have thought that we had prepared a strategy to deal with Weiguo and changed people on the battlefield?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Lang grinned and said, "Actually, it wasn't a substitution before the battle, he was the one who was supposed to go!"
"Oh?" Wanyan Ruyu was stunned: "Then why didn't he come?"
"Let me kill him!" Shen Lang shrugged his shoulders: "If he provokes me, I will kill him!"
Wanyan Ruyu exclaimed in surprise: "He is a fourth-rate master!"
"What's wrong with a fourth-rate expert?" Shen Lang sneered, "Can't I kill him?"
"Even if a deity offends me, I will kill him without hesitation. What's a mere fourth-rate expert?"
