Chapter 128: Although Fake Jade is Hard to Distinguish

The woman smiled: "You really have great courage, still in the mood to joke under these circumstances."

Wang Yang shook his sleeves: "Optimist, no way."

"Lian San, accompany Young Master Wang to have some fun."

"No need! I've had enough fun!"

"If you've had enough fun, then continue, what else?"

"Why don't you just say what you want to hear?"

"Don't you know what I want to hear?"

"I don't know."

"Lian San—"

Lian San, Lian San, sooner or later I'll make you a loser!

"I remembered! The Prince of Badong also scolded the Dianqian official!"

"Go on."

Wang Yang guessed that this woman had long known what the Prince of Badong had said at the banquet. Asking him to repeat it wasn't to verify the truth, but to see if he would tell the truth.

It couldn't be to test his memory, right?

There were so many people at the banquet, these words of the Prince of Badong couldn't be kept secret anyway.

Besides, Wang Yang had no intention of keeping secrets for the Prince of Badong.

So he told the truth.

"Are you going to ride horses with the Prince of Badong in the suburbs tomorrow?" The woman asked.

"Yes."

"After you go, write down everything he says and come back and learn it for me word for word."

"How do I find you?"

"You come to Ruyi Tower, and naturally someone will bring you in."

The woman let Lian San give Wang Yang a note.

Wang Yang opened it and saw the identity information of a person named Wang Yi.

Wang Yang asked suspiciously: "This is..."

"What? Don't you even recognize your own second uncle?" The woman teased.

Wang Yang was startled.

"Didn't you tell people that your second uncle is a Sanqi Vice Minister? Now someone is investigating this matter."

Wang Yang had indeed brought out a non-existent second uncle, but not many people should know about it. Besides those soldiers, there were two other people: one was Du Sanye, because the Black Man had mentioned the Sanqi Vice Minister to intimidate Du Sanye, and the other was Jiao Zheng. Could it be that Du Sanye was secretly looking for his handle? Or was it that Jiao Zheng had become suspicious after sending the money?

"Who is investigating?" Wang Yang asked.

"Don't ask too much. But the fact that your second uncle is a Sanqi Vice Minister has spread. You really dare to make things up, but you are lucky. There is indeed a Langya Wang clan member who is a Sanqi Vice Minister; his name is Wang Yi. Memorize this note, so if someone asks in the future, you won't be flustered."

Wang Yang put away the note.

"The note cannot be taken away, memorize it on the spot."

Wang Yang took out the note: "Then who do I give it to?"

The woman said unhappily: "Didn't you hear my words? I told you to memorize it now!"

"Already memorized."

The woman paused, not believing it: "Recite it for me to hear."

Wang Yang recited it once.

The woman nodded: "Sure enough, you have some small cleverness, although you missed a 'Zhi' character."

Right, I have small cleverness, you are the big clever one, I won't fight with you.

Lian San stepped forward to take back the note.

The woman said: "I will arrange for those soldiers who saw you to shut up. As for Kong Zhangyu, he will receive the reply from that small official of the Ministry of Personnel tonight, but it won't be the letter you saw. In a moment, I will tell you the specific situation of your Langya Wang clan within three generations. Since you have small cleverness, memorize it well today."

"Are you Xianbei?" Wang Yang asked tentatively.

"Does being able to speak Xianbei language make one Xianbei? That's a coincidence, I can also speak Korean (Goguryeo language), does that make me Korean? Don't ask about my affairs in the future, focus on doing what I tell you to do. I use you to do things, naturally I will protect your identity from being exposed. This counts as my sincerity. If you do your job well in the future, there will be benefits for you. You don't need to have too much hostility toward me, I have no interest in using you forever. Once this matter is over, I will leave Jingzhou, and you can continue to be your fake noble clan member here. With my arrangements, as long as you don't go to the capital, there will be no problems."

Wang Yang didn't believe a word of the woman's promise.

When Wang Yang returned home, it was already night.

The Black Man was at the gate, looking around anxiously. Seeing Wang Yang, he hurried to greet him.

Wang Yang thought something had happened and hurriedly asked: "Have Qingshan and A-Wu returned?"

"They came back, they came back early. A-Wu is in the courtyard, Miss Chen said she went out to buy something."

Wang Yang breathed a sigh of relief and asked again: "Did you find that Jiaojiao?"

After the clue of Du Sanye was broken, Wang Yang sent the Black Man to Tangzhu Village to investigate the woman named "Jiaojiao" mentioned by the burly man under Du Sanye, hoping to get some useful information.

"Found her. There is indeed this person in Tangzhu Village. But she was executed a few days ago for stealing official property."

Wang Yang was shocked: "Stealing official property? How did she steal official property?"

"It is said that when she was helping out at the county government office, she stole five official curtains."

Nonsense!!!

The death penalty is only for the maximum theft, but stealing five official curtains is "execution in the market." This point is well-calculated, not too much and not too little, exactly five. Not even letting go of the woman entrusted by his subordinate, it was truly watertight.

"Young Master, also... I heard that Xu Jiaojiao was actually not that man's woman. The Xu family is a big family in the village. That man once went to propose marriage, but was kicked out of the door and humiliated in public..."

Damn...

Wang Yang had thought about the possibility that the man deliberately implicated Du Sanye in order not to take the blame, but he didn't expect that even mentioning Jiaojiao was a premeditated design!

Recalling the man's silly appearance, he felt cold in his heart.

This person's mind was quite extraordinary, but his status was humble, and in the face of absolute strength, he still died silently. Although his identity as the Langya Wang clan was fake, as long as it wasn't exposed for a day, it was a layer of excellent protection, but this woman...

"By the way, Young Master, someone from Wang Gong's house came to invite you to be a guest. This is the invitation."

"Wang Gong?" Wang Yang took the invitation suspiciously.

The Black Man said: "It's Wang Gong Tai who lives in the Ding family residence in Shoukang Lane."

Wang Yang remembered that when he first entered the city, he was forced by Captain Xue and the others to visit, and then he was shut out. Why is he inviting me?

Wang Yang opened the invitation, which read:

"Tai bows: Since I have been sick, I have been closed off all day and have not known about outside affairs. I just heard that a fellow clan member has made a name for himself in Jingzhou, and the joy is beyond words! I wanted to visit in person, but I am ashamed that my body cannot support it. Sitting and thinking, I often feel that I have lost the etiquette of communication and hurt the righteousness of the clan. Now that the spring is fading and the green plums are just right, I have prepared a thin drink in my humble house, hoping for your visit, I am very lucky!

I also heard that you have extraordinary poetic skills, so I present a new poem for your review! Anything that is not reached, please point it out one by one, I earnestly request!"

"Although fake jade is hard to distinguish, its light is not warm. If you test it by burning, you will believe it is true jade!"

Wang Yang's face changed when he saw the last poem. He didn't quite believe that this was Wang Tai's unintentional work, meant for him to point out his poetic skills. He felt more that this was to prevent him from refusing to go, specifically using this poem to point out that he already knew his identity was fake. Isn't this fake jade talking about himself?

Just finished crossing the tribulation at that woman's place, and this Wang Tai came to make trouble again. How did Wang Tai know? What does he want to do?

The Black Man said: "The person said to go to the 'Shoukang Bookstore' at the end of Shoukang Lane after receiving the invitation, saying there is an important matter to discuss. I was afraid of delaying the Young Master's business and was thinking about whether to find the Young Master to come back, but I didn't know where the Young Master was."

Wang Yang really didn't want to see Wang Tai, but he had to go, and asked: "Have you hired a driver?"

"Hired, a cook and two handymen, plus the driver, a total of four people. The cook and the driver are a husband and wife, they are quite honest, their identities are absolutely no problem, I specifically went to a restaurant to find them, and the monthly salary is not high..."

"Don't worry about this, let the driver prepare the cart, go to Shoukang Lane."

The Black Man noticed a trace of worry between Wang Yang's eyebrows and asked: "Do you want to wait for Miss Chen?"

Wang Yang thought for a moment and said: "No need."

Shoukang Lane was narrow and could not accommodate carts. Wang Yang let the newly hired driver, Old Song, wait at the alley entrance and went in himself.

Shoukang Bookstore was on the same street as Wang Tai's house, not far away. Wang Yang walked into the bookstore, and the shopkeeper greeted him, bowing to Wang Yang: "Please follow me, Young Master Wang."

"Do you recognize me?"

The shopkeeper didn't speak, led Wang Yang through the back hall, turned out from the back door, and came to a secret small courtyard. Two men with swords stood at the gate, their waists as straight as green pines.

The shopkeeper knocked on the courtyard door rhythmically.

The one who opened the door was the man with a poker face that Wang Yang had seen when he visited Wang Tai last time, his voice cold: "The master invites you."

The courtyard was small, with no flowers, plants, or trees, and no decorative utensils, which was incomparable to the mysterious courtyard he had been to before, and not even as good as Wang Yang's house.

In the middle of the courtyard was a small couch, on which lay a man with a short beard, wearing a white undershirt and calf-nose pants, his hair disheveled and wet, eyes closed, enjoying drying his hair.

Wang Yang guessed that this should be Wang Tai.

As Wang Yang's only "relative" in Jingzhou City, Wang Yang had long inquired about Wang Tai's information in detail.

Wang Tai, courtesy name Zhongtong, was the sixth-generation grandson of the Eastern Jin Prime Minister Wang Dao. His sister married the Prince of Jiangxia, Xiao Feng. He had been a Secretary, a Military Law Officer of the Forbidden Army, and later transferred to the Situ Mansion, serving as the East Pavilion Libationer. He resigned last year and came to Jingzhou to recuperate. Since the day he arrived in Jingzhou, he had closed his doors and did not communicate with guests.

In Wang Yang's impression, this person had always been a hermit-like figure. He didn't expect him to come to find himself, and even more didn't expect him to have such a secret residence.

Could this be his true dwelling?

Wang Yang couldn't help but think of the fact that he didn't see Wang Tai when he visited last time. Perhaps that house was just for cover? Was this where Wang Tai really lived?

The poker face brought Wang Yang to the lying man and reported: "Master, he is here."

Wang Tai opened his eyes, and joy instantly filled his cheeks: "Oh, Zhiyan is here! Quick, quick! Give him a seat! Serve tea! Don't neglect the distinguished guest!!!"

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Note: ① "Le Tian" is an ancient term, "Yi: Xici Shang": "Happy with heaven and knowing fate, so no worry."

② "Jin Shu: Xingfa Zhi": "If the stolen goods are five pieces or more, execute in the market." ===== CHAPTER 129 =====