Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Letting Off Lightly

Su Shijie slammed the hall wood: “Wang Qianshan, you disassociate yourself cleanly, yet you live extravagantly. The Governor Mansion is resplendent with gold and jade. With your salary as a Prefectural Governor, how is this possible? What do you have to say for yourself?”

Wang Qianshan kowtowed and said: “Your Honor, I entered officialdom for the sake of literary pursuits, but my brother is fond of business. We share a great bond. It’s my brother who made a good amount of silver in business and couldn’t bear to see his elder brother, the governor, in poverty. He contributed silver to embellish my home. All these expenses were borne by my brother, and Your Honor can verify this!”

Wang Qianshan is a clever man. From the outset, he let his brother pursue business under the pretense of his official convenience, opening all doors for his brother. Some silver, under his brother’s name, was extensively amassed.

Anticipating circumstances like today.

Su Shijie angrily said: “Then you recruit city guards for private use, making them watch over your house and serve as thugs, bullying the common people, what do you have to say about that?”

“Your Honor, such matters are even more baseless. The troops and city guards are commanded by Ding Yichuan. I am of equal rank with Commander Ding, so how could I possibly make Ding Yichuan serve me? How could I make the troops serve me? I merely sympathize with those soldiers retired due to injuries without food and clothing, thus I hired them for guarding. The regular army, how dare I mobilize them?”

He speaks eloquently, with flawless explanations for everything, seemingly except for being careless in handling affairs and lacking control over subordinates, he is entirely innocent!

He is quite pleased that he has always conducted affairs without leaving traces, so now everything seems plausible, without any solid evidence. Who can do anything to him?

Su Shijie, who had received gifts from him, faced an account mess without evidence and began to soften his stance. Moreover, if the matter were truly pursued, the gifts worth fifty thousand silver taels that he received might come to light and that’s not a small amount.

He fiercely said: “Even so, your lack of supervision and careless management cannot be considered nothing! Your affairs will be meticulously described by this Chief Historian and submitted for Lord Governor’s verdict! During this time, you shall bear the guilt and not exercise your authority as governor, and should reflect upon yourself at home!”

Though the words were fierce, the approach was lenient!

Upon hearing Su Shijie’s words, Wang Qianshan breathed a big sigh of relief, proving that burning incense regularly indeed paid off.

The young man, listening on the side, had his handsome brows and eyes set in a fierce expression; he coldly said: “Mr. Su, my family’s Princely Heir is still suffering in the Governor Mansion!”

Upon hearing this young man’s words, Wang Qianshan immediately said: “This young brother must be mistaken, whenever His Highness graces us, I hardly have time to prepare, let alone have any offense? Not to mention suffering in my mansion!”

“My family’s Princely Heir sent the message personally. Do you think two sentences can fob off me?”

Su Shijie also said: “This esteemed person was perhaps misunderstood, how valuable is the Princely Heir? With a hundred guts borrowed, Wang Qianshan would dare not disrespect His Highness! Wang Qianshan confessed to his crimes.”

The young man’s sharp gaze fell on Su Shijie, saying: “Mr. Su, it seems you also think the evidence is insufficient, so Wang Qianshan’s crime is not so serious!”

Su Shijie, embarrassed, chuckled: “Well, the complaint papers and Ding Yichuan’s confession are after all one-sided accounts. The origin, after all, is not official, so…”

He implied that in proper accusations, county magistrates and prefecture authorities process them step-by-step. Now the complaint papers are in the hands of the Heir’s retinue, who knows if any means were used, thus they cannot be used as evidence.

The young man understood the implication, his face slightly somber but with a touch of a smile: “Mr. Su probably misunderstood. These complaint papers were not written by me personally; I merely handed them over for submission to Lord Governor before whom they were presented. Lord Governor instructed me to give them to Mr. Su, to handle them judiciously! So, why does Mr. Su think the origin is dishonest because I handed them over? If that’s the case, why doesn’t Mr. Su return the papers and ask Lord Governor to review them?”

Su Shijie was burning with anger, knowing that even Prince Cheng’s Heir, though being an Imperial Grandson, is insignificant outside the vassal land!

This person is merely a retinue of Prince Cheng’s Heir and casually mentions Lord Governor in his words, suggesting an implied threat?

He put on a forced smile and said: “The esteemed person is too anxious. In the law, evidence comes first. Without evidence, I cannot force Wang Qianshan to confess, what if he truly is innocent?”

Wang Qianshan could easily understand Su Shijie’s meaning, and immediately said: “Esteemed person, our country has national laws, families have family regulations; ordinary people cannot casually defame others, let alone an official such as myself with Fourth Rank in the Court. Without evidence, imposing a crime, even if I admitted, the people would not be convinced. Your actions are indeed improper!”

“Who says there is no evidence?”

A clear and bright voice came from outside the door.

The crowd was fiercely quarreling when they heard the voice, and looked over.

The light at the door slightly dimmed and then brightened as a young man in moon-white clothing walked in, his features exquisite, his demeanor noble, like an immortal descended from the heavens, with an elegant demeanor and ethereal grace, as though crafted by a meticulous artist, dazzlingly eye-catching. His attire was not elaborate, even quite ordinary, but his aloof and proud aura, his outstanding uniqueness, and his evident noblesse made him stand out as if a crane amongst chickens. It’s the kind of bearing soaked from an early age to the bone, hard to ignore.

The first impression of the crowd was that he was truly handsome!

The second impression was that this young man probably had an unusual background!

The third impression was that no one dared regard him as an ordinary youth, after all, ordinary youth don’t possess such noble temperament.

The young man stepped forward to salute: “Princely Heir!”

Huangfu Jingchen walked forward.

Wang Qianshan was relieved once more, as he did not recognize this youth, so the talk of wronging His Highness and His Highness suffering in his mansion wasn’t true! With Su mediating, what did he have to fear?

Being Prince Cheng’s Heir, Yue Zhengrong and Su Shijie also went to greet him.

Su Shijie, despite disdaining inwardly, donned a smile and said: “From where does His Highness arrive? Just now I heard the esteemed member say His Highness is trapped in Governor Wang’s Mansion?”

That question had a particular note, clearly suggesting that his servant spoke nonsense. Wasn’t he said to be trapped, in danger? Yet now, free to come and go, where was the appearance of danger?

Wang Qianshan laughed and said: “Is this Prince Cheng Mansion’s Prince Jing? Prince Jing, it’s so good that you are here! I, Wang Qianshan, have never met His Highness. The esteemed member said I conspired against your honor; how can this be? Fortunately, His Highness is here, and this misunderstanding can be cleared!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep