Wanjin Lady

Chapter 401 Punishment
In a small, hidden space, under a dim candlelight, two people sat side by side at a table, one sharpening charcoal pencils while the other plotted revenge. Each of them was busy with their own tasks, chatting idly.

She expressed her gratitude gently and subtly, "Sun Qunfang is definitely not an isolated case. The Marquis is now under attack from all sides and must need his own troops. I have now permanently settled in Bozhou City. I can help the Marquis continue investigating the smuggling case."

"Junior sister, don't worry about this matter." Wei Zheng finished speaking, then realized that his tone was too harsh. "This matter has far-reaching implications. Junior sister, please don't get involved."

The man's voice was hoarse as he explained the seriousness of the matter clearly, "Sun Qunfang is indeed an exception. Behind the Tianshui Prefecture smuggling case... there must be an extremely powerful figure."

Wen Wan was puzzled: "Sun Qunfang is sitting comfortably in a fifth-rank position, why would she cooperate with the Japanese and bring about her own destruction?"

"He's been stuck in a fifth-rank position for eight years, with no hope of promotion. He can only use money to pave the way. Last year alone, he sent nearly 30,000 taels of silver to Kyoto."

Wen Wan's heart skipped a beat. A fifth-rank official could make huge profits through smuggling. No wonder this smuggling trend could continue despite repeated bans.

"According to Sun Qunfang, this group approached his wife three years ago. They initially offered to lend money at high interest, promising double the profit as long as they invested their principal. After Mrs. Sun tasted the sweetness, she invested more and more. Whenever cargo was intercepted, Sun Qunfang would use her position to smooth things over."

"Sun Qunfang was trapped deeper and deeper. By the time she discovered the other party was involved in smuggling, it was too late to stop."

Wen Wan is so familiar with this move!

Bribery, paralyzing the other party and making them fall into the trap unknowingly, this method is really vicious!

Wen Wan said, "No wonder the goods smuggled from the coast can be sold inland without any problem! It turns out that there are people escorting them."

"The smuggling gang headed by Liu Guizhou likely used this method to infiltrate and win over officials of all ranks in Tianshui Prefecture. Last year, I investigated and executed a group of smugglers in Bingzhou, but I never imagined their reputation would spread far and wide..." Wei Zheng's lips curled up in a sarcastic arc. "This Sun Qunfang is guilty and thought I moved the Governor's Office to Bozhou to investigate him. So, he decided to team up with Liu Guizhou to take preemptive action."

Speaking of which…

Wen Wan was equally curious: "If it wasn't for Liu Guizhou, then why did the Marquis suddenly move from Bingzhou to Bozhou?"

The air seemed to stagnate for a moment.

Wei Zheng put down the dagger, charcoal ash staining his fingertips. He lowered his eyes and unconsciously turned the ring on his thumb, "I found a clue about my father..."

Lift your eyes.

There seemed to be a faint mist in the man's beautiful peach blossom eyes, which made people look down on him.

"Perhaps... Junior Sister knows about the Kyoto Incident fifteen years ago?"

Wen Wan nodded, her heart ached, and she could hardly speak. "My stepmother told me something. Don't blame her."

Wei Zheng didn't seem to mind. Instead, he frowned and smiled. "I cornered Liu Guizhou. He used clues about my father's whereabouts to lure me into a meeting alone. As it turned out, he wasn't lying. I found the bloody words my father left in the secret room beneath the bunker."

"What did you write?"

"Ling Feng." Wei Zheng's lips were thin and red, his jawline tense at the moment, his eyes moist and glistening. "That's my elder sister's name. It comes from 'Ling Feng knows strong men, Fu Xue sees chastity.' My father hoped that even though my elder sister was a woman, she could stand tall against the wind, be resilient and unyielding, and surpass ordinary men in the world."

Wen Wan remembered... Wei Zheng's elder sister died on the night of the Kyoto Incident.

That year, Wei Zheng and Wei Lingfeng were only five years old.

At that time, people valued sons over daughters, and few parents had high hopes for their daughters. This shows how much Wei Zheng's parents loved the twins, a boy and a girl.

"Why did the Duke only write the word Ling Feng in the secret room?"

As soon as she uttered those gentle words, she already knew the answer in her heart. If the Duke of Wei had truly fallen into the hands of bandits, he would surely have been under close surveillance, and the blood-stained words "Ling Feng" might have been preserved by accident.

The room was a little stuffy. Wen Wan heard the sounds of Zhang Chunhua and the others scooping water for washing gradually fade away, so she opened the doors and windows.

The moonlight outside was bleak, the wind swayed the trees, and the crisp autumn wind blew into the house, blowing away the scorching air inside.

Papers were flying on the table, and Wei Zheng quickly pressed them down with a paperweight. Charcoal ash was blown all over the floor, and some fell on his newly made clothes. He brushed it off with his hands, but the ink pool on his chest was getting bigger and bigger.

Wen Wan handed over the wet robe and said, "Wipe it with this."

"Judging from the situation, he should be imprisoned in an underground secret room." Wei Zheng took the robe and slowly wiped the charcoal ash off his chest.

These things should not have been told to Wen Wan.

For more than ten years, Wei Zheng kept these things tightly in his chest and never even mentioned them to his aunt.

However, at this moment, the desire to talk inexplicably reached its peak.

His lone boat was swaying on the river, but there were times when he wanted to anchor for a while.

"The military bunker on Stone Mountain was built decades ago and remained abandoned until it was occupied by a group of bandits more than a decade ago. This timeline roughly matches the time of my father's disappearance."

"But the underground secret room is hidden from view, and the bandits stationed in the bunker have no idea there's a person hiding deep within. I suspect... this ring was taken out by the people who once imprisoned my father, and then sold it and ended up in Mother Yi's hands."

Wen Wan was horrified when she heard this. She stared blankly into Wei Zheng's eyes, "But at least the Duke is still alive... right?"

Wei Zheng's face showed a confused look. The intertwined feeling of strong hope and calm rationality made him more vulnerable tonight.

Perhaps my father had been imprisoned in a secret room on the stone mountain. However, the room was covered in blood, the torture instruments on the walls were mottled and rusted, and there was a water dungeon in the middle, the water in the dungeon connected to the kitchen, toilet and other dirty places.

If my father...had been trapped here forever...

Wei Zheng stopped this thought in time.

"I do not know."

Even if my father were alive, I'm afraid he would no longer be human.

"I just want to find him as soon as possible." Wei Zheng's voice trembled slightly, "Father may not have much time left!"

Wenwan pursed her lips. No wonder Wei Zheng was so radical and crazy in dealing with the Japanese intrusion into the city. He... was probably... really about to be driven crazy.

"I often think... maybe this is God's punishment for me."

"Punishment for abandoning my family... and living alone in this world."

"It's punishment for my incompetence, which is why I can't find my father's whereabouts."

"How could you possibly think that?" Wen Wan's heart felt as if it were being stabbed by needles, and her breath became disordered as she spoke. "The Duke's wife cut her bones and let her blood drain, sacrificing her own life in exchange for your chance to live. Now that you're alive and well, I wonder how happy she must be in heaven."

"You are alive and have seen the vast world on your sister's behalf. Your sister will be happy."

"If you live and grow up to be a healthy and upright man, the Duke will be proud of you."