The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 161 Turning a Big Issue into a Small One
Wang Wen sat upright in the main hall of the Xuzhou Demon Suppression Bureau, leisurely flipping through the mountain of documents piled up on his desk.

These documents were evidence seized by the Demon-Suppressing Guards of his general's mansion from Wang Yi's study, living quarters, and other places. They included a large number of land deeds, field deeds, bank notes, as well as letters between Wang Yi and high-ranking officials of the court, ledgers showing the transfer of benefits, and so on...

The novel contains intricate details of court infighting, exchanges of interests between officials and merchants, and backstabbing within government offices. It is a vivid and engaging textbook on corruption in the Great Zhou Dynasty, leaving Wang Wendu with a sense of profound enlightenment.

This Wang Yi is a top talent in navigating the officialdom!
As an outsider who arrived in Huainan Circuit at the same time as Zhao Zhiling to preside over the work of the Imperial Observatory, Zhao Zhiling has maintained a clean-cut relationship with the various government offices in Yangzhou, while Wang Yi has long since sorted out the interests of all parties in Xuzhou and is happily working with local officials, gentry and merchants to make money.

In just over a year, he had already secured enough advancement to the position of Junior Supervisor of the Xuzhou Demon Suppression Division!
In the correspondence between Wang Yi and Duan Shuyu, a close friend of Wang Yi who worked in the Ministry of Personnel, Duan Shuyu mentioned that Wang Yi had been recommended by the Demon Suppression Headquarters and entered the Ministry of Personnel's selection list, and that there was a very high chance that he would be transferred back to the Demon Suppression Headquarters in the capital.

Compared to Wang Yi's aloofness and uninhibitedness, Zhao Zhiling was as pure as a lotus flower that emerges from the mud unsullied.

These things are undeniably tough.

But this is still not enough to completely absolve him of responsibility for Wang Yi's death.

No matter how corrupt Wang Yi is, he is still an official, and it is not up to Wang Wen to deal with him.

He is the Demon-Slaying General, not an imperial envoy.

If Wang Wen wants to completely absolve himself of responsibility for Wang Yi's death, he must start with his job duties.

Just then, Xu Wu, wiping the water from his hands, strode into the lobby.

Wang Wen looked up at him and asked, "You confessed everything?"

Xu Wu nodded: "They confessed everything. That wandering Taoist priest was Wang Yi's advisor. He and Wang Yi, one in front of the stage and the other behind the scenes, jointly orchestrated this 'thief crying 'stop thief' drama. To be honest, they didn't have any malicious intentions when they approached you. They just wanted to use your skills to wipe out that evil place and, incidentally, test your worth as the Demon-Slaying General of Huainan."

Wang Wen frowned slightly: "Are you really sure you got the information? It sounds a bit like the saying 'the dead have no way to prove it' to me."

Xu Wu understood what he meant and shook his head slightly, saying, "It shouldn't be. They interrogated each other separately, and everyone's testimonies were consistent. Moreover, they didn't know that Wang Yi was already dead."

Wang Wen looked thoughtful, thinking to himself, 'It means this thread forks at Wang Yang's place. By taking down Wang Yi, we can cut off all further leads!'

'So they didn't touch Yu Qifeng and the others, firstly because it wasn't necessary, and secondly because the difficulty level was too high...'

He pondered for a long time before finally saying, 'Forget it, let's leave it at that. There's no point in continuing the investigation!'

If the truth is as he previously speculated, and this matter involves the emperor's lifespan and the succession to the throne, his continued investigation will inevitably invite attacks from the shadows.

If things go wrong, all the hard work he's put into building this empire could be for naught...

That's fine, it's good this way!

Since the damned person was already dead, he hadn't suffered any loss, and he'd gotten his revenge...

As for Wang Yi's death, Yu Qifeng and the others' testimonies are sufficient to clear him of guilt.

The rest depends on whether the person behind the scenes knows what's going on.

If the person behind the scenes is ignorant and lacks sportsmanship, then ignore them and don't care about their lack of martial ethics.

"Organize the evidence carefully, making sure nothing is missed!"

Wang Wen quickly made a decision: "Then, send a report on the situation in Xuzhou to the Demon Suppression Headquarters in the capital, and ask them to send someone to Xuzhou as soon as possible to take charge of the overall situation!"

Xu Wu looked at him in confusion, and said in a low voice with some disbelief, "Just... just like that?"

He felt that giving up so easily was completely unlike his older brother's style.

Wang Wen smiled, offered no explanation, and simply said, "Let's get it done quickly!"

He really had no interest in things like the lifespan of emperors or the succession of the throne.

He felt neither particularly strong affection nor particularly strong dislike for the current Hongtai Emperor.

He neither wished for his early death nor hoped for his long life.

In short, as long as they don't try anything funny with Wang Wen, they can do whatever they want, it's none of his business.

Xu Wu asked no further questions and withdrew with his hands clasped.

Wang Wen picked up the documents on his desk again and continued to read them with great interest... These things were much more interesting than the vernacular novels of today.

……

Inside a secluded wealthy mansion, more than ten figures dressed in various ways, such as down-on-his-luck scholars, stewards, servants, and laborers, sat upright on both sides of the hall.

The simple hall was filled with an incongruous sense of solemnity and gravity.

No one spoke for a long time.

Then a man in hemp clothing tiptoed into the hall, clasped his hands, and said, "Sir, the four city gates have been reopened, and people can now enter and exit normally."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall breathed a sigh of relief, and their tense bodies relaxed considerably.

"so close!"

Someone exhaled a breath of stale air and said with lingering fear.

The others nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, someone frowned, puzzled, and whispered, "This isn't right. How could he unseal the city gates so quickly?"

The others all looked at him.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, the man slowly folded his hands and said helplessly, "You don't think that the unprovoked death of a junior supervisor of the Demon Suppression Division is a trivial matter, do you? He has power and troops; even if he dug up the entire city of Xuzhou, I wouldn't be surprised!"

The relaxed expressions on everyone's faces turned serious again.

yes……

How could Wang Wen give up on such a big matter so easily?
Someone looked at the man in hemp clothing who had just come in to report: "Did your men figure it out? Is the lockdown really lifted, or is it just loose on the surface but tight on the inside?"

Everyone responded and looked at the man in hemp clothing who had spoken.

The man said helplessly, "The selection criteria for the soldiers of the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion are extremely high. They are all strong men who are seven feet tall and have a thick waist. Even if my men wanted to make a mistake, it would be difficult for them."

Everyone nodded in agreement, acknowledging his reasoning.

Someone frowned and pondered, "Even if he truly had ghost soldiers under his command, they couldn't go out to investigate under the open sky..."

No one answered; everyone frowned and racked their brains.

A few moments later, someone suddenly looked up and said, "Do you think that General Wang has already guessed who we are?"

Everyone inside the room was startled upon hearing this.

People who do this kind of business are likely to face death once their identities are exposed!

At that moment, the old man with a goatee, dressed in a dark blue robe and with a stern face, who was sitting on the left side of the table, said slowly and steadily, "His Maoshan Qimen Dunjia technique cannot predict us."

The implication was that everyone in the room shouldn't scare themselves. As soon as he finished speaking, the pale-faced scholar sitting on the right side of the table calmly and unhurriedly said, "Is it also a clue that it doesn't involve us?"

Everyone turned their attention to the elderly man with a goatee at the top left.

The old man with the goatee frowned and pondered for a long time before nodding heavily: "It's not impossible."

The pale-faced scholar gripped the armrest of his chair, his large hands bulging with veins, and said coldly, "I... I told you long ago, this was a terrible move!"

The old man with the goatee did not argue with him, but sighed, "His reaction was too quick, and his methods were indeed beyond my expectations..."

The pale-faced scholar glanced at him sideways: "He is so young, yet he has risen to such a high position and is so powerful in Huainan. How dare you underestimate him!"

The old man with the goatee smiled faintly and did not respond.

The pale-faced scholar snorted angrily upon seeing this, and then said nothing more.

At that moment, a man in the hall clasped his hands and said, "Sir, Daoist Master, what should we do now?"

The pale-faced scholar pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Help him clean up his mess, and let bygones be bygones."

Everyone in the hall understood immediately and clasped their hands in agreement.

Then, the old man with the goatee waved to them.

Everyone stood up, clasped their hands in farewell, and took their leave.

"Clang."

The door closed gently.

Only the old man with the goatee and the pale-faced scholar remained in the dimly lit hall.

Another silence fell over the hall.

After a long while, the old man with the goatee slowly said, "The position of City God of Ji Xin should have fallen to Wang Erhu."

The pale-faced scholar turned his head, squinted, and gave him a deep look. He said softly, "Do you have a grudge against General Wang?"

The old man with the goatee chuckled nonchalantly, "Lord Wu is too kind!"

The pale-faced scholar looked at him, gave a silent sneer, and then slowly took out a slip of paper from his sleeve, placed it on the table, held it between two fingers, and gently pushed it in front of the old man with the goatee.

The old man with the goatee looked at him with suspicion, then picked up the note and examined it closely.

The note had few words on it, and they were easy to read.

But the old man with the goatee looked at it three times in disbelief, reading it aloud word by word: "Wang Wen, the Demon-Slaying General of Huainan Road, is indeed Zhang Mu, the Zhang Mazi who killed Fang La, the leader of the Demonic Cult, in Hangzhou last year?"

The pale-faced scholar chuckled silently again, and said softly, "You messed up, didn't you?"

The old man with the goatee forced himself to remain calm, stroked his beard, and chuckled, "So what?"

The pale-faced scholar looked at him with a mocking gaze: "Master Pang truly has the air of a supreme general. Why not let Master Pang retrieve the City God's tablet that General Wang possesses?"

The old man with the goatee's eyelids twitched, but he quickly regained his composure, placed the note back on the table, pushed it back in front of the pale-faced scholar, and said solemnly, "I have cultivated Qi for sixty years and achieved the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top and the Five Qi Converging at the Origin. How could I possibly display such petty courage!"

The pale-faced scholar sneered and said coldly, "I don't care what past grievances your White Lotus Sect has with General Wang, but if you dare to cause any more trouble, don't blame me for handing your identity over to General Wang!"

The old man with the goatee stared at him and chuckled, "We are all of the same origin, why are you so eager to harm each other!"

The pale-faced scholar rebuked mercilessly, "You stray dogs, I am ashamed to associate with you!"

Upon hearing this, the old man with the goatee sneered and looked at him.

……

Rumors that the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion had used force to blockade Xuzhou City and take over the entire Demon-Slaying Division of the prefecture quickly spread throughout Huainan Province.

In the streets and alleys of each prefecture, people gathered together, vividly recounting how Wang Wen had publicly ordered the imprisonment of all officials of the Xuzhou Demon Suppression Division that morning and commanded all Xuzhou Demon Suppression Guards to stand by on the spot, displaying his domineering presence.

It seemed that only at this moment did the various prefectures' Demon Suppression Divisions suddenly realize that the 'Demon Suppression General's Mansion,' a special office with the prefix 'Huainan Road,' belonging to the Demon Suppression Division system but independent of it, had the power to supervise all the Demon Suppression Divisions in Huainan Road.

Immediately, the Demon Suppression Divisions of all prefectures in Huainan Circuit became extremely busy.

Those who used to slack off no longer dared to slack off.

The butchers dared not butcher pigs anymore.

Everywhere you look, there are demon-suppressing guards with their swords at their waists, chasing after clues about demons and monsters.

There was even a strange sight where a junior official of the Demon Suppression Division of a prefecture, dressed in official robes, walked the streets and asked everyone he met if they had recently been harassed by demons or monsters!

In an instant, the rampant resurgence of demons in Huainan Road was miraculously contained!

In stark contrast to the Demon Suppression Divisions of each prefecture were the Inspectorate Offices of the Demon-Slaying Generals in each prefecture.

Prior to this, the largest, and arguably only, partner of the General of the Demon Slayer's Office in each prefecture was the Canal Gang's branch offices in each prefecture, whose offices were mostly located in remote residential houses without even a door plaque.

After all, the General of Demon Slaying's Mansion had only been established for a short time, and the supervisory offices of various prefectures had been established even less recently. Local officials, gentry, and wealthy families did not know much about it and could not feel any affinity towards it.

After the news of this incident spread, the thresholds of the inspectorates' offices in various prefectures were almost worn down by visitors.

Several inspection offices were unable to resist the enthusiasm of the local gentry and wealthy families, and moved from remote residences to bustling and prosperous areas.

Many supervisory offices took advantage of this opportunity to send their specialists deep into the "town" level, thoroughly expanding the operations of the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion to monitor the resurgence of demons throughout Huainan Road.

Meanwhile, after Wang Wen quickly sent the information about the Xuzhou Demon Suppression Division to the Demon Suppression Headquarters in the capital, he soon received a commendation from Emperor Hongtai!

Yes, Emperor Hongtai personally commended Wang Wen for his actions in Xuzhou, which was tantamount to sealing the fate of Wang Yi's death.

This undoubtedly indirectly confirmed some of Wang Wen's conjectures.

He still couldn't tell whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

But he felt that Emperor Hongtai was at least sensible...

Then, after waiting for the new Junior Supervisor sent by the Jingcheng Demon General to Xuzhou to take charge of the overall situation, he once again led the fleet back to Hongze Lake to continue the training of the new recruits around Huainan Road.

In mid-June, the General's fleet arrived in Haozhou.

Before even entering the city, Wang Wen saw a torrent of demonic energy rushing down from the mountains west of Haozhou City, enveloping the entire city like a dark cloud about to destroy it!
Where is the Haozhou City of demons anymore?
This is clearly causing chaos in Haozhou City!

"You're radiating arrogance, you're asking for death!"

Enraged, Wang Wen leaped from his boat, releasing a burst of spiritual energy that shot into the sky like a sharp blade, piercing through the surging demonic aura that enveloped Haozhou City.

(End of this chapter)