The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 172 Happy grudges
To demonstrate fairness, after leaving the Yangzhou government office, Wang Wen went directly to the ancestral homes of the two prominent Yangzhou official families.

The so-called official families are those whose members have entered officialdom through generations, either through the imperial examination or through hereditary privilege. They monopolize local power and even undermine local officials by appointing a large number of their sons to middle and lower-level positions in their ancestral lands. Although their influence is far less than that of the aristocratic families and powerful clans of the past, they are among the very few heavyweight units in the local area that can rival the local officials.

Although betrayal is like wearing a green hat, it doesn't matter whether it's dark green or light green.

But Wang Wen's hatred for these two powerful officials was even greater than that for Meng Xinghuai!

It was only because when he established the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion that, due to Huang Xingde's saying "When one attains enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven," he tacitly allowed the officials, gentry, and merchants of Yangzhou to treat his Demon-Slaying General's Mansion as a new piece of cake.

Among them, those from official families took the largest slice of the pie.

Although later, his pioneering "basic training" brought back most of the pie he had given away, reshuffling the game...

But what does this have to do with Wang Wen?

He wasn't targeting anyone, so how can the incompetence of those aristocratic scions be blamed on Wang Wen?

The first family of eunuchs that Wang Wen visited was the Wang family.

This "Wang" refers to the same "Wang" as Wang Erhu and his father Wang Qiang.

When Wang Wen's figure suddenly appeared in the Wang family's waterside pavilion, Wang Shigui, the current patriarch of the Wang family, who was lying on a carved sandalwood brocade couch and listening to a flower drum opera while being served by several beautiful maids, was astonished as Meng Xinghuai for a few seconds.

But Wang Shigui, an old and shrewd man with mostly white hair and beard, was clearly more astute than Meng Xinghuai. Seeing Wang Wen's smiling lips but cold eyes as sharp as the morning mist in December, he knew that the secret letter sent to Chuzhou had probably been leaked...

"Grandpa, you're in high spirits!"

Wang Wen, acting as if they were old friends, casually pulled up a chair and sat down. He looked around with interest at the several young girls beside the old man, who were so tender they looked like they could be squeezed for water. He teased, "At such an advanced age, you can still outshine the crabapple blossoms. Truly, a scourge that lives on for a thousand years!"

"It's Erhu..."

Wang Shigui seemed not to recognize him, and said in a daze, then, with the help of several maids, he sat up shakily. He then waved away the actors and maids in the waterside pavilion and said with a smile, "If this old man is not yet senile, this is probably the first time you have come home to sit down, isn't it?"

A smile spread across Wang Wen's lips, and the malice in his eyes intensified: "Then you really are senile, have you forgotten? When I came of age, didn't my godfather bring me back once? What was the purpose of that trip... Oh, I remember now, it was to beg you, you old bastard, to allow me to be included in the family genealogy!"

Wang Shigui acted as if he hadn't heard the foul language coming out of his mouth, and continued to pretend to suddenly realize something: "If you hadn't mentioned it, this old man would have really forgotten about this matter. After the Double Ninth Festival last year, I took it upon myself to enter your name, Erhu, into the family genealogy... Someone, hurry up and bring the family genealogy so that our Wang family's swan son can take a look?"

The servants waiting outside the pavilion were thrown into chaos again when they heard his loud shout.

Wang Wen watched the old man's performance without showing any emotion, feeling increasingly satisfied... Before coming, he was worried that the old man had lived too long and had become indifferent to life and death, and that killing a skeleton in a tomb would be meaningless and bring him no sense of accomplishment.
Seeing that the old man still had lustful thoughts and such a strong will to survive, his heart finally settled down.

Before long, an elderly steward with gray hair and beard arrived, carrying a thick, yellowed family genealogy book. He walked steadily along the bluestone path to the waterside pavilion, bowed, and said, "Master, General Wang, the family genealogy book has been delivered!"

Wang Shigui glanced at Wang Wen out of the corner of his eye and saw him standing with his arms crossed, smiling as he looked at the lake scenery outside the pavilion. His heart tightened again, and he cursed, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and get in here and present the family genealogy to my Wang family's prodigy!"

The old butler responded, bowed, went inside, and presented the tray to Wang Wen.

Wang Wen picked up the old family genealogy book and slowly flipped through it, saying softly, "There's still plenty of time. Old man, why don't you give some more instructions to the people below and tell them to try to find another hundred or two more capable people to come back and save the day? These rotten potatoes and stinky bird eggs on the outside can't do much good."

Upon hearing this, the master and servant, who were secretly exchanging glances inside the pavilion, were both stunned, and then fine beads of sweat immediately appeared on their foreheads...

"Second, Second Tiger, what makes you say such a thing!"

Wang Shigui struggled to remain calm, forcing a smile as he replied, "We're practically from the same root, how could an old man doubt you? In fact, I'm your great-uncle..."

"found it!"

Wang Wen interrupted Wang Shigui's forced attempt to save face with a seemingly delighted exclamation. He looked at the line in the family genealogy with his name written on it, and the record, both the page and the ink, were almost identical to the previous and subsequent entries. He exclaimed with genuine admiration, "You old folks, you really are very farsighted and meticulous in your work. After the Double Ninth Festival last year? Was it after I was promoted to General Who Slays Demons in Huainan?"

"On the one hand, they included me in the family genealogy without my permission, as a way of trying to win me over."

"On the one hand, they sold me to the Transport Commissioner's Office to strengthen their relationship and connections with them!"

"What a brilliant two-pronged approach, making the most of both!"

Upon hearing Wang Wen bluntly state "sell to the Transport Commissioner's Office," the master and servant, who were wiping away sweat and forcing smiles, froze instantly.

Wang Wen closed the old family genealogy book and gently placed it on the round table beside him. He didn't exert any force, nor did any magical light flash. But the moment the thick genealogy book touched the table, it suddenly turned into a puddle of ashes, which slowly drifted away in the breeze by the lake...

"I came here today only to send one of you to the underworld."

Wang Wen casually crossed his arms, looked down at Wang Shigui on the brocade couch, and said with a smile, "Considering how carefully you've schemed against me, I'll reluctantly give you ten spots as a bonus."

Upon hearing this, Wang Shigui became enraged, his eyes bulged, and he opened his mouth to beg for mercy.

Wang Wen chuckled and interrupted his pleas for mercy: "Don't try to fool me..."

He extended a finger and gently tapped his temple: "I just looked at your family genealogy. If you fool one person, I'll kill ten more, until your entire lineage is wiped out and you are all extinct!"

As he spoke, he waved his hand lightly across the outer wall of the waterside pavilion without turning his head.

Then came a series of muffled explosions, like firecrackers, and bloody human heads flew into the air, flying towards the waterside pavilion like swallows returning to their nests. They landed orderly outside the pavilion, forming a mound of heads taller than a person.

Crimson blood instantly stained a large patch of ground. Wang Wen withdrew his hand, still smiling: "Or, you could go find another hundred or two more powerful figures and see if they can kill me!"

Wang Shigui glanced deeply at the mound of corpses outside the waterside pavilion, then turned his head and stared intently at Wang Wen with a murderous gaze, his hands gripping the brocade couch, veins bulging...

Wang Wen smiled and met his gaze.

Wang Shigui suddenly turned his head, spat out a mouthful of blood, and his face turned ashen and pale.

He struggled to his feet, knelt before Wang Wen, and kowtowed desperately: "General Wang, this old man has become senile and made a grave mistake. I deserve to die a thousand deaths..."

Wang Wen casually pointed to the round table beside him, and a palm-sized incense burner phantom immediately appeared on the table, with a stick of incense stick inserted in it, its steam drifting leisurely: "If you still don't hand over the person after this incense stick has burned out, then I'll have to help you choose one!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Shigui collapsed to the ground in despair, breathing heavily with trembling hands.

Looking at him like this, Wang Wen felt even more refreshed than drinking a glass of ice-cold soda on a sweltering summer day.

He admitted that he was just a mutt, and that he enjoyed this kind of mindless and low-level violent retaliation.

……

While Wang Wen was still tormenting the Wang family members in the Wang family compound, the news that he had appeared in the main hall of the government office and beheaded the newly appointed Yangzhou prefect Meng Xinghuai had spread like wildfire throughout the entire city of Yangzhou.

The matter was being discussed everywhere, with everyone vehemently asserting that the person who beheaded the newly appointed Yangzhou prefect, Meng Xinghuai, was none other than the Demon-Slaying General, Wang Wen.

Some say that Wang Wen descended from the heavens like a celestial being, pointing at Meng Xinghuai in the hall and shouting, "Hey, you corrupt official, your affair is over!"

Some say that Wang Wen, carrying two broadswords, charged from the main gate of the government office into the main hall, his sword flashing and falling, leaving heads rolling and corpses and limbs scattered everywhere...

Some people say that when Wang Wen saw Liu Ben, the head constable, in the main hall of the government office, he greeted him with a smile and called him "Brother San Niu." Liu Ben even begged him not to kill anyone, saying he would treat him to drinks and brothels and order eight girls for Wang Wen... Unfortunately, no one believed it.

In short, everyone is telling their stories in great detail, as if they were there at the time and witnessed the whole thing firsthand.

Upon hearing this news, Xu Wu, who was stationed at the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion, was filled with shock and rage. He slammed his desk down and ordered all the Demon-Slaying Guards stationed in Yangzhou to conduct a city-wide manhunt for the true culprit: 'My elder brother clearly went north to cause trouble for Gu Yue, how could he possibly appear in Yangzhou and kill Meng Xinghuai out of nowhere? And in public? If my elder brother wanted Meng Xinghuai dead, he had at least nine ways to make him die a confused and unexplained death. Was it really necessary to do the job so sloppily?'

Outsiders may not know how deep the General's Mansion's foundation is, but doesn't he know it?
Are the underworld messenger camp and the naval camp just for show?
But before his military order could even leave his office, he withdrew it... This case didn't seem like something his elder brother would do himself, but he knew his elder brother's temperament very well. The more impossible it seemed, the more likely it was that his elder brother had actually done it!

My older brother's temper these days, what can I say?

He's the kind of person who, the more you bet on him, the less he dares to do something, but he'll stubbornly stick his neck out and do it for you to see!

Taking this case as an example, no matter how Xu Wu analyzes it, he feels that his elder brother should never have killed Meng Xinghuai.

As long as Meng Xinghuai's life isn't taken, even if my elder brother beats him into a cripple in public, it's a minor matter!
At most, he'll be demoted one or two ranks and have his salary reduced for two or three years!
Officially, that was considered the end of the matter...

But if his elder brother killed Meng Xinghuai, things would be completely different.

To put it mildly, Meng Xinghuai was a fourth-rank official of the imperial court and the local official of Yangzhou. Killing him was tantamount to rebellion!

To put it bluntly, Meng Xinghuai has only been in office for a few days. He hasn't even warmed his seat in the main hall of the government office yet! Killing him as soon as he takes office would be like slapping the big shots in the court and the emperor on the dragon throne across the face.
Are those slappers in the court, those officials, so easy to slap?

But only his own elder brother could understand this principle.

If Meng Xinghuai dares to rely on the fact that his elder brother doesn't dare to touch him at this critical juncture and goes against his elder brother, then he will surely die!

The imperial court, the government?
No matter how fierce the imperial court is or how powerful the emperor is, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, isn't that right?
Back in Huangshan, when his elder brother faced tens of thousands of White Lotus Sect demons who were right next to him and had an absolute advantage, he still dared to ride an ox and carry a gun to charge forward!

Could he be intimidated by an emperor and court that are far away?
Even Xu Wu, an observer, found it absurd!
'What if this case really was done by my older brother…'

Xu Wu quickly went through the whole story and soon came to what he considered a plausible conclusion: 'That Meng fellow must have gotten involved with the Transport Commissioner's Office, otherwise my brother wouldn't have rushed back so urgently to take him down!'

But he still couldn't understand how easy it would be for his elder brother to kill Meng Xinghuai in Yangzhou.

Whether they deployed the underworld messengers or the navy, they were able to eliminate Meng Xinghuai without anyone noticing.

Even if it's like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, what if we had to get Xu Ergou involved? He has at least nine ways to do this job so that no one can trace it back to the General's Mansion.

Why would my elder brother choose the stupidest and crudest method?

He even greeted Liu Ben in front of everyone, calling him "Brother San Niu," which confirmed his identity.
My older brother never said he wanted to rebel.
Xu Wu was puzzled. On one hand, he sent people to suppress the rumors in the city, and on the other hand, he pondered the reason why his elder brother did this.

He had barely sent his men out when he received news that his elder brother had appeared at the Wang and Chen families and was wreaking havoc...

After being bewildered for a long time, I suddenly felt relieved.

However, he was not certain that this was not the work of his elder brother.

On the contrary, he was now absolutely convinced that these cases were the work of his own elder brother!

However, the cases involving the Wang and Chen families have completely muddied the waters...

(End of this chapter)