Daughter of aristocratic family

Chapter 422 Captivity
Li Xin and the other two stayed in the Governor's Mansion. Wang Shi, the fake Yun Hao, was no longer useful. Yang Zheng looked at him with a calm gaze, but Wang Shi was frightened by his gaze.

Wang Shi knew that Yang Zheng was not a kind person, so he bravely said, "Sir, I came to Tianxing Prefecture to buy medicinal herbs. I have been buying them for many days, and I want to transport them back to Beijing."

Under Yang Zheng's gaze, his voice became smaller and smaller, and in the end it was almost a murmur, "Is it okay?"

"Are you afraid of me?" Yang Zheng asked.

"I am not afraid, I am in awe, in awe." Cold sweat broke out on Wang Shi's forehead.

Yang Zheng sneered, "You work for me, I won't treat you unfairly."

"I dare not, I dare not." Wang Shi said with a smile.

Yang Zheng's face darkened slightly, and he snorted coldly, scaring Wang Shi so much that he quickly changed his words, "Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir."

Yang Zheng then turned his anger into a smile, "Someone come here."

A servant came in with a tray in his hand.

"You are a businessman with money but no power. I will reward you with a minor official title." Yang Zheng handed the documents on the tray to Wang Shi. "This is the official title document I prepared for you. From now on, you will be my inspector."

Although the inspector was only a ninth-rank official, and according to Yang Zheng, it was a nominal position, he was also an official appointed by the imperial court.

Since he is an official appointed by the imperial court, it is not an appointment granted by Yang Zheng at will.

But Yang Zheng could appoint people at will, which showed that he was truly a local tyrant in Tianxing Prefecture with the power to do whatever he wanted.

Being an official is always a good thing. Wang Shi bowed deeply and said, "Thank you for the promotion. I will do my best to serve you."

Hearing that he had changed his name, Yang Zheng nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, since you have become my disciple, you must abide by my rules. From now on, I will help you manage your medicinal materials business, but you must follow my instructions and not disobey them."

"Yes, yes." Wang Shi nodded repeatedly, knowing that from now on he was tied to the extremely powerful Lord Yang. The future was unknown and it was hard to predict whether it would be good or bad.

Yang Zheng waved his hand, signaling the servants to leave, and then asked Wang Shi, "When are you going to ship your medicinal materials back to the capital?"

"Your Excellency, the medicinal materials have been prepared. I plan to set off early tomorrow morning." Wang Shi replied.

"That's good. You can go now, and be careful on the road." Yang Zheng gave a few more instructions and let Wang Shi leave.

Wang Shi came out of the house, pulled his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Since he could be used by Yang Zheng, Yang Zheng should not want to take his life, right?

He left the Governor's Palace and did not see the entourage coming to pick him up. He cursed a few words under his breath and walked towards the inn.

When he was passing through an alley, several people suddenly jumped out from the darkness and stuffed something into his mouth with swift movements. Then his eyes went dark and he was covered by a sack, and then he was thrown sideways.

Wang Shi was shocked and struggled to shout, but the medicine in his mouth instantly made him lose his voice and he could only make faint whimpering sounds.

He felt himself being carried on someone's shoulders and moved quickly through the alley, his heart filled with fear and anxiety.

Yang Zheng really didn't let him go and wanted to kill him. He said that he would be an official, but that was a lie. Just as he was complaining and cursing Yang Zheng for a bad death, he was thrown to the ground.

Wang Shi struggled to crawl out of the sack. His eyes were blurry and he could only vaguely see a few figures around him. As soon as the cloth ball in his mouth was taken out, Wang Shi knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Master Yang, please forgive me. I will keep what you asked me to do to myself and will never tell anyone."

"What did you do to help Yang Zheng?" a voice asked.

Wang Shi suddenly raised his head and glared at the masked man in front of him, "Who are you? Do you know that I am a ninth-rank inspector? If you dare to kidnap me, Lord Yang will not let you go."

"This tiger pretending to be powerful is quite impressive, but it's a pity that it's used in the wrong place." The masked man sneered, "Since I dared to kidnap you, I'm naturally not afraid of Yang Zheng. However, I'm not interested in your life or death now. I just want to know, what have you done for Yang Zheng?"

Wang Shi realized that this man was not afraid of Yang Zheng, and immediately said, "Sir, I was forced. The man surnamed Yang asked me to pretend to be Lord Yun Hao, but I didn't want to. He said that if I didn't do it, he would kill me."

"Not only did he not kill you, he also made you an official. Aren't you grateful to him?" asked another masked man.

"Sir, I am not grateful to Yang Zheng. He asked me to pretend to be Lord Yun Hao, which was pushing me into the fire pit. Lord Yun Hao is an important official of the court, and I am just a commoner. How dare I offend him? It's all Yang Zheng's fault. Sir, please forgive me." Wang Shi pleaded.

The masked man sneered and said, "You are quite good at shirking responsibility."

"Sir, everything I said is true, and I have not lied at all. I only have resentment towards Yang Zheng, not gratitude. He used me and made me bear the crime of impersonating an important official of the court. This is to put me to death. Although I am a commoner, I also know that the crime of deceiving the emperor is unforgivable. I only ask that you can see clearly and give me justice." Wang Shi burst into tears and spoke earnestly.

The masked man was silent for a moment, as if thinking about Wang Shi's words. He said slowly: "Your words are pleasant to hear, but we will naturally find out the truth. First, tell me why Yang Zheng asked you to pretend to be Lord Yun?"

"Sir, Yang Zheng suspected that Lord Yun came to Tianxing Mansion to investigate him, but he couldn't find Lord Yun, so he came up with this vicious plan. He asked me to pretend to be Lord Yun, spend my days drinking and having sex, and go to places of entertainment to ruin Lord Yun's reputation."

"Lord Yun was fooled. He just asked me to take him to the Governor's Mansion, and he had a very pleasant conversation with Yang Zheng. My Lord, I suspect that Lord Yun was bribed by him."

"You said that Yang Zheng and Lord Yun had a very pleasant conversation. So what did they talk about specifically?" The masked man asked with a hint of amusement in his tone, and he also glanced at the other masked man sitting in the dark.

"As soon as Lord Yun arrived at Tianxing Prefecture, Yang Zheng welcomed him warmly and invited him to stay at the Governor's Mansion. Yang Zheng flattered Lord Yun to the utmost and they became brothers." Wang Shi made up a lie to save his life.

"Oh? Lord Yun is really a person who is easy to get close to." The masked man sneered, as if mocking Wang Shi's poor acting skills.

The person in the darkness snorted lightly, and the masked man continued to ask. Wang Shi knew very little, and the masked man knew there was no need to ask any more questions.

Upon learning that Wang Shi was going to transport the medicinal materials back to Beijing the next day, he signaled the people who were carrying Wang Shi back to carry Wang Shi out as he had done and throw him on the street.

Wang Shi was carried away, and the masked man took off the scarf covering his face. "Sir, it's surprising that Yang Zheng didn't kill Wang Shi to silence him."

"Yang Zheng can cover the sky with one hand in Tianxing Mansion, so he must have his extraordinary qualities." Yun Hao said calmly.

"Yes, if every person who does the job is killed to silence them, then no one will do the job in the future." The man scratched his head and laughed.

"It's getting late, take a rest." Yun Hao left the room.

My mother has been nagging me to death. I have discussed with my brother about hiring someone to look after her. I cannot bear it any longer.