Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Unjust Case Is Cleared

  Wang Kuang was shocked, could it be that Wang Ling had been recognized as a person from Wang Village? He himself had been in Jian'an for two years without anyone suspecting him, so he and Wang Yan could be ruled out, leaving only Wang Ling, who had just arrived in Jian'an and was an adult with little change in appearance, making it possible that someone in Jian'an knew him.

  At that time, a few people rushed over and pressed down Wang Ling. On the street, they were beating him fiercely, but strangely, Wang Ling didn't resist. He was pressed down, arching his body, with one hand covering his face and the other covering his lower body, shouting: "Damn it, be gentle, don't ruin my **."

  Sun Ming's face had already changed color by this time, and in the inn, Sun Er saw that things were not going well and had also summoned several people from the front hall. They picked up their things and rushed out. That was Xiao Dongjia's older brother, bullying Xiao Dongjia's older brother was the same as bullying Xiao Dongjia, bullying Xiao Dongjia was the same as bullying Fuli Inn, and bullying Fuli Inn was the same as bullying us! Sun Er didn't know if he had eaten too much mudfish or what, but he swung the big general's staff behind the door again. The food guests next to him retreated one after another, shouting "My god, how did Manager Sun suddenly become so powerful?"

  However, the people in the inn were no match for those few men, let alone there were several others who were watching with a smile, seemingly also from the same group. Seeing the people from the inn coming out, the onlookers quickly disarmed them, but strangely, they didn't hurt anyone.

  Wang Kuang saw something was off, these people didn't look like they were from the government office, and their faces looked unfamiliar. Although they were beating Wang Ling on the ground, they were all hitting him in non-vital areas, laughing and scolding as they hit. Given Wang Ling's previous hot-headed personality, it was suspicious that he wasn't fighting back. It seemed that Wang Ling knew these people. Wang Kuang quickly stopped the inn's patrons, Sun Ming also figured it out, repeatedly wiping away sweat from his forehead, even on a cold winter day, he had broken out in a cold sweat.

  These people stopped after beating Wang Ling, and Wang Ling got up, pretending to be angry and shouting: "Which son of a bitch rushed to certain ** just now, come out honestly."

  These several people waved their hands in succession, you pushed me and I pushed you, none of them admitted it. In the end, it was a young-looking person who lowered his head and muttered: "It's your own fault for not dodging, we didn't call out to you, it's your own fault for hiding and rushing forward, don't blame others. Besides, with so many people, how would we know who did it?"

  "Must be you, sly head! I bet it was you who did it." Wang Ling glared at the speaker with a fierce gaze, raised his hand and slapped him on the head, causing a burst of laughter around them. The one who got slapped was still muttering: "You hit my head again."

  After a burst of laughter and scolding, Wang Ling introduced those people to Wang Kuang and his brothers. Including the ones who were just watching with their sleeves rolled up, there were over a dozen of them, all from the same military unit as Wang Ling. The few who had beaten Wang Ling were even from the same fire team as him, and Wang Ling was actually their fire leader. Originally, Wang Ling wanted to tell Wang Kuang and his brothers that he would take care of them in the future, but seeing Wang Kuang's current situation, he was doing so well, while he himself was just a small-time fire leader back then, he didn't dare to show off, so he didn't say anything.

  These people were almost all from Jian'an, and they had also followed Wang Ling in his rebellion against the water. As a result, they were quite close to each other on ordinary days. The main reason for beating up Wang Ling was that he left without saying goodbye to them. It turned out that shortly after Wang Ling's departure, an official document from the Ministry of War arrived at the military camp, stating that the rebel army had been eliminated and there was no need for so many soldiers, so they were given dismissal fees and sent back.

  It was said that Wang Ling had found his two younger brothers, and everyone was overjoyed. They all gathered around, one pinching Wang Kuang's face, another pinching Wang Rong's nose, and they shouted in unison for Wang Ling to treat them to a meal.

  At this time, the youngest one from before spoke up: "Head, the imperial edict of pardon has arrived. We came with the postal soldiers who delivered the edict."

  Wang Kuang and the others had not yet reacted to what the imperial edict said. One was that Wang Kuang didn't take it seriously, knowing in his heart that the crime of rebellion would eventually be washed away, only a matter of time, otherwise Tang Taizong wouldn't be worthy of being called an eternal wise ruler. As for Wang Ruan, he was still young and couldn't think of where to go, and now his mind was filled with the news of Wang Ling's return. Sun Mingqian had just heard about it and didn't react immediately.

  Only Wang Ling, since learning that the village was massacred, has been thinking about rehabilitation in his heart at all times. These fellow soldiers all know Wang Ling's concerns. Therefore, when passing by the post house and hearing that the rehabilitation edict had been issued, they originally slowed down to hurry on the road and voluntarily became bodyguards for the postal soldiers, escorting them all the way, saying that they were afraid of encountering strong people on the road, destroying the edict, and making the postal soldiers who sent the edict fearful along the way. Think about it, a group of people who rolled out of a pile of dead bodies, with a killing aura on their bodies, following you, how can you not be afraid?

  As soon as Wang Ling heard that the pardon edict had been issued, he knew what it was about. Although he was a tough man who hadn't flinched in the face of the rebels' blades, at this moment his eyes were streaming with tears and his legs were trembling violently. With a thud, he fell to his knees on the ground, facing north towards Wang Village, and burst into loud wailing.

  Wang Kuang and Sun Mingqian also reacted, Wang Ling had already knelt down. After all, this body was from Wang Village, so Wang Kuang followed suit and knelt down, pulling Wang Rong along with him. Sun Mingqian hastily called over Sun Er, who had been forced by Wang Kuang to study characters together for the past two years, so reading out a notice wasn't a problem. Sun Er quickly ran off towards the south gate.

  Before long, Sun Er came back panting, his robe torn to shreds, and his servant's hat askew. "The imperial edict has indeed arrived," he said. "It says that all those who were captured by the rebels and forced to join them will not be held accountable. This is a special edict issued for Jian'an, and it specifically mentions Wang Village, saying that its people are loyal and deserving of praise, and their circumstances are pitiful." At this point, Sun Er also came to his senses: "Could it be that Young Master Dong is from Wang Village?"

  "Now that the imperial edict has been issued, it doesn't matter if you know. The Second Master and the others are all from Wang Village." Sun Ming also sighed with emotion.

  My goodness, it turns out that the Rich Guest House has been suspected of harboring rebels for the past two years. No wonder Xiao Dongjia never wanted to reveal his origins. But this is too reckless, why didn't he just change his surname? There aren't many people with the surname Wang in Jianzhou. Sun Er was shocked when he heard that Wang Kuang was from Wang Village, and he felt a chill run down his spine on that cold winter day, his back instantly drenched in sweat.

  It's a blessing to see the dark clouds dispersing and the sun shining through. Now, isn't it wonderful? The imperial edict praises the loyalty of Wang Village, and suddenly, the Rich Come Inn has transformed into a protector of the virtuous, hasn't it? Although they won't receive any rewards, they will gain the admiration of those literary travelers, and the Rich Come Inn will surely flourish once more. Sun Er suddenly felt like giving Wang Kuang a big hug.

  Wang Ling knelt there and wailed for a while before falling silent, his teeth clenched tightly and his eyes fixed on the sky. Wang Kuang knelt for a while, fearing that Wang Rong's young knees wouldn't be able to withstand it, so he called him up and sent him inside to fetch a pair of white wax candles and a stack of grass paper. He lit the candles and folded the grass paper into the shape of houses before burning them.

  "Hey!" Passersby stopped to watch the commotion, looking at Wang's situation, it was undoubtedly a memorial service for his ancestors, but they had never seen paper folded into houses and burned before, so they all started discussing it.

  "Second Brother, what's the meaning of this?" Sun Ming had never seen this style before and secretly asked Wang Kuang.

  "In that year, all the houses in the village were reduced to ashes. I couldn't bear the thought of the villagers' ancestors having no fixed place to reside under the nine springs. Previously, I didn't dare make offerings, but now the injustice has been washed away, so I'll burn this house as an offering for them to use."

  "Good! Good, you can't bear to see the villagers living in uncertainty." A loud and clear voice came, and everyone looked around, who else could it be but Lin Zhonglu? They saw Lin Zhonglu walk up to Wang Kuang's side, pretending to be angry as he pointed at Wang Kuang and scolded with a smile: "Good you, Wang Dalang, you actually deceived me! You should be punished for this!"

  "Return to clarity, young master is now Wang Er Lang, and Wang Er Lang has not deceived you in anything." King Huan argued.

  "You, you!" Lin Zhu Bo was tongue-tied and couldn't speak. He thought to himself: If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have teased him. Now, in front of so many people, a child has gotten the upper hand on me with his sharp wit. Isn't this like lifting a rock only to drop it on one's own foot? Alright, alright, I admit defeat. From now on, I won't argue with you again. Are you satisfied?

  "Director Lin, please don't take it to heart, children's words shouldn't be taken seriously." Sun Ming quickly mediated, he didn't have the guts like Wang Kuang did. Wang Kuang was used to seeing leaders on TV, but for the people of Jian'an, Director Lin was a high-ranking official, and although there wasn't a clear distinction between superior and inferior like in the Song Dynasty, the reverence of the common people towards officials had been around since ancient times.

  Lin Zhubu originally came to supervise the posting of the imperial edict in person. For these two years, he has had a hard time speaking out. You say the rebel army is coming to Jian'an, it's not like I can stop them, right? They want to abduct able-bodied men and we can't even prevent that. But just because several villages including Wang Village were designated as bandit lairs two years ago, from the county magistrate down to the clerks, they could only get a mediocre evaluation in every performance review. You say it's frustrating or not.

  It's all good now, I've finally taken off this hat and moved one step closer to the county magistrate position, so my mood naturally lightened up. As a result, after posting the notice and walking back, when I saw Wang Kuang burning paper, I had the intention of teasing him with a few sentences, but unexpectedly he was countered by Wang Kuang in just one sentence. Fortunately, Sun Ming gave me an exit strategy.

  "But it's also strange, how did you become Wang Erlang? And who is Wang Dalang?"

  "It's him, Wang Dalang." Wang Ling also came to his senses at this time and stood up.

  Division

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  Tomorrow, Ash Sparrow will sort out and announce the list of winners from the previous bounty. I'm really sorry, Ash Sparrow has never done this before and it took me all day to find where I put the previous bounties. Embarrassing.