20demayo Chapter 1131 Parrot
Chapter 1131 Parrot
Before we knew it, it was noon.
The crowd outside was in high spirits, and no one left.
Inside the hall, Wu Shun was confessing to Huai Gongwang's bribery: "Huai Gongwang appears to be honest and upright, but in reality he is obsessed with raising birds, especially various rare and colorful parrots. The birds belonging to the prefectural school administrator and the Huai family are the bribes he has received over the years!"
"A parrot...?" Shen Zheng pondered intently.
Parrots are not common in the Great Zhou Dynasty. They can only be found in a few states in the east, and colorful parrots are even rarer in the Great Zhou.
Wu Shun, thinking she was confused, hurriedly explained, "Lord Shen, parrots are not ordinary birds. In the eyes of bird connoisseurs, some unique species, with brightly colored feathers and the ability to speak, are priceless! As far as I know, the Huai family has a green-feathered fairy bird that is not only beautiful but can also speak human language. I inquired in the black market in private, and that one is worth a hundred gold pieces! Even five years' salary for Huai Gongwang wouldn't be enough to buy it!"
"A hundred taels of gold?!" the people exclaimed. "It's just a broken bird. Even if you pluck its feathers, it wouldn't have much meat left. It wouldn't even be enough to fill your teeth. How could it be worth a hundred taels of gold!"
The common people's criteria for judging livestock are very simple—can they be eaten? Is it tasty? Is the meat fatty? Is it filling?
If livestock do not meet the above standards, then they are "worthless".
A parrot that is worth a fortune in the eyes of the rich may not even be worth as much as a fat goose in the eyes of ordinary people.
Everyone said that Wu Shun had lost his temper during the interrogation and started talking nonsense.
Only Shen Zheng and a few others in the hall knew that Wu Shun's words were very likely true.
Furthermore, Shen Zheng also knew that there were indeed many people in the wealthy circles of Beijing who liked to keep parrots, which precisely shows that in the eyes of some people, parrots are "hard currency".
In addition to the difficulties in transportation and training, Shen Zheng believes that a talking, good-looking parrot can indeed sell for hundreds of dollars.
Thinking it over, Shen Zheng silently said to Xu Yunyan, "Summoning document."
Huai Gongwang was a fifth-rank official who supervised the administration of the prefectural school. Previously, Wu Shun had identified him as the mastermind behind the murder of Wang Huai'an, but there was insufficient other evidence, so the prefectural government could not take action.
But at this point... Wu Shun, as a direct subordinate of Huai Gongwang, exposed him in court for "accepting bribes" and directly pointed out the "stolen goods," so the government office had the right to arrest him.
In other words, regardless of whether the matter of Huai Gongwang accepting bribes is true or false, the prefectural government can use this as a starting point to thoroughly investigate Huai Gongwang and the prefectural education commissioner, and incidentally find out about the murder of Wang Huai'an.
Seeing Xu Yunyan begin to write, Shen Zheng asked Wu Shun, "Wu Shun, is what you said true? Besides that, what else do you know? Tell me all of that."
"Lord Shen, you are wise to judge. Everything I have said is true!" Seeing that Shen Zheng did not question him, Wu Shun was no longer as nervous as before.
His mind was filled with thoughts of how to bring down Huai Gongwang and thus save his own life.
"Lord Shen, I... but I don't know where those birds came from either, it's just that one or two extra come every month..."
As he spoke, a sudden thought struck him, and he hurriedly said, "The prefectural examination and the end of the year! Before the prefectural examination, five more birds suddenly appeared in the prefectural school and government office! Also! Before the New Year, the number of birds will suddenly increase, so someone must have given them to us! Lord Shen, you must investigate this thoroughly!"
After pouring out everything he had to say, Wu Shun felt an unprecedented sense of relief.
He suddenly felt that with Shen Zheng in the government office, Huai Gongwang seemed less frightening.
He felt that Shen Zheng would definitely be able to bring down Huai Gongwang and save his life in the process.
Shen Zheng was dissatisfied with his words: "That's all?"
With only these few known clues, the subsequent investigation will be quite troublesome.
Wu Shun shuddered subconsciously, and thought about it carefully, until his head ached from thinking so much.
"No, that's all..." He looked up tremblingly at Xu Yunyan, who was recording the confession, "But Lord Shen, everything I said is true. You can sign and seal the confession book now!"
As long as he signs the booklet, his life... can be considered saved.
"No rush." Shen Zheng smiled at him. "There's something you haven't explained yet."
Wu Shun was stunned for a moment, then glanced at Wang Huai'an's face and immediately understood.
At this moment, he couldn't wait to sign and seal the document, and immediately recanted his confession: "Yes, yes, yes! The prefectural examination! Lord Shen, I lied earlier. I did promise Zhong Yunjin and Tang Cai that I could make their sons pass the imperial examination and become scholars..."
"hiss--"
The people's expressions changed immediately.
In an instant, some people became restless and wanted to go to the prefectural school to find Wang Ang.
Wu Shun continued, "But as you said before, I actually don't have that ability; it was just a promise I made casually! After that, regardless of whether their children passed the exam or not, they were indebted to me and had to do things for me from then on... As for whether those two boys ultimately passed the exam, it actually has nothing to do with me. If they had passed, I could even..."
As he spoke, he felt a little embarrassed and turned to Wang Huai'an, saying, "Lord Wang, I'm sorry... but please don't blame me. There's a cause for every grievance, and I was just following Huai Gongwang's orders."
Wang Huai'an covered his head with both hands and remained silent.
Now that things have come to this, what's the point of talking about being worthy or unworthy?
As Lord Shen said before, this move was nothing special, but unfortunately, it was his wife who took the hit.
At this moment, Zhong Yunjin was completely stunned.
Her eyes seemed to want to devour Wu Shun whole. "Wu Shun, what did you say?"
Wu Shun was annoyed by her voice and grimaced, "Stupid woman, are you deaf?"
Zhong Yunjin was even more bewildered by the scolding. "What did you say?"
"What did I say?" Wu Shun retorted, then pointed at her nose and said, "I said your son is truly pitiful, having a mother like you!"
To curry favor with Shen Zheng, Wu Shun became increasingly enthusiastic: "You don't know, do you? Wang Ang did exceptionally well in this year's prefectural examination. Every stroke on his answer sheet was written with his own ability, and he earned his scholar's degree on his own! And what about you? You didn't even think he could pass, did you? Did you tell him, openly or secretly, that he only passed the scholar's degree because of you, his mother? Bah! You're the biggest joke!"
With each word Wu Shun spoke, the shock in Zhong Yunjin's eyes deepened.
In the end, Zhong Yunjin bypassed Wang Huai'an and pounced on him, reaching out to scratch Wu Shun's face.
Wu Shun dodged to the side and shouted to Shen Zheng, "Lord Shen, Lord Shen! I've confessed everything, not a single lie. Now you can sign and put your fingerprint on it... Ouch—!"
Before he knew it, Zhong Yunjin had scratched a long, bloody mark on his face.
The constables immediately stepped forward and pinned Zhong Yunjin down.
Xu Yunyan also came over with the confession book and handed it to Wu Shun, saying, "If there are no mistakes, then sign and affix your seal."