Chapter 44: The Counter-Capture

The servant’s face wore a strange, indescribable expression.

Governor Cheng: “……”

Had Shen Shilang drunk again?

Why did it seem like he was even more intoxicated?

Upon closer inspection, why was Shen Shilang’s face even redder?

Governor Cheng quickly summoned the servant who had just delivered the sobering soup to Shen Shilang and inquired in a low voice, “Did Shen Shilang drink more alcohol?”

“No, he didn’t,” the servant whispered. “I brought the sobering soup to Young Master Shen, and then he instructed me to wait by the door. During this time, no one brought him any alcohol. Unless Young Master Shen had alcohol on his person, he couldn’t have drunk any.”

Governor Cheng knew Shen Shilang hadn’t brought any alcohol with him.

So then…

This fellow was faking it!

Watching Shen Shilang stagger back to his seat, supporting himself on the low table, and then collapsing onto the cushion with a thud as if overcome by alcohol, Governor Cheng felt numb.

If one didn’t know the truth, it would be impossible to tell that Shen Shilang was feigning drunkenness.

Governor Cheng couldn’t help but glance at Wei Jianming, who was still staring at Shen Shilang from a distance.

Seeing Shen Shilang apparently heavily intoxicated, Wei Jianming’s face bore a mocking and triumphant smile.

Governor Cheng’s mouth twitched involuntarily.

In his heart, he cursed, “Fool.”

Wei Jianming had been outmaneuvered by Shen Shilang and didn’t even realize it, still gloating to himself.

As the banquet ended, Governor Cheng arranged for Steward Lin to personally escort Shen Shilang to his carriage.

In the carriage, Shen Shilang drunkenly thanked Steward Lin. Lin, unaware that Shen Shilang was faking, wondered why this Young Master Shen had suddenly become so careless, allowing himself to drink to such excess.

Could it be that winning the top scholar position had gone to his head, making him giddy from all the praise at the banquet?

Steward Lin reported back to Governor Cheng, “My Lord, I have seen Young Master Shen onto his carriage.”

Governor Cheng nodded, “How was Shen Shilang’s condition?”

“Severely intoxicated. He could barely steady himself getting into the carriage, and nearly fell over once inside,” Steward Lin replied.

Governor Cheng chuckled. This boy had put on quite a show at the door.

“Did you encounter Wei Jianming at the entrance?” Governor Cheng asked.

“As it happens, Young Master Wei was indeed there,” Steward Lin said. “He saw Young Master Shen’s predicament and even laughed.”

Governor Cheng snorted.

Let him laugh. Wei Jianming would have his time to cry.

In the brief span of the banquet, Governor Cheng had already gained full confidence in Shen Shilang.

Shen Shilang pretended to be so drunk that he hadn’t noticed the carriage driver had been replaced. Once the carriage set off, Shen Shilang shed his feigned intoxication, his eyes suddenly turning cold and sharp.

The journey was clearly much longer than the normal time it would take to return to the Wei mansion.

Shen Shilang lifted the carriage curtain with his long fingers and looked out. The bustling streets they should have been on were nowhere to be seen.

Without realizing it, they had left the city.

On both sides were uneven trees, and the carriage was traveling on a bumpy dirt road, much rougher than within the city.

Only then did Shen Shilang speak in a thick, drunken slur, “Where are we going? This isn’t the way back to the Wei mansion.”

The driver didn’t answer. Suddenly, he shouted “Hya!” and the carriage abruptly sped up.

Shen Shilang smiled. He had already drunk the sobering soup, so his body felt much better. He had also taken the sobering pill Su Jinshi had given him, so now he didn’t feel the slightest bit of intoxication.

Finally, the carriage slowly came to a stop.

The driver, without a word, suddenly reached in to grab Shen Shilang.

But Shen Shilang was prepared and immediately kicked out.

A scream of pain was heard as the driver was kicked off the carriage.

As Shen Shilang jumped down from the carriage, four burly men with beards suddenly sprang out from the bushes on both sides.

The knives in their hands flashed in the sunlight as they swung at Shen Shilang.

These four men Wei Jianming had hired actually had some skill. Their knives all aimed for Shen Shilang’s arms, their malicious intent couldn’t be more obvious.

As one knife was about to strike his wrist, Shen Shilang delivered a swift chop to the attacker’s wrist.

“Ah!” The man cried out in pain. After the intense pain, his wrist went numb, and the knife fell from his hand.

Shen Shilang swiftly caught the falling knife and used its handle to knock the man unconscious.

The remaining three men plus the driver were no match for Shen Shilang. He swiftly knocked them all out one by one.

Shen Shilang had asked Governor Cheng for some hemp rope earlier at his residence. He now used it to tie up all five men before rousing them.

When the five men woke up to find themselves bound, they began twisting like pretzels, repeatedly begging for mercy. “Spare us, good master! Please spare our lives!”

“If you want me to spare you, it’s not impossible,” Shen Shilang said. “Who sent you, and what were you ordered to do? Tell me everything honestly.”

The five men were hired hands and didn’t dare to be frank with Shen Shilang.

“If you can’t complete the job, just return the money. It’s more important than your lives,” Shen Shilang said coldly. “You murderers and thieves, do you still talk about integrity with your employers?”

“Good master, we… we may be vicious, but we’ve never dared to actually kill anyone!” one man said. “Our hands are not stained with blood.”

“Yes, yes! Please believe us, good master!” another man also pleaded.

“Then explain everything clearly. Otherwise, I’ll take you to the authorities to clarify. It will all become clear there,” Shen Shilang threatened.

The five men exchanged glances, realizing that their lives were indeed more important.

Then, afraid of being too slow, they rushed to expose Wei Jianming.

“He told us to cripple your hands so you could never write again.”

“He gave us 20 taels of silver as a down payment, with another 50 taels upon completion.”

Su Jinshi coldly snorted. Wei Jianming was quite generous.

“You’ve probably done this kind of thing many times before, haven’t you?” Shen Shilang looked at them. “Although you may not have taken lives, you’ve harmed many people.”

“We… we wouldn’t dare!” They didn’t dare to admit it.

But from their reactions, Shen Shilang knew he hadn’t guessed wrong.

These people would do anything for money.

The fact that Wei Jianming could find them meant they must have done this kind of thing many times before.

Shen Shilang wrote down everything they confessed, then used their knives to cut their fingertips and pressed their bloodied fingerprints onto the paper.

Shen Shilang wrote two copies in total, had them all press their fingerprints on both, then threw them one by one back into the carriage before driving back to the Wei mansion himself.

Steward Ning had just arrived at the mansion today and was not yet familiar with the residence, so Manager Yue still needed to stay for three more days to properly hand over responsibilities to him.

When Shen Shilang stopped the carriage at the Wei mansion’s gate, Manager Yue brought Steward Ning out to greet him.

Wei Jianming had returned earlier, and Manager Yue had introduced Steward Ning to the residence members. Only Shen Shilang hadn’t returned yet, so Steward Ning hadn’t met him.

On the way, Manager Yue advised, “Brother Ning, you can’t be too attentive to Young Master Shen. Give him all the best things in the mansion. General Wei values Young Master Shen highly. Brother Ning must not be influenced by the attitudes of the madam, young master, and young miss of the residence.”