I was a conman in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 610: People are unpredictable

Chapter 610 The Unpredictability of Human Hearts

Wang Wenzhou smiled slightly, guessing that Zhang Jingxin had come to demand an explanation. After all, he had tricked Zhang Jingxin, so he should offer her some comfort.

Wang Wenzhou instructed, "Bring him here."

"Yes!" Jian Fengyu accepted the order and left.

In a short while, Jian Fengyu led Zhang Jingxin into the sedan chair.

Upon seeing Wang Wenzhou, Zhang Jingxin pointed at Wang Wenzhou's nose and cursed, "Mad dog Wang Wenzhou, I'm not finished with you!"

Wang Wenzhou put his arm around Chen Yuanyuan, took a sip of wine from her mouth, and said with a smile, "Old Zhang, why are you cursing like that? I didn't do anything to you, so why is your face covered in bruises?"

Zhang Jingxin cursed loudly, "Mad dog Wang Wenzhou, how dare you collude with pirates! I will definitely report you to the emperor!"

"Sister-in-law, help Old Zhang move a chair and make him a pot of tea," Wang Wenzhou instructed.

"Okay!" Li Mei quickly did as instructed.

Wang Wenzhou said calmly, "Old Zhang, I know you've been wronged these past two days. And those pirates were inhumane. They could do that to someone as old as you. It's outrageous!"

"Pah!" Zhang Jingxin stood up and wanted to rush forward to hit Wang Wenzhou. He was really angry. Wang Wenzhou, as an important official of the court, actually colluded with pirates to break through Guangzhou City. If this matter were to spread, where would the dignity of the court be?

"Lord Zhang, please don't be angry!" Jian Fengyu quickly grabbed Zhang Jingxin.

Wang Wenzhou said irritably, "Don't push your luck, Zhang. There are so many pirates outside. If you are killed by them, you can't blame me. Who told you to fail to defend Guangzhou? I can only petition the Emperor to commend you and ask him to give you a proper burial!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingxin's face turned pale. This was a blatant threat! Zhang Jingxin was genuinely afraid. He knew that when Mad Dog Wang Wenzhou went berserk, he was capable of anything.

At this moment, Li Mei came out with tea and said with a smile, "Lord Zhang, please have some tea."

Zhang Jingxin readily accepted the teacup and sat down.

"Lord Zhang, please have some tea and let me explain slowly." Wang Wenzhou took a sip of wine while embracing Chen Yuanyuan, and continued, "Although you suffered injustice this time, it wasn't in vain! Liu Xiang has now surrendered, and the pirate rebellion in the Ming Dynasty has been completely quelled. Lord Zhang's contribution is indispensable. Rest assured, I will definitely petition the Emperor to reward you!"

Zhang Jingxin shook his head with a bitter smile. He knew that Liu Xiang had already surrendered. What angered him was that Wang Wenzhou disregarded the lives of the people of Guangzhou and used the city as bait.

Zhang Jingxin said, "Lord Wang, you are too kind. It was all thanks to your strategic planning that I was able to do this. I did not contribute anything, so I dare not accept this credit! Lord Wang, now that the pirates have surrendered, could you please return the silver they plundered to the people of Guangzhou?"

Wang Wenzhou feigned confusion and asked, "What? The pirates also stole silver?"

"Jian Fengyu!" Wang Wenzhou looked at Jian Fengyu and asked seriously, "When you took over the pirates, did you find any silver?"

"No!" Jian Fengyu had been following Wang Wenzhou for so long, and her acting skills were superb.

"Nonsense!" Zhang Jingxin was furious and pointed at Wang Wenzhou, cursing, "Mad dog Wang Wenzhou, it's one thing for you to cheat me, but you also want to cheat the people of Guangzhou out of their money? Do you have any conscience?"

Wang Wenzhou waved his hand and said with a smile, "Old Zhang, don't be angry. If, and I mean if, the silver stolen by the pirates is in my hands, I will return it to the people who were robbed. Although people are inherently good, there are always some shameless people."

“If someone is robbed of one tael of silver by pirates and then demands one hundred taels from me, and when I do the math, I find I don’t have enough silver to repay the people, they’ll definitely think I’ve embezzled the silver!” Wang Wenzhou looked at Zhang Jingxin and asked, “Old Zhang, do you think that’s possible?”

“Hmm…” Zhang Jingxin was speechless for a moment. After thinking for a while, he said, “It’s not impossible! But Lord Wang, the common people are innocent after all! Although there are shameless people, we cannot let other kind people suffer because of their existence.”

Wang Wenzhou said with a wry smile, "Old Zhang, it's hard to be a good person, and it's even harder to be an honest official. To be honest, I have money, but I really don't care about the little bit of money the people of Guangzhou have. But I care about my reputation. In the court, I'm called a mad dog, a butcher, and a traitor. But I've always had a good reputation among the people, and they all call me Wang Qingtian (Wang the Upright Official)."

"Pah!" Zhang Jingxin curled her lip, cursing inwardly, "Mad dog Wang Wenzhou, you are truly shameless! If you were an upright and just official, there would be no corrupt or incompetent officials in our Great Ming Dynasty!"

Wang Wenzhou continued, "Don't worry, Lao Zhang, I won't pocket this money. It will definitely be taken from the people and used for the people. As the saying goes, if an official wants to get rich, he must first build roads. I plan to build roads and bridges in Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian."

"Husband!" Chen Yuanyuan secretly pinched Wang Wenzhou and complained, "You've had too much to drink again. What do you mean by 'If an official wants to get rich, he must first build roads'?"

"Good girl, baby!" Wang Wenzhou hugged Chen Yuanyuan and kissed her.

"Is this true? Lord Wang, are you really sure you won't embezzle a single penny and use all the money for road and bridge repairs?" Zhang Jingxin asked coldly.

Zhang Jingxin didn't trust Wang Wenzhou. Ever since he started dealing with Wang Wenzhou, Wang Wenzhou had cheated him quite a bit.

Wang Wenzhou nodded and said righteously, "Old Zhang, if you don't believe me, no problem. I'll give you the right to supervise; you can inquire about the whereabouts of every single penny of this money."

"Alright!" Zhang Jingxin nodded, stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and said in a somewhat annoyed tone, "Lord Wang, I take my leave."

Zhang Jingxin had finished what he wanted to do, and he really didn't want to see Wang Wenzhou. That mad dog would hug and kiss pretty girls wherever he went, and he would drink from their mouths without any regard for others. It was just like being in a brothel.

As soon as Zhang Jingxin left, Wang Wenzhou cursed, "Idiot! Screw your road repairs! Guangdong and Fujian aren't my territory!"

“Jian Fengyu!” Wang Wenzhou instructed.

"Your subordinate is here!" Jian Fengyu quickly replied.

Wang Wenzhou ordered, "Take your men and divide the silver that Liu Xiang and his gang stole into two parts. Give the small amount of 500,000 taels to Zhang Jingxin for supervision to use for road and bridge construction. The remaining 500,000 taels should be secretly transported back to Hanshan."

"Your subordinate obeys!" Jian Fengyu accepted the order and left.

Chen Yuanyuan frowned and asked suspiciously, "Husband, you said yourself that you are not short of money. Why would you embezzle this money?"

"Sigh..." Wang Wenzhou sighed and said deceptively, "Yuanyuan, I didn't want it to be like this either! Everyone says that the emperor doesn't starve his soldiers, but when we came to Fujian to suppress bandits, did that pig Zhu Youjian give us a single penny? No! Not to mention the food, drink, and shelter of my brothers, even the compensation for the wounded and those who died in battle all require silver!"

"Yes!" Chen Yuanyuan nodded. What Wang Wenzhou said was indeed true, so she couldn't continue to persuade him.

"Mad dog Wang Wenzhou! Get out here right now!" At this moment, Zhang Jingxin was outside the sedan chair, cursing loudly.