Chapter 497: Slightly bigger
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"The residence, the residence..." The servant was struggling to catch his breath. He was pale from all that sprinting.
"What happened?!" Wan Chong was stunned when he heard this. He had a bad feeling about this.
Even though he knew that it was unlikely, he felt that it may be rather major.
That being said, he couldn't think of anything bad that could happen to his residence.
This was the capital...
At that moment, Fang Zhengzhi's expression changed to one of shock.
"Oh? Why is there smoke billowing out from over there... wow, is it a fire?" Fang Zhengzhi exclaimed in shock.
The crowd turned to look in that direction.
"There is smoke!"
"Why is there that much smoke on such a clear day? Is it a fire?"
"Oh god, look at the flames, look at the glow!"
The crowd was initially in disbelief, but they began screaming when the saw the fiery glow from the inferno.
At that moment, the servant caught his breath and reported.
"Master, the residence... the residence... is on fire!"
"What?! My residence is on fire?" Wan Chong was stunned. Then, his expression changed.
He had a premonition that something bad was about to happen when he saw Fang Zhengzhi's face and heard the words he said.
But...
The feeling was different when he witnessed it himself.
"Yes... master, I think you should get back. The residence has been surrounded by the Royal Guards. If you don't return now..." the servant added.
"Royal Guards?! What are Royal Guards doing at my residence?" Wan Chong shuddered.
"When the fire broke out, the deputy of the Royal Guards, Bai Qi, was walking past. So he had the Royal Guards help put out the fire, then..."
"You're saying that Bai Qi had the Royal Guards come to help extinguish the fire? How many people did he get?"
"About 500."
"500?!" Wan Chong felt his legs turn to jelly as he sat on the ground. He finally understood why Fang Zhengzhi said that searching his residence was not impossible.
It was completely plausible that there would be incidents of fire at the residence.
However, none of them would be on this scale! Furthermore, it was spring, not summer, why would there be such a huge fire?
Most importantly, that was the Minister of Law's residence.
He had countless servants and helpers.
They should have been able to contain the fire.
It was clear that this was planned.
The residence couldn't have possibly gone up in flames for no reason. Someone had set fire to it. As to why Bai Qi was passing by...
That was yet another plant.
Wan Chong trembled as he held the sketch of the map of his residence in his hands. He had no idea why Bai Qi would listen to Fang Zhengzhi.
However, he was certain that Bai Qi and the 500 members of the Royal Guard had not been waiting long.
The surrounding citizens looked at Wan Chong with pity.
"Minister Wan, you need not worry too much! Since the Royal Guards are there, they will definitely be able to put out the fire!"
"Yes, the 500 Royal Guards will extinguish the fire!"
"You can still rebuild the residence after this! Your safety is of utmost importance."
All of the villagers comforted.
"Rebuild it?" Wan Chong chuckled when he looked at the expressions of the surrounding citizens.
He remembered how glorious it was to top the theory examinations. He also remembered the work he had to put in to get to where he was today. He laughed bitterly and manically.
No one could understand his pain.
If the residence had been burnt down, his life would be burnt down with it.
He could imagine how everyone would be looking at him in a few days time.
By that time...
Will hey still he telling him that he can rebuild his residence?
He looked into the distance.
He could see a squad of golden armored soldiers running in his direction. Each of them held a gleaming spear in their hand.
"Bai Qi, you move fast indeed!" Wan Chong dropped the chains he held in his hand when he saw the figure leading the charge.
It was over.
Wan Chong knew that he had lost.
Whilst he was still the Minister of Law now, he knew that his title and position would be stripped the moment he placed the chains on Fang Zhengzhi's head.
Bai Qi was here.
"Minister of Law Wan Chong, you are suspected of corruption, covering up, and collusion. You are under investigation right now. Please come with us."
"Deputy Bai, you should be guarding the palace. Since when have you become a runner for the investigation bureau?" Wan Chong stood up.
"I was passing by." Bai Qi replied calmly.
"Haha... how nice of you." Wan Chong chuckled icily.
"You flatter me!"
"I'm sure you haven't had time to bring the documents to the bureau?"
"That's just a matter of time, please don't worry about it."
"Since that is the case, I am still not a criminal yet. Could you please let me return to my residence to take care of a few things?" Wan Chong nodded.
"No." Bai Qi rejected him unequivocally.
"Bai Qi, I am the Minister of one of the Six Ministries. I am a rank two official! I haven't been convicted yet! Are you going to drag me with you by force?" Wan Chong's expression changed.
"Please feel free to try me."
"Bai Qi! Good... very good! I know the way there. I will go there by myself!"
"Lock the Minister up!" Bai Qi ignored Wan Chong's words, looking at the chains at Wan Chong's feet.
"Bai Qi, how dare you chain me?!"
"Yes, Minister, is there something wrong?"
"I will fight it out with you!"
"Take him!"
...
Everything happened much too quickly. The crowd and the wardens couldn't even react in time. Within moments, Wan Chong had been chained up.
They simply couldn't understand why the Minister of Law would become a criminal in the blink of an eye. Why would he be arrested by the Royal Guard?
Wasn't his residence in flames?
What was happening?
The wardens wanted to step forward and save Wan Chong. However, they stopped in their tracks when they saw Bai Qi's icy glare.
It wasn't that they were afraid of death. However, they knew that they were too insignificant to meddle in these affairs.
"The Minister has been taken away?!"
"Then... what about Fang Zhengzhi?"
"Deputy Bai, there is a wanted criminal here, are you not going to arrest him as well?"
The crowd looked at the golden armored Royal Guard. Then, they recalled that Bai Qi was simply 'passing by and ready to help' back at Wan Chong's residence. Perhaps he could do the same here.
"Where is Fang Zhengzhi?" Bai Qi looked around in confusion.
"Isn't he here?" The crowd pointed to Fang Zhengzhi, who was sitting lazily on his horse.
"Rubbish! This young man's name is Fang Zhengzheng! He even has a birth certificate to prove it and Chu Hou even testified on his behalf! Do you think I am stupid?" Bai Qi snorted.
Then, he dragged Wan Chong away, leaving the crowd stunned by what just happened.
"How did Deputy Bai know that he's called Fan Zhengzheng?"
"Yes, he wasn't here just now..."
"He wasn't here... when... when Chi Hou testified, was he? How did he know about that?!"
The crowd was confused but they couldn't do anything about it. Bai Qi had left and they couldn't do anything about it.
Fang Zhengzhi looked at Bai Qi with scorn.
Acting skills were very important in life.
But this guy's acting skills were terrible! How did he become the deputy of the Royal Guards?! His skills were ridiculously bad!
Chi Hou didn't know what Fang Zhengzhi was thinking. He didn't know what the contents of the letter were. However, he had some ideas in his head.
Wan Chong was arrested?
By the Royal Guard?
Wan Chong didn't claim innocence?
That was enough to prove many things. That being said, he was not privy to these things, which meant that...
King Duan didn't know them either.
This was not arranged by King Duan or himself.
"I see... I have underestimated the Shadow Sect. I never knew that the Shadow Sect had ties in the capital!" Chi Hou's eyes glittered when he looked at Fang Zhengzhi.
"My lord, that's a good joke. Bai Qi has nothing to do with the Shadow Sect." Fang Zhengzhi shook his head.
"No link? Okay, let me ask you this. Since you already had a plan to deal with Wan Chong, why did you need me to testify on your behalf!" Chi Hou chuckled. He didn't believe a word, but he decided not to press further.
"You tried to drag me down with you three days ago. After some thought, I realized that I should drag you down with me instead." Fang Zhengzhi replied.
"Weren't you afraid that I wouldn't want to enter this water?"
"The fact was that you jumped in."
"Yes, I did, but I can kill you and get out of this!"
"Haha... if you really wanted to kill me, you would have done so in the Northern Mountain Village. Why wait till now? Furthermore, I don't believe that you will kill me, and I know that you can't."
"I can't kill you?!" Chi Hou was stunned. He instinctively looked at the veiled and cloaked figures standing behind Fang Zhengzhi. "Do you really think that they are capable of stopping me?"
"Haha..." Fang Zhengzhi chuckled but didn't say anything else. He turned to look at a stopped carriage.
There weren't many people in the capital with carriages like this one. In fact, Fang Zhengzhi had seen this one before.
This carriage was adorned with carvings of flames.
Both Fang Zhengzhi and Yan Xiu saw this carriage.
"I see." Yan Xiu nodded when he saw this carriage. He understood what had just happened.
The crowd was stunned. Then, they parted to the side.
The once crowded streets opened a path right down the middle as citizens tried to move to the side.
Fang Zhengzhi didn't move.
He sat quietly on his horse and waited for the carriage to approach.
Then, the carriage stopped.
A golden armored soldier who was standing by the side of the carriage jumped and knocked on the door.
"We're here?" A crisp voice could be heard from inside the carriage.
"Yes!" The soldier promptly replied.
"Ka!" The door opened and a fiery red figure stepped out.
She wore a fiery red dress which was soft and smooth to the touch. She had an hourglass figure.
Her fiery red dress was adorned with patterns of flames, almost as though her dress was on fire.
Then, the dress began to straighten.
Her clear eyes, soft lips, and that arrogance she had were in clear view.
Fang Zhengzhi smirked.
She looked extremely different from how she did a year ago. She had grown up gracefully.
"What do you think? Have I matured over the past year?" The crisp voice rang out. The lady twirled and looked at Fang Zhengzhi with anticipation.
"Matured?" Fang Zhengzhi looked at the lady's face, neck, and body. Then, he looked back at her, "mm, you've grown bigger!"