In the past, Cheng Wanli was very consistent in Dongping City. Not to mention soldiers like Pang Xu, even the supervisor Dong Ping was three points shorter than him. No one dared to talk to him with such an attitude. Woolen cloth.
But today, Sun Tu did all this so naturally, which only made him feel frightened, but he did not dare to express any dissatisfaction, and his eyes wandered back and forth on Sun Tu and several soldiers.
Sun Tu had no intention of hiding anything. When he heard his question, he sneered and said, "Prefect Cheng, you won't be so forgetful, will you? I want to ask you, before you arrested Dong Ping, the capital supervisor of the mansion, for no reason. What are your intentions in rushing to open the city gate to the Liangshan bandits today? Could it be that you have colluded with the bandits early in the morning and want to sacrifice the entire Dongping Mansion? "
These words immediately made Cheng Wanli anxious, and he shouted loudly: "Prison Sun, please don't slander anyone! As an official of the imperial court, how can I collude with the bandits!"
"Then why do you know that Dong Ping is the key to defending the city, and you suddenly seize him when there are strong enemies outside?" Sun Tu stepped forward, stared into the opponent's eyes and asked: "Also, there are many soldiers nowadays who can As evidence, the reason why the city gate is opened today is because of your constant urging, Governor Cheng. What do you have to say about this?"
"I..." Although Cheng Wanli was full of anxiety, he suddenly spoke up. Because the reason was too shameful, even at this time, he still didn't want to make it public. After hesitating for a moment, he could only say: "Everything I have done is to bring peace to Dong'an for me, and I will live up to the saint's teachings. If I really colluded with the Liangshan bandits, I would not fall into their hands and become a hostage."
"It's hard to say." Sun Tu also saw that he seemed to have something to hide, but he still pressed forward: "Who knows if this is a bitter trick that you conspired with the Liangshan bandits? Cheng Wanli, if you can't give me an explanation , that only shows that there is something wrong in your heart, so just in case, I can only take you down!"
"You dare, I am an official of the imperial court..."
"Dong Ping is also an official of the imperial court, and he is concerned about the safety of Dongping Mansion. Why don't you still take people? Come here-" Seeing that he still refused to tell the truth, Sun Tu decided to use some methods. At that moment, two soldiers strode forward to capture Governor Cheng, while the servants around him were so frightened that they did not dare to make any move, for fear that they would also be implicated.
"You dare... You are so brave, you actually dare to attack me..." Just as Cheng Wanli was struggling to get away, a low voice suddenly came from the yard outside: "Wait a minute!" Then, two men, one tall and one short, came out. A figure quickly came to the hall door. Everyone looked back. Pang Xu and Dong Jian were startled and shouted in surprise: "Prisoner, you are back..." Cheng Wanli, who was struggling, had a confused expression on his face. With a sudden change, his eyes were fixed on the other person: "You..." I didn't know what to say for a moment.
The one who came was Dong Ping, who looked quite tired, and the frail woman beside him who looked a little timid was naturally Cheng Yue'e. At this time, the latter was looking at his father with worried and timid eyes, and after a while he whispered: "Daddy..."
Sun Tu's eyes swept back and forth a few times between the man and woman holding hands and Cheng Wanli in front of them.
After getting off, he had vaguely guessed some of the inside story: "Dong Ping, why were you ordered to be arrested by Cheng Wanli? Now that I am here, I will definitely give you justice."
"I have seen Sun Dujian in my humble position. Thank you so much for Sun Dujian leading the army to save us, the people of Dongping." Only then did Dong Ping let go of Cheng Yue'e's hand and stepped forward to salute. On the way here, he had heard people talk about all the previous changes, which made him scared and lucky at the same time. If Sun Tu hadn't led his troops to kill him in time, I'm afraid Dongping would have been destroyed, and he wouldn't have been able to do it. Escape from the murderous hands of the Liangshan bandits.
Sun Tu waved his hand: "Since I am the Superintendent of Jingdong Road, I will lead the army to rescue this place if it is attacked, so there is no need for Superintendent Dong to say such polite words. Now I just want to find out what is going on. , if you have any grievances, you can tell me directly, and I will definitely provide you with justice!"
"I..." Dong Ping looked at Cheng Yue'e beside him with some embarrassment. Cheng Wanli was her father after all. At this time, she couldn't speak ill of her father in front of her sweetheart.
Cheng Wanli, on the other hand, although his face turned pale at this time, since everything had happened in front of everyone, he had nothing to hide, so he said coldly: "Sun Dujian, let me tell you the truth. Just because This Dong Ping actually deceived my daughter with his sweet words, so I would arrest him and imprison him in anger!"
"Prefect Cheng, this is even more incomprehensible to me. As the saying goes, men should be married when they are young, and women should be married when they are young. Dong Dujian is an outstanding talent. Even if you want to marry your daughter, it will not be an insult to your family. Why do you react like this? How intense?" The matter was indeed related to Miss Cheng as he judged, but it still made Sun Tu feel a little strange.
"My daughter is a married woman, what he did is really..." Cheng Wanli was so angry that his face turned red again: "Even though my son-in-law has been dead for many years, my daughter of the Cheng family can only live forever, how can I No more trying to live with other men!" Cheng Taishou, who finally took the plunge, started to tremble a little when he said this.
This was indeed as painful to him as being slapped in the face in public, and Cheng Wanli was so embarrassed that he couldn't hold his head up. Sun Tu stood there with a face full of surprise, and after a while he said softly: "Just because of this incident, the entire city of Dongping almost fell?"
If Cheng Wanli hadn't personally admitted this, and Dong Ping and the others had not raised any objections, Sun Tu would have found it difficult to accept such a statement and explanation. Because in his opinion, this fact is so unbelievable that an official would value the reputation of such a child more than anything else, even higher than the safety of the city
You must know that today is not the Ming and Qing dynasties where etiquette and teachings are prevalent in the world, constantly restricting women's various behaviors, treating them as mindless puppet goods, and can only be at the mercy of men. Today is the Song Dynasty. Although its thinking is not as open as that of the previous Tang Dynasty, it does not emphasize that women must stay together. Even today's married women can take the initiative to file for divorce from their husbands' families, and then get back their dowry. , can still be taken for granted by the world.
As for the remarriage of widows, there are many such actions. Even the royal family, the old Zhao family, has done this, and it has never been laughed at by the common people. How come it has become a huge crime for Cheng Wanli? , how could he do such a wrong thing because of this
In fact, not only Sun Tu, but also everyone else present, including the servants of the Cheng family, looked unbelievable at this time. In today's world, advocating that women should not marry twice may still be popular with some people, but when it reaches the level of Cheng Taishou, it is a bit shocking.
Everyone's reaction made Cheng Wanli angry: "Prisoner Sun, Dong Ping's actions are really too deceiving, so I will take him down for questioning. Even if he is sued to the court, this is what I say, it's him The bad guy has a good reputation, so I will never let him off lightly!"
Sun Tu, who had come to his senses, could only sigh softly: "But in my opinion, the two of them are in love with each other. The prefect is really making a fuss out of a molehill."
"Dad, Dong Lang and I are sincere. He has never lied to me... My daughter is unfilial, but I have sworn to God that I will marry Dong Lang as my wife in this life." At this time, Cheng Yue'e had also gathered her courage. Gaining courage, he suddenly took a step forward and looked at his father to reveal his decision.
This made Cheng Wanli's expression change again. He pointed at his daughter and shouted: "You... are really unreasonable. What kind of ecstasy soup did he fill you with to make you so obsessed with it? My Cheng family is a scholarly family, and no daughter has remarried for several generations. , are you trying to bring shame to your ancestors?"
These stern words immediately stopped Cheng Yue'e from saying anything else. After all, she was used to obeying her father's arrangements and being submissive. Now that her father was so angry, she really didn't dare to say any more disobedient words. As for Dong Ping, although he was anxious, the incident was caused by him, so he was naturally a little shy in front of Cheng Wanli and did not dare to speak out. In the end, he could only look to Sun Tu for help.
As expected, Sun Tu did not disappoint him, and immediately said: "Cheng Wanli, if your Cheng family ancestors really have spirits in heaven, I'm afraid it will only be you who will make them feel embarrassed, not Miss Cheng, right? She is just here. After losing her husband, she had another sweetheart, but what about you? Because of your own selfish interests, you actually arrested the local military attaché for no reason, and almost caused the fall of Dongping. No, Dongping Mansion has actually been destroyed long ago. If this officer hadn't arrived in time, there would have been more Many people died because of you, how can you rest your conscience? How do you think the ancestors of the Cheng family will treat you? Do you really not know who is at greater fault? "
These few words were like a wake-up call, causing Cheng Wanli's body to sway again and again, almost staggering to the ground. Cheng Yue'e was so frightened that she quickly stepped forward to support him and said with a worried look on her face: "Daddy..." But she was immediately pushed away by him.
Before Sun Tu finished speaking, he continued: "And you actually ordered the city gate to be opened today to let the Liangshan bandits into the city. This crime is much greater than a second marriage! I think The reason why you made such a foolish decision is probably to make up for the mistake of detaining Governor Dong, which weakened the city defense. But you made up for the previous mistake with an even bigger mistake. You made the same mistake again and again, and you still dared to do so. Talking about famous solar terms really makes people laugh!"
After Sun Tu ruthlessly exposed everything, Cheng Wanli no longer had the aggressiveness he had before, and he stood there with his head drooped like a defeated rooster. Only then did he finally understand what a big mistake he had made. As Sun Tu said, compared with the big mistake he made, his daughter's matter was nothing.