Fang Yun glanced at Yang Yuhuan and Zhao Hongzhuang who were chatting animatedly, and quickly walked out the door.
A scholar in black was standing outside the door, his face was dark and his eyes were bright.
The two sides bowed and greeted each other. Fang Yun asked, "May I ask who this old friend is that you are talking about?"
"Does Lord Wen know Wang Zhengying?"
Fang Yun immediately frowned and said, "Wang Zhengying from Mingzhi Academy?"
"Exactly."
"His father is my teacher. Although I have never seen him, I have heard of him. Who are you? What is your relationship with him?" Fang Yun vaguely guessed a possibility.
"My name is Bo Han, a successful candidate in the Imperial Academy, and I'm from Mizhou. I met him two years ago and we share similar interests. We once talked late into the night by candlelight and slept with our feet together." Bo Han's breathing was unstable and he looked a little nervous.
Fang Yun stood at the door, looked around, smiled slightly, and said, "Come to my study to discuss in detail."
"yes."
The two of them entered the study one after the other.
"Please sit down." Fang Yun sat behind the table.
Bo Han waited for Fang Yun to take his seat before he sat down somewhat stiffly, secretly sizing up the top scholar among the ten countries.
Fang Yun straightened his upper body, placed his arms on the table, and said, "Brother Bo, please speak."
Bo Han nodded and said, "Just a quarter of an hour ago, Brother Zhengying's followers came to me and said that Brother Zhengying was falsely accused of stealing a classmate's heirloom dragon and phoenix jade pendant. I asked carefully and found out that Brother Zhengying had complained to several classmates a few days ago, saying that he had spent too much money on the third daughter of the Huang family and was short of money. Today, the heirloom jade pendant of a scholar who had a good relationship with him was stolen. The gentlemen of Mingzhi Academy searched and found that the jade pendant was hidden in Brother Zhengying's bedding, but it had been crushed. The dean of Mingzhi Academy was furious and sent Brother Zhengying to the government office, and the owner of the jade pendant also demanded compensation from Brother Zhengying."
"How much is the jade pendant worth?" Fang Yun asked.
"It is said that it was originally a jade pendant that belonged to a Hanlin scholar. It was nourished by talent and is of great benefit to scholars. The market price is three thousand taels of silver, which is equivalent to an ordinary house." Bo Han said.
Fang Yun said: "So what do you think?"
"Brother Zhengying is a loyal and honest person. There is no way he would steal other people's treasures. When he was in trouble, he would rather eat pickled vegetables and steamed buns than do such a thing! What's more, that was three thousand taels of blood jade. No matter how stupid Brother Zhengying is, it is impossible for him to steal such a precious treasure." Bo Han said.
Fang Yun said: "You believe he was framed, so you came to me?"
"Yes! Although the dean and the master said that there are witnesses and evidence, his servants said that Brother Zhengying kept shouting that he was innocent and even said that if he was not cleared of his innocence, he would die to prove his innocence. But this is not the most important thing."
"What is the most important thing?" Fang Yun asked.
Bo Han's eyes turned red. He could no longer hold back and said angrily, "I don't know who reported this news to the Huang family. The head of the Huang family forced Miss Huang San to write a loveless letter and gave it to Brother Zhengying. After reading the loveless letter, Brother Zhengying burst into tears and even fainted. He almost went crazy."
Fang Yun's eyes gradually turned cold, and he said, "This means that even if Brother Zhengying is cleared of the charges, his relationship with Miss Huang San will be damaged. It will be difficult to recover. This is the most important thing, right?"
"Yes. Even if Brother Zhengying doesn't care after he is released from prison, Miss Huang has a knot in her heart. She is afraid that Brother Zhengying will hate her. This matter... If someone deliberately did it, Miss Huang would be forced to marry within a few days, completely cutting off Brother Zhengying's thoughts."
Fang Yun immediately determined that it was done by someone from the Kangwang Mansion or the housekeeper. On that day, the housekeeper Yu threatened Mr. Wang with Wang Zhengying's future in order to force him to buy the longevity fruit. Today, the young Duke suffered a great loss, so he must take action immediately. The young Duke's intention was not to drink, but to point the sword at himself.
Fang Yun said: "Brother Zhengying has a good friend like you. His life is not in vain. I already understand this matter. However, you should call Brother Zhengying's servant and tell him the style of the jade pendant. It may be the one I gave to Mr. Wang, and Mr. Wang gave it to Brother Zhengying. Brother Zhengying... may have taken the wrong one. Since the jade pendant is broken, I will compensate him!"
Bo Han was stunned, then suddenly realized that it was impossible for Wang Zhengying to plead guilty, but with the witnesses and evidence, he could not completely escape the guilt, so the best way was to take compensation.
"Okay, I'll ask Brother Zhengying's servant to come over right away."
Fang Yun called Zhao Hongzhuang to the study.
"What happened?" Zhao Hongzhuang asked.
Fang Yun recounted what had happened.
Zhao Hongzhuang immediately said, "It must be the trick of the young Duke! Don't worry, as long as the servant tells me the shape of the jade pendant, I can immediately ask the Queen Mother to take out a similar jade pendant, and no one will find out."
"It will all depend on you then." Fang Yun said.
"But what will you do after rescuing Wang Zhengying?"
"I will go to the Huang family to propose marriage in person!" Fang Yun said slowly.
Zhao Hongzhuang's beautiful eyes flashed, and she said, "As expected of Fang Zhenguo, your behavior is so different from others. But, what if the Huang family doesn't agree?" After Zhao Hongzhuang finished speaking, she looked at Fang Yun cunningly.
"Even though I personally proposed to her, she didn't agree. Whoever marries someone from such a short-sighted family will be unlucky! How many people in the world are worthy of me, Fang Yun, to be a matchmaker?" Fang Yun said.
"What a mad king!" Zhao Hongzhuang praised with a smile.
"I'm not crazy, I'm just doing what I should do!" Fang Yun said.
Zhao Hongzhuang nodded and said, "What are you going to do about the young Duke?"
"Since he made me pay three thousand taels of silver, he must return it to me with interest in the end, and the interest will be compounded! Now, let the interest increase slowly, and I will take it all back in the end!" Fang Yun said firmly.
"It's best that you think this way. I'm afraid that you will get hot-headed and attack the young duke directly, and fall into his trap." Zhao Hongzhuang said.
"No, I'm not that stupid. If I can chisel a hole in a turtle shell, I don't believe I can't skin this little duke!" Fang Yun said coldly.
"You... you are right. The young Duke has gone too far this time. He obviously has a conflict with you, but he harms someone who has nothing to do with you. I cannot tolerate this. If I don't fight back this time, I don't know what else he will do."
"If he fights me openly, I will counter his moves. But if he uses such despicable means against me again, I will let him know that he has chosen the wrong opponent!" Fang Yun said.
"No matter what, you must think it over carefully. If you need anything, be sure to contact me. Not for you, but for myself! I will avenge King Kang and I eventually!" Zhao Hongzhuang looked at Fang Yun firmly.
"good."
Soon, Wang Zhengying's servant came and described the appearance of the jade pendant orally. Before Fang Yun picked up the brush, Zhao Hongzhuang drew it with a few strokes, and the servant nodded repeatedly.
Fang Yun took a closer look and found that Zhao Hongzhuang's painting skills had reached at least the first level, almost reaching the second level.
"I'll get the jade pendant right now. Then go to the government office in Beijing!" said Zhao Hongzhuang.
"No, we should go to Mingzhi Academy first and look for Wang Zhengying's luggage."
Zhao Hongzhuang immediately understood and said, "Then I will also ask someone to inform Wang Zhengying." After that, she left in a hurry.
Soon, Zhao Hongzhuang returned, handed the jade pendant to Fang Yun, and then went to Mingzhi Academy together. On the way, Zhao Hongzhuang asked someone to pass a letter to the dean of Mingzhi Academy.
Fang Yun also sent a letter to Mr. Wang who was far away in Dayuan Prefecture.
It was late at night when the carriage stopped in front of Mingzhi Academy.
Fang Yun and Zhao Hongzhuang got off the car one after another, and saw seven or eight old gentlemen standing at the gate of Mingzhi Academy.
Those people bowed together and said, "Greetings to the Grand Princess."
"You don't have to be polite. I just came here with someone, and the real owner is Fang Yun." Zhao Hongzhuang said.
"Fang Yun? But Fang Yun from Jiangzhou?" Everyone came over in surprise.
Fang Yunyi bowed and said, "It is me. Wang Zhengying is the son of my teacher. After hearing his story, I felt something was amiss and only understood it after asking him in detail. This may be a misunderstanding."
"Oh? What's the misunderstanding?" asked the dean.
"His servant described the shape of the jade pendant in detail. It is very similar to the jade pendant I gave to Mr. Wang. Brother Zhengying must have taken the wrong one. I heard that Brother Zhengying's residence has been sealed off. I will go in and look for it. Maybe I can find the jade pendant." Fang Yun said.
Everyone in the academy looked at each other, and finally the dean sighed and said, "Since it is a misunderstanding, then please ask Fang Wenhou to go to Wang Zhengying's residence and take a look. Maybe you can find the jade pendant."
Under the guidance of the dean, Fang Yun entered Wang Zhengying's former residence and indeed "found" the extremely similar jade pendant.
Fang Yun said: "Brother Zhengying was framed and was incoherent for a while. So he forgot about the jade pendant. When he sees this jade pendant, he will definitely wake up!"
"Maybe so." The dean said vaguely.
Afterwards, Fang Yun and Zhao Hongzhuang rushed to the prefectural government office in the capital overnight, and then asked Prefect Qin to hold a court session late at night and invite the person whose jade pendant was stolen to formally try the case.
Some yamen runners were standing in the hall of the prefecture, and a dozen luminous pearls made the hall as bright as day.
Prefect Qin sat in the main seat, an official from the capital's criminal department sat in the deputy seat, while Fang Yun and Zhao Hongzhuang sat on the side.
A scholar in black with red eyes and messy hair stood in the lobby. His gaze was clear, but there seemed to be a trace of madness left in him.
Everyone waited quietly for a quarter of an hour, and then they heard hurried footsteps outside.
An old man and a young man were walking in front. The young one was wearing a dark blue scholar's uniform, while the old one was wearing a black juren's uniform.
The old scholar walked into the hall without paying attention to the Hanlin prefect sitting there. He looked around the hall and asked, "Where is Fang Zhenguo?"
Fang Yun stood up and said with a smile: "Fang Yun is here."
The old scholar was overjoyed and said, "We don't want the three thousand taels of silver, but please write an "Ode to the Humble House" in your own handwriting! I will be very grateful! Thank you very much!" After saying that, he looked at Fang Yun eagerly.
Fang Yun took a closer look and found that the expressions of the father and son were genuine. Zhao Hongzhuang had also had someone investigate before and found that their family had no connection with Prince Kang's Mansion. It was very likely that someone else in the academy stole the jade pendant and put it in Wang Zhengying's quilt, which would hardly expose the young Duke.
Fang Yun said: "If Prefect Qin agrees, I can write an "Ode to the Humble House" as compensation."
Prefect Qin glanced at the old scholar who was roaring in the court with displeasure, coughed lightly, and said, "The amount of compensation should be negotiated by both parties. Since both parties agree, I will rule that Wang Zhengying accidentally damaged a jade pendant and compensate the victim with an article "Praise of the Humble House" written by Fang Yun himself. After the compensation is completed, the matter is written off and the court is adjourned!" After saying that, he slammed the gavel and stood up to chat with Zhao Hongzhuang.
Fang Yun wrote a poem "Praise of the Humble House" on the spot and gave it to the old scholar.
"Haha, let alone a mere jade pendant, it would be worth it even if you exchange all your belongings for an article of 'Praise of the Humble House' written by Fang Yun himself! It's worth it! Good handwriting! Good handwriting! You bastard, learn more from Fang Zhenguo in the future!" After the old scholar said this, he slapped his son's head hard.
"Yes." The scholar said with a sad face. (To be continued...)