Chapter 174 Coveted

Wang An and Chongzhen were seen hugging each other and crying, looking like brothers reunited after a long separation. If one was full of sympathy, he would surely shed tears.

Of course, it was mainly Wang An who was crying and holding his head in tears, while Chongzhen was a little embarrassed.

After all, his minister Liu Zongzhou was watching beside him, which somewhat lowered his status as an emperor.

“Brother, don’t cry, don’t cry!” Chongzhen pushed Wang An’s shoulders away and said awkwardly, “Everything is fine now!”

Then he pointed to Liu Zongzhou behind him and said, "Brother, look, who did I invite?"

This was Wang An's first serious close contact with a Ming official. He did not recognize the peacock patch on Liu Zongzhou's official robe at first, but he could tell that he was an official.

He immediately thought that it was his cousin who came to rescue him, so he stepped forward and bowed to thank him: "I am Wang An, a commoner, thank you for saving my life!"

"Oh, you don't know, the situation in this prison is terrible, I almost got suffocated to death, and there are a few bastards staring at my butt, it scared me!"

Liu Zongzhou hurriedly returned the gift. He did not dare to feel at ease as the savior of Chongzhen's brother.

At the same time, he also looked at Wang An with some curiosity. He really couldn't see anything extraordinary about this man. How could he have become Chongzhen's elder brother?
However, before his doubts were completely resolved, he heard Wang An complaining incessantly about the conditions in Shuntian Prefecture Prison, and even said that there were criminals trying to do something bad to him. He was immediately shocked.

If Brother Chongzhen had really been raped by a few prisoners in the Shuntian Prefecture prison, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Liu Zongzhou immediately pointed at the jailer and cursed angrily: "Fuck you, how can you be a jailer? You almost put the noble man in danger!"

"And... who are those people who are plotting against you? Arrest them!"

Upon hearing this, Wang An pointed at a few of the dozen people who came out with him and said, "Your Excellency, it's him, him, him, and him. They've been grinning at me since they entered the cell. They're simply psychopaths!"

The people chosen by Wang An were basically ruffians in the capital city. However, seeing that Wang An was handsome and tender, they were even more attractive than the women at home. In addition, it was not uncommon for people to use backdoors.

But before he could put any action into action, he was taken out by the prison boss.

Seeing the situation at this moment, how could he not realize that he had offended someone he shouldn't have offended and had set his sights on someone he shouldn't have attacked?
Several people were so frightened that they fell to their knees, kowtowed and begged: "Master, spare our lives. We just saw that this young man was extraordinary and suave, so we couldn't help but look at him a few more times because of his aura. We absolutely dare not have any conspiracy against him!"

However, Liu Zongzhou was eager to calm Chongzhen's possible anger, so he would not listen to their pleas for mercy. He mercilessly ordered the jailer, "What are you waiting for? Immediately, pin down these filthy bastards and give them thirty... no, fifty lashes!"

The jailer did not dare to delay and immediately ordered the inmates to pin down these young scoundrels. He then fetched some water and fire sticks and stripped off their pants on the spot.

The sound of sticks hitting flesh, accompanied by inhumane wails, suddenly echoed in the small courtyard.

After being hit with about twenty or thirty sticks, the buttocks of these young scoundrels were already bloody and some of them who were weak had even fainted.

But whenever this happened, the prison boss would bring a bucket of water and pour it over the prisoner's head.

Or you could just keep beating him hard, and soon the unconscious person would be woken up again.

Wang An came from a civilized society in his previous life. Even if there were some private punishments, they were avoided. He himself had never been to prison, so he had never seen such a scene. He felt a little uncomfortable. So he approached Liu Zongzhou and said, "My lord, well... it's also my fault that I'm too handsome. No matter men or women see me, they will be confused for a while. I can't blame them all. It's okay to give them a small punishment, but don't let anyone die!"

Although Wang An saw that he was only wearing a piece of cloth, Liu Zongzhou did not dare to neglect him at all. He immediately bowed and said, "Brother, you are kind-hearted and I really admire you. But if we don't teach these unruly people a lesson, I don't know how much trouble they will cause when they leave Shuntian Prefecture!"

"And what these jailers are best at is using a life-or-death stick. They can make you live or die. Don't worry, young man, no one will be killed."

Then he looked at the prisoners who were carrying out the execution and said, "You all heard it. Young man, please be kind-hearted and don't let anyone get killed!"

The jailers hurriedly agreed. Although the water and fire sticks in their hands still hit the young scoundrel's buttocks fiercely, there was a difference after all.

As for what was different, Wang An couldn't figure it out.

After explaining all this, Liu Zongzhou recalled what Chongzhen had said, that it was his police officers who deliberately put Wang An in jail in order to extort money. He immediately asked the jailer angrily, "Which two bastards put this noble man in jail? You should know, right?"

The jailer now realized that Wang An was extraordinary, so he would never take the blame for the two jailers, and hurriedly sold them out.

In the past, jailers had colluded with yamen runners to do a lot of such things, and every time they extorted money, they would give him some of the profits.

But the jailer didn't care much at this time. He even took the jailers to the gate of the government office and arrested the two men under Liu Zongzhou's order.

Liu Zongzhou also extended his hand and made a gesture of invitation, saying: "Your Majesty... please follow me to the lobby, my two nobles. I will definitely give you an explanation for this matter!"

So the group moved from the prison patio to the lobby of Shuntian Mansion.

At this time, the jailer who had gone ahead had his men force the two burglars to kneel in the hall and await their fate.

Liu Zongzhou strode into the main hall, lifted his official robe and sat down.

At this moment, Wang An realized belatedly and said, "Could this be the governor of Shuntian Prefecture?"

After being surprised, he looked at Chongzhen beside him and whispered in admiration: "The current Shuntian prefect should be Liu Zongzhou, right? He is a corrupt scholar! Brother, you can even use his relationship to get through, awesome!"

Chongzhen smiled awkwardly and made up a lie: "If I want to do business in Shuntian Prefecture, how can I not know the governor of Shuntian Prefecture?"

Wang An nodded and gave a thumbs up in agreement.

Nowadays, even if you want to set up a stall to sell buns, you need to know a few patrolling soldiers from the Bingmasi, otherwise your stall will be overturned.

What's more, for a big businessman like my cousin, it is normal to know a few high-ranking officials.

The two police officers were still in confusion, not knowing what case had happened and they were caught by the master in the court.

(End of this chapter)