The heavens set sail from the courtyard

Wang Gang brought Du Yangxi and Sang Yanrang back to Kaifeng Prefecture, asked someone to find them a place to live, and arranged for their food and clothing, but he did not leave immediately.

Du Yangxi thought Wang Gang had some other instructions, so he clasped his fists and said, "I wonder if Lord Wang has any other instructions?"

Wang Gang said with a smile: "Mr. Du, Mr. Sang, you can study here, but you can't go to the government office and affect the work. There is a cafeteria in the government office for three meals a day. You can go there to eat with the note I wrote, but it's best not to take the initiative to talk to others.

According to the rules, you are candidates from other provinces and are not eligible to live in Kaifeng Prefecture to prepare for the exam. I took a risk by bringing you back."

Sang Yanrang expressed his understanding when he heard this, but Du Yangxi's face immediately darkened.

"Sir Wang, thank you for your advice. We will never cause you any trouble." Sang Yanrang said politely.

Wang Gang looked at the reluctant Du Yangxi again, and Sang Yanrang knocked Du Yangxi from behind.

"Thank you, sir." Du Yangxi bowed reluctantly.

Wang Gang shook his head and said: "I am not afraid that you will implicate me, but Kaifeng Prefecture has a lot of official business and I usually can't take care of you.

Many people have come to Beijing to take the exam recently, and I am busy with official duties. If you need anything, you can contact Xiao Jia at the door."

Sang Yanrang thanked him again, but Du Yangxi still looked cold. Wang Gang didn't care and left the room after saying that.

"Why do you treat Lord Wang like that? He has helped us a lot. And also the lady from the Li family. If it weren't for her, no one would know if we died!" Sang Yanrang taught Du Yangxi a lesson.

"They help us because they are attracted by our status as juren. They want to repay us for our success in the imperial examinations in the future," Du Yangxi said coldly.

"Stop talking nonsense." Sang Yanrang was shocked and quickly ran to the door. Seeing that there was no one around, he closed the door.

"Du Yangxi, how can you judge a gentleman by your own mean heart? When Madam Li saved you, she didn't know your identity.

Besides, Lord Wang is already an official, why does he need your kindness or mine?"

Du Yangxi said disdainfully: "While I was recuperating at the Li family, I heard the servants talking about the two unmarried daughters in the Li family.

Haven't you heard enough about the story of catching a son-in-law under the list on the day of the imperial examination results? "

Catching a son-in-law under the list of successful candidates was a marriage custom in the Song Dynasty. It was said that on the day when the list of successful candidates was announced, wealthy families from all over the country would go out and compete to select successful candidates as sons-in-law. The scene was like a snatching, so people called it "catching a son-in-law."

Du Yangxi obviously thought that Lady Li saved them in order to play a trick of making an advance investment. In case they passed the imperial examination and became officials in the future, he would use the favor to force them to marry the girls from the Li family.

Sang Yanrang always felt that Du Yangxi was a little extreme, and said: "There is no such thing as a sure thing when it comes to imperial examinations. Madam Li is not a god, so how can she know whether we can pass the imperial examinations?

Besides, I heard that Lord Wang will marry the eldest lady of the Li family soon, so why would he care about us two poor scholars!"

Du Yangxi was slightly moved, but still said: "Brother Sang, don't be too naive. We have no relationship with the Li family. If they didn't have some ulterior motive, why would they save us and give us money!"

Sang Yanrang saw that Du Yangxi was still stubborn and knew that he could not persuade him, so he decided not to waste any more words.

In the next few days, Wang Gang really ignored the two of them and allowed Du Yangxi and Sang Yanrang to live in Kaifeng Prefecture.

Wang Gang heard from his subordinates that the two men had been hiding in the house reading and had never thought of making friends with officials in Kaifeng Prefecture. They were also very frugal in their daily lives and were reluctant to spend even a penny more except for buying pens, ink, paper, and inkstones and books.

Privately, Wang Gang also checked the household registration of the two people. There was no big problem with Sang Yanrang. He had a clean background and was just a poor scholar. However, Du Yangxi's background was a bit strange.

According to the household registration, Du Yangxi lost his father at an early age and was raised by his widowed mother.

But the father on his household registration was a little strange, and he should not be his biological father. Du Yangxi's mother Qianniang was a maid in a wealthy family in her early years. More than ten years ago, she suddenly took a child to a mountain village. It was there that she changed Du Yangxi's surname to Du and recognized a famous lazy man in the village as his father.

In fact, there is no way to verify whether Du Yangxi is Qianniang's child. What's more interesting is that Wang Gang found that Qianniang was ugly, blind, and had obvious signs of disfigurement on her face.

This is very interesting. Women put appearance first. Why was Du Yangxi's mother disfigured? Was it an accident or man-made?

All signs indicate that Du Yangxi's background is not simple!
Mrs. Li still wants to marry her daughter to him. If something goes wrong, Wang Gang will have a hard time explaining to Li Shouhua.

However, Du Yangxi is indeed talented, and his writing and painting are both first-rate. In Wang Gang's opinion, he has a good chance of becoming a Jinshi, and his ranking may not be low!
In comparison, Sang Yanrang is a little worse. Although he also has a chance to become a Jinshi, his ranking may not be very high!
Wang Gang told Madam Li all his findings and let her make her own choice.

During this period, Wang Gang's main focus was still on the kidnapping case.

Shen Huizhao has reported the case to the emperor. Yang Jiulang cannot escape the charge, but the court officials are divided into two camps as to whether Yang Xian and the Yang family are involved.

One group naturally believes that the Yang family is innocent, and that given the Yang family's current status, there is really no need for them to do such an unforgivable thing.

One group believes that since Yang Jiulang is a member of the Yang family, the Yang family cannot escape blame, and he should be severely punished regardless of whether he was involved in the kidnapping or not.

The two factions quarreled fiercely, making it difficult for the government to make up its mind.

As for Concubine Yang in the palace, she had long been banished to the cold palace by the emperor without even being given a chance to explain.

In the end, the Grand Secretary banged his head against the pillar in front of the palace, threatening to die, and forcing the emperor to severely punish the Yang family. In order to appease the public anger, the emperor sentenced Yang Jiulang to immediate execution. As for the other members of the Yang family, their property was confiscated and they were demoted to civilians.

Things finally calmed down.

The one who gained the most in this incident was Concubine Shang, who had always been competing for favor with Concubine Yang!
Concubine Yang was banished to the cold palace and there was no hope of her coming out in the short term. The emperor stayed in Concubine Shang's palace for several days and doted on her quite a bit!
On the day when the Yang family's property was ransacked, Wang Gang went over to take a look. The other members of the Yang family were crying and shouting that they were wronged, but Yang Xian was the only one who stood by and watched coldly. He was surprisingly calm, and there was even a hint of sarcasm in his eyes from time to time.

Seeing Wang Gang coming, all the Yang family members were filled with righteous indignation and wanted to eat Wang Gang's flesh and drink his blood!

Only Yang Xian walked over calmly and clasped his fists to congratulate Wang Gang.

"Lord Wang has done a great job in handling the Yang family's case. I think he will be rewarded by the palace soon!"

"Mr. Yang, you should worry about yourself!" Wang Gang said, with his hands behind his back, "All the Yang family's property has been confiscated. I'm afraid you won't even have enough food to eat in the future. You'd better find another way out as soon as possible to avoid starving to death!"

Yang Xian said coldly: "Sir Wang, there is one thing I don't understand. When did you hook up with Concubine Shang in the palace?"

Wang Gang narrowed his eyes and underestimated Yang Xian, this second-generation rich kid.

"I don't know what you are talking about?"

Yang Xian sighed and said, "I couldn't understand why Lady Shang helped the Li family before. Now I think Lord Wang has already joined Lady Shang, so Lady Shang is biased towards the Li family!
This time when the Yang family fell, Lady Shang became the biggest beneficiary. This must be a deal between Lord Wang and Lady Shang!"

Wang Gang shook his head and said, "I have never been attached to anyone. I am only dealing with your Yang family because Yang Jiulang is indeed a heinous criminal!"

Yang Xian snorted coldly: "Master Wang, what you said sounds nice, but are you really selfless?"

Wang Gang laughed and said, "Mr. Yang, I still say the same thing, think about yourself and your family! In the past, your Yang family had the support of Lady Yang, and you ran rampant in Bianjing, offending many people."

Yang Xian's face changed when he heard this! (End of this chapter)