Wang Chong found this pleasant to hear. Having spent years among the common folk, these constables were all sly, worldly men whose words sounded exceedingly sweet to the ear. He smiled and said, "It was merely good fortune. To crack the White Chrysanthemum case, it still requires the diligent labor of all you colleagues; I am only holding an empty title."
The dozens of constables exchanged glances, all slightly thrilled. Wang Chong had conceded the credit for slaying White Chrysanthemum twice now. While Nalihai had needed forced confessions to extract a twisted version of the truth, these shrewd, seasoned investigators could piece the reality together from mere scraps of information. That was the primary reason they had rushed over to pay their respects to Wang Chong—this superior officer truly loved handing over credit!
As for why Wang Chong did not covet credit, these constables had long "figured it out." The elderly constable who had spoken earlier smiled, his demeanor doubling in deference, and said, "We have prepared a few modest gifts for Director Wang. Pressed for time, the offerings are crude, and we hope you will not laugh at our lack of propriety."
He clapped his hands, and several yamen runners carried in five chests, while another runner brought in a bamboo cage whose opening was tightly tied shut with black cloth.
The old constable said, "These chests contain our humble gifts. Inside this bamboo cage are twenty or thirty strange serpents caught by nearby villagers. These strange snakes are deadly venomous and swift as the wind. They have been biting people indiscriminately around the vicinity, and over a dozen innocent folk have died as a result."
Wang Chong thought of the White Camel Tribe's top warrior, who was adept at manipulating snakes, and could not help cursing under his breath, "That man deserved to die."
He had indeed overlooked these little snakes. After all, in the world where he had previously lived, one rarely encountered lethal snakes and venomous insects unless someone recklessly wandered into the wilderness looking for trouble. Pleased by the constables' thoroughness, he spoke with considerable gratification, "It is fortunate that you acted so smartly. I shall certainly keep this in mind and add a good word for you in the future."
The dozens of constables were overjoyed. After a few pleasantries, they took their leave one after another.
Once they had departed, Wang Chong instructed, "Yu Zao, put these things away. Don't touch those snakes; I have other plans for them."
Yu Zao came in accompanied by Nan Xinlan and Tie Mingzhu. By now, she had essentially become the head maid of the Wang household, while Nan Xinlan and Tie Mingzhu, two bona fide daughters of prominent families, had instead turned into the little maid's attendants. Yu Zao grinned and said, "I wonder what they brought?"
Wang Chong smiled. "Open them up and take a look, and you'll find out."
Sure enough, Yu Zao opened all five chests. Although these constables often reaped illicit perks on the side, they could hardly be called wealthy. Pooling their resources among dozens of men had only gathered a few thousand taels of silver. Though packed to the brim across five chests, the total was really only comparable to the handful of flying notes Lu Zongfeng had given.
Wang Chong glanced over them and smiled. "They certainly went to great expense."
Young Master Wang felt very much like a police detective sergeant in Yau Ma Tei—taking dirty money from his subordinates and promising them illusory futures. Aside from one's conscience, everything about it was simply wonderful.
After enjoying the moment for a bit, Wang Chong called Wang Dong over and said, "Go pick a horse and ride around the vicinity of Pengshan County. Inquire into who has been bitten to death by venomous snakes. The information must be verified and exact, with no mix-ups." Wang Dong had one great virtue: he did whatever his master told him to do without ever asking why. Sure enough, he went to select a horse and set out to gather the information.
How clever was Yu Zao? Once Wang Dong left, she asked in a low voice, "Does Young Master intend to provide relief for those villagers?"
Wang Chong nodded and said, "I plan to give each family fifty taels of silver."
In this world, two thousand guan in cash and banknotes was enough to purchase a small residence in Chang'an, or a hundred mu of prime fertile farmland in a middling prefecture. Fifty taels of silver could buy two to three mu of good land, or six to seven mu of lean soil—enough to vastly improve a household's livelihood. It was not that Wang Chong was unwilling to give more; rather, if ordinary villagers suddenly acquired windfall wealth, corrupt clerks and local runners would inevitably extort it, and they wouldn't be able to keep any larger sum. Fifty taels sat right at the sweet spot: so long as the villagers kept quiet, outsiders could hardly gauge their true means, yet it could tangibly relieve their hardship. Of course, ideal outcomes were rare in such matters. Wang Chong was only responsible for doing good; he could not change another's destiny, and no one could change another's fate for them.
Yu Zao was slightly taken aback and exclaimed, "Young Master is so generous and magnanimous, but that is far too much! An ordinary household of seven or eight people might toil for a whole year and still not save up five to seven taels of silver."
Wang Chong shook his head and said, "It is not that they cannot earn it; it is that they are exploited too much..."
He suppressed the urge to launch into a lengthy lecture. After all, discussing this with Yu Zao was pointless. The wealth created by an ordinary person's labor in a year was bound to be ten times their own income, if not dozens or hundreds of times, or an unimaginable multiple.
Yu Zao knew how to manage a household. The little maid already had a clear mental tally of the Wang family's liquid assets and calculated their expenses daily. She had the five wooden chests taken away to inventory them.
Wang Chong glanced at the bamboo cage and thought to himself, "How should I handle these deadly little snakes?"
Had it been an ordinary martial artist, they would certainly act crudely and kill all these little snakes, thinking they had done a good deed. But Wang Chong knew these snakes had to be an extraordinary breed; in the world he transmigrated from, they might even qualify as first- or second-class protected wildlife. As long as they weren't used to kill people, they ought to be allowed to live freely.
However, keeping snakes was skilled work. He certainly could not just release them into the wild, as that would bring harm to people. Wang Chong mused, "Do I need to dig a snake pit? Actually, digging a few dry wells would work too..." It was quite a headache; after all, this world had no glass terrariums, which would have made it easy to resolve.
And Wang Chong certainly couldn't just find a well in the manor garden and toss these little snakes inside. After all, he was only staying here as a guest, not the master of the estate.
Staying as a guest in someone's home and leaving behind a nest of lethally venomous serpents upon departure—what kind of tenant from hell would do that?
Wang Chong fretted over it for a moment, then decided to leave them alone for now. At any rate, the snakes could not escape, nor would they starve to death in ten days or half a month. He got up and went to look for Monk Xuan Gang.
Monk Xuan Gang was currently meditating. Unable to display his great martial prowess yesterday while watching Wang Chong slay formidable enemies in succession with awe-inspiring might, he felt rather stifled. When Wang Chong came over, Xuan Gang was brooding over just where he fell short.
Seeing what looked like resentment on Monk Xuan Gang's face, Wang Chong laughed and asked, "Master, why are you not in high spirits?"
Monk Xuan Gang did not dwell on the matter and said, "The hawk letters I found on Nalihai and Wen Ducheng have already been taken away, but I kept the valuables and weapons from their bodies. Do you wish to look through them?"
Wang Chong waved his hand and said, "Master may have them all."
Monk Xuan Gang immediately cheered up and said, "Nalihai was the eldest senior brother of the Qingshan Sect, and Wen Ducheng hailed from the Yaglakar clan of the Jiuqu League. Both were extremely wealthy..."
Wang Chong slapped his thigh, thinking to himself, "The four grassland masters who came to kill me all had extraordinary backgrounds. Naturally, they would carry vast wealth on them! But the words have already left my mouth, and it's too late to take them back."
"Pah, this thieving baldy did that on purpose."
The great monk Xuan Gang waited for Wang Chong's emotions to settle before continuing, "A few other items were also found on them. The rest are of little consequence, but one of them is an artifact from the Ten-Thousand-Year Fox House."
Wang Chong reacted lightning-fast, exclaiming, "Elder Sister Su Luo Yan's younger brother..."
...Mo Yuncong: What about me? What about me?...
...Su Luo Yan's younger brother: If I had worked a bit harder back in the day, I'd be the protagonist's brother-in-law by now...
Chapter 57