Chapter 26: Severe Punishment

Why did Wang Bo want to keep Qin Liangyu?

Of course, it was for that little unspeakable secret deep in his heart.

Qin Liangyu not only had a great figure, but was also beautiful, with astonishing strength and a very gentle personality. If he could keep Qin Liangyu, wouldn't he be able to get the first pick by being close to her?

Familiarity breeds affection—that's an unbreakable truth since ancient times.

Wang Bo believed that even if his flirting skills were not superb, flirting with Qin Liangyu should be no problem. As long as they spent a long time together day and night, it wouldn't be long before he could capture Qin Liangyu's heart.

After all, the ancients didn't know what tricks were.

Of course, if Qin Liangyu truly couldn't be swayed, Wang Bo would settle for the next best thing—being friends with her would do.

This was the real reason Wang Bo tried his utmost to keep Qin Liangyu.

A graceful lady is a gentleman's good match.

After Qin Liangyu agreed to stay, Wang Bo immediately ordered the steward of the mansion to prepare a guest room for her, allowing Qin Liangyu to settle in comfortably.

Qin Liangyu did not decline.

As for the losses in An Lushan's mansion, the two tacitly did not mention them.

But privately, Wang Bo returned to An Lushan's residence, not to arrange the funerals for his two cheap sons, but to look for An Qingxu's soul.

That guy's soul was worth a thousand demons. Unfortunately, Wang Bo did not find An Qingxu's soul; it had probably dissipated after his death.

This made Wang Bo sigh deeply—a thousand demons, just like that, flew away.

Fortunately, he would still visit many worlds and meet countless big shots and celebrities. A mere An Qingxu was nothing; there were plenty of souls more valuable than his.

Thinking this way, Wang Bo felt much better.

Without An Qingxu's soul, Wang Bo turned his attention to Qin Liangyu. To take care of her, Wang Bo specially hired a large number of maids to serve Qin Liangyu.

But this move angered one person.

That was An Lushan's legitimate wife, Lady Kang.

Her son had died, and An Lushan not only failed to return to preside over the funeral but instead opened a new mansion and kept a mistress in a golden house. How could she bear it?

When she first heard the news, Lady Kang fainted from agitation.

When she woke again, Lady Kang, having lost her son, transferred all her hatred to An Lushan. But when she learned that the woman An Lushan kept in his golden house was the murderer of her own son, her heart grew completely cold.

She even wondered if her son had been killed on An Lushan's orders.

Why else would An Lushan have happened to leave the mansion?

And why did that woman happen to break in that very night, ignoring her pleas, and kill her son?

She and that woman had no enmity at all.

She even suspected that An Lushan had long been in cahoots with that woman.

After all, that ruthless woman was indeed a peerless beauty.

And the reason that woman killed her son was to let her and An Lushan's son inherit An Lushan's position. In large families, such rivalry was nothing new.

Take her two sons, for example.

Her second son was very outstanding and always suppressing his elder brother.

Lady Kang saw it but didn't know what to do. After all, both were flesh and blood from her body; she didn't know which one to favor.

So in this regard, Lady Kang never expressed an opinion.

But now, with her son dead and An Lushan colluding with the murderer, how could she endure it? For a mother, losing a child could completely drive her to lose all reason.

An Lushan, since you are unkind, don't blame me for being unjust.

So Lady Kang spilled everything about An Lushan's planned rebellion and his hiring of a murderer to kill his son.

Thus, the gossip that An Lushan, the military governor of three towns and Li Longji's most favored minister, was not only planning to rebel but also hired a murderer to kill his son, instantly exploded across the populace.

Among the common people, news spread quickly, especially gossip related to dignitaries; it spread even faster.

Within a few days, most people under Wang Bo's command in Pinglu, Fanyang, and Hedong learned of this news.

And Wang Bo was instantly labeled as treasonous, cruel, and ruthless.

But interestingly, Wang Bo himself was completely unaware of this nickname. He had no idea that in the folk, many people already regarded him as a cruel and heartless beast.

The reason Wang Bo didn't know was simple: these were not good news, so naturally no one dared to tell him.

After all, in this little patch of land, few dared to gossip in front of him.

So it was normal that Wang Bo didn't know.

And this news continued to spread at an alarming rate.

Even more interestingly, before the news spread among the people, many military governors and officials already knew it. While greatly surprised, they found it unspeakably absurd.

Many did not believe it. After all, in their view, An Lushan was not a man obsessed with beauty.

They might believe that An Lushan was rebelling, since he had been making unusual moves recently, indeed suspicious of rebellion.

But that An Lushan hired a murderer to kill his son and colluded with the murderer—they found that hard to believe.

After all, everyone has a heart; even a tiger does not eat its own cub.

Yet after several inquiries, they had to believe it.

After all, the facts were right there.

The news that Qin Liangyu had broken into An Lushan's mansion and slaughtered many was witnessed by countless people.

And the news that Wang Bo kept Qin Liangyu by his side was not concealed, also seen by countless people.

For a time, Wang Bo was confirmed as cold-blooded and ruthless, a tiger that eats its own cub.

Countless people were shocked. No one expected Wang Bo to be so cruel as to kill his own son—he was simply a beast.

Even Yang Guozhong, upon hearing the news, laughed so hard he doubled over, almost splitting his sides. He had been struggling with An Lushan for so long, always at a disadvantage, but this time he finally seized the opportunity.

"An Lushan, An Lushan, this time I'll see if you can survive."

Yang Guozhong shook his body, like a victorious rooster, and hurried to the palace, saying to Li Longji: "Your Majesty, An Lushan is simply insane, committing such cruel acts, worse than a beast. He has disgraced our Great Tang. I beg Your Majesty to take action and severely punish An Lushan."