"You want to use this case as a pretext to crush him?"
Le Zhan thought that this young master looked refined and scholarly, but his methods were certainly ruthless.
"Crush him! Rid Jingzhou of this scourge!" Le Pang said eagerly.
Le Zhan glared at his son and raised a hand in warning. "I'll crush you first!"
Le Pang shrank back and did not dare make another sound.
Wang Yang said, "I'm worried he'll cause trouble later."
"Rest assured, I'll have the county office teach him a lesson and warn him to behave himself. He's a clever man. He'll know what to do."
Le Zhan wanted to turn a major affair into a minor one, and a minor one into nothing at all.
His son had tricked him into getting involved in this case, but fortunately, his involvement had not gone far. A gentry family's retainer troops had been abducted, and he had urged the county office to investigate in the interests of public order. He had not even known whom they were investigating. Surely the Prince of Luling could not blame him for that.
Besides, he was now helping mediate the dispute and resolve their grievances. Even if someone asked about it later, he could explain himself.
Ideally, Wang Yang would let the matter go, and everyone would be happy.
After all, there was no deep-seated enmity between the two sides. One belonged to the Langya Wang clan, and the other served under the Prince of Luling. Why insist on a head-on clash?
Still, he could hardly ask Wang Yang outright to stop pursuing the matter. He had to preserve Wang Yang's dignity, and he was also quite fond of the young man who had written, "Wandering the rivers and lakes with wine, a slender Chu waist, light enough to