Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2534 Reconciliation 76.0
"What my mother said is that this is indeed very important and a top priority, but the more so, the more we cannot rush to deal with it. We need to take our time and work it out step by step."

Although there was a faint smile on Song Jue's face, the smile did not reach his eyes. Instead, they looked unusually cold and creepy.

The Queen Mother looked at him, chuckled, and said, "Why?"

"Because the scope of these shops and the people involved is indeed quite large, it is not something that can be dealt with overnight. Although it is not to the point where one move will affect the entire body, it is still a bit troublesome to take action. Anyway, the list is here, and we can slowly settle accounts with them."

"Well, that's right." The Queen Mother was very satisfied with Song Jue's answer. "We originally thought that we had eliminated the Grand Empress Dowager's followers, but we didn't expect there were still so many remnants."

"Mother, Haolin is right. The longer the time, the harder it is to detect. If it weren't for Concubine Hui's carefulness and risking such a great risk to investigate this list, we wouldn't know that she had done such a thing when she was at her mother's house."

"Indeed." The Queen Mother looked at Eunuch Cui and said, "When you were young, you were also born in an official family in Jiangnan. Because of something wrong, you were sent to the palace. Although you were not very old when you came, you should have remembered things, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Cui Nei Shi bowed slightly and said, "The charity halls in Jiangnan can be roughly divided into several categories. One is sponsored by the government, one is funded by local merchants and wealthy gentry, and the other is run by aristocratic families who cannot pass the imperial examinations. The requirements of these types are different. The government's charity halls mostly accept orphans, ranging from a few months to ten years old. Aristocratic families generally accept students from poor families, but the standards of each family are different. For big families like the Wang family, the Xie family, and the Qin family, poor students who want to come to the charity hall must go through several rounds of tests and have very strict requirements. But merchants are different. Most of them are people who seek fame and reputation, or have ulterior motives. There are some who really want to do good deeds, but this proportion is still very small. Among the charity halls of merchants and wealthy gentry," he looked at the empress dowager, "there are those who adopt orphans on the surface, but actually engage in human trafficking and forcing women into prostitution. The empress dowager knows this."

"Hmm!" The Queen Mother sneered, "Isn't this the family that Concubine Hui dealt with back then?"

"Yes, there are quite a lot of such people. After all, it is a very profitable business. You can only make money and never lose money." Cui Nei Shi sighed, "There are also people like the Empress Dowager, who are dedicated to recruiting poor students. They don't set up many barriers for students like the aristocratic families do. They are very generous and give students a lot of help, and do their best to help them take the exam. But."

"There are still some buts." The Queen Mother smiled at Song Jue, "Do you want the students to work for them?"

"Your Majesty is wise, indeed." Eunuch Cui nodded to the Queen Mother and said, "The conditions proposed by each family are different, and they are also confidential to each family. I don't know the details. However, although my family has never sponsored the charity, I have heard some rumors about it. My grandfather and father are very disgusted with their behavior of winning over poor students. Some businessmen and wealthy people even used their own girls to tie up students."

"Does it mean that if they like someone, they will let their daughter marry him?" "Not just daughters, any girl in the family who has reached the age and has not married yet is within their consideration range." Eunuch Cui shrugged helplessly at Mei Zhu who looked angry, and said, "General Mei, don't be angry, this kind of thing is not rare at all. Every three years, there is a tradition of selecting a son-in-law from the list, which is actually similar to these sponsorships for scholars. It's just that the charity hall casts a wide net, and it depends on luck." He smiled at Mei Zhu, then looked at Song Jue and the Queen Mother, and said, "I can only say that the Queen Mother is lucky. She can catch a few fish in each subject, and the fish caught are all quite promising."

"Indeed." Song Jue snorted twice, took a sip of tea, looked at the news on the table, and said, "As I said, put these aside for now and don't rush to deal with them, so as not to alert the enemy. But how to deal with Concubine Hui's cousin is the most urgent thing right now. Xiaocha and Haolin are still waiting for our letter."

"What do you think, Your Majesty?"

"I haven't thought about it yet, so I want to hear what mother thinks." Song Jue looked at the snacks on the table, took a bite, and said, "Logically, he and Ke Chenyi should be severely punished for doing such a fraud. But he admitted his guilt very well, and exposed Ke Chenyi's true face. When Xiaocha asked for compensation, he did not hesitate to take out all his assets to compensate the victim. I think this is enough to atone for his crime. He was not the mastermind in the first place, so it's good enough for him to do this. What's more, the mastermind Ke Chenyi has committed suicide to apologize, so what should be done with the remaining people is really a headache."

"It's no wonder Haolin and Xiaocha are in a dilemma. If we didn't know his identity, it would be easier to deal with him. Now that we know his identity, it won't work if we punish him too harshly or invite him to a party. It's really a bit difficult to deal with." The Queen Mother thought for a moment, then looked at Eunuch Cui and Meizhu. "You can also speak up. Don't feel uncomfortable. Let's brainstorm. Maybe we can find a good solution!"

"In fact, the boss's dilemma is not how to deal with Concubine Hui's brother, but how to place him. It was fine if we didn't know his identity before, but now that we know, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to just let him go, right?"

"Yes, this is the most embarrassing part." Song Jue nodded and looked at Eunuch Cui, "Cui Banban, what do you think?"

"I think that since the Duke and the General know the relationship between Concubine Hui and the troupe owner, and also know that Concubine Hui endured humiliation and found so many key clues, why not ask the Duke and the General to send someone to send the troupe owner and other members of the troupe to the capital, where they will be properly settled. Although the troupe owner is Concubine Hui's cousin, he himself left the Imperial Music Garden and is now back to be the head of the Imperial Music Garden. I'm looking for someone to secretly advise those people in the Imperial Music Garden, and no one should embarrass him and his people anymore."

"Hmm!" Song Jue thought about it, exchanged glances with the Queen Mother, and they both nodded at the same time, "It's a good idea."

"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty!"