The Red Chamber: Starting from Saving Xue Baochai

Chapter 71 I don't mind giving him a ride

After seeing off Baochai and Xiangyun, Shen Yuan came to the front yard.

Guard Zhou Ping came over and reported: "Sir, we have found out the details of that gang."

"Go on." Shen Yuan nodded.

"Thirty miles south of Shenjing, there is a Phoenix Ridge. Many bandits have gathered on the mountain. Those people came from Phoenix Ridge a few days ago."

"Bandits?" Shen Yuan was a little surprised and asked, "Have you found out who is behind this?"

The bandits actually ran to the city of Shenjing to cause trouble. If there was no one to instruct and support them, they would have been thrown into prison long ago.

"Lai Sheng, the chief steward of Ningguo Mansion."

"Ningguo Mansion?"

Zhou Ping said with certainty, "Yes, sir. These past few days I have brought other brothers with me to keep an eye on these people's every move. This group of bandits is indeed under the orders of the Ningguo Mansion."

"Where's the motive?"

"According to the young master's instructions, we found the owner of the house, Li Fu. After asking around, we learned that he was running the Lai Fu Teahouse passed down from his ancestors on Chaoyangmen Street in the east of the city.

A few months ago, an incident of tea drinker poisoning occurred at Lai Fu Teahouse, causing business to plummet and management difficulties to follow.

In order to keep the teahouse of his ancestors open, Li Fu borrowed money from Dazheng Bank, but the teahouse did not recover, so...

"Therefore, Li Fu had to sell the house to repay the loan, but he was blocked by a group of bandits and the house could not be sold." Shen Yuan continued.

Hearing this, he had already guessed the whole story and confirmed, "Then Dazheng Bank should be related to Ningguo Mansion, right?"

"Young Master is extremely intelligent." Guard Zhou Ping sighed and continued, "After much investigation by our subordinates, we learned that the owners of the Dazheng Bank are Jia Zhen of Ningguo Mansion, Ma Shang of Zhiguo Mansion, and Chen Ruiwen of Qiguo Mansion."

"Oh?" Shen Yuan was slightly surprised when he heard this, and murmured, "I never thought that this matter would involve three Duke's Mansions."

The founding military heroes really produced a group of good descendants. They can no longer be described as parasites of the country, but can be called rats that destroy the country. No wonder Emperor Yuanzhen hated them so much.

After a moment's hesitation, Shen Yuan looked at Zhou Ping again and said in a clear voice, "I guess you have some guesses about what happened?"

"Yes, sir." Zhou Ping said, "I guess that the poisoning incident at Lai Fu Teahouse was also planned by Jia Zhen and others in order to seize the teahouse."

Shen Yuan nodded: "That's probably the truth."

Jia Zhen and others first hired someone to cause trouble, dragging down the teahouse's business and making it difficult for it to turn over funds. They then lent money to the teahouse owner Li Fu at high interest through the money house under their name. When Li Fu had no choice but to sell his house to repay the debt, Jia Zhen again hired someone to threaten and obstruct the buyer. In this way, Li Fu would not be able to repay the loan on time, and ultimately he could only watch as the teahouse he had mortgaged was taken away by Jia Zhen and others.

In the original version of the Dream of the Red Chamber, Wang Xifeng once used the cash flow of the Rongguo Mansion to lend at high interest rates, making dirty money by relying on the blood and tears of others, which was extremely evil.

At this time, what Jia Zhen and others did was a thousand times worse than what Wang Xifeng did. It was truly robbery and plunder.

However, Shen Yuan was thinking about something else at this time.

It is barely understandable that Shuntian Prefecture did not dare to intervene when the three prefectures of Ning, Zhi and Qi committed such evil deeds.

But could it be that the Jinyiwei was completely unaware of this?
This was why Shen Yuan felt that there was something strange about this matter that day.

Under the feet of the emperor, the strong are bullying the weak. Shen Yuan guessed that the Jinyiwei must have also targeted Jia Zhen and his men, waiting for the opportunity to take action.

And now, this matter was inadvertently known to Shen Yuan. If he kept it secret and did not report it, once Emperor Yuan Zhen found out, the trust between them as monarch and subject might be destroyed in an instant.

In the eyes of Emperor Yuanzhen, I am so kind to you, but you are covering up such a serious crime for Wu Xun. What is your intention?
If the emperor no longer trusts him, Shen Yuan will have trouble moving forward.

As soon as he thought of this, Shen Yuan no longer had any hesitation and made a decision in his heart.

Looking at Zhou Ping, he said in a deep voice: "You guys go and conduct a thorough investigation in the streets. I believe there are more than one or two victims like Li Fu. Try to find them all." Judging from the behavior of Jia Zhen and others, they are obviously very familiar with it and it is definitely not the first time they have done such a thing.

Since they are seeking death, Shen Yuan doesn't mind giving them a ride.

"Yes, sir." Zhou Ping clasped his fists and accepted the order.

A few days later.

Imperial Palace, Imperial Study Room.

Emperor Yuanzhen was halfway through reviewing memorials when he closed his eyes and took a nap.

A servant came in and was about to speak, but was glared at by the internal minister Dai Quan. He shuddered and tried to leave the room quietly.

"Tell me, what's the matter?" Emperor Yuanzhen spoke in a clear voice as if he had realized something.

The attendant paused, stood up again, bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, Lord Shen Yuan is outside and requests an audience."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yuan Zhen slowly opened his deep eyes, a hint of hope flashed in his eyes, and he said thoughtfully: "Let him in."

After a while, Shen Yuan entered, bowed and paid his respects, and the emperor gave him a seat as usual.

Shen Yuan was about to report, but Emperor Yuanzhen raised his hand and interrupted him, saying, "I will report Huaizhong's matter later. I have something to tell you and I want to hear your thoughts."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan sat up straight and listened respectfully.

Emperor Yuanzhen said slowly: "The Korean war has come to an end. As Huaizhong expected, Jianlu is indeed targeting the Korean navy.

The leader of the Korean army, Huang Taiji, promised huge profits and successfully bribed the commander of the Korean navy, intending to join forces with the enemy to easily capture Korea.

Fortunately, with Huaizhong's suggestion, Prince Beijing led his army to the scene and uncovered the opponent's conspiracy in time. With the assistance of the King of Korea, he quelled the civil strife and controlled the situation in Korea.

Huang Taiji saw that his plan had failed, and considering that the Great Zhou and the Mongolian tribes were threatening him with troops on both sides, he had given up the idea of ​​attacking the DPRK this time.

Shen Yuan listened quietly without saying a word until the emperor finished speaking. He waited for a moment before speaking: "I congratulate your majesty and the Great Zhou!"

"Indeed, I should be congratulated for finding a great talent for governing the world." Emperor Yuanzhen said with a smile, "If it weren't for Huaizhong's words during the palace examination that day, my Great Zhou would have been in an extremely dangerous situation."

"Your Majesty, you are overpraising me. As the old saying goes, there are many good horses, but few good horse trainers. If it weren't for your majesty's wisdom, how could I have the opportunity to serve you?"

Emperor Yuanzhen raised his hand and said, "Huaizhong, there is no need to be too modest. I will remember all your contributions."

After saying this, the emperor stared at Shen Yuan, then suddenly changed the subject and asked in a clear voice, "What does Huaizhong think about Beijing Prince Shui Rong?"

Shen Yuan was startled when he heard this, and he quickly pondered the emperor's words.

Emperor Yuanzhen's question is by no means simple.

It seems that he wants to hear his evaluation of Prince Beijing, but who is Prince Beijing? He is the most powerful person among the descendants of the founding military heroes.

In fact, I was just asking him what he thought about the entire military honor.

In addition to this, Emperor Yuanzhen probably had another idea in mind, which was to test Shen Yuan's level of trust in him as the emperor.

If Shen Yuan's subsequent answer was superficial and perfunctory, it would mean that the young man was deeply concerned about the emperor.

Shen Yuan’s subsequent answer directly affects whether he and Emperor Yuan Zhen can establish real trust.

(End of this chapter)