Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 294 No Chance to Speak

East four.

Sun's rice shop.

Sun You was meeting with merchants from the capital, and he was facing a very thorny problem. That was... a large number of the rice he had purchased before were infested with insects and mixed with mud and sand. After careful inspection, he found that there were quite a few problematic goods.

"Can this kind of food be sold casually? It will kill people!"

Sun Chengying stood nearby, her beautiful eyes looking like she wanted to eat someone.

The merchant from the capital sitting opposite him kept apologizing, but unfortunately, the merchant was not the one who sold the grain, he was just a middleman.

Sun You said, "Manager Lu, since you already know that this batch of grain is not good, then quickly find the person who caused the trouble... This transaction is not small in amount. Are all businessmen in the capital so deceptive?"

The shopkeeper surnamed Lu shook his head and sighed, "The other party has a government background, so it's not easy to deal with him. Look... I've returned all the benefits I received from you before... From now on, our Lu family will no longer care about this matter, please forgive me."

"So, you really are deliberately trying to trick people?"

Sun Chengying immediately ordered people to block the door and prevent Manager Lu from leaving.

Shopkeeper Lu said angrily, "Master Sun, you have to be reasonable... You asked me to help introduce the merchants, and you selected the merchants yourself... You thought this batch of grain was cheap, so they shipped it from Shandong, Henan and other places. I only charged a small amount of agency fee, you can't let me take the blame, right?"

Sun You said coldly: "I'm not trying to embarrass you, but you need to find the person who caused the incident."

"Ugh!"

Shopkeeper Lu said helplessly, "Forget it, forget it. Let me be frank with you. This matter... is actually related to the original owner of this place. You and the Crown Princess's father, Lord Zhang, are from the same hometown. Don't you know that he once did business here, but had to close down because of a feud with someone?"

Sun You asked curiously: "Could it be..."

"It's the Peng family."

Shopkeeper Lu said with a sad face, "Because of this incident, my Lu family business suffered a lot of losses. If I hadn't always valued integrity, I wouldn't have come to you to explain. I could have stayed indoors or hidden away."

Sun You said angrily, "I have no dealings with the Peng family. Just because I sublet this shop, he is trying to trick me?"

Shopkeeper Lu said, "Hey, how can we reason with the rich and powerful? I was just a middleman, but I was also cheated out of a sum of money. What does it have to do with me?

"Master Sun, I advise you to take a step back on this matter. The Peng family is not easy to mess with. Master Peng's father is a senior official in the current dynasty and has great power. Even if you take the matter to the government, no one will care."

Sun Chengying pursed her lips and looked at Sun You with disdain: "Father, is this the good place you found?"

Sun You said helplessly, "Son, don't complain first, let's sort things out first. This batch of grain is obviously inferior and passed off as good quality. To put it bluntly, it was done by a villain. If the matter is brought to the government, the Peng family will definitely be sued... Why can the people of the elder family be dishonest in doing business?"

"Ugh!"

Shopkeeper Lu said, "You can only punish the master of the Peng family if you find out that he is the master of the Peng family... The problem is that if you pursue him, he will definitely deny it to the death. At most, he will find someone to be a scapegoat. In the end, you won't even be able to see him when he is sent to the government. As for suing him... Who would be willing to accept the lawsuit?"

At this point, Shopkeeper Lu no longer wanted to waste time talking to Sun You, and waved his hand, "I'm leaving first. This time, it was all our fault for being short-sighted, so no one should blame anyone else.

"I received less goods, and you received more. But if we say we lost money, it's only 1,800 taels of silver. Just think of it as a lesson learned."

……

……

Shopkeeper Lu looked regretful. After leaving Sun's Rice Shop, he immediately took a carriage to meet Peng Mianfu.

When Peng Mianfu saw Shopkeeper Lu, he casually handed him a wooden box.

"You're too polite, Mr. Peng."

After Shopkeeper Lu opened it, he found several silver ingots of different sizes and a lot of copper coins inside. Although the total amount was less than twenty taels of silver, he could barely feel the other party's sincerity. After all, Peng Mianfu was well-known for his stinginess.

The main reason why he acted as an accomplice was to be able to take over the business that Peng Mianfu would give him in the future.

Peng Mianfu smiled and said, "Did the Sun family see it?"

"seen."

Shopkeeper Lu said, "Besides Mr. Sun, there is also his daughter."

"That old fellow has a daughter?"

Peng Mianfu asked curiously, "Isn't he from Hejian Prefecture? I heard he has a great reputation... Why would a scholar let his daughter show up in public? Is she not married?"

"That girl is beautiful, but she is unmarried. As far as I know, the Sun family had an engagement with the Zhang family, and our Crown Princess almost became the Sun family's daughter-in-law."

Shopkeeper Lu told everything he knew as if he was gossiping.

Peng Mianfu sneered after hearing this: "They pushed a daughter who was once betrothed to someone else to be selected as the Crown Princess, and let her succeed? The Zhang family thought of this... It's simply courting death! If His Majesty and the Crown Prince knew about this, let's see how they would end it. This matter should be publicized to the outside world."

Shopkeeper Lu asked curiously, "Master Peng, this doesn't seem to be a secret. Many people in Xingji and even the capital know about it. Are you sure the court doesn't know about it? In fact, who cares if there is an engagement or not? As long as the girl is not married, isn't it the same?"

"If a person is untrustworthy, he cannot stand. How can a woman be betrothed to two families? If a person can't even keep his marriage contract, how can he stand in the court?"

Peng Mianfu's words were righteous and stern.

These words scared Manager Lu.

Shopkeeper Lu thought to himself, you are such a good guy, Mr. Peng, not only do you cheat people in business, you also cheat your father. How can such words as "no trust, no foundation" come out of your mouth, a person who has no integrity?

"Okay, you can go back first. I'll come back to you next time if I have business."

Peng Mianfu smiled and said, "I don't know if this incident has caused serious damage to the Sun family. I want to make sure they can't stand up again. No one around Zhang Laizhan can be left alive!"

……

……

in the afternoon.

Empress Dowager Zhou has returned to Qingning Palace to rest, and she still seems to be in a bad mood.

Zhu Jianshen returned to the Qianqing Palace and didn't even bother to read it. He just waited for Li Zisheng and Wei Tai to come to him to report the situation.

As the sun set, the two finally returned.

"how?"

Zhu Jianshen asked directly without waiting for the two to greet.

Li Zisheng took out a few pieces of wood, put them on the table, and said, "Your Majesty, I have checked the wood used to rebuild Wanhe Temple. All of them are old materials taken from abandoned buildings. In terms of quality, they may not be as good as the original ones. In addition to being soaked in water, some places have been eaten by insects, and many places in the middle are loose, which is very dangerous."

Zhu Jianshen was a rigorous person after all. He picked up a few pieces of wood and took a look. Even though he was not an expert, he knew how poor the quality was.

After Wei Tai's explanation, he learned where these woods were used and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

Li Zisheng said, "Your Majesty, I have also inquired about the situation of the Beijing troops used to repair the Wanhe Temple. It was said that 148 people were transferred to help with the temple repair, but in fact only 31 people went. I don't know where the rest were transferred to, but the expenses were all recorded in the accounts here."

Zhu Jianshen's face was grim: "How much money did you spend on this renovation?"

"The accounts show that more than 14,670 taels were spent, but the actual expenditure... was probably only one or two thousand taels." Li Zisheng also seemed helpless.

"Who has the money now?"

The muscles on Zhu Jianshen's face kept twitching.

My money was just being cheated away like this?

Did you make my mother so angry that she was unhappy? Did you make my filial piety less than expected? And you almost missed today's badge ceremony?

Li Ziwei said tactfully: "I'm afraid we can only ask the person involved."

"call……"

Zhu Jianshen tried his best to suppress the anger that was about to burst out, and said in a cold voice, "It's so difficult to build a Buddhist temple. In the past few years, there have been so many projects to be done inside and outside the palace. The annual expenditure of the inner court is so huge that it is almost unable to make ends meet. Is it possible that all the money has gone into the pockets of certain people?"

Li Zisheng advised: "Your Majesty, this matter is a little strange, maybe there is something hidden?"

"What's the strange way?"

Zhu Jianshen rebuked, "The facts are right here. The accounts don't match, the materials are inferior, and even the occupation is problematic... So many problems have come together. Can you blame someone for framing them? Or, even if someone took advantage of the project funds, embezzled them, or even blasphemed the gods and Buddhas, this shouldn't have appeared in the Queen Mother's dream?"

It was obvious that deep down in his heart, the emperor had already convicted certain people.

Li Zisheng said: "Your Majesty, calm down. This matter should be investigated carefully."

"Then check it out!"

Zhu Jianshen asked, "Did Wei Xing reveal anything?"

"Never."

Wei Tai replied.

"Interrogate him thoroughly and check Wei Xing's private residence to see how much silver he has embezzled!" Zhu Jianshen shouted sternly, "I can't let him spend it comfortably, even if it's just a penny." Tan Chang and Wei Tai looked at each other.

The two exchanged glances, as if talking.

It seems that Your Majesty did this because he is short of money.

……

……

Interrogation room of the Northern Pacification Division.

Wei Xing had been hung on the rack for a day and was in a very bad condition. The Jinyiwei neither conducted a substantive interrogation on him nor revealed anything to him, so that until now he still didn't know why he had fallen to such a state.

"I want to see His Majesty..."

This is the phrase Wei Xing shouts most often.

Because even Wei Xing himself knew that the emperor was dissatisfied with him and that was why he was imprisoned. If this was true, it could only mean that there was a misunderstanding between him and the emperor.

Since there is a misunderstanding, it is best to clarify it face to face.

Regardless of whether he is right or wrong, as long as he can see the emperor, there will always be room for explanation. Zhu Jianshen has always been very tolerant of these old people in the palace.

I waited until the next afternoon before someone finally showed up.

It was Wei Tai who brought Zhu Ji to the interrogation room in person. As soon as he came in, Wei Tai covered his nose.

Zhu Ji advised, "Eunuch Wei, I'm afraid you won't be able to adapt to this place for a while... Because it's underground and never sees the sun, it smells very musty, mixed with rottenness and blood. People who are not used to it may even vomit bile... How about you wait outside first?"

Wei Xing, who was dying, felt very upset after hearing this.

They are all "Eunuch Wei", why are you so polite to him, while leaving me hanging here for a whole day and night without anyone paying any attention to me?

"No need. I am in charge of the East Factory. If I can't even adapt to this kind of occasion, how can I complete the task entrusted by His Majesty?"

After saying that, Wei Tai loosened his hands that were covering his nose, got used to the stench in the torture room, then walked to the rack and looked at Wei Xing who had just opened his eyes.

Wei Xing glared at Wei Tai and shouted, "It's all you treacherous people who are trying to sow discord in front of His Majesty. When I get out, I'll make sure you guys pay."

"Hehehe..."

When Wei Tai heard this, he couldn't help laughing out loud.

The sound, like that of a night owl, made Wei Xing feel creepy.

Wei Tai laughed and said, "Wei Xing, this is your first day on duty. You don't know what the Jinyiwei Beisi Yamen is, right? Have you ever heard of anyone who came in and left in one piece? You must be wondering why they are targeting you. You think I'm a traitor, but what about you?"

"I……"

Wei Xing was speechless for a moment.

Wei Tai continued, "Your Majesty asked me to ask who is behind this. Now that your house has been raided, you don't think someone is causing trouble for you for no reason, do you?"

"What!?"

Wei Xing was heartbroken and felt that the situation was serious, but the problem was...

He couldn't figure out what he had done recently to make the emperor so angry.

Wanhe Temple is being rebuilt?
I'm sorry, I, Wei, have done too many things that are corrupt and unjust, and many of your majesties know about it. But I was never punished before, and now you are punishing me today just for a small project like the Wanhe Temple?

Is it worth it?
Moreover, the Imperial Household Department is responsible for so many projects. Unless all the projects fail at the same time, it will probably alarm the emperor. But so what? Eunuch Liang will take care of everything!

How could Your Majesty start a war just over a small economic issue?

Wei Tai rubbed his head and said, "Maybe it's your fate. Have you ever checked the almanac before going out recently?"

"..."

Wei Xing was speechless.

It seemed that Wei Tai had no intention of clearing up his doubts.

Wei Xing understood instantly.

If the reasons were explained to him, he would have a chance to confess and perhaps would not have to be beaten. But if nothing was revealed and he was left to guess on his own... he would inevitably suffer injuries. Wei Tai could then report that Wei Xing had refused to admit it, and in the end Wei Tai would still have the moral high ground.

"Eunuch Wei, Master Wei... Please give me the lowdown first, considering our long-standing friendship."

Wei Xing was also panicking at this moment, and quickly pleaded, "If you don't ask for anything else, at least let me know what happened... Once this is over, generous gifts will be sent to your house. Didn't you always say that the Imperial Household Department should accept the dispatch of the Imperial Household Department? From now on, whatever you say is what's the law."

Wei Tai shook his head and said, "It's too late. What did you do earlier?"

Wei Xing said, "It's not too late, it's not too late. I haven't done anything evil, I haven't offended the emperor, and I haven't lied to the emperor. Even if I have made some minor mistakes, it shouldn't be so serious that I can't get out, right? When I get out, won't it be time for me to repay you?"

"Why are you so stubborn?"

Wei Tai turned his face up and said, "Your house has been raided, do you think you can get out? Even if you are lucky enough to survive, you will probably be skinned alive, and who knows where you will be exiled to in the future. I am counting on you to repay me? You still don't know who you have offended, right?"

"Who?"

Wei Xing tried desperately to recall the past, as if grasping at a life-saving straw, but he could not remember who he had offended.

Wei Tai said: "I should give you some time to think about it. Commander Zhu, get to work."

After saying that, Wei Tai was too lazy to talk nonsense with Wei Xing, so he turned around and walked outside, leaving all the matters of torture and interrogation to Zhu Ji.

……

……

Wei Tai went outside to wait first. He sat on a chair, crossed his legs, and drank tea leisurely. Occasionally he heard a scream or two coming from the inner room, and he felt extremely happy.

He was bored and simply closed his eyes to rest. Suddenly, he felt a rustling sound and a cold wind blew in his face. He opened his eyes alertly and saw Chen Gui standing in front of him with a pale face like a ghost. Wei Tai was shocked.

"Eunuch Chen? What are you doing here?"

Wei Tai stood up, glared at the uninvited guest in front of him, and shouted, "Is this a place you can just come to casually?"

Chen Gui sniffed the strong smell of blood in the air, swallowed his saliva, and said timidly: "Your Majesty went to see the Queen Mother again, and the old ancestor asked me to come here to take a look at the situation. He also said that if Wei Xing was stubborn, let me persuade him. After all, we work in the same government office, so it is easier for us to talk."

"Haha."

Wei Tai's expression changed instantly after hearing this, and he said with a smile, "So you are here on duty. Are you here to supervise the work? I'm sorry that I didn't understand... Please take a seat."

"Yes Yes."

Chen Gui sat down opposite Wei Tai, behaving very reservedly, and even seemed a little at a loss when Wei Tai poured him tea.

Wei Tai pointed in the direction of the torture chamber in the backyard and said, "Don't mind. The trial is going on right now. Let's have some tea first and take it easy before we go see the criminal."

Chen Gui asked hesitantly, "What did you find out during the interrogation?"

"Nothing said."

Wei Tai shook his head and said, "Eunuch Chen, why do you look a little unusual? Are you afraid that I will implicate you, or... are you feeling the same pain as the rabbit?"

"what?"

When Chen Gui heard this, he was so scared that he stood up quickly. The tea in the bowl in front of him spilled onto the coffee table. He quickly reached out to straighten it.

Wei Tai said: "Oh, look at my mouth... Please forgive me, I just don't know how to speak. After becoming the commander of the East Factory, I have faced too many vicious people. Even my normal words are a bit vicious. Please forgive me."

"No...no..."

Chen Gui smiled awkwardly and said, "Eunuch Wei, you are right. Wei Xing and I work in the Imperial Household Department together. We see each other every day. It is inevitable that I can empathize with him when he is punished."

Wei Tai smiled and said, "What are you worried about? Doesn't this just prove that you have found a good backer? Wei Xing and Liang Fang went to Queen Wan a long time ago, but it's a pity that Queen Wan is not here now, so they have no backer, right?"

After saying that, he looked at Chen Gui with a mischievous look, as if to say, your backer is the same age as Lady Wan, is he going to be married soon? Of course, he would never say such words.

Chen Gui said: "I will have to pay you a visit in the future. Please give me some advice from you and Eunuch Tan."

"How can you say that?"

Wei Tai said, "As ministers in the same palace, we should give each other advice. Eh? Why is there no sound now? I guess it's almost done. Let's go and take a look together."

"Please."

"I'll lead the way, and you just follow."

(End of this chapter)