The Prodigal Son

Yunhuai.

Shi Yi has also been busy these past two days.

Qin Yu and his group will be arriving in Yunhuai soon. Even if he's just going through the motions, he has to crack down on smuggled salt.

In the past two days, Shi Yi has arrested several smuggled salt dealers.

However, these smugglers were all small fry, just there to get by.

He knew the real big salt smugglers, but he couldn't be bothered with them.

Those people were all reserved for Qin Yu.

Qin Yu was reorganizing the salt administration, so he had to be given something to do to prevent him from investigating things he shouldn't be investigating.

Today, Shi Yi picked another unlucky guy to target.

These unfortunate souls added a compartment in the ship, piled other goods on top, and filled the interlayer with smuggled salt.

Having served as the salt commissioner of Liangjiang for so many years, he was all too familiar with such despicable methods.

"Take everyone away, and seize all these boats!"

Standing on the official boat, Shi Yi issued orders with an air of righteousness.

"yes!"

The salt transport officers and soldiers who received the order immediately carried it out.

"Sir, please spare us!"

"This ship isn't ours, please have mercy, Your Excellency!"

"We were scammed too..."

A group of unlucky guys cried and begged for mercy, but Shi Yi didn't even glance at them.

Doesn't he know whether these people are innocent or not?

"If you have to blame someone, blame the court officials and Qin Yu!"

Shi Yi silently told himself this and ordered his men to rush to the dock upstream of the sluice gate to conduct an inspection.

Shi Yi stood at the bow of the official boat, feeling the cold wind blowing from the river, and sighed silently in his heart.

Ugh!

The event that happened back then had a huge impact on historians.

If only that hadn't happened!

Thinking about what was on his mind, Shi Yi rushed to the dock upstream of the sluice gate. After a symbolic inspection, he headed home.

They had only gone halfway when Shi Yi's men rushed over to deliver the news.

"What?"

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, Shi Yi's expression changed drastically.

Qin Yu has already arrived in Linhai?

Moreover, without asking any questions, they directly took down all the officials in charge of Linhai?

asshole!

No wonder the people on the official ship kept stopping and starting, sending people to inquire randomly at the dock.

It turns out that all of this was a smokescreen by Qin Yu!

Including what Qin Yu had told me in the capital about seeing me again in Yunhuai, it was all a lie!

He intended to bypass the Grand Canal and head directly to Hai and Yuan prefectures, avoiding distractions from him and the salt merchants, and directly addressing the root cause of the salt administration problem.

What a cunning imperial envoy!

He's trying to create a huge mess!

That damn bastard!

How could it run so fast?

If Wang Zhaojie and his son are exposed, Jia Dequan will likely be in trouble.

If the investigation continues along Jia Dequan's line and leads back to Sun Min...

As he thought about it, cold sweat began to pour from Shi Yi's forehead, and his heart pounded incessantly.

"Quickly, back to the manor!"

Shi Yi hurriedly gave an order, then forced himself to calm down.

Don't panic!

We must not panic!

I've already made preparations in advance!

Qin Yu is probably still busy with matters in Yuanzhou and doesn't have time to come to Fangzhou!

As long as Sun Min is eliminated before he falls into Qin Yu's hands, everything will be fine!

Soon, Shi Yi returned to the Shi family.

As soon as he entered the door, Shi Wang hurriedly came up to him.

"I know everything. Let's talk in my study!"

Shi Yi stopped Shi Wang, who was about to speak, and quickly walked towards the study.

Shi Wang panicked and quickly followed.

As soon as the two entered the study, Shi Wang spoke up in a panic, "Qin Yu has gone straight to Yuanzhou! What should we do now?!"

"Don't panic!"

Shi Yi stopped him, "I thought about it carefully on the way back, and this might not be a bad thing for us!"

"Isn't this a bad thing?"

Shi Wang was panicked. "Wang Zhaojie and his son have been arrested, and it'll probably be Jia Dequan's turn soon. When that happens..."

"Shut up!"

Shi Yi stopped the completely panicked third brother, "We received the news, and Sun Min will probably receive it soon too! Now, Sun Min is worried about being implicated by Jia Dequan, so he took action to get rid of Jia Dequan in advance. But Jia Dequan was prepared, and in the end, he and Sun Min will fight to the death and perish together..."

Upon hearing Shi Yi's words, Shi Wang was immediately startled.

He finally understood what Shi Yi had been doing these past few days!

He was playing a much bigger game!

Once he came to his senses, Shi Wang calmed down a bit, and his brows gradually relaxed. "Second Brother is still one step ahead!"

That's why I told you not to panic.

Shi Yi glared at him. "We got through this back then, so we can get through it this time too! By the way, you didn't tell anyone else about that, did you?"

"No, no!"

Shi Wang shook his head repeatedly, "Even I wish I could forget about that incident, how could I dare to tell anyone else?"

"That's good!"

Shi Yi felt relieved, but then warned, "Those who achieve great things must remain calm even when Mount Tai collapses before them! Since the court is appeasing the Shi family, it means they don't want to take action against us! If the court doesn't intend to harm us, what is there to panic about?"

Shi Wang lowered his head, ashamed, and said, "It's mainly because after you mentioned that to me that day, I've been having nightmares lately, I..."

"That's your inner demon at work!"

Shi Yi said calmly, "Qin Yu is heading straight for Hai and Yuan prefectures this time, and he will surely find out a lot! But you can rest assured, any problems with the salt administration are nothing! The bigger the commotion Qin Yu causes in Hai and Yuan prefectures, the safer our Shi family will be!"

"What do you mean?"

Shi Wang raised his head and looked at Shi Yi with a puzzled expression.

"You're over forty years old, how come you're so slow and don't you even have a brain?"

Shi Yi glared at him and explained, "Qin Yu started the investigation from the source, catching everyone off guard. Most of the ten major salt merchants will likely be implicated!"

"But some people's issues are big, and some people's issues are small!"

"As long as the imperial court doesn't want the country to descend into chaos, it's impossible to eliminate all ten major salt merchants at once!"

"Compared to the problems of those profit-driven salt merchants, what are our family's problems with salt affairs?"

"No matter how much the imperial court makes an example of someone, it's not my turn to be a historian!"

Listening to Shi Yi's words, Shi Wang gradually relaxed.

Yes!

How could the imperial court possibly eliminate all ten major salt merchants at once?

Compared to those other greedy salt merchants, how much of a problem is the historian's?

The biggest problem was that they received more than they paid. On paper, they received 150,000 yin, but in reality, they received 170,000 yin. The extra 20,000 yin were not paid to the imperial court.

Currently, they have essentially covered up the evidence on this issue, and unless Qin Yu has extraordinary connections, he will not be able to find out anything.

As for the pitifully small amount of smuggled salt, if they really come to light, they can just push someone out as a scapegoat.

With this in mind, Shi Wang felt even more at ease.

Shi Yi pondered quietly for a moment, then instructed, "You should start your own investigation first! If Qin Yu traces it back to us, at least you'll have something to say!"

"good!"

Shi Wang nodded hurriedly, then lowered his voice and said, "Get rid of Sun Min quickly! The court is serious this time. Every day he lives, we are in greater danger!"

"Yes, I know!"

Shi Yi nodded emphatically, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Not only must he eliminate the threat, but he must also defeat Qin Yu!

He wanted to see just how capable Qin Yu really was!