Chapter 46 First, give him fifty lashes.

Jiang Yu had handled many cases, both big and small, in her previous life, accumulating a wealth of experience. To investigate a matter thoroughly, as long as you grasp the key points and then meticulously unravel the clues, you will always be able to reconstruct the truth.

After thinking for a while, she said to the Duke of Chu, "The ship that the Chen family of Jiangzhou sold to my father has now been discovered to be transporting smuggled salt. Would my father be involved in smuggling salt?"

"No," the Duke of Chu said with certainty, "He doesn't have the guts."

Jiang Yu agreed, as smuggling salt was too risky. Although Jiang Chengye was short of money, he wasn't so short that he would resort to smuggling salt. Of course, the possibility that he knew the inside story and was getting a share of the profits couldn't be ruled out.

But regardless of the reason, this was definitely a trap set by someone else to lure Jiang Chengye into.

“If someone is plotting against my father, then the eldest son of the Chen family in Jiangzhou is the key figure,” Jiang Yu said. “Let’s make another assumption: if the Chen family in Jiangzhou originally used this ship to transport smuggled salt, did Kong Wenjie, the former transport commissioner of Jiangzhou, know about this?”

The Duke of Chu tapped the table in deep thought. After a while, he said, "To embezzle so much money, one must be greedy. There's no reason not to know."

“I think so too,” Jiang Yu continued her analysis. “If the Jiangzhou Transport Commissioner was also involved in smuggling salt, then this is definitely not a small gang. Smuggling salt is extremely profitable, why would the Jiangzhou Transport Commissioner risk his life to make so much money?”

The Duke of Chu narrowed his eyes. "He is not the mastermind."

Jiang Yu nodded. "Then, who could be the mastermind?"

The Duke of Chu fell silent again. After a while, he said, "Jiangzhou is adjacent to Nanling Prefecture. There is a king of a different surname in Nanling Prefecture, the King of Lingnan."

Upon hearing this, the Duke of Chu and Jiang Yu exchanged a silent glance, both feeling that this guess was very likely correct.

Just then, the steward's voice came from outside, "Your Excellency, the Heir Apparent and the Eldest Young Master have arrived."

Jiang Yu picked up his cup and drank his tea. The Duke of Chu said, "Take them to the dungeon."

Jiang Yu paused in his tea-drinking motion; it seemed the Duke of Chu was about to strike with deadly force this time.

“Father, Father,” Jiang Chengye rushed in and knelt down in front of the Duke of Chu with a thud, with Jiang Jiarong kneeling behind him.

"Father, what mistake have I made? Please tell me, and I will definitely correct it." Jiang Chengye looked extremely sincere, as timid as could be, and Jiang Jiarong was no less so.

Judging from their cowardly behavior, Jiang Yu didn't believe they would dare to participate in the smuggling of salt.

The Duke of Chu remained unmoved. He looked at the steward standing at the door and said, "Take them both to the dungeon."

"No, no, no, Father, I'll change, I'll change everything. I'll send away all the actors I'm keeping outside, I'll send them all away," Jiang Chengye said hurriedly.

The Duke of Chu showed no sign of emotion. He glanced at the steward at the door, who immediately ordered several guards to restrain Jiang Chengye and Jiang Jiarong and drag them toward the dungeon.

Jiang Chengye cried out for mercy and refused to cooperate. The Duke of Chu said, "If you want everyone in the manor to see what you look like now, then shout as loud as you can."

Jiang Chengye stopped shouting, and Jiang Jiarong behind him didn't dare to utter a word.

"Help me to the dungeon," the Duke of Chu said to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu stood up, and only then did Jiang Chengye and Jiang Jiarong notice that Jiang Yu was there too. Jiang Chengye's face flushed red; just a few days ago, he had been putting on a respectable act in front of Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu seemed oblivious to his embarrassment, helping the Duke of Chu walk out. Several guards escorted the now-cease-struggling Jiang Chengye and Jiang Jiarong towards the dungeon.

Not long after they left the courtyard, Lu Yifang and Zhang Xiangling hurried over, both looking flustered. They bowed to the Duke of Chu, and Lu Yifang asked, "Your Excellency, this...this is..."

"You can leave it to yourselves. This time, I will not let them off the hook." The Duke of Chu looked furious, as if Jiang Chengye and Jiang Jiarong had done something outrageous again.

Lu Yifang and Zhang Xiangling, intimidated by the Duke of Chu's authority, dared not say anything more and both looked at Jiang Yu. Jiang Yu could only say to them, "Father and elder brother really went too far this time."

What did they do that went too far? Let them figure it out themselves. Anyway, these two have done more than one or two outrageous things.

In short, the fewer people who know about buying boats and smuggling salt, the better.

Soon they arrived at the dungeon entrance. Jiang Chengye and Jiang Jiarong were taken inside first, while Jiang Yu helped the Duke of Chu walk slowly inside.

"My ancestors followed the founding emperor in conquering the country and were later enfeoffed as the Duke of Chu. By my generation, there have been five generations of Dukes of Chu."

As they walked, the Duke of Chu said to Jiang Yu, "They say wealth doesn't last three generations. The Duke of Chu's family almost went bankrupt in the third generation, but they managed to pull through. I'll tell you about that later."

Now, the Duke of Chu's mansion is facing another crisis. I just don't know if it will be destroyed in my hands.

Jiang Yu pondered these words. The Great Gan Dynasty has a history of more than 100 years since its founding. According to the laws of social and economic development, it should be declining now.

Without reforms, the Great Leap Forward might face turmoil within a few years. If this turmoil is merely a domestic reshuffle, that would be manageable; the real fear is that it could end up like the Qing Dynasty of the past, encountering foreign enemies.

This is a dynasty completely different from the history of her previous life. Jiang Yu doesn't know what stage this world has reached, but she hopes it's before the Industrial Revolution in the West.

A century of humiliation is etched into the blood of every Chinese person. Having transmigrated to this place with the same culture as her previous life, Jiang Yu does not want it to suffer the same humiliation.

Jiang Yu, lost in thought, walked to the torture chamber, where Jiang Chengye and Jiang Jiarong were already kneeling, trembling with fear.

After the Duke of Chu sat down, he said, "Use a whip to lash me. First, give me fifty lashes."

"Father, why? Tell your son, what did I do wrong?" Jiang Chengye was almost in tears.

Jiang Jiarong chimed in from the side, "Grandfather, could you please give me a heads-up? What exactly did I do wrong?"

The Duke of Chu ignored the two men and said, "Fight."

The same two burly men were on duty today. Each of them carried a whip, which they raised and lashed down. They dared not hold back at all, following the Duke of Chu's orders; in no time, Jiang Chengye and Jiang Jiarong's backs were torn and bleeding.

After fifty lashes, the two men, who were used to a life of luxury, were almost on the verge of death.

The Duke of Chu waved for the servants to leave, and the door was closed, leaving only Jiang Chengye and his son, Jiang Yu, and the Duke of Chu in the room.

"Are you aware that those ships you bought were used to transport smuggled salt?" the Duke of Chu asked.

Jiang Chengye was stunned for a long time after hearing this. He did not expect that this matter had been discovered, but what was going on with smuggling salt?

"Hurry up and tell me!"

The Duke of Chu's roar brought Jiang Chengye back to his senses. He quickly said, "No, I don't know, I don't know anything about smuggled salt, I really don't know."

The Duke of Chu looked at Jiang Jiarong, who quickly shook her head. "I don't know either."