Chapter 277 Night Talk (Two Chapters in One)

Xiao Zhen shook his head: "My grandson still has some things to deal with in Tongzhou, so he can't leave for the time being."

Zhao Xingzhou was displeased. Is there anything in this world more important than protecting my great grandson?

"Isn't it just about saving people? Let others do it. You don't have to do it yourself. There are more important things waiting for you to do."

Xiao Zhen shook his head again: "What if the grain in Huiji Granary was resold under the pretext of disaster relief? Grandfather, do you think this is not important?"

Zhao Xingzhou was shocked: "Are you serious?"

Xiao Zhen said solemnly, "The reason why my grandson came back so late was because he was busy with this matter. He caught the criminal red-handed."

Zhao Xingzhou was furious and asked in a deep voice, "Who did this? How dare they do this?"

Having said that, Zhao Xingzhou knew very well that Huiji Granary was first built during the reign of Emperor Taizu of Dayong. It was a military granary during wartime. After peace came to the world, Emperor Taizu ordered the construction of two large granaries, and Huiji Granary was one of them.

The importance of Huiji Granary to the Dayong Dynasty is self-evident, and its management is extremely strict. Local officials have no right to open the granary to release grain.

Either he has an imperial decree or he is an imperial envoy with the power to act at his own discretion.

Whether it is the disaster-stricken Tongzhou or Gaoping that received the victims, who else could be the one who could mobilize food from Huiji Warehouse except the Fourth Prince who was hiding in the mansion and dared not come out?

As expected, Xiao Zhen said, "It was the Fourth Prince who mobilized the reserve grain from the Huiji Warehouse. The people who carried out the mission were two of the Fourth Prince's trusted aides, Zhang Hui and Liu Wang. The people in charge of escorting the grain were Jinyiwei flagmen Yang Fan and Ding Gao, along with their men, a total of twenty people.

When the grandson learned that Zhang Hui and Liu Wang had secret dealings with merchants, he sent someone to follow them secretly. Sure enough, he found that Zhang Hui and Liu Wang went ashore on the way to entertain Yang Fan and Ding Gao, and negotiated a deal with the merchants during the meal.

Except for Yang Fan and Ding Gao, the other 18 Jinyiwei were all involved in this matter and had agreed on how to divide the spoils.

On the way, Ding Gao and Zhang Hui led ten grain ships to meet up with merchants, unloaded most of the grain and replaced it with sand. The grandson and his men arrived, and after a fierce fight, they finally captured him and brought him to justice.

Two Jinyiwei were killed and seven were injured. Six Tongzhou yamen runners were killed and four were injured. It was a tragic event. Two of my grandson's guards were also injured, and my grandson also suffered minor injuries.

Having said that, Xiao Zhen rolled up his sleeves and showed his arms to Zhao Xingzhou.

His arm was injured. Although it was bandaged, blood oozed out again when he exerted a little force.

Zhao Xingzhou's face was gloomy. He asked, "Does that evil creature know about this?"

Xiao Zhen knew that the evil obstacle that the retired emperor was referring to was the Fourth Prince.

"After preliminary interrogation by his grandson, the Fourth Prince should be unaware of the situation for the time being." He did not excuse the Fourth Prince. He was being realistic. At least before today, the Fourth Prince did not know about it.

Zhao Xingzhou frowned deeply. "You mean, if that evil creature knew about this, he would continue to conceal it, or even become involved in the corruption?"

A sneer appeared on Xiao Zhen's lips. "Ding Gao is a stubborn man who said nothing, but Zhang Hui confessed everything. According to him, this is only the first batch of grain, and there will be at least two more batches. The total value of this batch of grain is 100,000 taels of silver. The four of them will each get 10,000, and the remaining 60,000 will be divided equally among the 18 Jinyiwei.

From this we can see that this first batch of 100,000 taels is just a preparation. If you want to pocket this 100,000 taels safely, you have to let more important people get involved. The Fourth Prince is undoubtedly that more important person.

As far as his grandson knows, the Fourth Prince has always been short of money. The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince both made their money through good means, but the Fourth Prince did not. Not only that, he also has the burden of the You Family, so he needs money more than other princes.

The first batch of 100,000 taels was divided among his subordinates, so there would be at least two more 100,000 taels for the next two batches of grain.

Zhang Hui and Liu Wang wouldn't dare take all the silver, and neither would Yang Fan and Ding Gao. But if they took the initiative to confess to the Fourth Prince, do you think he would remain indifferent or bring them to justice?

Zhao Xingzhou sneered. It’s not that I look down on these bastards. The second brother’s bastard is rotten from the root. The second brother’s biological father, that Xu, has a wife and a son, but he dares to seduce the daughter of an official. What good can this be?

Like father, like son. The second son’s father stole perfume and jade, so the second son dared to steal my kingdom. The second son’s son followed suit, so why wouldn’t he dare to steal relief grain?

"He dares, why wouldn't he? That's two hundred thousand taels of silver! No, if the merchant knew we were doing business with the prince, he might even raise the price. It would be more than two hundred thousand taels, maybe even three hundred thousand or four hundred thousand!"

Zhao Xingzhou was so angry that he wanted to throw things, but there was nothing else at hand except a few pillows, so he had to hit the bed a few times.

Xiao Zhen raised his eyebrows slightly. He had been practicing for many years, but he didn't expect that his temper would be even more violent than before.

A strict mother often gives birth to a good son. The retired emperor had a mother like Empress Dowager Qi. Although his character was not soft, it could be considered gentle.

Of course, if Xiao Zhen knew what kind of shock the retired emperor had suffered today, he would not be surprised. In less than half a day, the retired emperor not only knew that he had raised someone else's son for decades, that his daughter had been imprisoned for forty years, but also knew that he was very likely to have become a sinner of the Zhao royal family, and that all the ancestors in the Taimiao were waiting for him to go down and throw him into the oil pan to fry him.

Now that he learned that the relief grain in Huiji Warehouse was almost resold, it would be strange if he was not angry.

"What are you going to do?" Zhao Xingzhou took several deep breaths and finally calmed down.

Xiao Zhen said, "Today, Yang Fan and Liu Wang returned to Tongzhou with ten ships of grain. I wonder how they will explain the loss of the grain ships to the Fourth Prince."

Zhao Xingzhou looked at him and asked, "How do you think they will explain it?"

Xiao Zhen said, "They encountered robbers on their way to Tongzhou. Therefore, Yang Fan and Liu Wang will most likely blame the robbers for this incident. As for Ding Gao, Zhang Hui, and the eighteen Jinyiwei, they will symbolically search for them for a few days. If they can't find their bodies, they will assume they were swept away by the flood and died in the line of duty."

Speaking of this, Xiao Zhen thought of Yang Shengqiu in his previous life.

He had already learned about the Saker Falcon from Zhao Shiqing. In his previous life, Yang Shengqiu was picked up by the Saker Falcon, but ended up gaining a good reputation for dying in the line of duty.

Xiao Zhen continued, "As for whether the Fourth Prince believes it... Ten ships of grain were lost, and there were nineteen Imperial Guards. It would be difficult for the Fourth Prince to explain. Moreover, the Fourth Prince has the Imperial Guards by his side to pacify Li Qing. So what better excuse could there be than robbers and floods? There is none."

Zhao Xingzhou sighed. Yes, if one wanted to shirk responsibility, it would be perfect to blame the robbers and the flood.

"What do you want to do next?" Zhao Xingzhou asked.

Xiao Zhen smiled. "Now that we've caught the perpetrator red-handed, no major losses have been caused. Even if this matter is reported to the court, the Fourth Prince will only be accused of lax discipline. At most, he will be fined a few months' salary. Maybe it can even offset the merits of this trip to Tongzhou. He can be said to be completely unscathed."

Zhao Xingzhou's expression grew increasingly gloomy. This was indeed the case. The result of this incident was that the merchants and the Jinyiwei who were captured at that time were beheaded. If the Fourth Prince was smart and took the initiative to submit a memorial to apologize, this matter would have been resolved.

But as Xiao Zhen just said, as long as the Fourth Prince sees the sweetness of this time, he will definitely be extremely greedy for the second and third batches.

But that never happened.

"Doesn't that mean we're going to let him off easily?" Zhao Xingzhou's voice was squeezed out from between his teeth, and every word was cold.

Xiao Zhen became more and more curious about what had happened today. Judging from the attitude of the retired emperor, he seemed to want to find a guillotine to strangle the fourth prince.

Does he hate the Fourth Prince so much?

Don’t you treat the Fourth Prince as your grandson anymore?

You have to know that when this old man was still in power, although he didn't care about his grandchildren, he was quite nice to his grandsons. He often invited his grandsons to the palace. When they were young, these princes often showed off in front of him.

For example, the fourth prince once showed off the pony his grandfather had given him as a reward, and said that his grandfather would not even give him a whip. His mother was so angry that she forced his father to take him to the stable at night to choose three foals.

The retired emperor loved every grandson equally for only a little over ten years, and now he doesn't like them anymore?

Could it be that he knew about the hooked nose?

Apart from this, Xiao Zhen couldn't think of any other reason that would make the emperor grit his teeth at his grandson whom he hadn't seen for more than ten years.

The more he thought about it, the more curious he became. Xiao Zhen didn't even want to bother with the emperor anymore. He just wanted daybreak to come soon so he could find Zhao Shiqing and get to the bottom of things.

It’s better to give the emperor some reassurance first, otherwise he won’t be able to sleep tonight.

Xiao Zhen is very tired and he wants to sleep now.

"My grandson wants to keep this matter quiet for now. In other words, he wants the merchant to go to Liu Wang and tell him that the Imperial Guards wanted to keep the 100,000 taels for themselves. Ding Gao and the 18 Imperial Guards not only stole the silver and grain, but also killed Zhang Hui."

Zhao Xingzhou was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud. Good, great, he is worthy of being my grandson to come up with this idea. That Liu Wang is the confidant of that evil creature, so he must be good at guessing his mood. He lost 100,000 taels in vain and lost ten ships of food. Liu Wang doesn't want to suffer any loss, so he will definitely tell that evil creature about this. Let's see what that evil creature will do.

"Good boy, Grandfather has high hopes for you, just go for it boldly."

The corners of Xiao Zhen's mouth twitched slightly. Listen, when he asks me to do something, I am a good boy and a grandfather, but if I don't do things to his satisfaction, he will immediately become me.

"What about going to Gaoping..." Xiao Zhen looked embarrassed. After all, the emperor had already said that there was nothing more important than going to Gaoping to protect Xiao Yue.

Zhao Xingzhou waved his hand and said, "I'll let my granddaughter go with me. You can go ahead and do your thing."

Listen, it’s me again.

But why did he drag Zhao Shiqing along?

The official road from Tongzhou to Gaoping has been blocked. Although it is possible to get through, the risk is very high. Xiao Zhen himself is not afraid, nor is he worried about the emperor, but he does not want Zhao Shiqing to take the risk.

"Miss Zhao Er, no, my cousin is just a delicate little girl. Let her stay in the mountains. If your grandfather is short of manpower, your grandson will pick a few people to escort you."

Zhao Xingzhou thought to himself, this grandson shouldn’t be praised. He is so young and his eyesight is not good, so how can he see that Xiaoshiqing is so delicate?

That girl is full of evil intentions. She played me around and forced me to sign a bunch of documents. I didn't bother with her as a child. I asked her to accompany me to see my grandson. Am I wronging her?

This is called accompanying driving!

It’s a blessing that can only be earned through several lifetimes!

"That's none of your business. Just go about your business. I have my own ideas."

Xiao Zhenxin said, what is your idea? Isn't it just to let a girl follow you on an adventure?

They are all grandfathers, but the difference is between the one who is related to you and the one who does it.

Mr. Zhen would never do this!

"Grandfather, you may not know this yet, but the official road from Tongzhou to Gaoping has been washed away by floods, and the road conditions are extremely dangerous. Although my cousin knows some fancy moves, she is a girl after all. In a crisis, not only can she not protect you, but she will also become a burden. Your grandson is really worried about you. How about you stay in the mountains for a few more days, and once your grandson finishes the things on hand, I will personally escort you to Gaoping. What do you think?"

Zhao Xingzhou's brows furrowed even tighter. I finally understood what you said. You are not worried that the little girl will drag me down, but you are worried that I can't protect the little girl!

Aren’t we just cousins ​​today? Why are you so concerned about us already?

No, no!

How could I forget that girl was on the mountain, and Xiao Zhen was also on the mountain, they knew each other!

"I forgot to ask you, when did you and my granddaughter meet? Why are you both in Tongzhou? Did you meet in Tongzhou, or did you come to Tongzhou together?"

Zhao Xingzhou thought carefully and recalled that when he first met Zhao Shiqing in Wu, Zhao Shiqing had several followers around him, but Xiao Zhen was definitely not one of them.

Later, I met Zhao Shiqing again at Dongxian Temple. She was still surrounded by those little followers, and Xiao Zhen was definitely not there.

Zhao Shiqing had a bad relationship with the old Princess Liang and ran away from home. She had followed her master to the mountains to learn skills since she was a child, so although she ran away in anger, others thought she had returned to the mountains, but in fact she was wandering around. When she was met at the Dongxian Temple, she had even run to the vicinity of the capital.

So how did Xiao Zhen know her?

Did they meet in Liangdi? Or did they meet during her travels?

Has Xiao Zhen been to Liangdi?

Xiao Zhen did not hide anything and told the truth: "Miss Zhao Er is a great benefactor of the Princess's Mansion. She saved my grandson's mother and father."

Zhao Xingzhou's eyes widened in surprise. Yes, hadn't the Grandmaster just given him a dream? In the dream, Jiayi and Xiao Jingyan were both dead, dead in Liangdi!

But in reality, Jiayi and his wife are not only alive and well, but they also have a little daughter.

"Tell me about it in detail."

Xiao Zhen then recounted everything that had happened at Wisteria Villa that year. If Zhao Shiqing had not arrived in time and caught the assassin, his parents and his cousin would all have died.

Zhao Xingzhou nodded. I have a really good vision. Although Xiao Qing is a little naughty, she is really a good child. She not only saved Ruyi, but also saved Jiayi. She saved my two daughters one after another.

"Alas, if I had known this, I would have adopted her as your mother's daughter," said Zhao Xingzhou.

Xiao Zhen: Thank you, it’s a good thing you didn’t do that.