Chapter 367: Did you bring the official seal? Can you lend it to me?

It is impossible to tell the difference between basking in the sun and looking at the moon. Xu Yu was caught red-handed and was completely shameless. He held Sang Zhixia's face with both hands, moved forward, and started to smack her.

"Zhizhi, don't ask anymore. Give me some face."

Sang Zhixia was at a loss for words: "You didn't go when I called you, and then you went to lie on the roof at the last minute. Aren't you afraid that others will mistake you for a thief and catch you?"

"What's there to worry about?"

Xu Yu's face was full of indifference: "Chen Anzhu seems easy to control, but in fact he is very wary."

"If someone else were to talk to her today, or if you and I were to go together, she would hold back even more."

Sang Zhixia herself might not be aware of it, but she has a harmless and peaceful quality that makes it difficult for people to be on guard.

Even if you are using threats or inducements, as long as you remain calm, people will not be overly offended.

Sang Zhixia didn't dwell on this point and simply said, "It's good that you heard everything, so I don't have to repeat it again."

"Do you think what she said is true?"

"I reckon it's a lot more genuine than those fake deeds."

Shen Anzhu may not have said everything, but what he had said was already a pleasant surprise for Xu Yu.

The position of the crown prince is so stable that, in addition to the emperor's favor, the support of powerful families is indispensable.

The Yu family, as the prince's maternal family, was the first to be hit.

The Yu family has been in charge of the salt administration for many years. All the annual taxes collected on sea salt and well salt must pass through the hands of the Yu family.

If it weren't for the Yu family's huge influence on salt administration and the road they had paved for the prince over the years, the prince would not have dared to go so far in the matter of Shu.

If exposing the ugliness of the salt chaos in Shu was like puncturing the prince's purse, then the impact on his family was like directly breaking the prince's arm.

This situation can be managed.

Countless thoughts flashed through Xu Yu's mind, and he finally decided, "I'm going to find Zhao Zhongquan right now and let him know about this."

"Zhao Zhongquan?"

Sang Zhixia looked peculiar. "I heard a few days ago that a fire broke out in the post station where the imperial envoy was staying at night. It was suspected that salt bandits had come down from the mountains to cause trouble. Didn't Zhao Zhongquan escape from the fire?"

"Where are you going to find someone?"

Xu Yu had a strange look on his face. He sighed and said, "That old fellow was lucky. He didn't get burned to death."

Sang Zhixia showed an expression of listening attentively.

Xu Yu raised his chin towards the downstairs. "I brought back someone who could make three steamed buns in a day. He's Zhao Zhongquan."

Sang Zhixia's mind flashed through the image of a slovenly man stuffing his buns with a face full of resentment. Her eyes were complicated. "Wasn't Zhao Zhongquan the top scholar thirty years ago?"

Can the third place winner look like this?

Xu Yu said in a leisurely tone, "Who knows? Maybe eating too many buns will make you ugly?"

"Zhizhi, take a break first. I'll go find Zhao Zhongquan."

Xu Yu was about to leave when he suddenly thought of something and turned back: "There are things on the table for you. Take a look at them and get a rough idea."

"After three days, when everything is done, we'll take the area you've circled and go to the government office to reclaim the Sun family's territory."

Sang Zhixia didn't quite understand what Xu Yu meant at first, until she saw clearly what was left on the table, her eyebrows raised silently.

This turned out to be a rough distribution map of the Sun family's land from farmland to the manor, detailed down to location and size, and even covering what these places were used for before they were forced to be abandoned.

With these things as a foundation, the rest of the things will be much easier.

Sang Zhixia coughed to lower the upturned corners of her mouth, then sat at the table and carefully studied the booklet drafted by Xu Yu.

It was Shen Anzhu who first used the fake land deed to defraud money.

Shen Anzhu was not kind at first, so it was not too much for her to ask for something tangible as a reward.

She had to hurry and choose something that suited her before the Sun family overturned the verdict.

Sang Zhixia was carefully marking the territory according to the blueprint. When Zhao Zhongquan downstairs heard what Xu Yu said, he couldn't even put down the half bun left in his mouth.

Xu Yu poured Zhao Zhongquan a cup of tea with a complicated tone, fearing that this man would choke to death before accomplishing his great task.

Zhao Zhongquan stiffened his neck and gasped for breath. His face flushed red and he couldn't control his excitement, his eyes widening. "Are you serious?"

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Can we really find the salt administration approval documents and account books from over ten years ago?"

Xu Yu said lazily, "Why would I lie to you?"

"It's just that I was young more than ten years ago and didn't know the situation at that time. Was the Yu family's control over the salt administration really that strong?"

Perhaps because Xu Yu had already seen him at his most embarrassed state, Zhao Zhongquan was no longer bothered to pretend.

Zhao Zhongquan rolled his eyes and sneered, "It's more than just control."

"Back then, the Yu family was so powerful that there was even a saying among the people: 'A grain of salt from the Yu family is worth ten thousand taels of gold in Kyoto.' What kind of situation are you talking about?"

Xu Yu smiled but didn't respond. Zhao Zhongquan continued, "The current old man of the Yu family is ten years younger than your grandfather, but he retired even earlier than your grandfather did. Do you think he did it willingly?"

The salt administration controlled by the Yu family was in great chaos, but the emperor, out of consideration for their old friendship, could not bear to criticize them too much, so someone had to step forward to take the blame.

Up to this point, the Yu family seemed to have no involvement in the salt administration anymore, but with the crown prince paving the way in front and the path they had been operating for many years behind, how could the Yu family be willing to give up this path?

Zhao Zhongquan was forced by his innate loyalty to the emperor to say little about the prince's misconduct, but he was not polite at all when criticizing the Yu family's misdeeds. Every sentence was ironic and every word was sharp.

When he finally finished his rambling, Xu Yu suppressed a smile and refilled his empty teacup with water. "So, the Sun family's incident coincided with the bloody reshuffle of the salt administration in the imperial court?"

Zhao Zhongquan took a swig of tea and nodded grimly, "Not bad."

"The reason why this case was so high up and so easily dropped was not only because the person involved was the Yu family's grandfather, revered as the prince's maternal grandfather, but also because the evidence that could have convicted him was lost."

There's evidence.

The evidence was lost.

Xu Yu tasted the subtlety of the two lost words on his tongue.

Zhao Zhongquan sneered angrily: "If the evidence of the crime was visible, the Yu family's crimes should have been confirmed more than ten years ago. If the evildoers had received the consequences long ago, why would they be involved..."

Zhao Zhongquan stopped talking halfway, as if he was avoiding something.

Xu Yu's eyes were filled with amusement when he heard this, and he said playfully, "Are you blaming the Yu family for leading the prince astray?"

"you……"

"What are you afraid of? There are no other ears here."

Xu Yu curled his lips nonchalantly and said calmly, "More than ten years ago, the Crown Prince had not yet entered the court. I think it has nothing to do with the past. It is definitely the Yu family's fault. Now it is different from the past."

"The salt disaster in Shu, the silver earned from the snowflake salt, all went into that person's pocket. This can't be someone else's fault."

Zhao Zhongquan was very reluctant to talk about this with Xu Yu, and said irritably, "Do you need to remind me of this?"

"Since you said you have evidence, where is it? When can we..."

"What's the rush?"

Xu Yu tapped lightly on the table and smiled deeply: "That thing is in someone else's hands. It will take a little effort to get it out."

"Did you bring Lord Zhao's official seal?"

"Can you lend it to me?"