Chapter 490 The Money-Grubbing Corner Tower
Seeing that Qiao Qinghe remained silent for a long time, Wu Yuan waited patiently.
After a long silence, Qiao Qinghe finally asked, "Min Pan'er's heart is with the Prince of Chu. Doesn't His Majesty care at all?"
Did Emperor Xiaozhao not care about the Prince of Chu? Or did he not care about any of his sons?
Or is capturing Min Ji more important than using his son as bait?
"This question costs a thousand taels of silver," Wu Yuan demanded, making an exorbitant demand.
Qiao Qinghe's lips twitched. What had she asked? And now he wanted to charge her a thousand taels?
Even so, she still counted out a thousand taels of silver and handed it over.
Wu Yuan accepted the silver note with a smile and said cheerfully, "I care."
And then what? That's it?
Qiao Qinghe stared at Wu Yuan in disbelief. "I have a reasonable suspicion that you're trying to scam me out of my money!"
Wu Yuan said without changing his expression, "Madam, you are mistaken. I have said before that I only sell information, but I cannot guarantee its authenticity."
Qiao Qinghe frowned. "But your answer is too simple, isn't it? You dare to sell me a thousand taels for just two words?"
"Madam, please don't be angry. Think about what you're asking about." Wu Yuan cupped his hands towards the direction of the palace and said respectfully, "Since the matter involves His Majesty, it's only natural that the price is higher."
Qiao Qinghe gritted her teeth and asked, "You dare to sell the Emperor's information? Believe me, when I have an audience with the Emperor, I'll expose what you've done to him?"
Wu Yuan half-covered his mouth with his hand, lowered his voice, and said furtively, "This is permitted by His Majesty!"
His Majesty specifically instructed that Lady Qinghe is wealthy, and that we should try to extract as much money as possible from her.
Qiao Qinghe felt a tightness in her chest, a feeling of being unable to breathe properly, making her extremely uncomfortable.
"Does the old lady need any other information?"
Wu Yuan asked with a smile, "For example, news about Consort Xian? For example, news about Compiler Lu? And for example, news about the Marquis of An'nan's residence?"
Qiao Qinghe looked at Wu Yuan with a strange expression. She believed that Wu Yuan would not speak without reason, so this information was actually what Emperor Xiaozhao wanted her to know, right?
But why did Emperor Xiaozhao want her to know about Consort Zhao?
Her connection with Consort Zhao stemmed from a past conflict with Consort Zhao's nephew. However, Consort Zhao's nephew had already been sent back to his hometown by Grand Secretary Zhao. The matter was considered closed.
It seems that the two of them have no other interaction, right?
wrong!
Consort Zhao and the Lady of Annam were close friends. The Lady of Annam, on the other hand, was her mortal enemy.
Furthermore, Lu Ming, who had previously broken off engagements with Min Yuexi and Li Sanqi, eventually became engaged to Princess Li Jingyue, the daughter of Consort Zhao.
Thinking of this, Qiao Qinghe quickly asked, "How much does it cost for information about Consort Xian?"
"Not much, three thousand taels." Wu Yuan squinted at her and smiled, as if he were looking at a god of wealth.
Qiao Qinghe's face instantly darkened. "Is Huajiaolou robbing us?"
Wu Yuan said calmly, "I guarantee that the information about Consort Xian is absolutely worth the price."
Qiao Qinghe reluctantly counted out a stack of silver notes and handed them over, "If it's not worth this price, this is the last piece of information I'll buy at the Corner Tower."
Wu Yuan happily accepted the silver note and said cheerfully, "Consort Zhao is not the daughter of Grand Secretary Zhao, but the daughter of former Grand Secretary Lu Shanglin. She is the aunt of Lu Minglu, the compiler."
"Back then, Grand Secretary Zhao was Grand Secretary Lu's mentor, and he felt guilty because of Grand Secretary Lu's death."
"So when Consort Zhao came to us for help, we lent her a hand and allowed her to enter the palace as the youngest daughter of the Zhao family."
Upon hearing Wu Yuan's words, Qiao Qinghe's eyelids twitched involuntarily.
Consort Zhao was actually the daughter of Grand Secretary Lu. No wonder the Earl of Annan, who was on good terms with her, was targeting her at every turn.
I originally thought it was just because the An'nan Earl's Mansion sided with the Lu family and was retaliating against the Xuanping Marquis's Mansion.
wrong!
Isn't it common knowledge that the Annan Earl's Mansion sides with the Lu family?
Even with the addition of Consort Zhao, who was hiding her identity, nothing changed.
What did the Emperor mean by specifically letting her know this news?
Should she be directed to Consort Zhao? Or to Lady Annam?
Surely you don't mean to make her pay attention to the Zhao family?
When she was besieged by multiple parties and taken to court, the Zhao family testified truthfully and did not take advantage of her misfortune.
The Zhao family, at least the Zhao family under the rule of Grand Secretary Zhao, had a reputation for integrity.
So, what message did Emperor Xiaozhao want to convey to her?
Unable to figure it out for a moment, Qiao Qinghe put it aside and stopped thinking about it.
"The news compiled by Lu..." Qiao Qinghe hesitated for a moment, then said, "I won't ask."
Anyway, Lu Ming's information is all out in the open, so there's nothing to ask.
Seeing that she didn't ask, Wu Yuan stiffened almost imperceptibly, then smiled and said, "The information compiled by Lu is not expensive, only five hundred taels. It's still a good deal."
Qiao Qinghe thought for a moment, and compared with Consort Zhao's three thousand taels, it did not seem expensive. So she counted out the silver notes and handed them over, saying, "Speak."
Wu Yuan grinned and quickly said, "There is a mysterious master behind Editor Lu, Editor Lu is also involved with forces in Jiangnan, and Editor Lu has a lot of strange poisons in his possession."
Qiao Qinghe's lips twitched.
Qiao Qinghe was not surprised that Lu Ming had poison.
The strange medicine that the old lady of the Sun family used to poison Madam Zheng was later proven to be made by Mu Jin.
Qiao Qinghe was also aware that the Sun family had some ties with the forces in Jiangnan.
The most important crime that led to the confiscation of the Sun family's property was collusion between officials and businessmen, embezzlement, and bribery, involving an extremely large sum of money.
If I remember correctly, they confiscated 800,000 taels of silver from the Sun family's house, which filled an entire basement.
Since the Sun family is a member of the Lu family, it's not surprising that the poison came from Lu Ming, who has ties to Jiangnan.
But what about the mysterious expert behind Lu Ming?
Seemingly sensing the doubts surrounding globalization, Wu Yuan offered a free tip: "At first, we thought the mysterious master behind Editor Lu was Sun Shiming. But it turns out that it wasn't."
Qiao Qinghe paused, her eyes widening in astonishment. "You don't suspect that the mysterious expert behind Lu Ming is Min Ji, do you?"
Wu Yuan smiled but remained silent. His attitude was already quite clear; that was their guess.
Qiao Qinghe patted her chest, confirming that she had only made wild guesses before asking Min Ji if his inside man was from the Lu family.
In fact, the Lu family is the least likely to collude with Min Ji!
Because Lu Shanglin truly resigned from his post in despair and died in depression because of Min Ji's scheming!
unless……
Qiao Qinghe swallowed hard, looking at Wu Yuan nervously, "Could it be that Lu Shanglin isn't dead?"
If Min Ji could fake his death, why couldn't Lu Shanglin fake his death?
Wu Yuan held out his hand, "Three thousand taels."
Seeing Qiao Qinghe's dark expression, Wu Yuan added with a smile, "This time, the information is guaranteed to be true."
Qiao Qinghe reluctantly counted out another three thousand taels and handed it over.
After paying the bill, I had very few banknotes left.
Eight thousand taels, and only a few hundred taels are left.
This is truly outrageous!
Qiao Qinghe tossed the last few silver notes over in an annoyed tone, "Take them all. You're such a money-grubber!"
After Wu Yuan chuckled and collected all the silver notes, he said, "Lu Shanglin is dead. It's absolutely true. Our men have already dug up his grave to confirm it."
This time, Qiao Qinghe was truly dumbfounded.
Since Lu Shanglin is really dead, how could the Lu family possibly cooperate with Min Ji, who killed Lu Shanglin and caused the Lu family's decline?
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