42 Do You Really Want to Disappoint Your Majesty?
The butler didn't care about anything else and hurried in. "Master, the rumors are all over the place. It is said that you want to restore the reputation of the banquet and live up to the title of "the highest virtue is like water" of His Majesty, so you decided to donate 50,000 taels of silver to Zhuzhou!"
"What?!" Zhang Shengmin was shocked!
When Zhang Chongshan heard the last sentence, he fainted from anger!
"Father! Someone come quickly! Get a doctor!"
"Hey! Master!"
The Zhang residence suddenly became a mess!
The doctor finally came over, took the patient's pulse and prescribed some medicine, but he only said that the patient fainted due to sudden anger, and would be fine after a while.
After that, he took out a silver needle and gave Zhang Chongshan a few more injections, and Zhang Chongshan gradually woke up.
As a result, before the people had a good rest, Xiao Huanshan came with Xu Huaili in the evening.
Especially Xu Huaili, who had a sword on his waist and directly transferred a group of soldiers from the military camp to strengthen his strength.
That doesn't look like asking people to donate money, but rather like a confiscation of property!
Xiao Huanshan was elegant and had a warm smile. He said to Zhang Chongshan, whose face was dark blue, "Grandmaster Zhang is so righteous. I appreciate your kindness and would like to express my gratitude to you on behalf of the people of Zhuzhou."
Zhang Chongshan's mind was buzzing, and Xiao Huanshan's words "righteousness, Zhuzhou, thank you" kept echoing in his mind.
Zhang Shengmin said angrily, "Minister Xiao, why are you here so late and saying something that is not true?"
"Your Majesty sent us here to collect donations. Naturally, we hope that the Grand Tutor can donate generously to save the people from dire straits." Facing the anger of the visitor, Xiao Huanshan did not feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he became more calm.
The sky was getting darker and darker, making it hard to breathe.
Zhang Chongshan panted and said, "This old man, this old man should naturally do his part for the people of Zhuzhou."
"Master Taifu is wise and righteous, and I respect him very much. This is..." Xiao Huanshan pointed to the group of people behind him.
"I heard that the Grand Master wanted to donate 50,000 taels, so I didn't let General Xu come along because I was worried that if something went wrong with such a large sum of money, it would be difficult to report it."
He was also very kind to explain it to Zhang Chongshan.
"You...!" Zhang Chongshan pointed at Xiao Huanshan with his trembling hand. How could this be for the safety of the money?
This, this is clearly a robbery! ! !
Fifty thousand taels! ! ? ? Half of his family assets would be emptied! !
"Minister Xiao, you also said... I just heard it! This is clearly just a rumor."
"Besides, I also intend to donate money to Zhuzhou. This small token of my appreciation is not a sign of respect. I hope that the people of Zhuzhou can overcome the difficulties as soon as possible, and Minister Xiao can report back earlier. Otherwise, I will definitely go to His Majesty to explain everything!" Zhang Chongshan suppressed his anger and asked someone to take out a box and hand it to Xu Huaili.
Xu Huaili didn't answer, nor did he say anything. He still held the sword with one hand and put the other hand on his back. He was so cold and unyielding!
Xiao Huanshan smiled, "We all know what Master Zhang is thinking, and the people in the capital all know it. We also respect your virtue, Master Zhang, and you have always been both virtuous and talented, but..."
Changing the subject, Xiao Huanshan took two slow steps forward and lowered his voice by two centimeters. "Grandmaster Zhang, His Majesty has high expectations of you. After all, he personally bestowed the calligraphy on you on the day of the banquet, and it was witnessed by all the ministers. Could it be that you..."
"Are you really willing to disappoint His Majesty?"
The faint sound rang in Zhang Chongshan's ears, and he suddenly recalled the scene when His Majesty personally came that day.
Zhang Chongshan was startled all over, and suddenly raised his eyes to stare at him, trying to see if there was anything wrong with him.
In just three seconds, Xiao Huanshan smiled slightly, but the smile was just on the surface.
Xiao Huanshan was very calm. After he finished speaking, he took a step back, put his hands together, bowed, and said solemnly, "Taifu's noble righteousness makes us admire him!"
"We admire you!" Xu Huaili finally took out his hands and bowed to the Grand Tutor like Xiao Huanshan.
Zhang Chongshan was forced to take a step back, his face full of sullenness. He held his forehead with his hand as he was suffering from a severe headache. He gritted his teeth to steady his breath, asked the butler to get the silver, and also gave him the key to his private vault.
"Father!" Zhang Shengmin's face changed, "Does our family really have to donate 50,000 taels?"
Zhang Chongshan raised his hand to stop his son from speaking, his wrinkled face becoming more serious. "Shut up! Do as I say!"
Zhang Shengmin was filled with resentment. Seeing these two people strolling leisurely in the garden as if they were in their own home, and even taking the time to drink a sip of tea, he was so angry that he couldn't speak.
He just couldn't understand why his father cared about such an illusory reputation? !
It's just a rumor, how can we stop the mouths of those lowly people?
After donating these fifty thousand taels, they might really think that the Taifu Mansion is very wealthy.
Some people with ulterior motives may even suspect that the money was obtained through corruption or bribery. Isn't this just handing more evidence to the other party? ! !
After waiting for a long time, the butler finally managed to gather the fifty thousand taels, followed by a group of servants carrying boxes.
The butler leaned close to Zhang Chongshan and whispered something, then handed him the key.
Zhang Chongshan was in a complicated mood, but he nodded helplessly, "Minister Xiao, General Xu, this is the 50,000 taels donated by my Zhang family, please accept it."
"Master Zhang, you are embarrassing us by saying this. We still trust your way of dealing with people. However, for the sake of fairness, there happens to be someone among my men who knows something about account books and money. Why not let him take a look?" Although Xu Huaili's tone was one of negotiation, he did not wait for Master Zhang's consent.
He just turned sideways and called someone over, "Go and take a look!"
"You are going too far!" Zhang Shengmin's eyes were bloodshot and he was furious!
Zhang Chongshan was unusually calm, but at that moment, he seemed to have aged a lot. His voice was low and weak, and he sighed, "Let's see."
The heavy box opened with a buzzing sound, revealing mostly silver and some jewelry.
The jewelry...was part of his wife's dowry.
"Most of this silver is the reward from the late emperor and Your Majesty. Now it has been returned intact. I hope Your Majesty can save the people of Zhuzhou from the dire straits. This old man... my wish has been fulfilled..." Zhang Chongshan sighed with regret, waved his sleeves and walked inside with a staggering step.
The jade is returned intact to Zhao State. What a great return of the jade to Zhao State!
Xiao Huanshan now understood that he already knew the truth of the matter, and he sighed in his heart, Your Majesty... Your Majesty, you really are so hard-hearted and merciless!
"Sir Xiao, the inventory has been counted correctly!" Xu Huaili bowed.
"In that case, let's go." Xiao Huanshan looked at the twilight in the sky. The setting sun would eventually slowly set, and he didn't know whether the bright moon would appear.
Zhang Shengmin didn't know what had happened or why his father suddenly changed his mind, and he became completely exhausted.
He ran to his father's study to ask for a meeting, but the housekeeper stopped him and said he would not see anyone.
Zhang Shengmin was terrified, his mind was in a mess, and he felt as if the world had changed.
At this time, his daughter Zhang Hanyue came over and asked, "Father, is General Xu here?"
"Yes." Zhang Shengmin said subconsciously with a numb expression.
Zhang Hanyue was delighted. "Then where is he? Is he here to propose marriage?"
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