Chapter 826 The Wife Ran Away
No one expected that Shi Qingrong would be imprisoned, and no one expected that the Queen would actually order the Black Armor Guards to surround the Shi family.
Cao Dejiang and Qian Baokun were calculating the consumption of food and grass at the border, and were stunned when they heard the news.
"You said the Queen took Shi Qingrong?" Cao Dejiang was surprised.
"Not only did they take it, they also made a huge noise."
Fu Laiqing rushed over and took a big gulp of water from the teacup, and his rapid breathing slowed down a little.
"The Black Armor Guards first surrounded the Shi family but couldn't find Shi Qingrong. They trapped all the women in the Shi family and then followed them all the way to the Liang family. Liang Guangyi went out himself but couldn't protect him. Geng Ji forcibly took Shi Qingrong away in front of the Liang family."
Geng Ji was previously unknown and no one had ever seen him. No one knew where he came from, but as soon as he entered the capital, he was in charge of the Black Armor Guards.
He looked gentle and handsome, and everyone thought he was easy to get along with at first. But who would have thought that after he joined the Black Armor Guard, he would become ruthless. The Black Armor Guards became mad dogs in his hands, fierce and cruel. No one who was bitten by him could live in peace.
Geng Ji's temperament is comparable to that of the former emperor. He doesn't give face to anyone. If it weren't for the rope in the emperor's hand, that man would have caused chaos in the capital.
This time the Queen ordered the capture of Shi Qingrong. If it were anyone else, they would have hesitated and not dared to act rashly. However, Geng Ji did not give Liang Guangyi any face no matter what he said. He tied Shi Qingrong in front of Liang Guangyi.
"Oh, right, Shi Qingrong tried to resist. He just shouted that the queen was immoral, and Geng Ji knocked out two of his teeth."
It was said that at the beginning Geng Ji politely announced the Queen's decree and asked Shi Qingrong to go with him, but after Shi Qingrong resisted, his teeth were knocked out, his arms were broken, and he was tied up with ropes and dragged away from the Liang family by the Black Armor Guards like a piglet.
That's really a complete loss of face and substance.
Qian Baokun laughed: "Serves you right!"
He put down the account book in his hand and was overjoyed:
"These people from the aristocratic families need to be taught a lesson. They really think that now is the time when the deposed emperor is in power. Your Majesty has punished them so many times, but they still don't know how to restrain themselves. They really think that the Ministry of Justice's mess can be concealed from others, and they even want to kill Guo Changming and put an end to it. What are they dreaming about!"
Qian Baokun was already proficient in numbers and was particularly sensitive to matters of silver and money. After he took office, the Ministry of Revenue was empty. At that time, the deposed emperor was incompetent and had no interest in government affairs, so he just muddled through. But later, Xiao Yan came to power and made drastic changes, requiring money everywhere. As the Minister of Revenue, he was so stingy that he wanted to break every penny into two halves to use.
When the case of the Ministry of Justice first came out, the Queen let him take a look at the confiscated items. At that time, Qian Baokun noticed that many things were wrong.
Later, he privately "hinted" a few words to the Minister of Justice He Cheng. He Cheng was also smart. He knew that he was not as good as professionals in this area, so he simply entrusted all the money that had been transferred from the Ministry of Justice over the years, as well as the expenses collected by some people below, to Qian Baokun.
This investigation revealed a lot of things.
At first, Guo Changming just thought that he was greedy for money like other people, but later when they found out that he was actually smuggling fugitives as slaves with his subordinates, even Qian Baokun thought that he was probably so poor that his brain was eaten up by himself.
The Queen held Guo Changming hostage to threaten the aristocratic family. Qian Baokun knew that he not only did not think that the Queen was asking for too much, but instead felt that it was natural and reasonable. He even planned where the aristocratic family would go after receiving the "ransom".
But the people from the aristocratic family actually wanted to kill Guo Changming to silence him, which was simply cutting off the financial resources of his Ministry of Revenue.
Qian Baokun snorted, "They took advantage of His Majesty's absence from the capital and bullied the Queen because she was a woman. Now they've hit a wall. They deserve it!"
Do you really think the Queen is easy to bully?
Fu Laiqing agreed with Qian Baokun's words: "Uncle Qian is right, they deserve it. Uncle is wise."
"A flatterer."
Upon hearing this, Qian Baokun rolled his eyes at him. He was not gentle towards his son-in-law at all. Instead, he snorted coldly and turned his head away.
Fu Laiqing touched his nose guiltily. Ever since the Qian family found out that he had "tricked" Qian Qiyue into getting engaged to him, they almost turned against him. Qian's second and third brothers had a cordial conversation with him, leaving him with a bruised face for several days.
The eldest brother of the Qian family was a gentleman, looking very kind and cheerful, yet he was secretly trying to trip him up and almost killed him.
As for Qian Baokun, who loved his daughter dearly, he looked down on him and said nothing about him. Not to mention the relationship between father-in-law and son-in-law, the only reason he was not beaten to death was because his future mother-in-law, Mrs. Qian, had tried hard to persuade him. Afterwards, Fu Laiqing sincerely apologized several times and even agreed to countless unequal treaties before he was finally allowed to enter the Qian family.
It’s a pity that my wife ran away.
Thinking of Qian Qiyue who was hiding in the Queen's Yongzhao Palace, Fu Laiqing couldn't help but hang his head.
Even though Cao Dejiang was worried about Shi Qingrong, he still felt irritated when he saw his son like this. What a useless thing! He was good at coaxing and tricking his way back into an engagement, but he couldn't coax his wife. Now he couldn't even coax his father-in-law. Back then, when he saw his father-in-law for the first time, he could coax him into a beaming smile, wishing they were brothers regardless of age difference...
Cao Dejiang glared at his useless nephew, but finally saved the situation for him.
"Guo Changming's assassination was probably not done by Shi Qingrong."
Qian Baokun was stunned: "Not him? Then..." He paused and lowered his voice: "Could it be the Queen?"
Cao Dejiang shook his head: "I don't know."
Although he had long seen that the Queen intended to force the aristocratic families, and the actions taken by the aristocratic families were infuriating, and the Queen did intend to use the Guo Changming incident to teach those people from the aristocratic families a lesson, it was not reasonable to cut off all the escape routes of the aristocratic families so directly.
There is nothing wrong with forcing some people to do something desperate, but driving them into a dead end will inevitably lead to a backlash.
Cao Dejiang said, "But regardless of whether it was the Queen's doing or not, now that Shi Qingrong is in prison and the Queen has moved against the Shi family, I'm afraid the capital will be in turmoil."
Upon hearing this, Qian Baokun lost his previous gloating expression and his face couldn't help but become a little heavy.
Fu Laiqing hesitated and said, "Uncle, do you think the noble family will..."
Cao Dejiang sighed softly: "I don't know."
When he first met the Queen, he could still see through her, but now he couldn't understand what the Queen wanted to do. But no matter what, she didn't seem like someone who would seek her own death.
Since she had made moves on Shi Qingrong, she must have been prepared in advance, and this time, she was probably planning for more than just the aristocratic families.
Thinking of Liang Guangyi, with whom he had fought for half his life, Cao Dejiang murmured softly, "I just hope that when that old fellow comes, he won't do anything foolish and ruin his lifelong reputation in vain."
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