Chapter 834: Make a Fortune and Quit While You're at It
When Min An and others approached Liang Guangyi, Liang Guangyi did not refuse directly, but he did not know why the Liang family was unwilling to pay the part of the silver that had been promised before.
After Liang Guangyi came back from the palace that day, he looked much colder. His graying temples were still neatly combed, but he seemed to have little interest in the plans of the aristocratic family. He was no longer as careful as before in giving instructions and he did not stop Min An and the others.
He only said one thing, that he could test the queen.
But the Liang family did not spend a penny of the three million taels of silver.
"You are also from an aristocratic family, and you once said that the honor and disgrace of an aristocratic family are one. Our families have been together for many years, and this matter is particularly concerning to the Liang family..."
"When you deceived Duan Zhiru and the others into returning to the capital and colluded with King Hui without authorization, did you inform the Liang family at all?"
Liang Guangyi silenced several people's quarrels with a single sentence: "I have devoted years of my life to the aristocratic family, being extremely cautious and even kneeling at the palace gates, becoming a laughing stock, all to protect the future of the aristocratic family. But before you do what you want to do, have you ever considered the Liang family for a moment?"
"If you had told me your feelings that day, if you had been grateful for my years of protection, I wouldn't have been humiliated by the Queen after entering the palace, and I wouldn't have had to cover up for your actions with the entire Liang family."
"Since you've abandoned the Liang family to plan other things, why do you still want the Liang family to take risks with you?"
Min An's face looked grim, and the other people's faces also looked grim.
"Mr. Liang..."
"No need to say more."
Liang Guangyi waved his hand to interrupt them, his expression particularly cold: "I know that the prosperity of the noble families is shared by all, and I would not do anything to harm you, but this time, the Liang family will not interfere with what you are doing."
"If you want to test the Queen, then give me the silver. The Queen is not an ordinary woman, and her character is far different from what you think. Even if she is just bluffing, her power will not dissipate without the silver. If you give me the silver, I can make the trip for you. No need to say anything else."
Min An and the others were angry and annoyed by Liang Guangyi's stubborn words. It was they who first concealed the fact that Liang Guangyi had acted independently of the Liang family. Moreover, Liang Guangyi's words also revealed a piece of news, that is, the Queen probably knew that Min San and the others had returned to the capital, and even knew about their private "interactions" with Prince Hui.
It is very likely that the dispute between Liang Guangyi and the Queen in Lulingtai that day was because of these things. It was normal for Liang Guangyi to be angry when he suddenly realized that he was "betrayed" by them, and it was understandable that they refused to let the Liang family pay the money. However, they could not turn against Liang Guangyi, because only Liang Guangyi could "surrender" to the Queen and test her.
Min An and his friends left in disappointment, and several families gathered together to try to find a way to raise money.
Three million taels of silver, a full three hundred thousand gold, is not a small amount for the several aristocratic families that are no longer as prominent as they used to be. The key point is that after the Liang family expressed its position, Feng Qiuli also used the same excuse to say that the Feng family would not get involved in the matter and would not contribute a penny. Even the Cui family and the Li family, which had long lost their presence, repeatedly declined.
The Cui family had an easy excuse. When Cui Lin got into trouble, the Cui family had already emptied their family assets and even embezzled Mrs. Cui's dowry in order to protect him. The Cui family paid one-third of the 800,000 gold that Xiao Yan took away. After Cui Lin's death, the woman of the Cui family took charge. Mrs. Cui could not come up with the money, and no one could force her to pay.
Li Wenchang of the Li family is even more of a fence-sitter. The Li family is the weakest among the several families, and he always follows Feng Qiuli.
Seeing that the Liang, Feng, and Cui families refused to give him money, he simply stayed indoors. When asked, he cried poor, and when asked again, he acted pitifully.
The Shi family had long lost hope, and in the end, only the Min, Fan and Duan families could come up with the money.
The people from the three families were so angry that they cursed their mothers. Even Liang Guangyi suspected that they might back down. Who could have thought that the three families actually gritted their teeth and raised the three million taels of silver in just two days.
However, they also played a trick. The silver notes delivered to them were only 2.1 million taels. The remaining 900,000 taels were deducted by shops and houses in the capital, fertile fields and farms in the suburbs of the capital, and even some other rare curios, ancient books, pearls, porcelain and other items.
…
Xue Ru squatted on the ground and rummaged through the things in the box. She couldn't help but mutter, "Sister, these people are really smart. You clearly said you wanted silver, but they actually sent so many shoddy things to fill the gap."
Tang Ning looked at the room full of gold, silver and jewels and chuckled, "It's just that I'm planning to take the original items back after the matter is completed."
How could she not understand the thoughts of those people from the aristocratic families? They just felt that the house deeds, land deeds, jewellery and other belongings could not be moved for the time being, and that the money given out might be wasted even if they fell out with each other later. However, these things could be taken back in the future, so it was no big deal even if they were temporarily "stored" with her.
Yue Jian whispered, "Your Majesty, are you going to force them a little more?"
Tang Ning said, "No need. The three of them have already managed to gather so much money in such a short period of time. Without the help of the other families, even if they were forced to do so, they could only add another 100,000 or 200,000 yuan at most, but that would take too long."
She wanted to deal with the aristocratic families, pull out the thorns that Beiling had buried in the capital, and take the opportunity to get some money from the aristocratic families to support the battlefield, but she also knew that the affairs in the capital had been going on for long enough and could not be delayed any longer, otherwise there might be changes.
She must ensure that the turmoil in the capital is within her control and no accidents can happen.
"Brother and the others have already left. Beiling is still a little short of success. Go and release the last bait to provoke the rat hiding in the dark so that he can completely let go and act."
Yue Jian's eyes flashed: "Yes."
Tang Ning glanced at the dazzling silver and said to Hua Wu, "Go and tell Minister Qian to come to the palace. Also, have the Gu family's steward come as well. Exchange these jewels and artifacts for cash and provisions as soon as possible and hand them over to Minister Qian."
Hua Wu immediately grinned, "Minister Qian should be happy again. A few days ago he was scowling and saying he didn't have enough money, but he will definitely be beaming from ear to ear soon."
…
The queen accepted the silver and released the women of the Shi family, and the investigation by the Ministry of Justice also stopped.
Guo Changming colluded with officials and businessmen, bought and sold fugitives, embezzled and neglected his duties, deceived his superiors and concealed the truth from his subordinates. The Queen directly ordered the death penalty for all nine generations of his family. The entire Guo family was also convicted. However, although Shi Qingrong was still imprisoned, the Queen did not directly order his death.
Later, Liang Guangyi brought back news that the Queen hinted that the Shi family could spend money to "redeem" Shi Qingrong, and that Guo Changming's affairs would not implicate the Shi family.
Min An and the others' hearts, which had been tense, suddenly settled down, and then they were ecstatic.
The Queen was indeed bluffing!
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