Chapter 62 Chapter 62 [VIP]
Chapter 62
Even though the Third Lady doubted her intentions, she did have some trust in her when she mentioned the eldest son. And when she saw that she looked half-dead and came to her with injuries to report the news, she believed it 70% more.
The remaining three points are due to impatience.
Her men had already failed, and she couldn't let them fall into the hands of the authorities alive.
——
It was almost dawn when Song Yunzhi and his party returned to the government office.
Chen Che didn't go out today, instead staying at the prefectural government office. He had thought that with Song Yunzhi and Wang Zhao on the scene, capturing the Qian family's seventh daughter would be more than enough. But after listening to Wang Zhao's account of tonight's encounter, he suddenly stood up from his seat and said, "Brother Song, if we don't send troops now, what are we waiting for?!"
No matter how powerful a merchant is, he is still just a merchant.
They dared to openly assassinate members of the royal family. Are they going to attack Kyoto and usurp the throne next?
Song Yunzhi was especially silent tonight. When he set out, there was still a hint of hatred in his eyes, but after he came back, there was only a dead look in his eyes. It was the first time that Chen Che saw fatigue in his eyes.
He said, "Rest first and discuss it tomorrow."
Shen Che didn't say anything else.
After tomorrow, there would be no need for him and Prince Song to hide their identities anymore. It would be better to make them public and reveal their identities to see if those bastards dared to come to the prefectural government to kill them.
Chen Che returned to his room.
Just as he reached the gate of the courtyard, a messenger came towards him and hurriedly handed him a letter, saying, "A young lady just came in, saying she is the fifth lady of the Qian family, and she insisted that I personally deliver this letter to Master Shen."
Chen Che's eyelids twitched whenever he heard the last name Qian.
He opened the letter and saw a single line of words on the entire sheet of paper. It read: [Cousin Shen, please be patient and wait for me to break the prison.]
Cousin Shen...
Who else would dare to call him that? How dare that witch come here! Why did she come to rob the prison? There was only Lu Daozhong in the dungeon, what did she have to do with it?
They dare to be so arrogant, how can Shen Che not cooperate?
He was holding back his anger towards the Four Great Merchants, but he had nowhere to vent it. Her arrival was just the right time. Chen Che went to the dungeon and said, "Everyone, get up!"
——
Qian Tong drew a layout of the prefectural government for the Third Lady, and pointed out the location of the dungeon and where her people might be imprisoned.
In a last-ditch effort, the Third Madam didn't dare to leave her fate to others. She recruited a group of secret guards, disguised them as merchants, and set off for the prefectural government before the morning light emerged from the sky.
After the Third Madam left, Qian Tong took a deep breath and fainted in the carriage.
When he woke up again, he was lying on a bed in the clinic.
The female doctor treated her wound and saw that she had woken up. She couldn't help but say, "I have never seen a girl as desperate as you. If you hadn't taken the pills in time and applied the herbs on the wound, ten lives wouldn't have been enough for you to torment her."
"Sister-in-law, you've got it wrong. If there wasn't a foolproof solution, I wouldn't have taken the sword." Qian Tong was helped up by her to drink the medicine, and he joked, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. People like me can't die."
Who can't die?
The flesh and blood body is fragile, and a minor illness can be fatal.
The female doctor sighed, "I know I can't persuade you, but I still have to say that although the wound is not deep, it is not shallow either. No matter how busy Madam Qian is, she must rest for five days."
Qian Tong obeyed the instructions for once, "Good boy, listen to your sister-in-law."
She did not return to the Qian family, but stayed in the clinic.
After taking the medicine and having breakfast, news from outside came in one after another.
—, The third wife of the Pu family attacked the prefectural government this morning and was caught on the spot by government officials. Later, ten carts of tea were found in her residence. This was the Jian tea that the government had previously confiscated in Fuzhou.
2. The people sent by the court were the prince of the Yong'an Marquisate, the eldest princess's son, the Minister of Revenue Song Yunzhi, and the queen's nephew, the young master of the Shen family, Shen Che.
3. Prince Song was the seventh uncle of the Qian family.
The three pieces of news exploded like thunder in Yangzhou city and spread quickly. People had heard before that officials from the imperial court had come to the south of the Yangtze River to investigate the four major merchants, but they did not expect that the people who came were members of the royal family.
No wonder the Cui and Lu families fell one after another when the imperial court arrived. I thought it would be the Qian family's turn next, but I didn't expect the Park family to be so aggressive and take action against the imperial court first.
Murdering an imperial official, who was also the emperor's nephew, was a move that was too arrogant for a merchant family, as it was tantamount to openly challenging the imperial court.
The same goes for the Qian family.
The first two pieces of news provided topics for people who liked to analyze the world situation, while the last piece of news became a topic of conversation for idle people after dinner.
Previously, many people thought that the Qian family had found a good son-in-law. Now that they knew the son-in-law's identity, everyone was worried for the Qian family. "I wonder what Miss Qian Qi feels. The person she casually found turned out to be the son of the eldest princess of the dynasty."
I think since I haven't seen the Qian family in the past few days, they are probably hiding in their houses and dare not come out."
In the past, choosing a son-in-law from an insignificant person to avoid the spotlight was a wise move. However, now, due to the reversal of status, he became a joke. "That's true. A merchant's daughter, what's so good about being rich? She looks like a prince. But don't you see what the Qian family's ancestors did? The Yong'an Marquisate, the Song family, and the Qi family are all such meritorious nobles. To put it bluntly, don't let the worm eat the swan..."
"You can't spit out ivory from a dog's mouth!" A servant with a broken leg in the Qian family teahouse couldn't stand it anymore and threw the tea in his hand in the other person's face. "My mistress never robbed or stole. She has never relied on anyone to get to where she is today. She earns her living with her own hands. She has a good character, takes from the people and gives back to the people. She has saved countless refugees and displaced people. Based on her merits, she deserves to be enshrined in the imperial temple long ago. Who doesn't deserve her? Why did you rush to my Qian family teahouse to make such a fuss?"
Half an hour later, Qian Tong met the housekeeper in the teahouse.
After hearing that Qian Tong was in the clinic, he hurried over to report it. The customers in the teahouse got angry and insisted on reporting to the police.
Knowing that a big shot from the imperial court was coming, they were no longer afraid of these merchants and beat people. The Qian family bullied others by taking advantage of their power.
What could the customer do to a man with a broken leg? Instead, he was slapped several times by the customer and his face was swollen.
The housekeeper thought that he could endure it at this critical moment and planned to pay some money to settle the matter, but the people around him started to make a fuss and instigated the young man to make trouble. He either called the police or asked the Qian family to come out and apologize.
Qian Tong had been in the clinic for five days and it was time for him to go out and meet the guest in person.
As expected, everyone got to see Mrs. Qian, who had been hiding at home for five days. She looked haggard and pale, and everyone was looking forward to seeing a good show.
However, after the other party roared out a long list of charges with full momentum, Qian Tong did not apologize or pay compensation, but simply slapped him in the face.
The other party was stunned for a moment, "You, you actually hit someone!"
Qian Tong nodded. "I will hit you. Go report it to the authorities. Go ahead. Let Prince Song arrest me." She glanced back at the mob that had gathered around her. "If you have any complaints, go report it to the authorities. But first, I, Qian Tong, hold grudges. Before you act, consider whether you have the ability and skill to withstand my revenge."
Most people tend to bully the weak and fear the strong. They can instigate others but are unwilling to be the first to take action. After all, the Qian family has not been punished by the government yet, so no one dares to touch this bad luck.
The young man who was beaten, although his morale was greatly reduced, did not lose face. He threw his sleeves and said angrily: "Okay, I'll report it to the police right away!"
As for whether he really went to report to the police, Qian Tong didn't bother to care. She hadn't been home for a few days, and the Qian family was probably more lively than outside.
What needs to be faced must be faced.
As soon as she stepped into the Qian family's threshold, the servants inside ran away in panic to inform the others. When she arrived in the yard, people from the three rooms of the Qian family rushed over.
Master Qian and Madam Qian were walking in front. Madam Qian wanted to ask first, but Master Qian stopped her, "Where have you been these days? Why haven't you sent any news back?"
Mr. Qian had been beaten, and he had become thinner, with a more hunched back. Qian Tong glanced at him calmly and said helplessly, "He's trying to hide."
Hearing her say this, Madam Qian's hope was completely shattered, and she asked in a lost voice, "Is he, is he really the Prince of Song?"
Qian Tong nodded, "Yes."
Just as she and Prince Song had said that day, Qian Tong saw shock on the faces of everyone in the Qian family, as expected. They all looked stunned, but only frightened, not surprised.
Madam Qian covered her chest with her hands and asked in a low voice, "Tongjie'er, tell me the truth. Where did you meet Prince Song? Did you do anything disrespectful to him?"
Isn't this nonsense?
It wasn't just her. When he arrived at the Qian family's house, the entire family looked down on him, calling him poor and trying every means to drive him out. Mrs. Qian even called him a gigolo in front of him.
Later, when he liked him, he started calling him son-in-law.
He heard everything the three of them said, and the more he thought about it, the colder his heart became. Not only Mrs. Qian, but also Mr. Qian didn't know how to deal with this matter. Therefore, he didn't dare to go out these days and kept waiting for Qian Tong to come back and find out what was going on.
Did Prince Song disguise himself and come to his Qian family on his own initiative, or was it just that Tong Jie'er was lucky and picked up someone at random, and he turned out to be Prince Song.
The former is more likely.
The prince seduced Tong Jie'er with his beauty, tricking her into taking the bait and lurking in the Qian family's den, hoping to find out if there were any problems with the family... He was completely oblivious and treated her like one of his own, even hosting an engagement party...
Thinking of what he said at the engagement party, Mr. Qian would rather have lost his memory after being beaten that day.
He couldn't remember how many things he had said that he shouldn't have said in front of him. It seemed useless to recall them now. What should he do next?
The prince has regained his status. Will he take action against his Qian family? Mr. Qian asked seriously: "Tongjie'er, have you interfered in the affairs of the third wife of the Pu family?"
The Pu family was used to running rampant in Yangzhou, and sooner or later they would be unable to bear it if the imperial court suddenly sent people to suppress them. However, he did not expect that the third wife would be so reckless this time and actually used such a stupid move to openly go to the prefectural government to assassinate the prince.
Isn't this seeking death?
What he was worried about was that if this action angered the Crown Prince of Song, he would directly bring troops to suppress the rebellion. Once the war between the court and the Park family broke out, Yangzhou would be finished.
Haozi had finally settled down for five years. Yangzhou had initially declined, but now it had become the commercial capital of Dayu. Although there were still refugees, they were from other places who had flocked in and wanted to make a living here.
Once a war breaks out, Yangzhou will regress to the state it was ten years ago, with people living in poverty and starving people everywhere.
Qian Tong didn't respond. He stood up and assured everyone, "Five days have passed. Aren't you all good people? Don't worry, I've already apologized to Lord Song and expressed my sincerity. From now on, we just don't need to mention this past in front of him."
She returned the tea to him intact.
Although he took away the second son of Park, she gave him the third lady of Park.
The Qian family's fleet had already placed his people there and gave him half of the money.
When she had formed an alliance with him, she had done everything she promised him, and except for herself, she had given him everything he should have given.
He shouldn't be angry anymore, right?
Five days had passed, and he hadn't sent anyone to her house to settle accounts, nor had he come to arrest her. He must have felt her sincerity.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, Ah Jin came in with an invitation and reported, "Madam, there's a letter from the prefectural government, asking you to attend a banquet tonight."
Everyone in the Qian family was worried and looked at Qian Tong.
Qian Tong asked, "Am I alone?"
A Jin: "Besides our family, I heard that the Park family and several cloth merchants were also invited..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
