Chapter 91 Only by Spending Money Can You Avert Disaster
Prince An followed the Imperial Guard to a courtyard, where he saw a large quantity of items piled up in the center. Dozens of boxes, filled with various antique porcelain pieces, filled the entire open space. However, for a prominent family to have so few items found seemed rather meager.
“Your Highness, I am not knowledgeable enough to know the authenticity of these antiques, but these gold and silver jewelry pieces are obviously not genuine,” the Imperial Guard said.
Prince An walked over, and someone immediately opened the box, took out a gold hairpin, and handed it to Prince An, saying, "Your Highness, please take a look."
Prince An took the hairpin in his hand, weighed it slightly, and knew it wasn't solid. The imperial guard then opened another box and said, "Your Highness, please take a look."
Prince An bent down and took out a piece of paper. The first thing that caught his eye was the word "pawn ticket". Then the Imperial Guard said, "This whole box is full of pawn tickets. I have seen that the Marquis of Jiangling's mansion has been pawning things one after another since five years ago."
Prince An looked down at the pawn ticket in his hand. It was a vase, and he had pawned it for one hundred taels of silver. One hundred taels of silver was an enormous sum for ordinary people, but for a marquis's household like the Marquis of Jiangling's mansion, it sometimes amounted to more than a single meal.
Looking at the box of pawn tickets, Prince An's gaze was quite enigmatic. He tossed the pawn ticket into the box, walked over to a glass vase with colorful patterns, examined it carefully, and then gently tapped it with his hand, saying, "It's a very realistic imitation."
The expressions on the faces of the Imperial Guards present were priceless. They never imagined that the seemingly prosperous and luxurious Jiangling Marquis's residence was actually so impoverished. The entire household had received less than a thousand taels of silver, the gold and silver jewelry was of dubious quality, and even the antiques were fakes.
They were exceptionally poor.
Let alone a thousand taels of silver, that would be a huge sum of money for an ordinary person. But the Marquis of Jiangling's family was a long-established powerful family in the capital, with more than two hundred servants.
Putting aside everything else, if each servant earns two taels of silver a month, then more than two hundred servants would cost five or six hundred taels. Add to that the family's food, drink, and social obligations, and a thousand taels of silver a month would definitely not be enough for the Jiangling Marquis's household. In other words, the Jiangling Marquis's current silver reserves are simply insufficient to cover their monthly expenses.
"No wonder they're smuggling salt," a member of the Imperial Guard whispered.
Prince An glanced at him indifferently, then said, "Put them all away."
"yes."
Several Imperial Guards quickly packed up, and Prince An strode out; he was going to the Xie family's residence.
.........
When the Xie family saw that they were surrounded, they were somewhat panicked, but they were not as disoriented as the Marquis of Jiangling.
At this moment, all the men of the Xie family were gathered together. Grandpa Xie Zizhang sat in the main seat, and many below said, "Grandpa, you'd better make a decision quickly! We can't just sit here and wait to die, can we?"
Xie Zizhang frowned deeply, looking at everyone present in silence. He didn't know what to do either.
"Brother, hurry up and contact the people outside. I refuse to believe that the Emperor won't release Father under their pressure," Xie Zinan, the Third Master Xie, said urgently.
The Xie family was a powerful clan in the previous dynasty, and they had cultivated their influence for over a hundred years. Many high-ranking officials were affiliated with or on good terms with the Xie family. If those officials pleaded for Xie Yun's release, the emperor would see the Xie family's power and would have no choice but to release him.
Of course, this step should be avoided if possible, but now that the head of the Xie family is in jail, there's no time to worry about that.
But Xie Zizhang sat there motionless for a long time. He knew that if he took this step, Xie Yun would be released, but the Xie family would be in the eye of the storm. In recent years, the emperor had been weakening the Xie family's power, but the methods had been mild.
But if they take this step, what will the emperor do next? Of the four princes of different surnames from back then, only one remains; of the six dukes, only two are left; and the other titles are also few and far between. The Qin family has always been ruthless in their actions.
“Grandpa, don’t hesitate any longer. If you hesitate any longer, our entire clan will be wiped out,” said a member of a collateral branch of the Xie family.
Xie Zizhang remained silent for a long time before standing up. Just as he was about to say something, his son Xie Ning'an also stood up and said before he could speak, "Father, you mustn't."
All eyes in the room were on him, most of them filled with displeasure. Xie Ning'an ignored their stares, stepped forward, and stood in the middle, saying:
"My uncles and brothers, think about it. If we contact the outside world and they also submit a memorial to plead for us, what will the Emperor think when he sees it?"
The room was quiet; no one answered his question. Xie Ning'an showed no intention of letting them answer. He continued, "The Emperor will surely be furious. And in his fury, what will the Emperor do?"
Xie Ning'an looked around at everyone in the room and said, "First, the Emperor might release my grandfather because of the power of our Xie family, just as you think. But there is another possibility: he might destroy us even at the cost of his own life."
He looked at the people in the room with a menacing gaze and asked, "If the Emperor wants to take this opportunity to wipe us out, do we have any chance of winning?"
A moment of silence fell over the room, followed by a commotion. Xie Ning'an continued, "We have no chance of winning; we will be utterly defeated. In this situation, which of the forces that are allied with us and dependent on us will help us?"
The room was deathly silent. Xie Ning'an said firmly, "Without the drive of self-interest, no one will help us. All that awaits us is death, and the extermination of our entire family will be our fate."
quiet
A deathly silence.
After a while, Xie Zinan, the Third Master Xie, looked at Xie Ning'an and said, "Then what do you think we should do? Just sit and wait to die? Look at the soldiers surrounding us outside; we might all be thrown into prison at any moment."
Xie Ning'an: "Let the Emperor see that we have no intention of rebelling, and show him our utmost sincerity."
"How do we do it?" asked Grandpa Xie Zizhang.
Xie Ning'an: "Father, Third Uncle, and those in important positions within the clan in the Six Ministries... resigned from their posts."
"this...."
"this....."
Not to mention others, even Master Xie and Third Master Xie were very reluctant to part with it. But at this moment, Xie Ning'an said again: "The purpose of handing over 300,000 taels of silver is... our Xie family does not want to see the people along the Yellow River suffer from floods, so we are donating silver to manage the river."
"this...."
"That's too much."
"Exactly, 300,000 taels is too much."
......
The crowd was buzzing with discussion, but Xie Ning'an said calmly, "Only by losing money can one avert disaster."
These words silenced everyone. If 300,000 taels could buy the lives of the entire clan, then it would be worth it. But 300,000 taels—it would be a devastating blow to the Xie family.
Everyone fell silent. After a while, Xie Ning'an looked at Xie Zizhang and said, "Father, write your resignation."
Xie Zizhang stared intently at his son, whom he was so proud of, for a long time before asking, "Are you sure this will resolve the crisis?"
Xie Ning'an shook her head, "I'm not sure, but this is the best way."
Xie Zizhang looked at him intently again, then lowered his eyelids and remained silent for a long time. He then ordered someone to bring him a memorial, writing brush, ink, and paper, and wrote his resignation in front of everyone. After he finished writing, he handed the brush to Xie Zinan, the Third Master Xie.
Xie Zinan gritted his teeth and sat down at the desk to write his resignation. The others in the room began to murmur amongst themselves. They weren't without resentment; the one who had made the mistake was Xie Zihui, the head of the household, yet they were being implicated. However, they dared not voice their grievances openly, after all, they depended on the head of the household for their livelihood.
After Xie Zinan finished writing his resignation, the room fell silent again, and everyone's expressions were complicated.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
