[It was at another quarry, located in Lingshan County, a hundred miles from the capital, near the maternal home of General Shen Congliang's wife!]
Shen Congliang was suddenly startled. How come it was his wife's family again!
He was completely bewildered when the emperor summoned him yesterday to question him. He knew his wife's family owned several quarries, but he had no idea that Magistrate Liang Qingjun had taken all the refugees to those quarries.
The refugee problem hasn't been resolved yet, and now this Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial has appeared! Are they trying to kill us all?!
Shen Congliang stepped forward tremblingly, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty seems to have seen where the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies and Tang Fengxing went..."
The emperor gave a cold, mocking smile. "Where did they go?"
"They... headed southwest..."
Shen Congliang dared not look at the emperor, and answered carefully with his head down, "Lingshan County is in the southwest direction. Is it alright for him to say that?"
[The Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial was tricked and sold yesterday afternoon, but Shen Congliang spent the entire afternoon at home jumping rope. When did he see him?]
Chuanwen expressed his doubts.
Shen Congliang broke out in a cold sweat as he listened, stammering to himself, "Yesterday...yesterday afternoon, one of my servants went out and saw it, and came back to tell me..."
Which servant?
Fearing that Chuanwen would investigate her magical artifact again, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies quickly spoke up, "I heard a few days ago that people have been going missing near Lingshan County. Lingshan County is in the southwest. Could it be that Lord Lin has been tricked into going to Lingshan County?"
Although his family member was currently out of danger, it was still better to get him rescued as soon as possible. Besides, now that an envoy from the Lesser Liang Kingdom had arrived, the Court of State Ceremonial had a mountain of work to do, so working overtime meant bringing his superiors along!
Chuanwen successfully diverted attention from the servant and enthusiastically chimed in, "[Yes! He was tricked into going to Lingshan County! But instead of being a laborer, he went there to be treated like a king! Hahaha, the Grand Steward even found several beautiful women to keep the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies company to apologize. They drank wine, roasted over a small fire, and were flattered by the beauties. The Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies is getting cocky... He's already complaining about everything from the quarry to the imperial court... Hahaha... Let me see what he's complaining about...]"
The emperor, who had initially ordered someone to rescue the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, paused. "You, Lin Jinjun! You've been secretly criticizing the court. I'd like to see what you're complaining about!"
The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment. They thought the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies was in a terrible state, but they didn't expect that he had a beautiful woman in his arms and fine wine in his throat. It was the poor ones who had come to court looking miserable!
However, they weren't particularly envious of the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, because they heard rumors that he was going to be in trouble!
[The Minister of Revenue spends all his time arguing with his wife, leaving all the work to his subordinates... Lord Lin suspects the Minister of Revenue is doing this on purpose; he simply doesn't want to work, so he's creating the impression that his unreasonable wife is preventing him from doing his job. He avoids work while simultaneously garnering sympathy, and perhaps while everyone is comforting him, he's secretly laughing at their foolishness!]
[Hahaha... Lord Lin's analysis makes a lot of sense!]
To avoid an awkward silence in the hall, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies and Shen Congliang took turns analyzing the whereabouts of the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies. One said he might have gone to Lingshan County, while the other said he might have gone somewhere else. They began to speculate in the southwest direction, and while analyzing, they also listened attentively to Chuanwen's thoughts.
Shen Congliang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although Tang Fengxing and the other two had been sold to his wife's family's quarry, fortunately they hadn't suffered much. Otherwise, if something had really happened to a Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, a top quarry master, and a marquis's son, he wouldn't know how to explain it.
However, the Minister of Revenue dared not relax. Although no one was looking at him, he felt surrounded by his colleagues and was too guilty to look up.
The psychological journey of all the officials in the Ministry of Revenue was roughly as follows: disbelief – questioning – tears. "My lord! Quickly tell me you didn't do it!"
[And then there's the Censor-in-Chief, a notorious deadbeat. Two months ago, he borrowed three taels of silver from him to buy wine and has been owing it ever since. He's hinted at it several times, but the Censor-in-Chief has been pretending not to know... Hahaha... He's decided that if the Censor-in-Chief doesn't pay him back, he'll go to the Emperor to complain!]
The ministers' eyes kept darting towards the two Censors-in-Chief, wondering which one it was. They still owed three coins; it was truly unethical...
The Minister of Revenue secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know which Censor-in-Chief it was, he still thanked him!
The emperor also looked at the two censors with disdain. They were officials of the fifth rank, after all. How could they not even return three coins of silver?
The Imperial Censor Ye Guang looked completely innocent, his face turning red as he cried out, "It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"
The Imperial Censor Dong Zhen standing next to him was also innocent. It took him a while to remember that he had borrowed three coins from the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies two months ago!
His face flushed crimson with embarrassment; he had truly forgotten! He had been wondering why the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial always sought him out for tea and chess for no apparent reason, sometimes sitting for half a day, his words cryptic and incomprehensible. Once, he was dragged along for tea, and after drinking too much, he wouldn't even be allowed to go to the toilet, nearly wetting his pants!
Dong Zhen was both ashamed and angry. It was just three taels of silver! Why was he acting like this? He would pay Lin Jinjun back with interest when she returned, instead of making it seem like he was a deadbeat who deliberately refused to pay back his debts!
[Hahaha... They even said that Old Master Zhang seems unsmiling on the surface, but that's exactly what he is, hahaha... Lin Daren is really good at writing nonsense! Oh, and... they also said that Old Master Zhang is not only unsmiling and difficult to get along with, but also looks down on people. Once, the Minister of Works was discussing matters with his subordinates when he saw Old Master Zhang passing by give him a contemptuous smile, hahahahaha]
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