The main business run by Mr. Wen is the rice and grain shop.

If the Zhou family owns 50% of the rice and grain shops in Huguang, the Wen family owns 40%. The remaining 10% are small scattered merchants who need to rely on the Zhou and Wen families to survive.

Moreover, the Wen family's business was not limited to the Huguang area. Relying on their marriage relationship with the Ding family, the grain business of the grain transport family, the Wen family had expanded to the north. There were many Wen family industries in northern Zhili and even in Wangjing City.

The situations of the other big bosses of Sanjiang Chamber of Commerce were similar to that of Big Boss Wen. Apart from their businesses in Huguang, they all had businesses to rely on elsewhere.

This is also the reason why these big bosses are not too jealous of the Zhou family and dare to act on their own once there is a conflict of interest.

When we went to the government office to keep the appointment today, these big bosses were already prepared to make sacrifices and were very aware.

"After I returned, I ordered my subordinates to recalculate the grain reserves in various places in Huguang, and counted out 5,000 dan of rice." The Wen family was a man who was very aware of current affairs. After realizing that this eunuch was not easy to deal with, he lowered his posture and said in a gentle voice: "These rice grains are used for disaster relief. I dare not ask for an exorbitant price. Nowadays, one dan of rice in the market costs two taels of silver, but the Wen family rice shop only charges one tael and five cents."

After saying this, he looked at Xue Shu's expression carefully.

But Xue Shu's expression remained unchanged and he could not tell what was going on, so he had to retreat nervously.

When he finished speaking, the others also stepped forward and reported the amount of stock they could take out and the price. It could be charcoal, cloth, cotton, and so on, but they were all the materials that were in short supply at the moment.

After everyone had finished speaking, Xue Shu still didn't speak. Several people exchanged glances nervously, but in the end no one dared to speak again.

After a long silence, Xue Shu snorted softly, and his beast-like eyes swept over each person in turn, finally settling on the head of the Wen family: "As far as we know, the Wen family has warehouses in more than ten counties and prefectures, including Tongcheng County, Hanchuan County, Huarong County, and the amount of white rice alone is 50,000 dan. As for the price of grain..." The sarcasm on his face became more and more intense: "In previous years, a dan of white rice was only eight qian to one tael of silver. Later, various places suffered disasters and farmland production decreased, and the price only rose to about one or two qian. The most expensive new rice is only one or five qian. It was not until the snow disaster in Huguang this time that grain merchants hoarded and raised the price, and the price of grain soared to two or even three taels of silver."

"The same goes for the other charcoal and other things. If I don't point it out, do you really think I'm a fool?" He didn't look angry, but his tone was very serious. He exuded an indescribable aura.

"Is this the sincerity you all want to show us?"

He easily revealed the grain reserves in the Wen family's granary. The others didn't know whether it was true or not, but the face of Mr. Wen changed immediately.

This amount of stored rice was exactly what he had his subordinates counted overnight!

The head of the Wen family was shocked and terrified, but he did not dare to admit that he had lied about the number. He just searched his brain for the reason for Zhou Quan's words just now: "This, this... It's not that I intentionally underreported the number, but there are many rice shops in Wen's family, and they still need to circulate the stock. After calculation, the amount that can be transferred is, only 5,000..."

His voice became weaker and weaker under Xue Shu's gaze.

Xue Shu sneered, not wanting to listen to his explanation and not wanting to argue with him. He looked away and said to the others, "We understand that the store needs inventory to go around, so we only want 70% of your inventory. As for the price, we will discount it by 70% of the price you just quoted."

70% off the price?!

Then wouldn't they only get 30% of the original price? !

Several big bosses were shocked and even angry.

Zhu Dadong tried to argue, "Eunuch Xue, a 70% discount is too much. Our business may seem big, but we still have so many employees to support..."

"Yes, the imperial court wants to provide disaster relief, and we are willing to help, but 70% of this is really... I hope Eunuch Xue will have sympathy!"

As it concerns their own interests, several big bosses no longer have any fear and start to fight for it.

Seeing Xue Shu remained silent, Master Wen thought that the people's resistance had worked, so he also said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince loves the people like his own children. The victims of the disaster are his 'children', so aren't merchants like us 'children'? Please, Eunuch Xue, leave us a way out!"

They were talking at once and were very angry.

Xue Shu suddenly laughed and slowly stood up.

He raised his hand slightly, and the attendant guards immediately held down several people, kicked them on the knees, and forced them to kneel on the ground.

Unexpectedly, he would suddenly attack. These merchants who had been living in luxury for a long time were a little panicked. The head of the Wen family tried to calm down and said, "What does Eunuch Xue mean? We just disagree with the price. We haven't done anything illegal, right?"

Xue Shu walked up to him, looked down at him, and said with interest: "This is the first time we have to reason with the factory guards."

Although he was smiling, there was no smile in his eyes. Instead, they looked cold and frightening.

"But since Master Wen has asked, I'll just ask you to be the one who knows the truth." He raised his hand, and immediately a servant respectfully placed the paper in his hand.

Xue Shu threw it in front of Master Wen and said, "This is something we just found out. Master Wen, please take a closer look."

When several people heard him say "factory guard", they shuddered. They only knew that this eunuch was someone close to the prince, but they didn't know that he was actually from the East Factory.

Even though they were far away in Huguang, they had heard a lot about the shocking things that happened in Dongchang.

The original upright back of Mr. Wen unconsciously bent a little, and he picked up the paper on the ground with shaking hands. After reading it quickly, he was already shaking like a sieve, but he still said stubbornly: "There is no evidence, this is all slander!"

Previously, the police went to investigate these people, but due to time constraints, they did not have time to dig deep and only found superficial things, mostly petty incidents or secrets that could not be exposed to the public. They were not guilty of any crimes, and at most they served to scare and intimidate.

But Xue Shu did not stop there. He ordered the detectives to continue their investigation. Didn't they find out that there was a murder case?

This Wen Da Dongjia committed adultery with his widowed sister-in-law, and was accidentally discovered by the maid who served them. In order to cover up his crime, Wen Da Dongjia strangled the maid to death. After the maid died, he found out that the maid was of good birth.

According to the laws of Dayan: if a slave was found guilty, his head and his relatives such as his grandparents would be caned 100 times if they killed him without bringing the case to court; if he killed someone without any guilt, he would be caned 60 times and sentenced to one year in prison, and all members of the family would be exiled and become good people. [1]

This punishment is not considered severe, but if the deceased is a good person, the situation is different. The murderer should pay with his life, and be sentenced to death.

"Slander?" Xue Shu squatted down in front of him and said slowly, "Every criminal caught by our family in the past kept saying that it was slander and injustice. Master Wen, guess what happened to these people later?"

Mr. Wen looked at him in fear and gritted his teeth to prevent himself from shaking so violently.

Xue Shu sneered and suddenly lost his patience. He stood up, drew the sword from the guard's waist, and chopped off the hand of the head of Wen, which was resting on the ground.

Three fingers were broken at the same time, blood spurted out, and Mr. Wen immediately let out a slaughtered pig cry, and was held down by two guards, so he did not roll on the ground.

The others were even more terrified when they saw this scene.

Xue Shu sheathed the knife with his backhand and ordered casually, "Go, deliver the severed finger to the Wen family, and ask them to send someone who can take charge of the family to take over."

After dealing with Master Wen, he calmly glanced at the other frightened people and said slowly, "Your Highness is kind and lenient. But I have a quick temper and don't have the time to deal with you. You have two days to count the number, and then someone will hand it over to you."

After saying this, he had someone drag the Master Wen, who had fainted from the pain, out of the hall: "Master Wen has to go with us, everyone please do as you please."

As soon as he left, those ferocious guards also left in a hurry. If it weren't for the dark red bloodstain on the floor of the side hall, it seemed as if nothing had happened.

The big bosses no longer dared to have any lucky thoughts and hurried back home.

The guards temporarily detained Wen Dadongjia in the government jail. His crime would be tried by the government, and the Dongchang would not be used. Xue Shu went to look for Jiang Zheng and Ying Hongxue in person.

After what happened today, those big bosses will probably behave themselves. We just need to find two reliable people to connect with them and place the disaster relief supplies.

Ying Hongxue is one of us, and Jiang Zheng represents the Huguang government, so it is just right for them to cooperate with each other.

After explaining everything to the two of them, Xue Shu prepared to go back.

Ying Hongxue looked at his back, hesitated for a moment, and called out to him.

Xue Shu turned around and looked at her: "Sister, is there anything else?"

Ying Hongxue wanted to ask him what was going on with the prince. She had sensed the rift between the two since the winter hunt.

She had heard that some royal children in the previous dynasty liked to play with pretty eunuchs. Although the prince did not look like that, and Xue Shu was not the pretty eunuch who would allow himself to be bullied, there must be something wrong between the two.

I just want to ask right now, but I don’t know where to start.

She sighed and said carefully, "Serving a man with beauty will not last long. You... still need to do more practical things for His Highness and leave a way out for yourself."

Xue Shu heard the implication of her words, raised his eyebrows, and his expression softened a little. He said, "I'll take note of what you said, sister."

After parting with Ying Hongxue, Xue Shu returned to the east courtyard of the government office.

He walked to the gate of the courtyard, but when he was about to go in, he paused and hesitated. But the hesitation did not last long, and he soon calmed down.

Your Highness already knows who he is.

He suppressed his anxiety and strode towards the main house.

Yin Chengyu still needed to rest and could not stand the cold wind, so the servants brought lunch to his room. When Xue Shu came back, the servants had just laid out the hot meals.

Xue Shu sent the man away, and when he saw Yin Chengyu trying to put on his clothes and get off the bed, he quickly stopped him and said, "I will serve your Highness your meal."

"I just caught a cold, not a broken arm."

"I will serve your highness."

Yin Chengyu looked at him, saw the stubbornness in his eyes, and leaned back lazily: "Forget it, serve me a bowl of porridge."

Because he was still ill, the meals prepared by the kitchen were mainly light. Xue Shu filled a small bowl with shredded chicken porridge and some vegetables, then sat beside the couch and fed him.

Yin Chengyu was not shy and asked Xue Shu to pick up whatever he wanted to eat.

He ate very elegantly, which was quite pleasing to the eye. Xue Shu served him a bowl of shredded chicken porridge and two side dishes. When he saw him shaking his head, he put down the bowl and took a handkerchief to wipe his mouth.

Yin Chengyu raised his head and let him serve him, then asked, "Don't you have anything you want to say to me?"

Xue Shu avoided his gaze and said calmly, "The past cannot be retrieved. I just want to cherish the present."

"What are you afraid of?" Yin Chengyu saw that he was trying to evade her. He raised his hand, pinched his chin, turned his face back, looked straight at him, and repeated, "What are you afraid of?"

Xue Shu pursed his lips and said nothing.

Like a gourd with a sawed mouth.

Yin Chengyu sneered. He was originally a little unhappy, but when he thought of the pain he inadvertently revealed, his soft heart prevailed.

"I have lived for 28 years, devoted my whole life to the country and the people, and have never had any selfish thoughts." He clamped Xue Shu's chin tightly, leaned over, got very close to him, and spoke slowly and solemnly: "Not killing you is the only selfish thought I have ever had."

The Nine Thousand Year Old, who holds sway over both the government and the opposition, is the biggest variable.

Killing him can ensure the stability of the court and the stability of the country.

But until his death, he couldn't bear to be cruel.