Ding Die'er brought Fourth Master and the others home, telling her mother they were just people looking for her eldest brother. Fourth Master looked at Ding Die'er's mother and, based on her description of her brother, immediately ordered Su Peisheng to take out the prepared paper and pen and start drawing.
The Fourth Prince's paintings were truly exceptional. He had studied painting under renowned teachers since childhood, and Emperor Kangxi had praised him for his considerable talent in painting. However, the Fourth Prince was destined never to become a painter.
Fourth Master laid a sheet of white paper on the simple wooden table and, following Ding Die'er's description, began to trace its outline. Thirteenth Master and the others stood around the room, looking around.
All I could see here were poor people, most of whom did not own land and lived as tenant farmers who rented land from landlords or worked for landlords.
“Sir, you’ve never met my brother, yet you can paint him so lifelike, it’s unbelievable.” Ding Die’er looked at the Fourth Master with admiration and said excitedly, while helping her mother to look at the portrait.
"Yong'er, where have you gone?" The old woman looked at the portrait that resembled her son with tears in her eyes, and cried tremblingly.
"Mother, the master and the others are still here, so please don't cry. I'll take this painting to the magistrate again. He said that as long as we have the portrait, he can send someone to post it and look for my brother." Ding Die'er said confidently, though she didn't even know if the magistrate actually meant it.
“Girl, you can go find the families of other missing people and draw portraits for them all. If you take all the portraits with you, the prefect might take it seriously, and the chances of finding your missing relatives will be greater.” Thirteenth Master said. “Fourth Brother, get up. Although my painting skills are not as good as yours, I can still draw portraits like this.”
By the time Fourth Master and Thirteenth Master returned to the Cao family's villa, it was almost dark. The eldest son of the Cao family was waiting at the gate, and upon seeing Fourth Master and the others finally return, he hurriedly went to greet them.
Fourth Master and the others simply said they went out for a stroll, naturally not telling him the truth.
From that day on, Fourth Master instructed Li Wei to go out every day to attend teahouses and taverns where talented people gathered to listen to the voices of the local scholars. Of course, he also secretly went to Ding Die'er's house to see how her case was going.
One night, a secret report from Emperor Kangxi arrived at the Cao family residence. He carried a secret order, which was, of course, for the Fourth Prince. Cao Yin personally brought the report to the villa, found the Fourth Prince, and presented him with the secret order.
The Fourth Prince unfolded Kangxi's secret edict and read it several times. His expression gradually turned cold. He glanced at Cao Yin, who stood respectfully to the side, secretly suppressing the fire in his heart, and said in a deep voice, "Lord Cao, you have truly worked hard."
Cao Yin patted his sleeves in a panic and bowed to the Fourth Prince, saying, "This servant dares not, please forgive me, Fourth Prince."
The Fourth Prince said in a cold voice, "If Lord Cao can move Father Emperor, what else can I do but be lenient?"
Cao Yin had always known this fourth prince, who was known as "cold-faced and ruthless" and had a tough approach. Now that he had offended him, a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Fourth Prince, this servant has carefully checked the accounts and confirmed that we did indeed borrow silver from the official treasury, totaling over 20,000 taels. This servant will go back and gather the funds immediately, and will certainly raise them within three days. Please grant me two more days, Fourth Prince," Cao Yin said after some thought.
"But Father Emperor clearly stated in the secret order that the debts owed by your Cao family were all used for Father Emperor's southern tour, and you do not need to repay them. I wonder where Lord Cao got these 20,000 taels of silver?" Fourth Prince stared at Cao Yin and asked.
“Serving the prince is my duty, and there are some unclear reasons for the money I used. This was for my own use and has nothing to do with His Majesty. I beg Your Highness for understanding.” Cao Yin was secretly on edge, thinking: This fourth prince is indeed ruthless. I have already offered to return the money, but he still won't let it go. The money allocated by His Majesty during his several southern tours was far from enough. Much of it was advanced by the Cao family. Could the Jiangnan Textile Commissioner alone come up with this much money? Naturally, it was borrowed from the official treasury.
Emperor Kangxi even revealed the truth directly in a secret edict: "Cao Yin and Li Xu have spent a great deal of silver, and I know the reason behind it." This explains the expenses incurred during Kangxi's tours. Kangxi attributed the deficit to three sources: hosting the emperor during his southern tours, constructing temporary palaces, and gifts. Kangxi made six trips to the south, and Cao Yin hosted him four times. The public funds embezzled by the Cao family were already a mess; to investigate them thoroughly, one would have to trace it directly back to Kangxi.
Fourth Prince knew he was annoyed by Cao Yin because he was a bondservant of Emperor Kangxi, and his family had inherited this merit for generations, enjoying great wealth and honor. Could he simply erase the debt of more than 320,000 taels of silver owed to the court for entertaining Emperor Kangxi?
Lanqin only learned of the Fourth Prince's opinion on the Cao family during his trip to Jiangnan later. She silently sighed to herself: Cao Xueqin's grandfather had already offended the Fourth Prince, so when he became emperor, he immediately ordered the Cao family's property confiscated. This isn't to say that our Comrade Fourth Prince was acting out of personal revenge; besides, this wasn't a personal grudge between Cao Yin and the Fourth Prince, but a matter of national importance—the court's deficit. After the Fourth Prince ascended the throne, the Cao family remained the textile commissioner, but this position seemed to be inherently unprofitable. Coupled with the Fourth Prince's far more frugal nature than his father's, the Cao family became even more impoverished, unable to make ends meet.
In the first year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, the allocation of silver to the Imperial Textile Bureau was suspended. However, Cao Jiazhao received more than 45,000 taels of silver that the salt officials had transferred to the Jiangning Imperial Textile Bureau, and was impeached by the Salt Commissioner of Lianghuai. To make matters worse, a series of accidents occurred, and the court fined him a year's salary to make up for the losses. Later, the imperial azurite faded, and he was fined another year's salary.
The Cao family is showing signs of impending decline.
Although Lanqin knew the fate of the Cao family, as a woman who had traveled through time, she still spoke a few polite words on behalf of Cao Xueqin's grandfather.
Of course, that's all in the future. At present, the Cao family is still quite prosperous. Even Emperor Kangxi can give them special treatment, which makes the upright and intolerant Cao family a little unhappy.
Fortunately, Cao Yin was tactful enough to deliberately disclose that he owed more than 20,000 taels of public funds, and the next day he had the silver delivered. This matter quickly spread among the Yangzhou officials' "circle of friends," and people began to repay their debts one after another.
That's how people are. When no one is moving, nobody wants to be the leader. But once someone does, the others, each with their own agendas, start getting restless. Fourth Master, mindful that Cao Yin had set a precedent for returning the silver in Yangzhou, naturally didn't say anything more to him.
Meanwhile, Li Wei maintained contact with Ding Die'er, who said that the Yangzhou prefect had only taken on their case and told them to go back and wait. As for whether or not anyone had been sent to search for the missing people, there was no news.
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