Chapter 117: Grabbing the Credit
When Shen Qingtan saw the illegible handwriting on the envelope, he recognized it as a letter written by Shen Shaoheng.
She opened the envelope and took out the plain paper. She saw the handwriting was flamboyant and a bit arrogant.
[Big sister, big brother went to Guanzhou to pick peaches.]
Shen Qingtan: “…”
He went to steal the credit for someone else's achievement and even reported it to her specifically, not afraid that she would sell him out.
Liu Yue saw this and couldn't help laughing: "I was worried that the prince would mess up and get himself involved."
Shen Qingtan: “…” You know what, it’s very possible.
She thought about it, wrote a letter, and arranged for someone to deliver it to Shen Shaoheng.
——
It would still take four or five days to travel from the capital to Guanzhou, even if one rode at full speed day and night, or took a shortcut.
When Yong Yibo arrived at an inn, he changed horses and took a shortcut. It took him four days to reach Guanzhou. He fell ill after staying in the inn.
He had never been in such a hurry before. The skin on the inside of his thighs was rubbed raw and he felt like he was falling apart.
Yong Yibo was worried about missing the opportunity, so he didn't dare to delay at all. He immediately sent someone to rent a sedan chair to carry him to see the grain chief.
After receiving the letter of recommendation, the grain chief treated Yong Yibo with great enthusiasm: "You are Brother Shen's brother-in-law, so I will call you Brother Liu."
Uncle Yongyi had a high fever and was a little confused. He had a headache, body pain, and pain in his wounds.
He lost the mood for small talk and asked, "Brother, can you go and check on the grain today?"
The grain chief saw that he could hardly sit still, his face was sallow and he looked very sick.
He said with concern, "Brother Liu, you're not feeling well. Why don't you rest for a day or two? When you're better, you can go look for food again."
"It's okay." Uncle Yongyi held his head, which was in so much pain that it felt like it was about to explode, and said dejectedly, "If this is resolved as soon as possible, I can rest assured and recuperate."
The grain chief agreed to the request and led Earl Yongyi to the granary. "I'm responsible for collecting and transporting all the grain in the Guanzhou area. Because of this, I have a good relationship with the doctor who manages the granary. He gave me some favors and rented me his unused and abandoned granary to store the grain."
Yong Yibo smiled and said, what friendship? It was nothing but friendship bought with silver.
The grain chief sighed and said, "After the harvest, all the unused granaries will be used to store government grain. The grain I've stored here will have to be moved out. I was just worrying about this when Brother Shen sent a letter urging me to sell the grain to you. This just solved my problem."
Uncle Yongyi looked at the granaries, there were twenty of them in total, and this one was the smallest one.
They visited four granaries in a row, all of which were filled with sacks of grain.
He ordered his men to open several sacks and confirmed that they were filled with grain, and his heart was at ease.
Earl Yongyi had no doubt that these grains were government grain.
After all, he had found out clearly when he came that all the official grain in Guanzhou had been lent to the people, and the granary had long been empty.
He didn't care whether the grain came from a legitimate source or not. After all, after selling it, the money was in his pocket, and who could take it out again?
Yong Yi Bo explained his plan: "My dear brother, I don't have that much silver. Since you are acquainted with my brother-in-law, how about I give you some of the silver first, and then I will settle the rest with you after I sell the grain?"
The grain chief looked embarrassed.
"I can write you an IOU. Even if I can't pay it back, my brother-in-law can pay it back for me."
Yong Yibo continued to persuade him, "In less than a month, you won't be able to store your grain in the granary anymore. Your grain isn't obtained legally. If you sell it to others and they expose you, you'll be imprisoned."
The grain chief thought for a moment before reluctantly saying, "Write me a promissory note, stamp it with your personal seal, and leave a token. If you don't acknowledge it, I'll use your token to ask Brother Shen for the money."
Bo Yongyi frowned and was unwilling to give the token.
The grain chief was surprisingly firm: "If you don't have a token, you must pay the full amount in one lump sum, otherwise we can't make this deal."
Where did Earl Yongyi get so much silver?
He was conflicted for a moment, but he really couldn't bear to let the duck that was already in his mouth fly away. He made up his mind, pulled off the jade pendant from his waist and handed it to the grain chief.
Yong Yibo instructed: "You must keep the jade pendant safe. When I return the silver to you, you must return the jade pendant to me."
The grain officer carefully examined the jade pendant, confirming that it bore the inscription of Earl Yongyi. He then smiled and said, "Of course. We are in the same boat. How could I possibly harm you?"
The two returned to the inn, wrote two deeds, and each kept one.
Yong Yibo wrote another IOU, wrote his name at the end, stamped it with his personal seal, and handed it to the grain chief.
After receiving the things, the grain chief told Yong Yibo to take good care of himself, then turned and left the inn, walked through an alley, and came to a carriage parked on the side of the street.
The driver opened the carriage curtain and the grain officer entered the carriage. A middle-aged man was sitting inside.
The grain chief handed over the loan note, the deed, and the jade pendant. "Master Cao, it's done."
The granary he took Uncle Yongyi to see was filled with mud, with only a few layers on the surface containing real grain.
"Use Earl Yongyi's handwriting and seal to forge a few deeds," Lord Cao said in a deep voice. "If the court sends someone to investigate, we can put the blame on him."
The grain officer laughed and said, "Master Cao, how can you be evasive? It's clearly Earl Yongyi using the title of Marquis Cheng'en to force us to sell him the grain for disaster relief."
Lord Cao laughed heartily: "That's indeed the case, that's indeed the case."
——
The Liu family's ancestral home is in a small town. When the people in the mansion heard that Earl Yongyi had come to Guanzhou, they cleaned up the mansion inside and outside, waiting for Earl Yongyi to come and live in the town. They temporarily relaxed their surveillance on Chen Shaobai, the second son of Marquis Cheng'en.
In the stables of the Western Garden, a young man in a groom's short brown robe was grunting as he wielded a hoe to dig a passage.
The tied horse snorted and trotted on the spot, shaking its tail.
Suddenly he kicked the boy's raised butt.
The young man was caught off guard and fell headfirst, his head stuck in the freshly dug hole, his legs facing the air.
He was so angry that he was about to explode.
Suddenly, he touched it and found something wrong.
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