Chapter 294 Ning Family Mine
In the deep night, Min Yuan and Ning Xiang finally arrived at Prince Qi's Mansion and met Yan Changwen.
The two men knelt in front of Yan Changwen and told him everything.
Yan Changwen sat at the table and listened, waving his folding fan, his expression dim and unclear in the candlelight.
Min Yuan and the other two secretly raised their eyes to look, but they could only see the corner of his mouth hanging with a hint of smile for some reason. They were confused for a moment and felt even more frightened.
Seeing Yan Changwen remained silent for a long while, Ning Xiang could not help but raise his head a little, licked his lips and said carefully: "Your Highness, you can't ignore me, I... I am doing this for your ten thousand taels of silver..."
Upon hearing this, Min Yuan glared at him fiercely, and Ning Xiang immediately shrank back guiltily.
Yan Changwen laughed softly, his usual gentle tone making Ning Xiang's hair stand on end.
"Haha, Boss Ning, do you think that the Qi Wang Mansion is short of your ten thousand taels of silver?"
"No, no, no! I'm not..."
"Your brother's mine violated regulations and dug a mine hole privately, which caused the mine to collapse and killed 131 people. It was shocking. Such a big thing, but the capital didn't hear a word of it. Wasn't it me who suppressed it for you?
Don't forget, this ten thousand taels of silver is to settle your family's affairs and save your brothers' lives. I won't get any benefits from it."
Ning Xiang could only nod his head and agree. When Yan Changwen couldn't see him, Ning Xiang couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth, but he was angry but couldn't say anything.
He and his brother each ran a business and had made a lot of money over the years, both openly and secretly, but most of it was given as a tribute to the third prince.
How much of the extra support that the officials of the Third Prince's faction receive every year is just sucking the blood of their own Ning family!
Now that his brother is in trouble, the Third Prince seems to be indifferent and even talks about using his own money to settle his own family's affairs.
But if the Ning family mine incident was really exposed, there would be countless officials from King Qi’s faction who would be implicated.
What's more, the prince's faction are eyeing them covetously. Those people have very sharp noses, and once they smell something, they will definitely not let go until they have torn off a piece of meat. Then the third prince will be in even greater trouble.
So this matter - he has to take care of it even if he doesn't want to!
At this point, Ning Xiang also figured it out.
Even if he didn't find a way to get the ten thousand taels, the Third Prince had to protect his brother, who was a cash cow, so this matter could be put aside for the time being.
The most important thing right now is what happened between him and Min Yuan. If that girl named Qiao really found out something, it would probably cause a big mess.
I originally thought that it would be easy for the Third Prince to get rid of a young girl who had just entered the government, but Min Yuan said that he couldn't touch her now...
Yan Changwen finally spoke again, "What's the name of the boss of that calligraphy and painting shop?"
"The man's name is Chen San." Min Yuan replied immediately.
He lowered his head and looked at Ning Xiang, and they both breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen San is the most critical link. If this clue is cut off, even if Qiao Youyou wants to make a big fuss, she won’t be able to make any waves.
"Okay, you guys go back."
Ning Xiang raised his head, hope rising in his eyes, "Your Highness——"
"This isn't the first time that I've had to clean up your mess." Yan Changwen stood up with his plump figure and told them to leave quickly. He felt depressed just watching them.
Ning Xiang and Min Yuan smiled with relief, then said goodbye and left.
After the two left, a graceful figure slowly emerged from behind the screen. It was Murong Lian.
Murong Lian stood in front of Yan Changwen, letting him hug her and rest his head on her neck. Then he heard him sigh deeply, like a child who didn't want to go to school.
Murong Lin smiled and touched his ear, "Your Highness, are they bothering you again?"
"Yeah, it's so annoying...Lian'er, you are still the best." Yan Changwen muttered as he sniffed the faint fragrance on his wife's body.
"How is the Ning family mine being handled?" Murong Lin asked, "This matter must not be known to anyone in the East Palace."
"Don't worry, we have our people over there, so the news won't get out."
"What about the dead and injured people?"
"How many of those who died in the mines have wealthy families? If they don't go to the government to make trouble, they can get three times the compensation. Few people will refuse."
Murong Lian tilted his head and asked, "One hundred and thirty-one people, is it true that no one has filed a complaint?"
“Of course, there are also those who are determined not to take the money and just want to make a big deal out of it. I gave them the opportunity, but they didn’t want it. I have already sent people to deal with it.” Yan Changwen said in a muffled voice.
Murong Lin then nodded, "We need to do it more cleanly. But they are also poor people. If there are still relatives left after the incident, the money they should be given should still be given."
"Of course I know that. Lan'er, let's not talk about this anymore. It gives me a headache just thinking about these things every day." Yan Changwen rubbed his head on Murong Lan's shoulder twice, saying dissatisfiedly.
Murong Lian patted him and smiled softly, "Well, if others saw His Royal Highness Prince Qi like this, it would be disgraceful. It's getting late, get ready to take a bath and go to bed."
"Okay, let's go to bed." Yan Changwen finally smiled and let Murong Lan hold his hand and walk towards the inner courtyard.
…
Hanlin Academy, with quiet shadows of trees.
The sunlight was projected onto the sundial in the courtyard, and the slender shadow moved at an extremely slow speed. It was still a quarter of an hour away from the evening hour.
Zhu Qingyan was writing official documents at his desk. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shen Qingzhou, who was sitting next to him, had stood up and stretched, looking like he was getting ready to go off duty.
"Is it time?" Zhu Qingyan glanced out the window and asked in a low voice.
His instinct told him that it was not yet the You hour, but Shen Qingzhou seemed to have telepathy for the time to go on duty and was never wrong.
"No, there's still a quarter of an hour to go." Shen Qingzhou came over and lowered his voice, saying that he was going to attend the birthday banquet of Lord Lu, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
When he went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, he paid a visit to Minister Lu and was considered half a disciple of Lu.
"I'll slip away first. If Master Dong asks you later, just say I went...to the bathroom!" After Shen Qingzhou finished speaking, he packed up his things and quietly left the office.
After walking a few steps, he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening in the yard. Shen Qingzhou closed his eyes and thought, "Oh no! I occasionally sneaked away early, but why did I get bumped into by Master Dong?!"
If you have urgent matters and need to leave early on weekdays, just tell Master Dong and he will agree. But today he only left a quarter of an hour earlier, and Shen Qingzhou thought there was no need to report it specifically, but he didn't expect to run into him.
A scolding is inevitable.
Shen Qingzhou didn't hear the sound of "monkey boy" for a long time, and felt strange. He turned around and saw that it was Zhu Xiuzhuan who lived next door to Master Dong who came out. He then breathed a sigh of relief.
He was about to say hello to Zhu Lan, but found that Zhu Lan seemed to be thinking about something and didn't notice that he walked straight towards him, so he had to withdraw his hand embarrassedly.
Zhu Lan walked out of the palace. She was worried about what Qiao Youyou was going to do today, but she felt uneasy when she thought of the unpredictable King Qi.
Youyou is straightforward and may not be able to think things through. Zhu Lan decided to meet Chen San, the owner of the calligraphy and painting shop, in person.
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