Chapter 62 Heart-wrenching: When did kindness become so useful?
Seeing that he didn't speak, the soldier hurriedly said, "General, you don't know this. It's normal for rice and flour prices to fluctuate slightly. However, this rice shop is charging ten times the usual price. The old woman couldn't stand it and made a fuss. He felt guilty, so he had her beaten and seriously injured."
Lu Xiuyi's face immediately turned cold, and he stared sharply at the shopkeeper: "Is this true? Answer me."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling aura and a silent pressure. The shopkeeper was so frightened that his knees buckled, and he immediately knelt down, trembling as he replied, "Yes, yes, that's true."
Lu Xiuyi frowned, but didn't ask any more questions. He beckoned to Chu Ze, whispered a few words in his ear, and Chu Ze immediately left the camp.
Upon seeing that it was the shopkeeper who first raised the price of rice and then severely injured the man, Rong Xun's face immediately darkened, and he turned his head to glare at the bodyguard next to him.
He had thought he could use this incident to impeach Lu Xiuyi, but it turned out that the shopkeeper was in the wrong first. He didn't want to stay any longer, lest he lose face, so he stood up and said, "Since General Lu has handled this farce, I am relieved. I have important matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."
“Your Highness, please wait,” Lu Xiuyi stood up and walked quickly to him. “This matter is of great importance. Since these are people Your Highness brought, it would be best if Your Highness were also present to watch over them, so as not to give others cause for criticism.”
Rong Xun glanced at the shopkeeper lightly, then turned his gaze back to Lu Xiuyi, and chuckled: "It's just a street farce. Either he hit someone else, or he hit him. If General Lu can't handle the case, just hand it over to the Ministry of Justice for trial. Why do I need to be here?"
“If it were just a simple assault, that would be fine, but this matter is far more complicated than it appears on the surface. Since Your Highness has handed the person over, you should naturally be present to witness it.”
Rong Xun found him increasingly amusing: "General Lu, have you done too many bad things that you see everyone as having a belly full of evil intentions? It was just that your Western Camp and soldiers saw injustice and drew their swords to help. Do you need to publicize it to everyone?"
He was simple-minded, and Lu Xiuyi didn't want to explain further to him. He simply said, "Chuze has already gone out. He will definitely be back in half an hour at the latest. Let's wait and see what he says when he returns. If it really is just a farce in the marketplace, it's not too late for Your Highness to leave."
"Very well, let's see what kind of show you want to put on." Rong Xun snorted coldly, turned around, lifted his robes, and sat back in his original seat.
In less than half an hour, Chuze returned.
Seeing his serious expression, Lu Xiuyi guessed what was going on and told him to stay where he was and not to come forward: "Just speak, and let everyone here hear it."
Chu Ze bowed his head and replied, "As instructed by the general, I checked the rice shop's warehouse and found that it was full of this year's new rice, totaling more than twenty dan. The rice that the shopkeeper had sold for ten times the price was also this year's new rice."
"Pfft!" Rong Xun, with his legs crossed, couldn't help but laugh out loud. "General Lu, is this the show you've put on for me? There's new rice on the market every year, and the shopkeeper's markup is just because he's greedy. Merchants pursue profit; it's been like this since ancient times. What's so strange about that?"
Lu Xiuyi's expression remained unchanged, and he said calmly, "Your Highness may not know, but this year the rice from various places has not been delivered on time. In previous years, the army camp would have already been eating new rice by this time. Even in years of poor harvest, it has never been delayed until now. But to this day, there is no trace of new rice in the army. Yet this small rice shop has more than twenty dan of it. Does Your Highness still think this is normal?"
Now that things have been said this far, even if Rong Xun is simple-minded, he understands the fact before him.
Some people are reselling government grain.
That's why grain was not delivered in a timely manner in various places.
Lu Xiuyi did not immediately report the matter to Emperor Jinghuai. Instead, on the very day the rice shop was found to be hiding grain, he sent secret guards to investigate granaries in various places. To his surprise, the investigation revealed that granaries in dozens of places, including Xuzhou, Yongzhou, Longtang, Yichuan, and Huaining, had been sold off, and the grain stored inside was almost gone.
The matter was of great importance. Upon receiving the news, he went to the palace overnight to report the matter to Emperor Jinghuai. Emperor Jinghuai was furious and immediately dispatched troops to various places to conduct a thorough investigation. He also arrested and severely tortured the local officials for dereliction of duty.
This interrogation implicated dozens of officials in the court, including Tang Que, a close friend of Lu Jiayan. Without much thought, Lu Xiuyi naturally guessed that this matter must be related to Lu Huaiyuan.
***
A sudden rainstorm had just stopped, and the morning sun peeked over the thick clouds.
The damp, sticky atmosphere clung to the dim corners. A sliver of sunlight slid in through the skylight, landing on the unmoved face of the newcomer. The light flickered, and apart from the low, labored breathing of someone nearly driven to the brink of death, the only other sound in the cell was the soft crackling of red-hot iron tongs in the charcoal brazier.
Lu Xiuyi's gaze was icy, his long, slender fingers gripping the other side of the iron pliers, gently turning them: "Tang Que, I know you're not afraid of death. You're loyal and decisive, and I admire people like you the most. Most of the hundred-plus people in Longzhuang come from impoverished backgrounds. Without you, they would have starved to death on the streets long ago. To repay a small favor to Lu Jiayan, you're willing to let hundreds of people in Longzhuang lose their lives in this trafficking case? Do you think it's worth it?"
The man named "Tang Que" was tied to a cross. He was pale, his forehead was soaked with cold sweat, and pepper spray seeped into his bloody skin. The intense pain made him a little more clear-headed.
Lu Xiuyi's words pierced deep into his ears. He sneered without looking up: "Of the hundreds of people in Longzhuang, not a single one was involved in the trafficking case. Do you think you can kill them all with just a few words from you?"
Before the last word of his sentence had even finished, Tang Que opened his eyes and looked up.
Lu Xiuyi didn't speak, and his gaze towards him showed no fluctuation, let alone any hidden turmoil.
But as he looked at her, Tang Que suddenly frowned, pursed his lips, and glared angrily: "Lu Xiuyi, you are shameless."
The short sentence seemed to leak out from between his teeth, with even the last syllable trembling noticeably.
Lu Xiuyi paused in his hand as he turned the charcoal brazier, and a slight smile finally appeared on his expressionless face: "You flatter me."
Tang Que still implicated Lu Jiayan, but Lu Huaiyuan took the blame. Apart from Tang Que's side of the story, there was no direct evidence pointing to Lu Jiayan's involvement. After all, Lu Jiayan only did one thing throughout the whole process: ask Tang Que to come to his door and say, "Help me."
When did favors become so useful?
Lu Xiuyi frowned, the image of that person standing straight and tall, and that face that was glistening with tears yet forever stubborn, appeared before his eyes.
If gratitude had worked as well on her as it did on Tang Que, would her fate have been different?
Just as he was thinking this, a sharp pain surged through him like a tidal wave. He quickly raised his hand to support his brow and rubbed it hard.
My headache is getting worse.
Chu Ze returned from the prison and happened to see this scene. He quickly poured a cup of tea and handed it over. After hesitating for a moment, he called out, "Young Master."
Lu Xiuyi took the drink and asked, "What is it?"
"The Marquis wishes to see you."
Lu Xiuyi felt that he and Lu Huaiyuan had nothing to talk about, so he flatly refused: "You can tell him that I will go to see him whenever he has figured out that he can no longer protect Lu Jiayan."
"yes."
After Lu Huaiyuan was arrested, the Marquis of Jiangyang's mansion fell into ruin. Although he took full responsibility for the consequences, it was inevitable that the mansion would be confiscated and all its assets would be added to the national treasury.
Lu Jiayan and Tao were forced to move to a small alley in the city to make a living.
They had fallen so low that Lu Jiayan posed no threat to them whatsoever. In fact, it would be easier for him to crush Lu Jiayan than to crush an ant. So why was Lu Jiayan still clinging to him so desperately?
Even Lu Xiuyi himself couldn't understand this.
All he knew was that as long as Lu Huaiyuan protected him, there would always be a thorn in his heart.
***
The drizzle fell in a flurry, meandering down to the eaves.
Holding an umbrella in one hand and a food box in the other, Yu Yan peeked out from around the corner. The old women guarding the gate had already been sent away by Yun Yan, and there was no one patrolling anywhere. She then beckoned to her back.
Meng Shuang looked around, tiptoed over, and walked over quietly.
The two men bent down and walked towards the door, quickly unlatched it, leaving a crack, and were about to slip out.
"stop."
A sharp shout suddenly came from behind them, startling the two of them. They turned around and saw Madam Yuan with a stern face, accompanied by several old women.
"Yu Yan, how dare you!"
Madam Yuan glared at her coldly. Yu Yan barely managed to look up at her before her knees buckled, and she fell to her knees with a thud, trembling as she said, "Madam, spare me! Yu Yan knows she was wrong, Madam, spare me!"
Two old women frowned and walked over from behind Yuan Shi. Seeing this, Meng Shuang quickly blocked Yu Yan's way and shouted, "Yu Yan is my person. No one is allowed to touch her."
In the eyes of the servants, Meng Shuang was always gentle and kind, extremely kind to people, and had never even raised her voice. She was the most gentle mistress in the mansion. The two old women were startled by her sudden stern shout and stopped in their tracks, barely a step away from her.
"For a man whose home has been ransacked, you, you dare to disobey your mother!" Madam Yuan was so angry that her face turned pale. She pointed at her and shouted twice, but seeing her stubbornness, she swallowed her words and turned to the old women and shouted, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and take the second young lady back."
Several old women were about to step forward to pull Meng Shuang away, but before they could even touch her, she suddenly shook them off, bent down and helped Yu Yan up from the ground: "Don't be afraid, let's go."
As Madam Yuan watched her help Yu Yan head towards Zhenhuazhai, she gritted her teeth in hatred, yet there was nothing she could do.
Following her gaze, Madam Deng sighed, "I thought the Second Miss and the eldest son of the Lu family were a match made in heaven, but who would have thought that the prestigious Marquis of Jiangyang's mansion would fall into ruin overnight, with all the gold and jade turning into broken tiles and rubble? It was truly a calamity from heaven."
"Where is this sudden misfortune? It's clearly that Lu Xiuyi, that ruthless devil, is so cruel that he would even arrest and torture his own father for power and status. What else is this kind of person incapable of?" Madam Yuan said coldly.
Thinking of her son Yin'er suffering on the estate, she wished she could skin him alive, drink his blood, and eat his flesh.
But then she thought of Aunt Shen and her daughter, who had both perished in the fire overnight, and the pent-up anger in her chest dissipated a little.
Yuan returned to Zhenhuazhai with a belly full of anger and sent someone to invite Meng Shuang over. However, Meng Shuang knew that Yuan was going to nag and lecture her again, so she wrapped the quilt around herself and refused outright.
"If she refuses to come, you take some men and smash the door down, drag Yu Yan out and sell her off." Madam Yuan slammed her hand on the table in anger, her face contorted with rage as she shouted.
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