Mu Jiang knew that he couldn't escape this. When he saw the imperial guards bring the bloody bead over here, he was mentally prepared to be called in by the Seventh Prince to settle accounts. But he never expected that the Seventh Prince would come in at the right time when the Fourth Prince was making trouble. What was he doing? A group fight between the princes? Could he handle this kind of fighting power?
Mu Jiang was very self-aware and defined this situation as "dealing" rather than "dealing with". What a joke. Looking at the whole country, who has the ability to deal with the princes? Which of these princes is not overbearing to the sky? He was tricked by that damn girl today. He thought to himself that when he returned, he would definitely lock the girl in the yard and never let her out again.
"Seventh Prince." Mu Jiang bowed again, sweat on his forehead. This most fairy-like prince of Dashun was someone no one dared to ignore. Anyone who really thought that the Seventh Prince's inner temperament was consistent with his appearance was completely wrong. In fact, if this prince was offended severely, his explosive power would be even greater than that of the Ninth Prince.
"Master Mu." Xuan Tianhua had already sat down on the other side of Xuan Tianming. He lifted his robe with his hand. Every movement was so natural and ethereal. But the words he said were so hard to accept: "I believe Master Mu has already seen the pearl that Ling Qianjin had defiled?"
In his words, he did not mention that the bead was originally broken off from the hairpin by Feng Yuheng himself and then flicked it out. He only said that it was defaced by his daughter. Mu Jiang felt inferior to him in his ability to lie with his eyes open. But no matter how inferior he was, he could only admit it now. "I have seen it." Mu Jiang continued to apologize humbly: "The girl and the child quarreled, and it was my fault that I did not discipline my daughter well."
"Of course it's your fault." Xuan Tianming interrupted, "Could it be that your daughter is not at fault, but my wife is?"
Mu Jiang shuddered: "It is absolutely correct that there is no princess."
"Yes." Xuan Tianming nodded, "It's great that you think so. This matter will be much easier to discuss." Then he asked Xuan Tianhua, "Hengheng really likes the East China Sea pearl that Seventh Brother found."
Xuan Tianhua continued, "This is the first time I have seen such a beautiful pearl in my twenty years of life. It was found in a thousand-year-old clam that I fished out of the East China Sea when I was returning to Beijing from the East. It is so beautiful that it is hard to find anywhere in the world. Even the imperial palace has never seen such a beautiful pearl. So, Lord Mu, please estimate its value."
Before Mu Jiang could speak, Xuan Tianming spoke again: "Master Mu, you have to think carefully. Asking you to estimate the value is already very generous."
Mu Jiang nodded with difficulty, but the pearl had already been described by Xuan Tianhua like that, so how should the value be calculated? After thinking about it, he finally said, "The pearl... isn't considered damaged, right? It's just... stained with a little blood."
Snap
Xuan Tianming threw the wine glass without hesitation, and it shattered directly at Mu Jiang's feet. For a moment, everyone in the hall focused their attention on this side, and even the people who were originally chatting stopped talking, holding their breath, and all of them were guessing what would happen to Mu Jiang.
Then Xuan Tianming asked Mu Jiang, "You mean to say that you let my wife continue to use the beads stained with your daughter's blood?"
The fourth prince Xuan Tianyi also said: "You are so shameless!"
Mu Jiang couldn't stand any longer, so he simply knelt on the ground and said, "Your Highnesses, please tell me the truth. As long as you can let me go and let this matter go, I am willing to accept all the compensation."
"Very good." Xuan Tianming nodded, "That's right. As long as you are willing to cooperate, things will be easy to talk about." Then he asked Xuan Tianhua: "Seventh Brother knows the value of the pearl best, so let Seventh Brother name a price."
Xuan Tianhua agreed, but he was not in a hurry to make an offer. Instead, he asked Mu Jiang, "Why don't you tell me your family background first, so that I can have an idea. It will also save you from asking for too much, because you can't afford it, and asking for too little, because it won't fit the pearl."
Everyone who heard this was terrified. Reporting the family's assets? This is going to wipe out the whole family.
The sweat on Mu Jiang's forehead fell to the ground, and his heart began to tremble. Report the family's assets? It's not that he was reluctant to part with the money, but could he report the family's assets of officials? Who doesn't have two accounts at home, one open and one hidden? If he was asked to report this in front of so many people, he might as well be killed with a knife.
He knelt there with a gloomy face for a long time without saying a word, but he was thinking in his heart, if he just reported the account honestly, would it anger these princes and make them chop him off on the spot? In the end, he still had to stay alive.
Seeing that Mu Jiang didn't say anything, Xuan Tianhua was not polite at all. If the other party didn't say it was okay, he said, "It seems that Lord Mu's memory is not very good. He can't even remember his own accounts. Then why not let me help you calculate it?" As he said that, Xuan Tianhua began to count them one by one, from Mu Jiang's official annual income, to how many fields, shops, and courtyards he had in Luotian Mansion. Not a single one was missing, and they were all laid out.
Of course, if it were just these, Mu Jiang would not be afraid. After all, which official did not own some land and shops? This was normal. But what terrified him was that Xuan Tianhua could describe all the land deeds of the houses and land owned by the Mu family in detail, without missing a single one, and even some of them he could not remember clearly. This frightened Mu Jiang, and at the same time he also understood that someone must have planted a secret agent in the Mu Mansion, and there was more than one.
However, what was even more terrifying than these was Xuan Tianhua's next words: "It is said that these are not the main source of money for the Mu family. Shutianfu is the last provincial capital in the southern border of Dashun, close to Lanzhou. The trade between many small countries in the desert and Dashun must first pass through Lanzhou, and then enter Luotian. Many merchants simply use Luotianfu as their main place for the circulation of goods. For all merchants from the desert to enter Dashun, Lanzhou is a checkpoint, and Luotianfu is even a big checkpoint. The taxes generated by these merchants and the taxes that merchants need to pay to enter Luotian are The silver that Luo Tianfu reports to Dashun every day is all untraceable. You said that only one merchant came this year, that is one, but in fact, a country may have come. And you said that one country came, so it is possible that ten countries came. There are a total of sixteen small countries in the depths of the desert. Lord Mu, a concubine of your family married into one of them. On the day of her wedding, the dowry team paved a full ten miles of road, and its value was almost equivalent to one-third of the financial resources of that small country. Similarly, the other party's betrothal gift is also a staggering amount. Are you wrong about these?"
Mu Jiang knelt on the ground, unable to speak anymore.
The officials in the palace all took a deep breath. The officials from the south were fine, after all, they knew all these things. But the people from other places, including the officials in the capital, heard about it for the first time and were shocked. They all thought about how rich Mu Jiang of Luotian Prefecture was. The dowry of a concubine's daughter was ten miles away, which was equivalent to one-third of the financial resources of a small country in the desert. What about a legitimate daughter? How much would it cost?
While people were amazed, they were also concerned about how much silver the princes would extort from the Mu family, which had such a rich family background.
Xuan Tianhua's voice rose again: "Lord Mu, I have said everything I should say. I will not force you today. You should think carefully about this palace banquet for half a day, and give me an explanation tomorrow when you go to Prince Chun's mansion."
As soon as he finished speaking, the fourth prince Xuan Tianyi also laughed, "Lord Mu, I didn't expect that your Luotian Mansion is so rich. In this case, then this king will not be polite. I have also considered the fact that your daughter beat the third lady of the Feng family. Why not just use the ten miles of red makeup that you sent that concubine's daughter to marry the small country in the desert as equivalent compensation? You also know that the Feng family is now in decline and there is not much money at home. The third lady of Feng is waiting to be married and will get married in the future. She can't expect the Feng family to prepare a thick dowry for her, so just let you prepare it. You see, whether you want to use silver or real objects to pay for these things, we are not picky about this, but before those things are handed over to the third lady of Feng, please don't leave Beijing, Lord Mu." After saying that, he looked at the two royal brothers beside him, and then said, "The matter of taking care of Lord Mu will be handed over to the seventh and ninth brothers."
When Mu Jiang heard this, he realized that he was going to be placed under house arrest in Beijing, and he was so scared that he quickly said, "This is absolutely not possible. Luotian Prefecture is a big provincial capital in the southern border. If I don't return soon, the backlog of official business will..."
"That's not a problem." Xuan Tianming said, "I will send someone to take your place and temporarily manage Luo Tian Mansion. When you have finished your affairs in the capital, I will send someone to escort you back."
As soon as these words came out, it was equivalent to sidelining Mu Jiang. It was still unknown when the matter here would be resolved. Besides, it would take at least two months to go south from the capital. In this case, the temporary manager might completely squeeze him out. This was a big deal.
He was very determined and shook his head, "Absolutely not."
Xuan Tianming nodded unexpectedly, "Since Master Mu disagrees, then let's just forget about it."
"Huh?" Everyone was confused. Did the Ninth Prince give in so quickly? This was not his style.
This was certainly not Xuan Tianming's style. His style was, "Then let's report to the authorities. You sue Princess Ji'an for digging out the flesh from your daughter's palm. We sue you for embezzling the imperial tax money. The amount is huge, it should be enough to sentence you to death, right?" As he spoke, he looked at the first-rank clan leader of the clan affairs office, "Lord Xu, is it enough for death?"
The clan leader was actually from Xuan Tianming's side. When he heard his question, he quickly stood up and answered, "That's definitely enough."
So Xuan Tianming nodded, "Let's do it this way."
Mu Jiang was stunned, and blurted out: "No, no, we can't do this. Wait a minute." He looked at Xuan Tianming again, with anger in his eyes, but more of despair. In the end, he compromised, "Forget it, the compensation I mentioned before, I accept it..."
"That's right," Xuan Tianming said, "You don't want to pay the money, but you have to exchange it for your life. Lord Mu is really confused in this calculation."
"Then next..." The fourth prince Xuan Tianyi was still not satisfied, "Let me talk about the other two claims besides the dowry compensation."
...
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