"Is there something wrong, Your Highness?" Ye Shiheng said in a cold tone, a little impatient.
King Qinghe said, "I would like to invite the general to tea. I wonder if the general would be willing to grant me a favor."
Ye Shiheng said, "No reward."
Prince Qinghe lowered his head and touched his nose to hide his embarrassment at being rejected. "The matter between my son and your daughter is..."
"I'm busy with military affairs." Ye Shiheng quickly interrupted Prince Qinghe. He glared at Prince Qinghe, gave him a warning look, and whispered to him, "Your Highness, you've brought this upon yourself and this is unforgivable."
In public, Prince Qinghe actually mentioned Zhao Jue, clearly intending to ruin his daughter's reputation.
Prince Qinghe shut up in embarrassment. He knew that it was Ye Shiheng who was behind His Majesty abolishing Jue'er's position as the Crown Prince.
"Brother Zhongping." Sheng Guangzhi came over.
Ye Shiheng said enthusiastically, "Brother Sheng."
Seeing this, Prince Qinghe wisely left first.
Sheng Guangzhi invited, "Lefenglou has a new dish called White Waist. I heard it tastes really good. People who want to eat it are lining up on the street. Let's go try it. I'll treat you."
Ye Shiheng put his arm around Sheng Guangzhi's shoulders and said, "Let's go. I'm hungry."
"Brother Zhongping, my wife said your eldest daughter-in-law is pregnant. Congratulations, you are finally going to be a grandfather."
"Well, it's been several months. The baby is due at the end of next spring. You have to come to celebrate the full month." Ye Shiheng said.
"Of course. Come to my house for tea someday if you have time. I'll give you some excellent winter slices."
The drum for reporting to the government office in Tokyo sounded, and the people beating the drum were a middle-aged couple.
The bailiff brought the middle-aged couple to Bao Changzhou. As soon as they saw Bao Changzhou, they knelt down and kowtowed, begging Bao Changzhou to redress their grievances.
Bao Changzhou asked the yamen runners to help the man up, and the middle-aged couple then told him their grievances.
"My name is Hou Tianmin, and I live in Xining Lane. My husband and I have a son named Hou Jiabao, who is only 29 years old. My son died last October..."
Mentioning his son's death, the middle-aged man burst into tears and looked at Bao Changzhou, "Sir, my son Jiabao died unjustly! Last May, when my son was passing by Yongqing Street, he was dragged into a gambling house. The people in the gambling house forced Jiabao to gamble. My son is a good boy and never got involved in such a bad habit. Jiabao refused, so they wanted to chop off his hands and feet. Jiabao was forced to gamble like this..."
"Jiabao lost every round he gambled, and soon he had lost nearly five or six hundred taels of silver. They also forced Jiabao to borrow money from the gambling house to continue gambling. The interest rate was insanely high, but ten taels of silver a month became thirty taels. Jiabao couldn't pay back his gambling debts, so the people from the gambling house held a knife and forced my son to use the house deed as collateral. Those people took away the house deeds and the land deeds, took away my house and shop, and drove my family away. Jiabao was so sad and angry that he fell seriously ill and passed away soon after. My husband and I didn't know that Jiabao was forced to gamble by the gambling house until those people came to take over our house. Then we learned about it and just watched them rob my house and shop."
"My son is a very obedient and sensible person. How could he go to such a filthy place as a gambling house? After Jiabao died, I wanted to report it to the authorities, but without any real evidence, how could the authorities pay attention to me? So I secretly visited them. Over the past year, I have found out some things. It's not just my family that has suffered the same fate as mine. I know of seven or eight families, and some of them are even more miserable than mine."
The middle-aged man suddenly knelt down and presented the petition in his arms to Bao Changzhou with both hands. "This is my petition. I want to sue the Da San Yuan gambling house on Yongqing Street for forcing my son to death and illegally obtaining my property. I beg the prefect to help me."
The middle-aged woman also knelt down and kowtowed to Bao Changzhou, "I beg you, sir, to make a decision for me."
Bao Changzhou took the petition and glanced over it. "If this is true, I will definitely make a decision for you and your wife."
"Thank you, sir." The middle-aged couple burst into tears of gratitude.
Bao Changzhou said, "You two should stand up first and tell me everything you know, so that I can examine this case."
The middle-aged man said, "Sir, I know you are a good official and will definitely help me. But I still have something to say, but I'm not sure whether I should say it or not."
Bao Changzhou said: "If you have something to say, feel free to speak up."
The middle-aged man said, "I heard that the real owner of the gambling house is not Liu Degui, but an official of the imperial court. I have inquired about it, but I have not found out anything."
Bao Changzhou was a little surprised. How could a court official be involved in such a small gambling house?
After the middle-aged couple stood up, they told Bao Changzhou everything they knew and submitted the evidence they had collected. Bao Changzhou promised to investigate and get to the bottom of the gambling house case and asked the Hou couple to go home and wait for news, as the Tokyo government office could summon them at any time.
As the Hou family and their spouses left, Song Baixiao, the legal advisor in a garland-colored satin robe, said, "The Da San Yuan gambling house sounds very familiar. I seem to have heard of it somewhere before."
Bao Changzhou reminded him, "A few months ago, I caned the owner of the Da San Yuan Casino."
Song Baixiao said "Oh" and suddenly realized something. He jokingly said, "Someone not only beat the gambling shop owner with a stick, but also beat a young lady with a stick. The delicate young lady was almost beaten to death."
Bao Changzhou's fair face darkened, and he said angrily, "Shut up!"
Song Baixiao said seriously, "If what the Hou couple said is true, then the Da San Yuan Casino is for gambling and people gamble to make ill-gotten gains. That day in court, Miss Ye said that the casino forced her to gamble, and when she refused, the casino owner beat her. Miss Ye asked if it could be true."
Bao Changzhou said seriously, "It's very likely true. I must have wronged her that day. If it's true, I want to clear Miss Fushu's name and express my apology."
Song Baixiao said: "Rong Ruo, maybe Miss Ye doesn't care at all."
Bao Changzhou glared coldly, and Song Baixiao's eyes dodged.
Bao Changzhou said seriously, "Whether she blames me for wrongly accusing her is her business, and whether she apologizes or not is my business. The two are not in conflict. I am trying the case of the Hou couple, and it has nothing to do with Madam Ye. As the parent official of the people of Tokyo, I should redress the grievances of the people."
"That's right." Song Baixiao waved his feather fan, not feeling the cold at all. "I'll arrange for Da Niu, Wu Yong and the others to secretly investigate the gambling house to confirm whether there is really something fishy going on. If we arrest them now, I'm afraid it will alert the enemy. If the incident with Miss Ye is covered up, there's no guarantee that the case of Hou Jiabao won't be distorted."
"That makes sense." Bao Changzhou said.
Tokyo government officials disguised themselves and secretly investigated the gambling house for several days, indeed uncovering some illegal activities. Bao Changzhou ordered Song Baixiao to lead his men to seal off the gambling house and arrest the owner Liu Degui and others. After interrogation, it was revealed that Hou Jiabao had been forced to gamble, just as the Hou couple had said.
The shopkeeper Liu Degui also truthfully confessed all his actions over the years, including who was the boss behind the scenes, how many officials were involved, how he sought personal gain, accepted bribes, sold official positions, and even worse, used the gambling house to steal intelligence from the Song Dynasty and sell out the country for personal gain.
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