Chapter 65 The Emperor's Woman
Yu Liangzhi and his son waited for Wei Qingyan for a whole day and a night before he finally showed up.
Du Xueyi told them that Wei Qingyan had gone out to relax, but the two of them thought that Wei Qingyan was deliberately leaving them alone because of Yu Zhengde's previous distrust.
When I saw Wei Qingyan coming back from outside, I realized that I had misunderstood.
The safety of the two children and the Yu family made Yu Zhengde, the Minister of Revenue, put aside his pride and bowed to Wei Qingyan, saying, "Please forgive my previous inappropriate behavior. Please help my Yu family out of this difficult situation. I, Yu Zhengde, will definitely reward you handsomely."
Wei Qingyan stared at him with his dark eyes. It was hard to imagine that a seemingly smart man would do such a bold thing for love.
Motioning for the two to sit down, Wei Qingyan slowly spoke, "Sir Shangshu, are you ready to tell me the truth now?"
"Please forgive me, young lady. I did conceal something before." Yu Zhengde looked embarrassed. "Mrs. Wu's original name was Liu He. The Liu family and my Yu family have had a friendship since the previous dynasty.
The elders of the two families arranged a marriage between me and Liu He when I was young, but later the heads of the two families took different positions and our relationship gradually became distant.
In addition, I really had no romantic feelings for Liu He, so I broke off the engagement with her. I owed her this. Liu He did not cry or make a fuss at the time, but helped to persuade the Liu family, which made the engagement go so smoothly. This made me feel even more guilty towards her.
Three years ago, she sent me 12,000 taels of silver, saying that she was not used to living in Ganzhou and wanted to return to the capital. She wanted me to help Wu Yuchu transfer back to the capital.
It happened that at that time, the former Minister of War passed away and the position was vacant. Wu Yuchu's political achievements were evaluated well, so I and the Minister of Personnel recommended him to Your Majesty.
Now, I know what Wu Yuchu did, and I also know that they accepted 50,000 taels from Beiling, and Liu He used this to threaten me to rescue her."
Even though Wei Qingyan had already learned the truth from Nanny Chen, he was still burning with anger after hearing it again.
Her eyes were cold. "A local governor casually took out ten thousand taels. When Lord Yu accepted the money, did he ever think about where it came from?"
The Liu family was in decline, Wu Yuchu came from a poor family, and the Wu family had little financial resources. Even if they couldn't imagine that the silver was given by the people of Beiling, they should have thought that it was the fat and blood of the people.
Such a person actually received good performance evaluation.
I wonder how many "Yu Zhengde" there are in the capital who have accepted benefits from that couple.
"Miss Chang is not in the officialdom, so perhaps she doesn't understand that everyone in the Ministry of Revenue is greedy, and they have no choice but to be greedy. If they are not greedy, they will be excluded and not be considered as one of their own.
I didn't start out as a minister, but climbed up step by step from the bottom. So, I am greedy, but I have my own bottom line.
I did accept this kind of money from Liu He, which was done against my conscience.
I have also thought about where the silver came from. Maybe Wu Yuchu embezzled the hard-earned money of the people, but I cannot refuse to accept it.
After all, we were an engaged couple. If I don't accept the money, I'm afraid Liu He will think too much and come after me again in the future.
Secondly, this is how the officialdom is. If you don't accept the money, the other party will be afraid that you are not doing your best. But how do I know that the ten thousand taels are actually the silver of the Beiling people?
How could they know that they obtained the silver at the cost of harming the National Protection Army?
Right now, everyone in the world is watching this matter. If Madam Wu reveals that I accepted bribes, there will be no way to wash away this dirty water on my Yu Mansion."
"But now, if you save people, you will also be involved in this, right?" Wei Qingyan raised the corner of his mouth with a hint of sneer.
It was a mockery of Yu Zhengde for refusing to tell the truth even when he was on the verge of death, and it was also a mockery of Yu Zhengde's words.
Both she and her father had served in officialdom, and neither of them had ever embezzled a single ounce of silver that did not belong to them.
Did father know that the Wei officialdom had reached its current state when he was alive?
He was willing to bear the infamy of being a traitor of the previous dynasty and led his troops to follow the late emperor, just because the late emperor promised that he would establish a peaceful and prosperous era where officials serve the people and the people trust officials.
My father fought for such a peaceful and prosperous era all his life and sacrificed for it. If he knew that the so-called prosperous era was based on the exploitation of the people, would he regret it?
Wei Qingyan's ridicule made Yu Zhengde feel a little unhappy.
After all, he was the Minister of Revenue, and he had already been humble enough in front of a woman. If it weren't for the ghost grudge that required her intervention, she wouldn't even be qualified to sit with him, so how could she allow him to mock and look down on him?
Wei Qingyan could not fail to see through his thoughts and sneered, "This lady is indeed not as knowledgeable as Minister Yu about the ways of surviving in officialdom, but this lady knows that the previous dynasty fell into chaos like this and ultimately perished.
If an official needs to collude with corrupt officials in order to do his job well, the Wei Dynasty will soon follow the same path as the previous dynasty. I wonder if my family can still escape danger like last time."
"Miss Chang, please be careful with your words!" Yu Zhengde's face changed drastically.
How dare a woman comment on the fate of a country?
Yu Liangzhi's eyes lit up, and as he lowered his eyes to drink tea, a hint of smile appeared in his eyes.
His son has changed so much over the years that even he, as his father, hardly recognizes him. If someone could enlighten him, it would be worth the trip today.
Wei Qingyan also took a sip of tea and said, "I can resolve the crisis in the Yu Mansion, but I wonder if Minister Yu is willing to pay the price."
Hearing that she could solve it, Yu Zhengde suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, "I am willing."
After saying this, he was stunned.
How could he believe it so?
What if the price is something he cannot afford?
But Wei Qingyan did not give him a chance to regret, "I want Minister Yu to tell Madam Wu that the people behind her want to kill her and silence her. You can't save her. Ask her to tell the truth about the Huangshaling incident.
You promised her that you would save her children, otherwise, the Wu and Liu families would be destroyed."
"Since she wants me to rescue her, why would she easily reveal the person behind her?" Yu Zhengde suddenly felt that it was ridiculous for him to pin his hopes on Wei Qingyan.
She was just messing around.
"Just tell me what I say. I have my own way of making her talk." Wei Qingyan's voice was cold, "I also have a way of preventing her from betraying you."
Yu Zhengde listened to her confident words and asked suspiciously, "Who is behind her?"
Wei Qingyan looked at him, "Queen."
Snap!
The teacup in Yu Liangzhi's hand fell to the ground.
Yu Zhengde's face trembled with fear, and then anger, "Miss Chang, are you asking me to use the entire Yu family to go against the Queen?
I came here to ask you to help my Yu family resolve the grudge and avert the crisis, not to ask you to push us into the fire pit. If this is the price you pay for resolving the grudge, then I should not have come to your door today."
"Ha!" Wei Qingyan sneered, "How could it be me? Shouldn't it be Minister Yu who pushed the Yu Mansion into the fire pit?
Is the third young lady of the mansion awake?
I heard that the emperor also suddenly fell into a coma a few days ago, with symptoms similar to those of the third young lady. If the emperor knew that Concubine Li's daughter also suddenly fell into a coma.
Would he think that the third lady, who had the same disease as him, might be his and Concubine Li’s daughter?
But then I will have to embarrass Minister Yu and explain to the Emperor why the deceased Concubine Li gave birth to a daughter two years later.
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