Time flies, and two days have passed in the blink of an eye.
In the past two days, Old Sun and those local gentry and landlords went to the county government office several times to find Zhu Yunwen, wanting to ask him when he would return their silver to them.
I would also like to ask when the money will be distributed to them, and also to discuss what price we should pay for the remaining money to buy their grain.
However, for the past two days, Zhu Yunwen has refused to see any guests and has not met with these local gentry and landlords at all.
At first, Old Master Sun didn't think anything of it, but on the third day, he couldn't sit still anymore. Why didn't Zhu Yunwen see them?
Something's clearly not right here; he's realized he might have been scammed.
So, these local gentry and landlords hurriedly went to the county government office, only to be stopped again by the constables at the entrance, who said that His Highness the Crown Prince was somewhat tired recently and did not intend to see anyone.
Old Sun then expressed his desire to see the county magistrate, but the constable said that the magistrate was also very busy lately and did not want to see guests.
At this moment, Old Sun was completely panicked. He glanced at the several local gentry and landlords beside him and immediately said:
“I have a bad feeling that we’ve been tricked by this grandson of the emperor. Ever since the fundraising ended, he’s been saying that we should go all the way with the act and donate our money openly and honestly.”
They promised to let us come back and get it back, but now they're refusing to see us. Could it be that he's planning to embezzle all the money?"
The other local gentry and landlords were also extremely anxious upon hearing this.
So they all clamored to go in and see Zhu Yunwen and the county magistrate.
In the backyard of the county government office, Zhu Yunwen took a sip of tea before saying:
"Someone, let them in."
So, those local gentry and landlords were allowed in.
At the same time, the county magistrate also arrived. Upon seeing Zhu Yunwen, Old Sun still tried his best to remain calm and said:
"Your Highness, now that the fundraising ceremony is over, when will we be able to get our money back?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen resorted to his old trick:
Why should we return it to you?
Old Sun's heart skipped a beat, but he still continued to ask:
"Your Highness, have you forgotten? Didn't you say before that the purpose of us taking the lead in donating money was to encourage other wealthy people in Hekou County to donate money as well?"
Afterwards, we returned all the money we owed, and we split the money from the other wealthy people equally. We only kept a portion to buy grain, and even that grain was bought from us!
Zhu Yunwen rubbed his forehead and said:
"Really? Is that true?"
Then he looked at the county magistrate and said:
"Did we have this?"
The magistrate shook his head and said:
"No, I don't recall doing that. This logic doesn't make sense. Why would we need them to lead the way? It's completely unnecessary."
Zhu Yunwen nodded and said:
"Yes, that doesn't make sense. Doesn't fundraising require someone to take the lead? Besides, there's no reason to return donated money; otherwise, what would be the point of calling it a donation?"
Upon hearing this, Old Sun and the other local gentry and landlords turned pale. Wasn't this Zhu Yunwen acting like a rogue?
So Old Sun hurriedly said:
"Your Highness, that's not what you said back then. It was agreed that we would only use the money for the performance and return it to us afterward."
Zhu Yunwen said, "Is that so? Then how about we hold a refund ceremony tomorrow? We'll say that the money you, Elder Sun, gave us was just for appearances, and that we'll have to return it. We'll return the money to you in front of the people of Hekou County."
Old Zhang Sun's mouth and face were incredibly ugly; Zhu Yunwen's words were rather infuriating.
To actually return Old Sun's money in front of the people of Hekou is tantamount to public execution.
Old Sun has always used the reputation of a local gentry and landlord to openly do things that do not benefit the people.
Although they are still secretly exploiting the people of Hekou County—for example, by forcibly seizing land and digging up their sweet potato and potato seeds—and now by creating problems to drive up grain prices.
However, he has done a good job in various public relations activities, such as building bridges and this donation, which has brought him a lot of fame.
If this matter is made public, wouldn't that be tantamount to ruining one's reputation?
Reputation is important, that much is certain.
Secondly, if what he did were really exposed, how could he stay in Hekou County afterward?
Wouldn't we become like rats crossing the street?
This is absolutely unacceptable.
So Old Sun gritted his teeth and said to Zhu Yunwen:
"What exactly does His Highness the Crown Prince mean? Is this fundraising whole just a prank on us?"
Zhu Yunwen smiled and looked at Old Sun:
"You can interpret it however you like, but there's one thing I want to remind you. Don't treat anyone like a fool, or you'll only end up hurting yourself."
At that moment, Old Master Sun suddenly realized that he had thought about Zhu Yunwen before, and that he actually knew a lot of things.
But why would he pretend to be crazy and start a fundraising campaign, and suddenly partner with Mr. Sun to do business?
Only then did he realize that all that testing had been a trap set for him.
Of course, he was still somewhat unconvinced, so he said:
"Your Highness, as the current Crown Prince, is it not going a bit too far to fool us like this?"
Zhu Yunwen snorted coldly and said:
"As a local gentry and landlord, and once an official, how can you fool the local people like this for your own selfish interests? Isn't that going too far?"
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