"The family that was driven to death by usury was the distant nephew of Prince Yu's wife. He was said to be the only son in the family. The matter was reported to Prince Yu. Prince Yu had been at odds with the Emperor's brother-in-law since he was still the heir apparent. The culprits were the Tong family. Prince Yu had the Tong family's secrets, but he didn't punish them severely. I heard that he arrested three young Tong officials because Prince Yu went to the palace to complain to the Emperor, and the Emperor personally issued the decree."
Xiao Shunzi reported the results of his inquiry to Nan Yi.
"And how did my father get locked up?" Nan Yi asked calmly.
"Master Tong took the blame himself, saying that this matter had nothing to do with the three young masters Tong. Who would have thought that he would go to the prison and never come out? The prison, what kind of place is that? After a beating, Master Tong couldn't take it anymore. He must have said something. Even his crime was determined. His family property was confiscated, he was removed from the banner system, and demoted to a commoner."
Such swift action! In just two days, the charges were already settled, and before she could even think of a way to save her life, the Tong family had become commoners.
A commoner, and the daughter of a commoner is also a commoner.
Fortunately, I'm still alive.
Nan Yi beckoned to Yi Ren, who took a stack of silver notes. Nan Yi handed them to Shun Zi. “I have a small estate in Tongzhou with 300 mu of fertile land. You were the one who bought it back then. I’d appreciate it if you could make the trip and help them settle down there. Also, please add some more land to the estate. Tell my mother to live a good life. Even if they are commoners, with me as their daughter, they won’t be mistreated. I just hope they will live honestly from now on and not cause any more trouble. Otherwise, I won’t be able to save them.”
Xiao Shunzi knew his master was in a bad mood, so he lowered his head and walked out of the room, secretly relieved.
Outside the courtyard, Su Peisheng was waiting. Xiao Shunzi glared at him, snorted coldly, and turned to leave.
The day after the incident, he went to see the master, but that bastard Su Peisheng refused to let him see the master no matter what. After he explained the reason, he finally saw the master, but the master didn't even ask any questions and just sent him away.
Even if the master doesn't listen to him, Su Peisheng is with the master every moment. Can't he speak up for him?
Su Peisheng smiled wryly and stopped the angry Xiao Shunzi. As a supervising eunuch, he had no choice but to put on a smiling face and say, "Are you angry? I apologize to you. Please forgive me this time."
"I can't accept that, don't flatter me," Xiao Shunzi said coldly, head bowed.
"I had no choice but to obey the master's orders. Later, I risked being beaten to inform the master. As for Master Nian, well, you know how much the master cares about her. Before I could even say this, she complained that she wasn't feeling well, and the master didn't have time to hear what I was saying."
He could see through Master Nian's little scheme. The Nian family was really generous, causing Master Tong's family to suffer a great setback. He dared not underestimate her.
Xiao Shunzi's expression relaxed slightly, but his tone was still unpleasant. "Then why are you looking for me now? I still have errands to run. My mistress's entire family has nowhere to go, and in this freezing weather, we can't let them freeze outside."
"That's right, what's done is done, so we can only put the matter of the master aside for now. Alright, go and make the arrangements first. When you come back, come to the study and lie down. The master wants to talk to you about something."
"Alright, it will be tomorrow at the latest. My master asked me to send her family to Tongzhou."
"Why go there? It's so far."
“Master Tong has estates and land over there,” Xiao Shunzi said. He also harbored considerable resentment towards the Tong family. “Tongzhou is fine; it’s a bit far away, so it won’t cause trouble for Master.”
Su Peisheng nodded in agreement, then chuckled and scolded Xiao Shunzi, who had a stern face. "Alright, if it weren't for my intervention, the Tong family wouldn't have just been demoted. His Majesty has repeatedly issued decrees forbidding Manchu bannermen from competing with the common people for profit, not even from engaging in commerce. Yet the Tong family dared to lend money at exorbitant interest rates and even drove someone to their death. Isn't that courting death? How could His Majesty not be furious?"
Xiao Shunzi rubbed his face. That's what he said, but the most important thing is that if you offend Prince Yu, you'll be in deep trouble.
After hearing Su Peisheng's reply, Yinzhen asked, "How is the investigation going? It is indeed as Xiaoshunzi said, that the Nian family has been pulling strings behind the scenes."
Whether something was done tampered with or whether the Nian family was behind it, there's a huge difference. My lord, you're definitely on the side of Consort Nian, aren't you?
Master Nian has a grudge against Master Tong and gets involved in the Tong family's affairs. It's nothing serious. At most, Master Nian will give them a minor punishment, but he won't really do anything to the Nian family.
If the Tong family's affairs were orchestrated by the Nian family from beginning to end, it would be terrifying. Lord Nian's involvement in the inner court's power struggle has ruined the Tong family, and who knows what he might do in the future.
He could think of this, and so could the master.
Currently, the people below have not found any strong evidence to show that the Nian family was responsible.
The mistress had just given birth to a little princess, and the master was overjoyed. It's understandable that his affections were tilted towards the Nian family.
Xiao Shunzi only saw the Tong family members interacting with Master Nian's servant. Afterwards, the servant with the mole on his eyebrow disappeared without a trace.
Su Peisheng had a feeling that the Tong family's affairs were inextricably linked to the Nian family. But whether they had done it themselves or instigated it, the matter had alarmed His Majesty, and it was His Majesty who had issued the decree. There was no room for maneuver, and the Tong family was destined to suffer this injustice.
"Reporting to you, sir, nothing was found. The person who lured Master Tong into lending money at exorbitant interest rates stopped before Master Tong did, leaving no evidence and no victim to sue him. The authorities had no choice but to release him. However, I have already ordered people to keep a close watch on him."
Yinzhen's face turned cold. "Everyone else is fine, but the Tong family is stuck in the mud. The fact that they've done it so cleanly means there's something fishy about it. Besides him, continue to send people to find that servant who had contact with Ningbao."
"This servant will send someone to do it."
"Have Quanfu investigate," Yinzhen said, then asked about Lady Tong, "What's going on at Wanyue Pavilion?"
Su Peisheng shook his head, "Not for now, Master Tong is behaving calmly."
Yinzhen almost laughed when he heard this. Calm down. Tong Shi has never been calm. It's not that she doesn't want to act; she's just hiding and not moving. She's become smarter.
Thinking of this, he became worried.
Even he couldn't help but doubt the Nian family. Tong Shi probably already harbored complete resentment towards the Nian family. What would she do?
"Instruct Li Yi and Li Er to keep a close eye on Tong's movements and prevent her from going too far," he said.
Su Peisheng was slightly taken aback. What did Master Tong mean? He knew that Master Tong would make a scene, but he allowed Master Tong not to go too far in attacking the Nian family.
He couldn't quite understand his master's actions. Did he care about Master Nian, or did he not?
Inside Wanyue Pavilion, Nan Yi sat in a chair, lost in thought. Yi Ren was extremely worried, truly afraid that her master would revert to his previous indifferent and heartless state.
“Master, if you want revenge, you don’t need to do it yourself, I will help you.”
Nan blinked, slowly stood up, and walked to the door, wondering how to get revenge.
Although she hadn't found any evidence, she was certain that it was the work of the Nian family. The Nian family had the deepest grudge against her, and to avoid wrongly accusing others, she needed to investigate the details further before making any further plans.
Since she couldn't rely on her fourth uncle, she had no choice but to take matters into her own hands.
Nan Yi curled a wicked smile and whispered, "Yiren, inform the Fujin that I will be going to the palace tomorrow to pay my respects to the Imperial Concubine."
Yiren thought that her master wanted to ask the Imperial Concubine to help the Tong family. She thought to herself that even the Imperial Concubine might not be able to help with the Emperor's decree.
However, it's good that the master can enter the palace. Let those people see that the master's family is useless, but there is a noble master in the palace to support the master. Who would dare to look down on her?
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