Xue family, in the meeting room.
Xue Hongyuan, the head of the Xue family, was still sitting in the main seat.
The only difference from before was that the dragon-headed cane that he always liked to hold in his hand was replaced with a low-key round-shaped pearwood cane.
His face, which usually showed calmness and shrewdness, now showed a bit of anxiety that was hard to conceal.
It made his wrinkled face look even more wrinkled.
"Dad, why is that Imperial Envoy Rong so evil?"
"Bribing failed, assassination failed, seemingly silent, but in fact the attack was ruthless and cunning, and full of tricks."
"He dared to torture Wang Desheng in public today. I guess it will be our turn tomorrow."
"After all, we have been here for so many days, but we haven't found a way to deal with Wang Desheng or the people around him."
"I haven't found a way to leave Guozhou either."
"Also, there has been no response to the letter sent to the capital."
"Dad, do you think this Imperial Envoy named Rong came to Guozhou specifically to defeat us?"
"Could he have known about that?"
Xue Gang, the second young master of the Xue family, stood up and walked back and forth in the conference room, with a complaining tone and an anxious face.
Because the imperial envoy named Rong came too suddenly, as if he had dropped from the sky, he caught everyone off guard and left them with no time to react.
Moreover, Rong's working style is unpredictable, and he has enough experts and officials around him to help him do his work and protect his safety.
By the time they reacted, they were already at a complete disadvantage.
In addition, with the outbreak of the epidemic, Guozhou City was sealed off, and not only was their business affected, but they also couldn't escape.
"No matter if he knows or not, as long as he can't produce evidence and we deny it, what can he do to us?"
"Anyway, Fu Guozhong is dead, and most of the grain has been sold."
Xue Pan, the eldest son of the Xue family, said in a cold voice.
"Dad, I think Rong's identity is not simple."
"Feng Liuyu is a close minister of the emperor, the person that His Majesty values the most. But even he has to be polite to Rong. Doesn't this mean that Rong is very likely a member of the royal family?"
"Brother, why didn't you say this earlier? What should we do now?"
"Since ancient times, the people have never fought against the officials. Even Wang Desheng was killed by Rong. If he really finds out that we colluded with Wang Desheng to resell grain, I'm afraid we will be killed along with all our clans!"
"I'm not dead yet, why are you panicking?" Xue Hongyuan, who was sitting on top, paused with his crutches raised, his face grim and silent.
"Now, I just hope everything goes well at the execution ground."
As soon as Xue Hongyuan finished speaking, he saw a figure running towards him in a hurry.
The person who came running over was Lao Yuan, the Xue family's housekeeper.
Because he was in such a hurry and anxious, when Lao Yuan appeared in front of them, one of his shoes had fallen off.
"Master, Young Master, Second Young Master, something bad has happened."
"Old Yuan, you are the elder of the family. If there is anything you want to say, can't you speak calmly?" Xue Gang scolded.
"Oh no! The officials... the police came to our house and said they wanted to take the master and the two young masters to the court for questioning."
"Did they fail over there? Dad, what should we do?" Xue Gang suddenly panicked.
"Old Yuan, do you know what's going on outside?"
"My lord, the person who went out to gather information has not returned yet. I have been staring at the door. When I saw the officials coming, I ran over first." Old Yuan said breathlessly.
At about the same time, a maid ran in from outside and reported with a frightened look on her face.
"Master, Master, I have something important to report."
"Master, it's Xiaotao from the second young master's yard." Old Yuan looked at Xue Hongyuan with impatience and couldn't help but remind him in a low voice.
"Let her in." Xue Gang said.
"Second Young Master, it's bad. Madam Qing has a high fever and a severe headache. She just vomited everything she had this morning. People in the courtyard say that Madam Qing may have contracted the epidemic."
"What?" Xue Gang's face turned pale instantly when he heard this.
The night before, he was resting in Madam Qing's yard.
If Madam Ruoqing is infected with the plague, what about him?
Could he be infected too?
Anyone who gets the disease will surely die.
"What bad luck! Second brother, I warned you a long time ago not to play with so many women, but you didn't listen." Xue Pan subconsciously took several steps back.
"Brother, what do you mean? I'm your younger brother. Why are you blaming me at this moment? You like to take a few puffs of that for no reason. What did I say?"
"Enough! It's already this time and you're still arguing!" Xue Hongyuan was so angry that he raised his crutch and was about to hit the two of them.
Just at this moment, the officials sent by Murong Qingli squeezed into their meeting room.
As soon as the leader gave the order, officers wearing anti-epidemic face masks came and arrested them.
There had been reports of someone infected with the epidemic in the Xue family before, so when the officers came to arrest people, they all took protective measures for safety reasons.
Not only did they capture Xue Hongyuan and others, they also sent people to surround the entire Xue family like an iron barrel.
When the two masters of the Xue family were taken to the execution ground, they happened to witness the execution of Wang Desheng.
The scene was extremely bloody and cruel, but the people watching were applauding.
Some people even threw stones at Wang Desheng's family.
When they saw the three of them appear, someone among the people shouted first, and then everyone started throwing stones in their hands at the three of them.
The Xue family's father and son were frightened by the scene.
It was only after Murong Qingli raised his hand and the officers stopped them that everyone stopped throwing stones at the Xue family's two sons.
"Is this the Xue family member who secretly colluded with your masters and transported all the grain in the granary?"
Murong Qingli said these words as soon as he opened his mouth.
"Your Excellency the Imperial Envoy, yes, it is them!" The Wang family members kneeling there nodded heavily.
"Sir, I and others are wrongly accused. I don't know who that person is."
"I don't understand what he said."
"You dare to accuse others without any evidence. This is against the law. Please help us!"
Hearing this, Feng Liuyu was immediately infuriated by their shamelessness.
Murong Qingli, on the other hand, still had a calm look on his face, with no other expression visible.
He just said one sentence lightly, and the faces of the three people from the Xue family who were kneeling there changed drastically.
"Oh, really? Have someone bring Fu Guozhong up."
The three words "Fu Guozhong" were like a death warrant to the Xue family's father and son.
Because Fu Guozhong witnessed their secret collusion with his own eyes, and he also sent someone to secretly obtain the account book of their grain shop.
The current account book was newly made by someone they hired.
Xue Gang had clearly promised with his heart that Fu Guozhong would die.
He also witnessed the destruction of the account book with his own eyes.
But how come that person who was supposed to die came back to life out of nowhere?
Even mortals can live, then the account book...
The Xue family's father and son didn't dare to think about it at all. They were already in a state of panic and sweating profusely.
When the living Fu Guozhong was brought out, the Xue family's father and son all collapsed to the ground, with no blood on their faces.
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