Chapter 122 Head-to-Head: "What did Chen Junbo say?"...
At this moment, Chen Junbo said, "Now that we have these accounts, Zhaozhao, you must keep them safe and not let anyone know about them. Give these accounts to your grandfather later, and he will surely have a way to deal with them."
Upon hearing this, Li Yang lowered his head. Seeing this, Chen Junbo couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"
“My grandfather was punished by the Emperor because of the ‘Big Rat Song’ that I made during the disaster relief efforts. The Emperor punished my grandfather by confining him to his residence to recuperate.” Li Yang’s voice was muffled. “We only managed to leave the residence today by hiding in a basket of vegetable leaves.”
Upon hearing that Zhuang Xiangguo was also facing a problem, the atmosphere immediately became heavy. Liu Yitong, who had been chewing on a steamed bun, put it down and started cursing, "What are these people trying to do? Are they crazy? Sister-in-law, listen to me, these people are indeed crazy. Don't be afraid. A clear conscience fears no accusation. I just don't believe it!"
Li Yuhan quickly pulled him over and covered his mouth with her hand, "Shut up, what kind of place is this? Do you think this is your own house? Shouting at the top of your lungs, aren't you afraid the walls will hear you?"
Knowing he was in the wrong, Liu Yitong didn't say anything, but he was still unconvinced and lowered his voice to say, "Do you think they're crazy?!"
The others remained silent, their expressions showing displeasure. Liu Yi, clearly unhappy, turned away, hands in his pockets, and said nothing.
Li Yang looked at Chen Junbo. She was hitting walls everywhere, and even with the account books in hand, she didn't know what she could do.
Chen Junbo pondered for a moment, "Zhaozhao, when you go back, make several copies of the account books, and then have someone send one in. If the trial goes on, we will all be aware of what's going on."
Seeing that Chen Junbo still had a solution, Li Yang felt reassured. "Okay, okay, I'll make a copy when I get back today. If one copy is stolen, I'll make ten copies, and if that doesn't work, I'll make a hundred copies, so they can't frame you."
She suddenly became spirited, like a ray of sunshine in the small room, warming and comforting everyone around her. Chen Junbo smiled in response.
Only Liu Yitong really listened, "Yes, yes, sister-in-law, aren't you that tea lady? Get the people involved and make sure everyone gets a share. Let's see who can frame me then."
Li Yang laughed at his words, but Li Yuhan started cursing again, "Don't give me bad advice. If you do that, you'll be going against the Emperor. You're not protecting yourself; you're just accusing the Emperor of unfair judgment. We'll probably lose our heads even faster."
Liu Yitong chuckled sheepishly, "Then think of something, tsk."
As the group chatted noisily, Li Yang suddenly felt a pang of envy, as if he had returned to Songshan Town, or perhaps Gao County. Thinking this, he unconsciously took Chen Junbo's arm.
Chen Junbo raised his hand and covered her small hands. The two leaned against each other, and the man whispered, "It will pass, it will all pass."
Upon hearing this, Li Yang rubbed his head against his arm again. "Yes, everything will be alright. The teahouse has been shut down, but You Feng has saved up quite a bit of money. The jailer in charge is my grandfather's student. Just stay here peacefully. If you need anything, just ask someone to pass on a message to the teahouse, and they will bring it into the mansion."
She kept talking, and Chen Junbo would hum in agreement with each sentence, just like an old married couple.
Bi Fang put down his pen and handed over the total booklet. "Young Master, please take a look and see if this is the correct number."
Chen Junbai checked the last digit and found it to be the amount of treasury silver. He assumed the surplus silver hadn't been misplaced either. He then handed it to Li Yang and instructed Bi Fang, "I originally planned to help you make connections when you arrived in the capital, but given the current situation, it's best not to use any unfamiliar channels. Listen to the young mistress in everything."
Upon receiving the brush, both Li and Liu looked shocked.
Li Yang knew they would be surprised. Although the outside world knew that Chen Junbo and his wife had a very close relationship, no one expected that Chen Junbo would trust her so much. Only then did she know everything about Chen Junbo. This time, Chen Junbo had entrusted all his assets to Li Yang.
Hearing these words, Li Yang felt a warmth in her heart. She looked at Chen Junbai with sincere eyes and was about to say something when she heard the jailer come over and say softly, "Madam, it's almost time."
Knowing that his visit had taken too long, Li Yang sheepishly slipped some loose silver into the jailer's hand, saying, "Let's go right away."
The other party took the silver and stepped aside, no longer urging him to hurry.
Li Yang and Bi Fang packed their things, said their goodbyes in a hurry, and left the prison.
The sun was high in the sky today, so bright that the two of them could hardly open their eyes for a moment.
After discussing it, the two decided not to return to the farmhouse for the time being. Staying outside would make things more convenient, and they could communicate with their grandfather through the vegetable cart if needed.
After delivering the letter to the fat woman in the narrow alley, the two hurried back to the teahouse.
After receiving the message from the two men, Aunt Pang bought a lot of vegetables and fruits on the street during the day. She pushed her cart back to the manor and encountered the guards at the gate. She kept greeting them, "I bought a lot today and came back late. I brought some snacks from Tianxianglou for the two gentlemen. Please make an exception for me."
The soldiers at the gate were not valued and were only assigned to guard the back gate. They were so happy to receive the benefits that they were completely blinded by greed. They were happy to let them pass. "Auntie Pang, you're the best. The food and drinks at Tianxiang Restaurant are not cheap. My brother and I have never been there before."
Aunt Pang, spouting auspicious words, pushed her cart into the mansion and immediately saw Zhuang Ziyang and Zhuang Shutong waiting in the back kitchen. She quickly stopped the cart, dusted herself off, and went forward to report.
"Master, Miss, the young lady went over there with the steward. They said it went very smoothly, but they still have some business to attend to, so they won't be returning home yet," Aunt Pang said, trying to recall. "And, and, the young lady said she'll be sending messages through the back alley every day. If there's any news from our manor, she'll also..."
Seeing this, Zhuang Shutong smiled and said, "If we have any news, we can share it, right?"
"Yes, yes, let's share what we have." Auntie Pang slapped her forehead and chuckled.
Li Yang and Bi Fang returned to the teahouse, only to find the main entrance blocked. Just as they were worrying, You Feng's head popped out of a second-floor window. "Young Madam, Brother Bi Fang, let's go to the back door."
The two then turned into a small door on the back street, and the door inside opened to welcome them in.
The people of Songshan Town were still living in the teahouse. The government had intended to shut down the teahouse's business that day, but since the teahouse was taken over by Li Yang and his group, the government had no right to confiscate it, so a back door was left open.
As the two followed Youfeng up to the second floor, they smelled the aroma of meat soup.
Youfeng smiled and said, "Young Madam, Butler Bi, Mr. Zheng and Sister Ziyan said that you would be coming to the teahouse today, so they went to the street early this morning to buy ingredients for hot pot."
"Hot pot?!" Li Yang felt his mouth water and his frustration dissipated.
"Yes, the mutton was all freshly slaughtered today. Mr. Zheng even went out of his way to buy Erba sauce, which I heard is a prized delicacy in the capital." As Youfeng introduced the dish, the group entered the side room, where a round copper pot was placed on the table in the middle, which was indeed a hot pot.
Li Yang's eyes lit up, and he hurried to the table. There were piles of mutton slices, potato slices, lettuce slices, and some meatballs and vegetable balls, which looked extremely delicious.
She couldn't help but swallow.
Seeing this, Ziyan quickly pulled her to sit down, "Eat up, you must be hungry."
During the meal, Zheng Qingbo inquired about the two men's prison visit that day. Li Yang then took out the account book from his pocket and said, "Yes, yes, we'll have to trouble Mr. Zheng to help us make several copies of the account book in the next few days and store them separately, just in case."
Zheng Qingbo nodded in agreement, then Xiao Lu asked, "But how are we going to use these ledgers after we've copied them?"
In short, the atmosphere at the table plummeted, and Li Yang's face turned extremely ugly. These days, she felt as if her hands and feet were tied. After Chen Junbo was arrested, she had been hoping that her grandfather could intervene in the court, but her grandfather was implicated and forced to close his residence. Not to mention, the teahouse was now paying rent for nothing but being unable to open.
Now is not the time to worry about the rent of this teahouse. Fortunately, we have made some money before, and now that we have cleared the inventory, the losses are not significant.
But Chen Junbo's case has lost his grandfather's support. What should he do now? Right now, he can focus on copying the account books, but what should he do after he finishes copying them?
She felt hesitant and powerless.
These days of not knowing what to do tomorrow made her feel particularly adrift. Then Youfeng quickly said, "Oh dear, I misspoke. Never mind, let's just copy the ledgers first, and we'll know what to do tomorrow."
This "live for today" attitude comforted Li Yang somewhat. She sorted out the jumbled thoughts in her mind, put on a smile, and said, "Yes, Youfeng is right. We'll know tomorrow's events tomorrow. Let's copy the account books first, and I'll have someone send a few copies back to the Zhang residence tomorrow evening. Grandfather might have a solution after seeing them."
"Yes, yes, that's right."
No one had any good ideas, so they all just agreed. The group focused on eating their hotpot, and the rest of the conversation revolved solely around the hotpot; they didn't talk about anything else.
Unbeknownst to them, the aroma of the hot pot carried their words to the residence of the Second Prince, Li Zhen, without missing a single detail.
Xuan Ying: "Master, didn't His Majesty authorize Your Highness to investigate the teahouse's disaster relief efforts? Now that the teahouse has been shut down, should we report this to His Majesty?"
Li Zhen looked at the chessboard but hesitated to make a move. "Father's change of heart is probably related to Prime Minister Zhuang's illness. I'm afraid someone has already informed Father about Prime Minister Zhuang's relationship with Li Yang. It would be better to pretend not to know now."
Upon hearing this, Xuan Ying remained silent.
Li Zhen sat for a while, pondered for a moment, and then followed me to pay respects to my father, the Emperor.
When the two arrived at the Imperial Study, Li Zhen had only been inside for a short while when he heard Emperor Qing's furious voice from inside.
"You unfilial son!" Emperor Qing roared. "How dare you say I am narrow-minded? If I am narrow-minded, then there is no one in the world who is broad-minded! Zhuang Ziyang, relying on his granddaughter to help the disaster victims, dared to spread nursery rhymes that insulted the court in the city. I have been very lenient by not punishing him for plotting a rebellion."
Emperor Qing's chest heaved, as if he were exasperated. After a few moments of calm, he said, "Last time you said you would investigate this matter thoroughly. Did you investigate? What did you find out? If it weren't for Zhao'er, I wouldn't have known that this teahouse lady was actually the granddaughter of Prime Minister Zhuang. What a prime minister! His daughter eloped, his granddaughter is causing trouble in the capital, and even his grandson-in-law is starting to neglect salt affairs. This is the upbringing of the prime minister's family!"
“Father, this ‘Song of the Big Rat’ did not originate from the Prime Minister’s residence.” Li Zhen knelt down and stepped forward.
"If it's not from the Prime Minister's residence, then where did it come from?!"
Li Zhen remained silent. He had no concrete evidence to prove that Li Zhao was involved in the matter, but Li Zhao had already gained the upper hand. If it were said that the matter was initiated spontaneously by the common people, Emperor Qing would probably be even angrier.
Seeing his reaction, Emperor Qing became even angrier, shouting, "Get out! Get out!"
Not long after Li Zhen withdrew, Zhang Youdao and Zhong Zhengyuan were summoned to the palace.
"Your Majesty, we have been ordered to investigate the salt certificate case. Our investigation revealed that the treasury held eight million taels of silver, while the accounts recorded thirty million taels, a discrepancy of twenty-two million taels. The guilty minister, Lin Yihuai, has already signed the agreement. Our investigation also revealed that the remaining profit from the salt certificate, from the date of registration, amounted to five million taels, while the estimated amount from the date of actual payment was ten million taels. Lin Yihuai resisted to the death and refused to admit it, and the salt merchants of Jiangnan also remained tight-lipped." The official in charge of the profit certificate case reported the results of their investigation. "Therefore, the criminal Lin Yihuai has been sent to the capital's prison, and the salt merchants have been temporarily placed under the custody of the Imperial Guards."
"What did Chen Junbo say?" Emperor Qing asked upon hearing Chen Junbo's testimony.
"Your Majesty, Chen Junbo has not yet been interrogated since we returned to the capital."
Emperor Qing sighed, “We cannot refrain from interrogating Chen Junbo just because he was a friend of mine when we were commoners. The investigation must be rigorous and the questioning must be thorough. We must not let anyone go unpunished, nor arrest anyone unjustly.”
Having received the imperial decree, the group returned to the yamen and went to interrogate Chen Junbai.
Chen Junbai's confession was identical to that of the other salt merchants. Considering that he had personally served and received the emperor during his southern tours several times, none of them dared to use torture.
Zhang Youdao said, "Chen Junbai, don't think you can get away with this just because you have some connections with the current emperor. It is the current emperor who is now investigating this case. You'd better tell the truth."
Upon hearing this, Chen Junbo laughed instead of getting angry, "Lord Zhang, gentlemen, haven't we already interrogated the salt merchants? Do I need to repeat myself? Or do I need to confess the whereabouts of the courtesans of Ruyi Pavilion over the years..."
"Chen Junbo! How dare you!" Zhang Youdao suddenly stood up. "Don't try to frame me with baseless accusations. If you want me to confess about the salt permits, then you'd better tell the truth!"
"Lord Zhang!" Chen Junbai's voice grew louder. "As the Salt Commissioner of Songshan Town, don't you know anything about the salt permits? Now you want me to explain? Fine, fine, this is my explanation."
After saying that, he threw out an account book, which was the one that the group had written in prison that day. The original book that Bi Fang had calculated was left with Chen Junbai, and the other books were to be taken back and re-copied and calculated.
Upon seeing the items on the ground, all the officials present were taken aback. Zhang Youdao quickly stepped forward, picked up the books, and began to peruse them.
After flipping through only two pages, his face turned furious. "Chen Junbo, how dare you forge books!"
Chen Junbo felt a sense of sarcasm. Zhang Youdao's actions were nothing short of an admission of guilt. He said leisurely, "Lord Zhang is quite capable. He only glanced at it a few times and knew it was a forgery without even verifying it."
Zhong Zhengyuan glanced at Shangguan and hurriedly said, "Alas, Lord Zhang, let Lord Li review this document first before making a decision."
Zhang Youdao then composed himself and hurriedly presented the book in his hands to Lord Li.
Lord Li's eyes darkened, and he coldly snorted as he took the account book, clearly dissatisfied with Zhang Youdao's unauthorized actions.
He examined the ledger closely, his brow furrowing more and more as he flipped through it. After about ten pages, he turned to the end and found that the figures in the ledger matched the actual amount of silver counted in the treasury perfectly.
Li Rushu pressed down the ledger, pondered for a moment, and the frown lines between his brows became more pronounced.
Zhong Zhengyuan gave Zhang Youdao a look, and the latter bowed to his superior and said, "Lord Li, how could Chen Junbo bring account books with him when he came to the capital? We didn't find any account books when we searched the Chen family, which means that the treasury had no accounting records and was a mess. Now that Chen Junbo can actually provide account books, he must have forged them."
Hearing Zhang Youdao's words, Li Rushi's expression did not relax, and he could only pretend to be lost in thought.
Zhong Zhengyuan: "Lord Li?"
Li Rushi replied, "This matter needs further consideration. According to His Majesty's calculations by the Imperial Household Department, the amount of treasury silver differs greatly from the calculated figure, but this account book matches the amount of treasury silver."
Chen Junbo looked at Li Rushi with curiosity, wanting to hear what this official, appointed by Emperor Qing, intended to do after reviewing the account books.
Li Rushi paused for a moment, then said, "It is clear that there must be another real account book besides this one. We must find that account book before we can report to His Majesty."
Zhang Youdao's eyes lit up. "Yes, then in Lord Li's opinion, is torture permissible?"
Upon hearing this, Li Rushi frowned again, seemingly not accepting the suggestion.
Zhang Youdao then said, "Lord Li, His Majesty has been waiting for more than a month. If we don't use torture, it will probably drag on for too long, and His Majesty can't wait any longer."
Hearing this, Chen Junbo chuckled softly, already knowing the outcome. Li Rushi sighed and said, "Sentence according to the circumstances."
Zhang Youdao hurriedly replied, "Your humble servant obeys."
After that day, the prison guards worked day and night in shifts to examine the wanted criminal. At first, Liu Yitong's shouts and curses were the most intense, but gradually he could no longer utter a sound.
"What the hell is this?" Liu Yitong lay on the cell floor, barely alive, cursing intermittently.
The jailer, having exhausted all other options, hurriedly sent out the message during his day off.
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