boyutpedia Chapter 344 Jiangnan is about to collapse
Chapter 344 Jiangnan is about to collapse
Zijuan was thoughtful and considerate, and brought a basin and towel.
Cao Yu was flattered and quickly bowed and crossed his hands to express his gratitude. He wiped his face vigorously and washed his hands. Then he breathed a sigh of relief, sat down, covered his face with his sleeves, ate three pieces of snacks in a row, and then took a sip of ginseng soup.
The Supreme looked at his appearance and couldn't help but smile and shook his head, saying: "No wonder your Majesty asked you to come here to kowtow and then go back home, it seems that you are really tired and hungry."
After a pause, he smiled and asked, "How was the errand?"
Cao Yu swallowed the food in his mouth, saluted to the Supreme with a solemn look, and knelt down to report: "The case of Zhen Xiangling's abduction and trafficking has been thoroughly investigated. The relevant case files have been handed over to Your Majesty.
"The Zhen family pretended to be deaf and dumb about this, but Governor Ding was willing to adopt her in the name of her aunt. Your Majesty said that this matter should be decided by Zhen Xiangling herself.
"I was just about to ask the Supreme Lord for his order. Zhen Xiangling has been a maid or concubine in the Xue family for many years. She may not have the courage to return to her family or live with her relatives and be disliked.
"If there is no emperor's will to support her, and only one word is given to let her make her own choice, I am afraid she will be deceived by the little kindness of Xue family in the past, and will be unwilling to leave."
The Queen Mother nodded upon hearing this and said to the Supreme, “I have heard from Yi Min that this child, although generous and elegant, is foolish and timid.
"Kuang Ru's idea is good, but we still need to support him. How about calling the child over here so I can comfort him?"
The Queen Mother's face had already darkened when Cao Yu mentioned that "the Zhen family pretended to be deaf and dumb". Hearing the Queen Mother's enthusiasm, he forced a smile and nodded, but then looked at Cao Yu:
"Can you check the Zhen Mansion thoroughly?"
Cao Yu took a deep breath, nodded his head, then shook his head regretfully and answered carefully:
"After Jia Rong died, several of the Jia clan members who had been attached to him went to discuss countermeasures with the Zhen family, but were discovered by Jia Zhen's widow, Youshi.
"After You Shi informed me, I took advantage of the situation to subdue those families and ordered them to investigate the Zhen Mansion.
"Who knew that the Zhen family was only a facade left, and they didn't even notice such a simple scheme. I easily found out their two sets of accounts.
"I also copied some of Zhen Xun's important correspondence under the pretext of checking the accounts, and arrested two of his aides who helped him with private matters and extracted important confessions.
"I just mentioned this to Your Majesty. After hearing only a number, Your Majesty was so angry that he smashed the teacup and said that his family really let His Majesty down."
The Supreme glanced at him.
Cao Yu sighed again, changed from kneeling to kneeling, and read out a number: "Six million two hundred and seventy thousand."
Tai Shang's face suddenly turned pale, and veins on his forehead bulged!
Without even looking up, Cao Yu added, "This was after Zhen Xun took over the Zhen family, about twenty-six years ago."
The hall was silent.
This means that Zhen Xun’s father had embezzled an unknown amount of money!
Cao Yu was completely unaware of the low pressure in the hall and added a second sentence: "According to the testimony of the Zhen family's staff, Jia, Wang, Shi, and Xue are not much worse than the Zhen family."
Tai Shang's shoulders slumped slightly, and then he remained motionless.
“Your Majesty said that the heads of these four families in the past twenty years are smarter than Zhen Xun, and their positions are not as convenient for making money as his, so the words of the staff should not be taken seriously.
"Your Majesty said that we should discuss these troublesome matters after the New Year.
"Your Majesty originally instructed me not to mention this to Your Majesty, fearing that it would disturb your New Year's mood.
"I feel that these people are really hateful. If I don't let the Supreme Lord know and give these termites the opportunity to deceive the Supreme Lord, then I would be disloyal and unrighteous!"
Cao Yu was calm at first, but the more he spoke, the angrier he became.
Tai Shang was instead moved to smile, and said lazily: "I'm not angry, so why are you angry?
"I really don't care about these matters of the court anymore. Let your Majesty deal with it on his own."
Then she told him, "Stop kneeling, sit up and eat."
Cao Yu sat up straight as ordered, swallowed another piece of dessert, drank a sip of ginseng soup, and then smiled and talked about the interesting stories of his colleagues in Jiangnan:
"Ouyang Bao took his parents over, and the next day he went to the yamen wearing an extra coat and two pairs of trousers than usual, and was sweating profusely from the heat.
"Master didn't know, and was so scared that he asked a doctor to see him!"
The Supreme laughed loudly: "That guy is very good at doing things, how come he can't defeat his old mother no matter what?"
"Who can beat his mother in terms of food and clothing? Even if the emperor came to my place, and I told him to drink another bowl of soup, do you think he would dare not drink it?"
The Queen Mother glared.
Cao Yu also laughed: "What the Queen Mother said is very true. But what you wear when you go to the government office is ultimately related to the dignity of the court.
"I am just worried that when Ouyang needs to use some tricks on a task, Xuantang will refuse to do it, which will delay the work, which will be bad."
The expressions of the Grand Master and the Queen Mother paused slightly.
Cao Kuangru's words may seem fanciful, but they are always to the point.
Since he could point this matter out clearly on such an occasion, it was probably that Ouyang Bao's mother had already delayed her important work.
"This woman raised a good son. You should reward her with something." The emperor's eyes immediately turned to the queen mother.
The Queen Mother understood, smiled, and looked at Cao Yu: "That's good. But I don't know what women like this love?
"Kuang Ru, do you know what kind of reward your aunt hopes to get from me?"
Cao Yu was stunned, and waved his hands hurriedly, saying, "My concubine mother has a strange personality, and she is really not comparable to the old Xuantang of the Ouyang family. Your Majesty, please ignore her.
“But I have heard that the Ouyang family is very rich, but his mother dotes on him and is not generous to his two brothers.
"If the Queen Mother can persuade this old lady to treat the three brothers equally, it will help prevent any trouble for Ouyang's reputation as an official."
The Queen Mother understood and smiled, "That's easy."
After a few more words, the Supreme Lord saw that Cao Yu was really tired, and reluctantly had to let him go back home, and asked Dai Quan to send him out personally.
Cao Yuci came out and said to Dai Quan with a smile, "It's so cold, you should go back, Minister. I'll just need a young eunuch to lead me out."
Dai Quan shook his head and smiled, "That's different! The Supreme asked me to send you out, but that wasn't for you to see, that was for others to see.
"You haven't been rewarded for your service in Jiangnan yet. Some snobs might point fingers at you.
"Now I'll send you to the palace gate. I want to see who dares to look down on you!"
Cao Yu smiled and bowed repeatedly: "Not really. If everyone saw that His Majesty and His Majesty were so kind to me, they would probably become suspicious and know that something big is going to happen in Jiangnan!"
This stopped Dai Quan.
However, just as he walked out of the palace gate and turned the corner, he saw Princess Zhaoqing's trusted maid Xueyan coming forward and saying, "Master Cao, I have been waiting for a long time!"