~ RUMOURS ARE SPREADING ALL OVER THE PLACE ~
When Mu Yunyao returned home, she instructed Jin Lan to place the jewelry box given by Yue Wang into the storage room. She probably wouldn’t be able to wear these things for the rest of her life. In the following days, Mu Yunyao would occasionally come to Jin Xiu Garden to discuss with Yue Wang about the batch of salt and how to deal with salt merchants in Jiangnan. Their expressions looked as if they were normal, and their relationship seemed to return to how it was before. They tacitly understood that they had never mentioned the previous unhappiness. However, some things that happened, such as crossing the ground with the water, eventually leave behind some traces.
In Yangzhou City, Li Yuanyi looked at the shipment of salt, and a smile flashed across his eyes. He initially thought that when he came to Jiangnan to inspect the salt tax, he would pretend to be a kind person and accept some bribes at most. Unexpectedly, there were ready-made contributions to the door. Those officials in Yangzhou City were also tired of living. They even wanted to make a move on the salt tax at this moment and let him pick up a bargain in vain. The salt merchants also heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Although things went through twists and turns, they were able to get through it safely. They had also sold Li Yuanyi for the benefit, making the First Prince owe them a favor. In the future, perhaps this would be of great use. As for the lost silver, we can always earn it after years of hard work.
Just as they were feeling proud for a few days, a shocking piece of news directly shocked Li Yuanyi and the salt merchants in Jiangnan. After the investigation, the salt pile that had initially been carried north had an accident while passing through Linjiang City. The salt ship sank into the water, and all the salt was gone!
When Li Yuanyi first heard the news, he almost fell to the ground, “What’s going on? Didn’t they already send additional people to make them extra careful? Why did something go wrong?”
The guard who came to report the news knelt on the ground, trembling without a sound. “At that time, a fog rose up over Jingling City. The fog was so thick that I couldn’t clearly see when someone was digging a boat from under the water. By the time I reacted, the hole was too big, and there was no hope of saving it …”
Li Yuanyi was like an ant on a hot pan as he paced back and forth on the spot, “Quickly, go and send a letter to Li Munian. No, send a letter to Prime Minister Li Qingzhou, tell him the whole story of the matter, and let him make the decision.” This time, the matter is too big for him to handle on his own. He had to let Li Qingzhou make his decision. At first, Li Yuanyi wanted to suppress the news and wait for Li Qingzhou’s reply. Unfortunately, because of the salt tax case, all the forces were paying attention to it. Now, as soon as something happened, the news spread like wildfire throughout the entire Dali Dynasty. Before his letter even reached the Capital, the Emperor had already got the news.
The Emperor was furious, and the officials were as silent as cicadas in winter. Just as the Emperor gave the order to investigate, another piece of news was quickly spread.
From the very beginning, the salt tax case in Yangzhou City was a conspiracy between salt merchants and officials. First, the salt merchants had secretly ordered the officials to buy salt to make up for the deficit in salt tax, and later they had falsely claimed that the salt had sunk on the Xijiang River and replaced the salt ship with a boat loaded with sand. After the matter was almost exposed, the salt merchants bribed Li Yuanyi, the Governor of Liangjiang, who had checked the salt tax. They framed the Salt Transport Envoy of Yangzhou City, Su Tong, saying that he was the one who had secretly exchanged the salt and was caught by Li Yuanyi. But in reality, the salt merchants themselves had handed the hidden salt to Li Yuanyi. Otherwise, Li Yuanyi would not be able to pinch and count. Why did he go straight to the abandoned wharf when he arrived in Yangzhou City and searched for that batch of salt?
After that, to gain merits, Li Yuanyi made up a fake to deceive the Emperor and allowed the officials who bought the salt and the government servants and other insignificant people to bear the blame, protecting the various salt merchants in Jiangnan. They also heard that the salt merchants had given him gifts after the event, and the exact amount of silver was unknown.
As soon as the news spread, Prime Minister Li Qingzhou hurriedly entered the Palace to face the Emperor. However, after kneeling outside the Palace for a long time, the Emperor didn’t see him. The First Prince hurriedly entered the Palace to plead as well, and the Emperor avoided him too.
The salt merchants, who had initially thought that they could sleep peacefully, were now quite flustered. They did not expect that the matter had resolved satisfactorily. Now, there was actually someone who had exposed all of their secrets.
In Wu Minzhi’s residence, the salt merchants in the main hall were flustered. “Chief Wu, you have to think of something. If this goes on, how are we going to survive?”
Wu Minzhi’s expression was dispirited as his relaxed and gentle aura had already disappeared without a trace. “You don’t have to make noise here. If you have the time, why don’t you go home and arrange the aftermath?”
The salt merchants were all dumbfounded, their faces all pale. “Arrange the aftermath?”
“Could it be that we are really hopeless?”
“We have evidence! Didn’t we get someone to send all the evidence into the Capital? When we present the evidence, maybe we can get lenient treatment?”
“That’s right, Chief Wu, we can’t delay any longer. No matter who wants to get rid of us, we can’t just sit there and wait for death. We have to find a way to survive!” Wu Minzhi slowly raised his head, “Alright, since all of you want to do this, why don’t we may as well draw more cushions before we die? The development of this matter is always complicated and confusing and has developed to this point in time. It doesn’t matter whether the First Prince has turned hostile or has been set up by someone else. It is no longer important if we can’t find the real mastermind behind it, we can only think of a way to implicate the First Prince into this. If we have him on top of us, our crimes might be a little less serious.”
“This is the only way ….”
In Jin Xiu Garden, Mu Yunyao’s eyebrows furrowed tightly, and her fingers and sleeves covered with blood: “Fourth Master, please endure it with me. Although I used a silver needle to seal your blood, the arrow sticks very deep, and it will still hurt to pull it out.”
Yue Wang took off his clothes on his shoulder, revealing the smooth muscles of his shoulder. Half of the arrow on his back was deeply embedded in one side of his scapula, and the blood kept flowing out.
“No worries, go ahead.” Yue Wang frowned slightly, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. However, his eyes remained calm and collected and only occasionally flashed with a hint of coldness.
Mu Yunyao washed the dagger with strong liquor, then placed it on fire and roasted the blade once more. She held the exposed half of the arrow firmly in her hand, and with her other hand, she quickly cut open some of the wound on the back of Yue Wang, then decisively pulled out the arrow.
Yue Wang groaned in pain, but his body remained motionless.
The bloodstains continued to flow down the wound, and the color was dark, with a faint smell. Mu Yunyao wasn’t in a hurry to help Yue Wang stop bleeding. Instead, she continuously squeezed the wound to the side, causing the black blood to flow a little more. Only when the blood that flowed out turned a bright red did she begin to bandage the wound.
Steward Qin, who was standing by the side, looked on worriedly. “Miss Mu, how are Wang Ye’s injuries?”
Mu Yunyao bandaged the wound before letting out a sigh of relief, “The arrow had poisoned. Fortunately, the poison wasn’t strong enough, so after taking the decoction for a few days, the medicine will eliminate the poison completely. It’s just that the wound is too close to the heart. If you don’t take care of it carefully, I’m afraid that the diseases will remain. During this period, the Fourth Master must pay more attention to rest, and do your best not move your left arm, to avoid damaging the wound.”
Yue Wang looked at Mu Yunyao and shook his head slightly. “Tomorrow, I will set off to Western Guangdong.”
Oh no. Husband’s injured!!! Better take care of husbando well, waifu!!! 😱😱😱
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