~ YUE WANG’S MURDEROUS INTENT ~
In the Su’s residence, filled with endless cheers and laughter, but within Jin Xiu Garden, Yue Wang’s expression was peculiarly cold.
Steward Qin stood at the side with his hands behind his back, listening to Yue Wang’s instructions to Yu Yi.
“Li Yuanyi has made a careful decision there. I don’t want him to set foot in Jin Xiu Garden again for the next few days.” Yue Wang’s eyes darkened. It was as if a cold wind had blown past them, bringing with it an endless chill.
Relying on Li Yuan’s personality, if he had set his mind on Mu Yunyao, he would definitely think of all sorts of ways to woo her in the next few days. Just thinking about such a scene made his killing intent rise in his heart.
Yu Yi hurriedly nodded his head and replied, “Please rest assured, Master. This subordinate will handle this matter right away.” He had already made up his mind. If he could not use proper business to tie up Li Yuanyi and keep him trapped in the government office, he would secretly wrap Li Yuanyi in a sack and break his legs, and Li Yuanyi would not be allowed to appear in front of Wang Ye.
Yue Wang nodded: “Go ahead and do it.”
Sensing that the surrounding coldness has slightly decreased, Steward Qin stepped forward and spoke to Yue Wang. “Master, with the help of Bu Xian Luo in Jiangnan, our staff have gradually settled down and gathered a lot of news recently. The most obvious one is that there is news about the First Prince, Ling Wang, who seems to be slowly penetrating Jiang Nan. Are we going to intervene and stop him?”
“No need. We have been planning this for so many years. The forces in Jiangnan have only just begun to take shape, and we cannot easily expose them. Otherwise, they are very likely to be uprooted. This time, when Yunyao’s plan ended, the salt merchants will probably be furious. If we cannot find a reason, then we might cause chaos in the whole of Jiangnan. So, I tried to find a way to lead the clues to the First Prince.”
“Yes, Master.” The salt merchants of Jiangnan had always had deep roots. Even the Emperor’s previous inspections of the salt tax were very well-measured. They were afraid that it would cause the entire Jiangnan turmoil, and he hoped that the First Prince’s influence would be able to hold on once the salt affairs subsided this time.
Li Yuanyi was in a bad mood after being warned by Li Munian again. Li Munian had even sent down two bodyguards to supervise him, and not allowing him to go to Bu Xian Lou. So, he goes to the backyard of the government office to drink. Unknowingly, he had gotten drunk, and when he woke up the next day, he felt a splitting headache coming on as he stood up, the world spinning around him. He wanted nothing more than to vomit out the bitter water in his stomach. For a time, not to mention Bu Xian Luo, he even can’t go to the government office.
Mu Yunyao thought that in the next few days, Li Yuanyi would definitely come to bother her. However, she did not expect that he would not show up at all. She thought it was Yue Wang who made the shot, and she asked about it specifically, but unfortunately, Yue Wang did not know anything about it, and in the end, she had no choice but to let it go.
In Yangzhou City, the salt merchants gathered at Wu Minzhi’s residence with worried expressions, “Chief Wu, no matter what, we have to investigate this clearly. The salt carried on the salt ship involves several million silver taels, and each of us has lost a lot of silver taels.”
“The loss of several million silver taels is considered a small matter. The key point is, once the Emperor investigates this matter, I’m afraid we won’t have any place left in Jiangnan.”
“That’s right...” Wu Minzhi’s eyebrows creased slightly, and he looked relatively calm, “The matter has already come out. There is no point in thinking about anything else now. No matter what the real situation is, to outsiders, the batch of official salt purchased has sunk to the bottom of the river, which is absolutely a dead-end. At least, the salt tax in the book account had evened out, and we can use it to deal with Governor Liangjiang.”
“Even though I said it like that, but this matter is really frustrating. What’s more, if the people who robbed us in Yan City were to spread the news, what would happen then?”
Wu Minzhi sneered, “If they sell the salt, they’ll probably get for over ten million taels of silver. Since those people robbed the salt ships for the sake of money, could they be stupid enough to hand over the salt boats to the government?”
“Chief Wu’s words are extremely reasonable.”
“Yeah, they shouldn’t be so stupid.”
The salt merchants left with many worries, and not long after, they received a post at the same time, inviting them to go to Chun Feng Garden to discuss important matters. Chun Feng Garden is very popular in Yangzhou City and is famous for its vocal music. The girls in it are all well-known courtiers, each of whom has very high musical attainments and is extremely sought after by some romantic talents. But this isn’t a proper place to invite these people to Chun Feng Garden to discuss anything important. What could they discuss?
Initially, many people didn’t care about it, but when they saw the seal at the bottom right corner of the post, they immediately rushed back to Wu Minzhi’s residence again.
Wu Minzhi was also holding the same post in his hand. Seeing that everyone was rushing back, he could not help but shake his head, “The letter sent by the Governor of Liangjiang, Li Yuanyi. Whether it’s true or false, we must not neglect it. We will go to Chun Feng Garden with me in the evening.”
“Chief Wu, could it be that the matter regarding the salt ship exposed?”
Wu Minzhi did not have any clue as he felt uneasy in his heart. “I’m not too sure either. Let’s go to Chun Feng Garden first.”
“Sigh …”
That night, the salt merchants came to Chun Feng Garden with heavy thoughts. The usually lively Chun Feng Garden was very quiet today, and the salt merchants found it increasingly difficult to calm down. When they arrived upstairs and saw the person sitting upright in the room, they couldn’t help but open their eyes wide. “Lord Qi?”
The smiling man who sits in the room was the same person they had met before!
Qi Ming stood up with a smile: “Greetings everyone. I take the liberty to invite you to come here because it is really a matter of great importance, and we need to discuss it carefully. Please forgive me.”
Wu Minzhi’s eyes shook violently before calming down. “Lord Qi has been keeping us in the dark for a long time. To think that you would be a member of the governor’s office.”
Qi Ming was still smiling, neither admitting nor denying. He turned around and instructed the girls on one side to serve tea. When the tea had set on the table, the girls in Chun Feng Garden retreated, closing the doors and windows tightly. The salt merchants were apprehensive. Even though all of them had experienced hardships, they were still a little confused. Previously, they had all prepared generous gifts and came to Wu Minzhi’s residence to congratulate him. They thought that this man was a businessman with a little background and wanted to make a fortune on salt, but now it seems that the situation was far from what they had expected.
Qi Ming looked around the salt merchants, shook their heads, and sighed: “Everyone, this time, what you have done is really too much.”
Wu Min Zhi asked on behalf of everyone, “What exactly does Lord Qi mean by his words?”
Qi Ming smiled and looked over, “Chief Wu, why are you still pretending to be confused? Naturally, I’m talking about the incident that the official ship carrying salt sank on the Xijiang River some time ago... “
Wu Minzhi lifted his teacup and took a sip. With smooth and natural movements, he said, “We knew about this a long time ago. It’s a pity to say that. I heard that there was quite a lot of salt in that batch.”
Qi Ming’s expression turned cold, “From Chief Wu’s point of view, you’re not planning to discuss this with me about this matter?”
“We really don’t understand what Lord Qi means, nor do we know what we should discuss.”
“Since that’s the case, then I am sorry to trouble you all. I will prepare a gift for you all another day and then apologize to you. Please go back.” As he spoke, he sneered, stood up, and walked towards the door.