met free Chapter 171 Reincarnation of Cause and Effect
Chapter 171 Reincarnation of Cause and Effect
He had just said that he had official business to report to Prince Yu, and then immediately said that Prince Yu was giving him pointers.
Anyone who hears this will realize there's something wrong.
Marquis Chengen's face turned pale, and he opened his mouth to explain, "Your Majesty..."
Emperor Jing'an raised his hand to interrupt him: "Dozens of boats have sunk to the bottom of the river. Surely someone knows exactly where they sank. Whether the boats were carrying grain or sandbags, once the flood recedes, we only need to send people to dive down the river and retrieve a few sandbags, and the truth will be revealed."
Marquis Chengen looked at Emperor Jing'an in horror, his lips trembling as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't utter a word. His heart sank lower and lower.
Emperor Jing'an withdrew his gaze, already having made up his mind.
After the disaster victims in Guanzhou were settled, an official suddenly appeared and proposed to transport the old grain from Qingzhou to Guanzhou.
Qingzhou suffered from drought for several consecutive years, resulting in no harvest. The only solution was to sell official positions in exchange for grain.
Last year, the entire Zhou Dynasty was struck by natural disasters, with Qingzhou suffering even more severe damage, and the whole country faced a food shortage.
At this point, Qingzhou claimed to have a grain surplus, which seemed strange no matter how you looked at it.
Now that the shipwreck has occurred and all the food is gone, it has already revealed the truth.
Later, the Qingzhou censor reported that what was being transported to Guanzhou was not grain, but sandbags, and the whole story became clear.
These corrupt officials attempted to embezzle Qingzhou's grain through a treacherous scheme of substitution.
Marquis Chengen was in charge of transporting grain, so how could he not know what was being transported on the ship?
However, Marquis Chengen could not accomplish such a great task on his own.
Emperor Jing'an composed himself and instructed Eunuch Cao: "Go and summon Prince Yu to the palace."
Eunuch Cao accepted the order and left.
Marquis Chengen gradually calmed down, and a glimmer of hope arose in his heart.
As long as Prince Yu arrives, he can be saved.
-
A carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the Prince Yu's mansion. The curtain was lifted, and Ling Zhongshi stepped out of the carriage.
He was of plump build and not very agile. With the help of two servants, he slowly got off the carriage.
When Ling Zhongshi saw the plaque of the Prince Yu's Mansion, he felt a chill and hesitated to go. However, the matter was of great importance, and he had no choice but to come and face his nephew in person.
He braced himself and entered the Prince Yu's residence, where, led by the Grand Tutor, he arrived at the study in the front courtyard.
As soon as he entered, Ling Zhongshi complained with a mournful face: "Jing'er, my shipping company has stolen the order from the largest shipping company in Qingzhou to transport official grain to Guanzhou."
"If this matter is accomplished, our shipping company will surpass the Gu family's shipping company, and money will flow into our pockets like water from now on."
"But then God broke a hole in the sky, and it rained heavily every day. All the boats sank to the bottom of the river. Not only was the grain gone, but the officers, soldiers, and sailors who were transporting the grain all drowned."
“If it were just transporting grain for ordinary merchants, I wouldn’t need to trouble you; I could handle it myself. But now it’s all government grain being transported, and I’m afraid my head is going to roll off my neck.”
“Jing’er, your uncle didn’t mean to cause you trouble. It’s just bad luck and a natural disaster that caused this mess.”
Ling Zhongshi wiped away his tears: "You have to help your uncle. If something happens to him, not only will your mother be heartbroken, but the Emperor might also distance himself from you and your son because of it."
Prince Yu's hands tightened, almost unable to restrain himself from grabbing Ling Zhongshi's neck and twisting his head off.
“Jing’er…”
"Shut up!" Prince Yu looked at Ling Zhongshi with a sinister gaze: "If there is a next time, there's no need to wait for Father to chop off your head. Out of consideration for our relationship as uncle and nephew, I will personally send you on your way."
Ling Zhongshi looked at the terrifying aura emanating from Prince Yu and turned pale with fright.
He knew in his heart that Prince Yu was serious.
"Knock knock!" The door was knocked on, and the Chamberlain announced from outside, "Your Highness, someone from the palace has come to invite you to enter."
-
When Prince Yu entered the palace, Emperor Jing'an and the cabinet ministers agreed on the ministers to be sent to Qingzhou to investigate the case, and the Grand Secretary was asked to draft the imperial edict.
When Marquis Chengen heard that Prince Yu had arrived, he subconsciously looked in the direction of the palace entrance.
"Go and wait in the inner palace," Emperor Jing'an instructed.
Marquis Chengen was startled, then hurriedly got up and went to the inner hall of the Imperial Study.
Emperor Jing'an watched Marquis Cheng'en leave before signaling Eunuch Cao to invite Prince Yu in.
When Prince Yu bowed to Emperor Jing'an, he subtly glanced around the hall.
When he entered the palace, he heard that Emperor Jing'an had imprisoned the Marquis of Cheng'en and had ordered people to go to Qingzhou to investigate the case.
Prince Yu asked, "Father, why have you summoned me to the palace?"
Emperor Jing'an asked gently, "How have things been going for you at the Ministry of War lately?"
"Your Majesty, I am well," Prince Yu said succinctly.
"You have always made my life easier." Emperor Jing'an looked at Prince Yu with kind eyes, as if there was no distinction between ruler and subject, but only a conversation between father and son: "Jing'er, dozens of large ships transporting grain from Qingzhou to Guanzhou have all sunk. The censor of Qingzhou said that the ships were full of sandbags, and there was not a single grain of food on board."
At this point, Emperor Jing'an handed the secret letter to Prince Yu.
He continued, “If there was grain on the ship, Marquis Chengen failed to supervise it properly and committed the crime of negligence. If there was no grain on the ship, he was even more guilty of embezzlement and corruption, and should be beheaded. No matter which charge he was guilty of, he is culpable, and I have already imprisoned him.”
Prince Yu looked at the letter in his hand and naturally knew what it meant. This secret letter was the very one he had ordered to be presented to Emperor Jing'an, deliberately exposing the crimes of Marquis Cheng'en.
Before entering the palace, he learned from Ling Zhongshi that Hongyun Shipping had stolen orders from Gu's Shipping Company to transport official grain to Guanzhou.
Based on this one sentence alone, he was able to conclude that the "grain" from Qingzhou had been loaded onto the large ship of Hongyun Shipping.
If this matter is not exposed, Ling Zhongshi will be held guilty.
Prince Yu had no choice but to abandon the title of Marquis of Chengen.
He placed the letter back on the dragon's desk: "Father, do you wish to discuss the matter of Qingzhou with me?"
"I still have one matter to decide," Emperor Jing'an said with difficulty. "The Marquis of Cheng'en rented the large ship from the Gu family's shipping company. The ship provided by the Gu family's shipping company was not up to standard, which led to the sinking accident. I will definitely hold the Gu family's shipping company accountable, but the owner of the Gu family's trading company made contributions in the Guanzhou incident. Jing'er, in your opinion, should I order the arrest of Gu Zongci?"
Prince Yu pondered for a moment and said, “Father, the large ship was carrying sandbags. The fact that the ship sank in the river means that someone deliberately damaged it to cover up the truth. You should not hold the shipping company accountable, but rather the main officials in charge of this matter. Only they had the opportunity to take action.”
When Marquis Chengen in the inner palace heard Prince Yu's words, he was struck dumb, realizing that Prince Yu was not protecting him, but sending him to his death.