All Heavens: From Joy of Life to The Great Feng Night Watchman

Page 181

"My son was bewitched by the Second Prince! I thought Baoyue Tower was a high-end club where you could make a lot of money!"

Fan Jian roared in fury, "It's all about making money again! You'd even abandon your humanity for money?"

Fan Sizhe's cries drew Fan Xian and Liu Ruyu's attention.

"Father! What happened?"

Fan Xian's expression turned icy after reading the letter. "Li Chengze actually tricked Si Zhe into opening a brothel in order to deal with me!"

"Fan Sizhe, as the owner, do you dare say you know nothing about the forced prostitution at Baoyue Tower?"

"Do you think anyone will believe you if you say you know nothing? What's the state of that Baoyue Tower now?"

Fan Sizhe was protected by Liu Ruyu and spared physical pain.

"The manager, Yuan Meng, has disappeared. His Highness Prince Yong personally went to Baoyue Tower and forced my cousin and me to transfer Baoyue Tower to the second manager, Sang Wen."

Fan Xian said resentfully, "You, Li Chengze, you really want to mess with me! Well, don't blame me for messing with you in return!"

"Dad, keep hitting him, just don't kill him!"

Harem.

After Li Chengping handed the letter to Consort Yi, Consort Yi's reaction was even more intense than Fan Jian's.

"Quickly, bring me my cane!"

"Li Chengping, lie face down on the stool and don't move!"

Although Li Chengping had known this would happen, he still felt uneasy when he saw the rattan cane.

"Mother, it hurts! I know I was wrong!"

"Mother, it was all Fan Sizhe who bewitched me!"

"I didn't even know what Baoyue Tower was until I was writing the letter!"

"Snapped!"

Consort Yi's rattan cane struck Li Chengping's buttocks in the blink of an eye.

Li Chang'an sipped the tea prepared by Consort Yi, admiring her graceful manner of disciplining the child.

"Sister Yi, calm down! I've already scolded Chengping for you!"

"Sister-in-law, be gentle! The child is still young, it's normal for him to be easily misled!"

"Sister-in-law, don't overwork yourself. Considering that Chengping wrote a letter admitting his mistake, don't hit him too hard."

"Sister-in-law, don't worry about it too much. No one's dead yet, it's not a big deal..."

Consort Yi slapped him twice more, then said to Li Chang'an in an annoyed tone, "Chang'an, why are you still siding with the child!"

"This is nothing. If someone were to die, I'd beat him to death!"

After saying that, Consort Yi continued to beat Li Chengping.

"Luckily, your Uncle Yong returned to the capital in time, otherwise you would have been sold out and would still be helping him count the money!"

"Beating the child on a rainy day, you might as well do something else since you're bored anyway!"

"Fishing is for relieving boredom, and so is hitting children!"

Li Chang'an said to Li Chengping, who was crying, "Third brother, don't cry!"

"At least wait until your sister-in-law has finished hitting you before you start crying!"

Not long after, the caning finally stopped, not because Li Chengping realized his mistake, but because Consort Yi was tired of beating him.

"Chang'an, I'll have to trouble you to keep a close eye on this child from now on, who knows what kind of trouble he might cause!"

"We're family, so don't be shy."

Li Chang'an patted Li Chengping on the shoulder, then patted his swollen buttocks, causing Li Chengping to scream.

"Don't worry, sister-in-law, I'll keep an eye on him for you!"

Liu Ruyi smiled with relief, "Don't call me sister-in-law, we're family, call me sister!"

Liu Ruyi, in her early thirties, is not just still charming, but in full bloom; every frown and smile is full of unique allure.

Li Chang'an insisted, "Siblings from the same clan are distant relatives, but uncles and aunts are closer. My sister-in-law is busy, so I'll be going now."

Speaking of kinship, Li Chang'an and Liu Ruyi are indeed very distant relatives.

Watching Li Chang'an leave so gracefully, Li Chengping once again shed tears of envy.

"Mother, Uncle Yong is so presumptuous! I'm so envious!"

Liu Ruyi's rattan cane landed on Li Chengping's bottom again. "Can you even dream of that?"

"Can you even reach one percent of the achievements and prestige of your Uncle Yongwang?"

Recalling Li Chang'an's words and the recent rumors, Liu Ruyi couldn't help but say, "Your Highness Prince Yong has indeed been somewhat presumptuous lately..."

……

Li Chengze has been feeling uneasy these days, always feeling that something bad is about to happen.

Sure enough, Fan Xian brought his men to the door that day.

Fan Xian, in his capacity as a supervisor, also took charge of a department in charge of affairs.

Zhu Ge, the original host, was discovered by Chen Pingping through a clever trick; he had sided with the Eldest Princess.

At that time, the eldest princess was under house arrest, and Zhu Ge committed suicide in the Supervisory Council, so the First Division had no head.

Fan Xian had just taken office when, at the behest of Emperor Qing and with the support of Chen Pingping, he launched a campaign to punish corruption.

Fan Xian used swift and decisive methods to rectify the lax work style of the department and win over Deng Ziyue, a hard-working and loyal "lone minister" of the department.

At this time, the Inspection and Procurement Office, which was in charge of purchasing food for the palace, sent a tribute to the First Division as usual: the extremely fresh and delicious Yunmeng fish from the South.

The Oversight Council has intelligence that the Prosecutors Office routinely exploits vegetable farmers, taking kickbacks and embezzling funds.

Just as Fan Xian was about to punish corruption, the Inspection and Records Bureau, which came knocking on his door at this time, was the perfect target to crack down on.

Moreover, Eunuch Dai of the Inspection Office was promoted by Consort Shu and can be considered part of the Second Prince's faction.

When Fan Xian arrived at the Second Prince's residence, he immediately dragged Li Chengze fishing without saying a word.

Li Chengze certainly knew that Fan Xian wanted to use his subordinates as an example to punish corruption.

He dared not be careless, so he went to the Inspection Office with Fan Xian.

The Inspection Office has been sealed off, and officials have begun to audit its accounts.

Li Chengze ate grapes and drank tea, waiting to see what problems could be found in one place.

The head of the inspection office, Eunuch Dai, rushed over in a great hurry.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone at the Supervisory Council, Fan Xian began to frequently hint to Eunuch Dai that he should contribute some money.

“Eunuch Dai, the national treasury is empty after the war, and there is a shortage of silver everywhere.”

Fan Xian held the accounting books of the Inspection Office in his hand, his tone growing increasingly serious.

"At this critical juncture, instead of relieving the nation's worries, the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics is finding ways to embezzle money! Is this appropriate?"

If the Censorate were to truly investigate the Prosecutors Office, it would certainly uncover many of the shady dealings that Dai Gonggong had done.

Eunuch Dai bowed and pleaded, "This old servant is usually very honest, but I feel uncomfortable whenever I see silver!"

Fan Xian patted Eunuch Dai on the back, looking earnest and respectful.

"You know the Supervisory Board, and you're also familiar with our methods of handling cases."

Grandpa Dai nodded repeatedly, saying he knew and understood.

Fan Xian then pointed to Yan Bingyun, who was sitting on the steps with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yan Bingyun, who came with me, returned from Northern Qi. He's ruthless and vicious!"

"You inspectors, you know perfectly well whether you've embezzled money, and how much you've embezzled!"

"If this ledger is investigated further, I'm afraid neither you nor the Second Prince will look good!"

Fan Xian's words were full of threats and implications, and Eunuch Dai understood them perfectly, waiting for Fan Xian to name his price.

Sure enough, Fan Xian put his hands behind his back and sighed.

"Everyone's short of money! Can't the prosecutors and prosecutors take responsibility and share the burden?"

Eunuch Dai approached Fan Xian and whispered, "Young Master Fan, may I have a word with you in private?"

Fan Xian said loudly, "No! Say what you have to say here, we're all family here."

Eunuch Dai looked around at the people around him, hesitated for a moment, then took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Fan Xian.

"Young Master Fan, there are some additional points regarding the accounts. You can take a look at them yourself when you get back."

Fan Xian took the envelope, opened it on the spot, counted the money, and held the three silver notes high.

"Three thousand taels! Not bad, is it?"

This action greatly frightened Eunuch Dai, for this was a bribe, and Fan Xian was openly displaying it!

Fan Xian's next actions puzzled him even more.