Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 381 Jin Gui's Evil Intentions

The prosecutor was terrified, and threw the arrows on the table one by one, wishing to kill Xue Pan, the thief who was talking nonsense, immediately. It was just an ordinary murder case. If it implicated the Grand Marshal of the dynasty, he was just a small prosecutor of the sixth rank, how could he get away with it?

At that moment, the yamen runners came up and used the water and fire sticks to pick up Xue Pan and were about to hit him with a stick. The lawyer beside him saw that something was wrong and quickly whispered to the prosecutor: "Mr. Mingshang, it's not right to beat the prisoner to death...Mr. Zhan, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, warned us yesterday."

"Huh?" The magistrate suddenly felt a headache.

Yes, for some reason last night, the Censor Zhan Chong sent someone to deliver a note saying that Xue Pan must not be killed no matter what. Now that I think about it, I'm afraid that Censor Zhan had some hidden agenda.

The magistrate was only a sixth-rank official, but how many fools were there in this era? Especially the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture in the capital, he must be a very good person.

The magistrate thought to himself that Zhan Chong was the favorite disciple of the current cabinet minister Yan Xiyao, and Grand Marshal Jia Hua was a member of the party of the Prime Minister Chen Hongmou...hiss, this is going to be a party struggle. Regardless of whether it is the Prime Minister or the cabinet minister, he, a small sixth-rank magistrate, cannot afford to offend them.

Seeing Xue Pan screaming and wailing, he was beaten with seven or eight sticks in an instant. The magistrate was afraid that Xue Pan would be beaten to death, so he shouted immediately: "Stop!"

Xue Pan's butt was already in a state of pain. If it weren't for the lawyer's frequent winks at the two yamen runners, these few blows would have cost him his life!

The magistrate has now thought clearly. Since the Chen party and the Yan party are going to fight, then he, a small fry, should just do his job impartially. If the sky falls, there will always be someone taller to hold it up... Isn't there a Shuntian prefect above him?

So he asked, "Xue Pan, let me ask you, was what you just said a joke?"

Xue Pan, the dull bully, was a stubborn man. Although he was in excruciating pain after being beaten seven or eight times, he still insisted when the magistrate questioned him, "Everything I said is true. If you don't believe me, just invite the Grand Marshal to confront me on the spot."

The magistrate indicated that the lawyer had written a confession, and then asked Xue Pan to sign it, and then ordered people to temporarily put him in the death row. Fearing that someone would tamper with him, he quickly found a trusted servant to watch over Xue Pan in the prison to prevent him from being attacked.

After receiving the confession, the prosecutor hurriedly took the documents to find the governor of Shuntian Prefecture. The newly promoted governor of Shuntian Prefecture, Wan Weishu, was in the same class as Jia Yucun, and this time he was recommended by Jia Yucun, so he was grateful to Jia Yucun.

Wan Weishu was shocked when he got the confession, and immediately said, "The thief must have been making random accusations. How could Yucun disregard the law for a small gain?"

The magistrate nodded in agreement, but whispered, "Mingzun, the Xue family is from an imperial merchant family. They are known as the Four Great Families in Jinling, and have close ties with the Jia family, the Wang family, and the Shi family."

Wan Weishu said with a sullen face: "Such snobbish people have violated the law of the country. Just deal with it impartially. Don't worry about anything else."

"Yes," the judge replied, and then said, "But yesterday, the Censor Zhan of the Metropolitan Procuratorate informed us that we must handle this matter impartially and not let Xue Pan die an untimely death."

"Ok?"

Wan Weishu twirled his beard and pondered, and immediately came to the same conclusion as the magistrate. Yan Xiyao was known as the Smiling Tiger and the Unshakable Man, and the Chen Party was very powerful, but Yan Xiyao was still safely serving as a cabinet minister, which showed how capable he was.

As the saying goes, fish seek fish, shrimp seek shrimp, and turtle seek turtle. What kind of person could the person recommended by Jia Yucun be? He must be a bureaucrat who knows how to protect himself and avoid harm, just like Jia Yucun.

If it was just a trivial matter, it would be fine, he could just help out and then give Jia Yucun a good name. But since this matter involved party disputes, Wan Weishu immediately wanted to back off.

After thinking it over, he looked at the prosecutor with a complicated expression. The prosecutor hurriedly said: "I have sent people to the death row to watch over him, and I will make sure that Xue Pan will not die an untimely death."

Wan Weishu thought about it and said, "This matter...will be investigated in detail for some time, and I will report it to the Ministry of Justice with your permission."

The judge agreed and left immediately.

Wan Weishu did not dare to delay, as his sponsor was Jia Yucun, and if anything happened to Jia Yucun, he would be implicated, so he hurriedly sent someone to deliver a letter to the Jia residence, saying that he would visit in the afternoon.

That afternoon, Shuntian Prefecture Governor Wan Weishu returned home first, changed into casual clothes, and then took an inconspicuous carriage to the Grand Marshal's Mansion.

When the two met in the study, Wan Weishu quickly told him about Xue Pan's accusation.

Jia Yucun was stunned when he heard this. He had originally planned to use Xue Pan's case to control the Xue family and take Miss Baochai as his second wife, but he had unexpectedly seen the Xue family do the opposite and actually wanted to involve him in the case.

Jia Yucun said, "The thief's accusations are random and cannot be taken seriously. Give him a beating and he will surely change his mind."

Wan Weishu understood the intention clearly, this was a shady move. But Wan Weishu said in embarrassment: "Yucun, I'm afraid this will not be easy."

"How to say?"

"For some reason, Zhan Chong from the Censorate has set his sights on this case. I'm afraid Xue Pan... something unexpected will happen."

Jia Yucun frowned and thought, "The Yan Party is trying to use me as a target."

Since he was dismissed from his post last time, Jia Yucun has become more cautious and careful, good at manipulating power, and rarely doing practical things. He is also good at keeping himself safe and avoiding harm, which is why he has been successful in the officialdom and is now the Grand Marshal of the Ministry of War.

Since Wan Weishu said that Zhan Chong had set his sights on him, Yan Xiyao must have been behind this. Jia Yucun thought about it and realized that he could not handle this matter on his own, and he had to bring out the party leader Chen Hongmou to compete with Yan Xiyao.

Therefore, he said to Wan Weishu: "I cannot thank you enough for your kindness. This is definitely a sign of the outbreak of the Yan Party. I will go to consult with Prime Minister Chen right away. We must deal with the enemy with our own strength."

Wan Weishu agreed and said, "It's good that Yucun knows what's going on. I can't stay for long, so I'll go back now. Oh, the case can only be delayed for ten days at most. No matter what Yucun thinks, he must hurry up."

Jia Yucun agreed and personally escorted Wan Weishu out of the house. He then quickly changed his clothes and went straight to Chen Hongmou's mansion.

............................................................

Jinglingbo Mansion.

In Zhijue Zhai, Xing Zhong's wife was holding hands and explaining something to Xing Xiuyan.

"Your father and I will leave tomorrow. I heard that there is a small courtyard with a private entrance, and there are three main rooms. Your father said that he would hire a few maids to serve us, and we will be able to return to the capital during the New Year holidays. You don't have to worry."

After all, he is flesh and blood, and he has crawled out of his own intestines. He had made thousands of plans before, one of which was to find a good marriage for Xing Xiuyan; the other was to use the marriage to climb up the social ladder and change his family status.

Now that Xing Xiuyan has married into the Bo's mansion and become a concubine, Xing Zhong and his wife's wish has been fulfilled. Although they were bullied by Li Weijian soon after, they still gained some benefits.

Xing Zhong had already learned everything about the woolen mill these days. He heard that there were more than 3,000 workers employed there, and even the officials had to show some respect to the managers. As a result, his resistance gradually disappeared, and he couldn't help but imagine the good life of being a superior person.

Xing Xiuyan didn't know about her parents' change, but she was touched by her mother's words. She asked the maid to find the money box, opened it, and handed over two silver notes worth 100 taels.

"Mom, you have to spend money when you first arrive. Please accept this banknote first."

Xing Zhong's wife refused, "Why would I need your money? You just arrived, and you may need to bribe everyone in the mansion. If you need money, you should just keep it for yourself."

Xing Xiuyan smiled and said, "My daughter has been in and out of the Bo's Mansion for a long time, and has a close relationship with the Madam. Moreover, the Bo's Mansion has a very upright family tradition, which is completely different from the Rong Mansion. The servants dare not ask too much of my daughter."

Xing Zhong's wife stammered for a while, then said awkwardly, "My uncle... gave it to me before, and your father couldn't refuse it, so he had to accept it."

Xing Xiuyan blinked and asked hurriedly, "How much did the master give?"

Xing Zhong's wife quietly raised a finger. Xing Xiuyan was relieved immediately, thinking it was only a hundred taels. In fact, she underestimated Li Weijian. After all, he was a cheap father-in-law. Although his character was a little bad, he got his daughter, so he couldn't let the two elders suffer a loss, right? So Li Weijian offered a thousand taels.

Xing Xiuyan said, "In that case, I won't say anything more. I'll keep the two hundred taels until--"

"Tsk, it was just a joke, but you took it seriously. You should take care of yourself and give birth to a child soon, that's better than anything else."

As she spoke, Xing Zhong's wife glanced at the clock beside her, stood up and said, "It's getting late, the house hasn't been tidied yet, I'll go back first. You don't need to see her off tomorrow, your father has booked a carriage and will leave at dawn, I'm afraid you won't be able to make it even if you want to." Xing Xiuyan was grateful for her upbringing, so she hurriedly stood up to see her off, and sent her mother all the way to the second gate before returning. As soon as she entered Huifang Garden, she saw Xiuying rushing forward in a hurry.

When the two girls met, Xing Xiuyan smiled and said, "Xiuying looks so happy, is there something good going on?"

Xiuying grinned and said, "My brother's own poison has returned."

Xing Xiuyan thought for a moment and quickly congratulated him, "That's great news. I guess the master is looking for him right now, right?"

"Yes, Sister Xing, I'll go first and we'll talk later."

Xiuying jumped forward. The Bo's mansion did not prohibit female members from going out, so Xiuying only told the maid at the second gate and then went out of the ceremonial gate to look for the study.

When he got closer, he could see a familiar but strange figure sitting upright inside, smiling and talking to his master.

Xiuying looked carefully and found that Wu Haining had not only become stronger, but also much darker.

At this time, Li Weijian caught a glimpse of Xiuying and waved at her.

Xiuying walked in with a stern face. Wu Haining, who was walking by like a monkey, saw Xiuying and quickly stood up to greet her: "Sister."

"Yeah." Xiuying put on a stern face, pretending to be an older sister. She reached out and patted Wu Haining on the shoulder, saying, "I'm glad you're back. I don't know how worried my brother was when you left."

Wu Haining smiled and said, "Yes, my elder brother has already reprimanded me before."

After a few words of casual chat, Xiuying didn't want to say much at this time. She hurried to Li Weijian, greeted him, poured him tea, and then stood aside.

Li Weijian glanced back at him and said, "Why are you pretending? Find a place to sit."

Xiuying laughed and quickly moved a chair to sit next to Li Weijian.

Li Weijian ignored her and asked Wu Haining, "What will the British do next?"

Wu Haining was much calmer than before. He bowed and said, "Master, you don't know that the East India Company has only more than 2,000 employees in Sindhu. They only dare to use tricks behind the scenes, and how can they dare to confront our army head-on? Since the general was furious and captured more than a dozen British strongholds, the British have now all moved to the southwest of Sindhu, and only occasionally send pirates to harass the coast."

Li Weijian nodded. India at this moment was not yet the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. To be more precise, the British had not yet unified the fragmented Sindhu. They were just relying on the British traditional offshore balance - the method of stirring up trouble to unite the various states of Sindhu.

Dashun is not the Qing Dynasty. Especially in the past two years, it has attached more and more importance to the navy. It is hard to say about other places, but in the Indian Ocean, the Dashun navy and the British navy are roughly 60:40, but when it comes to the waters near Dashun, they always win.

It is no wonder that the British sent envoys to seek peace. How could a small country like Britain compete with the huge Dashun? According to the data collected by Li Weijian, Dashun, which had the first industrial revolution, had a GDP of more than 40% of the world's total. Even with the support of colonies, England's GDP was only one-seventh of Dashun's.

The difference between the two countries was so huge, and the British were not fools, so how could they dare to go to war with the Dashun head-on?
Li Weijian could think of all the British tactics, which were nothing more than instigating trouble around Dashun, whether in Annan or Burma, in order to drag Dashun into the quagmire, so that they could take advantage of the situation.

However, this was exactly what Li Weijian wanted. Without war, how could Dashun expand its living space? Without war, how could Dashun accelerate its industrialization?

The thought flashed through his mind, and Li Weijian asked again: "What does the general say now? Keeping the enemy at bay for your own good?"

This is probably a traditional skill of military generals in all dynasties. Although Yue Zhongqi was just following orders, he also had the tendency to become too powerful to be stopped.

Wu Haining said, "Master, I think the general is afraid of being overwhelmed by his achievements, so he is not in a hurry to return to the court."

Li Weijian smiled and said, "It's better not to come back. Sindhu is a complicated place, and only General Yue can control it."

Having asked what he wanted to ask, Li Weijian looked at Xiuying and saw that her eyes were full of his brothers, so he stood up and said, "Forget it, you two can chat and stay for dinner tonight. Xiuying, find someone to clean a small courtyard and let Haining stay there."

"Hey." Xiuying agreed happily, and stood up to send Li Weijian out. She turned around and changed her expression. She stepped forward and raised her hand to grab Wu Haining's ear: "Hairy monkey, have you grown up? You've been gone for several years. Don't you know how worried my brother and I are?"

"Sister, sister! Let go quickly. I am the head of the department now after all. Please give me some face."

Xiuying glared at him: "How can you have the dignity to be in front of me?"

Wu Haining saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly said: "Sister, I brought you a gift!"

He immediately picked up a box from the table and unfolded it. The golden and colorful things inside were dazzling.

Xiuying was shocked after just one glance: "Wow! Why are there so many gold and gems? They say Sindhu is extremely rich, and it seems to be true." She let go and asked in surprise: "Could it be that the people over there are all wearing gold and silver?"

Wu Haining curled his lips and said, "Ordinary people live a miserable life, but the princes of the state live like gods. My brother is lucky. There was a stupid prince of the state who led more than a thousand soldiers. He was wiped out by my troops. The general ordered the confiscation of his property. I took 10% of the wealth and gave the other 10% to the soldiers."

After a pause, he whispered, "Sister, my brother has at least earned this fortune this time."

He pointed with a finger while speaking.

Xiuying was shocked, but suddenly changed her mind and said, "I had discussed with my eldest brother before that we would both contribute a little to set up a family business for you and marry you off. Now we don't have to worry about it... You can stay in the mansion for the next few days. My sister-in-law told me before that she has picked out several suitable families." She then said proudly, "My brothers have become successful now. This time it's not them who choose you, but you who choose them. Haha, we have to pick a suitable marriage."

"This..." Wu Haining was in a dilemma and muttered, "My brother is only on vacation for half a year. He has to go back to Shendu."

Xiuying blinked and scolded, "What are you going back for? Do you want to be a soldier for the rest of your life?"

Wu Haining said, "No, I'm thinking of retiring in a few years. I just happened to get so much money, so I might as well buy tens of thousands of acres of good farmland in Sindhu... Hey, sister, what the master said is right, the people of Sindhu are obedient and cowardly, and there is really a lot to be done!"

Xiuying suddenly felt unwell, and felt that her brother had gone wild after going out.

............................................................

A few days passed in a flash.

The case of Xue Pan had been delayed for a long time and no one had closed it. Xue Pan was only taken away every now and then, questioned routinely and then sent back to the death row.

Aunt Xue and Baochai had been worried, but finally they felt relieved.

That day, Aunt Xue said to Baochai, "Brother Jian has finally come up with a good idea. I have asked someone to investigate and found that the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, Wan Weishu, is indeed very close to Jia Yucun. My child, maybe your brother's case will have a chance to be resolved this time."

Baochai was not optimistic, thinking, "This matter has only been eased a little, and we have to wait and see how the verdict will be." After a pause, she continued, "Mother, I think it would be better to ask Fourth Brother Jian to find Lord Yan, who is in charge of the Ministry of Justice. If Lord Yan accepts the money, maybe the matter will be resolved."

Aunt Xue thought about it and said with difficulty: "It's just that...your sister-in-law still refuses to confess, that money——"

Baochai said, "We just got some money back, so let's use it from the factory first."

Aunt Xue was filled with gratitude, and was just pulling Baochai to say something soothing when she saw Baochan stumbling in. Seeing the two of them, she shouted, "Madam, young lady, your grandmother has bribed the jailer in private and hired someone to kill your master. Madam, young lady, you can't just ignore it!"

"Ah?" Aunt Xue was startled and stood up suddenly, "What are you talking about?"

Baochan wiped her tears and said, "Just now, the maidservant beside grandma let slip that the mistress had found a jailer and sent him a 1,000-liang silver note, asking him to give Master a quick death!"

(End of this chapter)