Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 234: The King and His Ministers Play a Game of Loyalty and Treachery

The palace city of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Qianyang Palace.

The spacious hall seemed somewhat empty, and the gray-black bricks on the ground reflected a cold light.

The last time Jia Cong entered the Qianyang Palace was to report to Emperor Jia Zhao on strategies for building camps using firearms. At that time, his report was highly praised by the emperor.

The Minister of War Gu Yankui and Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding also enthusiastically recommended him for an official position. Even Guo Lin, who always served the emperor, was in high spirits. The atmosphere in Qianyang Palace was very warm at that time.

But today's Qianyang Palace is completely different. From the moment Jia Cong stepped into the palace, he felt a strange and depressing atmosphere.

He did not look up at Emperor Jiazhao, but just glanced at Guo Lin who was standing beside the emperor.

But he just stood there with his eyes downcast, not even looking at her, with an expression of indifference and alienation.

Jia Cong's heart trembled. This deputy eunuch was the barometer of the emperor's situation. Jia Cong understood his behavior.

"I, the minister Jia Cong, kowtow to His Majesty."

The deep and majestic voice of Emperor Jiazhao came from the throne, with a soul-stirring power.

"Do you know why I summoned you to the palace to see me?"

Jia Cong replied respectfully, "I don't know."

"Recently, Zhang Shouan colluded with nobles to kill Xiuniang's incense shop, which caused a huge public outcry and attracted the attention of the court. There are many suspicious points. I have seen the documents of the Ministry of Justice and found that this matter is closely related to you!

I want to ask you, what is the relationship between this Xiuniang Incense Shop and you? Is it a private property you have accumulated under the name of someone else? "

Jia Cong was suddenly startled and roughly understood the reason why Emperor Jia Zhao summoned him to the palace for an audience.

It was nothing more than that the emperor noticed some doubts about the process of Zhang Shouan's case, but he did not figure out the mystery, otherwise the current scene would not be like this.

Before the provincial examination, Qu Hongxiu told him that someone had been negotiating with the incense shop about buying a stake, and signs of their covetousness were already evident at that time.

In fact, this was not unexpected to him. With one or two shops opening up, relying on the methods of perfume purification and strange selling methods, the business was so prosperous, how could it not arouse greed.

From that time on, he began a series of preparatory measures.

He asked Qu Hongxiu to give porridge to refugees outside the city and take in a large number of orphans to raise, all in order to establish a good reputation for Xiuniang's incense shop in the market and to protect it.

After purchasing the teahouse, he opened a women's dormitory, creating a channel for gossip.

He also asked Qu Hongxiu to prepare a branch in Jinling and transferred some assets just in case.

All of this is to prepare for the future!

He also discussed carefully with Qu Hongxiu how to deal with her past identity as a member of the Hidden Sect. For him and Qu Hongxiu, this contained the greatest danger.

Fortunately, during these three years, Qu Hongxiu completely broke away from the Hidden Sect and also put a lot of effort into the issue of his identity. Three years were enough to cover up the visible risks.

All of these are for the further exposure of Xiuniang Incense Shop in the future, so as to identify and fill in the gaps.

He and Qu Hongxiu had been together for three years. She had taught him art and stood by him through thick and thin. Emotionally he could not let go of her.

Now that we are together, I naturally have to protect her, even if there are unpredictable risks.

However, Jia Zhen and Jia Rong suddenly used tyrannical means to seize the secret recipe of incense making through Zhen'an Prefecture, which was indeed beyond his expectations, and also greatly advanced the exposure of Xiuniang's incense shop.

As the incense shop's business grows bigger and bigger, after the first wave of people covetous and snatching it, there will be a second wave and a third wave. He will not have any luck about this.

Because this is the way the world is today, the powerful and the wealthy are in power, the strong prey on the weak, and the weak are robbed by trickery. If the weak hide their wealth, they will eventually die!
So he had to find a permanent way to secure the success for the industry he had carefully built.

When he went to Zhen'an Prefecture to rescue people, he began to spread information and incite public opinion, not only to eliminate risks like Zhang Shouan, but also based on that ultimate goal.

Although there are risks in doing so, he has also carefully calculated that even if a discerning person can detect the clues, it is difficult to figure out the mystery. This is nothing more than the information asymmetry between them. It is the darkest place under the lamp, and it is necessary to win in danger!

Emperor Jia Zhao was always suspicious and scheming, so Jia Cong was not surprised that he would react like this.

"Your Majesty, I am still a child of the Rongguo Mansion who has not yet been registered. According to clan rules, I cannot accumulate private property. Three years ago, I met Miss Qu, the owner of Xiuniang Incense Shop, by chance. At that time, Miss Qu came to Shenjing alone to make a living.

Although she was financially limited, she was kindhearted and raised several homeless orphans, which made me admire her very much. So I gave Miss Qu my own secret recipe for making incense, which was inspired by ancient books.

This allowed Miss Qu and the orphans she raised to make a living by making incense. This is how the Xiuniang Incense Shop came into being. This incense shop is indeed Miss Qu's property, not my personal property."

Emperor Jia Zhao was surprised and said, "Oh, so this secret recipe for making incense was created by you!"

However, Emperor Jiazhao did not dwell on this issue.

Jia Cong has always been full of brilliant ideas. He was able to formulate a meticulous firearms strategy, invent a method to modify the Rumi gun, and it is not surprising that he could come up with a secret recipe for making incense.

Emperor Jia Zhao continued, "Even if it is not your private property, it is still deeply intertwined with you. Zhang Shouan abused his power and harmed the people, and he deserved it.

But you saved the female manager of Xiuniang's incense shop. She did not go to the Dali Temple to file a complaint immediately, but waited for several days until the public outcry over the matter became heated and difficult to contain. Then she suddenly went to the Dali Temple to file a complaint.

This move escalated the situation to the extreme and also cut off all of Zhang Shouan's retreat routes. She is just an ordinary business woman, and I don't believe in her scheming!

Humph! You are the top scorer in the provincial examination, and you are extremely talented. You have used all the tricks and tactics you learned on this. It was you who instigated that woman to delay going to the Dali Temple to file a complaint for a few days!
Jia Cong, you are so bold that you dare to take advantage of the public criticism to control the government's actions, and attempt to take advantage of the country's power to avenge your personal grudges. This is an act of disrupting government. What crime should you be punished for?"

"You think you can hide it from the officials of the Three Judicial Departments, and you think you can hide it from me. You really underestimate the people of the world!"

Emperor Jiazhao's voice became increasingly stern, and every word echoed in the empty hall, carrying with it anger and murderous intent that seemed to be able to gnaw at people's hearts.

Jia Cong couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat on his back. The feeling of having his life and death controlled by others in an instant was suffocating.

The air became as frozen as ice, and a voice came from the throne: "What else do you have to say?"

Emperor Jiazhao was ungrateful and suspicious by nature, but this character was not innate.

When he was young, his biological mother left him and he suffered from neglect. He was mediocre among the princes, not valued by his father, and had no help or support.

However, he ascended the throne by chance, and it took him a lot of effort to keep on sitting on the throne. Over time, he developed this ungrateful and suspicious character.

He hated most those ministers who plotted for personal gain and attempted to deceive the emperor. That was why, since he ascended the throne, he had vigorously supported the Zhongchesi, Tuishiyuan and other internal offices to help his lackeys and control the court and the country.

Although what Jia Cong did did not violate the law of the country, it violated the taboo in his heart, which made him so angry.

Jia Cong knelt on the ground, his mind focused, raised his head slightly, and his voice seemed to tremble: "Your Majesty is very clear-sighted. I am ashamed that I deeply detested Zhang Shouan's killing of innocent people.

Qu Hongxiu, the owner of Xiuniang Incense Shop, has a kind nature. He did good deeds when he was poor. After he became rich by making incense, he gave his money away to do charity, not only to help refugees outside the city.

She also rented a house in the west of the city and raised more than a dozen orphans. The reputation of Xiuniang Incense Shop for doing good deeds spread throughout the west city.

Such a virtuous and righteous businessman, and an official in charge of the people, Zhang Shouan, would have been fine if they did not protect and advocate it, but they colluded with the powerful, oppressed and murdered him, and undermined the country's discipline.

Although I hold a low position in office, I am also a minister of the Great Zhou. I cannot sit idly by and watch. I wish I could get rid of him with my own hands as soon as possible, so I did such a treacherous act.

Now that Zhang Shouan has been executed, I am willing to accept the blame. I beg Your Majesty to consider my deep desire to eliminate evil and show me grace again. I am willing to redeem my sins."

When Emperor Jia Zhao heard that Qu from Xiuniang Incense Shop had done such a good deed, his expression softened a little. Monarchs of all dynasties were generally more tolerant of such merchants who gave away their wealth to do good deeds.

Although Jia Cong's method of dealing with Zhang Shouan was gloomy, if it was for the sake of protecting such a righteous businessman, there was also some leniency in him.

Then he asked, "Now that you know your sin, how do you want to redeem yourself?"

　I'm still typing. There will be another update tonight. If you have votes, please give me some support. Thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)