allonlinenovel Chapter 129 Meeting
Chapter 129 Meeting
Marquis Chengen hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I am not capable enough to serve as the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Canal..."
Emperor Jing'an interrupted, saying, "Minister Shen, I will not misjudge a person's abilities. Today, I appoint you as the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Canal Transport because I believe you are capable of fulfilling this role."
Having said all that, how could Marquis Chengen dare to refuse? If he resisted again, Emperor Jing'an would accuse him of disobeying an imperial edict, and he would be in deep trouble.
Moreover, Emperor Jing'an clearly did not give him a chance to refuse.
After the court session ended, Marquis Chengen was as if he had lost his parents. Faced with the congratulations from his colleagues, his expression became increasingly stiff, and he forced a fake smile.
It was only at this moment that he truly realized one thing—imperial power can be deadly.
No matter how clean he cleans up his mess, if Emperor Jing'an suspects him and wants to get rid of him, he has a thousand ways to do so.
Now that he has been appointed as the Grand Canal Transport Commander, it is as if he has been put on the fire.
Perhaps Emperor Jing'an is secretly arranging for people to monitor him.
Thinking of this, he could no longer maintain the fake smile on his face.
He hurriedly returned to the Chengen Marquis's residence and was greeted by Madam Shen, who was beaming with joy.
"My lord, congratulations on your promotion." Madam Shen said with a beaming smile, "This morning, an imperial decree came from the palace, transferring you to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Canal."
At this point, her expression turned grim as she said, "That dissolute young man in the manor has actually become a tribute student and can go to the Imperial Academy to study."
Madam Shen was full of resentment: "How much of the manor's resources did our Huai'er use? In order to pass the imperial examination, he studied hard since he was a child and never dared to slack off. Only then did he become a junior scholar and enter the Imperial Academy for further studies."
Shen Shaoheng simply donated grain and easily gained admission to the Imperial Academy.
She felt incredibly choked up.
After hearing Madam Shen's words, Marquis Chengen knew that he was truly doomed.
Before the morning court session, the emperor had already ordered someone to draft an edict, indicating that he was determined to take action against him.
"This official is a deadly one, what's there to congratulate him on?" After explaining the implications to Madam Shen, Marquis Chengen said with a worried expression, "From now on, we must be extremely careful and not make any mistakes, or we'll all lose our heads!"
Madam Shen's heart sank: "How could this be..."
Even though they had already cleaned up the mess, why were they still being targeted by Emperor Jing'an?
She was afraid that Lady Yongyi would drag the Marquis's mansion down with her, so she promised Ru Niang that after the matter was settled, she would cancel Lin'er's slave status and even help him get an official position.
Ru Niang didn't believe it and was afraid that she would be ungrateful. She suggested that Lin'er's indenture be transferred out of the Yongyi Earl's Mansion first, so that if something happened to the Yongyi Earl's Mansion, Lin'er would not be implicated.
She then had Ru Niang steal Lin'er's indenture and forged a fake indenture to fool Ru Niang.
After all, during this sensitive period, how could she dare to touch anyone from the Yongyi Marquis's mansion?
They originally thought that with the Earl of Yongyi and his wife dead, and Lord Cao and the grain manager taking the blame, they could rest easy.
The result, however, was endless trouble!
"Isn't your sister-in-law's dowry in your hands? When did you give it to Shaoheng to buy grain to donate to Guanzhou?" Marquis Chengen said with a dark face, "He donated 100,000 shi (a unit of dry measure)."
"One hundred thousand shi?" Madam Shen's expression changed drastically: "The entire estate of the eldest son's family is in my hands. If I didn't give it to him, where would he get the money to buy grain?"
Marquis Chengen had a bad feeling because Shen Shaoheng had gone to the Liu family ancestral home in Guanzhou...
If Shen Shaoheng dug out the silver from the stable to buy grain, then where did the silver used to replenish the government's granaries come from?
The more Cheng'en Hou thought about it, the more uneasy he became, feeling that a hidden danger had been left behind.
His intuition told him that sooner or later someone would come knocking on his door demanding the money he had spent on buying grain to replenish the granary.
Madam Shen didn't think too much about it; instead, she suspected that Old Madam Shen had used her dowry to buy grain for Shen Shaoheng to donate to disaster victims.
Shen Shaoheng deliberately claimed that he had sold his deceased mother's dowry, so that he could legitimately take the family property from her.
Madam Shen felt her heart bleed when she thought of her sister-in-law's generous dowry, which she was going to give entirely to Shen Shaoheng.
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Shen Qingtan went to Old Madam Zhao's house every day to learn how to manage a household, and they agreed to meet Gu Zongci at noon.
As soon as she left Old Madam Zhao's place, she took Tingxue and Liuyue to the restaurant.
Once inside the carriage, Liu Yue told Shen Qingtan about the news outside.
The title of Marquis of Yongyi was stripped, the entire family was executed, and no member of the Liu clan would ever be employed again.
All officials in charge of grain transport were dismissed from their posts and their entire families were executed.
Shen Shaoheng donated grain in Guanzhou and became a tribute student, which allowed him to enter the Imperial Academy.
Marquis Chengen was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Canal.
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingtan pondered for a moment and realized that Marquis Chengen was about to face a great calamity.
Liu Yue said worriedly, "Second Madam, the Marquis's mansion is in danger. What should we do?"
Shen Qingtan pursed her lips and said softly, "Leave the Marquis's mansion as soon as possible."
Her fingers gently caressed the filigree gold bracelet on her wrist.
After replying to Boss Qin's letter yesterday, she took out the pair of gold bracelets and inadvertently discovered the ingenious hidden clasp, which could be reduced in size or enlarged.
When the gold bracelet was enlarged, it fit her perfectly.
Today, she specially wore a gold bracelet to see Gu Zongci, intending to try her luck and see if he could recognize her.
Because the Gu family were wealthy merchants in Nanling Prefecture, he should have met almost everyone of importance in Nanling Prefecture.
The fact that her biological parents were able to create such an exquisite gold bracelet shows that they were quite wealthy.
Perhaps the two companies have had dealings?
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the restaurant. Shen Qingtan put on a veiled hat, got off the carriage, and went to the private room she had reserved on the second floor.
Two attendants stood guard at the entrance of the private room. When they saw Shen Qingtan stop at the door, they asked, "Are you the second mistress of the Duke of Zhao's mansion?"
Shen Qingtan nodded slightly: "That's right."
The attendant immediately pushed open the door and said respectfully, "Please come in, our master has arrived."
Shen Qingtan stepped into the private room and immediately saw Gu Zongci sitting by the window.
The moment Gu Zongci saw Shen Qingtan appear, he felt a strange sense of tension.
He quickly stood up: "Second Madam Zhao, I have something I'd like to discuss with you, so I took the liberty of sending you this invitation."
Shen Qingtan lowered her head and took off her veil, handing it to Liu Yue beside her. When she turned her head, she saw Gu Zongci staring intently at her face.
She had been relaxed, but as she watched Gu Zongci's expression gradually become serious, her heart began to race.
Could it be that Gu Zongci really knows her biological parents?
Shen Qingtan called out, "Boss Gu?"
Gu Zongci stared intently at her beautiful features, slowly regaining his senses. His throat tightened as he asked, "You look somewhat familiar to me."