0p0 Chapter 131 Hidden secrets
Chapter 131 Hidden secrets
Jiang Xing took over the conversation at this time: "Of course it's because of Uncle Yuan. He doesn't believe that his son was killed by Ji Cheng because he bribed Ji Cheng, right?"
"A reputation for bribery will probably keep Yuan Fang in vain even in the underworld. That's why Old Man Yuan returned to Huangzhou! Now you can imagine why Yuan Fang came to Beijing in the first place and why he ended up with Ji Cheng!"
Suddenly, Mr. Yuan stared at Jiang Xing in surprise and fear: "Your Highness, you, you actually..."
Jiang Xing nodded: "Yes, this king actually knows."
"Not only do I know what's going on behind all this, I also know that you, Old Man Yuan, came here today because you don't trust me! You clearly have very important evidence, but you refuse to produce it. You've been playing dirty with me. What are you thinking? Do you want to present it to the Emperor personally? Or do you want to send me to hell?!"
Jiang Xing's voice suddenly became louder, carrying unquestionable pressure and anger.
In an instant, Mr. Yuan was frightened by his roar.
He didn't dare to move, just sat there blankly, and even forgot to answer.
Jiang Xing pursed his lips, and the anger in his eyes gradually turned into sinisterness, enveloping his whole body.
"You don't believe me, thinking I'm just like those people in the government office before, covering up everything and just trying to squeeze out information bit by bit! But you may not know that even if the emperor saw your evidence, he still wouldn't choose to touch the Ji family. Because, to him, the people are far less important than the Ji family! Because the queen, the queen who has been favored for more than a decade, is surnamed Ji!"
These words broke through Mr. Yuan's inner defenses. With a bang, he heard something snap in his brain.
It was the only hope he thought about day and night - to file a complaint with the emperor.
He froze in place.
Yes, he didn't know whether he had forgotten or never thought about it, that the Ji family was a royal family!
No.
It’s not that he didn’t know that the Ji family was a royal family, but he forgot that the emperor was also a human being, an ordinary person!
He thought that man was the sky, representing supreme justice and carrying the expectations of his subjects.
All along, everyone looked at that position as if they were gods.
But, he wanted to avenge his son, so why couldn't that man choose to turn a blind eye for the sake of his beloved wife?
Mr. Yuan felt like he was about to collapse.
He always thought that he could get justice no matter what if he collected all the evidence and then filed a complaint with the emperor.
But at this moment, he felt like a wounded sparrow in the rainstorm outside the window, losing his direction and rushing around. He could only fall hard to the ground, landing in the rushing water on the ground, and then being washed into the gutter by the current.
He didn't know what to do.
Jiang Xing was not in a hurry either.
What he wants is not speed, but a sure hit.
Not long after, a hand grabbed Jiang Xing's arm forcefully.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to believe you! I will not hide anything anymore. I will tell you all the evidence and the truth, everything!"
It’s Mr. Yuan.
Tears streamed down his face, veins bulged on the back of his hands, and he clutched at them as if they were the last straw.
Jiang Xing let out a breath.
Finally, we get to the point!
Xu Shu finally felt relieved. She bowed to Jiang Xing and said, "Your Highness, Uncle Yuan is a good man. In Huangzhou City, few people don't know him. Most people have received favors from him in some way. He has been a good man for many years. Please trust him!"
Jiang Xing raised his eyebrows and glanced at Old Man Yuan: "If it weren't for this, he and I would have been separated by death long ago."
Mr. Huang blew his nose and tremblingly took out a book from his arms. "I naturally don't believe that my son bribed anyone. Because I have this account book to prove it!"
Lu Xuan took it and opened it, and couldn't help but exclaimed: "This is evidence of the Ji family's treasury accumulating wealth a few years ago!"
Line after line, column after column, the handwriting on the booklet was neat and elegant, and it was a record of the money received by the Ji family treasury.
Each payment was for an amount of more than ten thousand taels. The source was not mentioned, but the appearance, characteristics, clothing, accent of the person who sent the money were recorded, and the amount received was accurately recorded by month and date.
If you want to use this booklet to find out who gave the gift, you can actually find out.
But Mr. Yuan soon brought his own plans to ruin.
Because on the last page, his son's name, Yuan Fang, was clearly written.
Old Mr. Yuan was speechless and began to sob with his hands on his face.
"Bastard! This little bastard!"
"What did I teach him since he was a child? How could he do such a thing!"
After he cursed a few times, Xu Shu felt very upset and hurried over to comfort him.
But suddenly, Mr. Yuan wiped away his tears and stopped sobbing.
"No! This wasn't done by Yuan Fang!"
His eyes were red and wet, and he stared at Jiang Xing with faith: "He is such a pure and upright person, he would never do such things!"
Lu Xuan frowned and thought.
How to do?
If this booklet is handed over as evidence, then Mr. Yuan’s goal of clearing Yuan Fang’s grievances and avenging him will not be achieved.
If he doesn't hand it over, Ji Cheng won't be able to bring him down...
Lu Xuan carefully read the contents about Yuan Fang in the booklet.
His bribe was the smallest, only eight hundred taels.
The specific details are also written above.
Ji Cheng didn't accept it at first, but later, seeing that Yuan Fang had good handwriting and spoke with discretion, he wanted to keep him as his attendant, so he accepted the eight hundred taels.
But, eight hundred taels, is Ji Cheng interested?
Lu Xuan was immediately curious: "Yuan Fang is far away in the small city of Huangzhou. What could possibly have caused him to come to Ji Cheng for help?"
Suddenly, Mr. Yuan shuddered.
The certainty in his eyes seemed to be shaken at this moment.
He took a quick glance at the booklet, his eyes showing conflict, confusion, and fear.
He hesitated for a long time and finally said nothing.
Jiang Xing smiled indifferently: "If my guess is correct, it should be to buy an official position, right?"
Buy an official position!
Lu Xuan's heart suddenly jumped up.
If Yuan Fang wanted to buy an official position, he would not be able to overthrow Ji Cheng through Old Man Yuan no matter what!
Old Man Yuan glanced at the booklet with a painful and struggling look. After a long while, he finally said unwillingly, "I don't believe that releasing children is done to buy an official position!"
Lu Xuan's eyes never left Old Man Yuan again. She finally couldn't help but ask, "Why don't you believe it?"
The tears that Mr. Yuan had begun to swallow seemed to come back. He lowered his head, sighed, and began to tell everyone another story.
"Besides being able to read and write a few words, my humble wife and I have little education. We rely on small business to support our family. Back then, my wife and I never imagined we would have a child like Fang'er. He is studious, ambitious, and a handsome man. In Huangzhou, he was even a well-known talent..."
Yuan Fang was very popular among the girls in Huangzhou City, including Sun Xiaoyue, the daughter of his teacher Sun Zhang.
Sun Xiaoyue is beautiful and has some talent.
She took the initiative to contact Yuan Fang several times in private, and Yuan Fang also fell in love with this girl.
Yuan Fang promised Sun Xiaoyue that he would propose marriage after the imperial examination was over.
However, when Yuan Fang returned, Sun Xiaoyue was arranged by her father to marry the eldest son of the richest businessman in Huangzhou.
However, the legitimate son she married was a fool.
This is where things went wrong.
Sun Xiaoyue married a fool, and the rich businessman gave the Sun family an extremely large sum of money as a betrothal gift, which was said to be 100,000 taels.
But Sun Xiaoyue didn't want to marry that fool, so she asked someone to contact Yuan Fang and asked him to take her away.
Yuan Fang was furious, but he was a scholar after all, and there were many things involved. Sun Xiaoyue's father was his teacher, so he naturally couldn't really deal with it by eloping.
So he first went to find the rich businessman, and then went to find his teacher.
The wealthy businessman thought highly of Yuan Fang, so he did not make things difficult for him. He just asked him to return the original betrothal money.
Afterwards, Yuan Fang went to find his teacher Sun Zhang.
I thought that with my relationship with the teacher, I could persuade him a little bit.
Unexpectedly, Sun Zhang said he had already given the money to Ji Cheng. If he wanted to get it back, he had to go find Ji Cheng!
It was then that he realized that Sun Zhang had used the money to buy an official position!