Chapter 364: The List of People Bought Off in the Capital

The Zhou family couldn't understand — why had people still come to arrest them?

At this moment, at the front gate of the Zhou residence.

Cui Yingyuan stood in place, and behind him were Embroidered Uniform Guard officers as fierce as wolves and tigers.

The entire Zhou household had already descended into chaos. Many people began trying to flee, but all of them were stopped by the Guard officers.

Some people also wanted to step forward and say something to Cui Yingyuan, to offer some kind of explanation.

After all, in the Zhou family's view, they had already done everything in advance — there shouldn't be any major problems. The terms had all been negotiated, so why had things suddenly turned sour?

This was something they hadn't anticipated. In their view, wasn't there perhaps some misunderstanding here? Maybe once it was explained, everything would be fine.

But Cui Yingyuan simply wouldn't give them any chance to explain.

You see, this time the Embroidered Uniform Guard wasn't here to arrest lawbreaking gentry, but rebels of the Wenxiang sect — naturally they had to make a big show of it, or else people would think you were framing the innocent.

So Cui Yingyuan said directly: "Enter the residence and make the arrests. Anyone who resists — kill on sight."

"Yes!"

Behind him, countless Guard officers shouted in unison and charged straight into the Zhou residence, showing not the slightest courtesy.

A steward came over from the gate, and the Guard officers immediately knocked him down. Two officers pinned the steward down, gagged him, and arrested him.

Want to talk?

Can't let you talk. If you really want to say something, then say it in the Embroidered Uniform Guard's prison!

The entire arrest process didn't last very long. For the Embroidered Uniform Guard, this kind of arrest was second nature — there was simply no difficulty to it.

So they quickly rounded up everyone, and the Zhou residence was placed under guard and sealed off. The Guard officers escorted the Zhou family members back in a grand procession.

After bringing the people back, the Embroidered Uniform Guard didn't waste any words either — they immediately separated the prisoners and began interrogations at speed.

Zhou Fusheng, the head of the Zhou family, was the first to be brought up.

Cui Yingyuan looked at Zhou Fusheng, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

This was a man in his fifties, his robes extremely luxurious, clearly maintained with great care.

His face was fair, his eyes rather small but full of spirit — clearly a shrewd and capable figure.

Cui Yingyuan didn't have Zhou Fusheng hung up for torture. Instead, he invited him to sit across from himself and even had tea served to him.

"You should know who I am, right?" Cui Yingyuan said slowly as he looked at Zhou Fusheng.

By now Zhou Fusheng's expression had already turned quite ugly. He was a shrewd man — from the official robes Cui Yingyuan wore, he could tell that this man was now the Regional Military Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which could only mean one thing: Xu Xianchun was finished.

Xu Xianchun had already agreed to what he'd done before — the two sides had come to terms. Now that the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had been replaced and he himself had been arrested, it could only mean one thing: Xu Xianchun was done for. Since Xu Xianchun was done for, his own fate probably wouldn't be very good either.

Zhou Fusheng looked at Cui Yingyuan, nodded, and said: "Naturally, I know you."

"I'm rather curious about you." Cui Yingyuan said in a casual tone: "A man of excellence like Lord Xu — who would have thought he'd end up undone by your hand? Truly surprising. Everyone up and down the Embroidered Uniform Guard is Lord Xu's trusted man, especially me. So let's not waste time — your whole family has been arrested. It'd be better to be quick about it."

"What do you want to ask?" Zhou Fusheng said slowly as he looked at Cui Yingyuan.

"You should know what I want to ask." Cui Yingyuan said with a smile: "But before that, there's one thing I want to tell you. The reason you've been arrested this time isn't for selling off disaster-relief grain, but for participating in the Wenxiang sect's rebellion."

"Do you know? His Majesty actually likes people who follow the rules the most. Whatever His Majesty likes, that's what the Embroidered Uniform Guard does. No matter what you're doing, following the rules matters a great deal."

As he spoke, Cui Yingyuan stood up, walked over to Zhou Fusheng's side, reached out and patted his shoulder, saying: "As long as you follow the rules, we of the Embroidered Uniform Guard naturally follow the rules too. Selling off disaster-relief grain was itself your crime — wouldn't it have been better to just admit it peacefully?"

"But no, you had to stir up trouble. Now look — Lord Xu's position is gone. Do you know what standing Lord Xu had with His Majesty? He was a man personally promoted by His Majesty. By making Lord Xu do something like this, you've lost face for His Majesty."

"His Majesty's face can't be lost, so the Embroidered Uniform Guard has to win that face back. This matter was done by you, so naturally it has to be settled through you. So now your crime has become participation in the Wenxiang sect's rebellion."

After saying this, Cui Yingyuan laughed himself.

As for Zhou Fusheng, his whole face had turned ashen, and his originally bright eyes had gone dim and murky.

Clearly he also understood what Cui Yingyuan's words meant, and realized he had done something foolish.

"So now, obediently tell me everything you know, and await His Majesty's judgment. In this world, only His Majesty can judge a man. If His Majesty wants to judge you, you wait obediently. If you dare to resist, what you'll get in return is exactly this kind of situation."

"If you resist again this time, I'm afraid your whole family will be taking the road to the Yellow Springs together. We of the Embroidered Uniform Guard aren't unreasonable people — rest assured, your family will definitely be kept neat and complete."

Zhou Fusheng raised his head and said in a somewhat hoarse voice: "If I talk, will you guarantee my family's lives?"

"Hard to say." Cui Yingyuan said with a smile: "That depends on what His Majesty thinks. But for you, I don't see that you have any other road to walk. Of course, you could also choose to have the whole family die together — after all, a family kept neat and complete together isn't so bad either."

"I'll talk," Zhou Fusheng said. He didn't ask anything further, seemingly not even hearing Cui Yingyuan's words, and simply nodded.

"I knew you were a smart man, so I won't use torture on you after all. Come on, tell me everything you know."

After saying this, Cui Yingyuan signaled to the clerk beside him with his eyes and instructed: "Record it."

When the sunlight rose once more, it was a new day, and the city of Jining came back to life from its slumber.

Yesterday's arrest of the Zhou family had caused a great stir throughout the city of Jining. Countless people were panic-stricken — they wanted to flee, but they couldn't leave.

The entire city of Jining was now very difficult to exit, especially for people from the great households.

Even now, no news had gotten out, which made even more people anxious and fearful.

But there were also clever ones who went straight to the yamen gate and knelt down, confessing to selling off grain and begging the court to punish them.

For a time, the situation was tangled and chaotic — no one could see the situation clearly.

But there were always people with good information networks. The reason the Zhou family had been arrested yesterday had already been ferreted out. Word was that the Zhou family had participated in the Wenxiang sect's rebellion.

Some didn't believe it, some were shaken with doubt, and some were scared out of their wits.

For a time, all eyes converged on one place.

Zhu Youxiao's residence.

Last night Zhu Youxiao had slept very early, and slept very well.

For Zhu Youxiao, this was the first good night's sleep he'd had since leaving the capital, so he also rose quite early this morning, and his spirits were in good shape.

Attended by Chen Hong, Zhu Youxiao ate his breakfast.

As Zhu Youxiao ate, Chen Hong reported to him on yesterday's events — matters great and small, all reported to Zhu Youxiao.

Finally, Chen Hong said: "Your Majesty. The Embroidered Uniform Guard has already sent word over. The Zhou family members have been interrogated, and they have confessed unreservedly to everything they did."

"At the same time, they produced a list — a list of people in the capital who had been bought off. This time, these people colluded together to sell off the court's grain. On the court's side, it was the Kong family doing it; on the merchant's side, it was the Zhou family."

"Bring it over and let me have a look." Zhu Youxiao drank the last mouthful of porridge, picked up the silk handkerchief beside him to wipe his mouth, and said.

Chen Hong dared not be negligent. He hurriedly carried a list of names before Zhu Youxiao and respectfully presented it to him.

Reaching out to take the list, Zhu Youxiao quickly scanned through it.

As he read, Zhu Youxiao smiled and said, "I really didn't expect the people on here to be quite complete. Wei Zhongxian's nephew is on here too. They really did this thoroughly."

"Xu Xianchun's son, and even my father-in-law's family, and this one — the natal families of the two Noble Consorts. I have to say, these people really do have some skill. These are all new favorites of the court; buying them off really took some serious capital."

"Look, look — they're scattering silver like it costs nothing. Impressive, truly impressive!"

Although Zhu Youxiao sighed with wonder in his tone, Chen Hong shuddered instead.

He knew His Majesty was truly angry, and at the same time was inwardly shocked at these people's audacity. Still, he roughly understood why they had done this.

A new emperor ascends the throne, power shifts — naturally some rise and some fall.

The civil officials were hard to reach out to, since they had been in chaos before. Now they were no longer chaotic, but those people were all His Majesty's trusted confidants. Some things were hard to do, and even if done, the results wouldn't necessarily be good.

But the hereditary nobles and imperial in-laws were different. These people had gone from poverty to wealth overnight, with very shallow foresight and very great boldness. Most importantly, they were a bit foolish — just coax and spin them around a little, and they'd all be turned right into the trap. One could say it was very, very calculated.

At this moment, Zhu Youxiao spoke again: "Look at the son Xu Xianchun is protecting."

"Good heavens — he made a profit in grain, but then the grain merchant who bought the grain had no money to pay, so he could only use a residence in the capital to settle the debt. Buying up cheap grain at high prices — he'd already made a killing there."

"And then when collecting the grain there was still no money, so he could only use a capital residence to settle the debt. Two large three-courtyard mansions, both in prime locations. Plus a garden estate west of the city, used to settle a debt of seventy-two thousand taels of silver."

"Chen Hong, is that enough silver to buy a garden estate?"

"To answer Your Majesty, it is not enough." Chen Hong quickly said, "Judging by the locations of these estates, one estate should be about right."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said with a smile, "Truly blinded by greed — daring to accept money from anyone."

"But these people really have no creativity in gift-giving. They give antiques, calligraphy and paintings, gardens, mansions. Look at my father-in-law — a Song dynasty Mi Fu calligraphy piece, for one hundred twenty taels of silver. Selling this thing off as a fake — now that's a bit interesting."

Chen Hong listened on the side, his heart trembling with fear, and finally steeled himself to say, "Your Majesty, the Earl of Taikang perhaps didn't know — he truly believed he'd found a bargain."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Chen Hong and said with a smile, "What are you worried about?"

"This servant is not worried about anything." Upon hearing these words, Chen Hong fell to his knees with a thud.

"It seems the Empress is quite popular." Zhu Youxiao smiled as he stood up, stretching his limbs, and said, "Tell Cui Yingyuan to handle it as it should be handled."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong quickly acknowledged, already beginning to mourn for the Zhou family in his heart.

As for "handle it as it should be handled" — that meant there would be no special exceptions.

One should know that when the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrests people, they use the charge of rebellion. Under such circumstances, "handle it as it should be handled" meant convicting them of rebellion.

As for those who had colluded with the Zhou family, they too could not escape. They thought themselves clever, buying off the people around His Majesty and having Xu Xianchun spin lies for them before His Majesty. Such actions had already touched His Majesty's bottom line. The fate of these people was easy to imagine.

Since it was an imperially designated major case, there was naturally nothing more to be said.

After Chen Hong left, Zhu Youxiao walked to the doorway, slowly raised his head, and looked at the somewhat gloomy sky outside, a hint of doubt in his heart.

Was it about to rain?

Come to think of it, it really did seem like it should rain by now.

It had been so long, and yet not a single drop of rain had fallen. It really was a bit unusual.

At the same time, within the Jining government office.

Xu Guangqi had just finished his breakfast and was preparing to begin his day of busy work.

At this moment, Zhang Weixian walked in from outside, cupped his hands toward Xu Guangqi, and said, "Has there been a result in the Zhou family matter?"

"A family of rebels — what result is there to look forward to?" Xu Guangqi waved his hand and said in a casual tone.

Seeing Xu Guangqi's demeanor, Zhang Weixian laughed, then said in a teasing tone, "You've done so many things in Shandong this time. Are you truly not afraid that people will stab you in the back once you return to court?"

Xu Guangqi raised his head to look at Zhang Weixian and said expressionlessly, "I suspect it's already beyond mere backstabbing. If this continues much longer, I'll become a second Yan Song."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Weixian immediately burst out laughing, his voice loud, looking thoroughly delighted.

Xu Guangqi paid him no mind and continued, "But what can be done? Right now the Wenxiang sect is about to rebel — news came last night."

"Their leader is a man called Xu Hongru, and he's already begun gathering his forces. It should be a matter of days now. And with unrest everywhere, people like the Zhou family are ambitious and have no bottom line in what they do. If we don't clean them up now, who knows what they might do?"

"As for the Kong family, have your trusted men keep a close watch on them. That absolutely cannot go wrong."

Zhang Weixian slowly withdrew his smile, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, then said, "If they truly dare to do something so treasonous, then that lineage passed down for a thousand years will have to vanish from this world."

"Then your reputation would be no better than mine." Xu Guangqi casually remarked.