Chapter 27

"The Shen family of Gusu? They seem to be wealthy households in Jiangnan, correct?"

Huang Huang Zicheng nodded slightly and said,

"Indeed. During the former Northern Northern Yuan dynasty, there was a great merchant in Jiangnan named Shen Fu, who styled himself Wanshan; thus, most people of the time praised him as Shen Wansan."

Qi Tai frowned tightly and asked,

"But I heard that this Shen Wanshan died before our dynasty was even founded?"

Huang Huang Zicheng sneered and said,

"It is true that Shen Wansan is dead, but his son, Shen Wang, formed an inseparable bond with Lan Yu, the Duke of Liang, in earlier years."

"After the founding of our dynasty, the Shen family's business not only avoided ruin but grew ever larger by leveraging Lan Yu's reputation."

"Now that the Duke of Liang is under house arrest, what do you suppose, Lord Qi, is the Shen family's most urgent priority?"

Qi Tai's eyes immediately lit up.

"To seek a new patron?"

"Precisely!" Huang Huang Zicheng stroked his beard and smiled. "The Shen family is now on the same rope as Lan Yu; they urgently need a powerful backer."

"Moreover, the Shen family originally built their fortune through maritime trade."

Having said this, Huang Huang Zicheng's voice came to an abrupt halt.

Qi Tai had already understood Huang Huang Zicheng's implication.

The Shen family had risen from trafficking grain by sea, and now Su Qiao had spoken in court regarding the maritime ban.

As long as the Shen family currently had any "ambiguous" dealings with Su Qiao,

one could instantly convict Su Qiao of the crime of "embezzlement and self-enrichment!"

In Old Zhu's eyes,

there were essentially only two bottom lines for officials.

The first was rebellion.

The second was corruption!

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang had even issued an iron decree: any Great Ming official found guilty of embezzling more than sixty taels of silver would be flayed and stuffed with straw!

Ever since the outbreaks of the two major cases of Empty Seals and Guo Huan,

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang's tolerance for corruption had plummeted to absolute zero!

However, Qi Tai looked at Huang Huang Zicheng with some doubt and asked,

"But Lord Huang, the Shen family is not foolish; they..."

Huang Huang Zicheng seemed to perceive Qi Tai's concern.

He lowered his voice and said,

"What is there to fear? They will simply find a junior clansman to take the fall."

"If they remain on Lan Yu's sinking ship, the Shen family faces nothing but exile for the entire clan. Trading one life for the prosperity of the whole family is a calculation the Shens will surely make!"

Qi Tai fell silent.

Meanwhile, Lady Lu glanced at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yunwen and said,

"Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yunwen, why do you not quickly thank Mr. Huang?"

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yunwen hastily bowed in salute.

Seeing this, Huang Huang Zicheng hurriedly returned the bow with feigned humility, saying,

"Your Highness the Crown Grandson need not stand on ceremony; eliminating traitors for the state is naturally my duty!"

Although he spoke these words,

it was obvious that Huang Huang Zicheng was highly pleased with himself.

After taking leave of Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yunwen and his mother,

Huang Huang Zicheng immediately left the palace to begin his preparations.

Outside the Imperial City,

Su Qiao finally enjoyed a rare moment of ease.

When court adjourned today, both Ru Taisu and Zhan Hui had treated him as if he were a plague god upon seeing him,

terrified of even appearing in the same frame as Su Qiao.

However, at this moment, Su Qiao found himself in a dilemma.

Previously, Su Qiao had never expected to stay in the Great Ming for long.

Thus, after the palace examination, he had been residing in an inn.

Later, after being imprisoned in the Zhao Prison, those few boxes of worthless books at the inn had likely already been sold by the innkeeper as scrap to cover his lodging fees.

Now, Su Qiao had truly become a drifter in the capital.

In the vast city of Jin Ling,

there was not even a sliver of space for Su Qiao to call his own.

Just as Su Qiao was wandering the streets of Jin Ling,

two men dressed as retainers suddenly rushed hurriedly toward him from a distance.

"May we ask if this is Lord Su, Su Qiao?"

Hearing this, Su Qiao was momentarily stunned.

"That is correct; what of it?"

Upon hearing his reply, the two retainers immediately beamed with joy, positioned themselves on either side of Su Qiao, and dragged him off running toward the distance.

"Lord Su, why are you loitering here? Our master has been waiting at your residence for quite some time."

Su Qiao stared at the two men before him in utter shock and asked,

"My residence?!"

"I don't even know where my home is; how does your master know where it is?"

The retainer smiled brightly at Su Qiao and said,

"The first time is strange, the second familiar. Won't you know where home is once you arrive?"

"Is that how this phrase is used?!"

Before Su Qiao could react,

he was shoved directly into a carriage.

The moment he was thrust into the carriage,

Su Qiao's mind raced with thoughts.

Had he perhaps encountered human traffickers from the Great Ming?

As for death, Su Qiao was not afraid.

After all, everything Su Qiao had done these past few days was practically inviting death.

But if killed by traffickers, would he still be able to return to the future?

That damn Space-Time Administration had specifically said he would be executed by Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang.

He surely couldn't test that hypothesis, could he?

If he failed to return, there would be no chance for regret!

However, Su Qiao soon realized something was amiss.

It was true that the Great Ming Dynasty had human traffickers.

But what purpose would traffickers have in abducting him?

Abduct a woman, and she could be sold into the mountains to become a bachelor's wife.

Abduct a child, and he or she could be sold to continue the family line or serve as a child bride.

But this was the Great Ming; what could one possibly do with an abducted adult man?

Surely medical techniques in the Great Ming had not yet developed to the point of having an industry for harvesting kidneys?

Just as Su Qiao was still pondering this,

the carriage slowly came to a halt within a courtyard.

The retainer from earlier now looked at Su Qiao with a bright smile and said,

"Lord Su, we have arrived home. Please disembark."