"Master, who do you think Xue Pan is? He's just a brainless fool. In Jinling, he's known as a tyrant because of the power of our four families, but he's also known as the Dumb Tyrant by the people of Jinling.”
"When they come to the capital, we have plenty of opportunities and ways to make Xue Pan disappear. Besides, my sister has always been a girl without ideas.”
"If Xue Pan is easy to deal with, then my sister is even easier to deal with.”
Aunt Xue was no longer called Xue Panpan 'er in order to plot the Xue family's fortune.
He directly called out his name to persuade Jia Zheng and shared his plan with him.
In Madam Wang's eyes, family, sisters, nieces, and nephews were not as important as money.
The Xue family was a mountain of gold and silver that she could casually take.
"Alright…you can arrange this."
Hearing that it was actually so easy to obtain the Xue family's assets, Jia Zheng was immediately tempted.
Who could resist the temptation of five to six million taels of silver?
Although it was for Jia Baoyu, who was Jia Zheng?
That was Jia Baoyu's father. When Jia Baoyu saw him, he was as afraid as a mouse seeing a cat.
At that time, wouldn't they all acknowledge him and use him?
The two of them were secretly plotting the Xue family's property, but little did they know that Jia Lian was one step ahead of them and directly took the blame for the Xue family.
Jia Lian seemed to be helping the Zhen family and the old consort, but in fact, he wanted to get out of this as soon as possible.
As for Old Lady Zhen and Jia Lian, they had no grudges against them.
As for the Xue family, it was different. A steward scolded him and threatened to kill him. He even used his name to run amok. If he did not punish the Xue family, Jia Lian's heart would not be happy.
…
"Bastard, you're really a bastard!”
"This Xue Clan, Jing Clan, and the steward of the Internal Affairs Office are too arrogant. They actually dared to do such a treasonous thing under my eyes.”
In the south study of the palace…
Liu Wen and Jia Lian stood respectfully…
The two of them wrote down everything about the case in the memorial, including the fact that Old Lady Zhen was the mastermind.
In the end, he didn't mention Old Lady Zhen and the Zhen family. He said that this was done by Eunuch Tong, the Xue family, and another imperial merchant family that supplied cloth to the Internal Affairs Bureau.
The purpose was to let the Emperor understand.
After the Emperor finished reading the memorial, he calmly placed it on a burning candle at the side, lit it, and threw it down. Only then did he slam the table and stand up, cursing angrily.
There was no mention of Old Lady Zhen. It was obvious that the Emperor approved of Jia Lian and Liu Wen's shirking of the blame.
This was how the world worked. If you didn't have the strength, you could only be treated as an abandoned child of the superior.
Even the massive Xue family was like this.
After all, the Xue family only had the name of an imperial merchant and no one in the family had any real power in the court.
Aunt Xue's brother, Wang Ziteng, was also a member of the Wang family.
No matter how good their relationship was, it would not involve the Wang family.
The Xue family was involved because they provided food and all kinds of precious ingredients to the Internal Affairs Bureau. Even the eggs that the emperor ordered to be strictly investigated were provided by the Xue family.
Therefore, letting the Xue family take the blame was the most convincing.
"Pass down the imperial decree, execute the steward of the Internal Affairs Office, Tong Tai, and confiscate all his finances. The Xue family will be stripped of its title as the royal merchant. Order the Xue family to return all the embezzled silver and send Xue Pan to the imperial prison.”
"The Jing Clan of the Imperial Merchant Clan was exiled for three thousand miles.”
After the Emperor was done venting his anger, he directly punished Eunuch Tong, Tong Tai, the Xue Clan, and the Jing Clan.
As for why he only ordered the Xue family to return the stolen goods and only imprisoned Xue Pan and the Jing family, it was because the Emperor also knew that the Xue family had been wrongly accused and pushed out to take the blame, so he felt somewhat apologetic.
However, the Jing Clan had indeed embezzled a huge amount of money, which made the Emperor very angry.
However, the emperor seemed to have resolved the matter and didn't mention anything about the Zhen family and the old consort.
In reality, the Emperor had already sentenced the Zhen family to death.
Once the Retired Emperor and Old Lady Zhen died, the Zhen family would face the Emperor's wrath.
After all, the Zhen family had taken a lot of his money.
"Yes, sir!"
The young eunuch beside the Emperor received the order and bowed respectfully to the Emperor before directly walking out to draft the edict and make arrangements.
"I am very comforted that the two beloved ministers have solved this big case…"
"The decree is to confer the title of Minister of Revenue, Liu Wen, as a university student, and to reward the wife of the Assistant Minister of Personnel, a third grade imperial title.”
Once the eunuch left, the Emperor finally turned his gaze to Jia Lian and Liu Wen, the two meritorious officials.
Seeing the two of them, the Emperor was very satisfied, so after thinking about it, he issued an imperial edict to reward Jia Lian and Liu Wen.
Liu Wen was directly conferred the title of Grand Scholar. This Grand Scholar did not have an official position, but it was a title. If you were a fifth-grade official, then this Grand Scholar would be a fifth-grade official. Liu Wen was a second-grade official of the Ministry of Revenue, so…
Liu Wen was a second-grade scholar.
Other than the fact that the real function of these scholars was to enter the cabinet.
The position of Grand Secretary was an essential stepping stone to enter the cabinet.
Once you got the position of Grand Secretary, no matter what rank you were, it was already a certainty that you would enter the cabinet in the future.
As for why Liu Wen was rewarded so heavily, it was because Liu Wen was the Emperor's trusted aide and an important minister of the country like the Minister of Revenue. In addition, he was old enough and had sufficient qualifications. He was only one step away from entering the cabinet.
As for Jia Lian, the Emperor considered that Jia Lian was young and had been promoted very quickly.
Therefore, it was impossible for Jia Lian to be promoted. The Emperor could only reward Jia Lian's first wife, Wang Xifeng.
"I thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"
Liu Wen was so excited that his body kept trembling.
Jia Lian secretly curled his lips and bowed with Liu Wen.
In the eyes of others, this imperial mandate was a great honor, especially for the woman who was bestowed with the imperial mandate. She regarded it as more important than her own life.
In Jia Lian's eyes, this thing was just a useless certificate of honor. As for Wang Xifeng's third-grade imperial mandate, it was because the imperial mandate was conferred according to the husband's official position.
Jia Lian was a third-grade official, so Wang Xifeng was naturally granted a third-grade imperial mandate.
However, these imperial edicts were paid for, and having an imperial edicts was also a superior existence outside.
…
"Damn it, why do all the good things fall on them? A third-grade imperial mandate. Should I still bow to her when I see her in the future?”
When Madam Wang found out that Wang Xifeng had been given an imperial mandate, she was so jealous that her teeth were about to break.
She wished that this third-grade imperial mandate was hers.
One had to know that her daughter Jia Yingchun was a noble in the palace, but even so, she was only a fifth-grade imperial edict.
But now, Wang Xifeng had actually become a third-grade imperial edict. She was four levels higher than her by two grades. How could she accept this?
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