Priceless: A widow with a baby asks the prince to marry again

The Zhang family once again arranged the spacious courtyard with tables, chairs, benches and a sunshade shed. In order to prevent Prince Duan from making them wait again, the Zhang family members told each other not to drink tea...

However, this time Chu Shiyu did not let them wait any longer. He brought Liu Rusi, Sun Zhizhao and others to the courtyard at 5 p.m.

"Greetings to Prince Duan!" The Zhang family, young and old, knelt on the ground. Their head of the family, Zhang Shiliang, was only a fifth-rank official, but the old lady had a second-rank imperial edict and did not have to kneel, but she knelt and Chu Shiyu turned a blind eye.

When Liu Rusi saw the trembling old lady kneeling down, she couldn't help feeling awkward, but it wasn't her who was kneeling, so it was okay.

Chu Shiyu strode to the empty main seat and sat down, letting Liu Rusi and Qin Hao choose who to sit next to him. Liu Rusi asked Qin Hao to sit in the second seat, and she sat in the third seat. Caiyun had almost recovered and sat down to watch the show. Finally, Sun Zhizhao sat down. Taohong and some other guards stood behind the seated people. The identities of master and servant were most clearly reflected in such occasions.

After everyone was seated, Chu Shiyu raised his chin to the people kneeling on the ground and said, "Everyone, stand up."

The old lady was helped up by the eldest lady beside her. The Zhang family members were still standing. Although they were the hosts, they could not sit down because of their status and Prince Duan would not let them sit down.

Chu Shiyu didn't let them sit down, and went straight to the point. "Yesterday at noon, the dam of the river was blocked, and I have arranged for people to collect the bodies in Xingzhou City and the surrounding areas. If anyone sees Lord Zhang, I will send someone to bring him here."

The old lady and the first lady both turned pale. Although they were prepared for something bad to happen because he hadn't been home for two days, it was still hard for them to accept it when it was said so bluntly.

"Although Lord Zhang suffered from the flood, there are still some things that need to be sorted out. There was a river breach in Xingzhou City before, and Zhang Shiliang, as the governor of Xingzhou, had the responsibility to properly handle it and prevent future troubles."

Chu Shiyu's tone suddenly turned cold, and he shouted: "However, the place that should have been filled and stabilized has collapsed for the second time! Tens of thousands of surviving people around Xingzhou City have suffered again! Even the king almost died in this flood!"

Frightened by Prince Duan's attitude and power, the Zhang family members once again knelt on the ground, old and young! They just lowered their heads, and many people looked at each other secretly, not understanding whether what Prince Duan said was a serious crime... Even if it was dereliction of duty, Zhang Shiliang himself suffered, so it shouldn't implicate the living family members, right?

At this time, Sun Zhizhao stepped forward and placed a large stack of books on the table next to Prince Duan. He bowed and said respectfully, "The detailed income and expenditure of several granaries are here. The top one is the summary that has been settled. The other public funds account books of Yingzhou City and the grain tax records of previous years are still being checked. The general ledger will be submitted immediately after it is calculated!"

Waving his hand to let Sun Zhizhao leave, Chu Shiyu slapped his hand on the pile of books again, looked at the people sitting beside the Zhang family, and asked meaningfully: "Are these accounts of Mr. Zhang clear? As close friends, you should know them, right?"

The old lady and the first lady's faces immediately turned pale. They had been in charge of the household affairs of the mansion before and after, so they naturally knew that a lot of money came from unknown sources. However, this was the most normal thing. The monthly salary of a fifth-rank official was only eight taels of silver, which was not even enough for the family's expenses for half a day!

But these things cannot be made public. If caught by the enemy, they can be reported for corruption and abuse of power at any time as long as there is enough evidence, and house seizure is the most common punishment!

The two women were sweating profusely. Ever since the eldest daughter of the Zhang family married into Prince Kang's mansion, they have regarded themselves as Prince Kang's faction. Prince Duan is obviously a hostile person...so the question is whether Prince Duan has any handle and whether the evidence is enough to destroy the Zhang family.

"Pah" several booklets were thrown in front of the old lady and the first lady, and Prince Duan asked coldly: "Do you understand the details?"

The two picked up the book and were reading it. Prince Duan said quietly, "When we were blocking the dam yesterday, the surrounding villagers came to help spontaneously. Some said that they had long felt that the dam was unstable and wanted to organize to reinforce it several times, but were stopped by some officials and servants. As soon as I arrived in Xingzhou, the dam collapsed again... What do you think, did Lord Zhang intend to harm me, but accidentally got himself into trouble?"

The two women in charge were so terrified that they didn't even bother to read the booklet. Murdering the prince was a serious crime punishable by the execution of the entire family!

The old lady kowtowed and denied it immediately, "Absolutely not! This is a heinous crime of murdering an important minister and the heir to the throne. Even if I had the courage, my son would not dare to do it! Please understand, Your Highness Prince Duan!"

However, Madam Zhang knelt silently, with cold sweat on her forehead. She was Zhang Shiliang's bedmate, and she had heard many things. A few days ago, Zhang Shiliang said that if he could make great achievements in the future, King Kang would definitely promote him again, and then he might be promoted to the capital and become an official in the capital...

Chu Shiyu looked coldly at the reactions of the people on the ground. Yesterday, he had figured out the basic relationship of the Zhang family, and naturally knew that the eldest daughter of this family was a concubine of King Kang. However, this matter must not be something that a fifth-rank prefect would dare to plan, not to mention that the timing of the dam breach obviously included Zhang Shiliang.

"The matter of plotting to murder me can be put aside for now. As for these account books..." Chu Shiyu turned and looked coldly at the plump woman kneeling on the ground.

"My duty in Xingzhou is to provide disaster relief, but the imperial court has not yet allocated funds, and the local granaries are not adequate. The people affected by the disaster are starving day by day. I would like to find the wealthy merchants in Xingzhou and ask them to donate a batch of grain and silver as soon as possible to solve the urgent problem. As the largest official family in Xingzhou, your Zhang family should not refuse, right?"

"My husband is the governor of Xingzhou. It is the Zhang family's responsibility to help the disaster-stricken people in Xingzhou. It is our duty and obligation! We cannot shirk our responsibility!" Mrs. Zhang agreed immediately!

The Zhang family understood that Prince Duan was here to blackmail them! However, the previous charges that could lead to the confiscation of property and extermination of the clan were too serious, and they did not dare to bet whether Prince Duan could really put them in trouble!

"Well, then get up. Now let's discuss how much donations your Zhang family can raise and raise a batch of relief supplies as soon as possible."

In fact, several local public warehouses were opened yesterday. Although most of the food was lost, the food left to deal with the situation was enough for the victims to survive for a few days. Chu Shiyu would also use the grain from the imperial court to provide disaster relief later, but the victims would definitely not mind eating more of the Zhang family's food.

After asking the Zhang family to sit down, Chu Shiyu seemed to have calmed down a lot. He asked calmly, "Let's talk about food first. How many grains of rice, millet, sorghum and wheat can the Zhang family provide?"

Madam Zhang glanced at the old lady, who nodded her silver-gray hair bun. Madam Zhang was now the boss of the family. Madam Zhang calculated for a moment and said, "The Zhang family can produce a thousand dan of rice and a hundred dan of fine rice."

Chu Shiyu sneered and asked Sun Zhizhao, "Among the private warehouses we found yesterday, how many belonged to the Zhang family? How much grain did they have?"

Sun Zhizhao stood up and bowed, saying, "We found seven private warehouses yesterday. Two of them are still unknown, so five of them should belong to the Zhang family. The exact amount has not been calculated yet, but there are at least 30,000 dan of rice, 1,000 dan of millet, 5,000 dan of sorghum, 13,000 dan of wheat, and 8,000 dan of various beans."

Mrs. Zhang was so shocked that her eyes widened. She only knew that the Zhang family had a private warehouse! The total amount of grain in that warehouse was only 8,000 shi! The grain she just said she wanted to sell was stored in the villa!

She turned around and saw that the old lady's face was also full of horror. After she came to her senses, Madam Zhang was shaking like a sieve! It seems that what she said before was true! Prince Duan really has evidence that Zhang Shiliang embezzled money! And the evidence he has is much more than they know!

"Let's donate all the grain in the private warehouses. What do you think, Zhang family?" Chu Shiyu spoke in a gentle manner, and it seemed that he really just wanted to solve the disaster relief problem with grain and had no intention of pursuing responsibility.