Noble Lady

"Why are all these salt and iron sold to the south?" Xue Chenyu suddenly asked in surprise.

After her reminder, Xue Huai and the others also focused on the documents.

Xue Luoyan was puzzled. "It only says the business name and the delivery person, but it doesn't specify where it's being sold to. How did you tell it was being sold south?"

Mrs. Xue took one and pointed at the signature on it and said, "Because of the date and the goods."

Xue Huai also understood and said, "Although most of the goods here are salt and iron, there is also a lot of cloth mixed in. It's still very cold in the north in February, and the further north you go, the colder it gets."

"Even if the transportation takes a long time, a month or so, until March, it's only warmer in the north at that time. Such thin cotton cloth can't be worn in Shengjing, so where in the north can it be worn?"

He then pulled out another sheet and pointed to the date after Mid-Autumn. "Here, it's August already, so you should consider buying some light cotton and silk fabrics. Even if it takes a month to ship, it will be late autumn in the north by September, and these fabrics won't keep you warm at all."

Lingnan!

Everyone had a common answer in their hearts.

Xue Chenyu. They had been to Lingnan themselves, and it wasn't cold there in any of the months, let alone August and September.

Such a large amount of salt, iron and cloth can only be supplied by a small business.

The most important thing is that if there was such a large business in Lingnan, Mrs. Xue would have already expanded her business to Lingnan and had some involvement in the fabric business, so she would not have been completely unheard of.

There is such a huge demand, and no one in Lingnan has ever heard of a business like Rugui. All of this goes against common sense.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

Either this business is fake, or it is selling dog meat under the guise of sheep meat.

But where could such a large amount of salt and iron be needed?

Or who needs so much salt and iron? There may be only one answer: the army.

Before this, Marquis Xue and Prince Cheng suspected that there was a hidden phantom army in Lingnan, and suspected that it was related to the prince.

Now these sales documents have become evidence.

Then consider that Han Hongyue, who was guarding the northern border, lied about military intelligence, drew salaries without working, and forcibly requisitioned food, making huge profits from it.

However, when Prince Cheng investigated the Han family, he could not find out where the money went.

Now it all seems to be right.

The atmosphere in the main room was eerily quiet.

Xue Luoyan couldn't help swallowing her saliva, "Sister, isn't Second Uncle plotting a rebellion by doing this?"

"Luoluo, don't talk nonsense." Xue Chenyu signaled her to shut up.

Xue Luoyan nodded hesitantly.

Although no one said it, everyone knew in their hearts that if the truth was found out, he would be dead.

"There's another thing. The woman he brought into the capital is also a death warrant."

Situ Zhen signaled Fang Sui again, and the latter immediately took out another document from the Ministry of Justice.

"Marquis Xue, Madam Xue, please look."

There was nothing complicated about this document. It simply stated that a deputy minister of the Ministry of Revenue abused his power to embezzle a huge amount of money. He was executed without mercy and sentenced to temporary execution. The male members of his family were exiled to Lingnan, and all the female members of his family were sent to the Jiaofangsi.

His second daughter, Ren Moyu, died suddenly less than three days after going to the Jiaofangsi.

"Marquis Xue, Madam Xue, ladies and gentlemen, the beautiful concubine of your second master is Ren Moyu, the second daughter of this official."

"After your second master married this woman, she was the one who helped him hook up with his so-called good boss. He then took a large sum of money from your old lady and invested it in the business, making a fortune."

"He is so bold!" Marquis Xue wanted to strangle his brother to death.

"He keeps saying he's going to accomplish great things and earn a title through military merit, but that's how he earned it?!"

Mrs. Xue quickly covered his mouth and said, "Are you worried that our family won't die quickly enough?"

Marquis Xue immediately became obedient.

Xue Chenyu teased, "With Second Uncle's abilities, it would be difficult for him to earn enough military merit to earn a title. But what if he could earn merit by following the emperor?"

With just one word from her, the last bit of hope in Xue Hou's heart disappeared into thin air.

Yes, he doesn’t know about others, but doesn’t he know about Xue Hejun?

Salt and iron are such important things, and they are being traded in such large quantities. He signed the documents himself, so it is impossible for him to be completely unaware of the inside story.

Moreover, he has always said that he wants to earn military merits in exchange for a title, and just today he said that this day is not far away.

As his brother, Marquis Xue couldn't find a suitable excuse even if he wanted to exonerate him.

"The most urgent task is to clear up the relationship between the Marquis' Mansion and Xue Hejun." Xue Huai's words woke the dreamer up.

Xue Hou rubbed his temple and said, "You are right. Do you have any good ideas?"

Xue Huai said, "He and my father are brothers from the same mother. If we wait until something happens and we say that he alone committed the crime and that we at the Wu'an Marquisate knew nothing about it and had nothing to do with it, no one will believe us."

"So we have to act preemptively and report it before anything happens." Xue Chenyu said decisively.

"This might even earn me the reputation of sacrificing my relatives for the greater good. Please, Father, make a decision as soon as possible."

Otherwise, if you hesitate to make a decision, you will suffer the consequences.

Marquis Xue sighed, feeling angry at his brother's stupidity and deeply guilty towards his wife and children.

If it weren't for Yu'er, if she hadn't found Taoist Xiao Zhang, they really might have died innocently.

Thinking of this, he felt extremely guilty. "From now on, I will just pretend that I don't have a younger brother like Xue Hejun, and you don't have a second uncle either."

This is tacit approval of Xue Chenyu's proposal.

Xue Chenyu and her siblings thought that their second uncle was already dead in their hearts.

The main room fell into a brief silence again.

Everyone saw the dilemma that Marquis Xue was in.

"It's getting late, everyone should go back and rest." Mrs. Xue reminded.

Then everyone dispersed.

Prince Cheng also followed to Furongju like a little tail.

Everyone also acquiesced to his behavior.

Xue Chenyu had no choice but to let him follow her. As if casually asking, "Xue Hejun should have kept those business documents safe. How did you get so many documents?"

"Your second uncle trusted his concubine very much and gave her everything for safekeeping. These were found under the bed in their residence."

Xue Chenyu: “…”

This was something she never expected.

However, it would be fine if Xue Hejun just dreamed of becoming a duke, but now he wants to drag our entire family, young and old, to be buried with him. What a dream!

"This matter concerns the lives of hundreds of people in the Wu'an Marquis's Mansion. Please help, my lord."

Xue Chenyu bowed deeply to Prince Cheng with full sincerity.

Prince Cheng looked at her with interest. "How can I repay such a great favor?"

As he said this, he deliberately observed Xue Chenyu's reaction.

Xue Chenyu: "If the prince can save the whole mansion, I will be grateful to him in this life and the next. I will repay him for saving my life even if I have to pay a debt of gratitude."

Situ Zhen: "Forget about the grass ring. The flower viewing banquet is only a few days away, I just hope you can give it your all."

"Yes." Xue Chenyu smiled knowingly.

Situ Zhen was lost in her smile.

Then he went over to steal her beauty.

……

When Prince Cheng left, Marquis Xue also rode out with him.

Before leaving, he instructed Madam Xue, "Please take good care of the house, Madam. I don't know when I can return."

Mrs. Xue smiled and comforted him, saying, "Just go ahead and do whatever you want. I will always support your decision."

Marquis Xue no longer hesitated and set off with his whip.

Accompanied by Prince Cheng, he entered the palace at night to pay homage to His Majesty.

Fortunately, His Majesty does not like to enter the harem, and he did not summon the concubines to sleep with him today, so there was no misunderstanding of snatching people from the concubines.

As upright as Marquis Xue was, he would not be so foolish as to say anything when he met the emperor late at night.

He simply said that this was a coincidence, and it was caused by his letter to a loyal servant in his hometown, asking about his mother's situation in Liyang.

It was the old servant in the family who saw that he had been kept in the dark, so he told him that the old lady's money had long been taken away by Mr. Xue, forcing the old lady to live frugally.

In a fit of rage, he wanted to find out what his brother was doing with so much money. After investigation, he discovered that Xue Hejun was secretly doing large business dealings with others, involving salt and iron, as well as a hidden army. He did not dare to hide it, so he entered the palace overnight.

The letter is real, and the loyal servant is also real.

A truly powerful lie is one that is seven parts true and three parts false.

It is difficult to distinguish between true and false.

"He is so bold! This is clearly a rebellion!" His Majesty was furious.