flstandardbreds Chapter 106 Stabbing in the Back
Chapter 106 Stabbing in the Back
"Father has a lot of private property, but none of them are recorded in the Xie Mansion's account books. He has his own account books. He is not the apparent owner of those properties, so even if we investigate, we can't trace them back to him!"
"Is this the secret you mentioned?" Feng Jia snorted. "There are so many powerful people in the capital, are their businesses really transparent? This is an open secret, but it is worthless to me."
"That's not what I want to talk about!" Xie Shubai was anxious and lowered her voice, "I wonder if you have heard of Song Bing, the former chief of Chongchunmen?"
Dali started free trade with neighboring countries more than a hundred years ago. Dayuan and Li were coastal states, so in addition to land transportation, they also engaged in maritime trade. As the chief of Chongchun Gate, Song Bing collected tariffs on ships, but he was a corrupt official. He took advantage of his position and embezzled 10 billion taels of silver in five years. He was later discovered by Emperor Longqing and beheaded. The officials who confiscated his property did not sleep for three days and three nights, but they did not empty the gold and silver in his mansion. In addition to silver, there were countless rare treasures.
The name Song Bing, like the Taiping Sect, is a disgrace to the Dali period.
"So what if you've heard of it?"
"Then sister, have you ever heard that the silver Song Bing embezzled was not 1 billion taels, but 2 billion taels? But the other half of the silver disappeared, why?"
Feng Jia smiled and said, "Fourth sister, I don't have time to play dumb with you."
Xie Shubai was stunned for a moment, and finally compromised: "The missing silver is likely in my father's hands!"
If we can get evidence of Xie Qian and Song Bing's connection, we will have a bargaining chip to bring down Xie Qian. Even though Feng Jia was in great turmoil, her face remained calm: "Where is the evidence?"
"I don't care whether you believe it or not," Xie Shubai looked around subconsciously, and then whispered, "On the day that Butler Meng died, my father suddenly called me to the study and asked me to look at an account book for him. The account book was obviously a private account, so I didn't pay much attention to it. However, the next day, my father still asked me to look at the account book. It happened that the young minister came to visit the mansion that day, and my father went to entertain him. At that time, the servant brought a letter to me."
Xie Shubai recalled: "Strangely enough, the letter had no stamp and no signature, so I opened it and took a peek."
Feng Jia's eyes tightened slightly.
Xie Shubai continued, "That was a letter someone else wrote to my father, but it wasn't written by that person. It looked like it was torn from a book. Do you understand?"
After a pause, Xie Shubai said, "For example, if I want to write this word, I will find it in the book, cut it out and put it together to form this letter. I think the writer does not want to expose his handwriting, so he does this."
"There are only two lines of words in it."
"What did you write?"
"I know Song Bing is your man, but where is the other 10 billion taels?"
Song Bang was actually Xie Qian's man? But everyone in the court knew that Song Bang was young and frivolous, and he had always disagreed with Prime Minister Xie, and the two were like water and fire.
Feng Jia's mind moved. Perhaps, there is another possibility. The apparent hostility was just a means to deceive everyone. The two were in the same group. That's why so many people were involved in Song Bing's corruption case, but Prime Minister Xie was able to clear himself and remain in power.
No one would ever guess that the other half of the missing silver was in his hands.
Feng Jia had a bad premonition, which meant that Prime Minister Xie not only had the Crown Prince as his backer, but his power was like a deep-rooted old tree, hidden underground with intertwined roots.
Even though her heart was in turmoil, she concealed it well: "Where is the letter now?"
Xie Shubai shook her head: "After I took a look at it, I was afraid of being discovered, so I put it back intact. Later, my father came and after he finished reading the letter, a look of horror appeared on his face. Then he burned the letter without telling me."
Feng Jia smiled: "Fourth sister, father treated you so well, why did you betray him?"
"You and I are both smart people. I don't believe you can't see that Xie Qian is an extremely cold-blooded and selfish person," Xie Shubai stared at Huo Zhu not far away, "He just treats us as pawns. Xie Yunyao and Xie Siyan are his biological daughters and sons, but he can abandon them in the blink of an eye, let alone me, an adopted daughter?"
Xie Shubai pursed her lips and said, "Of course I have to plan for myself and leave myself a life-saving trick!"
"Then why did you tell me your life-saving method?" Feng Jia said with a smile.
Xie Shubai clenched her hands tightly in her sleeves: "Because there are more important things in this world than living!"
Feng Jia didn't say anything, and seemed to be thinking. The room was extremely quiet, with only the sound of candles popping. After a while, Feng Jia nodded.
Xie Shubai was overjoyed.
"But I don't trust you." Feng Jia said.
The smile on Xie Shubai's face froze.
Feng Jia stood up and said, "Your information is of no use to me. But I have to deal with the Earl of Yongyi's Mansion for you. If I think about it this way, isn't it a big loss for me?"
"How about this, one month. If you get information that is beneficial to me within one month, then I will agree to cooperate with you."
"What do you mean by information that is useful to you?" Xie Shubai asked.
"It's up to you to find it," Feng Jia spread her hands, "It's you who want to cooperate with me. If you can't find it, it means you don't have the ability. Why should I take the risk of cooperating with an incompetent person?"
After a long silence, Xie Shubai gritted his teeth and said, "It's a deal!"
The wind and rain outside became stronger, and Xie Shubai's back completely disappeared in the rain curtain. Only then did Song Huai walk out from the darkness.
"Did you really promise her?"
Feng Jia didn't answer, but drank the tea in one gulp.
Song Huai said, "The fourth young lady is very cunning. Everyone in the mansion, even the lowest-ranking cleaning staff, loves and respects her. Not only that, even the most demanding old lady, Musk, praises her. She was crowned as a talented woman in the capital at the age of thirteen. She is proficient in all arts, such as music, chess, calligraphy and painting. She can be said to be perfect. But to get all these, how cruel must one be to oneself, and how much patience must one have?"
Song Huai shook his head: "Everyone thinks that this fourth girl is gentle and easy to get along with, but I think she is scary in every way. If you cooperate with her, you will be courting disaster!"
Feng Jia turned her head and said, "Who said I promised her?"
Song Huai was stunned: "But you just..."
"Do you think she came to me today to cooperate with me? Of course not. She just wanted to convince me to be her pawn willingly. When I really defeat my stepmother and defeat the Earl of Yongyi's Mansion, her next target might be me."
"But she is right. The Meng family must be eliminated, and the Earl of Yongyi will definitely come to trouble me, so we are just using each other."
Song Huai was a little worried: "Aren't you afraid that she will stab you in the back?"
"She can stab, but I can't?"
Song Huai was shocked.
Feng Jia raised her eyebrows: "I will stab her with a knife without mercy, and will definitely leave her powerless to defend herself!"
Song Huai shuddered and was actually somewhat glad that he and she were in the same camp.
She is like the chess player on the chessboard, controlling everyone's psychology. She can control the fate of others with a flip of her hand. Such an enemy is really terrible!
On the second day, Feng Jia went to Gu's private school with Xie Shubai, but they were stopped as soon as they arrived at the door.
Feng Jia looked up and saw that there were three women stopping her. They were all wearing luxurious clothes, with their hair combed meticulously, thick makeup, and their heads adorned with silver hairpins and gold beads. They didn't look like they were here to study, but rather to compete in beauty.
The person in the lead was wearing a light blue eight-treasure robe with a huge South China pearl hanging on her collar. She was the noble lady who stood side by side with Xie Xiyi in Cheng'en Temple that day, the daughter of the Minister of Agriculture, Zhou Muqi.