From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 557

The atmosphere in the Bai family's ancestral hall was very depressing.

There were no female relatives or young people here, only a few elders in charge of the Bai family sat here with solemn faces.

Bai Jingtang sighed deeply and said slowly: "Whether from the perspective of the interests of Dajin, the interests of the court, or the personal interests of Duke Weiguo... the Bai family deserves to die."

"Lord Lu is dead, I have received accurate news, we have no voice in the court, even if we spend money, we can't spend it."

"No one dares to intervene, this seems to be a dead end."

At this point, Bai Jingtang sighed bitterly and choked up: "We are isolated and helpless, we can't even struggle."

"The only way to survive is probably to beg Duke Weiguo to show mercy."

"But this is impossible, we can't persuade him, and we can't beat him."

The atmosphere in the ancestral hall became even more depressing.

Another old man whispered, "Third brother, is the Duke of Wei really stubborn? Even if we give him four million taels of silver, he won't accept it?"

Seeing the expectant faces of several brothers, Bai Jingtang shook his head and said, "The other party is determined to take all of us, there is no room for negotiation."

The old man said loudly, "Then, what if we give everything? Can we let go?"

Bai Jingtang said, "Second brother, they want innocent money. Even if we give everything, we can't escape the punishment of the law."

The white-haired old man waved his hand and said, "The Duke of Wei is not without flaws. Maybe we can think of a way."

Bai Jingtang frowned and said, "How to think of a way? Big brother, we have no connections in the officialdom, and we can't compare with those despicable means..."

The white-haired old man said, "Doesn't he have any weaknesses? I heard that the Duke of Wei has always had a weakness since he rose from Yunzhou, and everyone knows it."

"What weakness?"

Everyone couldn't help but look at him.

The white-haired old man said: "He is lustful. Whether in Yunzhou or Lin'an Prefecture, he has an ambiguous relationship with the courtesan."

"After arriving in Shenjing, he became even worse and liked to have one wife. It is said that even old women in their forties and fifties could not escape his clutches."

"We can try to seduce."

Bai Jingtang smiled bitterly and said: "Brother, you are old and confused. He likes one wife and women, but he doesn't like old men like us!"

"Asshole!"

The white-haired old man shouted angrily: "You are old and confused. What I said is, let Xue'er and the others go."

"Our Bai family is indeed not as well-established as the Xu family and the Wu family, but our Bai family's blood... is worse than theirs!"

" The younger generations in their family are all ugly, but our Xue'er and Bing'er are stunning beauties!"

Bai Jingtang was stunned for a moment, then said: "Brother, what you said makes sense, but... will this work? The Duke of Wei has three wives, all of whom are beautiful girls, and we..."

The white-haired old man interrupted directly: "Doesn't the third wife need a concubine? Doesn't she need someone to serve tea and water? The Duke's Mansion is so big that it doesn't need concubines to take care of it?"

"Besides, no matter how many women the Duke of Wei has, are there twin sisters among them? In my opinion, Bing'er and Xue'er have a great advantage."

After saying this, Bai Jingtang felt that he had lost face and couldn't help but Gritting his teeth, he said, "But... Big brother, those two girls have been unruly since they were young..."

The white-haired old man said coldly, "Nonsense! Why are they unruly? That's because their family conditions are superior! It gives them the confidence to be unruly!"

"Now that the family is in trouble, it's time for them to give back to the family!"

"Do this as soon as possible. Don't worry about anything else at this time, otherwise my Bai family will really be executed."

"Do they want to die, or do they want to go to the Jiaofangsi?"

Bai Jingtang stood up and said loudly, "Forget it! I'll go and say it myself! They must take down the Duke of Wei!"

...

"We're here in Huai'an."

Zhuang Xuansu stood behind Zhou Yuan and looked at this The young man looked at his back and whispered, "Don't you need to see the governor of the grain transport?"

Zhou Yuan shook his head and said, "Continue to the south, go directly to Yangzhou, and play with them openly."

Zhuang Xuansu said, "That will probably alert others and let them know your true intentions."

Zhou Yuan said, "Your Majesty has sent a letter. The court has begun to counterattack. There are memorials impeaching me every day, and ministers are kneeling in the hall begging Your Majesty to let me return to Beijing."

"The longer it takes, the greater the pressure on Your Majesty. We have to speed up the process."

Zhuang Xuansu frowned and said, "But so far, we only have evidence of the Bai family. The other seven families have no clues at all. Even if the person from the grain transport gang provided information about private salt transportation, at most they can only take it as a clue.The Cao Gang and the Caoyun Governor were removed, and a Salt Administration Inspector was added, that's all. "

"The other families and the bigwigs behind them, their criminal chains are impossible to pull out."

Zhou Yuan said: "There will be a way, there will be a way out, the Bai family will help."

Speaking of this, he turned back to look at Zhuang Xuansu and smiled: "You can get off the boat in Huai'an, summon the officials of the Internal Court, and at the same time announce my identity as the imperial envoy."

"It's time for me, the governor of three provinces, to really come out. "

Zhuang Xuansu opened her mouth, but could only nod slightly and sigh softly.

She knew that Zhou Yuan's actions meant that the bloody storm in Jiangnan would expand without limit and eventually become an irreversible sea of ​​blood and corpses.

The moment she got off the boat, Zhuang Xuansu couldn't help but look back at Zhou Yuan. She couldn't tell whether Zhou Yuan's essential purpose was to investigate the case or to strengthen herself.

It was clear that she could go slower, use the governor of the grain transport as a breakthrough point, investigate step by step, and finally eliminate the eight major families.

But... the swift and resolute action will inevitably be accompanied by a downpour, and the country will probably suffer at that time.

And she, Zhuang Xuansu, had no choice but to follow step by step.

Guan Lu got on the boat and came behind Zhou Yuan, saying: "Sir, our people have been deployed and have been keeping an eye on the Salt Inspector. Then we figured out a situation yesterday, that is, the Salt Inspector never issued more salt, and the salt was strictly issued according to the salt quota. "

Zhou Yuan looked at him and couldn't help laughing, saying, "Are they really that clean?"

Guan Lu smiled and said, "The weights are different."

Zhou Yuan said, "That's right, keep getting information, we have to get their weights, this is ironclad evidence."

Guan Lu nodded and said solemnly, "The eight major families have smelled the wind, and some family members are moving outward. They were stopped by our people, but they are still closely moving and using various channels to leave the city."

"The other party has many means, and we can't hold on. We can't check every caravan entering and leaving the city gate. We don't have that power."

Zhou Yuan said, "Just keep an eye on the main characters. Even if the younger generations of some families escape, it will be difficult for them to escape our pursuit."

Guan Lu continued, "The soldiers in Liangjiang, Huguang, and Jinling have all moved. They frequently leave the camp on the pretext of training. The Jianghu organizations are also constantly moving closer to Yangzhou. We are facing great pressure. "

Zhou Yuan said: "Just grasp the situation. They dare not fight to the death for the time being, especially the upper families of the eight major families, who still have a fluke mentality."

Guan Lu said in a low voice: "The Bai family sent a message through Lord Zhao, wanting to welcome you tomorrow night."

"According to Lord Zhao, the other party has prepared a generous gift, a generous gift that you can't refuse."

Zhou Yuan couldn't help but sneer: "There is a generous gift that I can't refuse?"

Guan Lu said: "Two stunning women, the daughters of the Bai family."

Zhou Yuan was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Do they think I have never seen a woman? No matter how stunning, can it compare to my saintly sister? It's ridiculous!"

Guan Lu said: "They are sisters."

Zhou Yuan frowned, was silent for a moment, and then waved his hand and said: "Not interested at all!"

Guan Lu said: "They are twin sisters."

Zhou Yuan raised his head and said with a change of color: "Tell me the details."