But if this happens, too many things will be involved. Bai Xiong was silent for a moment, and told Bai Bao about several major events that happened recently: "Those people dared to attack the girl of the Duke of Ping's Mansion, and even dared to frame the Su County Lady. I think they seem to hate your highness and the Su family very much. Brother, this matter must be handled well."
Xiao Heng and Su Rong both have good intentions towards the Bai family. If the situation becomes chaotic again, the Bai family, which has already chosen a side, will inevitably become the loser. To put it simply, this matter is related to the future of the Bai family.
Bai Bao patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, your elder brother knows everything. If I don't go, it won't arouse suspicion if I send someone else to come."
He is just at home, not dead. Isn't it normal to ask some of his old subordinates to come over and chat with him
When White Bear heard him say this, he knew that he knew what was going on, so he stopped talking. He talked to White Leopard for a while longer and then went about his business.
Not long after, a clerk from the Craftsmen's Department received an invitation from Bai Bao and went to the Bai family the next day.
Upon seeing this person, Bai Bao smiled and said, "It's been such a long time since we last met. You still look so smart and capable. Sit down!"
Zhou Ruomin bowed to Bai Bao and smiled bitterly: "My Lord, you are making fun of me. Now I don't care about anything anymore. What else can I do?"
The drinks on the table were already prepared. Bai Bao raised his eyebrows in surprise: "What do you mean? Brother Zhou, you are an expert at drawing and making lanterns. Even the chieftain praised your craftsmanship. Why do you say you don't care about anything now? To be honest, I have an important matter to ask you for help. The Water Splashing Festival is coming soon, and I want to ask you to make some exquisite lanterns for the festival."
Zhou Ruomin shook her head with a sad face, "Don't mention it. Since you left, Mr. Liu has been promoting his people. No matter which department, he has more people. I could barely touch those drawings before, but these days, I have become invisible. Nothing is needed for me."
Bai Bao reached out and poured him a glass of wine: "How could that be? In previous years, most of the lanterns here were made by you, the most exquisite. Doesn't Mr. Liu know? Besides, the situation this year is particularly different. Now that the court is in power, officials from top to bottom have changed. Doesn't he want to make the lanterns more exquisite and let the Craftsmanship Department take a step forward? To get the favors of those nobles?"
Zhou Ruomin became even angrier when he talked about this. He was so angry that he almost smoked. He snorted coldly, "To be liked by the nobles? How could he, a sycophant, not want to be liked by the nobles? Recently, the Craftsmanship Department has been forced to work overnight every day, isn't it for this? It's just that he doesn't want someone like me who is not his to get the face."
Hearing that he was working overnight, Bai Bao's eyes darkened, and then he shook his head: "No, he is not working overnight to please his superiors, otherwise, he would not have had that attitude when Yongding Bo went to the Carpenters' Office yesterday. Yongding Bo is here, and everyone knows that Yongding Bo is a favorite of His Highness, wouldn't it be better for him to please him directly? How could a person like him who curries favor with the powerful prefer to make lanterns to shine instead of directly pleasing others?"
Zhou Ruomin was stunned by what he said, and then looked at him hesitantly: "What do you mean, sir?"
"Ruomin, you are someone who wants to do things and is capable of doing things. I won't hide many things from you." Bai Bao cleared his throat. "Before, it was because the chieftain liked him and I didn't like fighting for power, so I also withdrew, but now it's different. If he really did things honestly, it wouldn't be a big deal, but he seems to have evil intentions. I suspect that he tampered with the lanterns, and that's why he's so afraid of people investigating. Ruomin, you must help me, this matter depends on you to investigate!"
Zhou Ruomin was startled. After digesting what Bai Bao said, he asked in doubt: "Zheng Aren, what's going on?"
Bai Bao explained the matter to him briefly, and at the end he said, "You know some things without having to explain them in detail. If he is really the one behind this, and he refuses to say anything, we are afraid that it will implicate the entire Craftsmanship Division. We have so many brothers in the Craftsmanship Division, how can we go crazy with him?"
Not to mention others, Zhou Ruomin was the first one who didn't want to be implicated.
He never gets any good things, but people want to drag him to take the blame for all the bad things. How can there be such unreasonable things in this world
He sneered and took the initiative to say, "If someone tampered with the lantern, then there must be something wrong with the materials. I'll check and I'll know."
Although he was not given an important position, it would always be no problem for him to check some scraps. After all, Mr. Liu could not control every detail.
Bai Bao nodded and reminded him, "Be careful. Ask more workers on duty and the craftsmen. Ask them all. If you find out anything, come back and report to me directly."
Zhou Ruomin agreed with a serious expression.
He had always been holding a grudge against Mr. Liu. Mr. Liu was a vindictive and petty person, but he could tolerate that. But if he tampered with the lanterns, Zhou Ruomin would never accept it. You know, the most important thing in making lanterns is safety, because most of the lanterns are placed in downtown areas. At that time, the streets were crowded with people, and countless people gathered there to watch the lanterns, waiting for the annual event. If something happened to the lanterns, how many people would suffer? !
He hurried back to the craftsman's office, said hello to his subordinates, then calmed down and took a walk around the workshop.
Now everyone knows that Zhou Ruomin has fallen from power, but everyone also knows that he likes to make lamps. He used to come to the workshop often and no one thought there was anything strange about it.
Zhou Ruomin looked around and couldn't help asking, "You guys have been working on it all day, so the lantern should have been finished long ago. How come it seems like you've only just started now?"
Someone who had a good relationship with Zhou Ruomin secretly pulled him aside, coughed a few times and said, "I'm afraid the lamps made some time ago were not the ones to be handed in. They were probably the benefits that Mr. Liu kept for himself."
This is not without precedent. Generally, those who are in charge of the craftsman's workshop often take on private jobs, using the raw materials from the craftsman's workshop to take orders from outside workshops and stores. After all, there is no charge for materials or labor, so it's all pure profit.
Zhou Ruomin's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately guessed that there was something fishy going on with the group in front.
He secretly pulled the man out and asked where the lanterns were delivered.