Li Hong still had a gloomy face, but Wang Xiaojie next to him was sitting upright at the moment, not daring to take a breath, for fear that if he spoke any more, he would annoy His Majesty, who rarely gets angry.
Watching Ya Lao below introducing the slaves one by one and then accepting everyone's bids, Li Hong finally lost his temper and said to Wang Xiaojie: "Go to Jingzhao Mansion and supervise all the account books that extract the profits from Ya Bank. Without my order, no one is allowed to move and check privately. Also, the people in Jingzhao Mansion who supervise transactions in the east and west cities today are to be personally supervised by the governor and the chief official. Likewise, today's sales are done. How much money, who were these slaves sold to, a detailed list must be listed, including those in the past three years!"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Xiaojie stood up immediately. Only then did he realize that his back was already soaked.
"Including the roster supervised by your Ministry of Punishments, I don't care if you can do it or not. Including the five surnames Qiwang and all the wealthy families involved in the Luoyang case in the past three years, I must find the complete roster of everyone in the house, regardless of Whether it's a domestic slave or a domestic servant, even if it's a dog, I have to know whether it's a yellow dog or a black dog! If it died in the past three years, I also have to know how it died! If I can't do it in three days! , just go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and resign." This was the first time that Li Hong treated an official like this, but even so, Wang Xiaojie breathed a sigh of relief.
When he followed His Majesty in the Northern and Southern War, he had never made such a big mistake in the army. But this time, he really deserved death.
However, since His Majesty's anger is still lingering, it would be better not to provoke him at this time, and to finish the errands assigned by His Majesty first.
After Wang Xiaojie left, Li Hong and Yan Lingbin were left in the room. Yan Lingbin looked at the smiling face of the old lady below, and it was obvious that he had put another huge amount of commission into his pocket.
"You also saw Cui Xin just now. Since Cui Xin dared to come here so blatantly, it means there must be something fishy among them. Otherwise, how could Cui Xin hide it from Wang Xiaojie for so many years? To deceive the superiors and conceal the truth is like changing the sky. , It must be a very skilled organization, either to wash the identities of these slaves, or to make accounts for them, so I feel that it is difficult for the Jingzhao Mansion and the Ministry of Punishment to be foolproof." Yan Lingbin looked at Li. Hong said.
She was still frightened when she looked at Li Hong with a gloomy face just now, but when Wang Xiaojie left, even though Li Hong's expression was even more embarrassing at the moment, on the contrary, Yan Lingbin felt less nervous than before.
"If you just block it and don't gamble, you can't be foolproof. This is just pressing the gourd and raising the gourd again, so today is the right day to give you a chance." Li Hong said with a trademark sneer at the corner of his mouth.
"Opportunity, what chance do you give me?" Yan Lingbin was a little distracted and did not react immediately.
"From now on, buy all the slaves and wait until the time comes to see how they change their business. Will we be able to obtain their evidence?" Li Hong explained with a smile.
"Buy them all? Impossible. How can I have so much money? You must not have a penny on me. How can you buy them all?" Yan Lingbin was startled and blurted out.
However, an instant flashed through my mind, the scene when I first met His Majesty. Wasn't it that I was bought by that stupid-looking man in Qujiang Pond in a shocking way
"Just buy it. No matter who dares to rob you, just throw money at it. At worst, let Bai Chun come over and give you money. Bai Chun doesn't need the money, so let Bai Chun give it to you." I've bought all the slaves in the tooth shop, so there's probably no problem, right?" Li Hong thought about the expression on Bai Chun's face if he called her later and found out that he and Yan Lingbin had bought so many slaves.
Thinking about Li Hong, he felt happy. As long as he could play with Bai Chun, especially making Bai Chun spend money, it would be extremely happy and comfortable for him.
But someone didn't know that he was really playing with himself this time.
At this moment, she still has a dream of letting Yan Lingbin, who is disguised as a man, bid the price without being recognized, and then play tricks on Bai Chun.
Of course, the eldest son of the emperor was also to blame for all the embarrassing things he did to himself. After Bai Chun came in, because of Xiao Zhizhong, he did not tell Bai Chun that his father was also in Yahang.
So when Yan Lingbin started to follow Li Hong's wishes and planned to buy them all, Xiao Zhizhong also felt a trace of familiarity from the woman standing next to Ya Po, dressed in plain clothes, about 25 or 26 years old, with a pale face. .
Zheng Ruyi's eyes were dull, and the expression on her face was a hint of despair and misery. The collapse of the Zheng family in Xingyang brought her endless darkness. She originally hoped that that person could rescue her, but after half a year, There was no news from that person, and he finally became like a slave, wearing thin clothes, standing in the lobby of the tooth shop and letting others look at him and evaluate him.
Xiao Zhizhong's expression was complicated. His wife had passed away. Three years ago, when he visited the Zheng family as a guest, he met Zheng Ruyi, who had returned to the Zheng family because of the loss of her husband.
The relationship between the two started from love to courtesy, but they only knew each other for half a year, but Xiao Zhizhong, who was nearly fifty years old, could not forget Zheng Ruyi's appearance in the past few years.
After Zheng Ruyi asked him to participate in Luoyang's risk-of-death campaign to remonstrate, but he declined, although the two met less often, they did not become strangers because of Xiao Zhizhong's refusal.
It's just that in these years, Xiao Zhizhong has been unable to find out about Zheng Ruyi's whereabouts. When His Majesty finally dealt with the matter of the five surnames and Qi Wang, and Xiao Zhizhong inquired through various connections, Zheng Ruyi had been transferred from an official slave to a private slave.
Looking at Zheng Ruyi's sad look, Xiao Zhizhong felt mixed emotions in his heart. The indescribable feeling made him unable to make up his mind whether to buy Zheng Ruyi or not.
And just when he was hesitating, another room over there had already quoted a price. The price of five hundred taels at a time made everyone in the hall and the second floor dare not continue to compete.
None of the people who came here had eyes that were not poisonous. They did not see how the woman in the center of the hall was worth five hundred taels. So when they heard someone offering five hundred taels, they all turned around involuntarily and looked towards the second floor. Li Hong and Yan Lingbin's room.
Even Zheng Ruyi, who was bought and sold, did not expect that he could sell it for such a high price. He also looked up in shock and looked at the room on the second floor directly opposite.
Everyone looked at the door of the large opening, and then they saw a man who looked like a woman. At this time, he felt the eyes of everyone looking at him, but he frowned involuntarily, and even more Let everyone in the hall think that they are looking at a woman as beautiful as a flower.
"Zheng Ruyi? I'm a little impressed. Don't pay attention. I'll continue later." Li Hong ticked Zheng Ruyi's name, raised his head and looked at everyone's surprised gazes, and said to Yan Lingbin with a normal expression.
Yan Lingbin, who originally seemed a little uneasy because of the attention of everyone, suddenly seemed to gain confidence again after hearing Li Hong's words. He straightened his flat chest, raised his delicate chin, and put the only five hundred taels of silver in his sleeve pocket. I handed the ticket to the guy next to me.
The first sale is considered successful, and the clerk will also get the first payment. In the subsequent bids, if the guests in this room still meet someone they like, they can naturally wait until the transaction is over. Bill, please.
The first transaction is like trust, letting Yahang believe in your sincerity in the future. Therefore, Yan Lingbin, who only has 500 taels of silver notes left in his pocket, wants to be able to beat others in the next bidding. , to prevent others from bidding against him, it is obviously essential to establish prestige with a high price for the first time.
Xiao Zhizhong, who realized later or was a little hesitant, watched helplessly as Zheng Ruyi was taken down by the dental shop's clerk, and then another slave came up.
Li Ye and Bai Chun were sitting next to each other, looking at each other more or less. They didn't expect that in this cannibalistic dental shop, there would be people willing to pay such a high price for a woman in her mid-twenties!
"Who called it?" Li Ye asked without thinking.
From Xiao Zhizhong's position, the only thing that could be seen was Yan Lingbin's vague profile, so when he heard Li Ye's question, he woke up and said immediately: "It should be a rich man."
"Keep an eye on the person in that room, and write down this Zheng Ruyi. He paid five hundred taels for a slave for no reason. There might be some hidden secret in it." Bai Chun glanced at Li Ye's side. The eunuch then reminded Li Yedao lightly.
Li Ye nodded, then glanced at the eunuch next to him, and then said to Bai Chun: "Auntie, don't let Mr. Xiao be soft next time. Just buy one when you see it."
"Auntie, will you still care about you spending so much money? Mr. Xiao, don't be distracted anymore. I guarantee that Mrs. Zheng Ruyi will not leave Chang'an. As for whether she can get what you want in the end, it depends on you. "The meaning behind Bai Chun's words made Li Ye a little confused.
"Yes, don't worry, Miss Bai." Xiao Zhizhong smiled bitterly in his heart, and then concentrated on preparing to bid.
The next bidding, in Yapo's view, was more like the nobles from the two families on the second floor deliberately bringing trouble to the place. A girl of about thirteen or fourteen years old was brought up cautiously. Everyone called for a price, and the two private rooms on the second floor quickly gave a price of five hundred taels.
Cui Xin, who was hiding behind the screen, was a little happy at first. After all, the higher the price, the greater his share. But when he noticed, it was a man who looked like a woman, and he was talking to someone who had always been honest. , Xiao Zhizhong, who was cautious in the court, suddenly became thoughtful after bidding repeatedly.
(End of chapter)