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

Chapter 565

At midnight the next day, Guan Lu brought the two sisters Bai Bing and Bai Xue to the prison.

At this moment, everyone in the Bai family had been detained separately, and the three brothers Bai Jingtang were locked up in one room, so Guan Lu took the two sisters to meet other family members first.

When dying people meet, they naturally cry.

Guan Lu was very patient and did not urge them until the end before he took them to see Bai Jingtang and the other two.

The three old men had long lost their previous temperament at this moment. Their hair was messy, their clothes were completely dirty, and they looked like dying beggars on the street, with cloudy eyes.

But when they saw Bai Bing and Bai Xue, their eyes suddenly lit up.

Guan Lu smiled and slowly stepped back.

When Bai Jingtang saw Bai Xue and Bai Bing dressed neatly, he seemed to understand what was going on, and hurriedly said: "Bing'er Xue'er, did Zhou Yuan touch you? Did he let you sleep with him?"

At this point, he didn't care whether he was straightforward or not.

Bai Bing was weak all over, just crying silently.

Bai Xue seemed calmer, sobbing, "Dad, the master didn't touch us, he just asked us to come and see you for the last time."

"The last time?"

Bai Jingtang panted, and said, "What does he mean? He won't let you die?"

Bai Xue whispered, "The master said he can't help much, he can only save me and my sister to the greatest extent."

Bai Jingtang was shocked. Can the crime of treason save two people? If you can save two, you can save all, or at least save part!

Even if you leave a descendant for the Bai family, it's better than being killed by the nine clans!

In addition, why let these two girls come to see you for the last time? What does this mean?

Is it just because these two girls serve him? But now they clearly haven't served him yet.

What is he planning?

Bai Jingtang has been doing business for many years and has come through wind and rain. Through these situations, he thought of a lot at once.

So he hurriedly said: "Xue'er, listen to your father, go back to see the Duke of Weiguo and beg him. The lives of dozens of people in our Bai family are all in your hands."

"Don't be afraid of losing face, give him whatever he wants!"

"In addition, you have to tell him that our Bai family knows a lot of information about other major families, including the amount of smuggling, the output of private salt veins, the forgery process of salt permits, the bribery methods and amounts of officials at all levels..."

"We know everything, and we can also provide relevant clues to help him find evidence."

"We don't ask for anything, we just want to stay alive!"

He spoke very quickly, obviously he had thought a lot in the past two days and thought of all the possible situations.

Bai Xue nodded quickly and said, "As long as we can save our parents, my sister and I are willing to do anything."

Bai Jingtang looked at Bai Bing, opened his mouth, and finally said bitterly: "Bing'er, your father knows that you have a strong character, but... this is the life of the whole family!"

Bai Bing wiped her tears and said in a trembling voice: "Daughter will save Dad."

After hearing this, Bai Jingtang let out a long breath, thinking of what happened in the past few days, he couldn't help but feel sad.

He gradually realized that he seemed to have taken the wrong path from the beginning.

But now Zhou Yuan has locked their Bai family and Wusheng Sect together, and his Bai family no longer has the capital to negotiate.

"Ah!"

He couldn't help but slap himself.

The person in charge is confused. When something comes to the end, there will always be inexplicable panic, which leads to mistakes.

Bai Jingtang regretted it deeply. He shouldn't be so afraid of Zhou Yuan. Even if he was arrested, even if other families followed suit to target the Bai family, the end of the Bai family would definitely not be the execution of the whole family. At most, they would be exiled.

Although Lu Zhili was dead, other families would leave a way out for the Bai family, otherwise the Bai family would bite a large number of people to death.

As long as he persisted in prison for a period of time, the Wu family and the Xu family would inevitably mobilize the power in the court to put pressure on the Duke of Wei, and then he would be exiled.

But this young Duke put too much pressure on people. From the initial poisoning on the ship, to the so-called assassination of the imperial envoy, and then suddenly arresting people on a rainy night, various means emerged one after another, which completely disrupted Bai Jingtang's reason.

Because of this, Bai Jingtang contacted the people in the old-fashioned pharmacy in a panic and launched a jailbreak plan.

Now thinking about it, I realized that this seemed to be Zhou Yuan's plan.

He kept putting pressure on people, constantly disrupting their thinking, and set up a trap for the Bai family to exploit.

Thus, the ordinary salt administration case became a major case of rebellion in collusion with the Wusheng Sect, and the backers of other families did not dare to intervene.

Zhou Yuan, Zhou Yuan, it turns out that you are the one who did it!

Bai Jingtang thought about all this clearly through the meeting tonight.

It's too late to regret, and he can only rely on Zhou Yuan.

…

TheOn the second day, Zhou Yuan was not in a hurry to meet the two sisters of the Bai family. Instead, he dressed neatly, took an enamel porcelain, and went to the Xu family.

As the leader of the eight major families in Yangzhou, the Xu family and the Wu family are equally famous, and both are the richest families in the Jiangnan region.

Their mansion is huge and extremely luxurious, which has exceeded the regulations. I don’t know how much money it cost to settle such a thing.

Of course, such money is nothing to the Xu family.

"What? The Duke of Wei is coming?"

Xu Guangchao was shocked and stood up to tidy up his clothes. He said anxiously: "Quick! Call the masters of each courtyard to come and greet them together."

To be honest, he was panicked. Even though he had reached a tacit understanding with the Duke of Wei, the other party went to the Bai family last time, but he arrested the whole family. God knows what he is going to do this time in the Xu family!

Everyone in the mansion was busy like crazy. Xu Guangchao led a group of backbones of the Xu family and walked out of the mansion to greet them.

Zhou Yuan had already gotten off the carriage. Seeing the other party's grand ceremony, he smiled and said, "Master Xu is too polite. There is no need to be so grand."

Xu Guangchao knew that the other party was calling for someone, so he hurried out and bowed deeply, saying, "Xu Guangchao greets the Duke! The Duke's name is well-known, and it is a great honor to meet him now."

Zhou Yuan glanced at him and smiled, "I came here rashly and did not hand in a card in advance. I am a bad guest. I hope Master Xu will not mind!"

Xu Guangchao hurriedly said, "No, no, it is really an honor for the Duke to come to my humble home. Please come in, Duke."

Everyone made way for Zhou Yuan to walk in.

When they arrived at the main hall, Zhou Yuan waved his hand, and two servants carried the enamel vase in.

Zhou Yuan said, "Last year, Princess Qinshui fired a cellar of porcelain in Guangdong. The style is novel and the pattern is beautiful. She said it was enamel."

"She gave me two big ones, and this is one of them."

"I am here to bother you, so I will give this gift to the Xu family as a token of my apology."

Xu Guangchao was nervous, but he felt relieved after all. After all, giving a gift is a way of expressing goodwill, so everything can be communicated.

He praised, "The Duke is so polite. You have given enough face to the Xu family by coming to my house. This gift is so valuable, and it is sent by the princess. How dare I accept it?"

Zhou Yuan waved his hand and said, "Since I gave it to you, it means that your Xu family deserves it. I want to thank the Xu family for not helping me a few days ago."

Hearing this, Xu Guangchao was sweating profusely.

A few days ago, the shopkeeper of the Bai family came to ask for it. Fortunately, he refused at that time, otherwise what he sent now would not be porcelain, but weapons.

It was really dangerous!

Xu Guangchao smiled awkwardly and said, "The Duke of Wei is on tour on behalf of the emperor and is responsible for the country. Even if the Xu family has great courage, they dare not go against the Duke!"

Zhou Yuan nodded and said, "Please accept the enamel color. I will ask you for something by the way."

Xu Guangchao was shocked and whispered, "Duke, please speak up. The Xu family will definitely support you."

Zhou Yuan said, "I went south this time. You all know the reason. To be honest, my subordinates calculated that the money of the Bai family combined is not enough to raise 8 million taels."

"Then according to the original plan, I still have to move the Song family. With the money of the Song family, 8 million taels will definitely be enough. It is estimated that 14 million taels can be raised. ”

“Now that we have the money for the Firearms Bureau and the money to revive the Guangdong Sea Navy, we don’t have to worry about anything else.”

Speaking of this, he narrowed his eyes slightly and said softly: “Master Xu, Zhou is a military general, he doesn’t know how to investigate a case, and he doesn’t know much about the ways of the world.”

“I don’t want to say more about the roundabout words. I’ll be frank. I can move or not move the other six families, but if I don’t move… shouldn’t you give me the information about the Song family that you promised me before?”

“Otherwise, how can I explain to His Majesty if I can’t get enough money?”

“I can’t ask your Xu family for money again, can I?”

Xu Guangchao swallowed hard, and there was already a thin sweat on his forehead.

But he was also relieved a lot. The other party came to his door and said this, which meant that at least the Xu family was safe.

"Don't worry, Duke. The information about the Song family is being sorted out. I will personally deliver it in two days at most."

He smiled softly and said, "Please give me two days, Duke. The Xu family will be grateful."

Zhou Yuan nodded and said slowly, "Don't feel wronged. The purpose of revitalizing the Guangdong Sea Navy is to defeat the Portuguese and regain control of the sea."

"What does control of the sea mean? It means the right to export. The big business of exporting will be led by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a group of imperial merchants."

"As for which families can become imperial merchants... there are many reasons for this."Xu Guangchao was delighted when he heard this. Export business? Imperial merchant? He was very interested!

If the Xu family could go one step further... and become an imperial merchant, then... in the future...

He hurriedly said, "Thank you, Duke! Please rest assured, the Song family's affairs are in the hands of the Xu family!"