Chapter 9 Extortion

  Zhu Yinglong took Tian Shuying, who had almost been raped by Chen and that bastard, back to his own palace. He called over his personal maid, Yan Hong, and handed Tian Shuying over to her, telling her to take her away and comfort her well. However, Tian Shuying refused to leave Zhu Yinglong's arms, probably due to being too frightened. Zhu Yinglong's hatred for the eunuchs deepened even further in his heart. After much difficulty, he finally coaxed the beauty in his arms into going to wash up, but just then, Cui Chengxiu arrived with Chen Jiu and his son seeking an audience with him. Zhu Yinglong was still fuming, and without thinking, immediately ordered them to be driven away. However, Zhou Yuning, who had rushed back after receiving news from the Yinglong Villa, saw her husband's face darkening as he gave the order to drive them away, and hastily stopped Xu Yingyuan, who was about to transmit the order, signaling him to wait a moment. Then she took off her cloak and handed it over to her maid, walked up to Zhu Yinglong, and said: "Your Highness, I am also very angry about what happened to Shuying, but at this time..."

  Zhu Yinglong saw Zhou Yining, who was dusty and exhausted, and knew that she had rushed back from the other courtyard without stopping her horse. She must be extremely tired. Her face was a bit pale. In fact, he also knew that he had been a bit hot-headed earlier and couldn't help but vent his emotions. He glanced at Xu Yingyuan, who was still standing outside the door, and knew that Zhou Yining had helped him stop himself from doing something wrong. So, he reached out and grasped her icy small hands, gently pulling her into his arms, embracing her soft body, and said with deep emotion: "Fortunately, there's you, or else I would have done something wrong."

  Zhou Yingning suddenly felt a wordless happiness enveloping her entire body, and a misty water rose on her bright phoenix eyes. Her delicate face leaned against the steady heartbeat of that heart, and she softened in Zhu Yinglong's arms. Zhu Yinglong glanced at the beauty who was breathing softly in his arms, with a red face, and said to Xu Yingyuan outside in a low voice: "Tell them to come to this king's study, this king will deal with things and then go see them!"

  Xu Yingyuan received the order and turned around to pass it on immediately.

  "Lianying sister knew that Shuying sister had an accident, and she also followed back. On the way, she wanted to quietly leave alone, but was stopped by me." Zhou Yining said in a low voice.

  "It's fortunate that I realized in time that the scoundrel hadn't laid a hand on Shu-ying."

  As soon as he mentioned Ye Liangwei, Zhu Yinglong felt a headache. This little girl seemed to have not grown up yet, acting impulsively without considering the consequences, but fortunately she was still righteous and liked to stand up for others. Originally, he wanted to send her to Sun and Xiong's side to learn properly, but unexpectedly she relied on her identity as the princess and also became good sisters with Xiong Hu, in Yinglong Manor except for a few people who could suppress her, it was simply like being the big sister in school, making Zhu Yinglong feel extremely frustrated, not knowing how to make her behave. He sighed and said: "This Liangwei is getting more and more unreasonable, she must be thinking of coming back to avenge Shuying, Ning'er you did well this time, if we let her come back and stir up trouble, I really don't know how to deal with it!"

  Zhou Yingning suddenly found the door open, with people passing by from time to time. She felt that being so intimate with Zhu Yinglong was not decent, so she blushed and struggled out of his arms. Zhu Yinglong was thinking about how he would deal with Cui Chengxiu and those two idiotic parents later, his mind preoccupied. With a slight effort, Zhou Yingning left Zhu Yinglong's arms.

  "Your Highness, I'd like to go see Shu-ying," said Zhou Yingning.

  "Go, don't bother telling me about such trivial matters from now on. Talk to Shu-ying properly and make sure you don't take today's events to heart. It's not her fault, just make sure she doesn't do anything foolish." Zhu Yinglong kissed Zhou Ting's forehead and instructed carefully. In this world where chastity was paramount, according to the imperial family's rules, Tian Shu-ying would have to be forced to take her own life to prove her innocence, but Zhu Yinglong couldn't bring himself to do such a thing. So, no matter whether it was for Tian Shu-ying or his own sake, he had to suppress what he saw when he rushed into the house, but he definitely wouldn't let Chen's father and son off easy. Their lives would be spared for now, but they would pay the price later!

  Zhou Yingning had long been accustomed to such intimate gestures between them and left with a deep affection.

  Shi Ke Fa's injury was not light, with two broken ribs and bruises all over his body. His face had several bruises, but fortunately he was rescued in time. Otherwise, even if his life was not in danger, he might have developed some underlying illness.

  Zhu Yinglong did not immediately go to see the three of them, but instead went to visit Shi Kefa who was seriously injured. With this injury, Shi Kefa was like a man with one arm cut off. How could Zhu Yinglong not be angry?

  Zhu Yinglong came to see him in person, and Shi Kefa, who had already awakened, was naturally very excited. He himself was incompetent, but the king not only did not blame him, but also came to visit him personally. Such a kind master is hard to find anywhere, he struggled to get up and pay his respects to Zhu Yinglong, but was held down by Zhu Yinglong, who said: "Brother Kefa, you are injured, it's better for you to lie down and rest."

  "Your Highness, I am truly incompetent and was unable to fully protect the princess, please punish me!" Shi Kefa exclaimed with tears in his eyes.

  Zhu Yinglong also had some regrets in his heart, if he had sent Wang Chengen, such unfortunate things might not have happened. He comforted with a smile: "It's not Brother Xian's fault, it's my consideration that was not thorough, and I implicated you in suffering such a serious injury. I almost lost an arm too!"

  "Your Highness, student..." Shi Kefa saw Zhu Yinglong take all the responsibility on himself and was suddenly moved to tears, unable to speak. He had thought that he would be doomed for letting the princess suffer humiliation, what a great sin! As the saying goes, "A gentleman dies for his lord", Zhu Yinglong treated him this way, how could he not swear to die for him?

  "Take good care of your injuries, I'm still waiting to fight alongside you!" Zhu Yinglong patted his shoulder lightly and smiled.

  "Your Majesty, I'm sorry..."

  "All right, the matter has passed. Now Cui Chengxiu and Chen Jiuzuo, father and son, are in this king's study. Brother Xian, you give this king some advice, how should this king respond?" Zhu Yinglong said his troubles.

  "Your Highness, this matter has probably already spread throughout the city. Although you deliberately concealed the part about entering the house, Chen Jiuzu and his son, as well as those people, wouldn't go around spreading rumors wildly. Since you allowed them to enter your study, it's clear that you didn't want to immediately clash with the eunuch party. However, this matter not only concerns your prestige but also the reputation of the imperial family, and even endangers the chastity and life of the princess. If nothing is done about it, people will think that you are timid and afraid of trouble. If Chen Jiuzu and his son are severely punished, although the eunuch party won't be able to do anything to you, they will harbor resentment. Your actions in Kaifeng will be restricted at every turn, and the eunuch party may take advantage of this situation. In that case, Princess Tian will be in danger." Shi Kefa analyzed anxiously.

  Zhu Yinglong naturally knew all this, and he also knew that he had actually fallen out with the eunuchs, but on the surface they were still getting along, and the other side hadn't caught him in anything, so they couldn't touch him. This time, taking advantage of a sudden event to seize the initiative, he was afraid those censor officials would hear rumors and try to bring him down. These so-called literati didn't understand one thing: political power comes from the barrel of a gun. How could their mouths compete with the eunuchs' knives and guns? Moreover, his foundation wasn't stable yet, and if he were to fall out with the eunuchs over this matter now, it would be like pushing himself to the forefront of a storm. This was something Zhu Yinglong didn't want to do. Although even killing Chen Jiu and his son wouldn't necessarily have any consequences, and wouldn't lead to a falling out with the eunuchs, there was still Tian Shuying - how could he watch as his wife lost her life for the sake of defending a chastity that had no practical significance?

  Shi Kefa had been with Zhu Yinglong for more than half a year, and it could be said that apart from Zhu Yinglong's original team, he was the longest-serving one. Naturally, he understood Zhu Yinglong's thoughts very well. Enduring the intense pain on his body, he reminded him: "Your Highness, Shi Kefa wants to borrow some silver from you?"

  "It doesn't matter, how much does Brother Qian want?" Zhu Yinglong didn't think of anything else and simply agreed.

  Shi Ke Fa stretched out a hand with difficulty, his five fingers spread apart, looking at Zhu Ying Long, but he didn't say anything.

  "Fifty taels? No problem, I'll have your family member find Ning'er to collect it tomorrow!" Even if Shi Kefa didn't mention borrowing money, he would still send over a sum of silver for medical treatment and nourishment.

  But he didn't expect Shi Kefa to shake his head, as if borrowing wasn't just that much. Zhu Yinglong was a bit surprised, not that he wouldn't lend more money to him, but what did Shi Kefa want to borrow over 50 taels of silver for?!

  "Five hundred thousand taels!" Shi Kefa said in a low voice, word by word.

  "What does Brother Xian want so much money for?" Zhu Yinglong was startled, and then a flash of inspiration struck him, and he burst out laughing: "Brother Xian is actually playing dumb riddles with me, the king! Alright, I'll lend it to you!"

  Shi Ke's pale face also revealed a hint of a smile, but the smile seemed somewhat treacherous, it seems that he had been deeply poisoned by Zhu Yinglong.

  "Master Xu, when will Master Wang come to see us?" It had been a whole incense stick's worth of time, and Chen Jiu and his son were already numb from kneeling on the floor of the study, really couldn't take it anymore. He signaled for Cui Chengxiu, who was standing off to the side, to go ask Xu Yingyuan, who was also standing off to the side with his eyes closed.

  Xu Yingyuan understood in his heart that Wang Ye was deliberately late, and didn't even open his eyes, responding faintly: "Wang Ye is busy with affairs, after finishing the matters, he will naturally come to see the two adults and Chen Gongzi."

  At this time, Chen Da Gongzi was tied up like a corpse and knelt beside his father Chen Jiu Chou, where was the domineering manner of robbing Tian Shu Ying on the street?

  Zhu Yinglong walked into his study with a gloomy face, and Cui Chengxiu immediately came forward to pay his respects. With an extremely respectful expression, he said: "Your subordinate, the Governor of Henan, Cui Chengxiu, pays his respects to His Highness, Prince Xin!"

  "You're excused!" Zhu Yinglong responded indifferently, walking to his own seat and sitting down. He looked at Chen Jiuzhang and his son kneeling before him, feeling an unspeakable disgust in his heart. Truly, like father, like son - the two of them were a perfect match in terms of moral character.

  "The guilty minister, Chen Jiu Chou, the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, has brought his son to come and apologize to Your Highness!" Chen Jiu Chou dragged his numb and stiff son to kowtow to Zhu Ying Long, his voice trembling slightly, seemingly still fearful in his heart.

  Zhu Yinglong let out a cold hum, neither speaking nor allowing the two to get up. "Your Highness, Chen Zhi's son also didn't know, and the carriage didn't have the Wang Fu's crest either. Plus he had drunk quite a bit of wine and lost money at gambling..." Cui Chengxiu stepped forward to plead.

  "So, if the woman who was robbed wasn't my queen, wouldn't that mean he can do whatever he wants?" Zhu Yinglong's face turned red with rage as he pointed at Chen He, who was kneeling on the ground. "He dares to kidnap a civilian girl and gets away with just saying 'I didn't know'? What about getting drunk and losing money? Is this what they call justice? No wonder the Ming dynasty fell in the end! Such words coming from the mouth of a provincial governor, it's clear he doesn't care about the lives of his people. With such a person ruling the country, it's no surprise it would fall!"

  Cui Chengxiu hastily realized he had misspoken and quickly made amends, saying: "Your Highness, please calm your anger. I didn't mean it that way. What I meant to say is that Chen Gongzi's son was drunk at the time and confused, which led him to do something wrong. Please, Your Highness, be understanding!"

  Zhu Yinglong knew that since the other party had come, they must have thought of an excuse to acquit Chen He. Not wanting to fall out with the eunuch party over this matter, he pretended to calm down and asked, "Is this true?"

  "Prince Wang, it's true. If you don't believe me, you can go ask the one who drank with Xiaor..." Chen Jiuzu heard Zhu Yinglong's tone and saw that he seemed to believe him, so he quickly raised his head and explained urgently.

  Zhu Yinglong said, "I've sent all of you to the Bu Zheng Shi's mansion. Why haven't you confessed yet? I'll go ask if there are any other answers. Besides, with such a serious crime as kidnapping the princess, if it can be mitigated, naturally no one would foolishly reveal the truth."

  "Since that's the case, I'd like to ask Lord Chen, why didn't your subordinates stop him from committing such evil acts? Instead, they all joined in and not only injured the main clerk of the Wang Manor, but also the several guards I sent over. What kind of logic is this? Not everyone was drunk, were they?" Zhu Yinglong asked slowly, glancing at Chen Jiucuo.

  Chen Jiuzuo's forehead was sweating profusely, and at first he thought that a young prince who was still wet behind the ears could be easily fooled, and after being deceived, he would just throw some money around to get rid of the trouble. But unexpectedly, the foolish prince wasn't so foolish after all. First, he made Chen Jiuzuo and his father kneel on the stone floor for almost an hour, and then he saw through the excuse that Chen Jiuzuo had fabricated to escape punishment. If the other party really wanted to punish him and his father, no matter how powerful their backers were, it would be of no use. He couldn't help but glance at Cui Xingzhi, seeking his rescue.

  Choi Chengxiu knew some inside information, although he also couldn't figure out whether Xing Wang was really foolish or pretending to be foolish. However, today's performance seemed not foolish at all, but rather very clever. There was no one else around him except for Xu Yingyuan, so it didn't seem like there was someone behind the scenes guiding him. Still, it couldn't be ruled out that Xu Yingyuan had taught him to say this. Chen Jiuxiao was after all a member of his own faction, and he couldn't just stand by and do nothing. He stepped forward and said: "Your Highness, please calm down. These servants can't help but listen to their masters, they're also thinking about their own livelihoods."

  "So, if one doesn't take care of oneself, heaven and earth will be destroyed? Is that right, Lord Cui?" Xu Yingyuan asked, intervening at Zhu Yinglong's signal. Zhu Yinglong did this to confuse Cui Chengxiu, making him mistakenly think that everything he said was taught by Xu Yingyuan, a mix of truth and falsehood, letting the eunuch party worry about it themselves.

  Normally, Xu Yingyuan's words would not have been taken seriously by him, but now it was different. He had some doubts that the cleverness of this foolish Wang just now was all a trick played by the eunuch Xu Yingyuan behind his back. His opinion of Xu Yingyuan naturally increased greatly, and he hastily said: "Eunuch Xu's words are wrong, 'one who does not work for himself will be punished by heaven and earth' is indeed well said, but if it harms others or offends the law, then absolutely not!"

  "Does Chancellor Cui mean that the culprits who robbed the princess will be severely punished?" Xu Yingyuan asked with a cold smile.

  "Ah... " Choi Cheong-soo didn't expect Xu Yingyuan's eloquence to be so sharp, almost getting himself entangled.

  "Your Highness, I'm really drunk and made a mistake, please spare my son!" Chen Jiuzu only had this one son, so he naturally tried his best to protect him.

  Zhu Yinglong was suddenly at a loss, his earlier calm and composure disappearing completely. He couldn't help but glance at Xu Yingyuan's face from time to time, as if seeking guidance.

  Cui Chengxiu saw Zhu Yinglong's expression and was secretly pleased in his heart. Last time at Liang Garden, he almost got nothing, but today he got it without much effort. The foolish prince was still the same foolish prince, relying on a young eunuch by his side to compete with the factory owner. He completely forgot that his so-called factory owner was also a thoroughbred eunuch. In his heart, he thought that even if he sacrificed Chen Jiuxiao, it would be worth it. Intentionally ignoring Chen Jiuxiao's distress signal, but couldn't ignore the person behind him, pretending to say: "Prince, Chen Gongzi is indeed drunk and confused, please forgive him." This sentence was nominally said to Zhu Yinglong, but the speaker was facing Xu Yingyuan, showing that Cui Chengxiu had already taken Xu Yingyuan as the decision-maker.

  Xu Yingyuan gave Zhu Yinglong a look, and Zhu Yinglong immediately understood. This was what they had previously discussed. Zhu Yinglong's face sank as he said: "Although this is the truth, if we let him off lightly, wouldn't I, the king, be ridiculed by the world? Where would my dignity be then?"

  Choi Chengxiu now has ninety-nine percent confidence that the Xing Wang in front of him is still the same foolish Xing Wang as before, only with a clever eunuch behind him. He really didn't expect that this small eunuch who was previously unknown in the palace would be so hidden and reserved. When he returns, he will have to carefully write down everything he saw and heard today at the Wang Fu to report to Lord Chang.

  Zhu Yinglong was naturally pleased to see Cui Chengxiu's misunderstanding of himself, and even if Wei Zhongxian didn't believe it, it didn't matter. At least there were different voices within them, which was good news for him.

  Chen Jiuzu observed the words and expressions, and also detected a hint of unusual tone. Upon hearing Zhu Yinglong mention the word "face", he knew that things were not without hope. In his heart, he immediately thought: "If the king is lenient, Chen Jiuzu will certainly exert himself to repay him!"

  "I humbly report to Your Highness, I understand your thoughts. If this matter is made public, it will not be beneficial for me, Minister Chen, or Your Highness. Please think carefully about it." Cui Chengxiu said with a subtle tone, his eyes darting towards Xu Yingyuan.

  "Hmm, I'm not a person who can't tell right from wrong either. Lord Cui, you handle this matter, although it concerns me, but as for the laws of the imperial court, I'd rather not interfere." Zhu Yinglong knew what Cui Chengxiu meant by his words. If everything were to be exposed, Tian Shuying would inevitably be shamed and humiliated in order to clear her name. He didn't want to say more, so he stood up and left without paying attention to Chen Jiubao and his son, as well as Cui Chengxiu.

  "Mr. Chen, get up, it's uncomfortable to kneel on the ground." Xu Yingyuan naturally had to complete what was to come next, and coldly said to Chen Jiucai and his son.

  Kneeling for a long time, and just now the back was tense and soaked through. Now it's cold and has no strength. If it wasn't for Cui Chengxiu supporting him from behind, Chen Jiuchou would probably have fallen to the ground in an instant. Chen He is a bit better off, firstly because he is young, and secondly because he doesn't seem to be aware of anything at all, probably scared silly.

  "Director Cui, Director Chen staying in Kaifeng might not be quite suitable anymore?" Xu Yingyuan asked with a slight smile, not minding that Chen Jiuzu was right beside him. After this incident, it's unlikely that Chen Jiuzu would be able to stay in Kaifeng even if he wanted to.

  "Thank you, Lord Xu, for reminding me. I understand now!" Cui Chengxiu was certain that Xu Yingyuan was the person beside King Xian.

  "Come on, Lord Chen, Master Chen! And you're drunk and lost money, that's why you did such a stupid thing. This excuse might work for the king, but it won't work for us. No matter what reason you have, robbing the princess in broad daylight is a capital offense. If I hadn't pleaded for you in front of the king, your heads would have rolled long ago! Hmph!" Xu Yingyuan said bluntly to Chen Jiuzi and his son.

  Chen Jiuzuo also knew that the eunuch in front of him could influence Prince Xian's thoughts, and that he and his father were able to keep their lives thanks to this very eunuch. He hastily said: "Thank you, Eunuch Xu! Jiuzuo will definitely repay you heavily in the future!"

  "And you know what to do now?" Xu Yingyuan called out to Chen Jiuchou and his son who were about to leave.

  Jiu Chou understood, his son had offended a close maid of the king...

  "It's fine if you understand. The people downstairs don't want to listen either!" Xuyingyuan closed his eyes, turned around and left, clearly deeply disgusted with the turtle father and son.

  Xu Yingyuan thought to himself, if the heavy reward you mentioned were to fall into my pocket, I'm afraid I'd have to move house too. To fight with our Wang Ye, who knows how one would die? This time it's just your father and son's good luck that Wang Ye doesn't want to tear his face apart, but your family's property is likely to end up in the hands of our Wang Ye anyway. Wang Ye was worried about not having the opportunity to build a grand Shadow Dragon Villa, and you two happened to bump into him, it's just your bad luck.

  As expected, half a month later, Chen Jiuzu was transferred away from Luoyang Prefecture by the imperial court, and Nanyang County Magistrate He Tengjiao was appointed as the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture. All of Chen Jiuzu's family property, including the land he had acquired in Kaifeng Prefecture, fell into Zhu Yinglong's hands. Adding up the amount he had given to Xu Yingyuan, it totaled 550,000 taels of silver, roughly equivalent to the amount borrowed from Shi Kefa. The remaining wealthy young masters who followed Chen and Gui were also forced to pay a sum of money to redeem their people from the great disaster in the Ministry of Revenue's prison. Naturally, Xu Yingyuan took care of this matter, and Cui Xingzhi also benefited greatly from it.

  Originally, Zhu Yinglong had planned to have Wang Chengen cooperate with himself in this play, considering that Wang Chengen was a person by Zhang Huanghou's side when she was in the palace. Zhu Yinglong did not want to implicate Zhang Huanghou, who was already struggling in the palace, and his elder sister whom he missed more and more. So he had no choice but to choose Xu Yingyuan, who had been with Xining for the longest time. Although he was relatively young, using him would make it easier for the eunuchs to believe.

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