Chapter 48: Punishment At The Same Time
As soon as Emperor Zhou finished his sentence, Wu Qiuhan gaped. He wanted to say something but didn"t dare to.
With this, the Xue family was going to be in deep trouble this time. The Xue family had relied on the fact that he was the Minister of Revenue and had a lot of business connections with the Royal Court. After all, everyone knew that doing business with the Royal Court was a guaranteed profit.
Now, with a word from Emperor Zhou, all their businesses with the Royal Court would stop.
Most importantly, the Xue family would not be allowed to pa.s.s any Court approval for the next twenty years. This would cost the Xue family"s lifeline. Many businesses needed approval, including some minerals, salt, iron, and grain. This way, the scope of the Xue family"s business was cut down by a lot.
As for Xue Meng, he even had to serve for five years?
That was five years of slavery!
How much pain and suffering did he have to endure? Even if the Xue family was rich and he took care of him, who would dare to go overboard before Su Changqing collapsed?
He was thinking about how to make the Zhou Emperor cancel the service when he heard Su Changqing speak.
"Your Majesty, the Xue family has a lot of business dealings with the Royal Court. If we halt all the activities now, we"ll probably suffer quite a loss!"
Wu Qiuhan was taken aback. Was this fellow going to speak up for the Xue family?
But immediately after, he heard Su Changqing say, "In this subject"s opinion, the Xue family should compensate the Royal Court for its losses! Furthermore, delaying the Court"s matters is akin to delaying national affairs. They should compensate more!"
"F*ck!" Wu Qiuhan finally could not hold back and cursed inwardly.
This Su Changqing was too ruthless!
Compensate the losses of the Imperial Court? And more? How much would that be?
However, Emperor Zhou was very satisfied. He nodded and said, "Minister Su"s words are reasonable. All the losses will be verified by the officials involved in business. Report it as soon as possible! We must not let anyone take advantage of this."
At this moment, Wu Qiuhan stood out and said, "Your Majesty, since Minister Su has failed in teaching his son and has been punished, shouldn"t Su Wen be punished as well? Otherwise, why don"t you pardon Xue Meng to prevent others from saying that Your Majesty is unfair?"
Emperor Zhou glanced at him and said indifferently, "I watched Su Wen grow up, so he"s just like my nephew. Now that he has lost his morals, I have a responsibility to guide him, so I"ll make him enter the palace every day. I will personally teach him for a few days, and I think he will change his mind. Both of them have their punishments, others will definitely have nothing to say."
Wu Qiuhan wanted to cry.
Wasn"t this a bit too biased? One was supposed to serve in the borders for five years, while the other would enter the palace to be taught by the emperor?
This could still be called receiving punishment at the same time?
However, he could tell that Emperor Zhou did not want to continue discussing this matter.
If he really ended up angering the Zhou Emperor, the Xue family would be even more unlucky.
"Your Majesty is wise!" Wu Qiuhan said with tears in his eyes.
"By the way, Minister Wu, although Minister Su has made a mistake, he has been working hard for the benefit of the court for many years after all. Even if his property has to be seized, it is not advisable to confiscate it all. No matter what, we should leave half of it for Minister Su to ensure he has enough to get by," the emperor said calmly.
"This subject understands."
Su Changqing knelt on the ground, prostrating himself on all fours as he shouted, "Thank you for Your Majesty"s grace."
"Changqing, please get up. Let"s end the court session. Accompany me to the back garden."
"Yes!"
In the Su family, countless soldiers were moving items out. There were expensive calligraphy paintings, precious treasures, gold, silver, and jade.
From afar, the citizens were watching.
"Wow, have you heard? The Su family has been raided."
"That"s right. They said it was because Su Wen overly flaunted his family"s wealth, and His Majesty punished Su Changqing for not teaching his son well."
"Why isn"t such a corrupt official executed?"
"What do you know? This Su Changqing accompanied His Majesty from the very beginning. Even if he"s greedy for money, how could His Majesty bear to punish him? He will definitely protect him."
"Speaking of which, the Xue family is even more unlucky. Xue Meng was forcibly taken away by the guards this morning and said that he would be sent to the border to serve five years of bitter service."
"What about Young Master Su? I heard that His Majesty will personally lecture him."
"Serves them right. This is what it means by to not pick a fight with officials even if you"re rich. The Xue family is just a wealthy merchant, yet they dare provoke the Prime Minister. Aren"t they courting death?"
"That"s exactly what I"m saying. All of the Xue family"s businesses related to the Royal Court have been halted. I heard that they even have to pay a large sum of money as compensation. Their standing is probably going to decline."
In the meantime, our Young Master Su Wen was lying on a recliner in the courtyard while Cui Yumian was fanning him at the side while Ning Shuang was in charge of serving tea. He looked extremely contented.
Wu Qiuhan was in the midst of calculating the a.s.sets. When he saw his att.i.tude, he was infuriated.
"Zhao Jin, remember to take this Young Master"s bed as well. Changing locations is already bad enough, if you even change the bed, this young master won"t be able to sleep well."
Su Wen casually instructed.
That"s right, this was also the day that Su Wen was supposed to move out.
Wu Qiuhan however led the guards, stopping Zhao Jin and the others. He said, "Wait a moment. I have to see if there are any items hidden in this bed! Also, go to the inner residence and check carefully. All the gold and silver must be recorded."
Su Wen looked at Wu Qiuhan from the corner of his eyes before sneering, "You old thing that can"t get it up, are you seeking death?"
Wu Qiuhan was furious. "How can you be so rude? I"m here on His Majesty"s orders to do business. You disrespecting me is disrespecting His Majesty!"
He was not stupid. He knew that he would not be able to suppress Su Wen, thus using the Zhou Emperor as an excuse.
Su Wen sneered and said, "Stop spouting nonsense. If we go according to what you said, then are you trying to insinuate that you"re the King today?"
"Of course not!"
Even if Wu Qiuhan could borrow the guts of the people around him, he still wouldn"t dare to admit such a thing.
Su Wen continued, "It"s true that you"re here on official business, but it doesn"t mean that you, Wu Qiuhan, can do whatever you want in my house. Let me tell you, you"re not allowed to touch any of the things in the inner residence today. If you dare to touch a single thing, I"ll have someone break your legs! That includes my bed! His Majesty asked you to keep half of the house, yet you still want to tear down 95% of it?"
The inner residence of the Su Residence had always been a place where outsiders could not enter. If Wu Qiuhan brought people in today, it would undoubtedly be a blow to the Su Family"s reputation.
"You have no respect for the law!" Wu Qiuhan shouted angrily.
Su Wen looked at him and sneered. "Is this your first day learning about this point?"
"You brat, you should be taught a lesson. You"re too arrogant!"
At this moment, a few people walked in from the outside. The person in the lead was precisely the Zhou Emperor, his eyes twinkling as he lectured Su Wen.
All of a sudden, Su Wen jumped up from his recliner and rushed in front of the Emperor. Tears were already streaming down his face.
He spoke in a wronged tone, "Your Majesty, it"s not that I"m arrogant, but this Wu Qiuhan is really rude. The Inner Residence is filled with women, so how can we let these men barge in? This Wu Qiuhan doesn"t know how to do things either. If I were him, I would find some women and enter the Inner Residence to investigate. After all, my father is also not being sentenced of a crime, so how can he do things like this? If word gets out, how will the women of the Prime Minister"s residence face anyone?"
"My father is not at home now, and neither is my elder and second brothers. I"m the only man there. If I didn"t protect my family, would I still be considered a man?"
Glancing at Su Changqing, the Emperor said with a smile, "This kid is so slippery. He looks like you when you were young."
Su Changqing shook his head and said, "He"s far from that."
At this moment, Emperor Zhou casually instructed, "Minister Wu, let"s forget about this inner residence. Changqing won"t hide anything. However, the way you handled this task of yours is indeed a little lacking. Your thinking is not even as thorough as a child"s."