The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 113: murder
Chapter 113: Silencing the Witness
Gao Demao pretended to be stupid and laughed: “Oh, your majesty has really been very kind to the Bai family! His Royal Highness Prince Liang is your majesty’s prince. Anyone who can marry your majesty’s prince must have been blessed for several lifetimes!”
Seeing the emperor narrow his eyes, Gao Demao suddenly changed the subject: “It’s just that your majesty, Miss Bai has a chronic illness, and I heard that she is not blessed with offspring! Letting Miss Bai be the concubine of Prince Liang is a real honor for the Bai family. Your majesty is a kind-hearted emperor, and considering that all the men in the Bai family have died… you gave Miss Bai the honor of being the principal wife of Prince Liang. But I am a mean person, with a small mind, and in my heart… I feel that it is too unfair to your majesty’s son.”
The emperor looked towards Gao Demao and couldn’t help but chuckle, “Your ability to flatter is getting better and better!”
“These are all from the bottom of my heart!” Gao Demao smiled at the emperor like a flower.
·
The Dali Temple prison was damp, dark, and musty all year round. Even in the daytime, it was so dark that you couldn’t see the sun without a light.
Qin Dezhao, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, sat cross-legged in the dimly lit cell, relatively calm.
It has always been difficult to obtain the credit of following a dragon. Before he planned to join King Liang and board King Xin’s boat… he understood that if King Xin won, he would be honored, but if King Xin lost, he would lose everything.
Qin Dezhao always leaves a way out for himself before doing anything. The reason why he was fearless and dared to take a risk this time was that the Loyalty and Bravery Marquis’s Mansion had a red-lettered iron certificate that would protect his life.
Before the grain was transported out of the capital and handed over to him, at least it appeared to be top-quality new grain. He had already killed those who needed to be killed, and the matter was settled cleanly.
Now that food and grass are lost, even if it is investigated, he will only be convicted of dereliction of duty, and the disaster will not bring disaster to the entire clan.
“Miss Bai, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery is here, but the visiting time should not be too long. I hope you will understand.” The jailer said in a low voice, bending over.
Bai Qingyan’s foster brother Xiao Ruojiang stepped forward and handed the jailer some silver with a smile: “Brothers, please have some tea.”
“You can’t do that!” The jailer hastily declined, sincerely saying, “We are all in this prosperous imperial capital, and we are all protected by the men of the Zhenguo Mansion. We only regret that we can’t repay them. How can we accept money from the young lady now? No, no!”
Qin Dezhao opened his bloodshot eyes and saw that the person who took off the cloak and black hat under the flickering candlelight was actually Bai Qingyan, a woman with delicate features.
His lips were pressed into a straight line.
Having already spent a day and a night in the Dali Temple prison, although Qin Dezhao’s navy blue long gown with a slanting collar was still clean, his face showed signs of fatigue.
Looking at the jailer’s departing figure, Qin Dezhao chuckled, “That jailer… was also bought by Miss Bai!”
“The Bai family bought this person’s heart with their own life. If the Loyal and Brave Marquis is willing to sacrifice his life… this person’s heart can also belong to the Loyal and Brave Marquis. It’s a pity…” Bai Qingyan raised his hand to untie the cloak, took it off and handed it to Madam Tong, holding a plain silver carved hand warmer in his hand and standing in front of the prison gate, “The Loyal and Brave Marquis’ family tradition has always been to cherish life, I’m afraid he won’t be willing to sacrifice it.”
Qin Dezhao’s face darkened: “Miss Bai, you condescended to come to this prison, didn’t you just want to ridicule me?”
She looked at Qin Dezhao deeply and reached behind her…
Xiao Ruohai took out the list from his arms and put it in Bai Qingyan’s hand. Nanny Tong moved a long stool, wiped it clean with a towel, and helped Bai Qingyan sit down.
Xiao Ruojiang opened the food box he carried with him, took out his writing brush, ink, and silk, and knelt on the ground holding the pen.
The people acted in an orderly manner, but Qin Dezhao couldn’t figure out what was going on. Could it be that… Miss Bai was here to interrogate him? !
“Shen Xiyao, a ninth-rank official in charge of finances and grain, died on the first day of the twelfth lunar month in the fifteenth year of Xuanjia, when he fell into the water while drunk, at the age of forty-six…”
When Bai Qingyan pronounced this name, Qin Dezhao subconsciously clutched his clothes. He stared at Bai Qingyan and tried his best to stay calm.
Xiao Ruojiang wrote very quickly, and had finished writing on the brocade almost as soon as Bai Qingyan finished reading.
“Li Sanhai, the grain and grass manager of Jiaozhou, died of excessive drinking while staying at a flower house on the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month in the fifteenth year of Xuanjia. He was thirty-eight years old.”
Every time Bai Qingyan read a name, Qin Dezhao’s heart became more confused.
Especially these people that Bai Qingyan was thinking about, they were all people who participated in the division of grain and grass sent to southern Xinjiang years ago… and they had already been silenced by him.
How did Bai Qingyan know about these people? !
In this list, Bai Qingyan only read out the names of those who had died, and sure enough, he saw that Qin Dezhao’s face in prison changed drastically.
After reading the names of those who had died, Bai Qingyan closed the list and asked Xiao Ruojiang, “Have you written them all down?”
“I’ve written it all down!” Xiao Ruojiang said, then picked up the brocade and handed it to Bai Qingyan.
After reading it, Bai Qingyan handed the silk to Xiao Ruojiang, then looked at Qin Dezhao in the cell and said, “Early this morning, His Majesty issued an edict to posthumously confer the title of King Zhenguo on my grandfather and the title of Duke Zhenguo on my father. Liu Huanzhang’s family was confiscated and exterminated, and Prince Xin and his descendants were demoted to commoners. Prince Xin himself will also be exiled to Yongzhou and will never be allowed to return to the court…”
Qin Dezhao’s throat was churning and he clenched his back teeth tightly.
“Tell me… if I hand over this list, how will His Majesty deal with you?” Bai Qingyan shook the silk in his hand, with no smile in his eyes. “If King Liang knew that I came to the Dali Temple prison to see you today and got such a list, would King Liang be anxious to kill people to silence them?”
Qin Dezhao opened his eyes wide, he would never have thought that Bai Qingyan actually knew that King Liang was behind him!
The King of Liang is the King of Xin’s man. Now that the King of Xin has been demoted to a commoner and exiled, the King of Liang will definitely try his best to protect himself…
Qin Dezhao recalled the scene when he ordered the killing of Li Sanhai, Shen Xiyao and others. If he were King Liang… he would also have to kill the people who knew the most about it to protect himself.
“How did Liu Huanzhang know that there was a problem with the grain and grass when he was far away in southern Xinjiang? How did he use the missing grain and grass as an excuse to cause chaos in the southern Xinjiang army? Did the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery have already colluded with Liu Huanzhang? If so… Liu Huanzhang is a traitor? What crime should the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery be guilty of? If the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery points out the King of Liang, what crime should the King of Liang be guilty of?”
Bai Qing spoke slowly and leisurely, but the fear flowed silently through Qin Dezhao’s limbs like a trickle of water.
“Perhaps the death of my sons of the Bai family is insignificant in your eyes, and you may even hope that my sons of the Bai family will die. However, hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers of the Great Jin died in the southern border because of your selfish desires, so that the powerful people of the Great Jin could only kowtow to Xiliang and Nanyan to seek peace. The cession of land is a small matter. Once the Great Jin admits defeat to Daliang, the Rongdi will pounce on it at any time. Do you think your majesty is resentful?”
Qin Dezhao knew that the emperor was dissatisfied with the Bai family. It was precisely because of this that he dared to tamper with the food and fodder.
But Bai Qingyan was right. The emperor wanted the Bai family to die… but he didn’t want these hundreds of thousands of soldiers to die with the Bai family!
There is one more!!!