Chapter 491: Everyone Kicks a Man Who Is Down
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
When Butler Wei heard the sound of fighting, he turned around and saw Chu Qing in the backyard. Butler Wei shouted sternly, “Shopkeeper Chu, how dare you bring people into a private house!”
Chu Qing looked at Butler Wei coldly. “Butler Wei, His Majesty has treated Country Lord Ning well. Country Lord Ning is actually bold enough to open an underground bank privately. ”
Butler Wei looked at Chu Qing and said righteously, “Don’t slander me. This is my house.”
Chu Qing snorted. “Your residence! What’s with the sandwich path behind the stable and the secret passage that leads to the next door?”
The butler was tongue-tied and could not answer.
“Go, bite them to death!” Seeing that the situation was bad, Wei Cai released the roving dog from the cage. The ferocious roving dog roared wildly and pounced at Chu Qing, the secret guards, and the bailiff.
The roving dog naturally had no problem dealing with ordinary burly men, but it had no advantage against the secret guards.
The two secret guards formed a team and drew their weapons to meet it. One of them slashed at the dog’s waist with all his might. The dog wailed and fell to the ground. The other stabbed into the dog’s wide open mouth with his sword. The long sword pierced through the dog. Under the attack from both sides, it did not take long to eliminate three ferocious dogs.
Chu Qing had already brought people to take down Butler Wei, who had crawled into the alley, and entered the basement.
Wei Cai raised his short sword and stabbed at Chu Qing, but Chu Qing kicked him in the wrist. The short sword in Wei Cai’s hand was almost kicked away. Wei Cai threw a dart at Chu Qing with his left hand and was knocked down by the money dart thrown by the secret guard.
Wei Cai turned around and wanted to escape. Chu Qing threw the dagger in his hand and hit Wei Cai’s calf. The secret guard rushed into the basement and after an intense fight, took down Wei Cai and his thugs.
The people in the blacksmith shop were also taken down by the officials. After the two sides gathered, Chu Qing brought people into the underground bank.
He realized that there was a spacious hall and five or six rooms below. There was a row of bookcases against the wall in the hall, filled with ledgers.
In a house with a big lock, he found more than a dozen large wooden boxes filled with white silver and various jewelry and jade artifacts. There were strings of copper coins stacked in the corner. Some of the copper coins were already covered in rust.
Chu Qing asked the official to bring Butler Wei and Wei Cai back to the government office for interrogation.
He led his men to the underground bank to search the loan receipts and accounts and count the silver.
The group of officials tied the dozen or so people together and pulled them towards the government office. Along the way, they attracted the attention of onlookers.
The news that Butler Wei had been taken away by the government office quickly reached the Country Lord Ning’s residence. When the old woman received the news, she stumbled into the courtyard. “Not good, Madam…”
“Why are you shouting? Is your skin itchy?” Country Lord Ning walked to the door and looked at the old woman coldly.
The old woman hurriedly knelt down and said, “Madam, they’re saying that
Butler Wei was taken away by the magistrate.”
“What did you say?” Country Lord Ning felt her vision darken and almost lost her footing. The girl quickly caught her.
“The doorman reported that Butler Wei was taken away by the bailiffs,” the old woman repeated fearfully.
Oh no, oh no. What should she do now?
Country Lord Ning was as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof. “Get someone to prepare the carriage. I want to go to the viscountess’s residence.”
The old woman hurriedly ran to get someone to prepare the carriage. Country Lord Ning rushed to the viscountess’s residence and asked to see Princess
Yichun. After a while, an old woman came out and said politely to her, ‘Madam, you’re a step late. The viscountess went to the farmstead in the suburbs.”
“It’s only been half a day, but she’s clearly avoiding me!” Ning Xiangjun looked at the viscountess’s residence hatefully, turned around, got into the carriage, and hurriedly returned to her residence. She began to think of a way to find someone to release Butler Wei, who was imprisoned.
After looking for a few families in a row, the families who were on good terms with Country Lord Ning in the past refused to even meet.
Country Lord Ning found Madam Xu and asked her for help.
Madam Xu looked at her and sneered. “Madam, to think you would have such a day! I won’t help you unless my brother comes back to life.”
Country Lord Ning pointed at Madam Xu angrily. “I’ve helped you so much.
Without the dowry I bought for you, how could you marry into the Liu family?
Madam Xu looked at her disdainful face and whispered into her ear, “My brother was at a good age when he was killed by a slut like you. Back then, my Xu family was afraid of your power and swallowed our anger to accept your compensation. I wanted to see the day you fell into dire straits and trample you into the mud so that you would never be able to recover.”
Country Lord Ning never expected her usual follower to say such a thing. She pointed at Madam Xu and scolded sternly, “Bitch, let’s see how long you can last. When I’m done with this matter, I’ll settle the score with you.”
Madam Xu scolded happily, “You reckless slut, just wait to be exiled!”
The news of Butler Wei being arrested and sent to jail quickly spread. One after another, victims went to the government office to sue the pawnshop and the bank for bringing thugs to force them to sell their assets to pay off their debts. They claimed that their children were even dragged to pay off their debts. A good family was forced to split up and their families were destroyed.
The government office began to check the pawnshops and underground banks in the city.
Chu Qing brought the staff of the Four Seas Bank and quickly cleaned up the loan receipts before sending them to the palace for Chu Yuhao.
Chu Qing bowed and reported, “Your Majesty, some of these loan receipts were borrowed by merchants at the last minute. There are also some low-level officials from poor families in the capital’s government office. What do you think we should do with these loan receipts?”
Chu Yuhao looked at the list on it. “Burn all the loan receipts and charge the confiscated silver into the national treasury.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Chu Qing bowed and agreed. “Your Majesty, after this, I
think we should increase the borrowing in our bank. As long as we formulate a feasible profit, they won’t have to borrow dirty money from the underground bank.”
Chu Yuhao pondered for a moment and said to Chu Qing, “Go back and discuss with Si Hai and the others. Get someone to develop a feasible method before reporting it.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Chu Qing bowed and left.
In less than two days, the news that Country Lord Ning had opened a bank in private quickly spread. More and more people went to the Imperial Capital to sue Ning Xiangjun for forcing a debt.
When Butler Wei first entered the prison to be interrogated, he insisted that he had opened the bank behind Country Lord Ning’s back. He argued that it was all his personal actions and had nothing to do with Country Lord Ning.
Those thugs confessed that they had never seen the banker personally. They only knew that the owner of the bank lived in the Country Lord Ning’s residence.
Later, after being tortured by the capital’s government office, the mouths of
Butler Wei and Wei Cai were finally pried open. The two of them confessed that Country Lord Ning had gotten someone to open an underground bank to earn black-hearted money.
After the government office obtained the evidence, Chu Yuhao issued a decree to strip Country Lord Ning of her title, confiscate her residence, and arrest her.
Country Lord Ning’s magnificent residence was sealed. Her trusted aides, Granny Song and Granny Wei, were also sent to jail..