SWDnovel Chapter 79 Attending Court
Chapter 79 Attending Court
Batu bent down, wanting to kowtow to Yin'e.
His movement of bending down was a bit too abrupt, which aggravated the injury on his right shoulder, causing him to wince in pain and sway slightly.
But in the instant he lowered his head, several booklets slipped out of his sleeve and fell to the ground with a "thud".
Batu paused for a moment, then quickly bent down to pick it up.
"I almost forgot, Tenth Master, this is the account book I stole from the accounting office."
I...I really can't read Chinese characters. I didn't match the note you gave me, so I just grabbed some random ones. See if they're useful."
Yin'e quickly took the account books, placed them on the table, and began to flip through them one by one.
The first book is the income and expenditure account of Juxianju in the 45th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.
The densely packed numbers, written in neat small characters, record every single income transaction.
Tea fee, snack fee, private room fee, and gambling table commission.
The numbers are huge, shockingly huge.
Just from pumping water, they earn tens of thousands of taels of silver every month.
But these things don't count as evidence. It's true that it was a casino, but Juxianju was ostensibly a teahouse. These ledgers only listed "tea fees," "snacks," and "private rooms," without a single word about "gambling."
If you take it to the government office, they can say it's a tip from a customer, or that it's the fee for booking a private room; they can explain it however they want.
The second book is the guest list of Juxianju.
The label records the names, identities, and amounts spent by regular customers. Some names are even circled with notes.
"Open for credit", "Good credit", "Outstanding debts".
The third book was the thinnest, with only a few pages. When Yin'e opened it, his hand suddenly stopped.
This isn't an account book; it's a stack of IOUs.
The names listed inside range from high-ranking officials in the imperial court to ordinary citizens in the city.
The job title, age, and resume are all clearly stated.
Yin'e clutched the booklet tightly in his hand; this thing was truly too important.
Isn't this equivalent to having leverage over these people?
Yin'e turned to the last page and pulled out a piece of paper from the bottom of the IOU.
That piece of paper was larger than the others, folded several times, and tucked into a corner.
He unfolded it; there were only a few lines of text on the paper:
"I have now borrowed 50,000 taels of silver from Gao Mengyuan’s Juxian Pavilion for daily expenses. This is hereby established as proof. Huang Tiren."
There was no date, no seal, and no signature.
The ink had faded somewhat, the paper had yellowed, and the edges were curled up; it was clearly an old piece of paper.
Yin'e stared at the paper for a long time, then smiled.
He folded the paper, tucked it into his sleeve, and then handed the stack of IOUs to Batu.
“These things,” he pointed to the stack of IOUs, “don’t count as evidence.”
Batu's face turned pale instantly.
The things he desperately rescued from the fire were worthless in the eyes of Tenth Master.
"But..." Yin'e pulled one of the IOUs out of his pocket and waved it in front of Batu. "Your IOU is here."
Batu looked closely and saw that it was indeed the IOU he had signed, along with his fingerprint and seal.
Batu took the IOU, his fingers trembling slightly.
He looked at the line above that read "interest of 3% per month," at the bright red handprint, and at his own crooked signature.
This piece of paper is like a microcosm of his past few years.
Absurd, foolish, manipulated, and schemed against.
He incurred a debt of 230,000 taels of silver because of this piece of paper;
He almost gave up his sister's dowry because of this piece of paper;
He almost lost his life because of this piece of paper.
He took a deep breath, tore the IOU in half, then into quarters, and finally into pieces.
Batu let out a long breath, as if he had finally unloaded a burden he had carried for many years, and his whole body relaxed.
His lips curled up slightly, revealing a genuine smile that came from the bottom of his heart.
"I am finally free."
"Fuquan," Yin'e called out.
"Your servant is here."
"Go and have someone prepare a guest room. Make sure the bedding is new, and bring a basin of hot water. Also, find a clean set of clothes for your great-uncle to change into."
He paused, his gaze falling on Batu.
"You will stay in the manor for the next few days and not go out. Focus on recovering from your injuries and await my instructions. Go to the yamen whenever I tell you to."
Batu nodded and stood up from his chair.
His legs were still a little weak, but his back was very straight.
He looked at Yin'e, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only said two words: "Thank you."
Yin'e didn't say anything polite, he just nodded, then turned around, walked back behind his desk, and sat down.
He picked up the still-open account book on the table, flipped through it, and then closed it again.
"Go on," he waved his hand. "Go and rest. We have things to do tomorrow."
Yin De and Fu Quan stepped forward, supporting Batu on either side, and walked towards the door.
Batu took two steps, then suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at Yin'e.
"Tenth Master," he said, "don't worry."
Yin'e raised his head, glanced at him, and nodded with a slight smile.
On the third day after the fire at Juxianju, Yin'e received a notification from the palace.
"Tenth Prince, a letter has arrived from the palace. The Emperor will summon Daqi tomorrow morning," Fuquan said.
Yin'e nodded and said, "That's about right."
"Is everything proceeding according to plan on Batu's side?" Yin'e asked.
"Yes, my maternal uncle went to the Ministry of Justice early this morning," Fuquan replied.
"That's good. Prepare a sedan chair for me tomorrow morning."
"Yes, sir."
The next day, before dawn, the sedan chair was already waiting at the gate of the mansion.
Along the way, the sedan chair swayed and rocked, waking up Yin'e, who was still feeling endlessly sleepy.
The sedan chair stopped outside the Meridian Gate.
When Yin'e got out of the sedan chair, he found that many sedan chairs were already parked outside the Meridian Gate, one after another, stretching from the gate all the way to the other side of the dismounting stone.
Officials dressed in various court robes gathered in twos and threes, some talking in hushed tones, others adjusting their attire.
As Yin'e walked past them, several pairs of eyes fell on him.
People kept greeting him: "Tenth Master is here! Good morning, Tenth Master."
But he also overheard someone whispering, "I heard he's the one who investigated Juxianju."
"Really? He's not...?"
Yin'e ignored the gossip.
He lowered his head, strode into the Meridian Gate, crossed the Taihe Gate Square, and walked along the white marble imperial road toward the Qianqing Palace.
This was the first time since he transmigrated that he had entered the palace in the capacity of a "deliberative council member."
The main hall of the Qianqing Palace was much larger than he had imagined.
The building has nine bays in width and five bays in depth, and its double-eaved hip roof with yellow glazed tiles gleams in the morning light.
The pillars inside the hall are made of Phoebe zhennan wood, so thick that it takes more than one person to hug them.
There were already quite a few people standing inside the hall.
Yin'e glanced around and saw several familiar faces.
Zhang Tingyu, Tong Guowei, Ma Qi...
There were also the six ministers, the left and right censors of the Censorate, the commander of the Nine Gates, the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, and so on.
Yin'e found his place, stood still, his hands hanging at his sides, looking straight ahead, not daring to look around.
Lao Ba stood in front of him, turned around and glanced at him, then nodded slightly.
The ninth brother stood next to the eighth brother without turning around, but he secretly gave a thumbs-up behind his back.
After a while, everyone arrived.
Yin'e's gaze swept across the faces of the ministers one by one.
He saw tension on some people's faces, composure on others' faces, and no expression on still others' faces.
He suddenly realized that this imperial court was a huge stage.
Everyone is putting on an act, for the person sitting on the dragon throne.
Those who perform well get promoted and make a fortune; those who perform poorly lose their positions and are dismissed.
Just then, Liang Jiugong's voice rang out.
"His Majesty has arrived!"
Yin'e perked up, because the main character of the day had arrived.