Chapter 1324 - Chapter 1324 Chapter 1123 It was Yu Zizhou who egged me on_1
Chapter 1324: Chapter 1123: It was Yu Zizhou who egged me on_1 Chapter 1324: Chapter 1123: It was Yu Zizhou who egged me on_1 Yang Wenxiao’s words fell, and Tong Xingda immediately agreed.
Seeing this, Wu Yuanxian quickly spoke out, “Your Majesty the Retired Emperor, are you not curious as to why the dice turned into powder?”
“Curious, I am, but since there’s no evidence at hand, the matter can only be attributed to fate,” Yang Wenxiao’s reply was nonchalant.
Yang Ye, standing to the side, couldn’t help but say, “Master Wu, last night your son cheated Tong Xingda using deceitful means, which is also an offense under the ‘Daqi Laws.’ Now, the Grandpa Emperor has not mentioned this, clearly not intending to pursue it. You might as well accept the financial loss.”
Wu Yancai held no official title or noble rank, while Tong Xingda was not only a licentiate but also a baron. Although both titles were low, they were legitimate statuses recorded by the Daqi government office. A commoner like Wu Yancai cheating him would be severely punished according to the ‘Daqi Laws.’
Zhao Lan had been severely punished for secretly drugging Tong Xingda before and was now toiling on road construction as hard labor.
By merely requiring the Wu family to pay silver without pursuing other penalties, Yang Wenxiao was already showing mercy.
As Yang Ye finished speaking, Qiao Xiaomai couldn’t help but chime in, “Master Wu, if you cannot produce the sum all at once, you may pay in installments. I’ll give you five years to repay me. How about that?”
As she said this, her little face couldn’t hide a smile. Counting the penalty silver for cheating, that would be more than sixty million taels.
With so much silver added suddenly, her debt lightened significantly, and she was so happy she wanted to spin around in delight.
Upon hearing this, Wu Yuanxian’s face showed a look of misery. After a moment, he suddenly turned to Wu Yancai, took off his shoe, and started to beat Wu Yancai with it, “You beast! What’s the use of having raised you?! You dare to cheat a nobleman; have you eaten the heart of a bear or the gall of a leopard?”
Being struck by the shoe was very painful.
Wu Yuanxian was truly furious. Such a large sum of silver, even the Wu family would have their vital energies sapped. The Wu family’s influence had been waning over the years, with little income annually. Paying out so much cash at once could result in them dropping out of the ranks of first-class Aristocratic Families.
Besides, this incident gave Yang Wenxiao a hold over them, and he would certainly use this opportunity to deal with the Wu family.
Wu Yancai, this son, was worse than a dog; a dog still knows gratitude, but this one was a debt-invoking spirit!
The more Wu Yuanxian thought about it, the angrier he became, and he hit even harder. Wu Yancai cried out in pain, rolling on the ground and pleading, “Father, Father! It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me. It was Yu Zizhou who made me do it, Father, I didn’t do it!”
Upon these words, the hall fell silent instantaneously, and everyone’s gaze shifted to Yu Zizhou.
Yu Zizhou’s normally pale face instantly flushed red, “Master Wu, what do you mean by this? Why are you implicating me in your family’s affairs for no reason?”
“It was you!” Wu Yancai screamed with his arms over his head. “You came to me asking to dupe Tong Xingda, saying we’d split the silver we scammed. How come you’re reneging now!”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Yu Zizhou exclaimed, his face growing even redder. “Master Wu, you cannot drag innocent people down because your family is in trouble; you mustn’t make unfounded accusations!”
“Who’s making unfounded accusations? It was you who said you couldn’t stand to see Tong Xingda auctioning off your family’s watermelons, so you wanted to scam him. Now that there’s trouble, I cannot be the only one to bear it. Out of these tens of millions of taels, half is yours! You must contribute half!” yelled Wu Yancai.
If the sum of sixty million taels of silver were halved, it would not be too painful to bear.
Wu Yancai’s voice grew even louder, “Do you dare to swear on your grandfather’s life? Do you dare to say you didn’t instigate me in this matter?!”