Chapter 194: He Was Simply Shameless Like This!

Zhao Kun cupped his hands and reported, “Your Majesty, although our country has a vast territory, the annual tax revenue is merely 20 million taels of silver. Chu Junyi has just been promoted to a first-grade official position, yet he actually earned nearly 2 million taels of silver. This is truly shocking.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, how did he obtain so many taels of silver? Silver can’t be blown out of thin air anyhow. I don’t know how many civilians were looted and fell into hunger because of this. How can he be thus qualified for a first-grade court official position? Please make a decision, Your Majesty.”

Hearing this, Shen Ninghua lowered her head to conceal the mockery in her eyes. It was truly a grandiose statement. Back then, when Jiangnan suffered a severe disaster, these people had received hundreds of thousands of taels of silver of bribes. That was truly like a locust disaster. But at this moment, they actually spoke in a righteous manner to accuse others.

Baili Qingcang showed no expression on his face. He looked at Chu Junyi, who was kneeling on the ground motionlessly. “Chu Junyi, how do you explain this?”

“Your Majesty, I am very puzzled in my heart. Lord Zhao also said that I have just been promoted to a first-grade official position. Unlike Lord Lin and Lord Zhao who have been an official in the court for many years, I am just a newcomer. How do I have the ability to take bribes from Jiangnan?”

Lin Yue coldly mocked, “This is all thanks to Lord Chu’s good tricks. I presume you must have threatened officials at Jiangnan a lot. Do you dare to say that you don’t have a large amount of silver in your house?”

Chu Junyi looked ahead and didn’t even give Lin Yue a glance. “There are indeed quite a few taels of silver in my mansion.”

“Then how should Lord Chu explain the origin of these taels of silver?”

“From Jiangnan.”

“Heh, then do you still want to deny your guilt stubbornly? Your Majesty, Chu Junyi colluded with officials at Jiangnan to rob the people of their wealth and put them in serious trouble. Please uphold justice for the people.”

The muscles at the corners of Lin Yue’s eyes twitched. His mood was as tense as a string. Things were going so smoothly that he felt uneasy in his heart. How come Chu Junyi didn’t refute at all? Could it be that he was confident that His Majesty would trust him?

Chu Junyi finally turned to look at Lin Yue and said, “Lord Lin, have you finished yet?”

“What?”

“Shouldn’t you accuse Princess Zhaohua too? After all, I’m the fiancé of Her Highness and closed related to her. What if she takes revenge on you for framing me?”

Lin Yue’s eyebrows twitched. “Lord Chu, as the official of the Imperial Court, you really shouldn’t be so frivolous. Princess Zhaohua has offered prescriptions for the country and the people many times. She has rendered great service for both the country and the people.”

Chu Junyi was surprised. “Oh, does Lord Lin mean that Her Highness doesn’t know about this?”

“I don’t know.”

Lin Yue didn’t say anything. But Zhao Kun popped out. “Your Majesty, Lord Lin doesn’t know the situation very well, but I know a little. As far as I know, there is also a huge amount of silver from an unknown origin in Princess Zhaohua’s mansion.”

Shen Ninghua looked at Lin Yue and Zhao Kun with a mocking smile on her lips. “Looks like Lord Lin and Zhao have split up the work ahead of time. Lord Lin is responsible for taking down Chu Junyi while Lord Zhao is responsible for framing me. Otherwise, why are the two Lords who have always been at odds with each other working together today?”

“Your Highness, although your status is noble, you can’t frame the officials of the Imperial Court like this!” One official couldn’t help but criticize Shen Ninghua righteously.

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes and said, “Then I will consult you. What is the punishment for framing the officials of the Imperial Court?”

“The offenders will be demoted or deprived of their ranks of nobility in less serious cases, or sent into exile for thousands of kilometers in serious cases. In the most serious cases, they will be beheaded directly in public!”

“Oh? So the punishment is so severe, then let me ask you again. What is the punishment for framing a royal princess?”

“What … what?”

Shen Ninghua coldly said, “You don’t know? Then let me tell you. Those who frame a royal princess will be decapitated publicly in lesser cases, or have the whole line of their families executed in serious cases!”

“Your Highness, what do you mean by this? Are you saying that I and the others have framed you?” Zhao Kun’s eyes lit up as he looked at Shen Ninghua.

Shen Ninghua turned to Chu Junyi and said, “Lord Chu, aren’t you going to tell the truth even now?”

Chu Junyi paused for a moment before finally raising his head. “Your Majesty, I am guilty. Please punish me.”

Baili Qingcang frowned. “So do you admit to embezzling huge amounts of silver?”

“No, I don’t. But it’s true that I have a huge amount of silver in my hands.”

“Then where did you obtain the silver?”

“Your Majesty should have heard of Huajun Pharmacy that rose after the plague? That’s my property.”

“What?” Lin Yue and Zhao Kun cried out in disbelief at the same time. Everyone knew Huajun Pharmacy. It was the largest medicine shop in Jiangnan. It almost monopolized all the drug exchanges in the region. The daily amount of taels of silver there was as high as hundreds of thousands. Such a large business was actually owned by Chu Junyi?

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Baili Qingcang was also shocked. He looked at Shen Ninghua and said, “Ninghua, do you know about this?”

“Father Emperor, I also knew this.”

“So, the silver was earned by Huajun Pharmacy?”

“The answer is yes as well as no.” Shen Ninghua replied.

Baili Qingcang frowned. “What does that mean?”

Shen Ninghua walked to the center of the hall and knelt down alongside Chu Junyi. “Father Emperor, when I went to Jiangnan to relieve people from disasters, I saw that the people were displaced and starved. They waited for medicinal ingredients that could save their lives. However, many pharmacies stocked up medicinal ingredients and raised the prices. I couldn’t bear the sight of that situation, so I had the intention to set up a pharmacy.”

“So, you’re the one who wanted to set up Huajun Pharmacy. How could it be related to Chu Junyi?”

“After all, I’m just an unmarried girl and it was inconvenient for me to handle a lot of things myself. At that time, Old General Xiao was also relieving disasters in Jiangnan. I thought that he was concerned with the people, so I originally wanted to tell him about the idea of setting up a pharmacy. However, Old General Xiao was already an extremely respected top-ranking official. After all, many people might look down on him if he went into business. That’s why I didn’t tell him. Later on, I coincidentally met Lord Chu and told him about the idea. I didn’t expect that Lord Chu could run the pharmacy so well. ”

Shen Ninghua turned to look at Chu Junyi.

Chu Junyi nodded slightly and continued, “Originally, the pharmacy was set up to help the people. I never wanted to make a fortune. Therefore, the medicinal ingredients in Huajun Pharmacy were only ten percent higher than their costs so as to maintain the normal operation of the Pharmacy.”

Lin Yue frowned and sneered. “Lord Chu’s words are not convincing. Since Huajun Pharmacy’s medicinal ingredients are so cheap, how could you earn millions of taels of silver?”

“Lord Lin, you don’t understand. Huajun Pharmacy is not the only pharmacy in Jiangnan. The ingredients I sold there were so cheap that other medicine dealers simply couldn’t continue to operate. At first, many of them went to Huajun Pharmacy to cause trouble. Later on, although the incidents were quelled, I learned that the purchase prices of the medicine ingredients were so cheap that many herb farmers were unwilling to grow the ingredients. There was no other way. Then, Huajun Pharmacy further raised the prices of medicinal ingredients and kept the prices in line with the markets. Fortunately, the people accepted it well and no one was dissatisfied. ”

“Heh, despite all you have said, wasn’t it you who have all the money in your pocket? You exploited people of their hard-earned money while seeking a high-sounding excuse for that. You are simply black-hearted!”

“You are wrong.” Chu Junyi smiled as he prepared to deal a heavy blow to his enemy.

“Lord Lin, you can go to Jiangnan to ask people randomly and see if any of them will say Huajun Pharmacy is black-hearted! I did make a lot of money. However, I have returned almost all of the money to the people. Since Huajun Pharmacy began to make profits, I have taken out nine percent of the profits to help the people of Jiangnan build roads, construct embankments and dams, and relieve the people in disasters. As for the money you found in my mansion, it was because I heard that there was a drought in the northwest. I specially transferred taels of silver from Jiangnan and was going to send it to the northwest! ”

“What? You are sending the silver to the northwest?”

Shen Ninghua said, “That’s right. Because I know medical skills, Lord Chu specially sent me a portion of the silver. He told me to buy the medicinal ingredients nearby and send them to the northwest together. I didn’t expect that the two of you would be well informed. You found it out so quickly. As soon as I received the silver in my mansion, you got the message immediately.”

At this moment, Lin Yue, Zhao Kun, and the others understood completely. This matter was clearly a trap set up by Chu Junyi and Shen Ninghua specifically for them!

Not only did they fail to see through it, they even took the initiative to jump in proudly. Now, it was impossible for them to jump out!

Baili Qingcang was stunned for a moment. “Ninghua, are you saying that you and Chu Junyi are the ones who were reported by officials at Jiangnan to have been mysteriously helping rebuild many towns in Jiangnan?”

Shen Ninghua bowed and kowtowed. “Father Emperor, Huajun Pharmacy was originally set up to benefit the people. However, it was forcibly operated as ordinary dealers did afterward, so as to balance the prices of medicinal ingredients. I’m a princess and Chu Junyi is an official of the Imperial Court. If I continue to run Huajun Pharmacy like this, I will contend with the people for profits. That’s why I have to think of a way to return the profits to the people.”

Baili Qingcang’s mood became complicated. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Did you think that I would punish you for this? Get up quickly, your knees might hurt after kneeling for a long time. Your body hasn’t recovered yet, so you mustn’t get hurt any more. It’s good that you think about the interests of the people, so you should tell Father Emperor earlier.”

“I concealed it from Father Emperor for a long time. Please don’t blame me.”

Chu Junyi also confessed, “Your Majesty, although Her Highness came up with this idea, I am the person who executed it. I am very ashamed of myself for contending with the people for profits. If Your Majesty is angry, please punish me. Her Highness is in poor health, and I am willing to take the punishment for her.”

Lin Yue and Zhao Kun knelt on the ground almost gritting their teeth into pieces.

Zhao Kun had dealt with Shen Ninghua before, and his endurance was slightly better. But Lin Yue was different. His face turned blue, and he almost couldn’t help but roar.

Chu Junyi and Shen Ninghua were so shameless. They wanted both fame and wealth!

They kept asking His Majesty to punish them. But they had handled everything perfectly, so it was impossible that His Majesty would punish them. How could they be punished for returning the profits to the people and rendering service for the people?

However, these two people spoke as if they were sinful. Such shamelessness was truly unparalleled!

A cold smile appeared on Chu Junyi’s lips as he made a quick glance at Lin Yue’s expression.

Huajun Pharmacy had developed so quickly that even if His Majesty did not notice it now, he would definitely be wary of it afterward and want to investigate it clearly. So how could Chu Junyi not make preparations in advance?

This time, he deliberately revealed the huge sum of silver. These people were really tricked and couldn’t wait to cause trouble for him before His Majesty. That was enough. When Huajun Pharmacy was recognized by His Majesty, it would truly start to make profits!

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