Chapter 57 Talking about Cooperation

The Fifth Prince's Mansion.

study.

"The Jiang family still has some means. This case of illegal sale of iron ore was traced back to the crown prince, but he was able to get away with it." The fifth prince Zhao Yuci said with a cold expression.

Li Huo stood by and said, "The Jiang family is the queen's maternal family. Over the years, relying on the queen and the prince's power, half of the people in the court follow their lead. The queen and the prince also rely on the Jiang family for support. But this time, even if the prince can get away, the Ministry of Works will not be able to escape punishment."

Behind the desk, Zhao Yuci lowered his eyes.

"This Marquis Cheng'en got the position of Minister of Works because he married his daughter to the Eastern Palace as a concubine to the Crown Prince. His Xue family took advantage of the Crown Prince, so naturally they want to make profits for him. By running a private mine in Qizhou, I wonder how much gold and silver they have put into the Crown Prince's pocket."

"The Xue family has been very proud relying on the prince in the past two years. They were not polite to you in the court. If you hadn't volunteered to go to Qizhou to investigate the case and got hold of the evidence against his family, if you hadn't wanted to rescue Madam Chen on the street today, I'm afraid Xue Yi, the young master of the Xue family, would not have let go so easily." Li Huo said.

Speaking of this, Zhao Yuci seemed to be thinking about something.

He bent his right index finger and tapped the table lightly. "I don't like the Xue family. It just so happens that the couple of the Chen family have made great contributions to my investigation. Chen Zhi and his wife Xu are both smart and upright people. It is only right for them to help me this time. But now that you mentioned this, I have an idea."

Li Huo raised his head, "Your Highness wants to use today's incident to make the Xue family suffer again? I'm afraid this won't work."

Bullying a decent girl in the street, combined with the evil things Xue Yi had done before, is indeed a serious crime.

But given the emperor's temper, he probably wouldn't impose severe punishment even if he read such a memorial.

"Today's matter is naturally of no great use." Zhao Yuci said indifferently, raising his chin slightly and looking at Li Huo, "I was thinking that the crown prince used the relationship with the Ministry of Works to enrich himself. The sixth son married the daughter of the Minister of Revenue, so the Ministry of Revenue's money bag is in his hands. It's okay if he doesn't make money from other things, but he can't be without money."

Li Huo nodded approvingly, "Your Highness does not have many properties in the capital."

Concubine Wen, who raised Zhao Yuci, had an obscure family background and her family lived far away. Although his wife, Luo, came from a good family, her parents-in-law were military generals and the court valued civil officials over military officials, so there was not much money to be made, especially since his father-in-law had passed away the year before last and his eldest brother-in-law had inherited the title, which saw him demoted from marquis to earl.

Moreover, although my eldest brother-in-law Luo Jingkai holds the title of Earl of Anyuan, he is currently only holding the position of a fourth-rank deputy commander of the imperial guards, with little power and authority, and he has a very upright character.

Among the most trustworthy group of people, none could help him make money, so Zhao Yuci did not dare to make money through improper means. As for the legal means, although the industries under his control had considerable income, it was still not enough for the wealth he needed.

The most important thing is that most of these industries are in the capital, under the noses of the Crown Prince and the Sixth Prince.

Zhao Yuci was not favored and had always kept a low profile. This time he took the initiative to lead the investigation of the iron mine case because the Sixth Prince was afraid that the case would involve too many interested parties in the court and offend people, so he did not step forward and did not realize that the case was related to the Crown Prince.

Otherwise, Zhao Yuci would hardly have the chance to show up in front of the emperor.

But since he has been exposed this time and has offended the prince, he will not be able to keep a low profile as before. Moreover, the further he moves forward, the harder it will be to keep a low profile, and the more costly it will be.

"Go and check where Chen Zhi is staying. I want to meet him." Zhao Yuci said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Li Huo immediately agreed.

He could guess the Fifth Prince's intention to some extent, probably wanting to make money in Qizhou.

If this is done well, it is indeed a way to make money.

I have seen that the Chen family’s business is booming and very creative. As long as the Fifth Prince is willing to invest some money and help the Chen family expand their business, it should be a huge income.

It is naturally easy for the prince of the current dynasty to check the residence of a commoner.

The next morning, the location of Chen Zhi and the Zhou family was reported to Zhao Yuci.

However, Zhao Yuci was busy with other things and was not in a hurry to see Chen Zhi, so it was three days later when Chen Zhi met Li Huo and was invited to meet Zhao Yuci.

When Li Huo came to look for him, he was in Zhou's shop, accompanying Zhou Yiqing to check the newly arrived goods. When he saw Li Huo, Chen Zhi knew who was looking for him, so he naturally did not dare to refuse.

He told Zhou Yiqing that he wanted to meet a friend in Beijing, and then went with Li Huo.

The meeting place was an elegant and secluded teahouse. When I entered the room, Zhao Yuci was already sitting inside.

Chen Zhi was a little nervous, but still calm. "I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Fifth Prince. May His Royal Highness live a thousand years and be well."

"Brother Chen, there is no need to be so reserved and polite. Just think of me as the Gao you know." Zhao Yuci smiled and waved his hand.

But even if he said so, Chen Zhi didn't dare to take it seriously and still looked respectful.

"How dare I? I didn't know your highness's identity before, so I treated you as my brother. Now I will never dare to be presumptuous again."

Seeing that he was sensible and knew when to advance and retreat, and did not take the opportunity to curry favor with him after knowing his identity, or was timid, Zhao Yuci felt more satisfied.

Then the smile on her face became more gentle, "I concealed it on purpose before, so I don't blame you. I invited you to have tea today to apologize for leaving Qizhou without saying a word."

"Your Highness was doing official business that day. Although I am not well-educated, I have read a few years of books and know that the country is the most important. Moreover, Your Highness stepped forward to rescue my wife and cousin at the market a few days ago. I have not yet thanked Your Highness for such a great favor, and I dare not apologize in person." Chen Zhi immediately replied respectfully.

At this moment, Zhao Yuci winked at Li Huo, asking him to guard outside the door, and then he stepped forward himself and gave Chen Zhi a helping hand.

"Okay, let's not talk about such trivial matters anymore. The tea has been prepared for a long time. Please sit down and have a cup with me."

Chen Zhi glanced at the two cups of tea already brewed on the tea table and did not refuse any more.

By the time we left the teahouse, half an hour had passed.

"Zhang Ping, go to the shop and tell your uncle that I have some personal matters to deal with and need to go back home. I'm afraid I can't accompany him to inspect the shop today."

Chen Zhi thought for a while and gave the order.

Zhang Ping didn't dare to ask any more questions and went there immediately.

Chen Zhi got in the car and went back to Zhou's house alone.

At that time, Xu Shuhe was talking to Old Lady Zhou. When she heard that Chen Zhi had returned and had something to talk to her about, she couldn't help feeling strange.

Fearing that something had happened, he immediately returned to his residence.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

After quickly entering the house, Xu Shuhe asked anxiously.

Chen Zhi looked up at her, then immediately ordered, "All of you go down, I have something to discuss with the young lady alone."

Xinyue and Meixiang, who were following behind, looked at each other, then quietly retreated and closed the door.

Chen Zhicai spoke only after there were only two people left in the room.

"The Fifth Prince summoned me for tea today."

Hearing this, Xu Shuhe's expression also became solemn. He immediately sat down and motioned for him to continue speaking.

(End of this chapter)