Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 126 Then I’ll do it my own way!

"This is not right! This is not right!"

When Master Gao came to his senses, he immediately shouted, "This was all agreed upon from the beginning. The imperial land will belong to us, and the pension will be given to their family. They all agreed to it and signed and pledged it."

The old man of the Gao family said coldly: "How many of them really agreed? How many of them were coerced or bribed by you? And how many taels of the pension will fall into the hands of those orphans? You are greedy for even this!"

Master Gao was scolded so much that he dared not say a word. He hesitated for a long time before he said, "But, no matter what, we have written documents, signed and pledged, and rented their royal land to pay off the debt..."

"They're paying back the principal and interest, what can you do?"

The eldest master of the Gao family interrupted the second master Gao impatiently.

Master Gao's eyes widened and he denied it, "It's impossible. Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver... can the Zhao family just give it out as soon as they ask?"

The Zhao family is rich, but the Zhao Trading Company in Kyoto City is not the main family in Donghai. Even if the assets are added up, it is an astronomical figure. But which businessman would keep hundreds of thousands of taels of silver on hand?

Most importantly, what does the Zhao family want?
Mr. Gao snorted heavily, "Does it really need to pay so much money? Hundreds of thousands of taels? Not even tens of thousands of taels are needed! A few thousand taels will be enough!"

Mr. Gao almost jumped up when he heard this: "Why?!"

Although he had not calculated the value of those imperial fields in detail, the Gao family had been secretly managing this business for nearly ten years. The imperial fields under their command amounted to at least hundreds of hectares, which meant tens of thousands of acres of fertile land. Even if one acre of land was worth ten taels of silver, it would be worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

Why should the Zhao family spend thousands of taels of silver to redeem the land for those royal relatives and orphans?

Mr. Gao scolded him, "Have you ever found a decent bank? Are there any local tyrants under your command who can stand up to scrutiny?"

"That young tiger captain has been busy these days since he returned to the capital. Why don't you try to contact those local tyrants under your command? I'm afraid they are all in the prison of the Patrol Heavenly Observatory!"

Most of these local tyrants are ruffians in Kyoto City. They are not presentable and do some shady things.

Even if it can withstand investigation, how can we explain that a few ruffians own land worth tens of thousands of taels?
Even if you say that you got it by borrowing to pay off debts, where did the capital come from?

In the past, if the people did not report it, the officials would not investigate it.

But now that the Astronomical Observatory insists on investigating further, how can these local tyrants under the command of Second Master Gao Linxiang withstand a thorough investigation?

The Astronomical Survey is not good at checking accounts, but the hyena official Gou Xiangxi is good at it!
There are plenty of people in Zhao’s firm who are good at this!
Now that all the creditors have been wiped out, who should they pay off the debts to?

A few thousand taels?
That's all overrated!
No wonder those royal relatives suddenly changed their tone and dropped the lawsuit. Now the Astronomical Observatory is helping them get their land back, which is many times higher than the small profit given by the Gao family. Who would still sue Zhao Guanxiang?

Mr. Gao was immediately panicked. He never expected that things would have gotten so bad.

"General Bai...Yes, there is also General Bai!"

Like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw, he said to Mr. Gao: "Brother, when will General Bai come back? If he is here..."

Grandpa Gao shook his head and said, "Don't even think about it. Things are not going well in Jingzhou. General Bai won't be able to come back for a while. What's more..."

He hesitated when he said this, but he continued, "Don't think that the Bai guy is reliable. If the Gao family is fine, he will take what he wants. But if there is something wrong, he will probably be the one who cuts off the Gao family the cleanest!"

"Impossible!" Master Gao immediately shook his head, unable to believe it. "You and I have been comrades in arms with General Bai for more than ten years. He is also from the Western Desert Army, and I once blocked an arrow for him. How could he ignore this friendship?"

"Don't bring your military manners with you. This is the officialdom! Let me ask you, have you ever seen that Bai have any intention of getting close to His Highness?"

"That, that's because the Astronomical Patrol only obeys the emperor's orders. If they rashly get close to the prince..."

"Okay, you really believed the lies he told you?"

Grandpa Gao mercilessly crushed his thoughts: "Now that General Ling Fang has not touched Bai Yuchuan, he is still sitting in his position as Major General of Patrol. This is the best evidence!"

Master Gao remained silent, recalling the past events in his mind.

If you think about it carefully, what General Bai has done to help the Gao family over the years are nothing more than small things that can be done with just a little effort.

On the contrary, the money that the Gao family has invested in the Astronomical Observatory every year over the years is not a small amount.

The effort and reward are not proportional. I thought that at least General Bai was on my side, but because there was General Ling above me, it was inconvenient for me to get too close to the Gao family...

Now, what Grandpa Gao said was like a wake-up call to him, which made him wake up immediately.

Master Gao said bitterly, "Why didn't you say so earlier, brother?"

"I told you, did you listen? When someone gives you two sweet dates, you think that person is speaking from the heart to you. You don't listen to what I say to you. You take the lies that others tell you as the golden rule!"

Grandpa Gao was so disappointed with his friend that his tone became heavier.

No matter how hot-tempered Mr. Gao was, he could not vent his anger on his eldest brother. He lowered his head and listened to the scolding obediently, his face full of worry.

After a long while, he finally said, "Brother, what do you think we should do now?"

"What else can we do?" Grandpa Gao glared at him and said, "Let go of what should be let go, give up what should be given up. Don't care about the immediate benefits!"

"what?!"

Master Gao raised his head in surprise, looking at his elder brother in disbelief: "Let go? Give up? What do you want me to give up, elder brother?"

Grandpa Gao said firmly: "Whatever the Patrol of Astronomy investigates, we will release! Whatever they want, we will give up!"

"This is impossible!" Master Gao's voice suddenly became several pitches higher.

This was the first time he openly sang a different tune in front of his brother.

But he is not willing to give in!

Master Gao kept shaking his head, his eyes fixed on him: "Brother, do you know what you are saying? Do you know how much wealth you are giving up with just these few words?"

Grandpa Gao frowned and advised: "Don't do it for the sake of a little benefit..."

"A little benefit? That's easy to say!"

Master Gao punched the pillar of the corridor heavily, gnashing his teeth until veins popped out of his forehead, and roared, "This is the hard work of more than ten years. Now you want me to give it up? Then what are these ten years worth? Gao Qirui, tell me, what are these ten years worth?"

He looked at Grandpa Gao fiercely, his eyes reddened: "Back then, you were greedy for merit and reckless, and delayed Old Master Zhou's military plan. I took the blame for you, and in the end, I ended up with my martial arts skills wasted and I was never allowed to lead an army for the rest of my life!"

"Thirteen years ago, you and I came to Kyoto together, promising to share glory and wealth, but you became an official with great prestige, while I can only do despicable things!"

"You have reached the realm of 'heavenly man' in martial arts, but now I am a useless person who can't even lift a gun! But back then, I was more talented than you!"

"For so many years, I have been telling myself not to think about it, not to think about it. I thought about the 'wealth and honor' that we both wanted, and I thought about the great cause and ambition of the Third Prince... I think at least I am involved in it, and I have contributed a little, right?"

"But now... you tell me to give up the fruits of my efforts for more than ten years? In your eyes, all my efforts and hard work for more than ten years are just 'a little immediate benefit'?"

"If I let go, give it up... I will have nothing!"

"I am just a useless person. What reason do I have to stay by His Highness' side? How can I have the face to stay in Kyoto?"

"But are you going to let me go back to the Western Desert? Go back and continue to be a laughing stock?!"

By the end of the conversation, his voice was already sobbing.

These heartfelt words made Grandpa Gao completely silent, and he was inevitably touched in his heart.

Once upon a time, his younger brother was also a high-spirited general on horseback, brave enough to defeat ten thousand men, and the focus of everyone's attention and admiration.

But now...

Sensitive, irritable, domineering, and distorted temperament...

He became so disgusting that even he himself was almost disgusted with him.

But the bond between brothers and sisters is thicker than blood.

The person in the world who cannot look down on him the most is himself, his brother.

As an older brother, how could he not know why his younger brother has become like this?
Mr. Gao sighed, his tone softened, and he said helplessly, "This is what His Highness meant."

Just this one sentence made Master Gao tremble as if he was frozen.

The expression on his face changed several times, from astonishment to dejection, and then to deathly pale, but in the end there was still a trace of unwillingness in his eyes.

He was just a captain, a temple secretary...how could such a small official force him to this point?

What's up with this?

After all, it was my elder brother and His Highness who were worried about him.

They feel like they are useless and can’t do these things!
When this thought came to his mind, Master Gao felt a strong sense of unwillingness and dissatisfaction.

He wanted to prove to everyone that he, Gao Linxiang, was not a useless person!
But he did not speak these thoughts out loud, but buried them deep in his heart, and said to his eldest brother: "I know what to do."

Grandpa Gao thought he had given in, so he tried to comfort him, "Don't worry, at most you'll just have to give up the imperial fields outside the capital. Your property in the capital will be safe, and all your hard work over the years won't be in vain..."

Master Gao interrupted, "Brother, I'm tired, so I won't see you off."

This obvious intention of seeing him off made Mr. Gao stunned.

He looked at his brother, and for some reason, he felt that something was wrong.

But he just thought that Second Master Gao was in a bad mood, and didn't think much about it. He nodded and said, "Okay, you can handle this matter. As for the Astronomical Observatory, don't worry, with me and His Highness here, they won't find anything to do with our Gao family, and they won't involve you either."

"Ah."

……

After the eldest master of the Gao family left the house, the second master Gao quickly called a servant and ordered, "Go and call Ah Ping."

"Yes, sir."

Wait for the servant to take the order.

Master Gao thought silently in his heart:
It was you, brother, who asked me to take care of it.

Then I will solve this problem in my own way!

The two brothers of the Gao family are Gao Qirui and Gao Linxiang. Their names are too similar. I feel that putting them together may confuse readers, so I just call them Gao Da Ye and Gao Er Ye so that it is clear at a glance. Please forgive me.
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(End of this chapter)