Carrying the little lucky star, leading the villain on the road to exile

Gu Baijiang grinned at him, not afraid that his distorted face would scare others, and even maliciously leaned forward, "Do you think I have any other choice?"
"This trip has been a complete waste of time for you, Lord Zhou. Your master should have known about this long ago. Didn't he inform you?"

Zhou Gang's eyes darted around. Since returning to the capital, he had wanted to see the Crown Prince, but he had been turned away and even received a warning from the people around him.

He knew it was impossible to rely on the eldest prince again, but he was also unwilling to let him completely fade into obscurity.

So if he can find out where that money is today, that will be his pledge of loyalty. If not, he can at least get the debt back from Gu Baijiang so that his family can have a better life.

"What master? I don't know," Zhou Gang refused to admit. "I was just trying to be helpful. After all, so much silver was given to the Third Prince. Did he make you any promises?"

What an idiot! With so much silver, if he had taken half of it, even if the Third Prince turned out to be unreliable, he could still have lived a life of wealth and leisure.

Then he thought about it again and realized that didn't make sense. If he could think of that, how could that old fox Gu Baijiang not have thought of it?

I never expected this old guy would even cheat a poor commoner like me. If he ever gets into the imperial court, I'll definitely teach him a lesson.

"There's no need for promises. To put it bluntly, those silver coins weren't originally my property. I was just helping to look after them. Now it's simply returning them to their rightful owner." Gu Baijiang was also in pain, but there were some things he could only keep to himself.

These days he has been secretly investigating who betrayed the secrets there, or who emptied his coffers, but he has no clue whatsoever!
"Lord Gu has truly broadened my horizons," Zhou Gang said sarcastically. "Lord Gu is so generous, he surely wouldn't be short of a pittance like mine. I only have a few thousand taels of silver, so please settle the bill for me quickly so I can go back and take my child to the fields."

He needed to get the money quickly so he could buy grain to take back home. He was being forced to eat wild vegetable soup by that woman every day, and he was almost at his breaking point.

To everyone's surprise, Gu Baijiang still shook his head, insisting that he had no money, which angered Zhou Gang.

If this weren't someone else's turf, he would have flipped the table. "No matter what, you have to pay back the debt today, or I'll really sue you."

Gu Baijiang is currently burdened with debt, so he's not afraid of a little more. "Then please go ahead. But before you go, I'll send someone to talk to the Third Prince. After all, he has all the money I have, and he'll settle your accounts."

Zhou Gang gritted his teeth, "I've finally learned my lesson today. I never imagined that the former Vice Minister of War would have such a shameless side."

Since you're not afraid of attracting gossip, then don't blame me for being impolite," Zhou Gang knew he had nowhere to retreat today, so he was determined to go see the official.

Seeing that the person had actually reached the door, Gu Baijiang still hesitated and quickly stopped him, saying, "Why are you so short-tempered? This isn't appropriate. We can talk again."

He originally wanted to fool this fool, since he knew that the fool was wary of the Third Prince and wouldn't dare to cause trouble. "It's not like I don't acknowledge that note now. Why don't we wait a bit longer? Once I'm more relaxed, I'll definitely return it."

"Lord Gu, please stop lying to me. If the debt drags on, it will become a dead debt. You have seen our family's situation. We can't stay in the capital. We can only find a new place to settle down. Don't be fooled by the fact that you gave us several thousand taels of silver. If we really invest it in building a family business, we probably won't even hear a sound."

Gu Baijiang knew that no matter how he explained, the other party wouldn't believe him, so he bluntly said, "Anyway, you won't believe anything I say, so why don't you just report it to the authorities?"

The money was indeed given to the Third Prince. At worst, he could drag others into it. He would get the benefits, but the Gu family would have a hard time recovering. Now, they're giving them a courtyard to keep them confined, and they won't keep the promises they made before. In that case, no one will have an easy time.

Thinking of this, Gu Baijiang was still a little excited. Let them make a fuss, do whatever they want.

Zhou Gang, however, thought that Gu Baijiang was just bluffing, betting that he wouldn't dare to offend the Third Prince.

Without hesitation, he gritted his teeth and stood up. "You said it yourself, so don't blame me." Gu Baijiang gestured for the butler waiting outside to see him out.

The steward gave him a deep look and actually escorted him out of the mansion.

Zhou Gang looked back at the large characters "Gu Mansion" behind him and actually walked towards the Jingzhao Prefecture.

If he can't even make ends meet, then nobody else should have an easy time either.

The officials on duty at the Jingzhao Prefecture were also taken aback when they saw Zhou Gang; they all recognized him.

"This isn't Lord Zhou, what grievance do you have?" Zhang Zhao said sarcastically. To be honest, he was able to get to this position thanks to Zhou Gang.

Because of Zhou Gang's baseless accusations, he was demoted three ranks and reduced to the minor position of Prefect of Jingzhao.

If it weren't for his powerful connections and supportive family, he probably wouldn't have been able to keep his position.

Upon seeing Zhang Zhao, Zhou Gang felt a chill in his heart. If he could go back to the past, he would definitely remind himself never to be a domineering person.

The more freely he spoke in court then, the more regretful he is now. "So it was Lord Zhang. It's been a while. He's still as dashing as ever."

Zhang Zhao: "It's really rare to hear praise from you, but don't give me any empty compliments. I wonder who you've come to accuse?"
Don't worry, I will definitely handle this matter impartially for you.

Zhou Gang, “…” What bad luck, why did I have to run into this person?
I wanted to say it was nothing, that I was just passing by, but deep down I was still unwilling to accept it.

So he told them everything, "I hope Your Honor will handle this fairly and make Gu Baijiang return the money as soon as possible."

"Alright then, leave the evidence here. We'll investigate and get back to you."

“How is that possible?” Zhou Gang immediately looked suspicious. “Shouldn’t you arrest the criminal immediately?”
Does this mean that if I don't go to Beijing for a while, all these rules will change?
"My lord Zhang, just pretend I wasn't here today. Let me go out and find out what's going on before we talk."

He jokingly left the evidence here, knowing how badly he had offended people before, and yet he still managed to get away with it.

Zhang Zhao didn't expect this old guy to be so clever, but he also said frankly, "This isn't some major murder case, so of course we have to spare some manpower to handle it."

As you can see, all the officials have been dispatched. If you don't mind the trouble, you can wait here.

As for when they'll have some free time? That's hard to say.

He's not stupid. This matter just happened this week and it even involved the Third Prince's harem. He's hoping to get promoted after the year, and he doesn't want to be a fool and rush over to confront them, only to ruin his own future.

This week has really been my unlucky day with him; nothing good ever comes of running into him, and now I'm facing another problem. (End of Chapter)