Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 536 Zijuan, are you perhaps ill?
"Senior brother~"

On the courtyard wall and roof, Lin Daiyu, sitting on a cushion, softly asked, "What have you been busy with lately?"

We haven't seen each other for several days, and every time we try to contact each other by walkie-talkie, the other person says they're busy.

Lin Daiyu pouted slightly, looking like she wanted to comfort me.

For a girl her age to encounter someone like Lin Dao, who is absolutely superior in every way, is a nightmare.

Once you've set your mind on it, you're hopelessly and deeply entangled in it.

I've missed you terribly since I last saw you.

"Keep busy, do interesting things."

Lin Dao, who was also sitting nearby admiring the moon, understood that Lin Meimei didn't really want to know what he had done; she just wanted to talk to him.

We randomly picked some topics and chatted.

They did not go out to right wrongs or seek revenge.

They also did not practice martial arts to improve themselves.

It's simply sitting together, chatting under the moonlight.

"Sister Qin wrote to me again, saying she wants to thank her savior in person~"

Qin Keqing had already divorced Jia Rong, so if she were to reconnect with Lin Daiyu, they would naturally address each other as sisters.

"Don't worry about her."

Lin Dao waved his hand casually, "Now that you're out of this misery, go live your own life."

Lin Daiyu didn't pay any attention to this.

She and Qin Keqing were really not familiar with each other.

Although some people say that Qin Keqing is half of Lin Daiyu after she grew up.

But Lin Daiyu didn't really have much feeling for her.

"It seems there's been some trouble at the manor recently."

As she was speaking, Lin Daiyu raised her hand to cover her mouth and yawned, "All the laughter and joy of the past are gone, and the maids walk very carefully now."

"Oh~"

Lin Dao smiled. "Do you know why?"

"It's all about the money." Lin Meimei quietly leaned closer, resting her head on Lin Dao's arm. "It's about Sister Feng, and the villa for the provincial family."

"All the arguing and bickering is for money."

"But right now, the household doesn't have that much silver."

"We do have the money," Lin Dao said, shifting his position to make Lin Meimei more comfortable. "The Jia family has a history spanning over a hundred years, so we still have some resources."

"A shop registered under someone else's name, a manor outside the Great Wall."

"With so many items in the mansion, selling some of them would be enough."

Lin Daiyu chuckled, "Senior brother, all of these things you're talking about are untouchable; they're the foundation of our family."

Not all daughters of wealthy and powerful families understand these things.

Or rather, even if one understands, one might choose to give up for various reasons.

Like Wang Xifeng at this moment, she would do anything for herself.

Lady Wang, on the other hand, secretly stole both the open and covert wealth of the Jia family for the sake of her own family.

As for Grandmother Jia, she embraced the idea of ​​"what does it matter if the world is in chaos after I die" and lived for the moment.

The Jia family was ultimately destroyed by a woman. I wonder what Jia Yuan, Jia Yan, Jia Daishan, and Jia Daihua would think if they could see this from below.

Therefore, choosing a good wife is really important.

"Actually, they all had their own dowries."

Lin Dao laughed and said, "If all else fails, we can just use the dowry to make up for it."

When a daughter of a prominent family gets married, a generous dowry is always provided.

Whether it's genuine or feigned, you have to give them enough, otherwise you'll lose face for the whole family.

"Ah~"

The young Lin Daiyu sighed with her eyes closed.

If it were her, she would definitely use her dowry to help her family in case of an emergency after getting married.

But now, those few members of the Jia family...
hehe~~
"There is another way out."

Lin Dao looked up at the bright moonlight.

"The Jia family, which has been around for over a hundred years, has fattened up countless parasites."

"Now, we can kill the insects and extract their eggs."

The downfall of the powerful and deeply rooted Jia family was not just a matter for the wives.

Thousands upon thousands of servants were also diligently undermining the Jia family's interests.

Like the Lai family, whose wealth is worth far more than 100,000!
If it were any other noble family, they would have already started killing the dog by now.

Unfortunately, the Jia family is now run by a woman.

The men, in particular, have been turned into useless individuals by the women.

Let alone killing dogs, they even get bullied by them.

Lin Daiyu did not respond, only snoring softly.

Lin Dao was stunned.

How exhausted is he to be snoring?

He said nothing more, slowly raised his arm, and placed Lin Daiyu in his arms.

He lifted his cloak to shield her from the wind.

The night patrol servants passed by again and again, but no one noticed that there was someone on the roof.

Fireflies, long since disappeared from the modern world, are seen fluttering around.

And of course, there are mosquitoes everywhere.

Lin Dao reached out and gently touched the sleeping Lin Meimei.

Don't get me wrong, he didn't take advantage of the situation; he's not that kind of person.

He simply picked up Lin Daiyu gently.

After getting up, he leaped off the roof and headed straight for Rongxi Hall.

Rongqing Hall, with a green gauze screen on the west side.

This place was once home to Jia Min, then to Yuan Chun, and now it is inhabited by Lin Daiyu.

At this moment, the bed that originally belonged to Lin Daiyu was occupied by Zijuan.

Although I've slept in it many times, the comfortable bed and bedding are the best things.

But Zijuan still couldn't sleep at night.

Every time she lay on this bed, she was terrified.

She pretended to be Lin Daiyu lying in bed to deceive people, while Lin Daiyu herself slipped out to meet her lover in secret.

This kind of plot is very interesting and enjoyable when watching "The Peony Pavilion".

But when you actually do it, the fear is so intense it can almost crush your will.

In her dazed state, a large hand suddenly pressed against her mouth. Zijuan instantly snapped back to reality, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Her eyes widened to their absolute limit, and she instinctively wanted to scream.

"Don't shout~"

"It's me~"

A familiar voice reached my ears.

It is Young Master Lin.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, my body instantly relaxed.

The next moment, Zijuan felt a chill beneath her.

Why is your face so hot?

Feeling the fever on Zijuan's face with his palm, he wondered, "Is she sick?"

Zijuan, filled with shame and indignation, pursed her lips, shook her head, and remained silent.

"stand up."

Lin Dao greeted her, "Your young lady is asleep."

Zijuan instinctively wanted to get up, but then stopped.

He responded in a voice barely audible, "Young master, you may go. I will help the young lady over myself."

"With your small frame," Lin Dao said with a smile, "Don't let your slender appearance fool you, you can't carry Lin Meimei."

But Zijuan was unwilling to get up; she still needed to make the bed.

After a brief standoff, perhaps because the noise was a bit too loud, Xueyan, who was sleeping in the outer room, muttered a few words.

Zijuan was so frightened that her whole body tensed up.

If it were discovered that there was a large man next to the young lady's bed, the whole thing would collapse.
Fortunately, Xueyan simply turned over and did not come over to check on her.

Relieved, Zijuan dared not insist any longer and hurriedly got out of bed, watching Lin Dao place the sleeping Lin Meimei on the bed.

After Lin Dao left, Zijuan was so anxious she wanted to stomp her feet.

She wanted to change the bedding, but she didn't dare to wake Lin Daiyu, and she was extremely conflicted.

There was no other way but to change my clothes first.

Lin Dao left the Jia residence and headed straight for the Prince Zhongshun's residence.

Prince Chungshun, the current emperor's younger brother.

He contributed greatly when the current emperor ascended the throne.

Since ascending the throne, the current emperor has placed great trust in Prince Chungshun, who is undoubtedly his core confidant.

Lin Dao came looking for him for a very simple reason.

The letters and other evidence collected from the leader of the Juyi Alliance directly point to the evil forces that are poisoning the people, and the powerful backer behind them is the Prince Zhongshun!

To Lin Dao, a mere prince was nothing.

Not to mention princes, he has killed many emperors, khans, kings, and princes throughout the myriad realms.

Lin Dao didn't take a mere prince seriously at all.

However, this time when he came, Lin Dao did not directly take the life of Prince Zhongshun.

The reason is simple: during his investigation, he discovered that King Chungsun was not the source either.

The real source is the emperor.

King Chungsun's actions were aimed at accumulating wealth.

Most of this wealth was sent to the emperor.

As for why the emperor resorted to any means to amass wealth, it was because he needed money to bribe civil and military officials in order to consolidate his power.

They wrested power back from the retired emperor.

The silver in the national treasury is being closely watched by all the officials of the court.

The silver within the palace was also under the watchful eye of the retired emperor.

If you want to get things done, you can't do it without money.

Where does the money come from?
Lin Ruhai's involvement in salt taxation was one aspect of his business, which nearly led to the destruction of his family.

Furthermore, King Zhongshun secretly rallied and supported the scoundrels to plunder the people's wealth.

From the emperor's perspective, it was necessary to concentrate wealth to accomplish tasks and reclaim the true power that belonged to the emperor.

From the perspective of ordinary people, the emperor was simply a scoundrel.

Gambling, forcing women into prostitution, kidnapping and kidnapping women, extortion and protection money, and secretly lending money at exorbitant interest rates, etc.

These are all acts of ruthlessly exploiting the people!
Having investigated and deduced these conclusions, Lin Dao did not rush to eliminate Prince Zhongshun.

It's not that I don't want to, but simply killing a loyal and obedient king wouldn't make much difference.

What he needs to do now is to collect relevant evidence.

Then the evil deeds committed by the two brothers were exposed.

Lin Dao could kill the two brothers at any time.

But if they were killed so easily, they would actually receive a posthumous title and be buried with honors.

To make them pay the price for their evil deeds, the first thing they must do is to be utterly disgraced!
They successfully infiltrated King Chungsun's study.

In ancient times, if you wanted to find important documents in a wealthy or noble household, you only needed to go to the study.

After some searching and investigation, they unsurprisingly found the secret room inside the study.

After scanning the room with a thermal imager to make sure no one was there, Lin Dao put on a hat with a light on it and entered the dark room with an assault shield in hand.

Everything he's looking for is here.

Stacks of various account books, and correspondence between many dynamic organizations.

There are even letters from the emperor assigning KPI targets to Prince Zhongshun.

"If such a person becomes emperor, he will only take pleasure in oppressing the people."

"They have no concern for the people, only for power."

"Zhou Shuren (Lu Da) of Zhejiang was right after all; the emperor who oppresses the people is the biggest robber."

Although Lin Dao himself had been an emperor, he never harmed the people.

He also looted and plundered wealth and resources.

Those who could be plundered were all high-ranking families, barbarian tribes, and the Sima clan—thieves of the world whom everyone wanted to kill.

The government always treated the people by reducing or exempting taxes, abolishing corvée labor and replacing it with paid labor, distributing land, supplies and grain, and building roads, transportation and water conservancy facilities.

Doing these things, they certainly aren't the kind of thieves who prey on the people.

Most importantly, Lin Dao always placed great importance on the status of the common people in the Central Plains, regardless of the time or place he lived in.

It is absolutely impossible for someone to be shorter than outsiders, especially those Black people.

If any shameless woman were to fawn over a Black man, the news wouldn't even reach Lindao's ears; the local elders would simply put her in a pig cage to avoid disgusting people.

After putting down his shield, Lin Dao took out his phone to take photos and videos, preserving all the evidence.

After tidying up, leave.

Once the Jia family's affairs are settled, it will be the brothers' turn to be utterly disgraced!

(End of this chapter)