Prime Minister

Chapter 160, Page 159: [Forced Abdication]

Yongqingfang, the Liu family mansion.

Inside Chongde Hall, it is said that Liu Fu, who was bedridden due to illness, sat in a grand chair, patting the armrest with his right hand, while a maid knelt in front of him to massage his legs.

"Father, something's happened!"

A man nearing forty years old strode into the hall, his expression grave.

He was Liu Yi, the second master of the Liu family, and Liu Rang's brother from the same mother.

Leaving aside the youngest, Liu Mou, Liu Rang, who was an official in the government, was naturally responsible for maintaining official relationships. The third son, Liu Xu, was skilled in business and had gradually taken over some power from Liu Fu in recent years, managing the family's vast business empire.

Liu Yi was calm and ruthless, and was in charge of all the family's secret affairs. He was Liu Fu's most valued and trusted son.

Liu Fu looked up at his second son, and only after the maid in front of him obediently rose, curtsied, and withdrew did he speak, "Has the fourth son entered the government office?"

"Yes."

Liu Yi said solemnly, "Just now, my elder brother sent someone to tell me that Xue Huai directly opened the court to try the case, and sentenced my fourth brother to death in less than a quarter of an hour. Now my fourth brother has been imprisoned in the death row of the government office."

This short sentence left Liu Fu feeling dazed.

He asked incredulously, "What did you say?"

Liu Yi repeated himself, then explained, “Father, my eldest brother’s men only heard the gist of it. Xue Huai must have obtained a lot of evidence related to my fourth brother from Hu Qing, which he had been keeping hidden. Our men also tried to contact the Hu family in Yizhen County, but Zhang Shi was determined to act as Xue Huai’s pawn and kept a close watch on them. Our men couldn’t see the Hu family, which led to a wrong judgment.”

The so-called misjudgment refers to the question of what secrets the Hu family is hiding and whether it will endanger the Liu family.

After discussing it, Liu Fu and Liu Yi concluded that Hu Qing at most had some information about the Liu family's connections with the Salt Transport Bureau and the Grand Canal Administration. While this should not be underestimated, Liu Fu was not too worried about anything involving the secrets of those two administrations, as Jiang Jizhou and Xu Guanlan were not ordinary people.

To ensure everything went smoothly, Liu Fu specifically asked Liu Yi to investigate past interactions with the Hu family and do his best to eliminate any potential problems in advance.

Who knew that Hu Qing would take an unconventional approach? He actually hid evidence of the Liu family's crimes.

Liu Fu's face turned extremely ugly. It was indeed his intention to have Liu Mou appear at Yutangfeng's main store this time. He had his reasons for making such an arrangement, but the change in the situation was completely beyond his expectations. Xue Huai actually had irrefutable evidence to prove Liu Mou's innocence.

In doing so, wouldn't he be sending one of his sons to the execution ground with his own hands?
"Father, we can't hesitate any longer. Xue Huai has clearly been planning this for a long time!"

Liu Yi said with a solemn expression, "He obtained this evidence from Hu Qing two months ago, and he has been holding back until now. This shows that he has a big plan. He is definitely not just suppressing our local powerful clans like his father, but wants to uproot us!"

"Uproot?"

Liu Fu sneered, "Isn't he afraid of overeating?"

Liu Yi sighed inwardly. His father was indeed getting old, and his mind was not as sharp as it used to be. Now was not the time to get bogged down in such trivial matters.
He could only suppress his anxiety and continue, "Father, regardless of whether Xue Huai has such ability, we cannot continue to wait. After all, Hu Qing cannot only have leverage over Fourth Brother, and Xue Huai has already made his stance clear to everyone today. Next, he only needs to cause trouble for each of our families, and then everyone will be in danger. I'm afraid this alliance will collapse on its own."

Liu Fu realized that Xue Huai was making an example of Liu Mou to scare others and intimidate them, first taking down Liu Mou and then using a strategy of restraint to force all other factions to submit.

"What a plan."

Liu Fu took a deep breath, then said coldly, "Immediately have someone inform the boss and have them put pressure on Xue Huai. Second, send a message to Transport Commissioner Xu, asking him to talk to Tan Mingguang. Third, make those dozens of small and medium-sized salt merchants make a scene, not just make a lot of noise but little action like this morning. Finally, throw out what we've prepared and drag the Shen family into it!"

"Yes."

Liu Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Father, rest assured, I will definitely handle these matters well."

Liu Fu waved his hand, watching his second son's figure quickly leave. The old man's hands gradually clenched, and he muttered to himself, "Even your dead father couldn't do anything to us, so what makes you think you can accomplish this?"

A figure quietly appeared inside the hall.

When he approached, a sharp glint appeared in Liu Fu's aged eyes as he asked, "Have Liu Song and the others been sent over?"

The man replied, "Yes, sir, they are now in a completely safe place, and Xue Huai's hand cannot reach in."

"Ah."

Liu Fu responded and then whispered, "Just in case, your men need to be prepared. We can't let the fourth brother really die at Xue Huai's hands."

"The villain understands."

The man solemnly accepted the order.

……

The following morning, in the office of the Assistant Magistrate.

After a night of fermentation, the news that Liu Mou had been thrown into a death row by Xue Huai had spread throughout the city.

The news was so shocking that many people initially thought they had misheard. The power of the four prominent families in Yangzhou was too great. Even though the Liu and Qiao families had broken ties, people still believed that even the head of the prefectural government could not easily shake the Liu family's position in Yangzhou. Tan Mingguang's performance over the past year further confirmed this.

Until yesterday, Xue Huai made a preliminary judgment on Liu Mou's death sentence in just a few moments.

Previously, he had inspected various places and investigated and punished many officials and gentry. Many people admired his decisiveness and fairness, but no one thought that Xue Huai would directly take action against the Liu family. After all, compared with the Liu family, the officials and gentry he investigated and punished were at most annoying mosquitoes.

"Is the world really about to change?"

This thought popped into many people's minds. Although they found it hard to believe, they couldn't help but look down on Xue Huai.

With the storm brewing outside, the government office naturally couldn't remain calm.

A series of chaotic footsteps approached, followed by Qi Qingshi's cold, sharp voice from outside the hall: "Everyone, please stop!"

The next moment he came into the hall and said to Xue Huai, "Young Master, Liu Rang and other officials from the government office are requesting an audience."

Xue Huai, who was bowing before the desk, raised his head and nodded slightly, saying, "Let them in."

Qi Qingshi accepted the order and left. Soon after, he saw Liu Rang, the prefectural judge, and Zheng Xuan, the judicial officer, enter with eight or nine government officials.

After exchanging greetings, Xue Huai looked at Liu Rang and asked, "What brings you here, Prefect Liu?"

Liu Rang's face was gloomy, but he did not mention the fate of his fourth brother, Liu Mou. He simply lowered his head and said concisely, "Your Excellency, I have come here only to resign from my post."

"Resign?"

Xue Huai remained calm, glanced at the crowd, and said, "Did you all come here for this matter as well?"

Zheng Xuan stated bluntly, "That's right, we all came here to resign from our official posts."

Xue Huai picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked at them leisurely, saying, "You all seem to have made a mistake. You may resign, but you should go to the Prefectural Governor, submit your resignations to him, and then have him approve them before submitting them to the Ministry of Personnel. That is the proper procedure. Although I am your superior, how can I overstep my bounds and usurp the Prefectural Governor's authority?"

Compared to his previous humility, Zheng Xuan appeared exceptionally assertive today. He said without hesitation, "Your Excellency misunderstands. We are not here to obtain your permission. We will go to see Your Excellency later."

Xue Huai asked curiously, "If that's the case, why did you come?"

Liu Rang continued, "Since you took office in Yangzhou, Your Excellency, you have disregarded the stability of the situation for the sake of your own political achievements. In less than half a year, you have caused chaos throughout Yangzhou. Previously, in Xinghua County, you almost caused a popular uprising! Now, Your Excellency is forcibly interfering in the salt administration of Lianghuai. Yesterday, dozens of salt merchants came to the government office to petition, but Your Excellency ignored the people's sentiments and turned a blind eye! I really cannot agree with Your Excellency's governing philosophy, and I am unwilling to become an executor of Your Excellency's selfish desires. Therefore, I can only resign!"

This is another form of coercion.

Liu Rang and others held great power in the government office, not only because of Tan Mingguang's shrewdness, but also because they themselves possessed certain abilities and could influence all aspects of the government office.

Now that they've given up, the government office is naturally facing a shortage of manpower.

The more crucial point is that if Tan Mingguang sends their resignations to the capital, it will likely attract criticism from some people towards Xue Huai—the newly appointed Assistant Magistrate of Yangzhou has become so alienated from his subordinates in less than half a year; has he already become the target of public criticism in Yangzhou?

Everyone stared intently at Xue Huai's face, trying to find a trace of panic or anger, but they saw no fluctuation of emotion. Xue Huai simply met their gazes calmly.

After a few breaths, Xue Huai nodded and said, "Alright, I understand."

"Your Excellency, you'd better pull back from the brink!"

Liu Rang, seemingly disappointed, uttered a single sentence and then turned to leave with the others.

"Wait a minute."

As soon as Xue Huai finished speaking, Qi Qingshi and Cen Fu blocked everyone's way.

Liu Rang turned around and saw Xue Huai slowly stand up, walk around the table under Jiang Sheng's protection, and stop to say, "I did not let you leave."

Liu Rang said without fear, "What does Your Excellency mean by this? Is it because I spoke a few words from the bottom of my heart that I am about to suffer your malicious retaliation?"

"Prefect Liu, there's no need to rush to make baseless accusations."

Xue Huai remained calm and slowly said, "Even if you hadn't come today, I would have sent someone to invite you. I believe you have all heard that yesterday I imprisoned Young Master Liu in death row, and this is just the beginning. In the past ten years, the officialdom of Yangzhou has become increasingly corrupt, and the collusion between officials and merchants has become more and more rampant. I and Prefect Tan have discussed this for a long time and we agree that the root cause of this phenomenon lies in the existence of a large number of corrupt officials within the prefectural government."

While Liu Rang and Zheng Xuan managed to remain calm, the others couldn't help but feel panicked.

Xue Huai glanced around at everyone and sneered, "Since you're already here, why are you in such a hurry to leave? Don't you want to know how many secret letters I've received accusing you of your misdeeds these past few months? Don't you want to know how much evidence I have of your wrongdoings?"

“I haven’t even gone to cause you any trouble yet, and you’re already putting on airs in front of me.”

"In that case, let's stay at the government office for now!"

(End of this chapter)