In ancient times, the powerful and wealthy seized power step by step.

Because a concubine was still a maidservant and belonged to the servant class, not a concubine, she did not have a formal title. Therefore, young masters of ordinary families did not have a formal procedure for taking concubines. Many times, the young master took a fancy to her and they slept together without any clear understanding of the situation.

However, ever since the Duke of Dingguo's family acquired the title, the rule set for the young and old men in the family was that even taking in concubines had to be done through proper channels.

The process of accepting concubines into the Duke of Dingguo's mansion generally involved serving tea, having a meal, settling into bed, completing the ceremony, and then ending the ceremony.

So, as soon as Gu Zhao entered the room, the two maids prepared the tea and tea set for the tea ceremony outside, as per the rules. As soon as they carried the tea set into the room, they heard a thud, the sound of someone kneeling and kowtowing.

The old woman holding the tea set was still wondering why this girl hadn't learned proper manners; why had she suddenly knelt down? Suddenly, a piercing female wail rang out:

"I, Yan Pan, beg Your Excellency to grant me justice! I wish to accuse Yang Siyong, the Transport Commissioner of Yangzhou, and Zhang Jingyan, the General Merchant of Yangzhou, of colluding with officials and merchants to frame and persecute loyal and virtuous people. Their crimes are unforgivable!"

The scream was so piercing that the old woman holding the teapot shuddered, her hand slipped, and the pot of fine Biluochun tea, pot and cup, tea and water, shattered into pieces with a crash and a clatter, leaving half the floor of the inner room in a mess.

Despite being attacked from both sides by such a huge commotion, Gu Zhao didn't even flinch.

She gave Granny Li a look, signaling her to clear the area. Granny Li quickly pulled another nanny out and also sent all the servants from the outer room to the courtyard. Then she stood guard at the gate herself to prevent anyone from trespassing.

Since it involved official business, after all the irrelevant people had left, Gu Zhao placed the jewelry box on the table, casually dragged a chair over, and sat down, her boots crunching over the mess on the floor. She looked at Yan Pan:

"Is there anything else you need to explain? Please continue."

Vice Minister Gu's reaction was not quite what he had expected. Yan Pan paused, rallied his spirits, and wailed again:

"This humble woman wishes to accuse Yang Siyong, the transport commissioner of Yangzhou, and Zhang Jingyan, the head merchant of Yangzhou, of collusion between officials and merchants..."

One must exert one's strength at the beginning, then weaken at the second, and exhaust it completely at the third.

The second time he repeated the same words, his momentum was noticeably weaker; it seemed he had run out of new things to say. Gu Zhao, having lost patience with this endless rambling, interrupted Yan Pan and asked:

"Where's the evidence?"

Yan Pan was waiting for Lord Gu to ask, so he knelt forward, tears streaming down his face:

"I have irrefutable evidence! I demand an audience with the Emperor! I beg Your Excellency to have mercy and allow me to see the Emperor. Once I see him, I will present my evidence!"

Gu Zhao tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the table and asked:

"Your surname is Yan? What is your relationship with Yan Qizhong, the former Salt Commissioner of Yangzhou?"

Upon hearing her father's name, Yan Pan cried even harder, tears streaming down her face, and choked out:

"It was my father. My father did not kill anyone, nor did he smuggle salt. It was they who smuggled salt. My father refused to be involved in their crimes, which is why they deliberately framed him and turned the tables on him. Please, Your Honor, see the truth."

Gu Zhao suddenly stood up, picked up the jeweled box, and walked out, saying to Li Mama, who was guarding outside the door:

"Granny Li, tie her up and send her back to the magistrate's office tomorrow."

Yan Pan, not knowing what had gone wrong, scrambled after Gu Zhao, grabbed his boots, and demanded an explanation in a stern voice:

"Lord Gu! Are you going to protect and condone them, or are you afraid of them too?"

Gu Zhao looked down at Yan Pan, his tone unreadable, and stated bluntly:

"Yan Qizhong, born into a poor peasant family, was a second-class Jinshi in the eighteenth year of Yonghe. Two years ago, he was transferred to Yangzhou as the Salt Commissioner. Three months ago, he was dismissed and investigated. Lord Yan has only been in office as the Salt Commissioner of Yangzhou for two years. Four hundred thousand taels of silver were found in his house. Miss Yan, the annual salt tax of our dynasty is only ten million taels, and the Lianghuai region accounts for five-tenths of that. Your father alone dared to embezzle four hundred thousand taels. Such a rebellious and corrupt official deserves to be executed by slow slicing. I have already shown him extraordinary mercy by executing him on the spot. Do you still dare to claim that you are wronged?"

Gu Zhao's tone was not harsh, and could even be described as gentle, but those gentle words pierced Yan Pan's heart like a knife cutting through it.

Yan Pan was terrified by the 400,000 taels Gu Zhao mentioned. He turned pale, trembled with fear, lost his composure, and collapsed to the ground.

After my father was transferred to the position of Salt Commissioner in Yangzhou, our family's lifestyle became increasingly extravagant. We received some gifts from salt merchants, but that was nothing unusual. Officials are in it to make money, and who in the officialdom doesn't accept gifts? The Salt Commissioner's post was a lucrative one.

But receiving 400,000 taels of silver was far beyond her imagination. How could there be so much? Did her family receive so much?

Listening to the fading footsteps of Vice Minister Gu, and thinking that if his father could not overturn the case, he would have to return to the official yamen and not know where he would end up, Yan Pan suddenly felt an impulse to die together with everyone else, to destroy everything in the process.

She scrambled to her feet, tearing open her outer and inner garments as she stumbled after him, pulling an account book from her undergarments and calling out:

"They're not innocent either. I have evidence, I have irrefutable proof! I have ledgers showing that salt smuggler Lei Dawu colluded with Zhang Jingyan, the head merchant of Yangzhou, to smuggle salt!"

Gu Zhao looked at Yan Pan's bloodshot eyes, as red as a gambler's, and sighed.

"Miss Yan, if I were you, I should have left this account book in Yangzhou for the authorities to confiscate. You shouldn't have carried it with you. You could have returned to the government office, but now, I have no choice but to send you to the Ministry of Justice prison."

……

It was late at night. Last night, Gu Zhao looked at the fire-avoidance diagram that her grandmother had sent under the lamp. Tonight, in the same spot, in the same posture, and even with the same calm and emotionless expression, Gu Zhao was looking at the account book that Yan Pan had mentioned.

When the servant returned from Fu'an Hall, he saw that the dinner set out in the room had gone cold, but the young master hadn't touched it at all. Standing by the door, he asked:

"Young Master, the food is getting cold. Shall I have the kitchen send over some more late-night snacks?"

Gu Zhao hummed in agreement, continuing to examine the account books, and asked:

"How is Grandma? What did the doctor say?"

After much persuasion, the old lady Gu finally convinced her grandson to take a concubine, but at the last minute, he chose one with ulterior motives. Upon hearing this news, she was so angry that she collapsed on the spot.

When the old lady fell ill, the whole family went to take care of her. The house was packed with people. The Duchess of Dingguo felt that the house was too crowded and the old lady would not be able to rest well. So she stayed to take care of the old lady herself and sent Gu Zhao and the younger generation away.

Gu Zhao left his servant outside Fu'an Hall to wait for news. The servant only dared to return after the old lady was in stable condition, and reported:

"Madam Zhu said that the old lady was just suffering from a sudden attack of anger. Tonight, she will take medicine to induce fever and release her pent-up emotions. As long as the fever subsides tomorrow morning, she will be fine. Madam Zhu prescribed the medicine, and the old lady has already fallen asleep after taking it."

Upon hearing the unfamiliar name, Gu Zhao finally looked up:

"Where did this Lady Zhu come from? Why didn't you call the imperial physician?"

The servant, who usually worked in the front courtyard, wasn't particularly familiar with the affairs of the back courtyard, especially the old lady's courtyard, and dared not speak carelessly. He only said:

"I only heard it from Granny Li. It seems that the old lady doesn't like the imperial physicians. She thinks they only care about not making mistakes and just dawdle and make things difficult for people. The old lady has always preferred to invite female physicians. Madam Zhu is a good doctor. It was Madam Zhu who cured the old lady's back injury before, so we still invited Madam Zhu."