While there was a lot of discussion in the public, the Minister of Household Affairs looked at his dying son and the five hundred taels of silver sent from the palace with a sad expression on his face.
Mrs. Cheng Di and Mrs. Cheng Chen cried hoarsely: "My son has been beaten like this, don't you even dare to say a word?"
"My poor Fang'er is in such trouble for no reason."
The face of the Minister of Household Affairs instantly became livid: "Fang'er went to Dingwang's Mansion because of my wife's wish. No one could predict how Zhao Huan, who has always been docile, could suddenly become so violent."
"How do you ask me to stand up at this time?"
"It's never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. Right now, we should focus on the fund-raising meeting. If we miss your majesty's important event, not only Fang'er, but also the entire Cheng Residence will suffer!"
Although the Minister of Household Affairs was heartbroken, he could only swallow his bad breath temporarily.
Nowadays, the people are strong but the country is weak. Whether the officials in the court or the country gentry are brave, they are all rich, but the country is poor.
The fund-raising meeting is the most important national event in the near future. At this time, let alone a humble Minister of Household Affairs, even a powerful eunuch will never show up at this juncture.
As the night progressed, looking at his son lying in bed in agony, Cheng Biao, the Minister of Household Affairs, had no choice but to endure it!
Cheng Zhi didn't sleep a wink all night.
However, the Prince Ding's Mansion was auspicious.
From the officials to the servants, they were as happy as if they were celebrating the New Year. They wished they could just go out and set off a few firecrackers to sweep away the bad luck accumulated by the palace over the years.
"Yesterday, you didn't see that when the prince taught Cheng Fang a lesson, he was very neat and tidy."
"Hehe, this is the courage a prince should have!"
"How can the dignified Prince Ding be bullied by a small household boy?"
"Your Majesty, a thousand years old! Our good days have finally come."
Changfu looked at Zhao Huan with burning eyes, wishing that everyone in Bianjing would know about the prince's prowess now!
But at this juncture, a male servant ran over panting.
"Your Majesty! Oh no, Xiaochai was taken away."
Zhao Huan, who was thinking about a plan to make money, couldn't help but frown slightly when he heard the servant's shout.
"Who is Xiaochai?"
Changfu quickly explained: "Xiaochai is the princess's maid."
When he heard that it was related to his wife, Zhao Huan stood up suddenly.
"The revenge of Hubu came so quickly?"
"In this case, I will let them lie together neatly."
"Come here, we have soldiers and horses, follow this king to kill Hubu!"
Zhao Huan picked up the bed next to him, also known as "Little Mazha", and rushed out at the lead.
At this moment, the servant who came to report quickly shouted: "Your Majesty, please calm down, it was not the Ministry of Household Affairs that did this."
The servant wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a panic: "This morning, Xiaochai went out to buy makeup for the princess, and she hasn't come back yet."
"After I sent someone to inquire, I found out that Xiaochai had been arrested and taken to Hongyan Pavilion an hour ago."
Hongyan Pavilion?!
Relevant memories gradually emerged in Zhao Huan's mind.
This is one of the eight major brothels in Bianjing. To put it bluntly, it is a government-run brothel.
Although the "music industry" was extremely developed during the Song Dynasty, there were countless brothels and sex households.
But this is Bianjing after all, and under the emperor’s feet, who dares to blatantly abduct a woman from a good family? And she’s from the royal palace!
At this time, Zhu Lian came after hearing the news.
Zhu Lian, who had always been calm and calm, actually showed a hint of nervousness in his eyes, which showed how important this dowry maid was to Zhu Lian.
She directly placed a small wooden box in front of Zhao Huan.
"There are one thousand taels of silver in it, which is the entire property of the palace. You should go to Hongyan Pavilion immediately to redeem me."
What the hell?
Zhao Huan looked surprised: "The palace's entire property only has one thousand taels of silver?"
Zhao Huan cursed in his heart, even if he was no longer favored, he was still the most noble eldest son of the Song Dynasty.
As the saying goes, a Qing magistrate still has one hundred thousand snowflakes of silver, but as a dignified prince, he can only scrape together a thousand taels of silver by selling iron and steel. This is really miserable!
Zhu Lian was too lazy to explain.
Isn't it Zhao Huan's fault that Prince Ding's palace ended up in this situation?
The salary and various subsidies allocated by the Ministry of Household Affairs at the beginning of the year totaled five thousand taels of silver, but in less than two months, they were all squandered by Zhao Huan.
This one thousand taels of silver was secretly given to Zhu Lian when her parents' family sent someone to visit him.
"What do you care about now?"
"It's important to save people!"
"Xiao Chai has lived and ate with me since childhood. Although we are master and servant, we are more like sisters!"
Zhao Huan was furious.
"Honey, if Hongyan Mansion arrests our people, it's okay if they don't report them to the official, but instead they have to spend money to redeem them? What's the point of this!"
Zhu Lian frowned slightly: "What kind of place is the Hongyan Pavilion?"
"Once a woman from a good family falls in, her skin will fall off in the blink of an eye."
"If reporting to the official was useful, why would I bother you here?"
"Behind the Hongyan Pavilion is Jiaofangsi, and behind Jiaofangsi is Gao Taiwei!"
"Although Captain Gao is not as powerful as Tong Guan, he is still the most powerful official in Bianjing. Half of the income of Jiaofangsi falls into his pocket."
"The Hongyan Pavilion kidnapped Xiaochai must have been ordered by Captain Gao to extort money from the palace so that you would not be able to participate in the fund-raising meeting."
Lieutenant Gao?
Zhao Huan's heart moved and he asked tentatively: "Is it... Gao Qiu?!"
Zhu Lian was afraid that something might happen to Xiaochai, so he urged: "Who else could it be if he wasn't him? Don't delay!"
Zhu Lian, who was lonely and cold by nature, was so worried about a maid as his dowry.
This shows that Zhu Lian is by no means as cold as he seems.
As for Captain Gao, Zhao Huan could not be more familiar with him.
Although it was famous in later generations and made people hate it when it was mentioned, but now, it is just a second-rate thing.
Compared with Tong Guan and other Northern Song thieves, they are not on the same level at all.
Zhao Huan shrugged, still not in a hurry: "Even if Xiaochai is just a maid, she is also a maid of the palace. No matter how rampant Gao Qiu is, she will not kidnap people from the palace in broad daylight. There must be other things involved, right?"
Although Zhu Lian didn't want to mention it, the matter had come to this and he had no choice.
"Xiao Chai...is a lowly person."
Zhao Huan frowned slightly: "Isn't that right! Are there still untouchables these days?"
The reason why Zhao Huan was surprised was that this was an era when "laughing at the poor but not at prostitution".
Even prostitutes are white, let alone maids?
Zhu Lian's eyes revealed a hint of imperceptible humiliation.
"It is true that the Great Song Dynasty has abolished humble status a long time ago, but Tong Guan deceived His Majesty and demoted the descendants of political enemies to low status."
"Anyone who is displeased by Tong Guan will be given a lowly status as a slave."
"It looks like a reward on the surface, but it's actually an insult."
"Xiao Chai is the slave that your Majesty rewarded to the Zhu family. Because he is a lowly servant, he has no dignity at all."
"Don't talk about taking her to Hongyan Pavilion and forcing her into prostitution. Even if we beat her to death on the street, no one would avenge her."
As expected of the old thief Tong Guan, he is almost perfect at suppressing dissidents.
Even the long-abolished system of untouchable slavery has revived.