"This..." The usually experienced servant also panicked, "This is what Mr. Ye handed over to me. He never said that there were two documents in it..."
The bearded man became more and more suspicious. Regardless of the obstruction of the people around him, he picked up the fallen document and read it. He read it with wide eyes and threw it to the ground angrily.
"Explain it clearly!" he roared loudly, "How could Wu Sijing deny it this time!"
"Calm down and tell me what's going on..." Fat Fanshang held his arm tightly and asked with a frown.
The confidant was also frightened by this situation and did not dare to speak at all. He only lowered his hands and stared at them blankly.
The bearded man blushed: "See for yourselves, this is the handiwork of the county magistrate! In his letter, he actually advised Wu Sijing to seek refuge with that Mr. Li... Everyone should remember this man. He treated us like slaves and never treated us as slaves."
Look! Now, in order to save his life, that old guy is plotting this matter with the county magistrate, trying to hide it from the superiors and deceive the subordinates, so that outsiders don't know about it; when the time comes, he will definitely bite us back!"
After hearing this, the fat merchant was quite angry. He picked up the letter and strode to the servant: "I have always trusted your master, but he always responded to us like this! Have you seen this letter?"
The servant's face was covered with sweat and he looked at him with wandering eyes: "Maybe this is Ye Yongjia's plan to alienate people..."
"Tell the truth!" He pinched the paper and made a crisp sound.
The servant was on the territory of this group of merchants. He was afraid that he would not be able to get out, so he dared to talk nonsense again. He could only wipe his sweat and kept nodding his head: "Yes, yes... This letter was delivered to Mr. Wu personally by the villain."
Yes, he originally told me to throw it away, but suddenly changed his mind and told me to keep it properly. I don’t know how it got stuffed into this envelope."
"He didn't say to hand it over to us for a look?"
"No."
"People's hearts are unpredictable..." Fat Fanshang sighed and wandered in front of the hall with his hands behind his back.
"That guy knows a lot, and he said something like 'Ye Yongjia can't believe it' earlier, which really confused me. Who knew it was to pave the way for his current actions, and he had already planned it!" The bearded man knocked on the table.
scold.
"Yes, Ye Shangshu is indeed a kind man," another businessman said with emotion as he held the reward document. "In order to please us, he even gave us fifty taels of gold as a gift!"
"Then why are you indulging Wu Sijing? Go directly to the church to question this guy, and then listen to the announcement!" As soon as Luo Xihu said this, everyone thought it was true.
Although the servant was Bishop Wu's confidant, at this point, he didn't have the courage to go back and report the news, so he led the businessmen out in a good mood, for fear of adding fuel to the fire.
The sun was shining brightly, and the clock hanging on the church slowly moved its hands to midnight. Two rows of soldiers were standing at the door of the inner courtyard. They were all straddling swords, with fierce eyes, standing upright like stone sculptures, silent.
and in the waiting room not far away, there were guards coming and going frequently, and there was a commotion in the yard.
But Ye Yongjia, Wu Sijing and others were discussing matters in the back room of the cubicle, and had no idea what was going on outside.
"Is it time to come?" Wu Sixing, who was already anxious, became even more nervous.
Cai Xianqing calmly took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Don't worry, nothing will happen. The tea you have here is good. I can drink a few more cups before they come. Could you please give me some tea, Bishop?"
Wu Sijing stood up helplessly, picked up the teapot and poured him another cup, his hands trembling slightly.
"My lords," a guard opened the curtain and walked in and said, "the four merchants have been brought to the hall. Please go outside the hall to read the imperial instructions."
"Okay," Ye Yongjia smiled and nodded, "Mr. Wu, Master Li, let's go out together."
Wu Sijing followed Ye Yongjia closely. As soon as he poked his head out of the house, he discovered a group of armored sergeants who all looked at him in unison. He was suddenly frightened out of his wits and his feet became weak.
"Bishop Wu, let's go." Cai Xianqing looked him up and down several times and urged him repeatedly.
"Oh, let me straighten my clothes." Wu Sixing pretended to straighten his collar, then took a deep breath and stepped forward.
But when he was still in shock, the bearded fan merchant suddenly rushed up, pointed at his nose and shouted: "You bastard who betrayed your compatriots, bastard! Bitch..." Before he could finish speaking, he was
Everyone in the hall covered their mouths and dragged him down hard. But what happened here was enough to make Wu Si Jing look ashen.
"Hey, don't you two have a good relationship?" Cai Xianqing smiled happily, "How could we get into this situation? We are all from the same family. I believe it was a misunderstanding."
Seeing that the time was ripe, Ye Yongjia quickly interrupted the current chaos and shouted loudly: "I don't care about any conflicts between you. For now, let's listen to the announcement. This matter is of great importance and must not be misunderstood by noise. I will wait for it to be read out.
It’s over, you can argue again!”
The four merchants were sincerely convinced by Ye Yongjia. They all responded with clasped fists and bent down to obey orders.
Ye Yongjia stood in the middle, took out a notice from his arms, and read it sonorously and forcefully: "Ye Yongjia, the Minister of the Ministry of War, Cai Xianqing, the minister, and Li Wenshou, the deputy political counselor of the Zhongshu Province, all used Wu Sijing to be cunning and insidious, deceived the imperial court, fanned the flames, and caused trouble among the superiors and subordinates.
There is a discord, great matters are at stake, and the sin is so serious!"
As soon as these words came out, Cai Xianqing winked slightly. Before Wu Sijing could escape, he was pushed to the ground by the guards on both sides, unable to move.
"The crime will not be tolerated. We should be arrested immediately and sent to the court for investigation. Severe punishment will not be spared!" After saying this, he put away the notice and ordered Wu Sijing to be tied up first. The latter knew that he could not escape, so he did not struggle too much.
He just didn't say a word, his whole body was trembling and his head was tied up.
When the merchants saw this, they also cheered. The bearded man even punched him in order to relieve his hatred and cursed angrily: "Shameless and despicable villain! You have given us bad ideas time and time again. If it weren't for
Ye Shangshu is wise, even our firearms factory will not be able to run!"
When the county magistrate saw Wu Sijing in this state, he was afraid that he would confess his affair, so he was eager to prove his innocence and went out and cursed: "You not only deceived the adults in the court, you also deceived me! I thought you were a criminal."
A good commoner who relies on you for everything, who would have thought he could do such a scandal! A thousand cuts would not be an exaggeration!"
When the bearded man heard this voice, he immediately turned his face, pointed at the magistrate and Li Wenshou and said: "Master Ye, these two people have a deep collusion with Wu Sixing! Especially that Li Shenzheng, what is his attitude towards us! We must deal with them together.
!”
"Don't be angry, everyone. Li Shenzheng has already regretted it," Ye Yongjia said with a faint smile, "Don't you know that this secret letter was designed by him!"