roccoschili Chapter 108 How much is appropriate to extort
Chapter 108 How much is appropriate to extort
Ling Chuan was currently leading his men to drink in Niu Er Tavern, and the first person to find him was Deputy Chief Tu.
When he saw Shi Xing drinking with Ling Chuan, he was amazed again.
"Master Tu, come on, come on, please sit down."
Deputy Supervisor Tu was flattered. The man in front of him was the son of Prime Minister Shi. Who was he to have the status to dine at the same table with Shi Xing?
However, Shi Xing just glanced at him, nodded slightly, and continued to eat his food, even muttering: "Don't be fooled by the small size of this tavern, the taste is not worse than those restaurants."
While inviting Deputy Tu to sit down, Ling Chuan replied, "If it doesn't taste good, how can I ask Brother Shi to come over for a drink? Master Tu, you should try it too."
Deputy Director Tu was so nervous that he could not speak. He quickly gave way and said, "Brother Ling, don't be so polite. This is not the government office. Just call me Tu Yuan."
Ling Chuan smiled and poured him a glass of wine: "Then I'll call you Brother Tu, come and have a drink."
Tu Yuan clinked glasses with Ling Chuan, raised his glass to Shi Xing, and drank carefully. Then he started talking about business: "Brother Ling, Young Master Zhao is still in custody in the government office. It's not appropriate for us to drink here."
Ling Chuan waved his hand and said, "It's okay. I'll just invite him once later."
Tu Yuan was stunned. He realized that Mr. Zhao was in cahoots with Ling Chuan. "But Mr. Zhao won't leave. We can't let him stay overnight in the government office."
Ling Chuan chuckled: "Do you think Wu Kun dares?"
"But this matter has to be resolved first. After all, we are all from the Criminal Investigation Department. If the matter gets out of hand, it will be embarrassing for everyone..."
Before Tu Yuan finished speaking, Ling Chuan had already sat up straight, his expression becoming serious: "Brother Tu, you should know what is going on with the Jishisi Yamen, so for some things, just watch and don't get involved."
Ling Chuan's words seemed vague, but Tu Yuan understood them. Everyone could see that Prince Ning wanted to use the Criminal Investigation Bureau to expand his power. Although he was not clear about Ling Chuan's identity and background, it was obvious that he was on the opposite side of Prince Ning. He really couldn't afford to get involved in a fight of this level.
So he poured himself a glass of wine, stood up and gestured to Ling Chuan and Shi Xing: "Thank you, Brother Ling, for reminding me. Just pretend I was not here just now. Goodbye."
In the lobby of the Criminal Investigation Department, Wu Kun was pretending to interrogate the suspect. His tone was respectful and humble. He asked a few irrelevant questions that seemed to be related to the case. Then he waved his hand and said, "After verification, the case of the Tang family's annihilation has nothing to do with Mr. Zhao. Mr. Zhao, I'm sorry for putting you in such a difficult position."
Zhao Youtang rolled his eyes: "Is that all?"
Wu Kun smiled and said, "Yes, this case has nothing to do with Mr. Zhao, so it's alright."
"Humph, you brought me here from the shop with great fanfare. Now people must be saying that I, Zhao Youtang, committed a crime and was arrested by the government. Tell me, what should we do about this?"
Wu Kun was full of resentment but didn't dare to vent it. He continued to smile and said, "Whatever you want to do, Mr. Zhao, just tell me. I will do whatever I can."
Zhao Youtang was also a little troubled at this time, thinking that Ling Chuan just walked away, so how would I know what you were up to?
Seeing that it was already dark, Zhao Youtang was too lazy to waste time with him: "First, you have to write me a document stating that I have nothing to do with this case."
Wu Kun nodded hurriedly: "Okay, okay, I'll write it right away."
Seeing Wu Kun picking up the paper and pen, Zhao Youtang said, "As for the rest, I'll go back and ask my father first."
Wu Kun was writing, but when he heard the words, his hands shook and the paper with just a few words on it was scribbled. He could only crumple the paper into a ball in frustration and write again.
In the end, Zhao Youtang walked away with a swagger, while Wu Kun breathed a sigh of relief and sat down.
I have passed this hurdle, but my prestige has plummeted. It will be very difficult for me to be in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department again.
On the other side, Zhao Youtang had just walked out of the door when he was led by a guard to Niu Er Tavern. Seeing Ling Chuan and Shi Xing talking and laughing there, he immediately became furious.
"I think you two are so mean, leaving me there to starve while you two have food and drink."
He sat down indignantly, and Ling Chuan immediately poured him a glass of wine: "How is it? How much did you extort?"
"How much did you extort?" Zhao Youtang drank a glass of wine and immediately picked up his chopsticks to eat.
Ling Chuan squinted his eyes: "You don't want any compensation at all, do you?"
"You still want compensation?" Zhao Youtang stopped picking up the food in mid-air.
Shi Xing at the side took over the conversation: "That's nonsense. What else do you want if you don't want compensation for this kind of thing? Even if your father reports it to the emperor, Prince Ning will definitely protect Wu Kun. Do you think it's necessary for Earl Yongning to fall out with Prince Ning over such a small matter?"
Zhao Youtang slammed the table and said, "Yeah, I didn't think of that. But I told him that I have to go back and discuss it with my dad. Hey, how much do you think is appropriate to blackmail him?"
Ling Chuan and Shi Xing looked at each other and said, "That depends on how much he has."
The three of them looked at each other again, and then laughed together.
……
In the Yongning Marquis's mansion, in Zhao Zecheng's study, Zhao Youxuan was communicating with his father about court affairs as usual.
Zhao Youxuan was the head of the Ministry of Rites, a sixth-rank official. At his age, he was considered to be a young and promising man. However, after finishing his business today, Zhao Youxuan did not leave as usual. Instead, he hesitated for a while and said, "Father, there is one more thing I want to tell you."
"My son, it's okay to say so."
Zhao Youxuan showed a conflicted look on his face, and after a while he said, "I heard that Youtang was arrested by the police from the Criminal Investigation Department today. I wonder if father has heard about it?"
Zhao Zecheng frowned: "What do you want to say?"
When Zhao Youxuan saw Zhao Zecheng's unhappy expression, he quickly said, "Father, don't be angry. I heard that it's still because of the case three years ago. I think this kind of thing is simply hard to explain. It's better to let Youtang go out and avoid the limelight, so as not to affect the reputation of Yongning Marquis's Mansion because of this matter."
Zhao Zecheng looked at his eldest son with a complicated expression. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Don't worry about this matter. Just do your own duty."
Zhao Youxuan obviously didn't understand what his father meant. Why didn't his father care about the plan of provocation that he had worked so hard to come up with?
However, he understood the words "do your duty well" and didn't dare to say anything more. He said "goodbye, kid" and left the study.
Zhao Zecheng rubbed his eyebrows and felt tired.
As the eldest son of the Yongning Earl's Mansion, Zhao Youxuan is bound to inherit the title of Yongning Earl in the future. However, he is so jealous that he always picks on his second brother.
It would have been fine if Zhao Youtang had caused trouble in the past, but now he has reformed himself. Zhao Zecheng is very happy to see this, but the result is...