Second Master Gu, upon receiving the news, hurriedly took a carriage from the Censorate to return home.
With a stern expression, he entered Gu De Zhao’s study followed by two or three advisors. Fifth Master Gu was already waiting inside, while Gu De Zhao’s two advisors stood with their hands at their sides as he sat pale-faced in the Dongpo chair.
Seeing his second brother return, Gu De Zhao quickly went to greet him. A servant brought over a round-backed armchair.
“Explain the whole situation clearly from beginning to end. What happened at the granary?” Second Master Gu asked gravely.
Gu De Zhao then recounted everything while recalling the details, and described the situation at the granary: “…These granaries are managed by the granary keepers under Sun Shi Tao’s supervision, classified as common granaries. There are thirty-five common granaries across Daxing, Shi’an, and Tongzhou. However, the Tongzhou granaries cannot be opened except in times of war, and they are also guarded by Thousand Household officials. The Daxing granaries are the ones used for disaster relief and stabilizing grain prices. They fall under the Ministry of Revenue’s management, and your Censorate granary inspectors are also among those responsible.”
“I’m in charge of granary affairs, so I can’t escape responsibility for what’s happened at the Daxing granaries. Sun Shi Tao was the director, but now he’s nowhere to be found… When I went to inspect the granary, the watchmen were drinking in the huts next to the granary! I had them check all the storehouses. In the Daxing common granary, which should store 360,000 shi of grain… more than 200,000 shi has been replaced with bran and old rice!”
Second Master Gu felt a chill in his heart. More than 200,000 shi… even if the entire Gu family sold everything they owned, they couldn’t fill this hole!
He said gravely, “You shouldn’t have alarmed those people at the time. If word gets out, you’ll be immediately arrested by men sent from the Censorate.”
Gu De Zhao also felt some regret: “…At the time, I was both angry and anxious, and wasn’t thinking clearly. But I’ve already placed all those people under supervision. They’re afraid of getting into trouble, so they won’t dare talk about it. In a few more days, they’ll open the granaries to transport rice to Shanxi… Second Brother, what should we do?”
Second Master Gu didn’t know either and replied irritably, “How would I know what you should do? You still want to separate yourself from me… I’m from the Censorate. If this scandal breaks, our current discussion will be seen as collusion. At that point, it won’t just be you—I’ll be dragged down too!”
Despite his words, Gu De Yuan couldn’t truly stand by and do nothing.
He thought for a moment and said, “Have you questioned those granary watchmen? It would be impossible to secretly transport so much grain without others noticing. Let’s get clear answers from everyone, and salvage what we can.”
Gu De Zhao nodded and sent Steward Li to question them.
After a while, Steward Li returned, holding several documents in his hand.
“I’ve questioned them all. The watchmen said that a month ago, the granary keeper brought approval documents bearing your seal and Director Sun’s seal, saying they needed to replace the old grain with new. They transported the old grain out of the granary overnight.”
Gu De Zhao stared in disbelief. He snatched the documents to look at them, his expression extremely grim: “I never approved anything like this. This year’s new grain harvest is insufficient, and grain prices have already risen. Seventy percent of the grain transported to the capital went into the military granaries, with the remaining thirty percent stored in Tongzhou. There was absolutely no surplus grain to be sent to Daxing!”
Hearing this, Gu De Yuan frowned: “Didn’t those watchmen notice the weight discrepancy? How could they be fooled by Bran?”
Steward Li kept his hands at his sides and replied, “Your servant asked about that too. They said… the keeper gave each of them ten taels of silver and told them not to interfere. They thought… it was the higher-ups conspiring to embezzle grain from the granary, so they took the money and said nothing.”
“I’ve never seen this document before…” Gu De Zhao murmured. He had never seen this document, yet it bore not only his seal but also the seal of the Granary Director from the Ministry of Revenue. Where had it come from?
His seals were kept at the Ministry of Revenue office, and Sun Shi Tao could have forced open the cabinet to use them. Now he had disappeared…
Sun Shi Tao was trying to get him killed!
Gu De Zhao felt both furious and terrified. If Sun Shi Tao had disappeared, he would bear all the responsibility! Fortunately, they had discovered this early, so there might still be a remedy. If they couldn’t resolve it, he could submit a memorial confessing his fault, which might result in a lighter punishment. But if this were discovered in a few days when the imperial envoy came with people to move the grain, he would likely lose his head…
He said to Gu De Yuan, “Second Brother, I never signed this document. The seal must have been taken from my office by Sun Shi Tao. I fear he embezzled the grain himself and is trying to frame me…”
Second Master Gu shook his head, “It’s not that simple. One person alone couldn’t accomplish this. Since this involves Shanxi’s disaster relief, we can’t think of it so simply.”
The Shanxi famine had struck suddenly. By rights, they should first exempt or reduce taxes, distribute relief funds, and transfer grain from various government granaries to support the disaster area. But although reports of the disaster had been submitted, the imperial decree to reduce taxes hadn’t yet been issued, and the Ministry of Revenue kept delaying the relief funds. Anyone with eyes could see what was happening.
But Gu De Zhao’s situation was different; like them, he carried the Ye family label.
Although the Ye family offered them no substantial help, this was still a good connection. Broadly speaking, how could the Marquis of Chang Xing’s family truly value the mere Gu family? They had married their daughter into the Gu family, but during festivals, only the Heir would come to visit his elder sister. The two families didn’t interact much on ordinary days.
But in outsiders’ eyes, they were part of the Ye family faction, no matter how much they denied it.
Embezzlement was a grave offense for any official. Moreover, embezzling grain meant disaster relief—if this got out, how could the Gu family maintain any standing in Yanjing? Not only would Gu De Zhao lose his position, but even he would be implicated!
Second Master Gu asked Gu De Zhao again, “You said it was Chao’er who warned you to pay attention to this Sun Shi Tao?”
Gu De Zhao nodded: “…She has an accountant who used to be an advisor to the Cao family of the Imperial Insignia Service, who knows Sun Shi Tao.”
Second Master Gu frowned. Since when did Gu Jin Chao have an accountant?
Gu Jin Chao had just invited Cao Zi Heng over and first explained the situation to him.
After hearing it, Cao Zi Heng was also shocked: “…This matter is truly significant. I’m grateful for the young lady’s trust in this old man!” He first cupped his hands in respect, then said, “Even if Director Sun wanted to embezzle more than 200,000 shi of grain, it wouldn’t be so easy. Given that this involves disaster relief, this old one feels it’s not a simple matter…” Cao Zi Heng quickly thought of the current Shaanxi Provincial Administrator Yuan Zhong Ru, a close friend of Master Fan.
Considering the recent movements in the imperial court, he had a vague suspicion.
Gu Jin Chao knew Yuan Zhong Ru’s fate in her previous life, so she quickly understood that this incident must be related to the Shanxi disaster relief. Cao Zi Heng shared his speculation, which aligned with Gu Jin Chao’s thoughts.
Gu Jin Chao thought more comprehensively. Problems with the relief grain would not only delay Shanxi’s disaster relief but also conveniently eliminate her father, who had connections to the Ye family.
The main targets of this scheme were still Yuan Zhong Ru and the Marquis of Chang Xing’s family; her father was just collateral damage.
She had Cao Zi Heng go meet her father first. As an advisor, he could more conveniently discuss matters with her father and second uncle.
She sat on the kang bed, holding a small embroidery frame with a handkerchief, thinking about the situation.
In her previous life, her father had avoided this disaster because his connection to the Gu family wasn’t so close then. The Gu family ultimately suffered, continuously suppressed by the Zhang faction in court. Later, Gu Jin Xian and Ye Xian showed promise in court, but due to the Fifth Madam’s death, they harbored a deep hatred for the Gu family. Her father had remained stable then, but to say he wasn’t affected at all would be strange…
If things followed the path of her previous life, after her father was suppressed, the rest of the Gu family would also hardly escape misfortune.
But 200,000 shi of grain… how could this hole be filled? Even if they used the entire Gu family’s assets, they couldn’t cover it. Even with financial strength enough to resolve this matter, acquiring 200,000 shi of grain wouldn’t be simple! This would cause grain price fluctuations in the capital.
The Ye family likely wouldn’t stand by idly either, but what could they do? They could only protect her father when the matter broke out, at most saving his life. His official position would certainly be revoked, with no chance of reinstatement.
Court matters were not for women to interfere in, so she couldn’t do anything openly. But she could still do some things privately.
What puzzled Gu Jin Chao most was that Chen Yan Yun had passed her a note. Why would he help her? Or rather, help the Gu family? He was a member of Zhang Ju Lian’s faction!
If she understood why Chen Yan Yun wanted to help her father, perhaps she could find a breakthrough through him to protect her father’s official position.
Gu Jin Chao couldn’t help but recall her previous life when she had just married into the Chen family. Chen Yan Yun had been very good to her then. On the second day after their marriage, he had accompanied her as she dressed and went to pay respects to the Chen matriarch. Although he didn’t speak much to her, he protected her everywhere, and no one looked down on her.
But this period lasted only about a month before he stopped coming to her quarters and even stopped visiting any concubines. He lived a clean and disciplined life, even abstaining from meat and alcohol.
Once she happened to see a string of agarwood Buddhist prayer beads on his left hand and thought he must have started believing in Buddhism. But in this life, she realized those prayer beads had been on his hand all along.
What was Third Master Chen thinking? What were his intentions? If he wanted to help the Gu family, why didn’t he explain clearly, leaving only the four characters “Granary Affairs Director”? Was it because he was still part of Zhang Ju Lian’s faction and couldn’t openly explain this matter?
Gu Jin Chao felt a headache coming on. Dealing with Third Master Chen was countless times more difficult than dealing with Ye Xian. Ye Xian’s actions were quite predictable; he would do whatever he wanted to do, acting entirely according to his own heart. But what about Chen Yan Yun? What was he thinking? Did his actions have long-term goals? She had no idea.
This man!
She put down the small embroidery frame and asked Qing Pu to bring some cooling oil.
After a while, Cao Zi Heng came back from the outer courtyard and told Jin Chao what they had discussed: “…Second Master Gu’s opinion is to keep things quiet for now. They will first go speak with the Marquis of Chang Xing to see if his household can resolve this. If not, they’ll have the master submit a statement explaining the situation. At worst, he’ll be dismissed from office and investigated. If the Marquis of Chang Xing’s family is willing to protect him strongly, there might still be room for maneuver.”
This was indeed the only path the Gu family could take.
But Gu Jin Chao felt that they weren’t completely without options. At least through Third Master Chen, there might still be a way.