Chapter 38: Du Ruhui Takes Action

  The Grand Courtyard of the Du Family

  Du Zhao slipped back quietly, passing through the front hall, stretching her head to see if anyone was there, and letting out a soft sigh of relief as she tiptoed towards her own room.

  "Come over! What's wrong with you again?"

  A majestic voice behind him made Du Zhao's figure pause.

  "Dad!" Du Zhao shouted, although he was arrogant outside, but at home, he feared his father.

  Du's master Du Ruping had just come out of his fifth concubine's room when he saw his son with a sneaky look on his face, and a surge of anger rose up in his heart.

  "I heard from others that you've called out all the servants in your household. Have you gotten into some kind of trouble again?"

  Du Ruping got a headache whenever he saw this son, who was usually spoiled and pretended to be well-behaved in front of him, but often caused trouble outside. If the Du family wasn't a well-known and respected family in Daxing, he would have suffered countless losses by now.

  "Dad, you're wrong this time. It wasn't me who provoked others, but rather someone came to our Du family's doorstep looking for trouble with my son."

  Du's master was furious upon hearing this. The Du family in Daxing is also a respectable family, if it were really like that, it would be a provocation to the Du family: "What exactly happened!"

  "It was when the child returned home that he collided with a four-wheeled horse carriage. The child wasn't seriously hurt, but that wicked servant girl actually ordered the household servants to beat up the child and even chased us all the way back to our village of Du Ling to provoke us."

  Du Zhao turned the whole event upside down and portrayed himself as an innocent victim.

  "How dare you!"

  Du Ruping was furious, he usually spoiled Du Zhao the most, now seeing Du Zhao at a disadvantage, the first thing that came to his mind was to protect his younger brother.

  "A thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy, and a little girl around ten years old, brought more than thirty servants, and two luxurious BMW cars." Du Zhao told the situation truthfully.

  Hearing that it was two young children, Du Rufang furrowed his brow. Since they were just kids, he didn't want to show himself, lest he appear to be bullying them. If their parents came out later, he would end up in the wrong.

  Du Ruping glared at Du Zhao with anger and shouted: "With just two small children, you brought so many people to suffer losses?"

  "They are just a bunch of scoundrels, originally nothing but country bumpkins, but Seventh Uncle knows them and has always protected them!" Du Zhao knew that his father and Du Ruhui never drank, and resented Du Ruhui for constantly ruining his plans.

  Du Ruhui has always been the pride of the Du family, and has always been the object of admiration by his clansmen. However, Du Ruping has always been extremely jealous of Du Ruhui. Nevertheless, Du Ruping is good at hiding his true feelings and usually tries to curry favor with Du Ruhui.

  However, Du Ruhui unexpectedly resigned from office and fell from being the hope of the clan to becoming a shame to the clan. It's really a case of fortunes rising and falling. After Du Ruhui's downfall, Du Rufei didn't hesitate to kick him while he was down.

  "A merchant's son, who can afford to buy two BMWs, is still acquainted with Du Ruhui." Du Rufei pondered in his heart, suddenly his eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but stroke his beard, starting to scheme.

  Those who can afford a four-wheeled horse carriage are definitely wealthy merchants. The son of the current master of the prestigious Du family, which has been around for over a hundred years, was actually bullied by the son of a merchant. Whatever the reason may be, it is unforgivable in Du Ruping's eyes.

  If he takes action himself, he can avenge his son, make Du Ruhui lose face in front of him, and also swindle the rich merchant.

  If they were sensible, they would obediently bring gifts to apologize and offer a satisfactory price, everything could still be negotiated. Thinking of this pleasant thought, he burst out laughing: "Seventh brother! You're really getting more and more degenerate, privately resigning from office is not enough, now you've even stooped to the point of colluding with merchants against your own nephew, how will you explain yourself to our clansmen?"

  "Let's go, I'd like to see which road god dares to be arrogant in our Du family."

  Du Ruping waved his hand and was about to gather his men!

  Du Zhao hastily stopped his father: "Father, wait! They have King Jin's golden edict!"

  "Even if it's an imperial edict, it won't work!"

  Du Ruping was filled with desire and his brain was bursting, but after speaking out, he suddenly realized that it wasn't right.

  "You're talking about the Golden Edict issued by His Highness the Crown Prince, worth 100,000 guan each!"

  Du Ruping rushed to Du Zhao's front in one step, grabbed Du Zhao's collar and said urgently.

  "Seventh Uncle has determined that it is a genuine Substitute Golden Edict." Du Zhao had never seen a Substitute Golden Edict before, so he could only bring out Du Ruhui.

  "If Seventh Brother thinks it's true, then it must be!" Du Ruping was jealous of Du Ruhui, but he still had some confidence in his abilities. Moreover, no one dared to use the fake King Jin order to swindle on the streets.

  Du's master fell into a dilemma, since the other party held the golden token of the substitute king, it meant that the other party was one of the wealthy merchants who could afford to spend 100,000 guan, and wealth can communicate with gods. Such a rich family is not a soft persimmon!

  "Although the child is mischievous, he still has a sense of self-awareness. The Taiyuan Wang family also suffered defeat in front of King Jinling of Dai, and for the sake of the family, I had to swallow this breath."

  Du Zhao spoke with a tone of great grievance, with an air of having endured humiliation for the sake of his family, hoping to gain his father's praise.

  "How stupid!"

  Du's father scolded his son severely.

  Ah! Du Zhao was somewhat at a loss, originally thinking he had done enough, yet still inviting his father's blame.

  "Yes, child is foolish, shouldn't have provoked them!"

  "You're really naive, just a merchant thinking that with the King's Token, you can go against the aristocracy? What a joke!" Du Ruping sneered.

  Du Ruping's words left Du Zhao thoroughly perplexed, and he said cautiously: "Father, that is the Golden Order of the Substitute King!"

  "What about the Substitute Golden Edict! Do you know how much resentment the officials of Daxing have towards the Substitute Golden Edict? How much do they detest those wealthy merchants who possess it? If we, father and son, were to take down these arrogant merchants today, the entire city of Daxing would look up to our Du family. Even if it goes to court, who do you think the officials will side with? Besides, we are not in the wrong, they are the ones who came looking for trouble with our Du family."

  Du Ruping paused for a moment and said with satisfaction: "If you can satisfy all the officials, then your official position will be settled!"

  Du Zhao had always wanted to secure an official position, but unfortunately, such positions were scarce and the Du family's resources had all been inclined towards Du Ruhui in the past. Despite his repeated attempts, Du Zhao had not succeeded, so when he heard about this opportunity, his eyes lit up.

  "But what if we offend His Highness, the Crown Prince?" Du Zhao said with some trepidation, for ordinary people still revered imperial power as if it were heavenly might.

  Du Ruping shook his head and said mysteriously, "Do you think that the Crown Prince would really stand up for those merchants? The Crown Prince had previously only issued one Crown Prince Golden Order, but it was met with opposition from all the officials of the Great Prosperity. In anger, he said, 'If you can also donate 100,000 guan, I will give you a Crown Prince Golden Order too!'"

  It's just this sentence, I don't know how it got out, and as a result, more than 50 were sent out. Except for the first one, the others can be said to have been hijacked by these wealthy businessmen with language."

  Du Zhao heard this secret for the first time, suddenly enlightened, and thought to himself: "The king is really lucky, being forced to accept 5 million guan, if it were me, how great would that be!"

  Du Zhao was still a bit apprehensive: "However, the royal family attaches great importance to promises. Since the prince issued the golden edict because of a momentary anger, it's possible that he will also stand up for these merchants who possess the golden edict."

  Du Ruping nodded in approval, glanced at his son and said with a smile: "Your concern is also valid, and this possibility exists. The Du family can't be too adventurous, but those merchants spent 100,000 yuan to get a substitute for the Golden Edict, they must treasure it very much and won't dare to use it easily. As long as we don't push them too hard, they will naturally apologize and compensate us. In this way, we can achieve both benefits and please the officials of the Great Xing Dynasty, killing two birds with one stone."

  Du Ruping couldn't help but burst into loud laughter when he reached the most satisfying part of his speech.

  "What a wise father!"

  Du Zhao couldn't help but admire his father's idea, which was extremely clever.

  The father and son hastily gathered their men, fearing that Yang Yu would escape, and then they would have come for nothing.

  Yang You and Du Ruhui were talking in the carriage, which was moving very slowly. Du Ruping and his son chased out of Duling three miles away and saw Yang You's team.

  On the carriage.

  "This king has long heard that Du Ruhui is a talented person, and indeed the name is not in vain." Yang You praised, many of Du Ruhui's ideas coincided with his own without prior discussion, some were even more practical than his own.

  Du Ruhui repeatedly bowed his hands: "Your Highness is overpraising! I am really ashamed and dare not accept it."

  Yang You suddenly changed his tone and sighed, "You must have also heard about the current situation in Daxing! At present, refugees are pouring into Jingzhao one after another, and the situation is very severe. The king had no choice but to issue such a substitute gold order, and only then was able to collect some money, but unfortunately it was opposed by all officials.

  Currently, the Relief Agency is short of talent. I heard that you, Du Ruhui from Duling, have great abilities and were already recognized by the high officials of Daxing. In fact, my purpose for coming here today was to ask you to take office again and assist me in managing the Relief Agency. What do you think?

  "Yes, Your Majesty!" Du Ruhui responded crisply.

  Yang You couldn't help but be stunned, how could it be so decisive? According to the script, Du Ruhui should have hesitated several times and insisted on inviting him. After performing a grand play of monarch and minister, Du Ruhui reluctantly accepted, and he also played the role of a benevolent king who was eager for talent.

  Actually, if Yang You were an adult, Du Ruhui would probably decline, but Yang You is just a thirteen-year-old prince. If he didn't understand these political courtesies, then Du Ruhui would be in trouble! He still dared to play those tricks.

  Although he was well-prepared, Yang You still felt ecstatic when he heard Du Ruhui agree, and with such a historical figure joining his camp, his future path became even clearer.

  Yang Youxin was overjoyed, and Du Ruhui was the same. Since resigning from office, he had been treated coldly and had experienced all sorts of human emotions and worldly affairs. Today, he had turned his fortunes around once again, how could he not be delighted?

  But his excitement lasted only for one second.

  "Du Ruhui, you double-dealing scoundrel, come out here!"

  "Two little thieves, where are you going to escape!" The voices of Du's father and son came from behind again.

  Du Ruhui's face suddenly turned black! Just one second later, he was 'bent' again.