When the topic of the ancient book lost years ago came up, Li Xingzhi finally perked up. He took the book and began to flip through it.
Yan Mingli murmured softly, "Could it be that this ancient book was lost by Master Li?"
"Could it be that the Shen family used the embezzled money to buy the ancient book that Master Li lost?"
The Dragon King: [First, there was a valuable jade ornament, and now there's an ancient book. The evidence should be conclusive, right?]
Lin Yu: [It's been a long time. Just these things aren't enough. Shen Qingshan could argue that he bought them with his own money.]
Immortal Qingyun: [We still need more evidence.]
Looking at the subtitles, Shen Baozhu whispered, "Can't we use the truth - telling talisman? Make grandfather tell the truth, and then he won't be able to argue."
Immortal Qingyun: [No. Shen Qingshan is old and in poor health. If he uses the truth - telling talisman, he might die of qi and blood deficiency after telling the truth.]
The Dragon King: [Shen Qingshan was beaten up and still didn't die. Maybe he's lucky and won't die. Use it, use it.]
Lin Yu: [Forget it. Third Brother Baozhu has already found some clues. There's no need to use the truth - telling talisman. We don't want him to die and escape punishment.]
Shen Baozhu finally remembered what she had forgotten, "The demonic fruit! We forgot to feed the demonic fruit to grandfather!"
The Dragon King: [Demonic fruit?]
The Dragon King: [Demonic fruit!]
The Dragon King: [I forgot too, little cutie. Wait for me. I'll go pick it now.]
Li Xingzhi simply flipped through the ancient book and confirmed that it was the one he had lost!
He couldn't hide his excitement. He placed the book on his chest and let out a long sigh, "The unfilial descendants have finally retrieved the ancient book. I'm worthy of our ancestors!"
The Prince of Rui didn't dare to disturb Li Xingzhi. He quietly pulled Yan Mingli aside to explain.
Back then, the disaster was severe. Every region was afraid that the capital would requisition their grain for disaster relief. All the prefects tried every means to feign poverty. The disaster victims were truly pitiful, but they also had to consider the well - being of their local people. No one could be sure if the disaster would spread further, and grain was the life - saving talisman for the local people.
In this situation where everyone was on edge, the emperor was far away in the capital. Even though he was extremely worried, there was nothing he could do.
The Prince of Rui came up with a plan. He asked everyone to donate items, and then sent people to find wealthy merchants with these items. The merchants would be encouraged to donate grain in exchange for the items as rewards.
Yan Mingli listened intently, "Was this plan effective? How did you come up with it?"
"Alas, at that time, I thought that the more grain we brought, the more escorts we needed. The grain donated by the capital might not even be enough for the grain - transporting people's consumption on the way. So I came up with this idea." The Prince of Rui let out a soft sigh. The donated items had mysteriously disappeared, and he didn't know how effective the plan was. "The wealthy merchants in the areas around the disaster - stricken regions were rich and had plenty of grain. It was best for them to contribute money and effort."
"This plan not only saved costs and time but also got the wealthy merchants to donate grain."
Lin Yu: [This plan is indeed good, but what does it have to do with Master Li's book?]
At first, no one was optimistic about this plan. The Prince of Rui went from house to house to persuade people. He just made up a story and asked them to donate something.
Li Xingzhi was a friend of the Prince of Rui. At that time, he had just started teaching and wasn't well - known yet. To help the Prince of Rui, he donated the ancient book passed down from his ancestors.
With this precious family heirloom as an example, the people who donated items later became more serious.
What the Prince of Rui didn't expect was that Li Xingzhi's precious family heirloom was lost before the items were transported out.
Qiuqiu's eyes widened in surprise, "The treasure was lost!"
The Prince of Rui nodded with a solemn expression, "Yes."
Shen Baozhu connected the information and summarized, "The lost treasure has appeared. Brother Mingli, where did you get the treasure from?"
Facing Shen Baozhu's question, Yan Mingli touched his nose and whispered, "I took it secretly from Shen Qingshan's study."
Although Yan Mingli whispered, Li Xingzhi still heard it. He was just about to roll up his sleeves to settle the score with Shen Qingshan when he found that the sleeves he had rolled up when he beat the Prince of Rui earlier hadn't been put down yet.
He paused for a moment but didn't lose his momentum, "Mingli, come with me. Let's go settle the score with Shen Qingshan!"
"Master Li, we may not be able to. Shen Qingshan has been locked up alone because of embezzlement." Yan Mingli's tone was gentle. He was a bit afraid that Li Xingzhi would get angry and hurt himself.
The Dragon King: [I have a question. This person was very heart - broken when the ancient book was lost. Why wasn't he heart - broken when he donated it?]
Lin Yu: [It's different. Donating it was for disaster relief and helping the people. Losing it was due to improper storage. These two situations can't be compared.]
Learning that Shen Qingshan had been locked up, Li Xingzhi showed anger on his face. Even so, he wouldn't let Shen Qingshan off!
Li Xingzhi handed the ancient book to the Prince of Rui and walked away menacingly.
Watching his back, the Prince of Rui sighed, "Those who do evil will surely bring disaster upon themselves. Li Xingzhi is a petty man. If Shen Qingshan dared to take his things, he'll surely be skinned alive."
Immortal Qingyun: [The Prince of Rui's idea back then was good. Shen Qingshan has made a bunch of enemies for no reason.]
Lin Yu: [Immortal, what do you mean?]
Immortal Qingyun: [Back then, people donated items for disaster relief, like the military commander and Li Xingzhi. The former's cherished long - spear has gone missing. As soon as he got a little bit of information, he came to seek revenge.]
Immortal Qingyun: [The latter found his family heirloom that had been lost for many years and also blamed Shen Qingshan.]
Immortal Qingyun: [There may be a few others in the court like these two who are dissatisfied with Shen Qingshan.]
The Dragon King: [Makes sense. Old Man Gu's idea was really good.]
The Dragon King: [I have another question. Since the emperor doesn't like Shen Qingshan, why didn't he just kill him? He's been dragging this on for so many years.]
Lin Yu: [It's just dislike. I remember that the emperor was dissatisfied with Shen Qingshan. It's the kind of situation where he could kill him or not. Since he couldn't find a suitable excuse, he just kept him alive.]
Lin Yu: [The emperor needs to convince the public. He can't be like the Dragon King, beating someone up just because he doesn't like them.]
While Shen Baozhu was looking at the subtitles, the Prince of Rui was examining the wooden hairpin.
After seeing the valuable ancient book, even though he couldn't see anything special about the wooden hairpin, the Prince of Rui still put it in his bosom, planning to ask a few friends about it.
Yan Mingli quietly walked up to the Prince of Rui and asked curiously, "How will Master Li make Shen Qingshan suffer? Make him infamous? But once this incident comes out, Shen Qingshan will surely be despised. Does Master Li have other tricks?"
"Tell us, old man. Make Baozhu and me happy."
The Prince of Rui gave Yan Mingli a strange look, then lowered his head and said to Qiuqiu, "Qiuqiu, you should just play with Baozhu on weekdays. Stay away from Mingli, or he'll make you stupid."
"He's been studying under Li Xingzhi for half a year and still doesn't know that Li Xingzhi's eldest disciple is the vice - minister of the Supreme Court. He's so stupid."
The Dragon King: [I know this official position. It's quite high!]
The Dragon King: [I once read a storybook about the minister of the Supreme Court and a female constable. It was so interesting.]
Lin Yu had been curious about this for a long time: [You're the Dragon King. Can you still read storybooks written by people?]
The Dragon King: [Sure. Some people burn storybooks for their deceased relatives and friends. If a ghost hasn't been reincarnated after reading the storybook, they'll resell it.]
The Dragon King: [Usually, the ghost guards buy them and then resell them. I bought several storybooks from the ghost guards.]