eurekapd Chapter 337 Lure him with benefits
Chapter 337 Lure him with benefits
After being locked in the woodshed for two days, Qin Man begged to see Magistrate Qin.
Magistrate Qin also wanted to see how his tough daughter was doing, so he agreed to have someone bring her over.
The haggard Qin Man immediately knelt on the ground, crying and pleading, "Daughter knows she was wrong! Please, Father, give me another chance! I will definitely try my best to please Lord Shen! Please, Father!"
Looking at his daughter, whose pride he had worn down, Magistrate Qin felt a little better.
"What could have been a joyous occasion turned into a painful lesson for you. Fine, have your mother give you a proper bath and grooming, and tonight you'll go and serve Lord Shen well!"
Qin Man kowtowed repeatedly, tears streaming down his face, looking extremely grateful.
Madam Qin, having received her husband's orders, reluctantly gave her a beating and then had her taken to Shen Qingque's courtyard.
Having learned from Miss Liu's experience last time, the Imperial Guards dared not let anyone in casually now. They couldn't afford to take responsibility if someone exposed them again!
So, in the late autumn weather, Qin Man, dressed in thin clothes, stood at the gate of the courtyard waiting for Shen Qingque to return.
Shen Qingque didn't return until midnight. He saw a woman standing at the gate of his courtyard, but he didn't even glance at her before stepping into the courtyard.
Qin Man said anxiously, "Lord Shen! I've seen the princess!"
Shen Qingque then paused in his tracks and turned to look at her.
Qin Man immediately knelt on the ground and pleaded, "Lord Shen, please, for the sake of the princess, give me a chance to serve you!"
Shen Qingque withdrew his gaze and continued walking into the house.
Qin Man immediately crawled on her knees and hugged the other man's leg, pleading, "My lord, please save me! If I cannot serve you tonight, my father will beat my mother and me to death! Please!"
"What does your life or death have to do with me!" Shen Qingque waved her away without any pity.
Just then, Qin Man suddenly pulled out her hairpin. The Imperial Guards' eyes narrowed, thinking she was about to assassinate them, and they all drew their swords.
Qin Man had never seen such a scene before. He was so frightened that his hands trembled uncontrollably, and the silver hairpin fell to the ground.
Shen Qingque's gaze fell on the silver hairpin. He raised his hand, and the Imperial Guards sheathed their swords. Someone picked up the hairpin and handed it to Shen Qingque, "Master, the murder weapon!"
Shen Qingque glanced at Qin Man, "Send her back."
The Imperial Guards were stunned. This was the first woman to try to climb into her master's bed and then be sent back unharmed!
Qin Man immediately kowtowed, "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"
Qin Man was personally escorted back by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Magistrate Qin was quite surprised that his daughter had returned unharmed, even though the Embroidered Uniform Guard had brought her back.
Before the Imperial Guards left, they said, "Miss Qin is dressed too lightly; she'll catch a cold."
Whether these words came from the Embroidered Uniform Guard themselves or from someone Shen Qingque relayed, Magistrate Qin's attitude towards his daughter improved.
They didn't make things difficult for her after she was sent back, and planned to talk about it tomorrow.
Shen Qingque returned to his room, unscrewed the silver hairpin, took out the letter inside, read it carefully, and then burned the letter with a candle flame.
This is a letter that Xie Liwei asked Yongle to deliver to him. The letter says that the batch of crossbows that the Ministry of War lost earlier has just appeared in Yanzhou!
Although Yanzhou is located in the Jiangnan region, it lacks the prosperity of Jiangnan and even has a somewhat impoverished feel of the southern border.
Although Yanzhou is a vast region, it has a small population. In addition, it borders Donglin to the east, and there are occasional disturbances on the border between the two countries. Therefore, the eastern part of Yanzhou has always been occupied by military cavalry units, and there are no prosperous cities.
Those crossbows actually appeared in Yanzhou?
It seems this matter involves quite a lot.
Xie Liwei reminded him that Dongfang Shi's temporary residence in Shangjing City and refusal to leave might be related to these crossbows. He suspected that someone had stolen and sold the crossbows of Da Chen to Donglin, which explained why those crossbows had appeared in Yanzhou.
How he ended up being discovered on Jianzhou Road remains a mystery.
After receiving the news, Shen Qingque sat at his desk for a long time.
He couldn't understand why someone would sell such an important weapon as bows and crossbows to Donglin, since they were symbols of military power!
Can one truly live with a clear conscience after making money through treason?
Shen Qingque mentally reviewed all the officials in Yanzhou. Since crossbows could pass through Yanzhou, it meant that someone in Yanzhou was opening a back door for them, colluding with each other.
He wanted to find out who was so audacious as to commit such a traitorous act of collusion with the enemy.
This isn't just about losing your head; it's about your whole family losing their lives. The other party must be extremely cautious.
I'm afraid I'll find it difficult to make any discoveries, but I'll do my best and leave the rest to fate.
Meanwhile, the night in the capital city seemed to be wrapped in a huge black cloth, and even the stars in the sky could not be seen.
In the darkness, several tall, thin figures nimbly vaulted over the wall like cats, landed in the courtyard, and then, led by their accomplices, entered a house.
"To make a long story short, the Ministry of War is under martial law right now, so my men can't deliver the goods to you. Don't bother reminding me in Dachen; even if you do manage to get me involved, it won't do you any good!"
Dongfang Shi sneered, "You took so much silver from Donglin, and now you want to renege on your debt?"
"I can return the silver to you, but I can't get the weapons!" The man acted like a dead pig that wasn't afraid of boiling water, like a piece of meat that was impossible to eat.
Enraged, Dongfang Shi slammed his fist on the table. "Do you think that in the Great Chen Dynasty, without you, I have no one else to rely on?"
The man hidden in the darkness shrugged indifferently. "I have no one to care for, so I dare to do something like this. I just don't know how many ways the next person who promised the prince will get the stuff out of here."
Dongfang Yi sneered, and the men around him brandished their gleaming weapons at the man.
The man said calmly, "In business, I still have some integrity. There was nothing I could do if the Emperor's men discovered that shipment! How about this, let's do another deal. I'll find a way to ship you another two thousand knives, okay?"
Dongfang Shi scoffed lightly. If it weren't for the fact that Da Chen's iron smelting technology was superior to Donglin's, he wouldn't have bothered to secretly trade weapons with the people of Da Chen.
The Eastern Lin Kingdom possesses abundant iron ore resources, but its iron smelting technology has always lagged behind that of the Great Chen Dynasty, resulting in frequent military defeats. He had always wanted to remedy this weakness in the Eastern Lin Kingdom, and thus, over the years, he had traded numerous weapons with the man before him.
But simply using finished products is not a fundamental solution; Donglin will never be as good as Dachen.
"This time, I don't want the finished product. Get me a blacksmith; I want to take him back to Donglin."