Chapter 1453
Taking the Blame
Chapter 1453 Taking the Blame
"Maybe they were delayed on the way? Let's wait a little longer!" Li Wei forced a smile.
Seeing that Li Wei was in low spirits, Lin Hao smiled and comforted her:
"Alright, no need to rush. I doubt anyone will come during the day. Your girlfriends will probably arrive in the evening!"
"After all, the second brother has accumulated a lot of influence over a long time. Even if they wanted to come, the young masters wouldn't easily agree!"
Yuan Ying asked with some concern, "Aren't you worried at all? The eldest son's power and influence are astonishing, and he seems rather difficult to deal with."
"Don't worry, it's not that I'm arrogant, but I really don't take the second brother and his ilk seriously!" Lin Hao said calmly.
"You're worried because you only see the power of the second-in-command, but you haven't known my trump card!"
"To put it bluntly, if I really took a hard line, the position of Chief of the Sichuan River would be within my grasp. I'm just too lazy to do it, and I don't want to start a massive bloodbath!"
"The key is that none of these people are particularly capable. I don't even need to lift a finger; they can destroy themselves!"
"Wouldn't it be more interesting to play with them slowly?" Lin Hao said with a faint smile.
There's a saying that goes, "It is endlessly joyful to struggle with the heavens, endlessly joyful to struggle with the earth, and even more joyful to struggle with people."
"You mean, in your army~!" That was all Yuan Ying could think of, but what could she do when her vision was limited to this world?
Lin Hao wasn't referring to the military, but rather to his extraordinary abilities.
In this world without supernatural powers, he is virtually invincible. No matter how many people there are, they cannot harm him, and if he makes a move, mountains collapsing and the earth splitting open are commonplace.
In fact, even without extraordinary abilities, Lin Hao had ways to win over those powerful figures.
"Hehe, I won't tell you!" Lin Hao smiled mysteriously.
"Hmph!" Yuan Ying rolled her eyes at Lin Hao, her gaze truly alluring and captivating.
They waited until dark, but no one came. However, given Lin Hao's earlier words, they were not disappointed.
After dark, everyone was starting to feel the strain, because still no one had come.
However, at this moment, Lin Hao instructed Liu Baoquan to prepare all the semi-finished dishes, because the guests would be arriving soon.
As expected, the first to arrive was Shangguan Jing. She was dressed in red, carrying a long spear with two jars of wine on it, and walked in with a radiant smile.
Then, Dong Haitang and several of her close female friends from the solar term also came over.
Finally, the fifth brother, Yin Qi, arrived, along with the seventh brother and his wife, the third brother, Yin An, the eleventh brother, Yin Zai, and the ninth brother, Yin Han.
What surprised Lin Hao the most was that Lao Jiu, Yin Han, also came. To be honest, Lin Hao really didn't expect her to come.
Lao Jiu is an introverted character who is not good at socializing. He yearns for freedom, longs to escape arranged marriage, and pursues free love. He is a neutral character who leans towards the main characters.
At this point, it is already commendable that these people risked offending the second-in-command, the future "new leader of Sichuan," by coming here.
Then everyone raised their glasses in celebration, and the room was filled with laughter and joy!
Unexpectedly, while they were eating, the fifth brother, Yin Qi, suddenly vomited and then fainted.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"Are you alright, Fifth Brother?"
"what happened?"
"Quickly, summon the imperial physician!"
Everyone was startled.
"No need to call the imperial physician, I'll take a look myself. Everyone, move aside." Lin Hao pushed the group aside and began to take their pulses.
In fact, Lin Hao knew what was going on, and he had even reminded Yuan Ying about it that morning.
But what was bound to happen still happened, leaving Lin Hao speechless. He then used his skill to investigate and found that no one was behind it; Lao Wu's food poisoning was just a coincidence.
Because the matter was too minor, the servants did not report it to their superiors, so Yuan Yingcai did not pay attention to it.
However, at this point, it wouldn't be appropriate to directly say that Lao Wu had food poisoning, so it was still necessary to take his pulse as a formality!
"Sixth Brother, how is Fifth Brother?"
"Yes, Sixth Brother, do you know how to treat illnesses? Why don't we call the imperial physician over?"
Seeing the concerned and anxious looks in their eyes, Lin Hao said, "It's alright, step aside, I'll help him with the acupuncture!"
This matter must not be known to outsiders, otherwise it will inevitably cause trouble. It will not be Lin Hao who will cause trouble, but the second prince and other court officials who will take this opportunity to deal with him.
Although Lin Hao could handle it, it was better to solve the problem directly than to waste energy dealing with them.
In the original story, Li Wei used water spinach juice to detoxify herself at the end. However, Lin Hao felt that Li Wei's highlight moment was too outrageous, so he simply did it himself.
The group walked to the side with some doubt. Lin Hao had them lie on the edge of the bed and stick their heads out, while he asked a maid to place a basin there.
Then he took out silver needles from the house and pricked a few acupoints. After that, Yin Qi felt a cramp in his stomach.
"Ughhhhh~!" Yin Qi immediately started vomiting uncontrollably.
After he finished vomiting, Lin Hao turned him over, inserted several needles into his body, and transferred some of his vital energy to him.
"Sixth Brother, how is it? Is Sixth Brother alright?"
"Yes, Sixth Brother, how is Fifth Brother?"
"What's wrong with Fifth Brother?"
"Alright, alright, your fifth brother is fine, everyone don't need to worry!" Lin Hao quickly stopped everyone from talking one after another.
After calming down, Lin Hao looked at the dishes on the table and said:
"It's supposed to be that amaranth and soft-shelled turtle are incompatible, but what's going on? Amaranth shouldn't be on the list, right?"
After saying that, Lin Hao pretended to be puzzled by Liu Baoquan, who quickly lowered his head and replied:
"It was supposed to be romaine lettuce, but the delivery person said they were out of stock, so they substituted amaranth. I thought they were all pretty much the same, so I forgot to inform my wife!"
"I...!" Yuan Ying immediately wanted to apologize, but Lin Hao stopped her.
"It's alright, this has nothing to do with you. It's because of Liu Baoquan, so you don't need to make excuses for him!"
"Liu Baoquan, go down and receive ten strokes of the cane as punishment. I hope you will remember this lesson and never do it again!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Baoquan immediately knelt down and said gratefully, "Thank you for your forgiveness, young master. I will never make such a mistake again!"
Lin Hao knew that Yuan Ying was kind-hearted and wanted to help Liu Baoquan get away with it, but Lin Hao also understood that he couldn't let Yuan Ying get involved.
Otherwise, she will definitely be criticized in the future and will not be able to hold her head up in front of other ladies.
Therefore, Lin Hao directly punished Liu Baoquan to clear Yuan Ying's name, while ordering his men to hold Liu Baoquan back.
After comforting Yuan Ying, Lin Hao looked at Shangguan Jing and said, "Fifth brother is fine, and this time it can be considered a blessing in disguise, so don't worry!"
"A blessing in disguise? What does that mean?" Shangguan Jing asked in confusion.
"Yes, Sixth Brother, how did Fifth Brother turn misfortune into good fortune?"
"Yes, what does that mean?"
"Alright, no need to ask anymore. You'll find out when you meet Fifth Brother in a while. It will definitely surprise you." Lin Hao smiled mysteriously, keeping everyone in suspense.
The fifth brother used to be a weakling, but now that Lin Hao has infused him with the power of his blood and qi, it will directly affect his physique and increase his strength considerably.
Next, Lin Hao apologized to everyone, saying that it was his lack of foresight that caused Lao Wu to suffer from food poisoning, and he hoped that everyone would not make a fuss to avoid causing trouble.
The group was very magnanimous, waving their hands to indicate that everything was fine. Lin Hao then instructed his servants to remove the items from the premises.
Then everyone found a table to sit down and continued to chat, drink, and make merry.
Fortunately, we had prepared a few extra tables in case of unexpected guests, and they came in handy at this time.
During the meal, everyone was surprised that he knew medicine and asked him about it. Lin Hao explained that he was not feeling well, so he had learned a little from someone.
A short while later, the fifth brother woke up, lively and energetic. Everyone asked him about it again with concern.
Yin Qi smiled and said it was nothing, she was just so hungry that her stomach was watering. Then she quickly found a seat and continued eating.
Despite some setbacks, the opening banquet was successfully completed.
After the guests left, Yuan Ying apologized to Lin Hao again, and Lin Hao pulled her into his arms and comforted her softly.
After the opening banquet, the second brother learned that all the other brothers except the fourth and tenth brothers had gone to Lin Hao's opening banquet. He was so angry that he smashed his favorite cup to pieces.
This time, because of Lin Hao's warning, Li Wei did not let Hao Jia come over, so Hao Jia was still trusted by the second brother.
But in order to vent his anger, he called over the fourth brother to discuss how to stir up trouble among the people in the night market.
Because the operation of the night market disrupted the lives of ordinary residents nearby, and with some people stirring things up, problems immediately arose in the market.
The vendors' shouts disturbed nearby residents, and a fight broke out between the two sides.
Meanwhile, the ministers who had been offended by Lin Hao's debt collection efforts, at the instigation of the fourth prince Yin Jun, jointly wrote a memorial impeaching him, wanting to give him a "profound" lesson.
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After the opening banquet, Lin Hao went to court again.
In the imperial court, the new Sichuan governor slammed the memorial in his hand aside and looked at Lin Hao, saying:
"These memorials are all impeaching you for mismanaging the night market, and for the many measures taken to promote the night market, which have drawn complaints from everyone in the Household Registration Department!"
"I have said long ago that opening up markets requires extreme caution. We must not take things for granted. If it were so easy, why couldn't we do it before?"
"Sixth Young Master, you should think about the reasons carefully when you get back!" the new Chuan Master said with a hint of disappointment.
Lin Hao knew that the new Sichuan chieftain felt that he was becoming too prominent and affecting the authority of the second son.
However, to continue reforming the market, it is necessary to keep those veteran officials in check, so we are prepared to sacrifice him, the instigator, to temporarily quell the situation.
Lin Hao muttered to himself, originally intending to explode, but then he suddenly remembered something: Shangguan Yan was about to give birth.
So let's just let them have their way and let the new Chuanzhu punish him by making him reflect on his mistakes. That way, he can also find an opportunity to teleport over and spend some time with Shangguan Yan.
Thinking of this, Lin Hao said, "Reporting to my lord, the night market has just opened and is not yet on the right track. It is normal for the Household Registration Department to be somewhat unaccustomed to it. We just need to wait a little longer. Besides, the Household Registration Department has been around for many years!"
Before Lin Hao could finish speaking, the new Chuanzhu interrupted him.
He even said, "If we can't appease the officials, how can we talk about the future? Who will be willing to wait with you? This will truly affect the reform of the market system."
Upon hearing this, many court officials below began to discuss it, most of them criticizing Lin Hao, especially the officials from the Household Registration Department, who hurled insults at him.
Lin Hao smiled knowingly. A few corrupt old ministers were nothing more than a handful; he had plenty of ways to deal with them.
Then Lin Hao replied: "I wonder how Your Majesty intends to quell the public anger?"
The new Chuanshu stroked his beard and said:
“You are still young and do not have the responsibility of managing the household affairs department. You are not qualified to command respect, and you have also committed the crime of being reckless. I think it would be inappropriate to let you continue to manage the market!”
"Your Majesty is wise. The Sixth Young Master's idea is good, but some oversights are inevitable in its implementation. It is understandable that the Household Registration Department is dissatisfied. In my opinion, at this critical juncture, the Sixth Young Master should take the initiative to resign!"
Yin An came out and said loudly, then whispered to Lin Hao, "You should lay low for a while!"
However, Lin Hao was not going to let him have his way. He stepped forward and angrily said, "If there are problems with the market, I am willing to be punished, but destroying the market is not wrong!"
As soon as Lin Hao finished speaking, all the officials in the court were in an uproar, while the second and fourth princes smiled smugly.
Of course, Lin Hao got what he wanted.
Subsequently, Liang Shi, accompanied by Lin Hao and the decree of the new Chuanzhu, arrived at Jingyuan and surrounded the entire garden, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving.
Read aloud.
"By imperial decree, the Sixth Young Master has been disrespectful and negligent in his duties. The Emperor hereby orders him to remain in his residence to reflect on his actions. From this day forward, everyone in the entire estate is confined to the residence!"
After reading the decree to seal off the garden and close the mansion, Liang Shi looked at Lin Hao and said, "Sixth Young Master, this matter has indeed wronged you!"
"Alright, I understand what you mean, Master Liang. Please, Steward Liang!"
Lin Hao smiled slightly. This was just as he had expected. What did he have to feel wronged or sad about?
"Yes, this old servant takes his leave!" Liang Shi nodded in satisfaction, then turned and left.
After Liang Shi walked out of the gate, the guards outside closed the gate and then affixed a seal.
"What's going on?"
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Yuan Ying and Li Wei looked at Lin Hao with worried expressions.
"Alright, my two ladies, it's nothing serious!" Lin Hao put his arms around his two ladies, who were still worried and didn't pay much attention to Lin Hao's actions.
After Lin Hao led the two ladies back to their room, he explained in a low voice:
"I was implicated in the market incident, and that old fox Anqun wanted to get rid of me. Then the lord wanted me to take the blame and appease those old ministers!"
"So we need to keep quiet for a while!" Lin Hao said, and then he actually laughed.
"Are you alright? You're under house arrest, how can you still laugh?"
Yes, are you alright?
Lin Hao hugged the two of them tightly and said with a smile:
"Don't worry, I expected these things!"
"really?"
"Of course!" Lin Hao said with a smile: "This is actually a good opportunity; we can do it together!"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Ying and Li Wei blushed instantly and exclaimed in unison, "No way!"
She tried to break free from Lin Hao's embrace, but Lin Hao said, somewhat speechless:
"Um, what I mean is, I need to arrange some things for you!"
"What, you're not even willing to do this?" Lin Hao said, feigning anger.
"Oh, yes, are you going to assign us tasks?"
"I thought...!"