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墨書 Inktalez
After nearly half a month of busyness, Shang Sibian finally wrapped everything up. Once he was done, he went to the prison to see Ma Wen.
With a tone full of regret, he sighed, "Old Ma, you’ve made a mistake. Who doesn’t like wealth? It’s enough to have a little; why couldn’t you just stop?"
Ma Wen sat cross-legged in his cell and glanced at him without saying a word.
"Are you blaming me?"
"No, I’m not blaming you," Ma Wen replied. "It was my own fault. As you said, greed becomes an addiction once you get a taste of it."
"I expanded too much. I wanted to pull back, but the people below were unwilling. I had to keep going. With me in charge, at least things wouldn’t get too chaotic. If I abandoned it, not only would I face their backlash, but the common people might suffer even more."
"Now that you’ve discovered everything, things are back on track."
"Tell me, what did you do afterward? Especially regarding the common people—was there any compensation?"
Shang Sibian felt his face flush with embarrassment. "There was no compensation. Most of what was confiscated went into His Majesty's private treasury. Even if I wanted to compensate them, the Ministry of Revenue wouldn’t have the funds. I tried to hint at it to His Majesty, but he acted as if he didn’t hear me."
"What I could do was use the excuse of changing the land calculation method in court to send the correct land contracts. The area remained the same, but the acreage decreased, so taxes were reduced."
"For those who never thought of selling their land, it was fine. A few who wanted to sell caused a bit of an uproar, but it wasn’t large-scale and was quickly suppressed by the local government. Overall, nothing major happened."
"Then..."
Shang Sibian continued, "While His Majesty was in a good mood, I pleaded for your family. He agreed to spare your life; only you will be executed while your family has been sentenced to exile."
Ma Wen smiled. "Thank you very much for that."
Seeing his smile ignited an inexplicable anger within Shang Sibian. "We’ve known each other for decades; I still know what kind of person you are. Making such a mistake shouldn’t just be about greed. For days I've been puzzled over this—Ma Wen, what was it really about?"
"It’s just a fixation in my heart; don’t ask. I don’t want to involve you in this. Today’s farewell is like you sending me off; after this, forget about me completely."
The Xuande Emperor had become increasingly stubborn and more like his brother. Shang Sibian thought that if he wanted to retire peacefully, he should stop opposing the Xuande Emperor. If he wanted money, just give it to him—there would always be someone else to stand up for him. Engaging in arguments would only make him a target.
One day, on a moonless night with strong winds, Black Cat walked along the wall while occasionally glancing back at Sang Qingxiao following behind her.
"You’re so slow," Sang Qingxiao teased.
She smiled back. "I’m not in a hurry; just taking my time."
Li Cu rolled her eyes and jumped into Sang Qingxiao's arms. "I came here to accompany you on this errand while you're so leisurely."
"The house isn’t going anywhere," Sang Qingxiao replied. "Besides, you’re not here just to accompany me; you’re here looking for fun! I told you there’s no entertainment for you today."
"But you're here treasure hunting! I want to see what treasures are buried in that house. Ma Wen is looking for something too; you’re using court officials to force him into prison just so he’ll clear some space for you."
Sang Qingxiao smiled as he retorted, "He ended up in prison because he was greedy for the people's wealth. Tch, if he hadn't harmed your son, you probably wouldn't even mention him. Ha, do you really care about eliminating harm for the people? If you truly had that intention, you would have reported him long ago!"
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