Chapter 385: Something fishy
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhang Tong’s back was covered in sweat. He braced himself and pretended to be calm. “I only dared to let my family bring the white flour away after asking for Lord Qian’s permission.”
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask Lord Qian!”
Previously, Qian Tu was only a small bailiff leader who had been ordered to buy food from the Syrians. He had performed well, so he was appointed as the Chief of Food. He was in charge of checking the quantity of the food. The batch of food that had just arrived from the Imperial Court was all checked by him.
With the establishment of the Carefree Kingdom, Qian Tu’s value was also rising day by day.
After being summoned by Cui Shize, he seemed very calm. After bowing to Cui Shize, ho seemed to have made sufficient preparations in advance. He took out an accounting book from his sleeve and said respectfully, “Sir, I’ve checked it. According to the Great Empress’ food safety standards, many of these batches are indeed defective. I couldn’t bear to destroy them just like that, so I made the decision to sell the white flour at a low price to those in need. However, I definitely did not pocket the money. All the records are in the accounting book here!”
“I was also muddle-headed. I thought that I could reduce some losses for the Imperial Court and increase the income of the people, so I did this.” As he spoke, there was a hint of grievance in his words.
Cui Shize took the account book and flipped through it carefully. Qian Tu’s account book indeed recorded the transaction of every gram of white flour in detail.
Qian Tu secretly glanced at Cui Shize’s expression and felt a little smug. He was only doing this for the sake of the Imperial Court. He had privately sold the expired white flour to the commoners at a low price and did not gain any benefits. Cui Shize would at most say a few words and he would be fined a little.
There were three criteria for white flour to be unqualified. It depended on the color, smell, and whether there were bugs.
If one of the three did not meet the standards for human consumption, it would be treated as fertilizer.
Regardless of whether there was anything wrong with the white flour, Qian Tu had already committed a serious crime by selling the white flour to others without permission and only reporting it after the incident.
As an official in charge of food, it was impossible for him not to have such basic knowledge.
There must be something fishy going on.
Cui Shize’s expression was gloomy. Qian Tu panicked and knelt down to plead for himself. “Sir, I saw that their lives were not easy, so my heart softened and I gave them the white flour. If I knew that they were selling it for money, I would definitely not agree!”
There were many commoners who were having a harder time than Zhang Tong’s family. Why did Qian Tu have to give to Zhang Tong’s family out of everyone else? He even instructed the others in private not to make a fuss. It was obvious that they were deliberately in cahoots for benefits.
Cui Shize detained Qian Tu in the cell and turned to the white flour warehouse to check if the white flour had really expired.
The bags of white flour were placed neatly together. Cui Shize randomly selected a few bags, opened them, and checked them one by one. The delicate smell of the white flour was normal, and there were no insects at all.
He walked towards the white flour that had been judged by Qian Tu to be unqualified.
He opened the bag and saw that the white flour was yellow and there were some small insects inside.
How could such a situation happen to the same batch of white flour?
Cui Shize looked for Sheng Huaixuan to ask if there were any fakes when Yu Suisheng was purchasing food.
With Yu Suisheng’s character, it was impossible for him to do such a thing. Moreover, when buying food, it had to be carefully checked.
Sheng Huaixuan found many people to testify that the food that Yu Suisheng had bought was intact until it was transported to the southern frontier.
The food warehouse had been specially dampproofed when it was built. All the food there could be properly stored. There would definitely not be any insects or mold in the short term.
Then there was only one possibility left. Someone had deliberately created the illusion that the white flour was damaged.
Cui Shize squatted down and picked up a small bug to take a closer look. He realized something unusual.
The insect in his palm was a long-nosed rice worm, not a hard-shelled flour worm.
In the past, Cui Shize would definitely not have been able to differentiate between rice worms and flour worms. After farming in Youjia village for so long and chatting with the commoners every day, he knew everything that a farmer should know.
How could a rice worm be inside the flour?
Someone must have put it there on purpose.
Cui Shize found a major loophole. His eyes lit up. He grabbed another handful of white flour and sniffed it. There was a smell of soybean powder.
This meant that the color of these expired white flour was dyed yellow by soybean powder, and the insects had deliberately been put in.
Cui Shize immediately got the soldiers to arrest everyone guarding the warehouse and interrogate them carefully.
With so many white flour in such a state, it was impossible for them not to know.
Some people were very timid and immediately confessed.
It was Qian Tu who instructed them to do this. He ground a bucket of soybean powder and asked them to go to Baye City to get a few bags of moldy rice grains. Ho specially caught rice worms and placed them in the white flour.
They were all small insects. No one would notice them unless they looked carefully.
Moreover, oven if someone noticed the slight difference, they could explain it as the insects climbing into the rice bag.
The evidence was conclusive. The only thing he did not understand was why Qian Tu would go through so much trouble to sell white flour for a little silver.
Cui Shize got someone to bring Zhang Tong up and probed, “Qian Tu and the others have already confessed. You used soybean powder and rice worms to deliberately make expired white flour to deceive others. If you confess now, I can give you a chance to reduce your sentence.”
Zhang Tong widened his eyes in disbelief. When he met Cui Shize’s serious and dignified black eyes, he immediately cowered and pitifully shied away from the responsibility. “Sir, it’s not my fault. It’s all because Qian Tu forced me. He has strong influence and asked me to cooperate with him to make expired flour and sell buns. I had no choice but to obey. If I didn’t listen, he would make things difficult for me. I had no choice!”
“We only got 10% of the money earned from selling buns. The rest was taken by him. Sir, please spare us!”
Cui Shize’s eyes instantly darkened. So that was it!
Qian Tu wanted to gain benefits, but he was afraid that he would attract trouble, so he specially pushed Zhang Tong out as a human shield. Not only would someone specially earn silver for him, but if something happened, someone would also be a scapegoat.
‘We’ve been trembling in fear all day long, and all the silver has entered his pockets. Wo didn’t want to, but how can we beat him! Sir, please spare me this time!11
Only now did he know fear. He was afraid that he would be demoted to a lowly status. He was afraid that he would implicate his entire family to suffer with him. He was afraid that his children would never be able to become officials. He was afraid that the house they were about to move into and the fields waiting for the autumn harvest would also turn into bubbles.
Zhang Tong’s begging did not arouse Cui Shize’s sympathy at all. He had many ways to escape from Qian Tu’s control, but he did not do so.
Until now, he had been covering up for himself and Qian Tu. This meant that he must have taken the initiative to cooperate in this.
Cui Shize ordered someone to bring Qian Tu up for interrogation. As expected, the coercion that Zhang Tong mentioned was actually his idea to curry favor with Qian Tu.
However, he never expected that the bun stall would be personally targeted by the Great Empress and she would order to investigate this matter carefully.
If it were any other official, they might really be able to get away with it..
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦