Having said that, the major shareholder didn't wait for Lu Xunguang's reaction but calmly began to tell his story.
In the old days, the Ping'an Bank was at the height of its prosperity, and the horse caravan dominated the business routes. The major shareholder was in high spirits, deeply in love with his wife, Mrs. Lu. The members of the horse caravan highly praised him for his righteousness and regarded him as an outstanding leader.
At that time, he was ambitious and intended to connect the business routes of the horse caravan to every corner of the land where people lived.
Later, there was a flood in the south of the Yangtze River. To make matters worse, after an epidemic, there was a salt shortage.
The salt - transport official was incompetent, and the official salt allocated by the court for disaster relief couldn't be delivered in time. The common people were in dire straits and on the verge of collapse.
In the face of this national crisis, the major shareholder stepped forward without hesitation. He volunteered to lead the bank and the horse caravan to take on the task of transporting salt, which was widely praised by the people and made him famous overnight.
Everyone was looking forward to the arrival of the life - saving official salt brought by the brave men of the horse caravan. However, Zheng Ji came back in a sorry state, covered in wounds, bringing shocking news.
When transporting the official salt across the river, they accidentally hit a hidden reef. All the official salt sank into the water along with the big ship. Many brave men of the horse caravan were killed or injured. Only a few good swimmers managed to survive.
Although the people were skeptical about this tragic situation, they had nothing more to say. They could only complain and live in despair.
Strangely enough, for some reason, no official salt could be transported into the southern provinces ever since.
Not having sugar was not a big deal, but people would go crazy if they had no salt for their meals.
Thus, private salt emerged. At first, the trade was carried out secretly. But later, seeing that the people were scrambling to buy it and the salt - transport official turned a blind eye and was unable to manage, the private - salt dealers became more and more blatant.
In just a few days, the price of private salt soared from fifty wen per catty to four hundred wen!
The official salt only cost twenty wen. Such a high price made the people furious.
Coincidentally, news came from the government prison that a bandit from the horse caravan, unable to bear the torture, finally confessed that it was indeed the horse caravan and the Ping'an Bank that had stolen the official salt in order to sell private salt and make a fortune.
The people in the south of the Yangtze River were extremely angry. They openly blocked the red - lacquered gate of the southern branch of the bank.
At that time, the major shareholder was far away in the capital, being interrogated. Only Mrs. Lu, the mistress of the family, was left to support the Lu family. She had to come forward to give the people an explanation.
But how could the impatient people listen to her explanation?
Mrs. Lu was bound without a word and thrown into the water prison, suffering a great deal.
The emperor was extremely angry and intended to destroy the bank and behead the major shareholder to set an example.
This was the well - known private - salt case that terrified everyone.
Fortunately, a young imperial inspector was appointed in a critical moment. After thorough investigations, he finally found out that the real culprit of stealing the private salt was a group of water bandits from the canal - transport gang, who had plotted against the Ping'an Bank.
He spared no effort and led people to destroy the lair of the salt - smugglers and water bandits, retrieving all the official salt. Only then was the emperor pleased, and the major shareholder managed to survive.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Lu had been soaked in the bone - chilling cold in the dark water prison every day, which damaged her health. Soon, she contracted tuberculosis and passed away.
Zheng Ji, the leader of the horse caravan, in order to protect Mrs. Lu, was beaten by the angry people and broke a leg bone, leaving him with a limp.
He searched everywhere but never found the spy hidden in the horse caravan.
Not long after, it was rumored that the major shareholder and Zheng Ji began to suspect each other. Zheng Ji blamed the major shareholder for failing to protect Mrs. Lu as promised and making him disabled, while the major shareholder blamed him for poor management, allowing bandits to sneak into the horse caravan and almost bringing disaster to the bank.
The two parted on bad terms. Zheng Ji left in a fit of anger and even disbanded the horse caravan, letting the brothers go their own ways.
He went into hiding, and there was no trace of him in the rivers and lakes anymore. The Ping'an Bank, although it managed to survive, was severely damaged. Being feared by the court, it lost its former glory.
The most pitiful one was Mrs. Lu. Her illness was too severe to be cured, and at a young age, she couldn't escape the fate of withering away.
After her death, the major shareholder soon married Lian Ji, the daughter of a ship merchant who had "generously contributed" and assisted the imperial inspector in investigating the private - salt case. This became the talk of the town.
Li Ying had already heard some fragmented news about the private - salt case from Yan Lianzhi and Su Buchi.
Hearing the major shareholder's detailed account today, she finally understood the whole story.
She frowned, recalling the night when the horse caravan gathered. The major shareholder had said that marrying Lian Ji was a necessary move agreed upon by him and Mrs. Lu. She also remembered how the canal - transport gang had sunk the fishing boats in the village that day, and how A Man had been intercepted by the water bandits of the canal - transport gang who had framed the horse caravan.
All these were the common tricks of the canal - transport gang.
A sudden thought flashed through her mind, and she blurted out, "Major shareholder, the private - salt case must have been a scheme by Lian Ji and the canal - transport gang, where they accused others while being the real culprits!"
As soon as she said this, Lu Xunguang immediately understood. Angrily, he slapped the table and stood up.
"They are so bold! Father, since you know it's all a trap, why do you just sit and wait for death?"
This sudden call of "Father" made him feel a bit embarrassed when he came to his senses.
The major shareholder relaxed his eyebrows, with a faint look of joy in his eyes.
He slowly drank a cup of warm wine and then calmly said, "After the private - salt case, in order to eliminate dissidents, Lian Ji pushed out all the members of the canal - transport gang who disagreed with her as scapegoats. Those who remained were all cruel and loyal to her."
"Zheng Ji and I have been investigating for many years, but they are always very cautious and never show any flaws. Without evidence, how can we clear the names of the bank and the horse caravan?"
He paused for a moment and continued, "After the private - salt case, the salt - transport official committed suicide out of fear of punishment. Inspector Lin won the emperor's favor after this incident. He colluded with Lian Ji secretly and has now taken in all the remnants of the canal - transport gang. Since Lian Ji is dead, only I can testify against them."
"Back then, your mother knew she didn't have much time left after being injured in the water prison. She knew that Lian Ji was eager to take her place. But with Inspector Lin as her backer, we merchants had no evidence and were unable to resist. So she discussed with me and we decided to play along with the scheme."
Lian Ji was suspicious. Only when she saw with her own eyes that the major shareholder had abandoned his wife for her, causing Mrs. Lu to die with regret, would she let down her guard.
Not content with this, the so - called "tonic medicine" she served the major shareholder every day was just to weaken his vitality, making him weak and easy to control.
The major shareholder knew all this clearly, but he was already determined to die. Why should he fear a little poison? So he took the medicine every day without any defense, pretending to be a muddle - headed man lost in the gentle embrace, luring Lian Ji to let down her guard and show her true colors.
"I doted on Lian Ji so much that the whole world thought I was heartless."
"If the world knew that I had different intentions from Lian Ji, who would believe my accusation against the water bandits of the canal - transport gang?"
He stared fixedly at Lu Xunguang and said in a deep voice, "I originally thought that when the time was right, I would confess my guilt voluntarily and testify against the remnants of the canal - transport gang, and perish together with the powerful Inspector Lin."
"Everyone knows that you and I have a bad relationship. Brave and upright people who despise me will surely come to join you. Since I am notorious, even if you want to clean up the problems in the bank, the world will only praise you for your decisiveness and will never blame you for being ungrateful."
The major shareholder paused for a moment, and his usually calm voice was rarely tinged with regret.
"A Xun, I thought I had everything under control, but I miscalculated one thing. I thought that as long as I scolded you as a 'good - for - nothing' and showed my disappointment in you, Lian Ji would not be on guard against you. But I didn't expect that she would still attack you."
"A Xun, it's Dad's fault."
Before he finished speaking, Lu Xunguang had already knelt down on the ground with a thud.