Su Wen’s thoughts were simple. He needed information!
No matter what era it is, intelligence was always important.
He was even very sure that Su Changqing had his own source of information.
However, establishing his own intelligence network was not an easy task for Su Wen.
Because that would require too much manpower and would cost a lot.
However, these three gangs were different. They had all sorts of people and were very well-informed. Although most of the people they interacted with were people of low status, they could still obtain a lot of useful information.
Such information was useless to them but it might be useful to Su Wen.
This was also the reason why Su Wen paid a discount compared to normal intel gathering. Of course, the accuracy and authenticity of the information would be ‘discounted’ as well.
But it was better than nothing.
As for the guards, even though they were fired, Su Wen understood that many of them had no say in this matter.
To put it bluntly, if the officials above you asked you to collect money, who would dare not to?
After receiving it and sending it up, who wouldn’t take the leftovers?
No one was a saint. They needed to feed their family.
Even though the entire office underwent investigation and was judged guilty of corruption, it didn’t mean that these people could not be used.
At the very least, these people were familiar with the Eastern District.
They had their own sources where they could obtain information.
They were practically ready-made intel gatherers.
“Yes, this subordinate understands.” Sun Wei cupped his hands in salute.
He felt relieved. With Su Wen as his backer, no one would dare to take revenge on him.
After the three of them left the teahouse, Du Ping cursed, “What bad luck! How much money can we earn from this rule?”
Sha Qinghe laughed coldly. “What, you still dare to not follow? You might think you’ve lived long enough, but I haven’t!”
Du Ping replied, “Why don’t we go somewhere else? Let’s stay far away from this evil young master.”
“Hur hur.” Wang Dalong ridiculed bluntly, “Do you really think that you’re some kind of outstanding person who can do whatever you want wherever you go? With our skills, who do you think we are? It’s already good enough that we have something to eat now. If this fellow really wants to take us down and frame us for some crimes, you and I will have to bear the consequences!”
Wang Dalong’s eyes flashed with a glimmer of wisdom as he spoke. He then smiled and said, “Actually, there’s also one benefit to this.”
Du Ping sneered, “What benefits? That Su fellow’s heart is so black that he wants us to follow the rules, but he doesn’t even want to cover for our business. He’s clearly saying that he won’t care even if we’re captured by the Patrol Office!”
Wang Dalong smiled and said, “It’s true that he won’t care if we get captured by the Patrol Office, but can the guards really find out where our secret places are? Especially these newcomers, how much do they know about the Eastern District?
Taking a step back, even if we get caught, there’s no need for the three of us to take the blame. We’ll at most lose some money. The advantage I’m talking about is that from today onwards, you and I will no longer have to worry about our territories getting stolen!”
“This Su Wen is an understanding person. He knows that private business cannot be banned. He wants us to act according to the rules and gather information for him. But if we are really destroyed, wouldn’t his arrangements be wasted?”
“Therefore, if anyone really wants to extend their claws into our territory in the future, we will look for him! He definitely won’t leave us in the lurch! Besides, isn’t he here to collect intelligence? Let’s do it well. Not only can we earn money, the better it is, the more this fellow values us. As time passes, we might even be able to succeed in asking him for assistance.” Wang Dalong’s eyes flashed with excitement.
It had to be known that the battles at the bottom level were also a bloody storm.
After hearing Wang Dalong’s words, Sha Qinghe praised, “Dalong, you’re indeed worthy your name[1]! Why didn’t I think of that? If that’s the case, we might have some gains.”
After calming down and seriously pondering, Du Ping’s thoughts changed and he excitedly said, “If that’s the case, then it’s pretty good. Let’s save up for a few years and try to get closer to that Su fellow. If he agrees, then we might be able to send our sons to the government and get an official position. At that time, we might be able to make a comeback!”
The lower class had their own schemes.
They naturally did not have the courage to fight with Su Wen.
Su Wen initially thought that they would only agree with him on the surface, but in the end, Su Wen did not expect that these people would actually come up with the idea of cozying up to him!
Su Wen also came out of the teahouse. Sun Wei bid farewell to him and went to settle his own matters. There were many things that he needed to do, such as contact his past subordinates and also set up a residence as a place to gather information.
Meanwhile, Su Wen stretched his back as he got onto the carriage.
He still had to go to the palace. After all, the Emperor had just asked the Seventh Princess to call for him yesterday. If he were to sneak away again, Emperor Zhou would really get furious this time.
“This emperor is too petty. Can’t I have something to do? Is he happy, chaining me to the palace every day?”
Thinking about how he was going to spend another boring afternoon, Su Wen couldn’t help but curse.
In the royal palace, Su Wen met up with Emperor Zhou and bowed weakly. “Greetings, Your Majesty!”
Emperor Zhou smiled. “Why? You don’t like coming?”
“Like, I really love to come here,” Su Wen said against his will.
“It’s good that you want to come. Wanrou, you’ll still be responsible for teaching him court etiquette today. His bow just now doesn’t have any style at all. He still has to practice properly!”
Zhao Wanrou smiled lightly and replied, “Understood.”
She then led Su Wen out of the main hall.
Emperor Zhou shook his head and said, “This Su Wen is overly mischievous. He is even more sly than Su Changqing when he was young.”
As he spoke, he sank into his memories. “When I first met Changqing, he had cheated me of twenty taels of silver. But now, I can no longer return to that point.”
As one got older, one tended to like reminiscing about the past.
“Also, there recently seems to be a rumor that I am looking for Changqing to discuss the reconstruction of the Secret Shadow Guard. Who spread this?”
The old eunuch in the shadows shook his head as he replied. “I don’t know. There are always many rumors floating in the imperial court.”
Emperor Zhou frowned and said, “What’s the benefit of spreading this rumor? Are you going to elevate Su Changqing and make me afraid? Or are they going to use this opportunity to set a trap for him and make him take the initiative to interfere in the matters of the Secret Shadow Guards? Or are they planning to make me reveal information about the Secret Shadow Guards?”
The old eunuch was silent. He couldn’t guess just what those people behind the scenes wanted.
Emperor Zhou thought for a while and suddenly laughed. “It can’t be that Su Changqing passed it on himself, right? I’ve already confiscated more than half of my family’s wealth. He doesn’t have any money to spend and thus wishes to accumulate wealth again?”
The old eunuch could tell that Emperor Zhou was joking. He also smiled apologetically and said, “That’s possible. Recently, there have been quite a few people giving gifts again to Minister Su!”
Emperor Zhou was puzzled. “You said that Su Changqing is famous for accepting gifts but not doing anything. Why are these guys so shameless? Rushing to send him money?”
Emperor Zhou really could not figure this out. Instead, the old eunuch had some guesses. “Although Minister Su has always accepted gifts without doing anything, he has done a lot of things to deal with dissidents. Giving gifts might not necessarily be to ask him for help, but it should be to express goodwill as they are worried about the re-establishment of the Secret Shadow Guards. This can also allow them to ferret out any possible information.”
That hypothesis sounded quite plausible. Even at this moment, there were still people queuing up to give Su Changqing presents at his doorstep.
Su Changqing didn’t avoid them. He left his gate wide open and he didn’t refuse anyone. However, most of them couldn’t even see Su Changqing. They just handed the list of gifts they were sending to the guards.
In the eyes of the common people, Su Changqing’s corruption had reached insane levels.
[1] Dalong also means great dragon
