696 The Lin Family Twenty Years Ago
Hearing Zhou Xingfa’s explanation, Lin Deshan was full of doubt, and he asked seriously, “Brother Zhou, tell me the truth, did Governor Zhou embezzle the disaster relief money? ”
Zhou Xingfa immediately shook his head sternly, ” no, brother Lin, trust me. He definitely didn’t! The person who reported him is definitely making things up!”
Lin Deshan lowered his eyebrows and asked in confusion, ” if he didn’t, why did he suddenly get reported? The person who made the report must have evidence to convince the Emperor and make him furious.”
Zhou Xingfa shook his head, ” I don’t know. However, I believe that my brother would not do something stupid like digging his own grave. Brother, he’s in-law with the crown prince’s uncle. In other words, he’s on the crown prince’s side. If he really embezzled openly, not only would the Emperor not forgive him, but the Crown Prince would also not be let off easily. Moreover, once this matter came out, the Crown Prince would definitely be greatly affected, which would likely affect the crown prince’s great cause. Therefore, my brother would never be so stupid as to embezzle the disaster relief money.”
Lin Deshan listened and didn’t say much. He seemed to be deep in thought.
Although Zhou Xingfa said that, everyone knew that money could move people’s hearts.
Since ancient times, many corrupt officials had embezzled money for disaster relief.
Lin Deshan was familiar with Zhou Anping. He used to think that Zhou Anping was an ambitious and hot-blooded young man.
It was just that they hadn’t seen each other for more than 20 years, and he didn’t know if this person’s personality had changed.
Hence, Lin Deshan could not just listen to Zhou Xingfa’s side of the story and believe Zhou Anping.
Lin Deshan said, ” brother Zhou, let’s not talk about this for now.”
Zhou Xingfa also knew that Lin Deshan might not believe everything he said. He said, ” yeah.”
Then, the two of them fell silent.
After a while, Lin Deshan said to Zhou Xingfa, ” brother Zhou, I know that the only way to save the Guang juyuan auction house is to take out a shocking treasure.”
As he spoke, Lin Deshan took out a sandalwood box and said, ” this is a thousand-year-old ginseng. Brother Zhou, please take it!”
When he heard that the item in the box was a thousand-year-old ginseng, Zhou Xingfa was so shocked that he stood up from his seat. He looked at Lin Deshan in disbelief and said in a trembling and excited voice, “Brother Lin, is this… this… a thousand-year-old ginseng inside? ”
He had guessed that Lin Deshan would bring him some kind of extremely precious treasure to help guang juyuan tide over its crisis, but he had never thought that it would be a thousand-year-old ginseng, a treasure that everyone in the royal family wanted.
Lin Deshan nodded. “that’s right. It’s a thousand-year-old ginseng!”
Zhou Xingfa’s hands trembled as he opened the box. Then, he saw a fully grown white ginseng lying inside.
Zhou Xingfa’s Zhou family had been running the auction house for decades and had long trained a pair of sharp eyes. With one look, he confirmed that this was a genuine thousand-year-old ginseng.
With this thousand-year-old ginseng, Guang Juyuan auction house’s reputation could be reignited, and their business could return to its previous prosperous state.
However, Zhou Xingfa immediately put down the box and pushed the ginseng back. He shook his head and said, “Brother Lin, no, this is too precious. I can’t accept it!
Lin Deshan pushed the things back to Zhou Xingfa and said, “Brother Zhou, this is a small gift from me to help you. You can’t reject it!
Zhou Xingfa looked at the box, and his eyes showed that he was tempted, but he still refused, ” brother Lin, I know that this thousand-year-old ginseng is your Lin family’s heirloom. How can you sell it? So, brother Lin, you should take it back. I’ll think of another way!”
Lin Deshan shook his head with a bitter smile. “brother Zhou, I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood. This thousand-year-old ginseng isn’t my Lin family heirloom. When my father was sick, I gave the Lin family’s heirloom to him. However, my father was angry at me for wasting the Lin family’s heirloom and refused to take it. After that, the remaining ginseng roots were stolen by that servant.”
Zhou Xingfa was even more surprised when he heard that.
“then, this…” he wanted to ask about the origin of this ginseng.
Lin Deshan smiled and said, ” Oh, this ginseng is from my precious granddaughter.”
Zhou Xingfa was taken aback. He said in surprise, ” your precious granddaughter? Brother Lin… you actually have a granddaughter?”