The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 195

As the vice president of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce, Zhang Ziyi's family alone possessed over ten million taels of silver, not to mention copper coins. Even Zhang Ziyi himself was not entirely sure how much he had.

Although he was only the vice president, his wealth far exceeded that of the president, Li Xian.

Li Xian was a smart man who knew that one shouldn't be too greedy, otherwise the money wouldn't be his. He usually let Zhang Ziyi take the lead, and even when Zhang Ziyi stole the limelight from him, he wasn't angry at all.

Li Xian knew very well that the more Zhang Ziyi jumped around, the worse his fate would be.

For a businessman, being too greedy is never a good thing. The money they earn is just being held by these officials; very little of it actually belongs to them.

Li Xian clearly understood this point, but Zhang Ziyi did not.

In reality, although Zhang Ziyi's family had an outrageous amount of money, it was never his own money. Many officials tacitly agreed to let him keep it, but Zhang Ziyi did not have this self-awareness and treated the money as his own.

Little did he know that he was already seen as a money bag by others.

Zhang Qinshun was among them, so naturally he wouldn't just stand by and watch Zhou Chu take away the money that belonged to him.

He never expected Zhou Chu to be so shameless, gathering hundreds of Imperial Guards to surround him and claiming that he was abusing his power.

"Lord Zhou, please stop making false accusations. We are just discussing the matter at hand today."

Zhang Qinshun said angrily.

"Alright, let's stick to the facts. Paying back debts is a matter of course, isn't it? Lord Zhang, I find it strange. Is it wrong for me to collect debts?"

Zhou Chu countered with a question.

"I would like to ask why Mr. Zhang owes Lord Zhou so much money? I have heard that Lord Zhou forced Mr. Zhang to sign these documents."

Since Zhang Qinshun came, he must have been prepared.

"Oh? Mr. Zhang, did I force you to sign these two IOUs?"

Zhou Chu looked at Zhang Ziyi beside him and said with a warm expression.

The more Zhou Chu looked at him, the more uneasy Zhang Ziyi felt. However, with so many officials present, Zhang Ziyi figured that even Zhou Chu wouldn't dare to act recklessly.

The main problem is that getting Zhang Ziyi to hand over so much money is worse than killing him.

"I was indeed forced by Lord Zhou to sign these two IOUs."

Zhang Ziyi forced himself to remain calm.

He originally thought Zhou Chu would be furious upon hearing this, but the reality was beyond his expectations. Instead of being angry, Zhou Chu's smile became even brighter.

"Since Mr. Zhang puts it this way, then please explain in detail the circumstances under which you were forced by this official to sign these two IOUs. Let's start with this one."

As Zhou Chu spoke, he took out the IOU for 20 million guan and showed it to everyone.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ziyi's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately realized that something terrible was about to happen. It turned out that Zhou Chu was waiting for him here.

But since things had already come to this point, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.

"This photo was taken when Lord Zhou first arrived in Suzhou Prefecture. I was drunk and confused, so I led a few servants to block the gate of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Zhang Ziyi was clever; he chose to downplay his responsibilities, whether by being drunk or by using his servants.

“Mr. Zhang, you can’t just say whatever you want. At the time, the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) was there. There are countless witnesses who can testify to what happened.”

As Zhou Chu finished speaking, his smile vanished, and his expression became extremely serious.

“Zhang Ziyi, you led hundreds of wicked servants to besiege the Embroidered Uniform Guard with the intention of rebelling. Now the Embroidered Uniform Guard is going to arrest you and bring you to justice.”

Upon hearing Zhou Chu's words, Zhang Ziyi was dumbfounded, as was Zhang Qinshun. In the past, Zhang Ziyi had used euphemisms when describing the events, fearing reprimand from his superiors, which led Zhang Qinshun and the others to believe that it was not a big deal.