Hu Buwei and his wife listened with their hearts pounding in alarm. How audacious Ji Feihua was, to utter such treasonous words. Yet he was not wrong. In the reigning emperor's eyes, Hu Buwei was merely a minister loyal to the Retired Emperor.
Ji Feihua said, "His Majesty has discovered that most of the key figures involved in the Chu Yuanhai Case have already died. Most of Chu Yuanhai's friends and relatives in this world have also been killed. The deaths of the Chu family's friends and relatives might be explicable, but those who handled Chu Yuanhai's case rendered meritorious service. Why did misfortune befall them as well?"
Hu Buwei gave a bitter smile. "I know little about what happened back then."
Ji Feihua said, "When Chu Yuanhai served as Minister of Revenue, Great Kang had the Four Great Merchants: Xu, Jia, Zhou, and Wu. Of these, the Xu Family was the wealthiest."
Xu Fengyi's expression shifted slightly. She had not expected Ji Feihua to turn the conversation so abruptly toward her maiden family.
Ji Feihua continued, "The Xu Family had extensive businesses in silk, porcelain, and medicinal herbs. But what truly made its fortune was securing exclusive operating rights over the Jiangnan Salt Transport."
Xu Fengyi said, "Governor, these are ancient matters. The Imperial Court revoked the Xu Family's right to trade in salt thirty years ago."
Ji Feihua said, "Of course I know that. And the man who advocated revoking the Xu Family's operating rights was Minister of Revenue Chu Yuanhai. From then on, the Xu Family's business in Great Kang plummeted. Old Madam Xu decisively changed her business strategy, severing every business connection with the Imperial Court and shifting her commercial focus overseas. She assembled fleets, crossed vast oceans, and established trade relations with the Southern Ocean