Chapter 064 Storytelling
"What did you find out?"
“I only know that the reselling of military rations was handled by Zhao Chunming alone, and even Liu Yisheng was not aware of it.
From the third to the fifth day of every month, he would leave the camp and would probably go meet buyers during this time.”
Su Qingqing raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise, "Every month?"
Gao Tiankuo nodded. "Every month, the amount given out each time is not much, but if we give it out every month, when it accumulates, it is indeed a lot."
"But, a large part of the military rations in the Xishan camp are stored and ready to be sent to the battlefield at any time..." Su Qingqing was suspicious at this point and suddenly remembered something.
The year before last, she led her troops to war. More than half of the military rations delivered to the barracks were mixed with stale rice, all of which was moldy.
Fortunately, the cook discovered it in time and did not give it to the soldiers.
Otherwise, after consuming such rations, they would poison themselves to death when the enemy attacked.
"You mean, he took the new grain allocated by the court and resold it, and then bought old grain at a low price to fill the granary?"
Gao Tiankuo nodded, "They are all parasites. With them around, what else can the court expect?"
This is what people who march and fight hate the most.
They are fighting bloody battles on the front line, and every soldier is in danger of their own death every day, but they still march forward bravely.
But what about the people in the rear?
The news she wanted to know was obtained. After comforting Gao Tiankuo, Su Qingqing covered her face with the skin again and left.
Mother Du sent her out.
"Yesterday, a small flag officer from the West Mountain Camp went to the Broken Red Tower. The person drinking with him was Du Zisong, the steward of the Rong'an Marquis's Mansion. They stayed in the Broken Red Tower for more than two hours before dispersing. The host was Miss Xiangqin, who is not one of us. It is difficult to find out what they talked about. I just heard Xiangqin's maid complain that she broke four or five vases in the room."
If the vases and decorations in the girls' rooms were damaged, the girls would pay for it themselves.
Su Qingqing sneered, "Keep watching Du Zisong. Also, if the Young Master of Rong'an Marquis's Mansion goes there, keep an eye on him as well."
Mother Du smiled and said, "The prince has been here before, but he has not come again since he got married. Don't worry, if he comes, we will definitely keep an eye on him."
Su Qingqing said nothing more.
It was getting dark when we left here.
As night falls, the streets of Kyoto are crowded with people.
Looking at the people coming and going, Su Qingqing felt a heavy heart, but it was not entirely because of what happened in the Xishan camp.
She didn't know how to face or how to deal with Su Jinghe.
I can't keep her locked up like this, but if I let her out, based on what Su Jinghe said before...
What if this fool becomes her enemy!
If Jinghe only thinks of Su Yunhe as her father, once she has completely dealt with everyone in the Su family, will Su Jinghe seek revenge on her?
Why can't a biological sister be like her brothers who have been with her through thick and thin?
Gao Tiankuo confirmed her with just one glance!
"Have you heard that the Poplar Teahouse has launched a new storybook today, and it seems to be about the accounts of the Prince's Mansion."
“Is this true or false?”
"I heard that it seems to be true. Accountants from several stores went to listen and said that the accounts were fake, but they were very realistic. The records were also quite detailed. They should have come from the Prince's Mansion."
"This is punishable by death, this belongs to the Prince's Mansion!"
"Whether he will be beheaded or not, I don't know. Who knows who spread the news ?"
Hearing the discussions, Su Qingqing raised her eyes and glanced at the two people who were whispering. Was the matter of the account book progressing so quickly?
Following the two men, Su Qingqing headed towards the Huyang Teahouse.
The lobby of the teahouse was already full of people, and outside the teahouse there were crowds of people waiting to hear the storyteller explain the accounts of the Prince's Mansion.
This sounds much better than the storybook.
The storyteller did not waste much time. He just clapped the wake-up stick and started talking. In the first round, he talked about buying rice, flour, grain and oil in the kitchen.
Su Qingqing stood in the crowd with a smile on her face.
At that time, she asked Aunt Xu to pick one at random, but unexpectedly Aunt Xu chose the one about the kitchen maid.
As soon as the storyteller started talking, the audience started to talk loudly.
"Not only can the accountant see that this account is fake, I can see it too. In this whole capital, who can sell vegetables for as much as one tael of silver per pound? One tael of silver can buy a whole cart!"
"Not to mention the vegetables, even the flour isn't that expensive!"
"Shh, stop shouting, I can't hear you clearly."
"They said they bought the vegetables from Zhao's Vegetable Shop. Every day, the people from Zhao's Vegetable Shop deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to them."
"Bullshit! The Zhao family's vegetable shop is right across from my shop. When have they ever sold vegetables for one tael of silver per pound?"
"Hey, hey, hey, I remember now. The eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhao family's vegetable shop seems to be the sister of the daughter-in-law of the kitchen manager of the Prince's Mansion."
Among the crowd of onlookers, there were many who had good relations with the Zhao family’s vegetable shop. After hearing this, they did not dare to alarm others and hurriedly left the teahouse and rushed to the Zhao family’s vegetable shop.
The owner of the Zhao family's vegetable shop immediately rushed to the Prince's Mansion to find the kitchen manager.
At this time, the old woman had already heard the news and was standing in front of Yu Liang in fear, "Manager Yu, you can't just stand by and watch me die. The Crown Princess is trying to kill me!"
In front of Yu Liang, there was not only the kitchen manager, but also several other managers, and everyone had a grim look on their faces.
We had discussed it together at the beginning, and all the account books that were submitted were fake.
Originally, everyone was thinking that even if the Crown Princess found out something, she couldn't prove it as long as she couldn't produce solid evidence. Even if she could prove it, the law couldn't hold everyone responsible, and they couldn't move all the managers in the Crown Prince's Mansion.
The Crown Prince didn't even touch them, so what does the Crown Princess matter?
But who could have imagined that the Crown Princess directly threw the kitchen manager's account book to the public, and now the news is spreading all over the capital.
Soon, people all over the world will know that it costs one tael of silver to buy a pound of vegetables in the Prince’s Mansion.
The emperor will also know.
This is a royal scandal!
Yu Liang glanced at the managers and said expressionlessly, "I only have one solution. You guys should send the real account books to the Crown Princess right now..."
"What if she pursues the deficit?" a manager asked anxiously, "The deficit is not small."
Yu Liang sneered, "No matter how much you have lost, make up for it yourself before Her Majesty checks on you. The most Her Majesty can do is reprimand you for being careless."
The other managers were immediately unwilling to pay, "How can we come up with such a large sum of money?"
" Yeah, you can't just take it whenever you want!"
"Can't take it out?" Yu Liang glanced at them.
These people, not to mention corruption, none of them have any private property outside.
"If you can come up with it, you can use the money to buy your life. If you can't, then I have no choice but to wait for the Queen to punish you. Or maybe you have a better way.
Besides, to be honest, I gave you the real account book yesterday."
Several managers opened their eyes wide at once, were stunned for a long time, their shoulders slumped, and bitterness appeared in each other's eyes.
Yu Liang had already handed over the real account book, and no matter how unwilling the other managers were, they had no better solution for the time being.
The kitchen maid's face turned green. "What should I do?"
