Chapter 122: Corruption
“Last year, there was a famine in Langzhong and there were riots. Your Majesty sent Your Highness to Langzhong in person to allocate relief funds, appease the rioters, and rebuild the city of Langzhong that was destroyed by the riots.
Your Highness did keep an account book at that time, but he immediately handed it over to Your Majesty when he returned to the capital."
Su Qingqing thought for a moment, "Should it be handed over directly to His Majesty or should it be checked by the Ministry of Revenue?"
"The Minister of Revenue at the time was a member of the Zhenguo Gong Party. Your Highness did not dare to give the account book to the Ministry of Revenue, fearing that they would interfere, so he handed it directly to Your Majesty."
Su Qingqing's heart sank.
This in itself is a hidden danger.
Without going through any formalities, the account books were submitted directly to His Majesty, and at that time His Majesty must have praised Rong Que for doing a good job.
But as satisfied as the emperor was with the matter at that time, he would be just as angry if he found out that there was a problem with the account books handed over by Rong Que.
Of course there was no problem with the account books submitted by Rong Que.
The one with the problem is the one found by the Shaoqing of Dali Temple.
"What is Gao Xinyang's identity?"
Minghe immediately said, "He was originally a guard in the palace. Later, when Your Highness established a palace, the Queen Mother gave him to Your Highness."
The one sent by the Queen Mother, then he is the Queen Mother’s person?
Minghe knew what Su Qingqing was thinking, and hurriedly said: "Although he was sent by the Queen Mother, he was already your Highness's man before he came. This man is absolutely loyal to your Highness, no less loyal than the servant and Minglu."
"Are you sure?" Su Qingqing confirmed.
Minghe nodded.
Last night, Su Qingqing and Rong Que did not return home all night. When Su Qingqing came back this morning, Gao Xinyang had already been arrested.
When she found out that Gao Xinyang had been taken away, she immediately secretly searched Gao Xinyang's residence.
She felt relieved because she found nothing, but a ledger appeared in the house she had just searched...
There is a ghost in this house.
Not only is there a traitor, but this traitor also has considerable power.
Who could it be?
What are they going to do?
Su Qingqing squinted her eyes and looked at the bright sunlight in the yard.
The sunlight was cut into pieces by the dense leaves above, floating in the breeze, with white light dancing.
For a moment, the whole courtyard was filled with the rustling sound of breeze blowing through green leaves.
Since Gao Xinyang is loyal to Rong Que, he would definitely not say that Rong Que is the mastermind behind the scenes.
The reason why the other party chose Gao Xinyang as their target was to kill two birds with one stone.
Not only did he deal with Rong Que, but he also got rid of the disobedient chess piece.
Gao Xinyang was given to Rong Que by the Queen Mother. He should have belonged to the Queen Mother, but he betrayed her...
When did the Queen Mother discover it?
Does she have any leverage over Gao Xinyang?
If so, is this evidence enough to make Gao Xinyang betray Rong Que?
If he betrayed, Rong Que would become the person who killed his father and the king.
If there is no betrayal, then that ledger will work.
Su Qingqing's thoughts raced, her eyes flashed, and she asked Minghe, "Who else is in Gao Xinyang's family?"
Minghe immediately said, "No, his hometown suffered a disaster a few years ago and his family starved to death."
"Does he have a lover now?"
Minghe thought about it and said, "Probably not."
"He must have an important person. Dig deep to find him. If we find this person, we can save your Highness!"
Minghe's face changed and he turned and left.
At the same time, Su Qingqing instructed Jixiang, "Go to the Broken Red Tower and ask Mother Du to look for it as well."
Jixiang took the order and went.
In the quiet courtyard, Su Qingqing sat on the beauty couch with a silk handkerchief covering her face. She carefully sorted out the clues she had.
Footsteps sounded, approached, and then stopped.
Su Qingqing asked through the silk handkerchief, "Your Highness is back?"
Rong Que sat down next to Su Qingqing, sighed, grabbed the teacup, poured a cup, and drank it in one gulp. He felt that his nerves, which had been tense all day, finally relaxed at this moment.
"The Second Prince is completely fine and awake now."
Su Qingqing was still lying with the handkerchief covering her face. "It will be fine if it is not. Otherwise, it will be more trouble than gain."
Rong Que smiled helplessly, "You also think it's him?"
Su Qingqing didn't answer, but just said: "Do you know about the account book?"
Rong Que hummed, leaning back in his chair tiredly, his head slightly raised against the back of the chair, looking at the blue sky above, "Originally I thought that the regicide and patricide case was the focus, but now that the account book has come out, I am not so panicked."
"If they want to charge you with regicide and patricide, Gao Xinyang must speak up. They are not sure of this, so they came up with a backup plan."
Rong Que pinched his brows and said, "If you want to convict me, not only can you ask Gao Xinyang to speak, but you can also make Gao Xinyang shut up forever."
Su Qingqing was stunned.
Yes.
Once Gao Xinyang dies, all the blame will be directed at Rong Que, because he is the only one who has the motive to kill and silence him.
Su Qingqing sat up straight, her silk handkerchief fell and fluttered on her legs. She caught the scattered light above her head and looked straight at Rong Que, "In that prison... "
Rong Que said: "People have been arranged in the prison. Gao Xinyang's martial arts skills are not bad either. It is not that easy to kill him."
"But...it's not that difficult."
After these words were spoken, neither of them spoke again.
This situation is indeed tricky.
Imperial study.
The Grand Secretary and the Deputy Grand Secretary knelt in front of the table.
The emperor flipped through the account book in his hand.
The atmosphere in the imperial study was so depressing that it made people shudder.
"Your Majesty, this account book was found in Gao Xinyang's room. When I found this account book, the man named Minghe in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince tried to fight with me for it."
There was a bloody mark on the face of the Dali Temple Shaoqing from the crumbs crushed by Minghe, which provided evidence for his statement.
But the emperor didn't look at him.
The emperor's eyes were all on the account book.
When mobs in Langzhong rioted, the imperial court issued relief grain and money. As the Ministry of Revenue was in a tight spot at the time, the emperor even used his own private treasury.
result……
According to the account book, Rong Que embezzled a total of 100,000 taels of silver during that disaster relief operation.
"Evil son!"
The emperor slammed the table, picked up the teacup beside him and threw it out, "Call that beast to me!"
The eunuch chief received the order and carried it out immediately, but when he reached the door, the emperor changed his mind and said, "I don't want to see him. Let him think about it behind closed doors!"
The chief eunuch agreed and went out.
The emperor's eyes were filled with rage. As soon as the eunuch chief steward left, he said to the Supreme Court official, "Interrogate Gao Xinyang for me. When the crown prince went to Langzhong to investigate a case, Gao Xinyang went with him. Investigate for me!"
The Dali Temple Minister followed up and said, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince not only handled the disaster relief last year, but now he is also in charge of the Beijing Guard Battalion and the Patrol. According to the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue last year, the military expenses of the Beijing Guard Battalion and the Patrol were higher than those of the Imperial Guard, but the number of people in these places is obviously similar."
The number of people is about the same, but the military expenditure is higher.
The emperor, who had just started to raise a private army, immediately thought of the word "private army".
The Dali Temple official observed the emperor's expression and continued leisurely, "Also, at the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Revenue was short of military funds, so it used raw silk to pay off the debts to the Beijing Guards. At that time, the raw silk given by the Ministry of Revenue was all high-quality goods sent from Suzhou and Hangzhou. However, I heard the Ministry of Revenue's scribe mention it, and I remember that it was low-quality silk when I copied it at that time."
