Chapter 83 Are you interested in that position?

Upon hearing this, Shi Qingchen immediately hesitated. He was calculating in his mind that Liu's dowry was very generous, and using so much money to exchange for only a box of medicine was obviously a huge loss.

If he hadn't bought the Qi and Blood Pills from Yunxi, he might have been able to buy them elsewhere with all that money.

How could Yunxi not know what he was thinking? Seeing his hesitation, she immediately ordered Feng Xun to move the wooden box away, and said meaningfully:

"Perhaps Young Master Shi hasn't made up his mind yet. Why don't we talk about it again when you're absolutely certain he's the one? But the price won't be the same then. I'm afraid the same dowry will only buy half a box of Qi and Blood Pills."

Upon seeing the box being moved, Shi Qingchen immediately felt as if his bones were being gnawed at by ants. He rushed over, grabbed the box of Qi and Blood Pills without regard for his image, and repeatedly said to Yunxi, "I'll buy it, I'll buy it. I'll give you all of Liu's dowry right now."

Yun Xin nodded in satisfaction, then ordered her subordinates to bring paper and pen, and had him sign a sales agreement. After that, she had Qi Jinxiu, who had arrived temporarily, start organizing people to move the dowry.

When the dowry had been mostly moved out, the fire in the woodshed had died down. Because the Shi family's ancestral home was too remote, and the surrounding houses were mostly abandoned, the fire did not cause any unnecessary trouble.

Yunxi took the damp handkerchief from Feng Xun, covered her mouth and nose, and then personally confirmed the charred remains of Lady Liu. She then entrusted all the dowry to Qi Jinxiu for disposal, and returned to the Yong Prince's residence with Qianyu.

She thought that after returning home, she would have to face Gu Nanxiao's jealousy again. After all, in the past, whether she saw Qi Jinxiu or Shi Qingchen, that scoundrel would always make a scene. Moreover, today, she had seen both of them at the same time.

But to Yunxi's surprise, after returning to her bedroom and taking a bath, she saw Gu Nanxiao bring her a bowl of noodles, smiling indulgently as he said:

"I learned from Zisu that today is your birthday, so I cooked a bowl of longevity noodles for you myself. Come and try it, my cooking skills are not bad."

Although it was the original owner's birthday today, Yunxi was actually quite hungry. So she didn't stand on ceremony and sat down at the table to eat her noodles elegantly.

As Gu Nanxiao watched Yunxi finish her noodles and then drink every last drop of soup, he felt as sweet as if he had received a gift himself.

But he still made sure to explain, "It's not that I'm being perfunctory about your birthday, it's just that we can't have a big celebration at the Prince's Mansion. After I marry you in the new mansion in the future, I will definitely hold a grand birthday celebration for you."

Yunxi listened to him talk about the future and his wedding, but she didn't take it to heart at all. However, she didn't want to argue with him about this, so she just gave a faint "hmm".

Yunxi then dismissed all the servants in the room and told him what she had heard from Madam Liu about the state of the Great Yan Kingdom for the next few decades.

Gu Nanxiao frowned more and more as he listened, until his brows were completely knotted together. Yunxi observed his expression and saw that he was clearly worried about the country and its people, so she tentatively asked, "Are you interested in that position?"

In the past, Gu Nanxiao would never have given it much thought, but ever since he learned that the current emperor's throne rightfully belonged to his father, he couldn't help but have some reservations. He would be unworthy of being called a man.

Furthermore, Yunxi informed him that he and his father would be killed by the emperor at the end of the year, and that the Great Yan Kingdom would also perish in the hands of the Third Prince.

He felt that he should fight for that position, not for himself, but to find a way to survive for the people of the world.

Knowing him as she did, Yunxi could guess his thoughts just by looking at the expression between his brows. Without waiting for his reply, she said directly, "Don't worry, I will help you."

Yunxi's words of reassurance were like a warm current, nourishing Gu Nanxiao's parched heart. He gently pulled her into his arms and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Then, the gentle kisses gradually became more assertive. From between the eyebrows to the delicate bridge of the nose. The passionate kisses lingered on those two rosy lips, tracing a path down the neck.

Just as Yunxi was feeling somewhat confused and infatuated, she heard Gu Nanxiao ask, "Tonight, I want to try the last page of the Fire Avoidance Diagram."

After hearing this, Yunxi pushed against his chest with her weak arms and snorted coldly, saying, "What did you do right? How dare you ask me for a reward? Absolutely not!"

Undeterred by the rejection, Gu Nanxiao continued to kiss Yunxi, deftly removing her clothes as he pleaded, "Then use the third to last page. This time, you can't refuse again. I really like that one."

As a result, the scoundrel broke his promise. Not only did he take advantage of Yunxi's weakness and inability to resist, but he also used the position on the last page and reviewed the entire Fire Avoidance Manual.

Exhausted, Yunxi didn't want to get out of bed even at dinner the next day. But she was afraid that if she didn't get up, that beast would find an excuse to continue bullying her.

She had no choice but to force herself to get up and have dinner with Gu Nanxiao. During the meal, she naturally glared at him mercilessly, but the culprit seemed completely unconcerned.

He even went so far as to say that he was putting in extra effort yesterday to spend an unforgettable birthday with her.

After the meal, the two carefully examined the evidence of the Liu family's crimes that Qi Jinxiu and the Jinwu Guard had collected.

After all, in order to wrest the throne back from the emperor, he had to first eliminate the emperor's right-hand men, and the Liu and Shi families were undoubtedly the most important.

Three days later, the Crown Prince personally presented some of the evidence of the Liu family's crimes to the Emperor at the morning court session.

His Majesty looked at the enormous sums of money the Liu family had amassed over decades by smuggling salt, and then at his own meager national treasury, and could not contain his anger.

The court entrusted this case to Gu Nanxiao for careful investigation, demanding the recovery of all embezzled funds. Furthermore, the Ministry of Revenue was to be investigated to determine whether Minister Liu had engaged in similar embezzlement during his decades in office.

Gu Nanxiao had been waiting for this imperial decree. He led the Imperial Guards directly to the Liu family's residence, searched it, and found a secret room in Minister Liu's study. Inside the secret room, they found three large boxes of account books.

The records detail Minister Liu's involvement in the illegal sale of iron ore and smuggled salt, as well as the embezzlement of funds from the Ministry of Revenue. Every transaction, from income to expenditure, where it was transferred, and its final destination, is meticulously documented, involving over a hundred accomplices among the court officials.

Even the Shi family and the Third Prince were involved in the iron ore trade. This outcome caught the Emperor off guard and made him begin to seriously examine his son.

Iron ore has always been strictly controlled by the imperial court because it is involved in weapons production. Controlling iron ore was the best way to prevent rebellion.

For this reason, any prince or court official who dared to touch this territory would be suspected by the emperor of having treasonous intentions.

Just as the court was in a state of panic and many officials were feeling insecure, Gu Nanxiao continued to delve deeper into the Liu family's line of inquiry.

He imprisoned Minister Liu and all those in the Liu family who knew the truth, subjecting them to rigorous interrogation and torture day and night. He also confiscated the property of seven branches of the Liu family, and large sums of embezzled funds were continuously poured into the national treasury.

This immediately transformed the Emperor's initial dissatisfaction with Gu Nanxiao's lack of discretion into widespread praise. He was then granted special permission to thoroughly investigate and confiscate the property of all the officials involved, with an order that there be absolutely no leniency!

Unbeknownst to the Emperor, 70% of the account books and silver seized from the Liu family were missing. Only 30% of the accounts and embezzled silver entered the national treasury, while the rest went into Gu Nanxiao's private coffers.

In addition, the wealth of those more than one hundred corrupt officials, while ostensibly filling the national treasury, actually made Gu Nanxiao incredibly rich.