Many people were stunned by these words.

Especially Prince Xiao, who had remained calm and silent the whole time, showed a rare moment of loss of composure and looked out of the hall.

Xiao Ye's men came in from outside carrying a small box, which they then handed to Emperor Wenjian.

Emperor Wenjian opened the box and his face gradually darkened.

"Insolence! This Qin Wu deserves to die a hundred times over!"

After Emperor Wenjian finished reading, he slammed the stack of books onto the table.

Those were the various pieces of evidence and records of Qin Wu's embezzlement.

The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment, and Emperor Wenjian then had several important ministers review the evidence as well.

When the evidence reached King Xiao's hands, his expression suddenly turned stern.

After a moment of silence, King Xiao finally couldn't help but speak.

"Your Highness, although these written evidences seem complete, I wonder if you have found the silver mentioned in them at Qin Wu's house?"

If it is not found, the case cannot be definitively closed.

Xiao Ye had not reported to Emperor Wenjian before, indeed because he had not found all the silver.

The evidence that Qin Wu embezzled one million taels of silver was found, but only two hundred thousand taels of silver were actually found in Qin's mansion, leaving eight hundred thousand taels of silver still missing.

This is no small amount.

"Yes, Your Highness, have you found all that silver? Only when there are both witnesses and physical evidence can the truth be established?"

"If there is no silver to prove it, can we say that this evidence is fabricated? This million taels of silver, once embezzled, certainly won't be used up in a short time."

"If His Highness the Crown Prince can find this silver and hand it over to the national treasury, it will be considered a contribution to the national treasury."

Some court officials echoed Xiao Wang's words.

"Your Highness, have you found the silver?"

Emperor Wenjian was naturally concerned about this issue as well, and looked at Xiao Ye to ask.

If this million taels of silver were found and deposited into the national treasury, it would indeed be a considerable sum of money.

Xiao Ye cupped his hands and said, "Father, I am investigating this sum of money. Because Qin Wu is stubborn and refuses to confess, I went to arrest his family to threaten them."

However, I did not torture his family members. I only wanted to detain them and starve them for today so that Qin Wu could reveal the mastermind behind the scenes and the whereabouts of the silver.

But unexpectedly, Qin Wu was silenced that very night.

"Qin Wu clearly hanged himself, and even left a letter written in blood accusing the Crown Prince of coercion and enticement. How can the Crown Prince say that he was silenced? Who would silence Qin Wu?"

No sooner had Xiao Ye finished speaking than Sun Chengyang immediately retorted.

Now that their family has sided with Prince Xiao, they will naturally try their best to protect him and prevent the Crown Prince from dragging all of this into Prince Xiao's hands.

Originally, they wanted to support King Cheng, but despite several hints, King Cheng remained unmoved, showing no interest in politics and spending his days eating, drinking, and having fun.

The Sun family had been an official family for decades, and naturally hoped that the family would advance further. Since Prince Cheng lacked ambition, he was of no help to the Sun family.

As for the King of Chu, he already had the support of his powerful maternal clan, so even if he ascended to the throne, it wouldn't be the Sun family's turn to enjoy the benefits.

Moreover, Consort Liu is narrow-minded and knows that their daughter is the Princess Consort of Cheng, so she is unlikely to treat the Sun family well.

As for the Crown Prince? He also has the support of his maternal clan. Although he is not currently in the capital, they wield considerable influence in Jiangnan. Once the struggle for the throne begins, they will certainly support the Crown Prince.

Only Prince Xiao's maternal clan was weak. If they supported Prince Xiao to ascend the throne, the Sun family would be first-class ministers who had rendered meritorious service in supporting the emperor.

Moreover, King Xiao promised them that he would marry his youngest daughter in the future.

"Only the person behind the scenes knows the answer to this. I am still investigating this matter, but I did not expect Lord Sun and you to be so impatient."

Xiao Ye said meaningfully.

Emperor Wenjian glanced at them, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Your Highness, I will give you ten more days to find the million taels of silver that Qin Wu embezzled!"

If it is not found, then Qin Wu's crime will not stand, and the responsibility for his death will fall on your shoulders. Similarly, if it is found, I will reward you.”

Emperor Wenjian made the final decision, and the court officials fell silent.

King Xiao sneered inwardly, "Ten days?"

He might not be able to find it even in ten months!

Because that sum of 800,000 taels of silver is not in the Qin family's possession.

*

Xiao Ye returned to the Crown Prince's residence with a heavy heart.

If Qin Wu is still alive within ten days, he will definitely be able to find the stolen money.

But now that Qin Wu is dead, the trail has gone cold.

He had already sent people to search the Qin residence. The entire mansion was turned upside down, but they only found 200,000 taels of embezzled silver. The rest was the dowry of the women in the Qin family.

He couldn't possibly use their dowries as embezzled funds.

After learning about Qin Wu's situation, Su Liluo stayed at home, worried.

Seeing Xiao Ye return with a serious expression, she immediately went up to him and asked, "Husband, what happened? I heard that Qin Wu is dead."

"Yes, the trail has gone cold. My father has ordered me to find the stolen money within ten days. If I fail to do so, I will be convicted."

Xiao Ye nodded.

Do you have any leads?

Su Liluo frowned with concern.

She really wanted to help Xiao Ye.

"Qin Wu is dead, so the trail went cold. Only 200,000 taels of stolen money were found in his mansion, while 800,000 taels are still missing. But I estimate that he probably gave it to the mastermind behind it all."

Xiao Ye shook his head and sighed.

"How many times have you searched the Qin residence? How could there only be 200,000 taels of silver? That's highly unlikely."

Su Liluo narrowed her eyes slightly.

She remembered that when Qin Wu's family was raided in her previous life, more than a million taels of silver were found!

"I searched twice, but I still plan to search again tomorrow."

"Then I'll go with you tomorrow!"

Su Liluo said.

He was puzzled as to where all of Qin Wu's silver had gone.

*

The next day.

After Su Liluo and Xiao Ye finished their breakfast, they led a large group of people to the Qin residence.

At this moment, the Qin mansion was filled with white cloth and white lanterns, creating an atmosphere of decay and desolation.

With Qin Wu's death and the lack of evidence of embezzled silver, the Qin family members were temporarily released and imprisoned in their residence.

Qin Wu's coffin was placed in the middle of the hall. Several women and children knelt in front of the coffin and burned paper money. Many of Qin's relatives sat or stood around it.

Among them were Princess Cheng and her family members.

After Xiao Ye and his troops barged in, Princess Cheng and the others immediately gave them sharp looks.

"What are you doing here? My cousin is already dead, what else do you want?"

Princess Cheng glared angrily at Xiao Ye and the others.

She had a good relationship with her cousin Qin Wu since childhood, so she was very saddened by his death.

"Go in and search!"

Xiao Ye ignored Princess Cheng's nonsense and directly ordered his men to search the Qin residence.