Zhao Huan was genuinely surprised when he received Wu Ge's report. Li Bangyan, the Prime Minister. Blindly moving against him would destabilize the nation.

"Wu Ge, you must not act rashly. Go and arrest Li Rui and Wang Xiaodi immediately. Li Bangyan, do not move until you have solid evidence."

"As you wish!"

The door of the Privy Councilor Li Rui's residence was closed, and Wu Ge led the imperial guards to knock on the door.

"Open the door! Open the door quickly!"

"Sir, the door is closed!" the guard next to him bowed.

A sense of foreboding flashed through Wu Ge's mind: "Bump it out of the way!"

"Yes!" The guards immediately started banging on the door after receiving the order.

With a "bang!", the door burst open and Wu Ge rushed in with his guards.

When they arrived at the central hall, they were shocked to find that Li Rui had hanged himself from the beam of his own house.

"Your Excellency, I have searched the entire house but have not found any other family members." After a while, the captain of the guards ran over and bowed.

Wu Ge sat down in the living room of Li Rui's house. It was obvious that his arrest of the city gate guards had alerted the enemy. Li Rui must have a protective umbrella above him, that is Li Bangyan.

If we just speculate, Li Rui should have handed his family to Li Bangyan and committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

"Go to Wang Xiaodi's house quickly! Quick!" Wu Ge stood up and ran hurriedly.

Wu Ge practically ran all the way to the home of Wang Xiaodi, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, followed by the armored guards. The common people on the street saw this and thought the government was going to arrest someone again. They even sent out the guards. Who knew which minister was going to be in trouble again?

The crowd moved away, and Wu Ge and his companions ran to Wang Xiaodi's house. This time, the door of Wang Xiaodi's mansion was open.

Wu Ge and the others rushed in. As expected, Wang Xiaodi's house was empty, and even the servants had been dismissed.

Wu Ge waved his hand: "Search!"

The guards behind him immediately split into two teams and began searching Wang Xiaodi's house.

Wu Ge rushed into the living room with several guards, and Wang Xiaodi was actually sitting on a chair in the living room.

Wu Ge breathed a sigh of relief: "Master Wang, please come with us!"

Wang Xiaodi didn't say anything, just looked at him and smiled. Then blood flowed from the corner of his mouth and he fell straight down.

Wu Ge was shocked and rushed forward. He put out his finger to feel the breath in his nose, and he was already dead.

Wu Ge closed his eyes. The enemy was too cunning. The clues were cut off. It seemed that this case would become an unsolved case again. Although he suspected Li Bangyan, he had no evidence.

The war in the north has ended, and Zong Shidao will soon return to the capital in triumph. The entire city of Bianjing is decorated with lights and colors to welcome the triumphant army.

The ministers were extremely busy as they had to prepare for Zhao Huan's coronation ceremony and the empress's enthronement ceremony.

There was no longer the tension in the court as before, and the ministers all had happy faces.

Bai Shizhong held his tablet in hand and said happily, "Your Majesty has defeated the Jin army and enhanced the prestige of the Song Dynasty. I believe that more preparations should be made for the coronation ceremony. It should be grand and splendid."

"I think what Lord Bai said is very true. The coronation ceremony cannot be sloppy, and the Ministry of Rites should make more preparations." Li Bangyan also stood up to support.

"Your Majesty, I think this is not possible." Li Gang stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty. The Jin invaders have just retreated, and there is much to be done. The treasury is empty, so we should keep things simple."

Bai Shizhong wrinkled his nose and said in disgust, "Lord Li Gang, could you please not be so disappointing every time? The coronation ceremony is a major national event, affecting the success or failure of the court. How can we be careless?"

Li Bangyan rolled his eyes at Li Gang and said, "That's right, Lord Li Gang. We can skimp on other things, but the coronation ceremony cannot. It must be grand and lively."

This time, Zhao Huan wholeheartedly agreed with Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan's approach. Damn it, being an emperor was all about enjoying pleasure, so naturally, this coronation ceremony had to be grand and lavish. However, he was still most concerned with the matter of taking concubines. Why the hell hadn't a minister come forward to bring up the matter of selecting concubines?

Zhao Huan cleared his throat: "Where is the Minister of Rites Pang Zhonghua?"

An old man with a white beard walked out of the crowd and said, "I am here, your honorable minister."

"Calculate for me the approximate amount of silver needed for the coronation ceremony and the empress's enthronement ceremony."

"This, Your Majesty. Adding the ceremonial robes, utensils, offerings to heaven and ancestors, rituals and music, meals, congratulations from the officials, rewards for the people, and amnesty, the total will be approximately 1.35 million taels of silver."

Zhao Huan was shocked: "So many? Where is the Minister of Revenue?"

A thin old man in the crowd, holding a tablet, said: "Your Majesty, I, Meng Gurao, pay my respects to you!"

"Meng Gurao, how much money is left in the Ministry of Revenue?" Zhao Huan asked.

Meng Gu Rao rolled his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, why are you asking this?"

Zhao Huan couldn't help but feel angry. "Why the hell am I asking this?" But he couldn't get angry in front of his ministers, so he said, "Of course it's about the coronation ceremony."

Meng Gu Rao looked up at the sky and said, "If Your Majesty wants to hold a grand ceremony to enthronize the throne, I only have two hundred thousand taels of silver. If Your Majesty wants to provide disaster relief, border defense, or military expenses, I can contribute three million taels."

Damn it, Zhao Huan was secretly furious. There are always such stubborn people among the ministers who are not afraid of death.

Bai Shizhong was unhappy: "Master Meng, what do you mean by this? Your Ministry of Revenue has silver, why are you unwilling to take it out? What can you do with this mere 200,000 taels? It's not even enough for a meal."

Meng Gu Rao glared and said, "I still say the same thing. If Your Majesty needs disaster relief, border defense, or military expenses, I will tighten my belt and go without food and drink to raise three million taels of silver for Your Majesty. If it's for the coronation ceremony, I only have two hundred thousand taels. Take it or leave it!"

"You!" Bai Shizhong was furious.

"Alright," Zhao Huan waved his hand. "Meng Gurao, I know you're a virtuous minister. I'm an emperor after all. Isn't two hundred thousand taels a little too little?"

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!