Even though Xie Changshi considered himself knowledgeable and regarded money as dirt, he couldn't help but feel his heart race, his face turn red, and his hand involuntarily rose slightly.

It seemed as if his hand was about to touch those fascinating treasures in the next instant.

After a while, Chief Clerk Xie said leisurely, "Go and call people down to count the quantity, register it, and take it all to the yamen."

The two elite soldiers who followed suddenly came to their senses, turned around with embarrassed expressions, and ran away.

If the government needs it, some of this money will naturally be allocated to the government; if not, all of this money will naturally be transported back to the capital.

Xie Changshi glanced at the two glittering houses, then quickly turned his head back to focus on the account books and picture albums.

A group of elite soldiers came down shortly after, and Jiang Kangming followed them down in a hurry.

He was unaware that a huge treasure had been discovered below, and anxiously said, "Chief Secretary Xie, our men have learned some news from those two advisors."

He took a breath and said, "Chief Secretary Ling was kicked to death by Gu Yufan."

Xie Changshi didn't even hold the account book properly before it suddenly fell to the ground.

Very few people know about this secret passage. Gu Yufan cleans it himself every day. When the account book fell to the ground, it stirred up a cloud of dust.

Xie Changshi and Jiang Kangming were choked and covered their mouths, retreating repeatedly.

After a long while, Chief Secretary Xie said, "Chief Secretary Ling was kicked to death by Gu Yufan?"

Is Gu Yufan out of his mind?!

Even though Chief Secretary Ling was not to his liking, he had helped him devise strategies and harmed many loyal officials over the years, yet in the end he met a pathetic end, being kicked to death.

Jiang Kangming was also surprised and shook his head slightly, saying, "I also received some news that Gu Yufan brought a concubine with him when he went to besiege the Duke of Qi. She is the younger sister of Chief Secretary Ling!"

Chief Secretary Xie was at a loss for words to describe Gu Yufan.

Even while on the march and fighting, he still found time to enjoy himself!

It was thanks to favorable timing, location, and popular support that the emperor was able to ascend the throne.

If Gu Yufan were to take power, I fear that within a few years, the Sang Dynasty would be occupied by the Northern Di!

Chief Secretary Xie waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about these people for now. Guard Jiang, you come with me to take stock of these things first. Afterwards, you will personally lead the team to escort them back to the yamen."

Upon hearing that he was personally leading the team, Jiang Kangming felt that these items might be quite valuable.

To his utter surprise, this thing was incredibly valuable!

Jiang Kangming froze on the spot, his mouth agape, his jaw almost dropping in shock.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly closed his mouth with his hand, shook his head and said, "I'm afraid even the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have that much silver."

To put it bluntly, the late emperor was fond of extravagance, with more than three thousand concubines in his harem. He also established the fiefdom of the Prince of Chu in the luxurious Jiangnan region, cutting the annual tax revenue by half.

Furthermore, the King of Chu's style of doing things was extremely similar to that of the late emperor. He did his best to satisfy his own greed and kept a group of fools in the court who only knew how to line their own pockets. The Ministry of Revenue had long been in deficit.

It is precisely because of this that the military pay of the troops stationed in northern and southern Mongolia has not been fully paid for two years.

After the emperor ascended the throne, he severely punished a group of Prince Chu's men, which allowed the Ministry of Revenue to recover.

Jiang Kangming swallowed hard and said, "Last year there was a flood in Jiangnan. I don't know if these river embankments have been reinforced. If not, this money will come in handy."

Chief Secretary Xie glanced at him sideways and chuckled, "What Guard Jiang said is quite right."

He sighed deeply: "Now, let's get started."

The gold was neatly stacked in boxes, and Xie Changshi patiently checked each one, registering them in the register. The total amount was a staggering five million taels of gold.

Just think of his poor little prince, who was so excited when the emperor bestowed five thousand taels of gold upon him for the first time.

Chief Secretary Xie chuckled, put away these random thoughts, and turned to register the jewelry.

Solid gold bracelets, jade bracelets and necklaces with excellent translucency, a complete set of pigeon blood-colored jewelry...

While registering the items, Xie Changshi and the others carefully cleaned and arranged for the boxes to be categorized one by one.

He was busy until the early morning of the next day when Xie Changshi finally stood up, feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

He clutched the account books tightly and said to Jiang Kangming, "Guard Jiang, I'm not going to make it. I need to go back and rest. I'll have to trouble you to personally escort and guard these things."

Jiang Kangming nodded solemnly and said, "Don't worry, Chief Secretary Xie, I know what's important."

He naturally had to guard the millions of taels of gold and countless jewels without blinking an eye.

Xie Changshi's mind was hazy. He felt that there was something he hadn't done yet, but he was overcome with drowsiness and couldn't resist it. He fell into a deep sleep as soon as he got into the carriage.

Xie Changshi was not awakened by hunger until dusk the next day.

He slowly opened his eyes, feeling a bit dazed and disoriented, staring at the bed curtains as if he didn't know what day it was.

He was filled with emotion and exhausted. If he hadn't been so hungry, he really would have liked to lie down a little longer.

Xie Changshi slowly turned over, only to find the young prince lying by the bedside, smiling at him.

Chief Secretary Xie was startled and sat up abruptly: "Your Highness."

Gu Yuzhi then stood up: "Chief Secretary Xie, you're awake! Get up and have your meal!"

He counted on his fingers and said, "We entered Jiangzhou early yesterday morning, and then you were busy organizing the government's files and dealing with Gu Yufan's embezzled goods, and then you just kept sleeping..."

He gasped, "If that's the case, Chief Secretary Xie, you haven't eaten for almost twenty-four hours!"

Gu Yuzhi patted his chest gently: "Oh my god, Chief Secretary Xie, you must be very hungry, right?"

He'd starve to death if he didn't eat a single meal, yet Chief Secretary Xie hadn't eaten for so long!

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. Fortunately, Chief Secretary Xie didn't need to worry about his height being affected by not eating on time.

Gu Yuzhi led Xie Changshi to the backyard of the yamen, where there was a simple kitchen that was currently steaming.

He tilted his head slightly and said, "The head chef was specially selected by Guard Zhang. He said that he had no contact with Gu Yufan's people. The restaurant is located in a very remote area and usually serves people from outside the city."

The outer city was generally where ordinary people lived, or had a small plot of land and did some small business. They were people without background or wealth.

"Guard Zhang said that their chef's cooking is very rough, and asked me to overcome this difficulty."

After all, those large restaurants belonged to Gu Yufan himself, his advisors, or the Princess of Chu.

These people have relied on Gu Yufan for their livelihood for many years, so even though he knows they are skilled, Guard Zhang would never invite them into his residence.

After all, no one can gamble with the young prince's life, right?