The embezzlement of military rations was a serious matter, and the imperial court had investigated this matter in the past.
The official who came to investigate the matter was the former Minister of Justice. He found out that Yue Tao, the deputy general in charge of the military food logistics in Shazhen, failed to supervise it properly and embezzled money. Yue Tao was sentenced to death.
When Qi Yuning and Lu Ze arrived at the Sha Town government office, Qin Feng was already waiting there in Sha Town.
"Minister Qin?" Qi Yuning asked, "Why are you here?"
Lu Ze said, "He has come to North City anyway. He must have something to do for the court."
Qin Feng saluted and said, "My Lady, our people have found Yue Tao's widow and his daughter. They still deny that Yue Tao embezzled military rations. However, according to the Ministry of Justice files, 100,000 taels of silver were indeed found in Yue Tao's home. All of this silver bears the mark of the Northern Desert."
After Qin Feng finished speaking, he asked his subordinates to find Yue Tao's family.
Yue Tao's wife was fifty years old, with white hair and looked like an octogenarian. She came tremblingly with a cane. When she saw Qi Yuning, she said with trembling hands, "Tianjiao..."
Qi Yuning knew that Tianjiao was her mother's name. She had rarely heard this name since she was a child. When people mentioned her mother, they would always refer to her as General Liu or Prince Qi's wife, but rarely the name Tianjiao.
Yue Tao's wife walked up to Qi Yuning and said, "You are the princess, Princess Yuning."
Qi Yuning nodded slightly and said, "Do you know me?"
"You look a lot like your mother. I held you in my arms when you were born," Liu Tianfen said tearfully. "Your mother is my little cousin..."
Qi Yuning asked, "You are my mother's cousin? Then why did your husband embezzle military rations and kill my parents?"
Liu Tianfen shook her head and said, "No, my husband absolutely did not embezzle the military rations. The military rations and uniforms delivered from the court at that time were already defective. We went to make a fuss, but the court official who delivered the military rations was Concubine Xian's brother. He insisted that the military rations were fine when they were delivered, and we could do nothing about it.
General Qi said the military situation was urgent and that they would deal with it after the city was secured. Later, General Qi discovered that someone in the imperial court was colluding...
Unfortunately, General Qi never came back, and the officials from the court who came to investigate actually said that my husband sold military rations, cotton clothes and military medicine to Beimo and received 100,000 taels of silver from Beimo.
We dare not even think about this 100,000 taels of silver. I grew up with your mother since childhood. How could I ignore her pregnancy and put her in danger for this 100,000 taels of silver? "
Yue Tao's daughter, Yue Qingniang, said, "Princess, my father would never sell military rations to the Beimo bandits. My grandfather, grandmother, and brother all died at the hands of the Beimo bandits. We have an irreconcilable feud with the Beimo bandits!"
Lu Ze said slowly, "But Yue Tao pleaded guilty and signed the agreement at that time."
"He was forced to do it. When my husband passed away, there wasn't a single piece of healthy skin on his body. He was tortured into confessing!"
Qin Feng said to Lu Ze, "The previous Minister of Justice was accustomed to using some means of forcing confessions."
The use of torture to extract confessions is something that both Qin Feng and Lu Ze despise.
Qin Feng said, "But I went to the place where Yue Tao hid the silver. Hiding 100,000 taels of silver there would not have taken a day or two. 100,000 taels of silver is so heavy that it is impossible to hide it in Yue Tao's home in a day or two. It is impossible for Yue Tao not to find out that someone hid so much silver in his home. That's why the former Minister of Justice is certain that Yue Tao must have been involved."
Liu Tianfen said, "Sir, we really didn't hide 100,000 taels of silver! We really wronged me in this matter. I don't know why so much silver was found at the back door of my house."
Lu Ze asked Qin Feng, "Have the remnants of the Northern Desert Royal Court confessed anything?"
Not all members of the Beimo Imperial Court died at the hands of the Qi family. Some remnants of the Beimo were still alive and were imprisoned in Sha Town.
Qin Feng said, "They all said they didn't know, but it's true that during the battle fourteen years ago, the Northern Desert Army suddenly had a lot more military medicine, warm cotton clothes, and a large number of sharp swords, bows and arrows."
Lu Ze raised his eyebrows and said, "A large number of swords, bows and arrows? I went to Shancheng not long ago and got their account books for illegally mining iron ore. I remember that in the account books from fourteen or fifteen years ago, the amount of iron ore shipped was far more than usual.
Dasheng has strict control over iron ore, swords and weapons. Beimo doesn't have a lot of iron ore. I suspect that it was the iron ore in Shancheng that forged the weapons and supplied them to Beimo."
Qi Yuning clasped his hands and asked, "So, is it really the King of Shu?"
Lu Ze said, "The Shancheng Iron Mine is closely related to the King of Shu, but there is no solid evidence to pin it on the King of Shu."
Qi Yuning looked at the files from the Ministry of Justice and saw a name on it: Uncle Qin. "Was Uncle Qin also involved in the investigation of this matter?"
Qin Feng said, "Well, because it involved the King of Shu and the Concubine Xian, Uncle Qin was also there to supervise."
Qi Yuning frowned and said, "If that's the case, then Uncle Qin should have been targeting the King of Shu first. Why couldn't he have tracked it down? If it was really the King of Shu who was colluding with Beimo, what was he trying to achieve?"
Lu Ze said, "To seize the throne, the Northern Desert border will be in chaos, and the Qi family army will be defeated. The King of Shu can seize the opportunity to force the emperor to abdicate. By then, the Qi family army will have suffered countless losses and will have to take care of the Northern Desert. They will not be able to return to Shengjing City to protect Your Majesty for a while. The King of Shu will only lose a few cities in the northwest, but he will be able to seize the throne of Dasheng."
Qi Yuning frowned. If this was true, it would be considered treason. He was not even worthy of being a human being, let alone an emperor!
Lu Ze said, "This happened a long time ago, so it's not easy to find out. We've already found a match between the weapons from back then and the Shancheng Iron Mine's account books. At the very least, we can sentence the Shancheng officials involved in the illegal mining of the iron ore to death and exterminate their entire clan.
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