The embezzlement of military rations was a serious matter, and the imperial court had investigated the matter before.
The official who came to investigate the matter was the former Minister of Justice. He found out that it was Yue Tao, the deputy general in charge of the military food logistics of Shazhen, who embezzled military food and silver. 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.
"Minister Qin?" Qi Yuning asked, "Why are you here?"
Lu Ze said: "He has come to the North City, so he must have something to do for the court."
Qin Feng saluted and said, "My lord, our people have found Yue Tao's widow and his daughter. They still deny that Yue Tao embezzled military rations. But according to the files of the Ministry of Justice, 100,000 taels of silver were indeed found in Yue Tao's home. All of this silver has the mark of Beimo."
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. She was obviously at the age of knowing the destiny, but she looked like an octogenarian. She came tremblingly with a cane, and when she saw Qi Yuning, she said with trembling hands: "Tianjiao..."
Qi Yuning knew that Tianjiao was her mother's name. She had seldom heard this name since she was a child. When people mentioned her mother, they would always refer to her as General Liu or the Princess Qi, 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 in tears, "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 definitely did not embezzle the military rations. At that time, the military rations and uniforms delivered from the court 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 there was no problem with the military rations when they were delivered, and we could do nothing about it.
General Qi said that the military situation was urgent and that they would deal with it after the city was protected. Later, General Qi found out that someone in the 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 thieves. My grandfather, grandmother and brother all died at the hands of Beimo. We have an irreconcilable feud with Beimo!"
Lu Ze said slowly: "But Yue Tao pleaded guilty and signed the contract 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 used 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. It would take more than a day or two to hide 100,000 taels of silver there. 100,000 taels of silver is so heavy that it is impossible to hide it in Yue Tao's house in a day or two.
It is impossible for Yue Tao not to have discovered that someone had hidden so much silver in his home, so the former Minister of Justice was certain that Yue Tao must have been involved. "
Liu Tianfen said, "Sir, we really didn't hide 100,000 taels of silver! We were wronged 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 Northern Desert Imperial Court died at the hands of the Qi family. Some remnants of the Northern Desert were still alive and were imprisoned in Sha Town.
Qin Feng said: "They all said they didn't know, but it is true that in the battle fourteen years ago, the Northern Desert Army suddenly had a lot more military medicine, cotton-padded clothes to keep warm, 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 to investigate the illegal mining of iron ore. I remember that the account book from fourteen or fifteen years ago recorded that the amount of iron ore transported was far more than usual.
Dasheng has strict control over iron ore, swords and weapons. Beimo does not have a lot of iron ore. I suspect that it was the iron ore in Shancheng that forged the weapons and provided them to Beimo."
Qi Yuning clasped his hands and said, "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 of 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 it was really the King of Shu who colluded with Beimo, what did the King of Shu want?"
Lu Ze said, "To seize the throne, the northern desert border is in chaos, the Qi family army is defeated, and the King of Shu can take advantage of the opportunity to force the emperor to abdicate. At that time, the Qi family army will suffer countless losses and have to take care of the northern desert. It 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 can seize the throne of Dasheng."
Qi Yuning frowned, if this was true, it would be treason, he was not even worthy of being a human being, how could he be an emperor!
Lu Ze said: "This happened a long time ago, and it is not easy to find out. We have found that the weapons at that time match the account book of Shancheng Iron Mine. At least we can sentence the Shancheng officials who participated in the illegal mining of iron ore to death.
I wonder if they would be willing to confess the Shu King behind the scenes to save the lives of their clan members when faced with the death penalty for genocide? "
Yue Qingniang said, "Princess, when they came to take my husband away, a strange thing happened in our village."
Qi Yuning asked: "What's strange?"
"Not long after, more than 30 young men died of the disease. Our village was sealed off at that time."
"Death due to epidemic?" Lu Ze ordered Deqing, "Go get the Shazhen County Chronicles."
Lu Ze looked through the county annals and found no record of epidemics. "There is no record of epidemics in the county annals."
Liu Tianfen said, "It's true. Many young and middle-aged people died of disease in the village. The bodies of the men with the disease were taken away and burned.
The most pitiful one is Aunt Wu at the entrance of the village. Her husband was killed by the people of the Northern Desert years ago. She worked hard to raise her son. But because her son was infected with the plague and was taken away and burned together, she couldn't even find out which of the ashes belonged to her son. "
Liu Tianfen sighed and said, "Recently, Aunt Wu has gone crazy, saying every day that her son is still alive and well, and that he is going to marry the daughter of the general."
"Wu Xiong!"
Qi Yuning and Lu Ze said in unison.
Qin Feng asked: "Who is this Wu Xiong?"
Lu Ze said: "There is no time to explain, we have to hurry back to Quan Town!"
Qi Yuning went to the desert and saw Lingling playing sand sliding and said, "Lingling, it's time to go back."
Lingling said: "Mom, sandboarding here is so fun."
Lu Ze walked over, picked up Lingling and said, "Come and play again when you have time. It's time to go."
With Lingling, Wu Xiong's mother, and Liu Tianfen and her daughter around, it was not easy to travel quickly.
In the carriage.
Qi Yuning's hands were shaking.
Wen Ban is one of my grandfather's disciples. Like Uncle Huo An, he is a good disciple that my grandfather treats as his own son.
Lu Ze reached out and held Qi Yuning in his arms, holding her hand which was extremely cold.
At night, even though there was a charcoal brazier burning in the carriage, it was still very cold.
Even the horses slowed down their pace in such cold weather when traveling at night.
Qi Yuning looked at Ling Ling who was already fast asleep in Li Chun's arms, leaned against Lu Ze and said, "If Wen Ban is also colluding with Bei Mo... I will definitely kill him!"
"It's not worth letting him dirty your hands." Lu Ze said, "Don't think too much, get a good night's sleep, and you'll be able to reach Quan Town when you wake up." (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
