Shen Yuyao's sudden series of questions made Xia Yu feel a chill on his back.
For the first time, he vaguely felt that there was an invisible big hand behind this case, quietly pushing the case towards a shocking major case.
As the commander of the Black Dragon Guard, it was impossible for him not to submit the investigation results of this case to the emperor, and it was even more impossible for him to commit any fraud.
But Xia Yu also knew that the doubts Shen Yuyao had just raised were real.
Xia Yu thought that it was very likely that Guo Heng had indeed engaged in corruption, but it was impossible that the results of the Black Dragon Guard's investigation would produce such shocking figures!
Twenty-four million shi!
The autumn grain of the entire Xia Dynasty!
The Guo Heng case was originally reported by a minor official and then handed over to the Black Dragon Guards for investigation by the emperor himself.
As the commander of the Black Dragon Guard, Xia Yu is very clear about the true source of these so-called investigation results of the Black Dragon Guard.
The Black Dragon Guards were based on the clues provided by the two minor officials who reported Guo Heng, and they simply did some verification.
Every piece of evidence verified by the Black Dragon Guard was carefully prepared by the two officials from beginning to end, from the people to the numbers, in such detail that it seemed as if they had prepared it long ago.
Xia Yu also suspected that the case was progressing so quickly, as if there was divine help.
It just so happened that after the two officials reported Guo Heng for corruption, their families all mysteriously disappeared.
When Xia Yu heard the report from his subordinates, he naturally felt something was amiss. However, at that time, the entire Black Dragon Guard was only focused on verifying evidence of Guo Heng's embezzlement, and did not investigate the collective disappearance of the two officials and their families in detail.
Now, after Shen Yuyao's reminder, Xia Yu finally understood how this so-called Guo Heng's embezzlement case came about out of thin air.
Xia Yu frowned.
In the case of Guo Heng's corruption, there are more than 20,000 officials and wealthy businessmen involved. Once the investigation results are presented to the emperor tomorrow, the impact on the officialdom of the entire Great Xia Dynasty will be extremely huge.
When the Emperor of Daxia was young, he was bullied by corrupt officials and wealthy landlords. Even the emperor's parents starved to death on the streets because of the corruption of officials and had nowhere to be buried.
Deep down in the emperor's heart, he had some hatred for the big landlords and big merchants, and he hated the corrupt officials even more.
Moreover, the emperor has been promoting the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce.
Then, it is very likely that the emperor wanted to use the Guo Heng case to kill all officials who had been corrupt, and those wealthy and unkind landlords and merchants.
Even after killing them, their wealth can be used to enrich the national treasury.
The military expenditures of the Great Xia Dynasty's several northern expeditions have reached astronomical figures, which often put the national treasury in a state of emergency.
Just by killing corrupt officials, you can win the hearts of the people, obtain gold and silver, and concentrate imperial power!
Why wouldn't the emperor want to do something that kills three birds with one stone?
Seeing Xia Yu's frown deepen, Shen Yuyao couldn't bear it. She stepped forward and said softly, "Since it's inevitable, Your Highness should make plans early."
Xia Yu nodded gently, "If the king wants his subject to die, then the subject must die."
Turning to Shen Yuyao, he said, "It's a pity that the royal family must prioritize the ruler over the ministers before the father and son."
He seemed to have seen his fate as the commander of the Black Dragon Guard after the Guo Heng case.
Shen Yuyao pulled Xia Yu's sleeve and shook it, comforting him: "Don't think about it. Since the result is already determined, we can only go with the flow."
Xia Yu's eyes lit up, then suddenly dimmed again.
"Yuyao, I'm just worried that it will be hard on you and the children."
Shen Yuyao smiled sweetly, "I and the children will definitely not suffer. Do you know why?"
"Why?" Xia Yu lowered his head and asked softly.
"Xu Yunxuan is in Kyoto!"
When Xia Yu heard this, his expression changed slightly.
He walked to the desk where a thick stack of files lay. Xia Yu took out the bottom one, looked at the name on it and asked, "Dongchang, do you know?"
"Of course I know. Your Majesty, have you discovered anything?"
Xia Yu took out another file, "Where's the Western Factory?"
Shen Yuyao was surprised. "Could it be that there really is a Western Factory?"
Xia Yu waved for her to come over, and he handed the two files to Shen Yuyao.
"Then tell me, which of the two factories, the East and the West, was created by Xu Yunxuan?"
Shen Yuyao saw all the activities of the East Factory and West Factory in the files. She froze and stared at the files, flipping through them page by page.
Xia Yu walked behind her and asked in an extremely gentle tone, "Or, is one of them yours, Princess?"
Shen Yuyao replied in a deep voice: "It seems that both the East and West Factories have grown stronger."
"We must not let them fall into the hands of the Lu family!"
"The Lu family? Princess, are you talking about the Crown Princess?" Xia Yu was a little confused. How could these special organizations be related to the Crown Princess in the deep palace?
Shen Yuyao: "Exactly."
A month ago, Shen Yuyao asked Xu Yunxuan to arrange the drama in which Madam Shen died of a serious illness.
She thought she could avoid Lu's hidden arrows, but she didn't expect that Lu could actually directly persuade the Crown Prince who was already the regent, and take advantage of Shen Yuyao's return to Kyoto to attend the funeral to order her to stay in Kyoto permanently.
The purpose was to show sympathy to loyal ministers and good generals, but in fact he wanted to keep Shen Yuyao under his watch and to restrain Xia Yu.
What a good plan!
At this moment, Shen Yuyao saw Xia Yu's files about the Western Factory, and every single one of them made her smell the scent of the Lu family hidden behind them.
"Princess, are you saying that the East Factory was established by Xu Yunxuan, and that the West Factory is indeed a minion of the Lu family?"
Xia Yu continued to ask.
Shen Yuyao explained: "The East Factory was indeed built by Xu Yunxuan. Her original intention of building the East Factory was to protect everyone in Prince Ning's Mansion at a critical moment."
"Oh?" Xia Yu had never expected that Xu Yunxuan was still silently guarding Prince Ning's Mansion after faking her death, and he was quite touched.
"Your Highness doesn't believe it?" A sly glint flashed in Shen Yuyao's eyes. "Then why not invite the owner of Luyuan back to Prince Ning's mansion? Perhaps their love can be rekindled?"
"Princess..." Xia Yu didn't expect Shen Yuyao to tease him with Xu Yunxuan. He blushed and said, "My concubine died a long time ago. I'm afraid your Highness has forgotten."
"The old concubine has passed away, so the prince can marry a new one!" Shen Yuyao rolled her eyes at Xia Yu.
“…”
Xia Yu was in a panic. He clearly didn't say anything. It was Shen Yuyao who mentioned Xu Yunxuan herself.
"Look at your blushing face," Shen Yuyao covered her mouth, and after putting down her hand, her expression changed. She said in a deep voice: "I suspect that the person behind the Western Factory is none other than the Crown Princess, Lady Lu!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com