An hour later, Qiu Qiyi slowly woke up, but his voice was a little hoarse.
Where is Lin Yuxin?
"Your Majesty, Lin Yuxin has disappeared. I have searched the entire palace but have not been able to find her."
The soldier immediately knelt on the ground to answer.
"Useless! You can't even find a single woman? Did she just vanish? Send the Imperial Guards to search for her. They have to turn the entire palace upside down to find her!!"
Upon hearing that Lin Yuxin had run away, Qiu Qiyi immediately became furious and handed over the task of finding her to the Imperial Guards.
The Imperial Guards are in charge of the security of the palace, so they can naturally check every place, which makes him feel more at ease letting them go.
"yes!"
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"
At this moment, Minister Gong of the Ministry of Revenue, looking pale and sickly, rushed in, knelt down on the ground, and shouted to the Emperor.
"What's the matter that you're so flustered? How can you, the Minister of Revenue, be so panicked? What kind of behavior is this?"
Qiu Qiyi frowned as he looked at Lord Gong kneeling on the ground and reprimanded him.
"Your Majesty, it's not that this old minister wants to do this, it's just... it's truly a matter of utmost importance that I must report!"
Lord Gong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Tell me about it. What is it?"
Qiu Qiyi raised an eyebrow, not yet realizing the seriousness of the matter, and asked calmly.
"Your Majesty, our national treasury... is empty!"
Lord Gong burst into tears and stammered that he was prepared to die!
"What did you say?"
Qiu Qiyi thought he had misheard and asked again in disbelief!
"Your Majesty, our national treasury is empty! All the gold and silver inside have mysteriously disappeared, not a single piece left, it's all gone!!"
Lord Gong cried and repeated himself, saying that when he went to check a few days ago, everything was fine, but when he went to take inventory again today, they were all gone, not a single one. Moreover, he didn't know when they were lost, there was no sign of them at all!
"Bang!"
"Your Majesty! Quickly, the imperial physician must examine His Majesty!"
Upon hearing this news, Qiu Qiyi felt her vision go black and she fell backward, crashing to the ground.
Upon seeing this, Eunuch Luo hurriedly rushed to help Qiu Qiyi and called for the imperial physicians who were waiting nearby!
Lord Gong looked at the Emperor with a worried expression. He was afraid that if anything happened to the Emperor, he would die even faster.
When Qiu Qiyi woke up again, the imperial physician, Lord Gong, and several other important ministers were there.
Qiu Qiyi blinked, then looked at Lord Gong and remembered what he had said! Ignoring his weakness, he suddenly sat up, grabbed Lord Gong's collar, and loudly questioned:
"What did you just say? Say it again?"
"Your Majesty, it's true! Our national treasury is empty! We don't know when, but all the gold and silver treasures inside have disappeared! The national treasury is now broke!"
Lord Gong also said with a bitter expression, he didn't want to admit this sad thing, but he had to say it again.
"How could it be gone? How did it disappear? With so many of you guarding it, how could you not keep watch? Are the Imperial Guards all idiots?"
Hearing Lord Gong's words, he couldn't accept it for a moment and roared ferociously.
Qiu Qiyi's heart sank to the bottom because of Lord Gong's words, leaving him lifeless.
"Your Majesty, I was unaware of this matter. Since the discovery, I have interrogated all the Imperial Guards and those guarding the national treasury, but no one has noticed anything amiss."
Lord Gong lowered his head even further. He was in charge of the national treasury, but the treasury had disappeared without him noticing. He felt that his death was not far away.
"Don't know? If you don't know, you all deserve to die! Guards, drag Gong Pei out and behead him. As the Minister of Revenue, he failed to safeguard the national treasury and even allowed it to be stolen. His crime is unforgivable."
"Furthermore, drag all those who have been guarding the national treasury these past few days away and execute them. I have no need for useless people!"
Qiu Qiyi directly ordered the execution of a group of people to quell his anger.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty!"
When Lord Gong heard this, his face turned ashen, but he still held onto a sliver of hope and begged the Emperor for mercy, but to no avail.
Qiu Qiyi suppressed his anger and watched expressionlessly as Gong Pei was dragged out.
Although he killed these derelict people, he still hadn't solved the fundamental problem. At this moment, his mind was racing, trying to think of a solution.
The theft of the national treasury would be a major blow to the entire Zhao state. Where was he going to get so much silver?
Seeing the Emperor's gloomy face and his hesitant expression, Eunuch Luo ultimately did not reveal that things had also been lost from the harem.
Even though the emperor was so troubled, he decided to remain silent for the time being.
But the good fortune didn't last long; soon someone came to report:
"Your Majesty, the Second Prince has led two thousand soldiers to surround the palace!"
"Two thousand soldiers? Does he think his two thousand men can shake my position? Tell General Rong to send troops to capture Qiu Jingfan directly. This time, leave no survivors!"
When Qiu Qiyi heard that Qiu Jingfan had made a move, his heart finally settled down. As long as Qiu Jingfan made a move, he would have a reason to deal with him!
Besides, he only has two thousand men, and you want to remove him from his position? You've really lost your mind after going out into the world.
Qiu Qiyi thought that Qiu Jingfan had only managed to gather two thousand people after several days of hard work, and felt quite disdainful. It seemed that he had many supporters.
The anger I felt earlier from the theft of the national treasury has subsided considerably.
"yes!"
However, as time went by, Qiu Qiyi did not receive news of Qiu Jingfan's arrest, but instead received news that Qiu Jingfan had overcome all obstacles and reached the outside of the palace!
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