Xiao Ye's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. He knew that Emperor Wenjian had summoned him to the palace because of this matter, but he did not expect him to ask so directly.
It is clear that Emperor Wenjian was very concerned about this rumor.
He lowered his eyes and pondered for a while before saying, "Father, this is a trap, a rumor deliberately spread by someone with ulterior motives."
Rather than launching into lengthy explanations and accusations of injustice, Xiao Ye felt that stating his own opinion directly was the best course of action.
Sure enough, after he said that, Emperor Wenjian's attitude towards him improved considerably.
He countered, "Oh? A trap? Who do you think is trying to frame you?"
"This... Your Majesty has offended too many people, and I am unaware of the situation at the moment."
Xiao Ye cupped his hands in greeting.
He had no evidence and genuinely had no idea who it could be.
"You've offended many people? But I've noticed that many ministers have been praising you lately. You don't know who they are, so why do you think it's a rumor?"
Emperor Wenjian suddenly remembered that in recent days, many ministers had indeed said that the Crown Prince was quite capable and often praised him during court sessions.
The doubts that had subsided suddenly resurfaced.
Faced with Emperor Wenjian's fickle nature, Xiao Ye could only sigh inwardly that the heart of an emperor is like a needle at the bottom of the sea.
"Father, if I had any ideas, would I publicize them so widely that everyone would know?"
"this......"
That's true!
When Emperor Wenjian heard Xiao Ye's words, he felt that they made sense.
Xiao Ye is intelligent. If he really had any ideas, how could he have gotten himself into such big trouble?
Therefore, it is possible that this was indeed a deliberate act.
However, even if he was innocent, Emperor Wenjian still felt a pang of displeasure when he thought about Xiao Ye's current achievements.
He's not even fifty yet, but his son is already so outstanding. When he was a prince, he didn't have such achievements.
Xiao Ye's excellence reminded him of someone he both disliked and envied.
That person, like Xiao Ye, showed his talent at such a young age.
Unconsciously, Emperor Wenjian found Xiao Ye's appearance somewhat irritating.
Even now, after calming down and realizing that this matter was probably maliciously stirred up by someone with ulterior motives, he still felt that Xiao Ye was indeed too outstanding.
After pondering for a moment with his eyes lowered, he said to Xiao Ye meaningfully, "Your Highness, you are still young. If you want to inherit the great cause in the future, you will need some tempering."
Now, my men have just received some news that someone in the court is embezzling, causing the national treasury to be empty. In fact, the Great Liang has had good weather and abundant harvests in recent years, and there should be no shortage of silver and grain.
However, in recent years, the silver collected by the national treasury has been unsatisfactory, so I would like to entrust this matter to you for investigation, which will also serve as a good opportunity to hone your abilities.”
Let him investigate corruption within the imperial court?
Upon hearing Emperor Wenjian's words, Xiao Ye immediately understood what Emperor Wenjian was planning.
Throughout history, in both large and small countries, there have always been few officials in the imperial court who were not corrupt; the only difference was the extent of their corruption.
Now that my father has ordered me to investigate such a matter, it will undoubtedly stir up a bloody storm in the court and make me a target of public criticism.
If those court officials unite against him for their own benefit, he will face endless troubles.
But given the current situation, since her father had already spoken, she had no room to refuse.
Therefore, Xiao Ye had no choice but to agree.
After returning to the Crown Prince's residence, Su Liluo went to the study with Xiao Ye and asked him about his trip to the palace.
Upon learning that Emperor Wenjian had assigned Xiao Ye such a task, Su Liluo frowned deeply.
"The Emperor has finally distanced himself from you, sending you to investigate corruption in the court. At this time, he's putting you on the spot!"
Su Liluo said.
Now that the country is peaceful and prosperous, with no natural or man-made disasters, and people's lives are generally good, investigating corruption at this time, if successful, will earn a good reputation.
But if you fail, you'll offend someone.
"Luo'er, you're right, but the arrow is already on the string and has to be released. Now I have no choice but to do it. But I feel that this matter is strange."
How could such words be circulating on the street? And how did the Emperor find out in the palace? It all seems to be deliberately orchestrated.
Xiao Ye offered his own guess.
"Was it done by the King of Chu?"
When Su Liluo thought of the person who had the most conflicts with the Crown Prince, the first person she thought of was Xiao Churen.
But Xiao Ye shook his head. "Although he hates me, he doesn't have the power right now, and Consort Liu has temporarily lost power. They didn't do this."
"The power of the King of Chu and his group is not that simple. Moreover, there is also Consort Liu's father, Lord Liu. Perhaps they are guiding things from behind the scenes."
Su Liluo continued to speculate.
As long as Xiao Churen is alive, she will not look down on him.
After all, Xiao Churen had the last laugh in his previous life; even the power of the Prince of Xiao at that time was far inferior to his.
Consort Liu's maternal family, the Liu family, was not an ordinary official family. They had many connections in the court and numerous undercover agents in other regions.
"Master Liu?"
Upon hearing the mention of Consort Liu's father, Xiao Ye was puzzled for a moment, then thought about it again.
Finally, he slowly nodded, "That shouldn't be the case. After all, if it were an investigation into embezzlement, he would probably be quite afraid and might do something that would dig his own grave at this time."
Xiao Ye knew that Lord Liu's hands were not clean.
Although Lord Liu was the Vice Minister of Works, his life in the Liu family was extravagant, far beyond what his salary as a Vice Minister of Works could support.
It was only because he was Consort Liu's father that everyone had seen it all over the years, but no one dared to say anything.
"Could it really be Prince Xiao?"
After hearing Xiao Ye's analysis, Su Liluo couldn't help but become suspicious.
The reason she didn't think it was Prince Xiao was because she felt that Prince Xiao had only been in the capital for a short time and his foundation was unstable. Furthermore, she knew that in her previous life, Prince Xiao had embezzled a considerable amount of money. If these things were investigated, wouldn't he also be unable to escape punishment?
"Whether it's King Xiao or King Chu, both of them are our enemies. Now we can only take this opportunity to investigate thoroughly, and it would be even better if we could expose King Xiao and King Chu's people."
Xiao Ye said.
A crisis can also be an opportunity. If this opportunity is used properly, he can still cause significant losses to both King Chu and King Xiao.
"Yes, you have a point."
Su Liluo nodded in agreement.
However, they did not expect that after investigating for several days, Xiao Ye would not find any embezzlement by anyone related to Prince Xiao or Prince Chu. Instead, he found someone they did not expect.
"This Qin Wu is Princess Cheng's maternal uncle. After I arrested him and interrogated him, he was tortured and finally confessed that he had embezzled the disaster relief funds with the permission of Prince Cheng."
Xiao Ye told Su Liluo what he had found out in the past two days.
But Su Liluo was astonished after hearing this, "You're saying that Prince Cheng embezzled? How is that possible!"
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