Chapter 130: Misappropriation of Military Funds
Huo Siyuan dropped the cup with a clang, splashing tea everywhere.
He stood up suddenly, his eyes wide open as he said hurriedly, "Sister-in-law, don't talk nonsense! We don't know anything about the cook, and we haven't done anything with that Li!"
He pointed at Liang Weiyuan, his voice hoarse from either anger or panic, "Or is it that my eldest sister-in-law is deliberately looking for trouble? You must have hidden that receipt to frame me!"
A cold light flashed across Liang Weiyuan's eyes. "Then where is this warehouse ledger?"
She took out another account book and spread it out in front of her.
"The second house's account book says it's purchasing medicinal herbs, but the general ledger has been changed to purchasing silk. Would you like to take a look at this altered handwriting, Second Young Master?"
Censor Zhang's face darkened completely. As a censor who monitored all officials and heard rumors, he immediately sensed something was amiss.
He picked up the account book, stroked the traces of the corrections, and looked up at Huo Siyuan's flushed face: "Second Young Master Huo, tell me, what is going on?"
"I, I..." Huo Siyuan was incoherent. He was stared at sharply by everyone in the room and panicked for a moment. "The accountant made a mistake. I was just... just helping to correct it..."
"Revise it?" Huo Jin suddenly spoke, his dark eyes cold. "Spend tens of thousands of taels of silver to revise it? Or use the name of military supplies?"
He clenched his fists, his eyes revealing the fierceness of a soldier on the battlefield. "The seventh day of the month ago was the day when the Ministry of Revenue allocated military pay to Mobei."
"My old subordinates wrote to say that the military pay hasn't arrived yet, and three new recruits have died of illness!"
"Master Zhang, could this five thousand taels be just a fraction of the military pay?"
These words exploded like thunder, and suddenly, the whole room fell into dead silence.
The old lady's hand holding the cane was shaking violently, and she stared at Huo Siyuan: "You...you embezzled military funds?!"
"No! I didn't!"
Huo Siyuan fell to his knees with a thud, his legs shaking uncontrollably.
"It was Li, the Chief! He forced me to do this! He said that if I helped transfer the military pay, he would give me a position..."
"You still dare to quibble!" Liang Weiyuan interrupted sharply and shouted to the back, "Wei San, tell me everything you saw!"
Wei San walked out from the back seat, knelt on one knee, and said in a loud voice: "Replying to Master Zhang and Madam, I followed the Second Young Master and saw him having a secret meeting with Master Li in Zuixianlou..."
"They also said that the military pay account books were hidden under the bed, and they would ask the contact person to transfer the account books to the Prince's Mansion during the old lady's birthday banquet today!"
As he spoke, Wei San presented the account book on the spot, which was exactly what he took out from under Huo Siyuan's bed during the birthday banquet.
The evidence was irrefutable. Huo Siyuan's face turned pale as paper in an instant and he collapsed to the ground.
He couldn't understand why everything that was planned was so well was suddenly exposed.
Huo Siyuan was shaking all over, mumbling in fear, "It was Chief Li... He forced me to do this... I didn't mean to embezzle military pay!"
"Evil creature! Evil creature!"
Huo Hou's usually gentle brows were now twisted into a knot, and he kicked Huo Siyuan in anger.
"You evil creature! How dare you even think of taking the military pay? Are you crazy?!"
"I'm going to beat you to death today, you unfilial beast!"
Seeing Marquis Huo furiously rushing around to grab weapons, Yu came to her senses tremblingly, "Wait! This is all the fault of Li, the Chief. It has nothing to do with my son!"
"master!"
She rushed forward and held Huo Siyuan in her arms. "If you want to hit me, kill me first! Siyuan is your only son. Do you want to watch him die?!"
"Master Li is the Third Prince's man, we can't afford to offend him! If we don't agree to him, my mother and I will have..."
Marquis Huo was already furious, and when he suddenly heard that the third prince was involved, his vision went dark.
"I can't afford to offend you, but you can embezzle military funds? You can collude with the prince? Do you know what this crime is? It's a heinous crime punishable by death for all nine generations of your family!"
Marquis Huo's chest heaved violently. Looking at the mother and child huddled together on the ground, he felt dizzy.
"My Huo family has been loyal and honest for generations, but now you have produced such a scum!"
"Father, calm down." Huo Jin stretched out his hand to stop them, and glanced coldly at the mother and son on the ground.
"Now that things have come to this, there's no point in getting angry. The most urgent task is to clarify the connections so as not to bring trouble to the entire Marquisate."
After saying that, Huo Jin turned to Censor Zhang with a look of awe and respect.
Censor Zhang's reputation for integrity is well-known, he holds great weight in the court, and he also has an old relationship with Old Master Huo.
This is also the reason why they invited people.
With Censor Zhang as a witness, and considering their old friendship, perhaps he could speak a few good words in front of the emperor and avoid involving the Marquis' Mansion.
At this moment, Censor Zhang also understood why Huo Jin and the couple invited him here.
"Lord Hou, we just talked about the Third Prince. I'm afraid this matter is not that simple." Censor Zhang stopped Lord Huo from getting angry and looked sharply at Huo Siyuan who was lying on the ground.
"How much of that military pay went into the Third Prince's residence? Besides Chief Li, who else was involved?"
Huo Siyuan shuddered at the look, as if he suddenly remembered something. He tried to get up using his hands and feet, but Yu held him down tightly: "You can't tell me. If you tell me, we'll die faster!"
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