The butler looked flustered and swallowed hard before stammering, "No... I wasn't planning on going anywhere! It's just that the prince has come to visit, and the governor... the governor isn't at the mansion, so I was afraid of neglecting the prince, so I wanted to go inform the lady back home."
"It's late at night, and there are distinctions between men and women. Your Highness will not meet with the women of the Governor's House, so there's no need to inform them. Just take us directly to the study."
The housekeeper's face turned even paler when he heard this. "I'd better take the prince to the guest house. The governor is not here, so it's not convenient to take the prince directly to the study."
"How dare you rule over the prince?" Xu San drew his sword and placed it directly on the butler's neck. "Do you know what you are saying? Offending the prince is a crime unforgivable!"
The heavy knife placed on the butler's neck made his body go limp and he almost fell to his knees.
His life was hanging by a thread, so he dared not say anything more and begged for mercy repeatedly, "I dare not. I will take the prince to the study right away."
Li Junyan didn't dismount immediately, but instead gave a calm order, "The Governor's Mansion is a strategic location in the prefecture, and its defense must be strengthened. Lin Qi, have someone guard all areas of the Governor's Mansion to prevent any criminals from causing trouble. When Governor Zhu returns, bring him to the study to see me immediately."
Lin Qi bowed and immediately responded, "Yes!"
After a cup of tea, Li Junyan sat in Zhu Wuyou's study.
The entire courtyard where the study is located is blocked by Xu San and his men, and no one can get in.
Li Junyan looked around at the environment and layout of the study. There was no expression on his face, but a storm was brewing in his eyes.
Zhu Wuyou was only the governor of a state, but all the antiques and furnishings in his study were exquisite.
Even the pens, ink, paper and inkstone used on the table are priceless.
There was a memorial book spread out on the table, with only half of it written. Every word expressed loyalty to the prince, and said that he would help the prince keep a close eye on him, and as long as he got the slightest opportunity, he would definitely die in Tingzhou.
Looking at the contents of the memorial, Li Junyan was not angry at all.
He had already anticipated all this when he knew that Zhu Wuyou was the prince's disciple.
He arrived in Xizhou faster than Zhu Wuyou, not to read the flattering letter Zhu Wuyou wrote to the prince, but to find the account books of taxes collected in Tingzhou and Xizhou.
In the past three years, the imperial court has never provided disaster relief to Tingzhou, and the city has been completely left unattended.
But even so, the people would not be starved to the point where they had to eat their own children.
For people who grow crops, growing grain is of utmost importance. Even if it means starving their parents and children to death, they would not be willing to eat the grain.
He had asked Xu San to inquire before, and the villagers said that in the first year of the drought, the grain produced was collected to pay taxes.
There was no room for negotiation. If they didn't give us food, they would just rob us.
All those who resisted were strangled on the spot.
Ordinary people have no way to compete with the cruel and ruthless officers and soldiers who have knives in their hands.
Without crops to grow, farmland was completely abandoned and every household had no food to eat.
From then on, the first thing everyone did when they woke up every day was to look for food in and out of the city, in the mountains and in the hills.
But even with such efforts, I ate less and less every day.
It is precisely because of this that the situation became increasingly serious, and finally reached the point where children were sold and even eaten.
Where did Zhu Wuyou send all the food he looted?
All the gold, silver, treasures, and even anything of value in the homes of those families with a little wealth in Tingzhou City were looted.
Where were these things sent?
Zhu Wuyou would definitely keep a record of so much of the people's money, even if it was just to let the prince see his efforts or to leave a way out for himself.
Only by finding the account book first can we catch Zhu Wuyou completely.
Only the emperor has the right to appoint and dismiss the governor of a province.
Li Junyan knew that even if he reported this matter, it would not cause any harm to the prince.
At most, Zhu Wuyou would be beheaded.
But even without Zhu Wuyou, there will still be Wang Wuyou, Zhang Wuyou, and Li Wuyou.
Instead of changing the governor and spending time and effort to test and find out who he really is, it is better to keep Zhu Wuyou firmly in your hands, which will make it easier to do anything in the future.
Li Junyan did not rush to look for it, but sat quietly, looking at everything in the room.
Zhu Wuyou would never just put such an important account book anywhere. He must have hidden it carefully in a place that was absolutely safe but would not be noticed by others.
After looking around, Li Junyan's eyes fell on the table in front of him.
If he were Zhu Wuyou, he would definitely put such an important thing in a place where it could be seen at any time but would not be noticed by others.
The study is an important place and no one is allowed in easily, but someone has to clean it every day.
So what place in the entire room will never be cleaned and is not noticeable at all?
There was a place right in front of him that met all of these conditions.
The desk in front of him was very large and made of the finest rosewood. On the table were placed precious pens, inkstones, paper, and a pen holder.
When the servants clean this table, they must be extremely careful and quick, just thinking about finishing the cleaning quickly and staying away from it, so as to avoid accidentally breaking or damaging anything and risking their lives.
In this case, no one would squat down to wipe the back of the table.
"Xu San."
The door of the study was pushed open, Xu San slipped in, and then quickly closed it.
"I'm here."
"Look what's under this table."
"yes."
Xu San walked to the desk, squatted down, and raised his hand to feel around on the table.
After a while, there was a click, and a piece of wood was picked up by Xu San and placed aside.
Immediately afterwards, Xu San carefully took out two account books and placed them in front of Li Junyan.
"Your Highness, there are two account books inside."
"Let's see if there's anything else."
"yes."
Xu San squatted down again to check carefully, while Li Junyan slowly opened the account book in front of him.
After just flipping through a few pages, Li Junyan was sure that this was indeed what he was looking for.
The above records are so detailed that they are outrageous.
Every record, every number, represents a life and a family.
Li Junyan's expression became increasingly ugly, and an extremely low pressure surrounded his entire body.
Xu San stood up again, holding a small envelope in his hand. "Your Highness, I found this."
"Open it and take a look."
Xu San opened the envelope and took out a piece of paper and a key with a unique shape from it.
When he opened the paper, he saw that it was not a letter, but a bill.
"Your Highness, this is the bill from Wantong Bank, and this is the key you need to withdraw money.
Zhu Wuyou has deposited 10,000 taels of gold in Wantong Bank."
The moment he heard this amount, Sang Jueqian gasped in shock.
Zhu Wuyou has saved 12,000 taels of gold, but he is so terrifying!
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