The person behind the scenes is him
"Never mind, the dead can't be brought back to life." Jiang Jin went into the room and began to look through the account books. "Zhou Cong said you found something interesting?"
“The governor’s mansion has discovered un-transported valuables, and the dockworkers are continuing to increase river taxes, which shows they didn’t know we were coming in advance.” Wei Shu casually lit a candle and placed it in front of Jiang Jin.
"On the night Governor Qu died, someone saw a group of people surrounding the governor's mansion. Who do you think they were?" Jiang Jin felt that Governor Qu's suicide on the eve of their arrival was too much of a coincidence.
"The key point is that Governor Qu didn't even offer a rebuttal; he just committed suicide in his study." Jiang Jin felt that someone capable of increasing river taxes and other fees shouldn't have this kind of personality.
"Perhaps he felt that arguing was pointless?" Wei Shu hadn't interacted much with the Prefect of Qu, so he didn't know what kind of person he was.
“No, his death is a minor matter, but his family is still in Beizhou. If they are truly convicted of embezzlement and dereliction of duty, given the selfish motives of those officials in the court, it might not be any less serious than what happened in Bianzhou.” Jiang Jin couldn’t understand why Governor Qu could be so carefree about his wife and children.
"If he dies, His Majesty might be lenient with him. After all, it's not wise to kill everyone, especially a group of orphans and widows," Wei Shu speculated, guessing at Governor Qu's motives.
"Forget it, let's focus on the corruption for now. Which prince do you think is standing behind him, or is it actually His Majesty?" Jiang Jin asked, noticing Wei Shu's furrowed brows.
"Then we'll have to see how capable Registrar Jiang is at investigating cases." Wei Shu didn't say much, but simply placed a piece of candy into Jiang Jin's palm.
"You didn't eat breakfast or lunch, and you don't look too good right now." Jiang Jin raised her hand to touch her face and sighed.
"Time is tight and the task is heavy, how can I dare to slack off even a little? If we don't complete the mission successfully this time, we'll definitely be criticized by those old fogies when we return to Beijing, especially me!" Jiang Jin said through gritted teeth.
"I set a trap in court back then, and Lord Dou has been holding a grudge against me ever since. If anything goes wrong in Beizhou, they'll definitely seize on it and make a big fuss about it!" Jiang Jin buried his head in the account books until he was dizzy, not noticing anything else amiss.
"Alright, you should rest for a while." In the end, Wei Shu couldn't stand it anymore and pulled Jiang Jin away from the table. "Don't faint before you find out anything."
"Then have someone bring some strong, invigorating tea. The increased taxes are a done deal, but it'll be hard to trace where that money goes and who's involved." Jiang Jin rested her chin on her hand, looking at Wei Shu. "Why aren't you in a hurry at all?"
“Embezzlement and bribery are nothing more than personal use and tribute. Although the Governor Qu’s mansion is somewhat extravagant, it is far from exhausting its resources, so it is likely that most of the money was used for tribute.” Wei Shu pointed to the table. “The table in the guest room is made of huanghuali wood, but the table in the main courtyard is made of the cheaper chicken wing wood.”
"Prefect Qu has served as an official for ten years, so he must have some wealth. It's not surprising that he uses huanghuali wood in his courtyard; it's just a matter of saving face." Jiang Jin had no objection to this.
"Do you remember what we used in our yard?" Wei Shu tapped the table and looked at Jiang Jin.
“Rosewood,” Jiang Jin blurted out, then looked at Wei Shu, “You’re not trying to say that you embezzled money too, are you?”
Wei Shu silently closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Do you think that's what I meant?"
"I know what you mean. You mean that even at the very least, the main courtyard wouldn't be allowed to use rosewood." Jiang Jin sat in the chair, touching the rosewood.
"Logically speaking, Governor Qu shouldn't need to ask for these things himself; a mere glance from him and the merchants of Beizhou would be lining up to deliver them to him." Jiang Jin knew the hardships of being a merchant and naturally wouldn't bother with such details.
"So where did all this money go? It didn't all go into His Majesty's private treasury, did it?" Jiang Jin hesitated as she looked at Wei Shu. "Do you think His Majesty is the kind of person who would discard someone after they've served their purpose?"
“No.” Wei Shu replied decisively. Jiang Jin nodded seemingly unintentionally. “That’s all I can say to you. If they really do discard you after you’ve served your purpose, you’ll be the poor little donkey.”
"Jiang Jin!" Unable to vent his anger on Jiang Jin, Wei Shu could only raise his voice to express his dissatisfaction.
"Oh dear, don't be angry. But I don't think it was His Majesty. If it were really His Majesty, he wouldn't watch the people of Beizhou suffer so much." Based on his limited understanding of His Majesty, Jiang Jin thought he wouldn't do something so despicable.
"General, Clerk, the wife of Prefect Qu requests an audience." Zhou Liao stood outside with his head bowed, followed by a simply dressed woman.
"I'll go open the door." Jiang Jin nodded. Wei Shu reached out and opened the door. He saw the lady quickly push Zhou Liao aside and kneel directly at Wei Shu's feet.
"General Wei, you and my husband are both officials in the court. I beg you, you must clear his name! He must have been forced to commit suicide. How could he have passed away before even seeing his grandson born!" Madam Qu knelt at the door, attracting Jiang Jin's attention.
"Madam, would you please get up so we can go inside and talk?" Zhou Liao looked at Wei Shu and Jiang Jin somewhat awkwardly.
“Madam Qu, why don’t you sit down first?” Jiang Jin knelt down and helped Madam Qu up. “Do you have any clues to provide to me and General Wei?”
“My husband wouldn’t commit suicide for no reason. Just the day before the incident, we were talking about going to the estate in the suburbs to rest together. How could he just suddenly take his own life!” Madam Qu was helped to a chair by Jiang Jin, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Does Madam know what we've come to Beizhou to investigate?" Jiang Jin asked softly, afraid of upsetting Madam Qu.
"I'm not quite sure about that. I'm usually confined to the inner quarters and have no idea what's going on in the court." Madam Qu took out a handkerchief and gently wiped away the tears on her cheeks.
"Do you usually go out of the city?" Jiang Jin asked Madam Qu, changing her approach. Madam Qu, sitting in the chair, was taken aback and then silently shook her head. "My husband says it's chaotic outside and doesn't let us go out. If we find it too boring, we wait for him to take a day off and go out with him."
"Is this a custom of Beizhou, or a personal habit of Governor Qu?" Wei Shu sat down at the head of the table and looked at Madam Qu.
“It’s my husband’s custom, but a woman follows her husband after marriage, and he would never harm me.” Madam Qu finished speaking, a few tears falling.
"Prefect Qu is suspected of embezzlement. Registrar Jiang and I were ordered to come here to investigate the case. We happened to witness Prefect Qu's suicide. It's hard not to think that Prefect Qu committed suicide out of fear of punishment."
Wei Shu's face was cold. He didn't have time to beat around the bush with Madam Qu. "You just need to say whether you know about the additional river tax and city entry and exit taxes."
"This concubine really doesn't know!" Madam Qu hurriedly knelt down. Wei Shu glanced at her and said, "Zhou Liao, go and send someone to fetch the young master of the Qu family. Tell him that I want to ask him questions."
"General, my family really doesn't know!" Madam Qu regretted coming here and was about to back away when Jiang Jin grabbed her arm.
"Madam Qu, you should stay here. If General Wei goes too far, you can still plead for him."
Jiang Jin simply held onto Madam Qu, preventing her from leaving, while Zhou Liao hurriedly arranged for someone to fetch Young Master Qu. Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the three young masters of the Qu family, heads bowed, quickly entered the courtyard.
"I pay my respects to General Wei and Registrar Jiang." The eldest son of the Qu family was the first to bow to Wei Shu and Jiang Jin.
"Are you aware of the additional river tax and city entry/exit tax?" Wei Shu took a sip of tea and looked slowly at the people kneeling below.
"This..." The young master Qu, who was kneeling below, secretly raised his eyes to look at Madam Qu, but was caught red-handed by Wei Shu.
“I suppose you know, then there’s no need to argue anymore. Zhou Liao, just throw them into prison to await their fate.” Wei Shu stood up, dusted himself off, and looked at the group with a cold smile. “Prefect Qu thought that suicide would bring him leniency, but that won’t work here.”
"General, I'd like to speak with you alone!" Qu Dalangjun suddenly stood up and stared at Wei Shu.
"Alright, Zhou Liao, take everyone else out." Qu Dalangjun's gaze fell behind Jiang Jin.
"Young Master Qu, I came here with General Wei to investigate the case, not with anyone else he mentioned." Jiang Jin showed no sign of stage fright; instead, she looked at Young Master Qu with a serious expression.
When Qu Dalangjun saw that Wei Shu did not stop him, he understood his thoughts. Looking at the closed door, he said in a low voice, "Actually, it was His Majesty's idea to increase the river water and city entry and exit taxes. Otherwise, it would not have been able to be concealed when the censors came down to inspect."
Jiang Jin feigned surprise as she looked at Wei Shu, but inwardly she was secretly delighted with the answer she had already anticipated. Wei Shu's unpleasant expression was almost overwhelmed by the schadenfreude in Jiang Jin's eyes.
"What evidence do you have?" Wei Shu wouldn't doubt His Majesty based on Qu Langjun's one-sided account. As if knowing Wei Shu would ask this, Qu Langjun took out a letter from his pocket.
"These are letters between my father and His Majesty. General, you've been by His Majesty's side since childhood, so you must be quite familiar with His Majesty's handwriting, right?" Wei Shu squinted at Qu Langjun, and after a long while, he took the letters from his hand.
The two held their breath. Jiang Jin was the most relaxed person in the room, observing Wei Shu's expression shift from surprise to disbelief, and finally to a grave look of realization.
“These letters are genuine, but some of the handwriting is His Majesty’s, and even the most skillful imitations are not His Majesty’s own.” Wei Shu picked out a few letters and set them aside. The ones he held in his hand were all fake, inciting Governor Qu to exploit the people.
“If I weren’t familiar with His Majesty’s handwriting, I wouldn’t have been able to recognize it at all. Registrar Jiang, you can take a look.” Wei Shu disliked Jiang Jin’s detached attitude, always feeling that she could abandon him and run away at any moment.
"Yes, Your subordinate obeys." Jiang Jin pursed his lips, picked up the two letters, first smelled them, then opened them and examined them carefully.
“The ink is different.” Jiang Jin pointed to the letter written by His Majesty. “This letter is written with Huizhou ink, but His Majesty’s Huizhou ink was smashed long ago.”
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