Chapter 45
The treasury was heavily guarded and sealed off, so no one dared to speak carelessly.
Many people only knew that Defei's brother was imprisoned in the imperial prison of the Pacification Division, but they didn't know what he had done wrong. The Jinyiwei showed no mercy to anyone and never revealed a single detail.
When Concubine De learned that her brother was imprisoned, she went to the emperor to plead for mercy with tears in her eyes, but was reprimanded and punished to reflect on her mistakes in seclusion for a month.
After a month, how can the daylily not be cold?
Concubine De was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, but she was locked up in her own palace. She could only send people to deliver letters to her parents' home, asking them to spend some money to find out what had happened.
The Lu family spent a lot of money to inquire around, but no one knew what Lu Zhengye had done to get arrested.
Someone was punished because of Concubine De's plea. Considering that Lu Zhengye accepted tributes from others under the name of Concubine De, it is speculated that this matter was discovered by the Jinyiwei.
In the absence of any other information, they sent this to the palace.
When Concubine De found out, she almost fainted. Her family didn't tell her how much her brother had received, but if he was arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guards because of this, it would obviously have touched the emperor's bottom line.
"What should I do?" Concubine De couldn't go out now. She couldn't go to the emperor to beg for mercy, but she didn't dare to do nothing and let her brother suffer torture in the imperial prison.
In desperation, she thought of a solution: get sick.
Whether she hanged herself or went on a hunger strike, it would be a slap in the emperor's face - the emperor would think that she was making a fuss because she was dissatisfied with the order to reflect on her mistakes behind closed doors.
Concubine De took a cold shower and stood in front of the window in the cold wind with wet clothes on. The next day, she caught a cold, coughed, had a runny nose, and had a high fever. The whole process was complete.
Defei's maid asked the emperor to visit her, but she only said, "If you are sick, go find the imperial physician."
The system paid attention to Lu Zhengye's follow-up, and after learning about Concubine De's actions, it quickly told Chu Huan.
[Sister Huan, is this the only way for women in the palace to attract the emperor's attention?]
Chu Hua: [That's not the case. It's mainly because she's been imprisoned in the palace, making it difficult for her to use other means to win favor.]
[De Fei was very jealous. She had been favored for a period of time, and she had suppressed and offended many people. She did not have a good relationship with the other concubines in the harem.]
If it was Concubine Yi who was imprisoned today, she couldn't get out by herself and could ask other sisters for help, but Concubine De couldn't do that.
The system suddenly became anxious: [Sister Huan, please don't enter the palace.]
Chu Huan was surprised: [Huh? Isn't it good to enter the palace? You can eat a lot of melons.]
System: [As long as there's melon energy, you can eat anything, but life for women in the harem is too difficult.]
It suddenly remembered something and panicked: "Oh no! The emperor said he would send you as a child husband to the fifth prince. What if the fifth prince becomes emperor in the future? Wouldn't you still have to enter the harem?"
Chu Hua herself remained calm and even tried to console the system: "There are many solutions, don't worry."
The system actually calmed down a bit: [The Fifth Prince is only nine years old, and there are still several competitors. Even if he does ascend to the throne, it will take at least a decade. It's okay, there's still time to plan.]
Chu Hua: [What are you planning?]
The system said as if it was natural: [Of course, she was planning how to kill him and become the empress herself.]
Chu Huan was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter: [Hahahaha, how did you know I wanted to be the empress?]
System: [I just think that based on your current approach, you'll probably have to go through all six ministries. You've also gained a lot of favorability with the Emperor and the ministers, so these efforts are definitely not in vain.]
Since you've invested time and energy into this, you must be hoping for a good outcome. Dasheng didn't have a prime minister, and you probably wouldn't become a female Grand Tutor or Imperial Preceptor. So, isn't the only path you can take to become an empress?
What could Chu Huan say? She could only say that the system was indeed a foolish system.
[Tong'er, do you know how difficult it was to be a female emperor in ancient times?]
System: [It definitely won't be harder than the first empress.]
Chu Huan was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter again.
Indeed, all things are difficult at the beginning. Our predecessors have already walked that path, so what is there for the later generations to be afraid of?
But she didn't have that idea. How tiring must it be to be an emperor? Now she was just eating melons and working, and watching others suffer and die. Wasn't it fun?
Chu Huan warned: [Tong'er, you must not say this when sharing.]
System: [Don't worry, I know it won't happen.]
*
The emperor gave the Embroidered Uniform Guard three days, but it didn't take that long at all.
Relying on his sisterly relationship with Concubine De, Lu Zhengye acted too arrogantly outside. He found fixed people to sell all the treasures he stole from the national treasury, and they were not distributed at all, so they were soon discovered.
The Jinyiwei obtained an account book from the contact person, which contained all the stolen goods that Lu Zhengye had asked him to sell in the past two years. These included cups, bowls and ornaments with palace seals, as well as oriental pearls without seals, etc.
It can be said that the ornamental jewelry was given by Concubine De to her younger brother or family members, so what about the Dongzhu?
The emperor asked Chen Jiu to count the Dongzhu that had been awarded to Concubine De over the years, and found that the number was too much and did not match at all.
Dongzhu was usually used by the emperor to reward people, especially those of good quality. There were not many stored in the national treasury, and most of them were in his private vault. So the Dongzhu that Lu Zhengye stole couldn't be...
The emperor suddenly reacted!
The national treasury was recently robbed in large quantities because the machinery was being repaired, and a large amount of wood was being transported in and out. His private treasury also had machinery, and it was also undergoing daily maintenance!
The emperor had a bad feeling: "Chen Jiu, go check!"
Chen Jiu hurried to check and found that some Dongzhu were indeed missing from the private vault.
The things in the emperor's private treasury were numerous and varied. Since many of Princess Anle's treasures had been brought in these days, he had been so busy going in and out that he had not had time to check them all from beginning to end.
The beads are so small that they can fill several large boxes. Who would bother to count hundreds or thousands of them?
Even if I beat Chen Jiu to death, I would never have thought that someone would be so bold as to steal the emperor's private treasury! Are you trying to kill yourself?
The emperor was so angry that he laughed. It seems that I am still too kind!
"Friend Lin, okay, okay, trial."
Lin You: "I obey your order."
That night, Lu Zhengye experienced the imperial prison punishment that everyone in the capital feared. He cried for his parents in pain and was so scared that he kept shouting, "Sister, save me."
This guy has been spoiled since he was a child. He would cry heart-wrenchingly when his skin was slightly broken. In the end, he told everything before he even finished his punishment.
Including when he sold the things that Concubine De gave to his family as rewards, and when he stole things from the national treasury and private treasury... He told everything he was asked, even short of revealing how old he was when he wet his pants.
The next day, Chu Huan went to court with her father. As soon as she saw the Minister of Revenue, she was surrounded by colleagues from the Ministry of Works and taken to the Ministry of Works before she had time to say hello.
Minister of Revenue: “…” He was targeted.
Before the morning court session even started, the atmosphere in the courtroom was already somewhat tense. Everyone was on edge, as if afraid of accidentally saying something wrong.
Chu Huan tapped the system, and it immediately enabled sharing: [What's going on? Do they know that both the national and private treasuries were stolen?]
System: [Some people know.]
Officials: “…” Well, now we know everything.
Chu Huan: [What's going on? Didn't the Emperor order this to be concealed?]
System: [But the Imperial Guards discovered that Lü Zhengye stole a lot of Dongzhu and sold it. How could there be so many Dongzhu in the national treasury for him to steal?]
The emperor suddenly had an idea and went to check his private vault. Chen Jiu had been counting the Dongzhu for half an hour, so the news leaked out.
The emperor and Chen Jiu who came over: "..."
The master and the servant sighed secretly: There are really no secrets in the palace.
Chu Hua: [Tong'er, how much did Lu Zhengye steal?]
The system reported a long list of items, some of which were stolen from the national treasury over the years, and some of which were stolen while the emperor was inspecting the private treasury.
It reports one, and Chen Jiu ticks one on the list. This speed is much faster than them checking the national treasury and private treasury again. Thanks to the system!
Finally, the system sighed: [I have to say, this guy is really brave. He even dares to steal things from the emperor's private treasury.]
Chu Huan was very curious: [He didn't think he could find out, did he?]
System: [He thinks this method is very clever, and ordinary people can't think of it, not even the Jinyiwei.]
Officials: “…” Some were offended.
Jinyiwei: “…” He was offended again.
Chu Huan: [...What about him now?]
System: [He believes that Concubine De will find a way and won't panic even if she confesses all her crimes.]
Chu Hua: ???
Chu Huan:!!!
She really couldn't understand this man's train of thought. [Why did he think that the emperor would tolerate a thief who dared to steal from his purse?]
[Just because Concubine De gave birth to a son and a daughter, he thinks that Concubine De's position in the harem is the most stable. Will the Emperor give him a lighter sentence for this?]
The system sincerely asked: [Isn't it possible?] Otherwise, where did Lu Zhengye get such confidence and courage?
Chu Huan was silent for two seconds before she had to admit: […It’s really possible.]
After all, the emperor had few children. Including the third prince, he only had five sons and three daughters. Concubine De gave birth to one-fourth of them, so her status was indeed different.
It is unlikely that the emperor would allow his two children to have such a terrible uncle.
Chu Huan: [No matter what the truth is, for the sake of the Fourth Prince and the Second Princess, the Emperor will probably find another reason to punish Lu Zhengye.]
emperor:"……"
Officials: "..."
It was a rare occasion for Chu Huan to guess the emperor's mind, but neither the emperor nor his ministers were very happy.
The emperor felt extremely aggrieved because he had to be gentle with a thief who dared to reach into his purse because of his two children.
The officials thought that the royal family indeed received special treatment. If someone else had done this today, he would have lost his head long ago.
System: [If he knew you were the one who figured it out, would he come after you for revenge?]
Chu Hua: […Should?]
emperor:! ! !
Officials:!!!
This won't do! Absolutely not!
The emperor immediately changed his original idea: punishment is necessary, and whitewashing the situation is also necessary, but the Lu family must not be allowed to threaten Chu Huan's safety!
The system said hurriedly: [I'm following a melon. If he wants to harm you, I will tell you immediately.]
Chu Hua: [Okay.]
System: [Sister Huan, there's a melon here.]
Chu Hua: [What?]
System: [Do you remember when Lord Wang, the Left Censor-in-Chief, was fishing with a straight hook and ended up catching a water snake? The snake tamer used the water snake to steal the Eastern Pearl. It was this Eastern Pearl that he stole.]
"I told you that most Ming Dynasty Dongzhu were used by the royal family, so why are there so many Dongzhu for sale? It turns out that Lü Zhengye stole them from the national and private treasuries and gave them to others to sell."
[No wonder that man didn't dare report the Dongzhu to the authorities after losing it several times. How could he dare? If the Shuntian Prefecture asked about the Dongzhu's origin, he couldn't just say, "Hey, it's from the emperor's private treasury. It's a very legitimate source, right?"]
Chu Huan: [Pfft—so the pearl that fell into the toilet is the emperor's treasure?]
Phew—all the officials burst into laughter.
Alas—the emperor’s face turned green.
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