Chapter 103
Thinking about the origin of the gold, Tang Xiuyong kept wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Your Majesty, in the past few days, I've examined the account books handled by Lord Liu before. There are some problems, which may explain where the gold came from," Li Tianyou said, kneeling down with the account books in his hands.
"Please tell me, Minister Li," Zhu Jingchen thought to himself that it really had to be Li Tianyou.
He could find problems just from the account books.
"I noticed some discrepancies in the prices of military rations in several account books and marked them. Also, in the past few years during the disaster relief, there were significant discrepancies in the prices of rice and flour," Li Tianyou said in a deep voice as he handed the account books to Eunuch Liu.
If it were someone else, they might not notice these details. But who was Li Tianyou? He came from a business - oriented family.
He could tell at a glance if there were any problems with the things in these account books. Because his family was engaged in those businesses, he knew exactly what the prices should be.
"Good! What a Liu Zongcheng! What a Concubine Liu!"
Zhu Jingchen was furious. He thought that a mere vice - minister of the Ministry of Revenue could embezzle such a large sum of silver. In the vast Lan Nuo Kingdom, he wondered how many such moths there were.
The national treasury was so poor that even rats didn't want to make holes in it, but those corrupt officials were all fat and wealthy. Were there few like Liu Zongcheng, whose whole house was built with gold?
At this moment, Tang Xiuyong felt as if his heart was dead. He also had a great deal of responsibility in this matter.
Even if the silver didn't end up in his hands, the emperor probably wouldn't think so.
It's over!
This was the only thought in Tang Xiuyong's mind at this time.
"Your Majesty, such evil deeds must be severely punished! Otherwise, how will outsiders view our Lan Nuo Kingdom?" Xu Heming stepped forward and said, bowing.
"Minister Xu is right!" Zhu Jingchen closed his eyes. If he didn't make an example of someone this time, those court officials would probably think he was an easy - to - deceive king.
"Your Majesty, I'm guilty in this matter. I failed to discover Liu Zongcheng's evil intentions earlier. But I really didn't know that Liu Zongcheng had such a big nerve. Relying on Concubine Liu's favor in the palace, he simply didn't put me in his eyes!" Tang Xiuyong kowtowed his head on the ground again and again, pleading.
He also felt a little regretful. He shouldn't have turned a blind eye to Liu Zongcheng's affairs because of Concubine Liu.
"Minister Li, what do you think of this matter?" Zhu Jingchen looked at Li Tianyou and asked.
Hearing this, Li Tianyou frowned. Tang Xiuyong was his superior. He couldn't very well speak ill of him.
Tang Xiuyong didn't expect that the emperor would ask the opinion of his subordinate on this matter. He also looked at Li Tianyou hopefully, praying that he could plead for him.
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, although Lord Tang was negligent in supervision in this matter, he has served the court whole - heartedly for many years. He has put in a lot of hard work even if he doesn't have great merits. Moreover, the court is in need of talents now. How about letting him atone for his sins with future contributions?" Li Tianyou thought for a while and said euphemistically.
After all, since the emperor had found problems with the vice - minister of the Ministry of Revenue this time, it was likely that the other five ministries would also be investigated.
Then, Tang Xiuyong's role would come in handy.
"Since Minister Li is pleading for you, I'll spare your life this time. However, although the death penalty can be avoided, the living penalty cannot. A mere vice - minister of the Ministry of Revenue can embezzle such a huge sum of money. I hope you'll take the lead in checking the account books of the six ministries!"
Sure enough, Zhu Jingchen intended to check the accounts of the six ministries. After hearing Zhu Jingchen's words, Tang Xiuyong felt extremely bitter.
Checking the accounts of the six ministries was no easy task!
This was a job that would offend people!
It seemed that Li Tianyou was also a sly fox. He knew that the emperor would definitely check the six ministries, so he threw this hot potato to him.
But compared to losing his life, he had to take this hot potato.
"I thank Your Majesty for your great kindness! I just hope that Minister Li can assist me in checking the account books of the six ministries," Tang Xiuyong said, looking at Li Tianyou after thanking the emperor.
"Since Minister Li is a member of the Ministry of Revenue, he will naturally assist in the investigation. Minister Li, do you have any objections?" Zhu Jingchen looked at Li Tianyou and asked without room for refusal.
"It's my honor to relieve Your Majesty's worries!" Li Tianyou thought that checking accounts was really not difficult for him. As long as he could gain more face in front of the emperor and outshine Xu Heming, he was more than willing.
"As for the Liu family!" Thinking of what the Liu family had done, Zhu Jingchen's eyes were filled with not only anger but also disgust.
Just thinking about how Liu Ruyan had caused him to lose two imperial sons and deceived him for so long, the cold air around him grew even stronger.
In the imperial study, it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
No one dared to make a sound to disturb Zhu Jingchen sitting at the top.
Zhu Jingchen was thinking in his heart how to punish them to show the royal dignity.
"Former Vice - Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Liu Zongcheng, has embezzled and committed illegal acts, embezzling about 280,000 taels of silver in total. He is to be executed by lingchi as a warning to others! All his family assets are to be confiscated. The male members of the Liu family within the nine - generation kinship are to be exiled to the Wild Goose Pagoda, and the female members are to be demoted to military prostitutes. No one is allowed to redeem them privately!"
After Zhu Jingchen finished speaking, Tang Xiuyong felt even more panicked. The emperor's punishment this time was the harshest in recent years.
The male members of the nine - generation kinship were all exiled. From then on, the Liu family would never have a chance to rise again. Moreover, the female members would be demoted to military prostitutes.
Who would still dare to have anything to do with the Liu family?
Hearing this, Xu Heming was not satisfied. After all, although Liu Zongcheng had been dealt with, what about Liu Ruyan?
"Your Majesty, there's one more thing I forgot to mention just now. In order to prevent me from reporting this matter to you, Liu Zongcheng sent people to my mansion to try to kidnap Qing Shi," Xu Heming said, bowing.
"What?" Zhu Jingchen angrily slapped the table upon hearing this.
This Liu Zongcheng was simply audacious.
"Your Majesty, Liu Zongcheng and Concubine Liu have repeatedly interfered in the affairs of my mansion. Shouldn't this matter be given an explanation to me?" Xu Heming looked at Zhu Jingchen and asked again.
"Concubine Liu Ruyan, you have connived at the embezzlement of disaster - relief funds from the court, murdered the imperial heirs, and attempted to harm the family members of court officials. From now on, you are to be demoted to a commoner and demoted to a military prostitute along with the women of the Liu family!"
After Zhu Jingchen finished speaking, he looked at Xu Heming. It was as if he wanted to ask if Xu Heming was satisfied with this.
Xu Heming didn't say anything. In fact, he also knew that being demoted to a commoner and a military prostitute meant that the emperor was leaving Liu Ruyan at his disposal.
"I thank Your Majesty for your great kindness!" Xu Heming took the opportunity to stop.
After all, for dealing with Liu Ruyan, death would be a relief for her. He had plenty of ways to make her suffer worse than death.
At the Wei family's mansion
"Sister Li, why have you come? I was just thinking of going to see you," Lin Ziyi said happily when he saw Li Zhiwei coming. Originally, he had planned to visit Li Zhiwei, but unexpectedly, she came to his mansion first.
"I heard that the young master was frightened. I specially brought Qing Shi to see him. Is the young master okay now?" Li Zhiwei asked with a smile, looking at Lin Ziyi.
Lin Ziyi twitched the corners of his mouth. Thinking of his troublesome son, he didn't know whether to say he was okay or not for a moment.
