Only this green, not disappointing the spring

Emperor Mingde did not let the two wait too long. The cool and comfortable air in the imperial study immediately relaxed the father-in-law and son-in-law, whose nerves had been tense.

However, before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw two people standing in the hall. One was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and the other was actually a staff member in Xuanyuan Chen's mansion!

"Mr. Zhang, why are you here?!"

Lord Wu almost fainted when he heard this. What was wrong with this mediocre person? He actually dared to recognize someone in front of the emperor. He was afraid that others would not be able to find any evidence against him!

The middle-aged man called Mr. Zhang shrank noticeably, but when he met the sharp gaze of Emperor Mingde, he immediately straightened his back and replied with a dry laugh:

"Your Highness, of course it was the Emperor who asked me to come here."

It was only then that Xuanyuan Chen realized something was wrong. His aide had no official position, so it was logical that his father could not possibly know this person!

A cough was heard from the top, and Emperor Mingde looked at the Minister of Revenue and said:

"Chen Aiqing, please show what you have collected to Minister Wu."

Shangshu Wu suddenly felt his hair stand on end. Something was about to happen. A layer of cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead, and his eyes were fixed on the subordinates who were walking towards him.

Chen Shu curled her lips slightly and smiled at the superior.

"Please have a look, sir."

With shaking hands, he took the thick booklet and trembled as he flipped it open. After reading less than a page, his knees went weak and he fell to the ground, shouting to Emperor Mingde that he was wronged:

"Your Majesty, this account book must have been fabricated by someone with ulterior motives. I have worked in the Ministry of Revenue for most of my life. Although I have not made any outstanding achievements, I can be considered to have worked diligently!

This old minister is truly wronged, please investigate clearly, Your Majesty!"

After saying that, he kowtowed to the ground with a loud bang, and a dent was made on the shiny gold brick. It seemed as if he would keep kowtow until he died if he was not cleared of all charges.

Minister Chen pursed his lips secretly. As a superior, he was always lenient with himself and strict with others, so it was rare for him to be so ruthless.

However, even if he really died here, I think His Majesty would never be soft-hearted.

That was two hundred thousand taels of silver, and the man in front of me embezzled it in just over half a year. He was really brave!

"Chen Aiqing, please have a good talk with Minister Wu about whether this account book is authentic or not."

"Yes."

Minister Chen picked up the pile of account books again. He explained the origin of each account book he opened. For each missing sum of money, he explained in detail who the money had passed through and who had lost it in the end.

All this money ultimately ended up with the same person, Shangshu Wu.

In the end, he even took out a booklet from Taifeng Money House, the largest money house in Beijing.

It clearly recorded the deposit and withdrawal transactions of a man named Wang and another man named Zhang in their bank within a year.

After tracing back these two people, it was found that one was from the Shangshu Mansion and the other was the aide present at the scene, Mr. Zhang.

The evidence was detailed and clear, and it was enough to bring him, the Supreme Lord, to the dust.

Looking at the pale-faced Minister Wu, Emperor Mingde asked in a deep voice:

"Wu Qing, do you have any objection? I have plenty of time today, you can speak slowly.

Don't worry, I will not let a country's parasite go, but I will never wrongly accuse a good person."

The four words "parasite of the country" were like a heavy hammer, hitting Shangshu Wu's heart hard, making him a little breathless.

He looked at his subordinates who used to obey him in disbelief. He didn't understand how he could be so capable and investigate the matter so clearly and thoroughly without him noticing anything? !

Minister Chen seemed to have opened up a certain acupoint in his body in an instant, and he understood Shang Feng's thoughts at a glance.

He couldn't help but complain in his heart: He naturally didn't have that much ability, but this was something the emperor had specifically asked to investigate, so naturally it would be twice the result with half the effort!

As the saying goes, if you don't do it, you won't die.

Everyone in the court, civil and military officials, knew that His Majesty valued the Crown Prince, but only this Shangfeng was so blinded by greed that he actually wanted to help the Fifth Prince win the throne.

The power of the emperor is not something that ordinary people can bear, let alone Shangshu Wu who is already guilty. He felt a chaos in his mind and wanted to argue for himself but didn't know where to start.

Therefore, he could only look at the Fifth Prince helplessly, and shouted with trembling lips:

"Your Highness, please say a few words for this old minister. I, I..."

He wanted to say that he did all this for the other person, but he held the words back when they came to his lips.

Xuanyuan Chen's eyes kept turning, but he didn't dare to look in the direction of Emperor Mingde. He subconsciously looked at the staff, but saw that the other party looked unfamiliar with him, and he was immediately filled with anger.

"Master Wu, what are you talking about? I don't know where you got this money from!

In order to complete the tasks assigned by my father, the palace hired a lot of staff, and the expenses naturally increased exponentially.

I did ask you for help, and you said you would do your best to help me, but I never instigated you to do such a thing of embezzling money!"

His words were very sincere, and contained a hint of sadness.

Without giving Wu Shangshu a chance to speak, he immediately looked at Emperor Mingde, lifted his skirt and knelt on the ground. He kowtowed loudly first, and then pleaded:

"Please be merciful, father. My father-in-law was confused for a moment. I will do my best to find a way to make up for the loss after I return."

Emperor Mingde couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

"Oh, where are you going to get two hundred thousand taels of silver? Are the tributes from the ministers enough?"

Xuanyuan Chen was stunned. What did his father mean by that sentence? !

Just when he didn't know how to react, Mr. Zhang stood up at the right time and took out a booklet from his arms.

At this moment, Xuanyuan Chen's heart began to beat as soon as he saw the book. Could it be an account book? !

He was right. Although Mr. Zhang was an aide to the Fifth Prince, his main duties had nothing to do with giving advice.

To put it simply, it is to help the Fifth Prince find a way to make money, and it has to be the kind that makes money quickly.

The account book was presented directly to Emperor Mingde by the chief eunuch Wang Fu. Mr. Zhang fell to his knees and said only one sentence:

"I shouldn't help the tyrant. Your Majesty, please punish me!"

Emperor Mingde did not say a word, but just flipped through the booklet page by page.

For a moment, the imperial study was silent. Everyone could only hear their own heartbeats and the sound of papers being turned.

Xuanyuan Chen stared at the emperor sitting at the top without blinking, his entire back soaked with cold sweat.

Just when he was a little distracted, something hit him on the head. He subconsciously wanted to dodge, but in the end he managed to hold it back.

What flew over was a white jade paperweight placed on the table. Emperor Mingde used almost all of his strength. Although the two were still some distance apart, he still smashed the other's forehead, causing blood to flow.

"Evil creature! You are so bold that you actually did so many evil things behind my back!"

He knew that his son had been acting more and more arrogantly and without restraint recently, but he never thought that he would go to such extremes!

Collaboring with brothels to abduct young women, privately opening casinos, accepting bribes, and embezzling tax silver! This bastard actually dared to embezzle tax silver, how is this different from treason? ! !

The blood covered Xuanyuan Chen's eyes, so that he could only vaguely see a blood-red mist.

In this layer of fog, there was the blurry figure of Emperor Mingde who had stood up and waved his arms.

He just felt a splitting headache, the head was spinning, and it seemed like he would faint at any moment.

At this moment, he was even somewhat thankful that he had not dodged the things thrown by his father. If he had been seriously injured, his father would not have had the heart to be cruel to him...

This was his last thought, and then he fell backwards as he wished, unconscious.

The news that the fifth prince was carried out by eunuchs quickly spread throughout the court and the country. What followed was the news that Shangshu Wu was dismissed from his post, his property was confiscated, and he was beaten with thirty sticks.

He was nearly 40 years old and almost died of suffocation. Fortunately, there was a hundred-year-old ginseng in Mrs. Wu's dowry, which she fed him in time and saved his life.

As for the fifth prince, he was made a prince because of forming a clique for personal gain. Three days later, he and his family went to Ganzhou to be enfeoffed. The most shocking thing was that Concubine Jing went with him!

The royal family's explanation to the public was that since the fifth prince was already registered under the name of the imperial concubine, he should naturally be well taken care of. As for the third prince, the biological son of the imperial concubine Jing, not a single word was mentioned from beginning to end.

The scheming and ambitious Concubine Jing has lost the big picture this time and is now deeply regretful.

Ordinary people would certainly be puzzled. It was clearly the prince who had committed a crime, so why was he only demoted to a prince of a county without receiving any substantial punishment?

However, insiders know very well that this is not a vassal state at all, but is actually no different from exile!

Ganzhou was actually called Shazhou in the past, and was famous for its drought and poverty.

The place is vast, sparsely populated, with scarce supplies and a harsh climate. I wonder if the Fifth Prince and the Princess, who have been born into a life of luxury, and Imperial Concubine Jing, can endure it!