After swallowing my anger and taking the blame, I became the lucky little queen

Yes, there is also the Queen level...

The sweetness of the past few years was suddenly washed away, and was replaced by endless sorrow.

The queen didn't like her in the first place, for two reasons: one was her background, and the other was her appearance and talent, neither of which she could compare to Nian Susu.

Now that such a thing has happened, the Queen's impression of her will only get worse. Will she really be able to marry into Prince Qing's Mansion smoothly in the future?

Seeing that she was worried, Mrs. Zhang reminded her, "So, Miss, it is safest to get married with the Emperor's blessing."

"Yeah." Nian Qiaoyue did not comment. She still needed Nian Susu's help.

……

Mingde Hall.

The Dali Temple Minister presented a memorial with the results of an investigation into the Crown Prince's embezzlement of public funds and abuse of power for personal gain.

Five days ago, the Prime Minister asked the Emperor to thoroughly investigate the case, and the Emperor then threw this hot potato to the Dali Temple.

Whether the investigation is good or not is nothing more than asking him to choose whether to offend the crown prince or the wise king.

It is a fact that the prince was wronged, but if he presents this fact to the emperor, Prince Xian will certainly be dissatisfied, and even the people of Prince Qing's party will have opinions about him. In this way, even if he is neutral, it will be no different from standing on the prince's side.

The Dali Temple Minister knew that the Emperor was so confident in handing the case to him because he valued his self-discipline, honesty, and diligence in working with Prime Minister Nian.

He also knew that the Prime Minister was on the side of the Crown Prince this time and had no intention of going along with the Wise King, so he could only report the whole story.

As for the outcome, it all depends on the emperor.

While the emperor was reading the memorials, the Dali Temple Minister was already sweating profusely.

The emperor frowned, put down the memorial, and looked at the Dali Temple official who was standing at the dais with his head lowered. "So, the prince was wronged?"

The Dali Temple Minister should say “yes”.

It was so quiet in Mingde Hall that you could hear a pin drop. The situation was unclear and no one dared to act rashly.

The emperor spoke in a calm tone, making it hard to guess his attitude. "You can talk to the ministers about this case."

The Dali Temple Minister swallowed his saliva and said, "I have found out that the information about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince embezzling 350 taels of public funds is not true. The 350 taels did go into His Royal Highness's shop, but His Royal Highness was not aware of it. It was the shopkeeper who was bewitched and took the money by using His Royal Highness's name. Later, the virtuous king found out about it, and the shopkeeper was afraid of getting killed, so he framed His Royal Highness for ordering it."

The Emperor said: "Mulan Qiumi is a royal hunting event, and the silver was issued by the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Minister of Finance. How could a small shopkeeper be able to swallow up 350 taels?"

The shopkeeper took the money, but it would be unreasonable if Qin Junyu had not helped.

If it really has nothing to do with Qin Junyu, then the problem can only lie with the two people who allocated the money.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Minister of Finance were sweating profusely. When they heard the emperor call their names, they both stepped out of the line and knelt in the hall.

The Minister of Revenue said: "Your Majesty, I have always performed my duties conscientiously and would never do such a thing! Please be clear about this!"

Minister of Finance: "Your Majesty, I have been an official for many years. How could I not know that misappropriation of public funds and corruption are serious crimes! No matter what, I dare not tamper with Mulan Qiumi's important affairs!"

The two men were filled with grief and indignation, and every word they said was piercing, just like loyal ministers who were wronged.

The emperor pressed his eyebrows. He had to see this scene at least three times a day and was already tired of it.

Raising his hand, he motioned for the Dali Temple Minister to continue.

The Dali Temple Minister lowered his head a little. The following words were the most important.

"The shopkeeper confessed that the silver was delivered to the shop by the Minister of Revenue."

Everyone sighed. They didn't expect that the Minister of Revenue would be slapped in the face so quickly.

For a while, there was a lot of discussion.

"Okay!" The emperor slammed the dragon table angrily, and the hall instantly became quiet.

Qin Zehai glanced at Qin Junyu secretly and found that he was calm and composed, as if he was in control of a strategy. Combined with the words of the Dali Temple Minister, he couldn't help but wonder if the shopkeeper had turned against him.

That shouldn't be the case. He had checked and found that the shopkeeper had only worked for Qin Junyu for half a year. He was a timid man and only cared about his family the most.

The people he sent captured the shopkeeper's mother, daughter-in-law and children, and threatened them with their lives. How could the shopkeeper dare not disobey?

Thinking of this, a thin layer of sweat had already appeared on his forehead.

If the shopkeeper really turns against us, the Minister of Revenue will probably be useless.

From what the Dali Temple Minister said, he didn't mention him at all, which means Qin Junyu didn't intend to involve him. Was he worried that the emperor would become suspicious?

Qin Junyu seemed to have sensed something and glanced slightly to the side, and saw Qin Zehai staring at him from the corner of his eye.

He looked away expressionlessly, sneering in his heart.

Qin Zehai must be very curious why he only used the Minister of Revenue as a chess piece instead of dragging him into the water.

This is because the shopkeeper took all the blame on himself, which made him look like a scapegoat. If he further involved the virtuous king, it would inevitably arouse suspicion that he had gotten involved in order to put the blame on the virtuous king.

Although there is a chance that the emperor will become suspicious of the virtuous king, it will do more harm than good to him, so he can only push the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue out.

The wise king lost a capable assistant, but he escaped unscathed without losing anything.

The emperor raised his hand, pointed at the Minister of Revenue, and shouted, "Tell me, is this true?"

The Minister of Revenue turned pale with fear, and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was trembling like a sieve. Now that things are not developing as they predicted, what should they do next?

The Minister of Revenue's chest heaved violently, and he turned his neck to look at Qin Zehai, trying to ask for instructions.

Qin Zehai also didn't know Qin Junyu's purpose. Was he targeting the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue alone, or was he targeting him?

If the Minister of Revenue denies it, the Emperor will definitely investigate further, which will not be a good thing for him. But if he admits it, what if Qin Junyu has a backup plan and exposes him as well? Wouldn't that be a loss of both the wife and the army?

The emperor was getting impatient, his eyes were cold, "Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, I am asking you a question. If you dare to tell me a lie, I will kill you right now!"

Misappropriation of public funds for personal gain is not a serious crime. The emperor must have said such things because he was extremely angry.

The Minister of Revenue was heartbroken.

Qin Zehai looked at him, unable to bear it, and finally closed his eyes and nodded.

The Minister of Revenue received the order, smiled bitterly, clenched his fists, took off his official hat, and kowtowed, "What the Dali Temple Minister said is true. I was bewitched by evil spirits and blinded by money. I took bribes and perverted the law. My crime is unforgivable. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

The emperor took the memorial presented by the Dali Temple Minister in his hand, read it again, and said with gritted teeth: "Well, a good minister of the Ministry of Revenue dared to do such a thing behind my back!

"Come here! Drag him out and give him fifty strokes of the cane! Strip him of his official title and from now on he is not allowed to set foot in the palace again!"

The tears that had been in the Minister of Revenue's eyes finally fell. He bowed again and said loudly: "Thank you, Emperor, for your grace."