The daughter of the emperor is beautiful and holds the power over the world

The Minister of Revenue looked at Prince Xin as if asking for help, but Prince Xin did not respond at all.

Ling Mohan stepped forward, looked at the frightened Minister of Revenue, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Lord Zou, all guards will be strictly searched when entering and leaving. If anyone dares to hide anything, this general will not show mercy."

The Minister of Revenue raised his eyes and glanced at Ling Mohan, his expression becoming even uglier...

Yi Jiangfeng, a subordinate of Ling Mohan, divided the guards of Zuowei Mansion into eight groups, and each group started the inspection from a different place in the national treasury.

But in just a quarter of an hour, they discovered the clue.

"General, some of the boxes are empty."

"General, there are several boxes here that are only half full of silver, and the bottom is full of bricks."

"General, most of the sealed boxes in the warehouse here are empty..."

Ling Mohan and Qi Ziyu went over to take a look and saw that the dozen or so open boxes were indeed empty, with no silver inside.

Qi Ziyu's face darkened. "Search each box carefully and count them carefully to see how much silver is left in the treasury."

"Yes." Yi Jiangfeng took the order and immediately took his brothers to conduct a detailed inspection.

The imperial guards led by Gan Li and the Shangjing City guards under Feng Yu also launched an inspection.

Yi Jiangfeng asked his brothers to open all the boxes and record the details of the silver in the boxes.

He inspected the surroundings and returned to report, "Your Majesty, General Ling, according to my estimation, the silver in the national treasury is probably less than 30 million taels..."

Qi Ziyu couldn't help but take a deep breath. There was such a big problem in the national treasury.

He stared at the Minister of Revenue with a serious look and said, "Detain Zou Xue and await interrogation."

Ling Mohan's guards immediately stepped forward and arrested the Minister of Revenue Zou Xue.

It was already noon when the silver in the treasury was counted.

However, the news that there was not enough silver in the national treasury was delivered to Taiji Hall early on.

The emperor was furious after hearing this and ordered a thorough inventory of the treasury silver.

All the court officials were waiting in the main hall, starving to death, and they had not had any food to eat.

The court meeting continued until Prince Xin and Prince Yong returned from the Ministry of Revenue.

The emperor was also awake in the back hall. Seeing his two sons return, he went back to the hall and asked, "What was the result?"

Qi Ziyu remained silent. Qi Mingzhe's face turned pale as he stammered, "Father...Father..."

"What's wrong?" The emperor frowned, his expression gloomy. "Why are you hesitating? Just tell me."

Prince Xin opened his lips, sweat dripping from his forehead. “The… the silver in the national treasury…”

The emperor looked impatient and turned his gaze to Qi Ziyu, "Prince Yong, you speak."

Qi Ziyu stepped forward and said, "Father, there are only 22 million taels of silver left in the national treasury."

"What did you say?" The emperor widened his eyes in disbelief.

Didn't he hear it wrong?

The emperor looked sharply at Gan Li, the commander of the imperial guards.

Gan Li quickly said, "Your Majesty, if we count all the silver in the treasury, there are only 22 million taels."

As soon as Gan Li finished speaking, there was an uproar in the court. Both the Prime Minister's party and the Prince of Yong's faction were shocked.

The national treasury had lost a considerable amount of silver for no apparent reason.

Si Yan slowly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Minister of Revenue previously said that our Daxuan treasury currently has 35 million taels of silver. Beimang State has given another 30 million taels, so the total should be 65 million taels. Now, there are only 22 million taels left in the treasury. Where did the remaining 43 million taels go?"

The emperor felt dizzy and his body was about to collapse.

Eunuch Gu hurried forward to support the emperor.

"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."

"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself!" The court officials all knelt down and shouted in unison.

The emperor held his rapidly beating chest, took out a heart-saving pill given to him by the genius doctor Yunya, and put it into his mouth. After a while, he finally recovered.

The emperor sat on the dragon throne in anger, one hand on the armrest, and a cruel look appeared on his old face.

"I will never give up until the truth of today's matter is revealed."

Someone even dared to touch the silver in the national treasury. It was so outrageous.

Qi Ziyu stepped forward and reported, "Father, the Minister of Revenue, Zou Xue, has been detained by me and is awaiting interrogation at any time."

"Bring him to the palace." The emperor clenched his fists involuntarily and said through gritted teeth.

The Minister of Revenue was carried to the hall by the imperial guards. His face had already turned pale and he looked like a walking corpse.

"Zou Xue!" The emperor stared coldly at the overweight Minister of Revenue who was kneeling on the ground, his eyes seemed to want to kill him.

"Where is the silver in the treasury? Where did it go?"

Zou Xue came back to his senses and looked at the emperor on the throne, crying and saying, "Your Majesty, this old minister... doesn't know either..."

"Huh? Haha?" The emperor laughed out of anger.

He forced himself to walk to the jade steps and pulled out a sword from the waist of a palace guard.

The emperor sneered, "You don't know? You're the Minister of Revenue, and the silver in the national treasury has disappeared. You tell me you don't know?"

Zou Xue's legs went limp, and he seemed to have lost his support and collapsed to the ground.

He pursed his lips: "Your Majesty, I really don't know..."

The emperor's cheeks twitched violently twice, and he walked down the white marble steps step by step with his sword in hand.

The emperor's face was sullen. "According to my Daxuan Law, the Ministry of Revenue must inventory the national treasury every two months. I remember that the last inventory was on the tenth day of the first lunar month. It's only been twenty days, and the national treasury is missing 13 million taels of silver. And you tell me you didn't know?"

The emperor never imagined that the court official he appointed would be so irresponsible.

Zou Xue's official uniform was already wet with sweat.

He lowered his head like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

The emperor wanted to kill him, but he didn't do it in the end. Zou Xue was recommended by Xin Rui.

The emperor walked up to Xin Rui and asked, "Prime Minister, what do you think we should do?"

Xin Rui bowed slightly to the emperor and said sternly, "Your Majesty, the Minister of Revenue has committed dereliction of duty and should be severely punished."

Zou Xue listened to Xin Rui's words and closed his eyes as if accepting his fate, but he did not intend to confess more.

Si Yan said with a cold expression, "Your Majesty, severe punishment of the Minister of Revenue is inevitable, but I believe that the most urgent task is to recover the silver that was lost in the national treasury. If such a large amount of silver were to be used by someone with ulterior motives, the consequences would be disastrous."

Prime Minister Xin Rui immediately said, "This silver must have been embezzled by Zou Xue."

Zou Xue raised his eyes, glanced at Xin Rui, then slowly lowered his head.

Si Yan looked at Zou Xue and said, "Master Zou, the Prime Minister said that you embezzled the silver. Is that true?"

Zou Xue pursed his lips and said nothing. The emperor was so angry that he pointed his sword at his chest: "Si Yan is asking you a question? Tell me! Did you embezzle this money?"