My best friend is wearing a double body! Marry the emperor! Help me win the throne

In Zicheng Palace, Xue Youli was called by Murong Che again today to serve him with writing materials.

She was grinding while Murong Che, who was sitting at the desk reviewing memorials, continued to comment. He casually said, "I heard that you and Princess Qinghe are not getting along?"

The emperor is indeed well-informed; nothing can be hidden from his eyes and ears.

"But what does he mean by asking that? Is he trying to help me vent my anger? No, I can't let him hurt my sisters! Not even for my sake!"

Xue Youli paused while grinding the ink stick as she pondered, "Your Majesty, there was indeed a small misunderstanding between me and Princess Qinghe, but it has all been explained. I feel Princess Qinghe is straightforward and a girl worth making friends with."

"is it?"

Murong Che raised his eyelids and glanced at her. "Yesterday, when I went to pay my respects to the Queen Mother, I happened to meet Princess Qinghe and asked her the same question."

He paused here deliberately and did not continue.

Xue Youli's eyelids twitched a few times, and she had a bad feeling in her heart.

She looked at the man's handsome and noble face and asked cautiously, "What did Princess Qinghe say?"

"That damned girl Chu Xinyue, wouldn't you say such nonsense in front of the Emperor? If their relationship is exposed, Xue Qingyao will turn against Chu Xinyue, and we'll be in trouble!"

Seeing her nervous expression, Murong Che kept her in suspense before replying slowly, "She said that although you look stupid and aren't very smart, you'd be a good friend."

[Nonsense! I'm clearly incredibly resourceful, intelligent, and exceptionally clever! However, considering her intelligence, it's already quite impressive that she could come up with this answer!]

Xue Youli secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Princess Qinghe, you are too kind. I haven't read much since I was young, so I am indeed dull. But Your Majesty, your wisdom and bravery are enough. I am only responsible for my beauty."

She also praised him in passing. Even though she knew she didn't mean it, Murong Che's mouth curled up uncontrollably, "If you can talk, just talk more. I love to hear it."

Xue Youli has the super artificial intelligence, the Book of Heaven's Secrets, in his hand, so isn't it easy for him to come up with compliments?

She blew a bunch of rainbow farts to Murong Che, "If Your Majesty still wants to hear it, I will tell you again tonight."

at night?

Murong Che's eyes fell on her delicate lips, his Adam's apple rolled, and his voice was slightly hoarse, "I am looking forward to it."

After chatting with her for a few words, Murong Che lowered his head and put his pen in his hand, turning his attention back to the memorial.

But when he saw a memorial sent back from southern Xinjiang, his face darkened and he threw the memorial on the table in anger.

"How are the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War doing their jobs? The national treasury allocates so much silver every year to pay military salaries, but the soldiers in southern Xinjiang still lack food and clothing, and now they're even short of medicine to treat their wounds!"

The memorial happened to be thrown in front of Xue Youli. She glanced at it and took in the contents of the memorial.

Her elder brother Xue Wuji was also in southern Xinjiang. The war there was tense, and the Nanzhao Kingdom was good at using poisonous insects to raise poisonous insects. Many soldiers in Jiuzhou were injured by poisonous insects. After being poisoned, there were not enough herbs in the military camp. General Yu could only write a memorial and send it to the palace as soon as possible, requesting the emperor to allocate funds for sending medicine.

Who is so wicked as to covet the soldiers' pay? Without sufficient herbs, the wounded won't receive timely treatment, and this will likely affect the morale of the army!

Murong Che listened to her thoughts, tapping the memorial with his slender fingers, trying to get her to speak. "This matter is very difficult. What do you think I should do?"

Xue Youli quickly pushed the memorial back in front of the man, "Your Majesty, the harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs. I dare not speak nonsense."

[Why is Murong Che asking for my opinion? Can he just do whatever I say?]

Before, when Xue Youli was serving him with writing materials, Murong Che had never so openly spread out the memorial in front of her and asked for her opinion.

"It's okay, I just want to chat with you casually."

Xue Youli couldn't guess the man's intentions, so she deliberately replied innocently, "Your Majesty, why worry? Since there's a shortage of herbs and food, why not just send someone to deliver them? Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

"If only it were that simple."

Murong Che pressed his temples with a headache and analyzed the situation for her. "Before the late emperor passed away, the four countries bordering Jiuzhou often caused unrest on the border, so the late emperor sent a large army to suppress them. Those years of war drained the national treasury. Since I ascended the throne, in addition to the fixed monthly allocation of military pay for the border, I have to deal with natural disasters and man-made disasters. There are many things that require money. Now I simply can't afford to spare any money."

Xue Youli also had a troubled expression on her face. "This is indeed a difficult problem."

"What's so difficult about that? Just find a corrupt official and raid his house. The silver we find will fill up the national treasury!"

She thought about using the Secret Book of the Harem to check the list of corrupt officials in Jiuzhou.

Corruption and bribery are all too common in official circles.

Once you enter officialdom, you need money to do everything, such as asking people to do things for you and maintaining relationships.

If we get down to it, how many civil and military officials in the court can withstand the investigation?

The difference is nothing more than greed for more or less.

When Xue Youli saw who was at the top of the list shown in the Book of Heavenly Secrets, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise.

Didn't Duke Anguo Shen Hongwen always boast of his integrity? It's said the house he lives in was his wife's dowry. How could he be the biggest corrupt official in Jiuzhou?

After reading the answer in the Book of Heavenly Secrets, she suddenly realized: [It turns out that during the reign of the late emperor, he had been buying and selling official positions, leaking the imperial examination questions for exorbitant prices on more than one occasion. He had even used his position to embezzle military pay and enrich himself over the years!]

Duke Anguo is truly a genius! He raised pigs and chickens in his backyard not only to gain a good reputation and go down in history, but more importantly, he hid all the money he embezzled in the chicken coop and pigpen!

[But how should I tell Murong Che that Shen Hongwen embezzled nearly one million taels of silver?]

Xue Youli was a little worried. When she turned around, she found that Murong Che, who was sitting next to her, was gone.

"Huh? Where is the emperor, such a grown man? How come he disappeared?" Did he go to the toilet?

Xue Youli felt that this was the only possibility. After all, he had been sitting here for nearly two hours, and no matter how good his kidneys were, they had reached their limit.

She thought about it and poured herself a cup of tea.

However, before she could take two sips, Murong Che came back.

"Your Majesty, I've been looking for you." Xue Youli picked up the teapot and added tea to his bowl.

Murong Che took the teacup and handed her the letter. "I just received an anonymous letter of accusation. The contents of the letter are shocking! It's outrageous!"

Xue Youli took the letter, her fingers touched the words on the paper, and then her fingertips turned black.

Is this letter too good at locking in moisture?

She couldn't help but complain: "The ink on this letter hasn't even dried yet, could it be that Murong Che wrote it himself?"

Tianjishu: [That's right, he didn't go to the toilet just now, but went to the next door and wrote a letter of denunciation with his left hand.]

Xue Youli: [Murong Che, you're amazing! If there's no evidence, you create it yourself! ...Wait!]

How did Murong Che know that Shen Hongwen was a corrupt official? Wasn't the timing of his reporting Shen Hongwen just a coincidence?