The empress disliked my achievements for overshadowing her own, so she turned her attention to the N

Behind the small gate was an open space about three zhang long and one zhang wide.

However, the soil on that open space was very loose.

At a glance, Chen Nan knew that the soil had been turned over, and recently at that.

He turned to look at Minister Qian and asked, "What? Aren't you going to tell me now?"

Minister Qian remained defiant: "The official under the Prince's command has already stated that his friend unfortunately passed away a few days ago..."

Seeing that the other party was still unwilling to tell the truth, Chen Nan stopped dawdling.

"Mo Bai, call a few people in. I want to see what treasures are buried beneath this ground."

Soon, several people came in from outside. Because they had come in a hurry, the soldiers had not prepared shovels or anything like that.

He used his sword to turn over the soil.

Before long, several wooden boxes were revealed on the ground after the soldiers overturned them.

"Your Highness, there are boxes in the ground, and it seems there's more than one."

Just then, Minister Qian, who was being supported by two soldiers, collapsed again.

Helpless, Chen Nan had no choice but to have Mo Bai call two more people in.

With the help of four people, Minister Qian was able to stand up with difficulty.

Chen Nan instructed, "Bring the boxes up from the field."

Two soldiers carried the box up and placed it in front of Chen Nan, then cleaned the mud off the box.

Chen Nan looked at the box in front of him and said in a low voice, "Open it!"

Upon hearing the noise, the two soldiers smashed the lock off the box.

The moment the box was opened, everyone's eyes lit up.

What came into view was a whole box of gold.

"This, this, this..."

Upon seeing this, the temple abbot was so surprised that he could no longer speak.

His gaze lingered on Minister Qian for a long time.

The Minister of Revenue, who was usually very frugal, actually had so much wealth buried in his home.

Chen Nan stepped over the box, stood in front of Qian Shangshu, and shouted, "What? Still not admitting it?"

Even with the support of four people, Minister Qian collapsed once again.

Pointing at the box, his face showed shock: "Who buried so much gold in my land?"

"So you admit this is your land?" Chen Nan roared in fury.

The next second, Minister Qian's face fell, and two streams of tears flowed down his cheeks.

"Your Highness, I haven't spent a single penny all these years, I dare not!"

"Our family has been farmers for generations, we dare not spend money!"

Chen Nan smiled contemptuously: "When you were making a fortune through dirty money, did you never think that you were the son of a farmer?"

"When you forced people to buy and sell land, did you never think that you were the son of a farmer?"

"When you saw those people with no land to cultivate, did you never think that you were the son of a farmer?"

Under Chen Nan's sarcastic remarks, Qian Shangshu's psychological defenses were completely shattered.

He used his legs to climb up to the wooden box and rammed his head against it repeatedly.

Soon, he seemed to have come to a realization. He wiped away his tears and said, "Your Highness, the gold here is just the tip of the iceberg."

“My room and the yard are all covered in gold.”

At his instruction, Chen Nan sent men to search the entire mansion thoroughly.

Then he sent Mo Bai to take Minister Qian to the prison to explain his problems in detail.

Just as Mo Bai's hands touched Minister Qian, the temple manager stepped forward to stop him, saying, "Your Highness, Minister Qian is a first-rank official of the imperial court."

“If he has a problem, it should be investigated by our Dali Temple.”

"So you mean this mansion will be taken over by your Dali Temple from now on?" Chen Nan asked, dissatisfied.

“Yes, no matter what, Minister Qian is a first-rank official, and the prince doesn’t have that much power.” The temple manager said with a serious expression. In his view, this was a great opportunity to gain political achievements.

Such a large courtyard must be worth hundreds of thousands of taels of gold. If a portion of it were handed over, it could certainly advance the next level.

Chen Nan snorted coldly: "Aren't you overthinking this?"

"I have been in charge of this case from beginning to end."

"Now that we finally have a result, the people from the Dali Temple come out?"

Faced with Chen Nan's questioning, the temple abbot said with an air of righteous indignation, "Your Highness is mistaken."

"From both a moral and logical standpoint, Minister Qian should be handed over to this temple."

"As for the prince's role in this case, I will naturally report it to the Empress Dowager truthfully."

"Everything will be decided by the Empress Dowager!"

"Moreover, with such a large amount of gold, what if the prince were to... right?"

"What the hell are you saying?" Upon hearing someone speak ill of Chen Nan, Wu Xu was the first to stand up and retort.

In his eyes, Chen Nan was not that kind of person at all.

As the only prince with the title of Zhen in Northern Wei, what couldn't he get if he wanted it?

Is it really necessary to care about this gold?

"What? The abbot was merely describing a possible scenario. After all, anyone would be tempted by so much gold."

Chen Nan chuckled wickedly, "Oh? Could it be that even the Temple Abbot would be tempted by all this gold?"

"What did you say? This abbot represents the Dali Temple, how could he possibly covet such mundane things?"

"Is Your Highness perhaps insulting the abbot of this temple?"

Chen Nan smiled coldly; he was simply continuing what the other person had said.

Who would have thought that you could break down someone's defenses so easily?

However, the temple abbot's words, though crude, were not without merit; anyone would be tempted by so much gold.

Even he, for a fleeting moment, considered taking a small portion from the middle.

But thinking back, what could he do with all that gold?

Buying an official position? Buying a noble title?

He has all of these things.

Moreover, the Empress Dowager of Northern Wei trusted him completely, so he didn't need these things at all.

"Master, I was just continuing the story as you instructed."

"The abbot also said that everyone has greedy desires. Didn't the abbot really think about taking a little from it?"

Chen Nan casually took out a gold ingot from the box and played with it in his hand.

He sniffed the gold again under his nose before putting it back in the wooden box: "So much gold, it's really good stuff!"

Seeing this, the temple abbot knew in his heart that Chen Nan would never hand over the people and the stolen goods to him.

In that instant, he abandoned all sense of propriety and shame, and roared in a rage, "Chen Nan, you're nothing but a prince!"

"What right do you have to interrogate court officials?"

"These stolen goods, along with Minister Qian, you shall hand them all over to the temple manager."

"Otherwise, don't blame me for reporting you to the Empress Dowager."

Chen Nan sighed, then gave a cruel smile: "Do you think I'm afraid of you complaining to the Empress Dowager?"

He then said seriously, "To tell you the truth, the memorials submitted by the Empress Dowager to impeach me are stacked higher than you are."

"Today, I will tell you the first lesson of reform."

"No one may challenge the laws of the imperial court!"

Upon hearing this, the temple abbot suddenly smiled and said, "Chen Nan, you said it yourself, no one can challenge the laws of the imperial court."

"According to the laws of the imperial court, Minister Qian and the stolen goods should be handed over to the Dali Temple for processing."

"The abbot is in a hurry; I haven't finished speaking yet!"

"Secondly, any government office has the right to deal with those who violate the laws of the imperial court!"

"Tomorrow, I will report this matter to the Empress Dowager!"

"Mo Bai, see the guest out!"