Embezzling military supplies was a serious matter, and it was not as if the imperial court had not investigated this matter at that time.
The official who originally came to investigate the matter was the former Minister of the Ministry of Justice. It was discovered that Yue Tao, the deputy general in charge of military rations and logistics in Shazhen, had embezzled military rations and silver. Yue Tao was sentenced to death.
When Qi Yuning and Lu Ze arrived at Shazhen Yamen, Qin Feng had already been waiting here.
"Shilang Qin?" Qi Yuning said, "Why are you here?"
Lu Ze said: "He has already come to Beicheng, he must do something for the court."
Qin Feng saluted and said: "Princess, our people have found Yue Tao's widow and his daughter. They still deny that Yue Tao embezzled military rations back then. However, according to the files of the Ministry of Punishment, 10 people were indeed found in Yue Tao's home that year. Ten thousand taels of silver, all of which have the mark of the Northern Desert on them."
After Qin Feng finished speaking, he asked his subordinates to find Yue Tao's family.
Yue Tao's wife was 50 years old and already had gray hair. She was at the age where she knew her destiny, but she looked like an octogenarian. She came tremblingly on crutches, and when she saw Qi Yuning, she said with trembling hands : "Tianjiao..."
Qi Yuning knew that Tianjiao was her mother's given name. She had rarely heard this name since she was a child. When people mentioned her mother, they always referred to her as General Liu or Princess Qi. It was rare to hear the name Tianjiao.
Yue Tao's wife walked up to Qi Yuning and said, "You are the princess, Princess Yuning."
Qi Yuning nodded lightly and said, "Do you know me?"
"You and your mother look very much alike. I hugged you when you were just born." Liu Tianfen said with tears, "Your mother is my little cousin..."
Qi Yuning said: "You are my mother's cousin? Then why did your husband embezzle military supplies and kill my parents?"
Liu Tianfen shook his head and said: "No, my husband definitely did not corrupt the military rations. The military rations and uniforms delivered from the court at that time were already defective. We went to make trouble, but the court official who sent the military rations was the brother of Concubine Xian. He took a sip We insist that there will be no problem when the military rations are delivered, but there is nothing we can do.
General Qi said that the military situation was urgent and that he would wait until the city was protected. Later, General Qi found out that someone in the imperial court had colluded...
It's a pity that General Qi never came back, and the officials from the court who came down to investigate actually said that my husband sold the general's grain, cotton clothes, and military medicine to Bei Mo, and took 10 taels of silver from Bei Mo.
We can't even think about this 10 taels of silver. I have grown up with your mother since she was a child. How could I ignore her pregnancy and put her in danger just for this 10 taels of silver? "
Yue Tao's daughter Yue Qingniang said: "Princess, my father will never sell military rations to the thieves in the Northern Desert. My grandfather, grandmother, and brother all died at the hands of the Northern Desert. We and the Northern Desert have an sworn hatred!"
Lu Ze said slowly: "But at that time, Yue Tao was imprisoned after pleading guilty."
"He was forced. When my husband left, there was not a single piece of good skin on his body. He was beaten into submission!"
Qin Feng said to Lu Ze, "The previous Minister of Punishment was accustomed to using some means of extorting confessions."
Qin Feng and Lu Ze were both ashamed of using torture to force confessions.
Qin Feng said: "But I went to see where Yue Tao hid the silver. It didn't take one or two days to hide 10 taels of silver there. 10 taels of silver is so heavy that it can't be done in one day." It can be hidden in Yue Tao's house in two days.
It was impossible for Yue Tao not to discover that someone hid so much silver secretly in his home, so the former Minister of Punishment was sure that Yue Tao must be involved. "
Liu Tianfen said: "Sir, we really didn't hide 10 taels of silver! We are really wronged about this. I don't know why so many taels of silver were found at the back door of my house."
Lu Ze asked Qin Feng: "Do you have any confessions from the remaining members of the Northern Desert Royal Court?"
Not everyone in the Northern Desert Imperial Court died at the hands of the Qi family, there were still some remnants of the Northern Desert who were still alive and imprisoned in Sand Town.
Qin Feng said: "They all said they didn't know anything, but it is true that in that battle 14 years ago, the Northern Desert Army suddenly had a lot of military medicine, cotton clothes to keep out the cold, and a lot of sharp swords, bows and arrows."
Lu Ze raised his eyebrows and said: "A large number of swords, bows and arrows? I went to Shancheng not long ago to investigate the private mining of iron ore. I remember that the account books recorded fourteen or five years ago showed that the quantity of iron ore transported was much higher than usual.
Dasheng has strict management of iron ore, swords and weapons. There is not a large amount of iron ore in the Northern Desert. I suspect that it is the iron ore in Nashan City that forges weapons and provides them to the Northern Desert. "
Qi Yuning clasped his hands and said, "So, is he really the King of Shu?"
Lu Ze said: "The Shancheng Iron Mine is inseparable from the King of Shu, but there is no conclusive evidence to blame the King of Shu."
Qi Yuning looked at the files from the Ministry of Punishment and saw a name on the file, Uncle Qin, "Was Uncle Qin also involved in investigating this matter?" Qin Feng said, "Well, because it involved the King of Shu and Uncle Qin. I am a good concubine, so Uncle Qin is also supervising."
Qi Yuning frowned and said, "If it was really the King of Shu who colluded with Beimo back then, what did the King of Shu want?"
Lu Ze said: "In order to gain the throne, there was chaos at the border in the Northern Desert, and the Qi family army was defeated. The King of Shu could take the opportunity to force the palace to seize the throne. At that time, the Qi family army suffered countless losses and had to take care of the Northern Desert. He would not be able to return to Shengjing City to protect His Majesty for a while. The King of Shu could not do anything. We only lost a few cities in the northwest, but we were able to win the throne of the great prosperous world."
Qi Yuning frowned. If this is true, it can be said to be treason and collaboration with the enemy. He is not even worthy of being a human being, so how can he be worthy of being an emperor!
Lu Ze said: "This matter is old and it is not easy to find out. We have found the original weapons and the Shancheng iron ore ledger. At least we can convict the Shancheng officials who participated in the private mining of iron ore and commit genocide.
I wonder if, facing the death penalty of genocide, they would be willing to reveal the King of Shu behind the scenes to save the lives of their people? "
Yue Qingniang on the side said: "Princess, after they came to take away my husband, a strange thing happened in our village over there."
Qi Yuning asked: "What's weird?"
"It didn't take long before more than [-] young and strong men contracted the epidemic and died suddenly. At that time, our village was still sealed off."
"Sudden death due to the epidemic?" Lu Ze ordered Deqing: "Go and get the Shazhen County Chronicle."
Lu Ze looked through the county annals and found that there was no record of the epidemic. "There is no record of the epidemic in the county annals."
Liu Tianfen on the side said: "It's true. Many young and middle-aged men suddenly died of illness in the village. The bodies of these men suffering from the epidemic were taken away and burned with a fire.
The most pitiful thing is Aunt Wu at the entrance of the village. Her husband was killed by the people from the Northern Desert in her early years. She worked hard to raise her son. But because his son was infected with the epidemic, he was taken away and burned together. She even had his ashes. She couldn't find out which one belonged to her son. "
Liu Tianfen sighed and said, "Aunt Wu has gone crazy recently. She says every day that her son is still alive and wants to marry the daughter of the general's family."
"Wu Xiong!"
Qi Yuning and Lu Ze said in unison.
Qin Feng asked: "Who is this Wu Xiong?"
Lu Ze said: "It's too late to explain, we have to rush back to Quan Town!"
Qi Yuning went to the desert repeatedly and saw Lingling playing sandboarding and said, "Lingling, it's time to go back."
Lingling said: "Mom, sandboarding is so fun here."
Lu Ze stepped forward and picked up Lingling and said, "I'll come back to play when I have time in the future. It's time to go."
With Lingling, Wu Xiong's mother, and Liu Tianfen's mother and daughter here, it was hard to hurry up.
In the carriage.
Qi Yuning's hands were trembling.
Wen Ban is one of his grandfather's disciples. Like Uncle Huo An, he is a good disciple that his grandfather regards as his own son.
Lu Ze reached out and took Qi Yuning into his arms, holding her hand which was extremely cold.
At night, even though there was a charcoal brazier burning on the carriage, it was still very cold.
When driving at night, even the horses slowed down a lot in such cold weather.
Qi Yuning looked at Lingling who was sleeping soundly in Lichun's arms, leaned against Lu Ze and said, "If Wen Ban colludes with Beimo... I will definitely kill him!"
"It's not worth letting him dirty your hands." Lu Ze said, "Don't think too much, have a good sleep, and you can go to Quan Town when you wake up." (End of Chapter)