amaotonovel Chapter 429 That’s it?
Chapter 429 That’s it?
The next moment, Xiao Tingshan immediately knelt on the ground and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I have no knowledge of this matter! If I go against my words, I will be punished by lightning!"
Unfortunately, Xiao Tingshan’s words could not dispel Emperor Qianwu’s doubts.
Poisoning and tampering with the prey released into the forest by Emperor Qianwu in advance in order to get a better ranking is tantamount to challenging the authority and is a contempt for the rules set by Emperor Qianwu.
No emperor could tolerate such a thing.
Xiao Tingshan never thought that such a thing would happen to him.
Could it be that his luck is really about to run out?
After a while, Emperor Qianwu said in a cold voice: "Get up, this matter needs to be thoroughly investigated."
Xiao Tingshan knew that even if Emperor Qianwu did not blame him at this moment, he had already aroused the emperor's suspicion.
He wanted to say something else, but unfortunately, Emperor Qianwu did not give him the chance to speak again.
Emperor Qianwu looked at Xie Jingchi and said coldly, "What do you think?"
Xie Jingchi was silent for a while, then said in a deep voice: "I think that someone has defied the imperial power and challenged your majesty's authority several times."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Heyu and his companions were all shocked, thinking that Xie Jingchi was really bold.
Emperor Qianwu sneered. It was obvious that Xie Jingchi had touched the heart of the matter.
"A small autumn hunt has caused so much trouble. What are these officials who are paid to do for a living?"
Emperor Qianwu's brows were gloomy and he spoke angrily.
Xiao Heyu stepped forward and said, "Father, this matter is indeed strange. Someone has evil intentions when Father left the palace. I don't know if it is to harm Father or to our Daqian Dynasty!"
Emperor Qianwu glanced at his son and said nothing.
Xiao Heyu pondered and said again: "But I think that although Song Tingshanzhi's trap is a bit tricky, he doesn't have the courage to poison his prey."
Xiao Tingshan finally found an opportunity to speak again, and immediately followed up: "Your Majesty, poisoning the prey will be discovered sooner or later, how can I shoot myself in the foot!"
Xiao Heyu said again: "Father, I think that if these poisoned prey are really cooked and distributed to the ministers, the poison..."
Obviously, Xiao Heyu intended to lead things in another direction.
For example, someone intended to murder the ministers.
"Xie Jingchi, you should investigate this matter together with the assassination by Luo Guo." Emperor Qianwu spoke in a deep voice, making it clear that he somewhat agreed with what Xiao Heyu said.
However, even so, it does not mean that he no longer doubts Xiao Tingshan.
Xiao Tingshan knew that, at least in this round, his advantage was gone...
*
An hour later, Xiao Heyu arrived at the tent.
Things have been going wrong recently, and Xiao Heyu looked unhappy.
"No news about Chai Bin and the others yet?" Xiao Heyu asked with a serious face.
"Your Highness, our people have been searching until now..." said the confidant Sun Ge.
"Useless! How could several living people disappear out of thin air?"
Xiao Heyu threw the teacup in his hand. Obviously, he was sure that these people fell into the hands of others.
This made Xiao Heyu more uneasy than if they were dead.
Xiao Tingshan, who was sitting below him, was also silent. They had never expected that someone would dare to poison the prey released by Emperor Qianwu.
Now, not only did he fail to win the emperor's favor, but he was also suspected. It was really not worth it.
On the other side, the emperor's tent.
Emperor Qianwu looked at the memorial sent to the desk with an unclear expression.
Prime Minister Wu and Prime Minister Han were at the lower positions.
Prime Minister Wu frowned and said, "Floods have been frequent in Jiangnan for almost ten years. Huge amounts of money have been allocated every year, but the problem has not been solved every year. I don't know whether it is because the floods are difficult to solve or the officials are incompetent!"
Prime Minister Han also nodded: "Dozens of solutions have been proposed so far, but until now, not only has the problem not been completely solved, but it has become more serious. It's really ridiculous!"
Emperor Qianwu asked coldly, "What do you two ministers think?"
Prime Minister Wu said: "In my opinion, Your Majesty can hold a public meeting to collect the opinions of talented and ambitious people in the world and formulate a new strategy for flood control."
Prime Minister Han said, "I think we should send someone to Jiangnan to conduct a thorough investigation."
*
When Shen Shuyi led his men back to the tent, he was also thinking about the poisoning of the prey.
During an autumn hunt, the princes and court officials from noble families all had their own ulterior motives. No one knew who was behind this and what they were planning.
But no matter what, at least this round made Xiao Tingshan's plan fail.
When Shen Shuyi returned to the tent, he immediately took out the few pieces of paper he had snatched from Xie Jingchi.
It would have been better if she hadn't seen the result. Once she saw it, she was almost mad to death.
On each of the three pieces of paper, there was a crooked black line scribbled lightly, as if the tip of the nose had accidentally rubbed the ground.
That's it?
Did Xie Jingchi dare to say that it was a manuscript that was compiled overnight?
Shen Shuyi's almond-shaped eyes were cold. She sat at the table, staring at the papers and sulking. She couldn't help but take out the map of Daqian again.
She read it over and over again for a long time, but still could not figure out how Xiao Heyu transported the relief funds out of Beijing and put them into his own pocket.
Shen Shuyi leaned in the chair for a while and was about to go out for a walk.
As soon as he stood up, he caught a glimpse of the papers again. Suddenly, he had an idea and sat back at the table.
She overlapped a piece of paper with the map, and then turned it several times to locate the starting point of the line in the capital.
Soon, she discovered that this seemingly randomly drawn line was actually the route from the capital through Licheng to Yangcheng in the south of the Yangtze River.
Shen Shuyi's eyes brightened a little, and he quickly overlapped the other pieces of paper with the map one by one.
She outlined it in her mind several times and immediately found that it was the same as she had guessed. Each route was from the capital through Licheng, and then transported from Licheng to Jiangnan.
However, after arriving in the south of the Yangtze River, the route turned to Yancheng in the border area, and then turned back to Beijing from Yancheng.
Shen Shuyi compared them carefully and found that these routes happened to match the list he had obtained before.
In other words, Xiao Heyu did transport the silver out of the capital along these routes.
In previous years, most of the official silver for disaster relief was escorted by the army.
Jiang Yanhu was also stationed in Yancheng at that time. If this is the case, it is very likely that after Jiang Yanhu returned to Beijing and then returned to Yancheng, he was responsible for escorting official silver for disaster relief.
Shen Shuyi put away the map, threw the things into the brazier, and fell into deep thought, so much so that he didn't notice Shen Qinghuan and Shen Meiru coming back.
"Second sister?" Shen Qinghuan asked tentatively.
Shen Shuyi retracted his thoughts and said in a gentle voice: "Fourth sister."
Shen Qinghuan asked tentatively: "Second sister, do you think the wound on my eldest sister's face can be healed?"
Shen Shuyi thought of the old woman beside Old Madam Qin and said, "Maybe."
Shen Meiru was even more scared. Seeing that even Shen Jingyu had suffered such a fate, she now didn't dare to show up in front of Shen Shuyi at all.
At this moment, Qin Xin came in from outside and whispered to Shen Shuyi: "Miss, Mr. Xie wants to see you."
After a pause, Qin Xin continued, "Master Xie seems to feel that the imperial physician's prescription is not very effective, and would like to ask you to help with the diagnosis..."