A cold sweat rolled down his back, leaving a crooked trail of water.

"Absolutely not!" Shen Xiaojia didn't hesitate at all. He immediately bowed and replied sincerely, "I have always regarded money as dirt, how could I reach out to contaminate that yellow and white common thing!"

Emperor Qing asked suspiciously, "But why did I hear that you returned to the city very late yesterday?"

"The scenery of Kyoto is infinitely beautiful. I was so intoxicated by it that I never wanted to leave..."

"You were seen carrying a wooden box when you entered the city."

"They are all souvenirs that I prepared for my friends back home. They are not valuable."

"Let me tell you what local specialties there are. Maybe I can help you check and fill in the gaps."

Shen Xiaojia replied hesitantly, "There's nothing to say, it's really not worth mentioning."

Emperor Qing raised his eyebrows slightly and said calmly, "Such pushback...could it be that you were making nonsense of it?"

"Of course not!" Shen Xiaojia swallowed and explained immediately, "Actually, there are some fish, shrimps, crabs, and two beggar's chickens inside, so the outside is dirty and full of mud. It's for the lady who cleans the streets of Kyoto.

We have caused a lot of trouble, which is really unspeakable..."

"Such a small box can't hold too much. If it's really fish, shrimps, crabs, shells and beggar's chickens, it can only weigh about thirty kilograms at most." Emperor Qing turned to look at the little eunuch next to him, indifferently

Asked, "What did Jin Yiwei say?"

The young eunuch quickly bowed his head and replied cautiously, "The deputy commander said that the Blood-clothed Marquis walked in a circuitous way from the north side of Daming Lake. When he returned to Kyoto, the sun had already set. It took him more than an hour in total to walk.

Very slow and very hard!"

Shen Xiaojia coughed twice and explained with a smile, "I'm really in some bad health recently. Walking back to the city is a big test and a kind of recovery exercise..."

The little eunuch still didn't straighten up, as if he hadn't heard Shen Xiaojia's words, and continued to talk to himself, "The banner officers of the Imperial Guard have checked the footprints of the Marquis when he returned to the city, and they were particularly deep... It is estimated that he weighs at least

About two hundred and fifty kilograms! However, in the Yuecheng Mansion official register, the weight of Xueyihou is one hundred and twenty six kilograms! Considering that Xueyihou's life and diet are getting better and better in recent days, the Jinyi guards calculated

I found a new data that may be accurate, which is about 140 pounds, but it is also very different from the 250 pounds corresponding to the footprints!"

Emperor Qing held his waist with his right hand and said calmly, "The gained weight of the Xueyi Hou plus the box of fish, shrimps, crabs and shellfish is almost 170 kilograms?"

The little eunuch nodded and said with a flattering look, "Your Majesty is wise and wise, and his calculations are very accurate! This result is also contrary to the actual situation, so Jin Yiwei guessed... that the box contained something very heavy. According to the corresponding volume, it was roughly

It could be gold!"

Emperor Qing raised his right eyebrow slightly, pretending to be surprised and asked, "A box of gold?"

The little eunuch replied in a low voice, "The Jin Yiwei have done a verification. They asked a young man whose weight is almost the same as that of the Xueyi Hou to put a hundred kilograms of gold in a box of the same size. The footprints on the mud are the same as those of the Xueyi Hou.

The footprints left in the mud outside the city yesterday were exactly the same depth!"

The ministers were in an uproar. No one expected that Shen Xiaojia would take away a hundred kilograms of gold from Daming Lake. Such a greedy man would just say that he regards money as dirt. It was extremely shameless!

The Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel had a dark face and was about to say something. When he looked up, he saw that the left and right ministers in front of him were both silent, so he swallowed back the words that reached his throat, expecting that things would not be like this.

It's so simple on the surface.

The long beard of the Minister of War was swaying in the autumn wind, and his eyes were slightly narrowed, as if he was asleep. The Minister of War standing behind him also closed his mouth tightly and lowered his head, as if he had said "one hundred catties of gold" for the first time just now.

The exclamation did not come from his mouth.

It is reasonable for the military to be silent at this time. On the one hand, the Minister of War has already supported Shen Xiaojia. If he steps down again at this time, he will be a repeat villain, which is completely inconsistent with the military's style. On the other hand, Shen Xiaojia

I have also been a general, and I can be regarded as half a soldier. It is better to fall into the hands of one of my own people like Shen Xiaojia than to be killed by those insidious and cunning people.

The civil servants monopolized it.

The old minister of the Ministry of Etiquette glanced around and saw that no one from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War came forward to speak. He thought about it secretly and closed his mouth.

After waiting for a long time, no minister spoke out to reprimand Shen Xiaojia. Emperor Qing's face became increasingly grim. A cold light flashed in his eyes, and he stared at Shen Xiaojia and said, "Tell me, you salvaged the gold with that hand!"

How could Shen Xiaojia not understand the meaning of His Majesty the Emperor's words? His face turned pale and he said hurriedly, "Your Majesty! That box of gold was not salvaged by me from Daming Lake, but..."

Emperor Qing sneered, "It seems that the box does indeed contain gold. Didn't you say before that it was just fish, shrimps, crabs, shells and beggar's chicken... Shen Xiaojia, you are deceiving me!"

Shen Xiaojia's pupils shrank, and he finally saw something from the emperor's smile. It turned out that Jin Yiwei's estimate of his weight through footprints was false. All this was just a trick of the emperor. Maybe someone actually saw him returning home with the box in his arms.

city, but there are footprints crisscrossing the countryside. It is difficult to tell which footprints belong to him, and it is impossible to verify them later.

The words had been spoken, and it was too late to regret it. Shen Xiaojia had no choice but to sigh and admit straightforwardly, "Yes, the thing in that box is indeed a hundred kilograms of gold, but it really didn't come from the bottom of Daming Lake, because the origin is somewhat special.

, it was a legacy given to me by an old woman, so I deliberately concealed it from the beginning. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Emperor Qing's expression softened a little, and he said calmly, "Since you are an official for the first time, you have no support from the township party, and no classmates to tell you these rules, so I will spare you this time... Tell me, all that gold is there.

Wherever you are, I will ask someone to check it out, and your innocence will be proven soon."

Shen Xiaojia had a look of embarrassment on his face and hesitated for a long time before he said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I'm afraid this matter is not easy to handle. My box of gold has been stolen!"

Emperor Qing's face suddenly darkened, "Stolen? After you returned to the city, you went straight to the Kyoto government office. Could it be that it was stolen in the Kyoto government office?"

Shen Xiaojia smiled awkwardly, nodded and replied, "Your Majesty is wise and powerful, that is indeed the case!"

Chao Ya, who had been unable to say anything, sneered and said coldly, "Absurd! Since the founding of Daqing, no one has been stolen from the government office. Will anyone believe such a clumsy lie?"

This time, of course, the second prince did not say the word "I believe" again. He just looked at Shen Xiaojia with a look of regret on his face and let out a long sigh.

Shen Xiaojia lowered his head dejectedly, "Really...whether you believe it or not, this is a fact. The thief who stole my gold is..."

Emperor Qing tilted his head and said, "Who is it?"

"It's a little thief who sneaked into the government office!" Shen Xiaojia still didn't say the name, with a slightly bitter taste in his mouth, and said in a deep voice, "If your Majesty gives me some time, I will be able to find the box of gold. Will I lie?

...It’s clear at a glance!”

Emperor Qing snorted coldly and said expressionlessly, "Can I give you some time to recast it?"

Shen Xiaojia immediately choked up and didn't know how to argue. Thinking from his perspective, if he were Emperor Qing, he would be so suspicious.

Just when Emperor Qing was about to get angry, the Eighth Prince, who was standing next to Shen Xiaojia, sighed quietly, raised his head to look at Emperor Qing, and said slowly, "Don't embarrass this young man, it was me who asked him to do this and say this...

...The box contains indeed gold and silver jewelry salvaged from the bottom of Daming Lake. They are all in the Qingfeng Pavilion now. If you want to take them back, please order someone to pick them up!"

The words were shocking! Everyone in the palace looked at the Eighth Prince in astonishment, even Shen Xiaojia!

Emperor Qing frowned and asked in confusion, "Why?"

"I don't have any money for drinks," the Eighth Prince shrugged, as if he was talking about a very ordinary thing, "so I asked this kid to help me get some while exploring the bottom of the lake."

Emperor Qing pursed his lips and said, "Eighth brother, you are lying to me again. You and this boy should have only met last night..."

"Obviously it was last night, but actually we met on the night of the Kyoto Divine Catcher Conference," the Eighth Prince turned his head and took a deep look at Shen Xiaojia, "It was in a certain shop in Geng 17th Lane.

...right, Shen Xiaojia?"

Shen Xiaojia's heart skipped a beat,

A layer of dense sweat instantly broke out in his palms. Now he had no time to think about why the Eighth Prince knew about Geng 17 Lane. He just nodded numbly, "Probably so."

Emperor Qing naturally saw some clues, but he didn't point them out. He slowly sat back on his dragon chair and said leisurely, "Since it's the eighth brother's intention, then it'll be fine... Eighth brother, I'll miss you next time."

When you get the money, just tell me directly, don’t think about getting money out of the water, it’s easy to get your shoes wet!”

The Eighth Prince smiled faintly, "Your Majesty, you know me. I have always asked for nothing... If you think it's inappropriate for me to touch Yuan Bai's burial objects, then chop off both of my legs."

Go ahead, I already have no hands anyway, so keeping these two legs won’t do much good!”

A hint of guilt flashed in Emperor Qing's eyes, and he waved his hands impatiently and said, "It's just a little gold, silver and jewelry, why are you talking about this... This matter has been revealed, let's continue talking about the case! Bloody Marquis, what you just said

Those are all speculations. Apart from the jellyfish mucus and human faces in the porcelain bottle, is there any other evidence?"

Shen Xiaojia immediately breathed a sigh of relief, cast a grateful look at the Eighth Prince, turned back to look at Emperor Qing, and replied respectfully, "Of course it's not just this piece of evidence... If you want to convict a person, you need evidence, witnesses, and confessions.

Everything is indispensable! In terms of evidence, in addition to what I and my colleagues in the Kyoto Prefecture collected, there is also the entire Daming Lake to prove it! As for witnesses, I also found several people, including but not limited to Luo Tianniu

, Kyoto’s popular group Uncle Era, and that black cat..."

Emperor Qing chuckled and said, "It's really novel that a cat can be a witness... So, what about the prisoner's confession? From what the Xueyi Hou said, he should be ready, right?"

Shen Xiaojia suddenly straightened up and looked at Emperor Qing with sharp eyes, a strange smile appeared on his lips, "Of course the confession has been prepared, and all the ministers in the palace have heard the confession from the man himself!"
Chapter completed!