In the palace, Wu Xing entered the palace with the account books.
But he was told that the emperor was listening to Master Wuchen's lecture and it would take two hours to finish.
He was so anxious that he could not preach at this time. He kept pacing on the same spot anxiously. He was even more afraid that the trial would end and Shen Liang could not bear the torture and confessed. Everything in that situation could not be undone.
Once the worst torturer is crippled, Feng Yuan will definitely use a large weapon due to his urine quality. He only hopes that Zhou Yongsheng and Prince Su Mu can give him some help to delay it for a little longer.
Wu Xing knelt in front of the Imperial Study Room and endured the scorching sun. Sweat dripped down his back. His back had been wet with sweat and dried out, forming white mottled patches.
The bluestone slab under the knees became hotter and hotter, and small pimples appeared one after another on the hot skin, which eventually turned into dark red and deep purple. The knees felt painful and itchy.
Just when he was unconscious, a heavenly voice came to his ears: "Master Wu, the emperor invites you in."
Wu Xing blinked his eyes stung by sweat, staggered and prepared to stand up...
"Plop!" An unsteady figure knelt on the ground again. The little eunuch beside him quickly supported him: "Sir, please be careful where you step."
The scent of burning incense and sandalwood wafts everywhere in the royal study. The sunlight shines in through the windows, making the room feel like a fairyland. It makes you feel as if you are floating on the wind.
Wu Xing frowned when he smelled the smell, a bad feeling arose in his heart, and then he breathed a sigh of relief when he looked at the emperor who looked normal.
"Your Majesty, I have made a new discovery. I reported that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the imperial businessmen colluded with the superiors and subordinates to deceive the superiors and subordinates, and quoted high prices for items purchased at low prices. Eggs worth 3 cents were quoted as high as thirty-four taels of silver. "
"The sky-high price of things is unbelievable. Every year, the money in the national treasury is not enough because it is emptied by moths like them. Your Majesty, here is the account book for you to check. There are two types of Yin and Yang account books. One is the true record, and the other is One is the account book for reporting.”
There was an eerie silence in the imperial study room, with only the sound of the emperor turning over papers. His face became darker and darker as he looked at it, and finally he laughed angrily: "Good, good, good, what a great businessman from my imperial dynasty, what a good housekeeper!"
Gao Yan, the chief internal officer, was frightened and knelt on the ground with a "pop" sound. The sound sounded painful and not adulterated at all. He was frightened and aggrieved and said: "Your Majesty, calm down, I have neglected my duty."
He did not defend himself, but knelt on the ground feeling aggrieved. He knew the emperor best. From young to middle-aged, the two of them had supported each other and escaped countless hardships.
"Gao Yan, I trust you so much, is this how you do things for me?" Although Jun Wenbo was angry, he did not blame him. Gao Yan is relatively timid. He is afraid that he will be replaced by others, so anyone bribes him. , he will report it truthfully.
Even the favorite concubine in the harem bribed him to ask for permission to reveal his whereabouts. He has never been bolder in so many years.
"Your Majesty, this old slave has grown up in the palace since he was a child. He is indeed not very clear about things in the outside world. However, Your Majesty's price has been at this price since you ascended the throne. It has not changed for so many years, so this old slave does not feel that something is wrong. .”
Yes, this thing was not accomplished in a day and a half, but started much further back. At this time, Jun Wenbo asked him to stand up and speak first.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Shen is innocent in this matter. He was framed. He has been a thorn in the side of those people for so many years of faithful service. Otherwise, how could he not find the dirty money? Which corrupt official in history would be like this!"
Master Wu Chen, who was watching on the sidelines, suddenly spoke, with his eyes lowered and his face as compassionate as ever: "Your Majesty, there are indeed doubts about Lord Shen's matter. It is better to temporarily imprison him for trial."
Wu Xing was anxious. Half a day had passed now. If Mr. Shen hesitated, he might be in trouble.
The emperor's attitude makes people uncertain, and his unhurried appearance makes people irritated, but it cannot be too obvious.
He nodded and agreed with Master Wuchen's words: "Gao Yan, go with Wu Xing and tell him that there are new discoveries and he will be detained in jail without trial."
…
The three-division joint trial began again.
"Master Zhou, are you still studying the files? Have you found anything? Have you found the whereabouts of the stolen money?" Feng Yuan's sarcastic tone was very obvious, and his appearance of winning the file almost made Zhou Yongsheng fail.
Tear him apart.
Zhou Yongsheng took a deep breath and said with a smile: "Master Feng really cares about Master Shen. If not, let me find out."
Find it? Feng Yuan's brows immediately furrowed. He read the impossible to find file countless times without any flaws.
"I think this file is fake, especially since the account book states that Mr. Shen paid the other party 300,000 taels for purchasing, but actually received a kickback of 100,000 taels. The other 100,000 taels were due to corruption between the Procurement Department and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
But according to the date, Mr. Shen did not allocate any funds that day!"
"Also, the date above is quite different from the accounts released by the Accounts Department. If we use the amount in this account book to calculate, then the Accounts Department has been emptied by this time. Mr. Feng, it is the Ministry of Internal Affairs that has been emptied.
, not the household department!”
Zhou Changsheng was very thoughtful, and he felt something was wrong when he got the account book. He immediately compared it with the expenditure account book of the Account Department, and then he discovered the clue. Even if it was faked, the money expenditure was the only thing that could not be faked.
"Lord Zhou, so what can we do? Lord Shen is the Minister of the Ministry of Finance and the whole Ministry of household affairs belongs to him. There is nothing impossible if he wants to do something. Besides, the two ministers of the Ministry of household affairs can testify."
This shit must be blamed on Shen Liang. He sneered: "Master Zhou, you have always prevented me from using torture. Do you think there is some ulterior relationship between the two of you?"
Even Prince Su Mu turned to him. Zhou Yongsheng knew that he could no longer stop him. He turned his head to one side with a cold face: "Master Feng, I just don't want to give in to a fight!"
"Come here, bring Shen Liang to the court and put on the stick!"
The moment the cold and hard clamping stick touched his skin, Shen Liang trembled subconsciously. He knew the consequences of clamping the stick. His legs were probably going to be broken. Even so, he still gritted his teeth and refused to admit guilt. If he confessed, everything would be over.
.
He clearly felt his flesh, blood, and bones. If he didn't squeeze hard, he could even hear the screams coming from his own bones. The severe pain made him break out in cold sweat, and he finally couldn't hold back his screams anymore.
"ah!!"
Feng Yuan squatted next to Shen Liang, who was trembling and screaming, and said in an inaudible voice: "If I plead guilty, I will be punished with this stick. If I plead guilty, I won't have to suffer anymore!"
"Bah! Fuck your mother's bitch!" As a scholar, it was his first time to curse someone and he uttered what he thought was the harshest word.
Feng Yuan stood up with a sneer and said to the Yamen servant: "Don't stop clamping hard, you can stop when you do it!"
Suddenly there was a loud noise outside the door!
The door was kicked open with a "bang", and a slender figure walked in with the light behind him.
"Hey, Mr. Feng, you are so powerful! This princess is really knowledgeable!"