Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 355 Shut up! (Seeking monthly votes)

When Shen Bo appeared, it wasn't just Yan Shu who was terrified; Yan Song, Feng Chuo, and the others, who hadn't even had a chance to speak, all froze!

In the instant they were shocked, Shen Bo had already arrived in front of the emperor with a bundle. When the bundle was opened, it was full of documents of varying thicknesses and sizes!
"Grand Commandant Shen, what do you want to do?!"

Yan Song felt a sudden, inexplicable panic and blurted out.

Shen Bo gave him a cold look and then bowed to the emperor: "These are all the records of the Yan family's interference in the annual allowances for the imperial clan over the years. Whether it is the funds applied for from the national treasury or the amount distributed by the Ministry of Revenue to all the imperial clan members in the country, everything is complete. I ask Your Majesty to investigate whether what the Crown Prince said is true!"

As he spoke, Yan Shu had already rushed up to him. He glared at him and quickly scanned the area before exclaiming, "You're spouting nonsense! There's not a single word about me on this page. How can you prove it's related to me?"

Shen Bo turned to face him directly: "You did a brilliant job. This is a long-term, big deal, so your hands must have been very clean. That's why none of the necessary documents have your signature on them."

"But while signatures and inscriptions can be hidden, the flow of money cannot. These documents form a complete record of your involvement in the allocation of the imperial clan's annual stipends. Although your signature is not present, traces have been left at every level of government office."

“These funds went to different places, but when the accounts were finally checked, they all ended up in your Yan family’s properties.”

At this point, he turned to the emperor: "The Ministry of Revenue claims that the withheld silver was diverted to emergency funds, but after checking all the accounts, the military pay is still the same amount, and the disaster relief funds are still the same amount. In other words, their claim of diverting funds for emergency use simply does not exist!"

"On the contrary, after going through countless detours, these accounts from each year eventually came together in the Yan family's assets!"
“Every single entry recorded in these documents I brought can be verified in the existing accounts of the government office!”

The emperor flipped through the documents with both hands, his upper body looming over the table. He gritted his teeth and stared at the dense text. When he looked up at Yan Shu in front of him, his eyes had turned bloodshot!
"Good, good, good!"

He stood up, suddenly slapped Yan Shu across the face with his sleeve, and then pointed a trembling finger at Yan Song not far away!
"Your Yan family's reach is so long, you even dare to stick your fingers into my pocket!"
"Okay!"

The last two words exploded from his mouth like thunder.

"Guards!" he roared at He Ping at the door, his eyes blazing with fury. "Drag Yan Shu out!"

"emperor!"

Yan Shu also knelt down, crying out: "This sinful subject has heard that every year, the Ministry of Revenue submits a memorial to the Grand Secretariat regarding how the annual allowances for all members of the imperial clan should be distributed, and the Grand Secretariat then submits it to Your Majesty for approval according to the regulations!"

"They wouldn't dare without your permission!"

Shen Bo glared at him: "As expected, even when you're about to die, you still only talk about others and don't mention yourself at all! You still want to shift the blame to the Emperor?"
"I knew you'd pull this!"

As he spoke, he pulled out two more memorials from his pocket and slapped them onto the ground in front of Yan Shu: "These are the memorials you mentioned that were submitted to the Emperor for approval in accordance with the regulations!"

"These are the annual reports from the Crown Prince's Palace and the Prince of Ning's Mansion in Shanxi last year. Take a close look at what you wrote!"

"According to the annual tax revenue reported by the Ministry of Revenue to the court, the Crown Prince should have received 10,000 taels of silver last year, and the Prince of Ning's family should have received 5,000 taels. However, in your report, you only reported 8,000 taels to the Crown Prince and 3,000 taels to the Prince of Ning's family."

"But the Ministry of Revenue recorded the amounts as 10,000 taels and 5,000 taels respectively!"

"The Emperor never even saw these four thousand taels of silver; they simply disappeared from the accounts!"
"Not to mention that of the eight thousand taels and three thousand taels that were approved, you will deduct several percent of them."

"This is all silver from the national treasury! It's money allocated by the Emperor to the Crown Prince and members of the imperial family for their daily expenses!"

"You are not merely competing with the emperor for profit; you are blatantly deceiving the emperor!" Yan Shu was speechless, his face turning deathly pale as he stared at the memorial.

Yan Song watched with trepidation for half a day, and when he saw the emperor standing up straight, the look of shock and anger on his face had faded, but his gaze had become piercingly cold!

Unable to contain himself any longer, he staggered forward and knelt down: "Your Majesty! There are still some unclear aspects to this matter. This old minister will immediately return and lead all the officials to conduct a thorough investigation! We will certainly give Your Majesty a satisfactory explanation!"

"you shut up!"

The emperor roared, pointing his right hand at the door: "If you don't get out, I'll kill you too!"

Yan Song cried out, "Your Majesty!"

Lu Jie in the hall quickly met Shen Bo's gaze, paused slightly, and then lowered his head. Shen Bo, who was about to speak, pursed his lips upon seeing this.

The emperor turned to the side, looked at Yan Shu on the ground, and slowly raised his hand, pointing to his forehead: "—Drag him out and beat him to death!"

"emperor!"

Yan Shu's throat split open!
His gaze lingered on the emperor's face in terror for a moment, then he frantically lunged forward, grabbing the emperor's legs: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty! I will change, I will change..."

The emperor tried to tear off his robe with all his might, but still couldn't get it off. So he simply took off the robe haphazardly and slapped it hard across Yan Shu's face!
How could the imperial guards at the palace gates allow this fellow to offend the emperor? Just then, they rushed forward and the two men pinned Yan Shu down with all four of their hands.

Suddenly, two cracking sounds came from under the robe, followed by a muffled groan, and then silence. The person stopped moving.

The imperial guard lifted Yan Shu's robe, revealing that Yan Shu's right cheek was smeared on the ground, while his left cheek was facing the sky, his eyes wide open like gongs, staring at his back.

It turned out that with that press, the incredibly strong guard twisted his head almost halfway around. And because he had been pampered for many years and had delicate skin, his neck bone was broken, with only skin and flesh connecting them.

“…Aqing, Aqing!”

Yan Song let out a mournful cry, staggered forward, and shook Yan Shu's body violently, but the latter had already become a lump of dead flesh and did not respond to him at all.

"My son!..."

Yan Song wailed and cried bitterly, clinging to Yan Shu's body and refusing to let go.

The emperor's eyes were bloodshot as he pointed at them and ordered the imperial guards, "How could you let him die like this? Drag him out! Whip his corpse! Whip it three hundred times!"

The guards then separated Yan Song and had two others drag Yan Shu away.

The limp corpse was still dressed in a magnificent brocade robe worth a fortune, which shone brightly in the sunlight, while its drooping head hung like a deflated balloon, swaying back and forth on its neck.

"My son, my son!"

Yan Song, who had been pulled away, lunged forward again, tripped over the threshold, but his hands didn't stop. Before he could even stand up, he crawled after them again.

Before they even reached the bottom of the steps, the imperial guards had already set up their positions outside the palace gates, raising their long whips and standing on either side of Yan Shu, taking turns lashing upwards.