Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

“We are husband and wife, but we have long been strangers… Your Majesty, I have no connection with Qin Hui anymore.”

"I just didn't file for divorce because I was afraid of airing my dirty laundry in public..."

Chapter 3903 Well Hidden

Annoyed by the noise, Gu San shouted, "Guards, gag her and take her to the Dali Temple for trial!"

……

In the secluded small house, Bai Sheng and his men ransacked the place, but found no stolen money or evidence.

In Qin Hui's study, where the bookshelves had been pressed down, there were two new marks on the floor tiles.

A middle-aged official said, "These two floor tiles were definitely laid later, but they haven't been touched for at least a year and a half."

This man was named Li Jiucheng. He was originally the son of a clerk in Nanzheng County. He was idle and irresponsible, spending his days as a hanger-on for the nobles in the city.

When Hanzhong City was captured, his father took the opportunity to surrender to Zhao Yuan, while Li Jiucheng was recruited by Shi Yuangong to gather intelligence.

Li Jiucheng is now a senior official in the Military Intelligence Department of the Ministry of War, and he was temporarily transferred here to help investigate the case.

Bai Sheng pointed to two floor tiles: "Pry them open, dig three feet into the ground!"

Got nothing.

There were two servants in the house, both elderly men who were deaf and blind, so Bai Sheng couldn't get any information out of them.

More than a dozen neighbors were "invited" to the courtyard, and they all stood there trembling with fear.

Li Jiucheng left the study and asked, "Who came in?"

The neighbors all shook their heads.

Li Jiucheng then pointed to the two old servants and asked, "Who has dealt with them?"

They all shook their heads.

To avoid being exposed, the undercover agents sent by Zhao Yuan only occasionally followed Qin Hui from a distance and never entered Qin Hui's secret residence.

Zhao Yuan couldn't say anything about this; the officials handling the case had to investigate it themselves.

A neighbor said cautiously, "The two of them rarely go out except to buy charcoal, vegetables, and salt."

“They can’t hear us when we speak. We haven’t seen them in previous years. Judging from their accents, they’re from Kaifeng.”

Li Jiucheng continued, "Were there only the two of them in this house the whole time?"

Another neighbor said, "When the imperial court first moved the capital, there was a young lady and an old woman."

"They didn't talk much, but they did talk to me."

She claimed to have moved from Kaifeng and came to Luoyang with her husband to do business.

Immediately, someone else chimed in: "It's definitely not about doing business!"

"Her husband was a bit old. Although he always wore a hat when he came back, with the brim pulled down to cover half of his face, you could tell from the way he walked that he was an official."

"They were officials who moved here with the imperial court when it moved the capital."

"Yes, yes, that young lady is the official's mistress, and she even gave birth to his child!"

"Her wife is probably a jealous woman who can't stand her husband taking a concubine."

"..."

The neighbors were no longer afraid and gradually opened up, gossiping amongst themselves.

Li Jiucheng asked, "Does the male head of the household come here every few days?"

Someone said, "Not necessarily. But every time I come, I ride in a donkey cart with a canopy. After getting off the cart, I just open the gate and enter the courtyard. It's only a few steps."

“Once I tried to talk to him, but he ignored me and went inside and closed the gate.”

"He doesn't look like a good person at all. Why would a normal good person cover their face with a hat?"

Li Jiucheng asked many more questions, but was unable to obtain any further information.

When Bai Sheng saw Li Jiucheng winking at him, he immediately ordered the release of the man and told the neighbors, "You should all go home and not wander around or talk nonsense."

"If you recall anything suspicious, come and report to me immediately."

Chapter 3904 Digging Three Feet Deep

Upon hearing that they could leave, the people were completely relieved.

Someone even took the initiative to inquire: "May I ask, sir, what crime has this family committed that has warranted the imperial guards to arrest them?"

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask," Bai Sheng said sternly.

Li Jiucheng, however, walked around the house, carefully observing any clues along the way.

He stood at the door of a storeroom, first looking at the brass lock that the soldiers had smashed open, then at the hoe that had been overturned during the search inside.

"Is there a problem here?" Bai Sheng asked.

Li Jiucheng pointed to the corridor outside the door: "General, please look here. Doesn't it look like a place that people often walk around?"

“The stone path outside the corridor was covered with thick moss, and apart from the fresh footprints left by the guards, there were no other signs of footsteps.”

Bai Sheng nodded: "It seems that those two old servants don't usually come this way."

Li Jiucheng then pointed to the storage room: "The room is full of tools."

"There were hoes, large shears, flower pots... and brass locks to lock the doors."

"If this really is Qin Hui's secret residence, and the two old servants don't come here often, are the things inside used by Qin Hui?"

Bai Sheng said, "The Emperor Emeritus liked farming and growing flowers, and many ministers followed suit. Qin Hui was famous for learning to farm, and he even received praise from the Emperor Emeritus when he was in Kaifeng."

"In the courtyard of this house, one corner has been turned into a vegetable garden, and there are many potted peonies around it. It seems that Qin Hui often came here to grow crops and flowers."

Li Jiucheng said, "Qin Hui naturally wouldn't allow his servants to touch his farmland and flowers..."

"dig!"

Before Li Jiucheng could finish speaking, Bai Sheng had already reacted and led the guards to dig up the vegetable garden.

As they dug, a guard shouted, "There's something here!"

Bai Sheng was overjoyed and grabbed the hoe to dig himself out, quickly unearthing a corner of the wooden box.

Keep digging, keep removing the soil.

A small wooden box was taken out.

Qin Hui transferred all the old scores and a lot of money that had been owed to him.

Originally hidden under the floor tiles in the study, Qin Hui buried them all in the vegetable garden last year under the pretext of planting vegetables.

The small box also had a lock, which Bai Sheng violently pried open.

Inside the box were two bundles of objects wrapped in layers of oiled paper, with charcoal and lime sprinkled at the bottom for moisture protection.

Bai Sheng opened the oil paper package and found a small booklet inside.

It was marked with the date, as well as some personal names, place names, numbers, and many names of goods.

Li Jiucheng examined it closely for a while and said, "This is an account book. The word 'guan' should be omitted after the numbers."

"The names are all aliases; only Qin Hui knows who they are referring to."

"The time and place names should be real, but the goods are definitely fake."

"The names of those goods may refer to an official position or a project."

"They're just making things mysterious, making it hard for people to understand," Bai Sheng muttered.

Li Jiucheng reached out and turned to the last page, saying, "The most recent date is three years ago; this is the ledger from three years ago. There should still be some boxes that haven't been dug up."

Bai Sheng ordered, "Keep digging, dig up the entire vegetable garden."

Li Jiucheng then opened another oil paper package in the box.

Treasure notes, all of them are Ming Dynasty treasure notes!

Bai Sheng counted them and exclaimed in astonishment, "A full fifty thousand strings of cash! These are all old-version banknotes from a few years ago; there aren't any with a 500-string denomination. This scoundrel has embezzled quite a bit!"

Chapter 3905 Fallen

"Why don't you send him back to his hometown? Staying in Luoyang only means he can offer sacrifices to the local earth god."

Very simple.

Qin Hui's parents had died long ago and moved to Jiangning, where there were no relatives left, only his maternal uncle's family.

Qin Hui's brothers either passed the imperial examinations and became officials;

Either Qin Hui arranged for them to be transferred from a minor official position to a higher-ranking one, and after that, they would have to be reassigned to a different location.

Without any clansmen or brothers, would Qin Hui really send the money to Jiangning and entrust it to his uncle for safekeeping?

In the last two years, Qin Hui began to make arrangements for his death.

He sent his trusted confidants back to his dilapidated old house in Jiangning to expand it, and then asked his cousin to buy some land.

He also sent one of his eldest brother's sons back to Jiangning to look after the newly established family business, so that his descendants could develop it there in peace.

People from our ancestral home often come to the capital to freeload.

Qin Hui lost his father at a young age and lived a difficult life. His mother once took her sons back to their ancestral home, but they did not receive any help from their relatives.

Therefore, Qin Hui disliked those clansmen and initially refused to see them at home.

Later, he gradually came to terms with it and sent his trusted confidants back to his ancestral home to renovate the ancestral graves and ancestral hall.

They also funded schools and sponsored the education of children in the clan. To put it bluntly, they were making a long-term investment and gradually cultivating their family's power.

Not much money was spent in his hometown or ancestral home; most of the embezzled funds were left in Beijing.

"We've found something again!"

In total, twelve boxes were unearthed.

Some of the boxes had no ledgers, but they certainly contained money, totaling 650,000 strings of cash.

Bai Sheng took the evidence to report back, leaving some men behind: "You stay here and don't allow anyone to enter or leave. Keep digging and see if you can dig out anything else."

Bai Sheng entered the palace overnight.

Zhao Yuan glanced at the banknotes and account books and laughed, "We even dug up a few boxes at the residence of the Minister of Revenue."

"There is another box that has not been buried yet. It is estimated that it is still in use and is temporarily covered by two stacks of books. There are also account books and banknotes inside."

"This Qin Hui has indeed learned his skills from the retired emperor."

"At least, they are particularly good at digging and turning the soil, and they can work as well as old farmers."

Bai Sheng leaned close to the emperor and said, "This man is truly despicable, but all I managed to dig up was 650,000 strings of cash!"

"What, are you envious?" Zhao Yuan asked with amusement.

Bai Sheng quickly waved his hand in denial: "I have a noble title and an official position, and I can receive a salary for both."

"The officials often bestow rewards upon me, so why would I need to embezzle or accept bribes?"

Zhao Yuan said, "Send it to the Dali Temple."

Bai Sheng, carrying the evidence of his crimes, led a team of guards straight to the Dali Temple.

Qin Hui is currently on trial, but he refuses to plead guilty, insisting that he has only received some gifts of calligraphy and paintings.

His trusted servants were also stubborn, refusing to believe they could redeem themselves through meritorious service, and pinning their hopes on Qin Hui's acquittal.

The concubines, however, knew nothing at all. Even the concubines who had lived in the secret mansion had never entered Qin Hui's study.

It is also said that Qin Hui occasionally stayed at the secret residence, where he did nothing but read books and grow flowers and vegetables.

"As the Minister of the Ming Dynasty, I, Qin Hui, have always acted uprightly and sat honestly. What do I have to fear from petty accusations and slanders?"

Qin Hui sat upright in the secret room, speaking with an air of righteous indignation.

The officials of the three judicial departments were not in a hurry. In addition to interrogating Qin Hui and his family, they also interrogated several of Qin Hui's current and former subordinates.