My father ordered me to kill the emperor, but His Majesty bestowed a princess upon me instead.

The old warehouse of the Ministry of Revenue was very quiet.

It was as quiet as a grave filled with old papers.

The shelves were arranged in rows, the account books were tied with cloth strips, and the year and category were pasted on the outside.

Disaster relief in Jiangbei.

Jiangnan River Engineering.

Northern military supplies.

Each prefecture paid tribute in cash.

Transfer of goods from public warehouses to storage facilities.

On the surface, everything is clear.

It's so clear I want to laugh.

I get a headache whenever I see the word "clear" lately.

Because it usually means that someone just took something that wasn't clear.

Ah Liu followed behind me, his voice very low.

"Young master, what are we looking for?"

"Find what shouldn't be missing."

"So what do you think?"

"First, let's see where they want us to see."

I scanned the area.

In the center of the old warehouse, a row of shelves was arranged in an exceptionally neat manner.

The top is labeled "Old Booklet of Jiangbei Disaster Relief".

The label is new.

It's as new as if I wrote it last night.

I walked over and pulled out a book.

In the eighteenth year of Chengxi, a general register of grain allocated for disaster relief in the three prefectures north of the Yangtze River was compiled.

Turn it over.

Clean.

Every page is complete.

Every single one.

Disaster relief funds were allocated, grain was converted into cash, funds were distributed through public granaries, and disaster victims were resettled.

It was even more stable than Zheng Huaien's face.

I closed it.

I picked up another book.

Register of medicinal materials used in the three prefectures north of the Yangtze River.

It's also clean.

There is very little written about tranquilizers.

The description of medicines for treating the epidemic is quite comprehensive.

The pile of calming soup at the South Congee Stall seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

I'll draw another one.

Jiangbei Old Clothes Relief Booklet.

Equally clean.

There was no problem with the three boxes of old disaster relief clothing, and there was no problem with the Ministry of Rites handing them over.

This is the first floor of the old treasury of the Ministry of Revenue.

The accounts I showed you.

Ah Liu whispered, "Young master, isn't this tent a bit too obviously fake?"

I nodded.

"You're getting better at reading."

He was somewhat pleased.

"So, can the younger one also become an accountant in the future?"

"able."

"real?"

"Fake accountant."

He immediately became unhappy.

I continued walking inside.

There was a brazier against the wall in the old warehouse.

There was ash in the brazier.

A layer of loose soil covered the ash.

It's like they're trying to mask the smell.

I crouched down and used a piece of wood to pry it apart.

There are also dark red dots inside.

The ashes were not yet cold.

Ah Liu's eyes widened.

"It was just burned!"

Zheng Huaien stood by the door, his voice steady.

"The old warehouse was damp, so the warehouse clerk lit a fire to drive away the dampness."

I looked up at him.

"Use mosquito netting to ward off the moisture?"

He did not answer immediately.

I picked out a piece of paper that hadn't burned through from the ashes.

The character "清" is still visible above.

Dial again, and another one appears.

"silver".

Qing Dynasty silver?

Qinghe entered the silver?

I told Ah Liu to seal it.

"Written: The ashes in the brazier of the old Ministry of Revenue warehouse were not yet cold; among the ashes, the words 'Qing' and 'Yin' were visible on a piece of scrap paper."

Ah Liu wrote it down immediately.

Zheng Huaien said, "The character '残' (cán, meaning incomplete or fragmented) cannot be judged arbitr

I nodded.

"So we'll seal it off first."

He fell silent again.

I continued examining the shelves.

The old disaster relief registers from Jiangbei are arranged so neatly.

They were arranged so neatly that it looked like they were there to block my view.

The truly problematic items might not be on the shelf.

I look at the ground.

The blue bricks on the ground are old, and there is dust in the grout lines.

The bricks near the east wall are a slightly lighter color.

It looks like it's just been moved.

Yan Xiaoyi had already squatted down and reached out to knock.

"null."

Ah Liu immediately tensed up.

"Another mezzanine?"

Yan Xiaoyi pried it open with the handle of the knife.

The bricks moved.

There is no booklet below.

There is only a thin layer of powder.

Paper dust.

It's mixed with rice flour and medicinal residue powder.

I picked it up and smelled it.

Ah Liu quickly closed his eyes.

He's gotten used to me smelling everything now, but he still can't bear to look at it.

It tastes very familiar.

It smells of moldy rice, sedatives, and paper ash.

Qinghe Lane.

I put the powder into a paper packet.

"Write: The old warehouse's east wall floor tiles have been newly moved, and under the tiles are Qinghe-type paper powder, rice powder, and medicinal residue powder."

Zheng Huaien's expression finally darkened slightly.

"Lord Shen, the old treasury of the Ministry of Revenue has been repaired over the years, so it is not surprising that the bricks have been moved."

"certainly."

I stood up.

"It's not surprising that the ashes in the brazier are still warm, it's not surprising that the floor tiles are newly moved, and it's not surprising that the lock is new. Don't worry, Minister Zheng, the real surprise is yet to come."

Ah Liu lowered his head to write, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

He really wants to laugh right now.

But I dare not.

Zhao Guanlan did not laugh.

He was looking at the side of the warehouse shelf.

"A book is missing here."

I walked over.

That row was labeled "Discounted Old Items".

There is an empty space in the middle.

The space is not wide.

It's exactly the thickness of an account book.

The ash marks are also very obvious.

There was dust around.

Empty slots are empty.

The instruction booklet was just taken away.

The label on the shelf reads:

From the age of seventeen to eighteen, Chengxi served as the deputy clerk of the Jiangbei branch of the Xiang family.

Item entered.

A thought struck me.

I finally came across this word.

"Who took it?"

Zheng Huaien looked at the warehouse clerk beside him.

The clerk hurriedly replied, "The old books are worm-eaten and have already been sent to the Ming Treasury for repair."

When should it be delivered?

"This morning."

Who delivered it?

The warehouse clerk's forehead was covered in sweat.

"I...I forgot."

Ah Liu whispered, "Here we go again."

I looked at the warehouse clerk.

"What's your name?"

"Little Liu Tian."

"Liu Tian, ​​how long have you been working as a treasury clerk in the Ministry of Revenue?"

"Six years."

"You've been a warehouse clerk for six years. Have you forgotten who took one of the ledgers this morning?"

Liu Tian's lips trembled.

"The old warehouse is in disarray from moving records, and it's a bit of a hassle..."

Yan Xiaoyi suddenly walked up behind him.

Liu Tian immediately shut up.

Yan Xiaoyi is sometimes more useful than evidence.

I asked, "Where is Mingku?"

Zheng Huaien said, "The front yard."

"Go and get it."

Zheng Huaien looked at me.

"Does Lord Shen intend to investigate the warehouse now?"

"No," I said, "it's about retrieving the entry record that was just taken from the old warehouse."

Zheng Huaien did not move.

Zhao Guanlan said, "Minister Zheng, fetch it."

Zheng Huaien finally nodded to the minor official beside him.

The minor official left in a hurry.

I didn't wait.

Continue the investigation.

There were also dust marks on the back of the bookshelves in the old warehouse.

It looks like something was once stuck to the back.

Yan Xiaoyi walked around to the back of the cabinet and suddenly stopped.

"There's someone there."

The room fell silent instantly.

Ah Liu almost dropped the pen from his hand.

Yan Xiaoyi kicked the cabinet.

With a bang.

A person rolled out from behind the cabinet.

He was young, dressed in the uniform of a minor official from the Ministry of Revenue, his face covered in grime, and clutching a tattered roll of cloth tightly in his arms.

His first reaction after falling was not to run.

It means stuffing the things in your arms into your clothes.

Yan Xiaoyi stepped on his hand.

"Stop stuffing it in."

The minor official screamed in agony.

Zheng Huaien's expression changed drastically.

"Wang Gui? Why are you hiding here?"

Wang Gui.

This name appeared for the first time.

I crouched down and looked at him.

"What's in your arms?"

Wang Gui was trembling all over.

"No...it's nothing."

Yan Xiaoyi applied slight pressure with his feet.

Wang Gui immediately shouted, "The account book! It's the account book!"

I reached into his arms and took out the tattered cloth.

Half a ledger page was wrapped in a tattered cloth.

The paper was old, and the edges had just been torn.

There was still a little blood on it.

not many.

It was as if he was hiding it too hastily and cut his hand on the edge of the paper.

I unfolded the ledger pages.

Ah Liu, Zhao Guanlan, and Zheng Huaien, look over here.

A few lines of fragmented writing were on the ledger page.

The silver entered into Qinghe and was transferred through the three counters of Yongfeng.

The relief funds were converted into silver and temporarily suspended by the Ministry of Revenue.

Internal treasury record, to be supplemented later.

In February of the eighteenth year of Chengxi, the three prefectures north of the Yangtze River...

It was torn off later.

Yongfeng Three Containers.

The internal warehouse is temporarily suspended.

Distribute silver in cash.

My heart skipped a beat when I heard those words.

The Yongfeng Three Cabinets appeared in the Qian Rong case in the first volume.

That's the key to silver laundering.

In the Ministry of Revenue's disaster relief case, the Qinghe Bank's silver deposits also involve the Yongfeng Bank's three branches.

Qian Rong is dead.

Qian Rong's silver road is not dead.

It was transferred from the Ministry of Works' river management funds to the Ministry of Revenue's disaster relief funds.

Or rather, the same old method is always used for clearing accounts.

It's just under a different name.

The river channel is called repair.

Disaster relief funds are called relief funds.

The internal warehouse is called "temporarily suspended".

The accounting entries are called "discounted" or "discounted".

The path that money takes is still the same path that devours people.

I looked at Wang Gui.

"Where did this page come from?"

Wang Gui's face turned deathly pale, and he dared not look at Zheng Huaien.

"I found it in the brazier... I picked it up from the brazier."

Who burned it?

"I have no idea."

Yan Xiaoyi moved his feet.

Wang Gui immediately cried out, "I really don't know! I was just ordered to clean out the old warehouse. Someone told me to empty the ashes from the brazier, and when I saw that this half of it wasn't completely burned, I thought... I thought it might save my life, so I hid it."

I asked, "Who told you to empty the ashes?"

Wang Gui remained silent.

I glanced at Zheng Huaien.

Zheng Huaien remained calm.

It's too peaceful.

I whispered, "Wang Gui, you hid behind the cabinet to save your life. If you don't talk now, you'll lose your life."

Wang Gui's tears fell.

"It's...it's Liu Tian."

The warehouse clerk Liu Tian's legs went weak.

"I don't have any smaller ones!"

Wang Gui pointed at him.

"He's the one who told me to empty the ashes! He said it was insect-eaten waste paper that was being burned, and I wasn't allowed to ask! He even said that if a single piece leaked, my whole family would have to be kicked out of the capital!"

Liu Tian's face turned deathly pale.

Zheng Huaien finally spoke.

"Liu Tian".

Liu Tian knelt down.

"Your Excellency, I'm innocent! I was only following the orders of the Deputy Treasury Officer!"

"Who is Deputy Chief?"

Liu Tian realized he had let something slip after he finished speaking, and froze.

I looked at him.

"What was the deputy treasurer of the former Ministry of Revenue called?"

Liu Tian shut up.

Yan Xiaoyi looked at him.

Liu Tian trembled even more violently.

Zheng Huaien said, "Jiang Wen, the former deputy treasury manager of the Ministry of Revenue, is absent today due to illness."

He was diagnosed with illness.

More and more people in the capital are reporting illness.

Du Heng claimed to be ill and then died at the water gate.

When Jiang Wen reported his illness, he probably wouldn't just stay at home taking medicine.

I immediately said, "Lord Zhao, please grant Jiang Wen's residence a special designation."

Zhao Guanlan looked at Qin Er.

Qin Er immediately obeyed and went out.

Zheng Huaien said, "Lord Shen, Jiang Wen is only the deputy treasury officer; he may not be involved in the case."

I held up half of the ledger page.

"Minister Zheng, the Qinghe silver deposit, the Yongfeng three-tiered treasury, the relief silver in cash, temporarily suspended by the Ministry of Revenue. Do you think this half-sheet could have been written by the deputy treasurer himself?"

Zheng Huaien looked at the half-open tent.

After a long silence, he said, "Half a page of a tattered account is not enough to draw a conclusion."

I nodded.

"So I need to find the remaining half page."

"Does Lord Shen wish to continue the investigation?"

"certainly."

I looked at Wang Gui.

"You just said someone asked you to empty ashes. Besides ashes, what else did they ask you to do?"

Wang Gui said in a trembling voice, "Move...move a black leather suitcase."

My heart sank.

"What black leather suitcase?"

"At the very back of the old warehouse, it was originally placed under the floor tiles. This morning, Deputy Warehouse Manager Jiang Wen led people to pry it out and told us to carry it to the open warehouse. Later, they said it wouldn't go into the open warehouse, but would be sent to... to the back alley of the Ministry of Revenue."

"Who will pick them up?"

Wang Gui gritted his teeth.

"A carriage without an emblem."

"Who's on the bus?"

"The curtain was drawn, so I couldn't see anything. I could only hear someone coughing inside."

cough.

A person immediately popped into my mind.

Zheng Huaien?

No.

Zheng Huaien has always been here.

Who else in the Ministry of Revenue is sick? Or faking illness?

I asked, "Does the cough sound old or young?"

Wang Gui thought for a moment.

"old."

old.

Among the high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Revenue, besides Zheng Huaien, there was also the Minister of Revenue.

The Minister of Revenue, who had not made a direct appearance, had been ill for a long time.

Zheng Huaien was the Right Vice Minister.

There was a minister ahead of him.

Could this black leather suitcase have been delivered to the Minister of Revenue?

Or was the accountant deliberately using coughing to lead me to guess that it was the Minister?

I looked at Zheng Huaien.

He was looking at me too.

This time, a genuine chill finally appeared in his eyes.

It's not a gentle block.

It's the coldness of a knife before it's drawn.

I know that the half-page of the Qinghe Old Page that was deposited in silver touched a nerve with him.

And that black leather suitcase is probably the real place where the money was put into the tent.

I sealed half of the ledger page.

"Lord Zhao, the old treasury of the Ministry of Revenue has been sealed off."

Zhao Guanlan nodded.

I continued, "All the boxes and registers have been moved and sealed one by one. Wang Gui is being taken back to the Censorate for protection. Liu Tian is being interrogated. Jiang Wen is being arrested immediately."

Zheng Huaien finally spoke.

"Lord Shen, you have no right to arrest people in the Ministry of Revenue."

"have."

I looked at him.

"Your Majesty has granted me three days to examine the accounts. The remaining pages of the accounts now come from the old treasury of the Ministry of Revenue. The treasury clerk burned the accounts, the deputy treasury clerk has disappeared, and the black leather trunk has been taken away. If Vice Minister Zheng feels that I have no authority, he may immediately enter the palace and submit another copy."

Zheng Huaien remained silent.

I added another sentence.

"But this time, remember to bring the Ministry of Revenue's report as well."

His eyes turned cold, and he said nothing more.

Ah Liu stood behind me and whispered, "Young master, have we found the big fish's tail?"

I looked at half a ledger page.

"No."

"What is that?"

Fish scales.

Ah Liu was stunned.

I looked up towards the back alley of the Ministry of Revenue.

"The big fish is still in the water."

And it already knows that I've reached the water's edge.