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

Chapter 55 Treasury Book of the Ministry of Works

The Ministry of Works also kept its lights on at night.

This is very unusual.

The government office loves two things the most.

Dragging during the day.

He pretended to be dead at night.

But tonight, the Ministry of Works not only didn't pretend to be dead, but two more rows of lanterns appeared outside the treasury.

Wu Zheng stood under the lantern.

He seemed to know we were coming.

His face was gloomy, his sleeves hung down, and his official boots remained motionless on the stone steps.

I looked at him.

He was looking at me too.

Zhao Guanlan spoke first.

"Wu Langzhong, the Censorate has been ordered to investigate the Yongning case and needs to verify the Ministry of Works' treasury treasury withdrawal records."

Wu Zheng cupped his hands in greeting.

"Lord Zhao, the warehouse is sealed off late at night. According to the Ministry of Works' regulations, the warehouse cannot be opened without an order from the Minister or Vice Minister."

I said, "Minister Qian is now involved in the case."

Wu Zheng said coldly, "Lord Shen, please be careful with your words. Vice Minister Qian has not yet been convicted."

"So we're here to check the red slips."

"The treasury books belong to the Ministry of Works' internal accounts; how can they be allowed to be viewed by the Censorate at will?"

Lu Huaizhou stepped forward.

"The Yongning case has been ordered to be investigated within a specified timeframe, but the Ministry of Works refuses to investigate. Is it because they have a guilty conscience?"

Wu Zheng glanced at him.

"Censor Lu, the Ministry of Works is not your desk for writing impeachments."

Lu Huaizhou remained expressionless.

"Then you'd better not give me any questions."

I find Lu Huaizhou more and more pleasing to the eye the more I look at him.

Wu Zheng's face turned even uglier.

Zhao Guanlan took out a copy of the emperor's previous decree approving the investigation of the Yongning case, and also took out the records from the Golden Hall today.

"Within twenty-four hours, His Majesty has authorized Shen An to investigate the Yongfeng silver notes, Qian Fu's confession, and the three lines of Qian's approval in the treasury. The Ministry of Works' treasury silver supplementary register is precisely the line of Qian's approval."

Wu Zheng remained silent.

He couldn't stop him.

At least it can't be hidden openly.

After a moment, he said coldly, "Open the vault."

The door to the treasury room opened, and a pungent smell of old silver ingots mixed with paper and ink wafted out.

It's very tidy inside.

Too neat.

The tent racks were marked with the year, the wooden crates were arranged by category, and there was an unextinguished lamp on the table.

I glanced at the lamp.

The lamp is full of oil.

This indicates that someone has been here for a long time recently.

The old warehouse clerk was summoned.

He was in his sixties, with gray hair, holding keys in his hand, and his eyes darting around.

Wu Zhengdao: "Retrieve the supplementary material dispatch log for the Yongning River channel."

The old official's hand trembled.

"Yes."

He took a supplementary book from the shelf and placed it on the table.

I didn't turn it over immediately.

First, look at the cover.

The cover is old, and the edges and corners show natural wear.

Next, look at the seam mark.

The printing on the first to third pages matches perfectly.

Starting from page four, the printing edges are slightly misaligned.

Very fine.

If I weren't looking at the accounts so closely that my eyes were practically glued to the paper, I might not have noticed.

I flipped to the section on replenishing materials for the Yongning River.

It says:

Eighty taels of silver were allocated to replenish the Yongning River channel.

Comment: Zhou, the head of the department.

Use: scrap materials for repair.

Eighty taels.

It wasn't eight hundred taels.

The approval was not issued by Qian Rong.

It was Zhou who was in charge.

Wu Zhengdao said, "Did you see clearly, Lord Shen? There is no eight hundred taels in the Ministry of Works' clerk's register, nor is there any signature from Vice Minister Qian."

I smiled.

"It's crystal clear."

Wu Zheng frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Clear as if it had just been washed."

I pointed to the seam of page four with my finger.

"Lord Wu, the first three pages are old, the fourth page is new. The paper color is slightly different, the ink is slightly lighter, and the printing along the seam is slightly crooked."

Lu Huaizhou immediately came over to take a look.

He looked at it very carefully.

There are indeed signs of page replacement.

Wu Zheng said coldly, "Reading books under the lamplight at night inevitably leads to misjudgment."

I said, "Shall we check again at daybreak?"

Wu Zheng paused.

I continued, "However, the page that was replaced will probably be burned to ashes before dawn."

The old official's face paled slightly.

I saw it.

I turned to him.

"Sir, where is the real deputy clerk?"

The old official knelt down with a thud.

"Lord Shen, I had no idea!"

Again, I don't know.

When I hear this phrase now, it's like hearing someone tapping a wooden fish in my ear.

I walked up to him.

"How many years did you work in the Ministry of Works' warehouse?"

"Thirty-seven years."

"Thirty-seven years have passed, and you can't tell whether the treasury's supplementary ledger has been updated or not?"

The old official remained silent.

"Who told you to change it?"

His head was pressed to the ground, and his body was trembling.

Wu Zheng angrily said, "Shen An! How dare you interrogate the Ministry of Works' treasury clerk in front of me?"

Zhao Guanlan said calmly, "This is an inquiry."

Lu Huaizhou added, "If Lord Wu feels this is interrogation, he can write a memorial."

Wu Zheng was speechless.

I squatted down and looked at the old official.

"If you don't confess, then you're the one who changed the pages. The treasury ledger has been altered; can you, a mere treasury clerk, bear the responsibility?"

The old official trembled even more violently.

"I can't afford it."

"Then tell me."

His lips were pale.

"The original page...the original page wasn't burned."

Wu Zheng's expression suddenly changed.

I immediately asked, "Where?"

The old official pointed to the corner of the warehouse.

"Discarded packaging".

A waste sealing box is a box specifically for storing old seals, waste sealing wax, and damaged sealing paper.

Generally, nobody watches it.

Because it's all waste.

But the accountant and the clerk understand one principle best.

Things you really don't want people to look through are often not hidden in the heaviest lock, but in the dirtiest, most broken, and most garbage-like places.

Yan Xiaoyi stepped forward and opened the waste box directly.

Inside was half a box of waste sealing paper and broken sealing wax.

I used a fine needle to pry it open.

Soon, under a pile of red wax flakes, a folded old book page was found.

The paper edges are frayed.

The ink was dark and aged.

There is half a seal right at the seam.

It matches the seal across the first three pages of the supplementary register.

found it.

Wu Zheng's face was extremely ugly.

I unfolded the old page.

It is clearly written above:

Replenishment of Yongning River channel.

Eight hundred taels of silver were withdrawn from the treasury.

Used for patching Hengshan bluestone, transportation costs, and repairs by craftsmen.

Zhu Qian: Approved.

Comment by: Qian Rong.

A line of vermilion ink next to it.

Transfer to Yongfeng Third Container House, temporarily stored in the inner warehouse.

Qian Rong.

In the palace, Qian Rong could still accuse Qian Fu of misappropriating his private seal.

But this red seal is an official approval document in the Ministry of Works' treasury's supplementary register.

Written by Qian Rong himself.

I stared at those words, and finally felt a sense of relief.

The nail went deep into the flesh.

Zhao Guanlan said in a deep voice: "Seal it off."

Lu Huaizhou was already writing notes.

He writes very quickly, and his handwriting is very strong.

Wu Zheng suddenly said, "This page's origin is unknown and cannot be used as evidence!"

I looked at him.

"It was taken from a discarded sealed box in the Ministry of Works' treasury. The seal across the seam matches the original ledger, and the paper age and ink color are consistent. The treasury clerk was present and identified it. Lord Wu says its origin is unknown?"

Wu Zheng gritted his teeth.

"The warehouse clerk was coerced by you!"

The old official suddenly looked up.

"Lord Wu!"

Wu Zheng looked at him.

The old official's face showed both fear and bitterness.

"I dare not hide it any longer. Today at Shenshi (3-5 PM), Lord Wu ordered his men to take away the original pages and replace them with new ones. I was only responsible for collecting the waste paper and dared not burn it, so I hid it in the waste box."

The warehouse fell silent.

Wu Zheng's face was as white as death.

He probably never expected that this old official who had worked in the warehouse for thirty-seven years would betray him at the last minute.

I can understand that.

The old official didn't suddenly develop backbone.

He discovered that the pot was too big.

It was big enough to crush his entire family.

When people are driven to the brink, sometimes they will continue to hide it, and sometimes they will suddenly want to live.

Wu Zheng angrily retorted, "You're talking nonsense!"

The old official knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Every word I've said is true! Lord Shen, Lord Zhao, I only changed the page; I knew nothing about the murder to cover it up!"

I looked at Wu Zheng.

"Lord Wu, may we now ask why this official document was switched?"

Wu Zheng's face darkened, and he suddenly took a step back.

Yan Xiaoyi also took a step, which blocked the door.

Wu Zheng looked at him, his expression changing slightly.

"What, Lord Shen, do you intend to detain me?"

I said, "I don't want to."

Wu Zheng sneered.

I continued, "But Lord Zhao can."

Zhao Guanlan remained expressionless.

"Wu Zheng altered the Ministry of Works' treasury ledger, and evidence related to the Yongning case was lost. He shall be immediately brought back to the Censorate for questioning."

Wu Zheng shouted sternly, "You dare!"

Lu Huaizhou said coldly from the side, "His Majesty has given twenty-four hours."

This sentence is more useful than a knife.

The Ministry of Works officers looked at each other, none of them daring to make a move.

Yan Xiaoyi stepped forward and took Wu Zheng's waist token.

"Let's go, Lord Wu."

Wu Zheng's face turned ashen, but he ultimately did not resist.

I looked down and continued looking at that old page.

Suddenly, I noticed a line of very small characters behind the red slip.

The internal warehouse receipt is attached separately.

I looked through the discarded boxes, but there was nothing there.

It wasn't in the supplementary register either.

I asked the old clerk, "Where's the imperial treasury receipt?"

The old official was taken aback.

"It should be attached to the red slip."

"no."

The old official's face turned pale again.

"Then...then it was probably taken a long time ago."

"Who can take it?"

He glanced at Wu Zheng, then lowered his head again.

"Those of the rank of Vice Minister or above, or those holding the Imperial Treasury token."

Internal warehouse receipt.

If this document exists, it would prove that the transfer between the 800 taels of silver from the Ministry of Works treasury and the "temporary account in the inner warehouse" was genuine, and not something Qian Rong wrote casually.

It's gone now.

This indicates that the next step is still to address the internal database.

I put away the old pages.

This time, I received Qian Rong's personal signature in red ink.

It's heavy enough.

However, one internal warehouse receipt is missing.

In other words, Qian Rong can be caught, but the internal treasury cannot.

Just as they were about to leave the warehouse, they suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside.

A constable from the Censorate rushed in.

"Lord Shen! Lord Zhao!"

My heart skipped a beat.

"What is it?"