Murong Hua turned his head and cast a heavy glance at Huo Wei, his eyes brimming with a warning.
Huo Wei naturally understood Murong Hua's intention. The latter wanted him to take the blame.
After all, Murong Min's crown prince title had already been revoked. This second prince was now the most prominent among the princes, backed by a powerful maternal clan. He was hinting to Huo Wei that in the future, he was the most likely to ascend the throne, so Huo Wei shouldn't risk his future.
Huo Wei's pitch - black eyes darkened slightly. He glanced at Duguhuan Yue from the corner of his eye. Since he had just offended the queen, this predicament would surely be hard to get through. He said in a deep voice,
"The matter of renovating the hot - spring palace was indeed fully handed over to me by the second prince later.
Since I was in charge, if something went wrong, no matter what, it's my primary responsibility. If Your Majesty wants to punish me, I'll accept it."
Murong Hua finally let out a sigh of relief and slumped where he stood. He knew that Huo Wei wouldn't dare to defy him. After all, he was the emperor's own son, while Huo Wei was just an adopted one.
Duguhuan Yue had once been the crown princess of the Eastern Palace. No matter whether a mistake was hers or not, as long as she was the primary person in charge, any mistake was her fault. This was the basic responsibility of a person in control.
This second prince had unhesitatingly snatched the credit from Huo Wei when there were rewards to be had. But as soon as something went wrong, he was quick to shift the blame.
She shook her head silently in her heart. In terms of responsibility, Huo Wei was far better than Murong Hua.
Putting aside the grudges between her and Huo Wei, in this matter, she admired him.
Murong Min slapped the wooden table heavily with his palm and looked at Huo Wei angrily:
"A man who has never made a mistake in battles has caused problems in such a trivial matter as renovating a palace.
Prince Yuzhang, is it that I've given you too little wealth, or are you never satisfied? How could you cut corners and embezzle public funds!"
Huo Wei knelt straight down and lowered his head.
He thought that perhaps he was about to fall. Murong Min had been looking for a chance to suppress him, and now this seemed like the perfect opportunity: "I know my mistake, Father."
Duguhuan Yue slowly flipped through the ledger with her jade fingers:
"Your Majesty, I've carefully checked the ledger. This matter might not be as simple as embezzlement."
She got up, took the ledger, and placed it in front of Murong Min. Then she continued,
"According to the records in the ledger, by the time the renovation of the hot - spring palace was half - done, the silver had actually run out. So who provided the silver for the second half?"
Murong Hua's heart sank. What was wrong with this ledger? Hadn't they forged one? How did Queen Duguhuan know about this?
Murong Min raised his long eyebrows, quickly took the ledger, and glanced at it:
"What's going on here? Could it be that the second prince saw that the matter was not going well and covered for Prince Yuzhang by paying the money himself?"
Duguhuan Yue turned around and gave Huo Wei a quick glance. She knew very well that Huo Wei didn't dare to speak the truth under Murong Hua's pressure. She also harbored resentment towards Huo Wei and naturally wouldn't help him.
Huo Wei remained silent. It seemed that he was ready to plead guilty.
She smiled sweetly: "Your Majesty, don't be angry. After all, we're all family. Silver is silver, no matter who spends it. But the one who supplemented the silver for the second half was Prince Yuzhang, not the second prince, right?"
Murong Min asked, "Why do you suddenly say so, Queen?"
Duguhuan Yue ordered Aunt Meijiang to bring another ledger:
"Your Majesty, the ledger I showed you just now is the real one, and this one is forged.
I knew that the renovation of the hot - spring palace was a hasty and costly matter, so I specifically sent my people to keep an eye on it. That's why I've always known about the forged ledger. So I secretly made a real one myself.
During the supervision of the renovation, the second prince transferred a large amount of silver and secretly replaced the imperial merchants who supplied the materials..."
Murong Hua suddenly stood up from the ground and interrupted Duguhuan Yue: "Queen Duguhuan, stop talking nonsense. You should provide evidence when you speak and act!"
Duguhuan Yue looked at Murong Min weakly and quickly leaned against him in fear:
"Your Majesty, I have no intention of punishing anyone, nor do I even want to bring this matter up.
It's just that the wall collapsed and injured the Crown Prince of Dongning. I had no choice but to bring this matter to light.
If we in the Northern Yan Dynasty don't even inquire about it, how will the Crown Prince of Dongning view us?"
Murong Min shouted, "What are you yelling about? Kneel down for me!"
Murong Hua's eyes turned red instantly. He thought that this queen only knew how to enjoy herself and wouldn't care about anything. So he took over the renovation of the hot - spring palace, planning to embezzle some silver.
After all, he had recently been addicted to gambling and lost a lot of silver. He wanted to replenish his treasury.
Who would have thought that this evil queen had a backup plan!
"Father, I didn't do it. Don't believe this evil queen from Southern Chu!" Murong Hua tried his best to explain.
Murong Min's eyes blazed with anger: "Shut up! Show some respect to your mother!"
Duguhuan Yue didn't look angry at all. She still calmly stated the facts: "I've already sent people to arrest the imperial merchant who replaced the materials and reported false silver amounts. He's in the prison now.
As the mistress of the harem, I won't cooperate with such an imperial merchant in the future.
Your Majesty, after Prince Yuzhang took over the matter, he silently supplemented half of the silver himself.
Most of it was used for the later gold and silver ornaments, which seemed to have nothing to do with the wall renovation. So the main responsibility doesn't lie with him. After all, he was unaware of the corner - cutting.
Prince Yuzhang has contributed both money and effort without saying a word. I can feel his filial piety. We really can't wrong him in this matter."
Huo Wei raised his black eyes and glanced at Duguhuan Yue. He didn't know what this queen was up to. Wasn't this the perfect time to kick him when he was down?
Since things had come to this, Murong Min couldn't protect his own son anymore. He got up, walked over, and kicked Murong Hua. Then he walked to Huo Wei's side and helped him up:
"You, you've done so much behind the scenes but didn't even explain a word."
Huo Wei had wanted to explain. He was well aware of what Murong Hua had done. The second prince was not only addicted to gambling but also had many concubines. He spent his days in debauchery, all of which required silver.
He had a lot of evidence, but he had come in a hurry today without any preparation. It was even more impossible for him to expose Murong Hua in front of the latter.
He was sure that he had his own backup plan, but Duguhuan Yue had cracked the situation before him.
Huo Wei said in a deep voice, "The second prince is also my brother. I thought he was short of money recently, and since I had some spare money, I covered up the matter. It's just a small thing, not worth mentioning."
Duguhuan Yue sneered behind him. Brothers? When she sent people to investigate Murong Hua, she found that Huo Wei's people were also collecting evidence.
Both she and Huo Wei were wolves in sheep's clothing.
She slowly walked behind Murong Hua and whispered, "Your Majesty, it's up to you to decide this matter."
Murong Min knew his own son well. He was too lazy to send people to verify the evidence submitted by Duguhuan Yue. He said coldly,
"Prince Murong Hua of the second rank has embezzled public funds and cut corners in the renovation of the hot - spring palace, resulting in the injury of the Crown Prince of Dongning. By my order, he shall be confined to the Prince's Mansion, and his monthly salary shall be halved."
Murong Hua's eyes were cold and fierce. He pointed at Duguhuan Yue and said, "Queen Duguhuan, I'll remember you. Let's wait and see!"
Huo Wei turned around and shouted outside, "Where are the imperial guards? Come and take the second prince back to the Prince's Mansion!"
After that, Duguhuan Yue and Huo Wei left Murong Min's bedroom one after another.
At that time, the golden sun shone through the plum trees. Duguhuan Yue slowly walked back to her own bedroom. After walking for a while, she stopped. A dark figure blocked her way.
She raised her unhappy eyes and said, "Get out of the way."