The King of Rui suddenly remembered a very important thing. "Your Majesty, who did Shen Qingshan hire to assassinate me back then?"
The emperor was also in a bad mood. He couldn't even find the silver embezzled by Shen Qingshan, let alone figure out the assassination that happened several years ago.
The angrier the King of Rui thought about it, the more irritated he became. "I've lived most of my life. My father, elder brother, and nephew have always protected me. But I ended up with a useless great - nephew like you."
This remark only made the emperor feel even more aggrieved. "When the throne was passed on back then, no one even consulted me! I had already chosen my fief."
"Moreover, my father was quite useless. There was less silver in the national treasury than in my private coffer."
The King of Rui argued with him. "You're talking nonsense. My nephew clearly said that he had left 900,000 taels of silver in the national treasury, all saved by himself."
Just as the emperor was about to refute, he suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute. When I ascended the throne, there was really no money in the national treasury. I have no reason to lie to you, and neither did my father. So where is the money?"
The two stared at each other, and the same thought popped into their minds simultaneously.
Could it be that Shen Qingshan had embezzled that money?
The emperor complained slightly. "Since you knew about this, why didn't you say so earlier?"
The King of Rui felt wronged. "I thought you had spent all the money, so I didn't dare to mention it!"
If the King of Rui hadn't been so angry today, he might never have brought it up in his entire life.
The emperor knocked on the table three times and called down the secret guards lurking on the eaves. "Three days. I'll give you three more days to investigate. If you still can't find the silver, there's no need to continue the investigation. Just quietly get rid of the Shen family."
First, there was the silver from the embezzlement case, and now there was the silver from the national treasury. The emperor couldn't figure out how much Shen Qingshan had embezzled, and he didn't even want to. He decided to deal with the Shen family directly to save himself the trouble.
After receiving the order, the secret guards stood still on the spot and asked in a low voice. "My lord, the second wife of the Shen family has been placed in a separate cell by Shen Haiyan, and her son is now in the mansion of the Princess of Jingning. Should we get rid of them as well?"
"Keep both the second wife of the Shen family and Shen Minghua! That kid Shen Minghua is quite smart. He gets along well with Yan Mingli and Shen Baozhu. I've heard that his mother is also a sensible woman." The King of Rui quickly interrupted.
The emperor nodded. "Do as the King of Rui says. Keep it low - key. And as for Shen Yunfeng, who has left the capital, if he comes back, kill him immediately."
Although the emperor didn't say it explicitly, both the King of Rui and he knew very well that if such a large amount of silver could be found, it would have been found long ago. Now that there was not a single trace of it, it was very likely that the Shen family had already spent it all.
...
Inside the carriage.
Shen Minghua was still thinking about the secret of the bank. His sighs caught Shen Haiyan's attention.
Their eyes met, and Shen Minghua told Shen Haiyan what the bank manager had said. "This bank is highly reliable. My mother has been saving money there for more than a decade. If only there were 500,000 taels of silver."
Shen Haiyan's eyes flickered. "There may not be 500,000 taels of silver, but what if there are 500,000 taels of gold?"
Shen Minghua thought Shen Haiyan was joking and didn't take it seriously. He also didn't notice the changes in the expressions of the other three people.
Yan Mingli whispered a reminder to Shen Haiyan. "Those gold belongs to Baozhu. Besides, there isn't that much gold."
"I still have some silver. Let's pool our money together. If we add the old man's, maybe we can get 500,000 taels."
Shen Haiyan glanced at Yan Mingli. "Aren't you going to customize jewelry for Miao Chun?"
Yan Mingli would never wrong Chen Miao Chun, even if it meant wronging himself. He had his own plan. "I'll go home and throw a tantrum and ask my mother for help. I can buy some jewelry first. I'll customize the headdress in a couple of years."
Shen Heqing coughed lightly and made a decision. "Let's go back and ask Baozhu first."
The carriage slowly drove in the direction of the princess's mansion.
At this moment, in the Fengyi Palace.
The queen was leading the Fourth Prince to look at the ornaments in the side hall when the Fourth Prince suddenly asked about the time.
Learning that it was almost noon, the Fourth Prince anxiously reminded them. "Baozhu, Qiuqiu, go home."
Shen Baozhu was eating pastries. She looked up blankly. "Huh?"
Qiuqiu was concentrating on drinking nectar water and didn't hear what the Fourth Prince said.
The Dragon King: [What does that mean?]
Lin Yu: [If Baozhu doesn't go home soon, her elder brother will find out that she sneaked out to play and will punish her to stand.]
Standing punishment!
Thanks to Lin Yu's reminder, Shen Baozhu grabbed Qiuqiu and rushed out. Halfway through, she turned back and pulled the Fourth Prince. "Hurry home!"
Qiuqiu still didn't realize the urgency of the situation. "Baozhu, I haven't finished my nectar water yet."
The Fourth Prince reminded Qiuqiu. "Standing punishment."
Realizing the situation, Qiuqiu didn't care about the nectar water anymore. The three of them rushed out in a hurry.
The queen was startled. "What's wrong with you?"
Shen Baozhu stopped and quickly explained the reason. "We sneaked out. If we don't go back soon, we'll be found out. Third brother will make us stand in punishment, but today big brother is at home. He will definitely punish us to study. Goodbye, aunt. Baozhu will come to see you next time!"
Watching the children's backs, the queen subconsciously asked. "How are you going back? Do you want to take a carriage?"
Carriage?
Qiuqiu was the slowest runner and the only one who heard clearly. She grabbed Shen Baozhu and the Fourth Prince. "Take a carriage. Let's take a carriage!"
The Dragon King: [It seems that the threat of studying from the eldest brother is more powerful. Even the little cutie is flustered.]
The True Man of Qingyun: [Dragon King, you watch carefully. I'll go handle something.]
Lin Yu: [I'll go too.]
The Dragon King: [Why is everyone going to handle things? I also have things to deal with!]
Watching the three children get into the carriage, the Dragon King gently touched the water curtain with his claw and stared intently at the golden dragon clone on Shen Baozhu's wrist.
The Dragon King was a bit angry. They were both dragon kings. Why could the clone accompany the little cutie and wrap around her wrist?
This was so unfair!
On an impulse, the Dragon King tried again.
[Beep! Do not teleport living creatures!]
[Beep! Do not teleport living creatures!]
[Beep! Please note, the host cannot teleport!]
The system issued a shrill alarm sound, and the Dragon King had no choice but to give up.
...
At the Qingyun Sect.
"Boom!"
The bell that only rang once every hundred years suddenly sounded. Except for the disciples in seclusion, all the other disciples rushed to the square in a hurry.
Above the square, two people were standing on flying swords.
The man on the left was stepping on a bright red great sword. He was the current sect master of the Qingyun Sect. He asked curiously. "Ancestor, what did the monsters do to anger you? You actually want to gather all the disciples of the sect to hunt them down?"
The True Man of Qingyun, standing with his hands behind his back, didn't explain. He only said. "Cultivating immortality goes against the heavens. One needs more training. Disciples, take your jade tokens and go kill the monsters to earn sect contribution points. The contribution points can be exchanged for pills, talismans, and cultivation techniques."
"The rewards will all come from me."
Hearing that it didn't require the sect's resources and could also train the disciples, the sect master was overjoyed and quickly bowed in thanks. "It's a blessing for these disciples to receive the ancestor's rewards."
The True Man of Qingyun slightly raised his hand, and a piece of paper with the standards for obtaining contribution points and a storage bag flew into the sect master's hands.
Soon, the square was filled with disciples.
The sect master read the standards on the paper and then took out the jade tokens from the storage bag and distributed them.
After receiving the jade tokens, some disciples stood still on the spot calculating the contribution points, while some impatient ones had already flown on their swords to kill the monsters.
The True Man of Qingyun stood in mid - air, and the news of the increasing points rang in his ears.