General Mu wasn't very interested in this. All he cared about now was killing Shen Yunfeng.
Speaking of Shen Yunfeng, General Mu recalled a really funny thing. "Shen Yunfeng was scared the other day and has been hiding in the Rouyun Palace ever since, not daring to come out."
The military advisor was a bit annoyed. Seeing that the general didn't realize the gravity of the situation, he couldn't help but scoff, "General, did you lose your wits while practicing martial arts this morning?"
Normally, General Mu didn't mind such remarks. When the military advisor joked with him in private, even if it was a bit disrespectful, he would just laugh it off. But today was different. With Princess Jingning by his side, the general felt he had lost face in front of his daughter. He lowered his head to wipe his broadsword and didn't even give the military advisor a glance.
Seeing that the general was really angry, the military advisor quickly tried to make amends.
Princess Jingning gradually noticed something. She pointed at the dates in the ledger. "Previously, all the items were valuable, even some were tributes. But after a certain time, those stopped. It seems to be after His Majesty ascended the throne?"
"You're right. I suspect that at first, it was Emperor Taizu who told Shen Qingshan to sell these things. Since it was approved by the late emperor, most of the items were valuable, including many tributes and imperial items. But after the current emperor ascended the throne, Shen Qingshan started selling things that could be bought in the market or things he could embezzle."
The military advisor pointed at several key dates. "My medicinal pillow and the spear of Commander Wu were from the second - last transaction. Then Shen Yunfeng made another sale. According to this timeline, His Majesty was just reorganizing the court at that time. After that, you got married to Shen Yunfeng, and he took a concubine. His Majesty used this to control Shen Qingshan and made Sima Bai the prime minister."
General Mu leaned over. He was also interested in anything that could make Shen Qingshan suffer. "According to your inference, did Shen Qingshan sense that His Majesty didn't like him and decided to strike first? He tried to undermine His Majesty's position by causing problems during the disaster relief. I remember that Prince Rui was also involved in the disaster - relief and even caused a big ruckus in the palace, demanding an explanation from the emperor and all the officials."
While the three of them were discussing, a small figure came running over. She threw herself into Princess Jingning's arms. "Mother! Baozhu missed you so much!"
"Did mother miss Baozhu?"
The little phoenix flew in and landed on the military advisor's head. Shen Heqing and the treasure - hunting rat followed behind.
Shen Heqing briefly told them what had happened in the past few days. General Mu and the military advisor were both shocked by the amount of silver the Shen family had in the bank.
Princess Jingning was the calmest. She had long suspected that there was something wrong with the Shen family's finances.
On the surface, the Shen family lived off the money of the second - wife's branch. But when it came to the marriages of the eldest - wife's children, the old lady Shen paid for them, and the weddings were quite grand. Princess Jingning didn't know about others, but she knew about Shen Yunfeng's expenses.
Although Shen Yunfeng ate, lived, and traveled in the princess mansion and didn't need to spend money, he would buy new clothes and accessories every three months. He used only the best writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Sometimes when he went out with others, he would dine in the best restaurants... These expenses were quite large, but Shen Yunfeng never worried about money and could even give his children valuable gifts.
Even if the old lady Shen had her own dowry, it couldn't withstand Shen Yunfeng's extravagance, not to mention the expenses of the eldest - wife's and second - wife's branches of the Shen family.
Hearing Shen Heqing say that the Shen family had an imperial edict and a secret letter, the military advisor suddenly burst into laughter. He handed the real ledger to Shen Heqing, his tone full of pride. "Heqing, take a look. What is this?"
Shen Heqing took the ledger and glanced at it. He quickly realized that this was the ledger of the items Shen Yunfeng had sold. "The items in the front, aren't they all tributes from Dayong? There are even some imperial - exclusive items."
The military advisor told Shen Heqing his speculation and laughed loudly at what the old lady Shen had said. "How dare she! Blaming all these things on the late emperor. Did the late emperor come to her in a dream and tell her to embezzle?"
Princess Jingning hugged Shen Baozhu and asked about things in the princess mansion.
Shen Baozhu immediately remembered that she had taken the Fourth Prince into the palace, but the emperor had disliked the Fourth Prince. She pouted angrily. "I'll never talk to Uncle Emperor again!"
After hearing the whole story, Princess Jingning advised, "Baozhu should be a good example for the Fourth Prince. If you act like this, the Fourth Prince will also start to dislike the emperor because of you. Then all the pastries in the emperor's study will go to the Third Prince."
"The Third Prince will laugh at you behind your back, saying you're stupid for leading the Fourth Prince to ignore the emperor while he enjoys all the pastries in the palace."
Mentioning the delicious pastries in the palace, Shen Baozhu was stunned. She had forgotten about this. Following Princess Jingning's words, Shen Baozhu could already imagine the Third Prince's arrogant look. "No! The Empress Dowager said she would make delicious pastries this year. We can't let the Third Prince have them all!"
Princess Jingning continued, "Yes, Baozhu should tell the Fourth Prince to just humor the emperor for the sake of the pastries."
"Okay! I remember!" Shen Baozhu immediately agreed.
While Shen Baozhu didn't want the Third Prince to take all the pastries, the Third Prince was also cursing her in the Ci'an Palace.
In the Ci'an Palace.
Since he hit Shen Baozhu last time, the Third Prince's world had changed completely. His mother ignored him, Concubine Li had disappeared, and his father had sent him to the Empress Dowager.
During this period, the Third Prince had tried many methods, such as smashing things, crying and making a fuss, and going on a hunger strike... But none of these worked on the Empress Dowager.
The Third Prince smashed to his heart's content. He smashed all the vases and screens in the Ci'an Palace, and the Empress Dowager simply stopped using them. Now the whole Ci'an Palace was empty.
When one plan failed, the Third Prince had another. He lay on the ground, crying and making a scene without any regard for his image. The Empress Dowager had the maids find some rags, and all the palace servants stuffed their ears. They just let the Third Prince cry until his voice was hoarse.
Now, the Third Prince used his ultimate move, which was to go on a hunger strike!
Even though his stomach was growling with hunger, the Third Prince gritted his teeth and refused to eat the food on the ground. In his heart, he cursed the queen for abandoning him, cursed Concubine Li for disappearing suddenly, cursed his father for sending him to the Empress Dowager, and cursed Shen Baozhu, the culprit of all this.
If it weren't for Shen Baozhu's complaint, he would still be the high - and - mighty crown prince.
The more the Third Prince thought about it, the angrier he got. He wanted to smash things, but he had been hungry for a day and was too weak. He could only lie on the ground moaning and complaining about a stomachache.
The Empress Dowager just wanted to teach the Third Prince a lesson. She didn't want anything bad to happen to him, so she told the maid to call the imperial doctor.
"I want Father! You're all trying to harm me! I want Father." The Third Prince rolled on the ground regardless.
The maid looked at the Empress Dowager nervously.
Originally, the Empress Dowager had no feelings for the Third Prince. Now she was disgusted with him. She couldn't imagine that there could be a child like the Third Prince in the world, with no manners at all.
But the Third Prince was completely unaware and kept challenging the Empress Dowager's bottom line.
The Empress Dowager nodded with a铁青 face and told the maid to go and invite the emperor as the Third Prince had asked.
The maid first went to the Qianqing Palace but didn't find the emperor. After thinking for a while, she turned around and went to the Fengyi Palace.