The emperor didn't have deep affection for his late father. When he was young, he was an insignificant prince in the palace.
Precisely because he was out of favor, his marriage was difficult. The late emperor intended to betroth him to the daughter of a minor official. However, the concubines of the other princes all came from relatively noble families, including the daughter of a fourth - rank official.
Fearing that the imperial censors would accuse him of being harsh on the princes, the late emperor chose Yin Wenyun, the young mistress of the Yin family.
The Yin family's ancestors had once been marquises. It was a large and wealthy family, but the descendants were few. Their parents died early, leaving behind only two teenagers, Yin Wenyun and Yin Wenbo.
In terms of family background, the Yin family was barely considered a prominent clan. Yin Wenyun took charge of the family at a young age, which met the requirements for a prince's consort.
After the emperor married Yin Wenyun, he often helped the Yin family deal with trivial matters and never thought about the throne.
But fate played a cruel joke. The two princes who were vying for the throne both perished. It happened to be winter. When the late emperor heard the news, he caught a cold and fell seriously ill. Thus, the throne fell to the current emperor.
In the emperor's heart, the late emperor was even less important than his brother - in - law Yin Wenbo.
Suddenly, Shen Qingshan burst into wild laughter. He told the emperor that it was the late emperor who had ordered him to resell the items from the palace. If the emperor wanted to convict the Shen family, he should first ask the late emperor.
The emperor was a bit impatient. "Where is the bank? Where on earth did you put the money from the national treasury? Even if the late emperor were to appear before me, I would still ask about the money!"
"Moreover, when I decide to convict someone, even the late emperor has no right to interfere. First, tell me which bank the money is deposited in!"
Under the effect of the truth - revealing talisman, Shen Qingshan told the truth. "I don't know. I didn't deposit the money."
"I entrusted the late emperor's imperial edicts and confidential letters to others. If Your Majesty wants to convict me, those edicts and letters will spread throughout the Great Yong Empire!"
The emperor thought Shen Qingshan was a fool and couldn't communicate with him properly. "Who deposited the money?"
Shen Qingshan had handed all the embezzled money to the old lady of the Shen family, and it was she who had deposited the money.
The emperor immediately ordered his men to bring the old lady of the Shen family for interrogation.
The Dragon King: [This is so funny!]
The Dragon King: [The emperor only cares about the money, while Shen Qingshan keeps emphasizing that the emperor can't convict him.]
Lin Yu: [The code and the token are in the princess's mansion. There's no need for interrogation, right?]
The Dragon King: [Oh, right!]
Shen Baozhu pulled the emperor aside. "Baozhu knows which bank it is. Big brother took me there yesterday. There's no need to call grandmother here."
"Baozhu knows? Take the man away." The emperor waved his hand, signaling the secret guards to take Shen Qingshan away.
The Dragon King was puzzled. [Just like that?]
Lin Yu: [Isn't the emperor going to ask about the truth of that year?]
Shen Baozhu grabbed the emperor. "Uncle, aren't you going to ask about the truth of that year?"
The emperor told Shen Baozhu the truth. "It doesn't seem meaningful to me. Uncle would rather ask Baozhu where the bank is."
The Dragon King: [The emperor is so practical! All he sees is money. No, I'm interested.]
The Dragon King: [I'll reward the emperor with gold nuggets and ask him to question Shen Qingshan.]
After receiving the gold nuggets from the Dragon King, the emperor ordered the secret guards to bring Shen Qingshan back up and questioned him in detail about the past.
More than twenty years ago, the national treasury was empty, and there was infighting among the princes. The late emperor came up with a plan to sell the useless items in the palace to fill the treasury.
To protect the face of the royal family, the late emperor wanted to sell the items far away. It was from this time that the insignificant Shen Qingshan was put into use. He helped the late emperor deal with many troublesome matters and learned about his worries. Eagerly, he offered his youngest son, Shen Yunfeng.
Xiangyun Kingdom was a good place carefully selected by Shen Qingshan. The royal family of Xiangyun Kingdom loved luxury. Although the country was small, there were many trading caravans coming and going, and they had a lot of gold and silver.
Shen Yunfeng then took the goods to Xiangyun Kingdom to sell and fell in love with Princess Rou of Xiangyun Kingdom.
Halfway through the story, the emperor noticed something was wrong. He interrupted Shen Qingshan and looked at Shen Baozhu. "Baozhu, your mother and your father..."
"Baozhu knows this! Princess Rou is so amazing. She convinced the ministers of Xiangyun Kingdom to obey her obediently because she was attracted to the bad - guy daddy's good looks." Shen Baozhu listened attentively and shared the gossip she knew with the emperor.
Qiuqiu sighed. "It's a pity. My father isn't good - looking. No one is attracted to his good looks."
Under the influence of Shen Baozhu and Qiuqiu, the fourth prince's gaze fell on the emperor's face.
The emperor was so scared that he covered his face and quickly told Shen Qingshan to continue. "Since Shen Yunfeng and Princess Rou were in love, how did he end up with Princess Jingning?"
At that time, Shen Yunfeng was still young and was willing to stay in Xiangyun Kingdom for Princess Rou. However, not long after, there was a minor conflict between Xiangyun Kingdom and the Great Yong Empire. By the time the news reached the capital, the two sides were already at war.
Shen Qingshan was afraid that Shen Yunfeng staying in Xiangyun Kingdom would affect his official career, so he found an excuse to call Shen Yunfeng back.
Because of the war, General Mu's status rose. His daughter, Mu Lanyue, returned to the capital.
Mu Lanyue was beautiful and talented. Even the princes paid more attention to her. The late emperor was worried that if his son married Mu Lanyue, General Mu would not be loyal to him, so he intended to bestow the marriage.
Shen Qingshan took a fancy to the fact that Mu Lanyue was an only child and the Mu family had no other relatives. If Shen Yunfeng married Mu Lanyue, all the property of the Mu family would belong to the Shen family. So he asked Shen Yunfeng to propose marriage to Mu Lanyue.
Later, when the current emperor ascended the throne and intended to support Sima Bai, Shen Qingshan sensed it. He deliberately made things difficult for the emperor during the disaster relief and asked Shen Yunfeng to go to Xiangyun Kingdom one more time before the wedding to sell the items.
As for the silver in the national treasury, when the emperor was seriously ill, Shen Qingshan didn't deposit the payment into the national treasury. Instead, he took out the remaining money from the treasury.
After Shen Qingshan stepped down as the prime minister, he had a wide network of connections. Because he used the money from the national treasury to curry favor with others, many officials had received his favors when they were studying.
The emperor was so shocked by Shen Qingshan's actions that he was speechless. To be precise, he was so angry that his chest hurt.
The Dragon King: [Goodness, so that's what happened.]
Lin Yu: [No wonder the emperor didn't want to ask. It seems the emperor is about to be angry to death.]
The Dragon King: [Since Shen Yunfeng and Princess Rou were in love, why did he propose marriage to the cute girl's mother? He didn't even like her!]
The Green Cloud Real Man: [Shen Qingshan said the reason. The princess was beautiful, talented, and the only child of the Mu family.]
The Dragon King: [I don't quite understand human thoughts.]
Lin Yu: [You like gold. How about I give you shiny gems?]
The Dragon King: [I like shiny things. Of course I want them!]
Lin Yu: [That's how Shen Yunfeng is. He likes everything and wants it all.]
The Dragon King: [But I won't smash the gems for the sake of gold!]
The Green Cloud Real Man: [Baozhu just said that Princess Rou of Xiangyun convinced the ministers of Xiangyun Kingdom for Shen Yunfeng, which shows that Shen Yunfeng had a hold on Princess Rou.]
The Green Cloud Real Man: [But in the princess's mansion, everyone knows that the mistress is the princess. Concubine Yun and Shen Danqing both sided with the princess.]
The Green Cloud Real Man: [Concubine Yun made clothes, handkerchiefs, and veiled hats for Baozhu. Shen Danqing coaxed Baozhu to sleep and played with her. Have you ever seen Concubine Yun make clothes for Shen Yunfeng?]
The Dragon King: [I understand. Shen Yunfeng couldn't act like a lord in the princess's mansion. He wanted to take the money from the princess's mansion and go to Xiangyun Kingdom to be a lord.]