Upon hearing this, Zhang Wencai was so frightened that his whole body went limp. "I... I'll tell you everything."
Su Mingyu raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "I already know that it was you who embezzled the military rations. But I want to know, there's a discrepancy of over a million taels in the military rations' accounts. How could a low - ranking assistant minister like you swallow so much?"
"If you already know, why are you still asking?" Zhang Wencai sounded a bit dejected. "I only took a very small amount. The rest went to Xu Wencang."
"Who is behind Xu Wencang?" Actually, everyone knew it well in their hearts, but Su Mingyu just wanted to hear Zhang Wencai say it with his own mouth.
Zhang Wencai scratched his head impatiently. "How could I possibly know? I'm just a subordinate of Xu Wencang. I do whatever he tells me to do."
"You've been by Xu Wencang's side for so long. You can't have no guess at all, right?" Su Mingyu looked at Zhang Wencai suspiciously, clearly not trusting him.
Just as Zhang Wencai was about to say something, there was a knock on the door of the woodshed.
A guard walked in and whispered a few words in Su Mingyu's ear.
Su Mingyu's face suddenly sank. When she looked at Zhang Wencai again, her expression was a bit complicated. "Xu Wencang has reported this matter to the emperor. You'll soon be handed over to the Imperial Household Department for self - investigation. After that, you'll probably be sent to the Ministry of Punishment."
Zhang Wencai's face suddenly darkened. "I... I don't want to. There are Xu Wencang's people in the Imperial Household Department. I'll definitely die in there!"
Crawling on the ground to Su Mingyu's side, Zhang Wencai grabbed her calf. "Princess! Princess! Save me! Please, if I go to the Imperial Household Department, I'll never come out alive."
Looking down at Zhang Wencai, who was obviously extremely frightened, Su Mingyu pursed her lips, looking helpless. "It's an order from the emperor himself. I can't protect you now."
"I... I don't want to! I don't want to!" Zhang Wencai was almost crying. "I'll tell you everything, Princess. Really, I'll tell you everything!"
Su Mingyu sighed, squatted down and pulled Zhang Wencai's hand away. Looking into Zhang Wencai's blood - red eyes, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do you really want to live? You should know that your crime can never be lightly forgiven. Instead of being smeared and taking all the blame and being executed, you might as well bite back at Xu Wencang and make him regret treating you like this for the rest of his life."
"No! I don't want to! I was just following orders! I'm not the mastermind!" Zhang Wencai grabbed his hair painfully, not willing to believe that he had reached the end of the road at all.
Su Mingyu raised an eyebrow. "I might be able to keep you alive, but after that, you can't live under your own identity anymore, and you can't show yourself in public. You can only be a rat living in the shadows. Think it over?"
"I'm willing! I'm willing! Tell me what to do!" Zhang Wencai tightly grabbed Su Mingyu's arm, as if grasping at a life - saving straw.
Su Mingyu lowered her eyes and whispered something in his ear. Zhang Wencai was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "Okay! I'm willing!"
"Alright. I'm going to the palace now. You'll also be handed over. Remember what I said. You didn't say anything, and you don't know anything." Su Mingyu said as she patted Zhang Wencai on the shoulder, then got up and left.
By the time Su Mingyu arrived at the carriage, Gu Ruobai had been waiting for a long time.
"How is Xiang'er?" As soon as Su Mingyu got into the carriage, she asked the question she most wanted to know.
Gu Ruobai nodded. "I've already sent someone to give her poison as a warning not to talk nonsense."
Su Mingyu replied with a hum. "I'll leave everything to you in the court later."
"I know. How about Zhang Wencai?" Gu Ruobai lowered his eyes. "He's greedy for life and afraid of death. Although such a person is easy to control, he may not be honest."
"I don't need him to be honest. As long as he knows that he'll only have a dead end if he leaves me." Su Mingyu shrugged.
Seeing that she didn't seem very nervous, Gu Ruobai rubbed her head. "You've worked hard."
Su Mingyu winked at Gu Ruobai. "Since you know I've worked hard, you should compensate me well. After this matter is over, I'm going to take good care of myself and do nothing."
"Okay." Gu Ruobai nodded without hesitation. "I'll definitely raise you and our child plump and healthy."
The atmosphere in the carriage was just right when the guard's voice sounded. "Your Highness, Princess, we're here."
The Golden Luan Hall was filled with grandeur, and the atmosphere was extremely solemn. When Su Mingyu pushed Gu Ruobai in, everyone's eyes fell on the two of them.
However, Su Mingyu was not the least bit stage - frightened. She calmly pushed Gu Ruobai forward, then saluted the royal family. "Greetings to Father Emperor. May Father Emperor be in good health."
The emperor looked down at Su Mingyu from his high position. "Get up."
Su Mingyu got up and retreated behind Gu Ruobai, looking very obedient.
The emperor nodded in satisfaction, then turned his gaze to Gu Ruobai. "I heard that you've caught the person who caused your leg injury?"
Gu Ruobai nodded. "Reporting to Father Emperor, I've caught a person, but I can't be sure if he's the one who bribed my subordinate and caused me to end up like this."
"Why?" The emperor looked at him with lowered eyes.
Gu Ruobai lowered his eyes. "Because of the motive. I can't find a motive for Zhang Wencai to harm me to such an extent."
"I've heard that he seems to have embezzled military rations and pay?" The emperor's voice was very soft, as if he knew everything.
Gu Ruobai nodded. "That's right, but I've compared it. The extent of the embezzlement of military rations and pay is far more than that. What Zhang Wencai got was just a mere trifle. There's no need for him to take the risk of killing me."
"Oh?" The emperor raised an eyebrow. "You mean there's someone else behind Zhang Wencai?"
Gu Ruobai replied with a hum. "After all, when Zhang Wencai was caught by me, he confessed everything on the spot. I don't think such an innocent person has the ability to take so much silver from the Ministry of War without being discovered."
The emperor nodded. "Then who did he say it was?"
Gu Ruobai thought for a while. "He hasn't said yet. I hope that the people in the Imperial Household Department can find out something when they conduct a thorough investigation."
"You can't even find out?" The emperor was a bit stunned this time. "Didn't you say that he has no backbone and no courage?"
"Yes, but that doesn't prevent him from being tight - lipped. I've asked for a long time but haven't found out anything. I think the person behind him may have a special status." With this sentence, Gu Ruobai directly made the whole court seem on the verge of a storm.
"Does the King of Ruixian mean that we old officials are trying to persecute you?"
One of the old - fashioned officials who often relied on his seniority stood up first.
Gu Ruobai glanced at him and said softly, "I'm just making a reasonable guess. You don't need to be so eager to defend yourself, sir."