"The Prince of Dai's mansion is finished, we don't have to worry about it anymore!"
As soon as Huangfu Yue entered the study, she heard someone talking about her family.
Huangfu Yue immediately looked towards the sound and saw that the one speaking of her family was a middle-aged man sitting behind the desk. He had a cunning and sly face, and it was clear at a glance that he was no good.
Seeing him sitting behind the desk belonging to the master of the study, Huangfu Yue immediately guessed that he was Chang Qing, the Minister of Revenue.
"All the men in the Prince of Dai's mansion are now dead. The Prince of Dai's mansion is left with only the old, weak, women, and children, and they have been exiled to Lingping. We don't even know how many will survive to reach Lingping. Your Excellency can rest assured."
The man with a goatee and slightly graying hair, sitting in the armchair behind the desk, said with a smile, also cupping his hands towards Chang Qing.
"Lord Li, you can rest assured too." Chang Qing also cupped his hands towards him with a smile.
"Yes, we can all rest easy." Lord Li nodded.
What did their words mean? A hint of doubt arose in Huangfu Yue's heart.
Why would they be able to rest easy just because all the men in the Prince of Dai's mansion were dead?
Unfortunately, Chang Qing and Lord Li did not give Huangfu Yue the answer. They stopped talking about the Prince of Dai's mansion and changed the topic to the theft of the national treasury…
"Lord Li, what do you think about the matter of the national treasury?" Chang Qing asked.
"Bizarre!" Lord Li uttered two words.
"The national treasury being suddenly looted clean is truly bizarre, extremely bizarre!" Chang Qing nodded.
"His Majesty has ordered the Six Doors to solve the case as soon as possible, to thoroughly investigate the national treasury theft, and to apprehend the perpetrator before him..."
"I think it's difficult." Lord Li chuckled before Chang Qing could finish.
Lord Li not only laughed but also revealed a hint of schadenfreude in his smile.
Huangfu Yue found it strange, wondering why he was laughing, and laughing with such schadenfreude, when she saw him speak again, saying, "Now there will be a good show to watch! Let's see how the Six Doors will apprehend the perpetrator and present them to His Majesty to report!"
"The national treasury theft case is bizarre everywhere. No matter how you think about it, it's not something that human power can accomplish.
Just as many people are discussing privately, even if the thief group had many people, it would be impossible to empty the national treasury in a short period without anyone noticing, and then transport so much gold and silver out of the imperial palace without being discovered.
Although invoking ghosts and spirits is a bit far-fetched, this looks like nothing less than the legendary "Five Ghosts Carrying Treasures" technique. The Six Doors, no matter how powerful, can catch ghosts?
If they can't find the culprit and present them to His Majesty to report, His Majesty will definitely severely punish Tang Sanqian, the leader of the Six Doors, and he will most likely lose his head.
His Majesty is furious because the national treasury has been looted clean, and he desperately wants to kill someone to vent his anger." Lord Li analyzed, and then laughed again at the end.
"Tang Sanqian only suspected you were involved in Luo Zheng's case last year and searched your residence. He didn't find anything and didn't harm you in the slightest. Why do you hold such a grudge and want him dead so badly!"
Chang Qing sighed and said, a smile on his lips.
"Tang Sanqian clearly knew that Luo Zheng's case had nothing to do with me, but he insisted on framing me, wanting to drag me down with him, and shouting everywhere that I was a suspect and wanted to search my residence. It was obvious he wanted to deal with me!" Lord Li suddenly pulled a long face and cursed, his face full of indignation.
"If I hadn't thought of putting what you gave me into the fish's mouth to hide it at that critical moment, Tang Sanqian, who wanted to turn my residence upside down, would have found it. The Prince of Dai's affairs would have been exposed!" Lord Li showed a look of relief.
Hearing his last sentence, Huangfu Yue's heart filled with curiosity.
What was this thing that Lord Li mentioned Chang Qing gave him? It sounded like it was related to her cheap father.
He said that if Tang Sanqian found that thing, her cheap father's affairs would be exposed. She wondered what kind of affair it was.
Countless questions swirled in Huangfu Yue's mind. She decided not to go to the secret chamber to get the puppet gu for now and stayed to continue eavesdropping on Chang Qing and Lord Li's conversation.
It was clear that the two of them had a great relationship with the Prince of Dai and the Prince of Dai's mansion, but they were enemies, not friends. Otherwise, Chang Qing wouldn't have said that once the men of the Prince of Dai's mansion were dead, they could rest easy.
"Speaking of that thing, you were too careless and negligent back then! How could you keep that thing in your residence? Didn't I tell you to get rid of it immediately after you finished looking at it? You absolutely cannot keep it. If it were discovered, it would be a disaster!" Chang Qing blamed Lord Li.
"How could I have imagined that Tang Sanqian would suddenly drag Luo Zheng's case onto me and come to my residence to search my mansion? I..."
"My Lord, I have something to report." Suddenly, there was a knock on the door from outside, and a voice rang out.
"Come in." Chang Qing immediately responded.
Soon, the door was pushed open from the outside, and a butler-like man walked in. He walked to the desk and first bowed to Chang Qing, then bowed to Lord Li, and then began to report to Chang Qing...
"My Lord, Tian Daqing has received news. The item you wanted has been obtained, but the person sent to find Liu Wu to get the letter has not been heard from to this day."
Chang Qing frowned. "I remember Zhang Lu and the others were sent to find Liu Wu to get the letter. By this time, they should have found Liu Wu and gotten the letter. Could something have happened? Did they not get the letter?"
"Even if they didn't get the letter, by this time, they should have sent a message back," Lord Li said.
Chang Qing nodded. "It seems Zhang Lu and the others have likely met with misfortune!"
He looked at the stationery on the desk and tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the table, clearly thinking. Soon, he stopped tapping the table and looked up at the butler.
"Immediately send a group of people to look for Zhang Lu and the others. I want them alive or dead."
"Yes." The butler immediately took the order.
Alive or dead? Heh!
Huangfu Yue curled her lips at the side, silently complaining: Even if you search to the ends of the earth, you won't find Zhang Lu and the others, let alone their corpses. They were all turned into water by this princess, and have long since dried up.
"My Lord, what about Liu Wu?" the butler inquired.
"Send more people out to find Liu Wu. We must get the letter from Liu Wu," Chang Qing instructed.
"If Zhang Lu and the others met with misfortune, it is very likely that Liu Wu has already returned to the capital and handed over the letter. The letter is no longer with him, so finding him would be useless," Lord Li interjected.
"Indeed!" Chang Qing nodded. "But we still need to find Liu Wu, regardless of whether the letter is still with him or not."
"I will send people to find Liu Wu now." The butler immediately said, then bowed to Chang Qing and Lord Li to take his leave and left the study.
"Bad news... bad news..." As soon as the butler left, a panicked-looking servant ran in from outside.