Xiao Yan said in a deep voice: "Empress Lu said that this blood letter fell into the hands of Yue Hongchang, the former Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He wanted to use this thing to threaten the Lu family to rise to prominence. Obviously, he knew what the Lu family did, and it is very likely that he was involved in it, otherwise this matter would not be hidden from the Crown Prince."
Qian Baokun was not a fool. He thought for a moment and said, "I remember that Yue Hongchang's house was confiscated for corruption a few years before the Crown Prince's rebellion."
He joined the Ministry of Revenue after Emperor An ascended the throne. He only occasionally heard people mention his "predecessor" Yue Hongchang. Now that he thinks about it, this so-called corruption was probably not just because of embezzlement of money, but because he took things that he shouldn't have and had ambitions that he shouldn't have.
Xiao Yan said: "Nearly one million disaster relief silver, and hundreds of thousands of dan of disaster grain, no matter who gets it, it is impossible for it to be swallowed up quietly."
Qian Baokun narrowed his eyes slightly: "If so much grain flows into the market, it will definitely cause the grain price to fluctuate. As for the disaster silver, unless we can keep it in our hands, otherwise the sudden increase of one million silver coins in the market will cause the price of goods to rise no matter where it is used..."
As the person in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, Qian Baokun naturally understood how the Ministry of Revenue adjusted prices in various places and stabilized the grain prices in various granaries. He came up with a plan in a flash and said to Xiao Yan in a serious tone, "I will check the grain accounts of the Ministry of Revenue in those years, as well as the fluctuations in grain prices in various places. Leave this matter to me."
Xiao Yan nodded: "I will have people secretly visit the Rongjiang area to see if we can find people who know the truth, as well as the coroner who performed autopsies on the soldiers after the shipwreck. If we can find out where the relief grain money went and find witnesses, plus this blood letter and the He family letter, it will be enough to convict the Lu family."
"Be careful." Qian Baokun said with a serious look in his eyes: "This matter concerns your majesty. If the Lu family is convicted, your majesty may also be tarnished. If you are not absolutely sure, you must not alert the enemy and you must not tell this matter to anyone else."
The more people involved, the greater the risk of exposure.
As for the Lu family, either don't move, or they must be killed with one strike.
Xiao Yan nodded: "I know."
Qian Baokun discussed with Xiao Yan for a long time. After listing all the details, he hurriedly left with a heavy heart. After he left, Canglang and Jinyun came in.
Xiao Yan instructed Jin Yun, "Send two secret guards to protect Qian Baokun, and leave a few people at the Qian family to protect his wife and children."
Jinyun nodded in agreement.
"Lord Governor, should we tell Cao Dejiang and the others about this?" Jinyun asked.
Xiao Yan hesitated: "No need."
Qian Baokun was dragged into this mess by him very early on and became enemies with the Lu family. Moreover, Qian Baokun was passionate and hated evil. He could more or less grasp his temperament and was sure that he would not and had the ability to hold him back from turning against him. However, it was different for Cao Dejiang.
Although the Qingliu faction is hostile to the aristocratic families, they also have their own thoughts. There are many ambitious and greedy people among them. What they do for their future may not be much cleaner than the aristocratic families. Although Cao Dejiang did not find out anything dirty, he is also a deep-minded person.
Xiao Yan was not sure that he could pull people onto his ship and ensure that he would not waver when the situation became dangerous. Rather than taking risks, it would be better not to touch him. When the time was right, those people from the Qingliu faction would naturally become their helpers and there would be no need to deliberately win them over.
Xiao Yan raised his eyes: "Where is He Wengran?"
Canglang said: "On the way back home, he was ambushed by the Lu family's assassins. He was rescued by our people and has been sent to a safe place."
"Did you clean up the beginning and the end?"
"Don't worry, Governor. Our people are disguised as bandits blocking the road. We have also found the bodies of bandits nearby and pretended to be members of the He family. No one will notice."
Xiao Yan relaxed after hearing this, and said after a long pause, "Send people to the south to check for survivors left behind, especially those in the Rongjiang area, and those exiled by the Yue family after Yue Hongchang was executed, to see if there are any insiders. Act carefully and don't alarm outsiders."
"Don't worry, Lord Governor. I will go there myself." Jin Yun paused after he finished speaking and said, "Lord Governor, since we want to investigate the past, should we get rid of the eyes in the mansion?"
Xiao Yan knew who he was talking about. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Don't move him for now. He still has some use."
He had to let Emperor An know that he regarded thunder, lightning, rain and dew as the emperor's grace.
He is still the most useful knife in his hand, the owl that he can command without fear of backlash, and his most loyal servant.
…
It had been raining intermittently in the capital for several days, with either heavy downpours or drizzles. The ground was wet and dry, dry and wet again. When the rain stopped completely on this day, it was the height of summer. The weather was so hot that it seemed that a walk under the sun would melt a person.
Tang Ning hadn't seen Xiao Yan for several days. Although sweet cakes were sent over from time to time from the neighbors, and people around Xiao Yan told her that he was very busy these days, Tang Ning was still a little absent-minded.
"Tang Ning..."
"Tang Ning!"
"ah?"
Tang Ning came back to her senses from a daze, and saw Rong Yue looking at her with some concern: "What's wrong with you these past two days? You are always absent-minded?" She often lost her mind while talking, like just now, they were clearly discussing the banquet to be held in the mansion the day after tomorrow, but the girl suddenly lost her mind about something else.
She reached out and touched her niece's forehead: "Are you feeling unwell? Do you want to ask Madam Qin to come and take a look?"
Tang Ning was touched by her aunt's worried look and quickly shook her head: "I'm fine, I was just distracted by something."
Seeing Rong Yue still looking at her, she pulled down her hand that was covering her forehead and said to her, "I was just thinking about the academy. Someone from the Beijing Construction Department came over yesterday and said that the academy will be completed in a few days."
"So fast?" Rong Yue was surprised.
All in all, that's less than two months, right?
Tang Ning said softly, "My brother asked someone to monitor the progress and said that this should be done sooner rather than later. Otherwise, if the Lu family's 'donation' of books becomes too popular, it will be disadvantageous to me."
Rong Yue's face softened when she heard this: "Your brother is always taking care of you. Lu Chongyuan has returned to the court recently, and there has been a lot of buzz about him and the Lu family. I heard that Lu Zhao's case will probably be decided directly, and His Majesty seems to be estranged from him..."
There was no one around her in the court, but Marquis Wenxin and his men were there. Every time Marquis Wenxin's wife came, she would bring some news from the court, which made Rong Yue a little worried.
"Xiao Yan is in a bad situation in the court. He hasn't come here in the past few days. I don't know what's going on with him."
Tang Ning pursed her lips, she was also worried.
"Girl, Governor Xiao is here." Hua Wu hurried in.
The two people in the water pavilion didn't expect that the devil would appear as soon as they mentioned him. When they looked up and saw the figure over there, Tang Ning stood up with joy, lifted her skirt and walked to the edge of the water pavilion.
"Brother!"