"Your Highness, regarding Prince Kang..." Tianyuan sought instructions.
They had initially anticipated a fierce struggle, but unexpectedly, Prince Ding intervened with a sudden move that brought the matter to a close. Now, they had no pretext to visit Prince Kang, missing a golden opportunity.
Had they been able to make Prince Kang talk, they would have uncovered who was responsible for forming the private army for His Majesty and traced the origin of the iron used to forge weapons, uprooting many of the Emperor's hidden forces in one sweep.
"His Majesty acts with caution. Prince Kang may not know the source of the iron or who is in charge of forming the private army," Xiao Huayong gently shook his head. "Otherwise, His Majesty would not have kept Prince Kang in the Imperial Clan Court and allowed visitors."
Only those who do not understand His Majesty would attempt to fish in troubled waters.
However, Prince Kang must have known something—at least a suspect. Whether it was true or false would require their verification.
Thus, not seeing Prince Kang was not a significant loss.
Xiao Huayong raised his hand, his thumb lightly rubbing the edge of his forefinger: "We must find a way to replace the Minister of Revenue."
For His Majesty to empty the national treasury for private schemes, large sums of silver could not have gone unnoticed by the Minister of Revenue. This could only mean the Ministry of Revenue was entirely under His Majesty's control, from the Minister down to the two Vice Ministers—all must be His Majesty's trusted aides.
Tianyuan knew that Dong Biquan, the Minister of Revenue, was living on borrowed time.
"The autumn grain is about to arrive. Have all our people keep a close watch and ensure we catch Dong Biquan's wrongdoing!" Xiao Huayong's expression was stern, his emotions restrained, his face devoid of any displeasure, yet it evoked an inexplicable fear.
"Acknowledged." Tianyuan immediately withdrew to make arrangements.
By September, autumn was in full swing. Prince Kang was executed, and the rest of his household were stripped of their titles by the Youning Emperor, reduced to commoners. They were neither sent to the Side Court Palace nor exiled. Following this, Prince Ding was also demoted to commoner status and punished to guard the imperial mausoleum for repentance.
The Youning Emperor did not charge Xiao Changtai with privately forging weapons, only citing his arrogance and disobedience. Yet everyone understood the implication: as a father, the Emperor was granting his son some dignity. It went without saying for whom Prince Kang had privately forged the weapons.
Since His Majesty knew everything and chose to raise the issue lightly and let it drop, his subjects naturally could not press the matter.
The affair was superficially resolved as the Youning Emperor dismissed several key local officials.
"Why are you troubled?" Shen Xihe asked, watching Bu Shulin, who had been sitting opposite her in silence for a long time—the first time she had visited without saying a word.
Bu Shulin picked up her teacup and took a sip, her tone somewhat stiff: "Father sent a letter. This year's military funds have been tampered with—a portion for pensions and provisions is missing, and the grain and cloth provided are of inferior quality."
This dynasty treated the military with exceptional generosity: those retired due to age were exempt from taxes, and those injured in battle received annual compensation.
Military supplies were not provided in currency but in provisions and equipment, approved by the Ministry of Revenue and delivered promptly by local commissaries to the armies. Since the Emperor's accession, the northwest had been deducting its military needs from taxes before remitting the remainder to the capital.
No one had ever dared to meddle with the northwest's military supplies, and Shen Yueshan had never embezzled a single coin. Shu Nan, with the largest army outside the northwest, could easily manipulate vast sums with a flick of the finger.
Shen Xihe: "Was there an oversight during the inventory?"
"It was a premeditated scheme. The military supplies were already inventoried and sealed. Now, we have no way to voice our grievances," Bu Shulin sighed.Since she was not in Shu'nan, she didn't know the specific details. Now that Shu'nan had received the military supplies and confirmed their accuracy, who would believe them if they claimed there were issues after the disbursement official left?
If they made a big fuss about it, they might even be falsely accused in return.
"Has this been going on for a long time, or is it only happening this year?" Shen Xihe asked again.
"There have been some instances in previous years, but it was an unwritten rule. Everyone knew about it and didn’t make things difficult for each other," Bu Shulin said. "This year, for some reason, they’ve thrown all decency aside!"
As she spoke, Bu Shulin gritted her teeth. "They must think that since Shu'nan has been peaceful and free of war in recent years, they can treat us lightly, assuming they won’t need to ask for our help."
"Unlikely," Shen Xihe mused before replying. "The problem definitely doesn’t lie with the disbursement official. You should go back for now and avoid acting rashly. I’ll have Brother investigate the military supply situation in various regions."
"Sister Xihe, you’re so good to me." Bu Shulin immediately beamed.
Shen Xihe shot her a sidelong glance. "Three thousand sets of fine armor."
Bu Shulin: "..."
"Will you give them or not?" Shen Xihe asked.
"I have to ask Father!" She had already been tricked by Shen Xihe out of three thousand sets of fine armor—the other two thousand were just empty talk from Shen Xihe.
Fine armor was difficult to produce, otherwise, she wouldn’t be so stingy.
Shen Xihe’s eyes shifted thoughtfully. "If you don’t want to give the fine armor, that’s fine too. Have your father gather a cartload of dragon bones for me in Shu'nan."
"What do you need dragon bones for?" Bu Shulin asked curiously.
Shen Xihe crooked a finger at her, and Bu Shulin eagerly leaned in. Shen Xihe whispered softly, "It’s a secret."
Bu Shulin: "..."
Shen Xihe glanced at the sky. "My brother will be back soon."
Bu Shulin immediately stood up obediently to take her leave. Shen Yungan looked at her no differently than he would a lecherous scoundrel and never allowed her to get too close to Shen Xihe.
She didn’t know whether to be pleased that her male disguise was so convincing or angry at Shen Yungan for being so narrow-minded.
For now, since she needed Shen Yungan’s help, she’d better not provoke him.
For the sake of obtaining dragon bones to develop trauma medicine, Shen Xihe took this matter to heart. As soon as Shen Yungan returned, she immediately informed him. As the Northwest Prince Heir, Shen Yunnan had connections in the military and managed to investigate the military supply situation in various regions within three days.
"It’s similar to Shu'nan’s situation," Shen Yunnan said with a grave expression. This was no small matter.
"If we tally it up, the total shortage across all regions amounts to supplies for an entire army!" Shen Xihe smiled faintly. "It’s a case of the guardian stealing what he guards."
"Your Majesty isn’t afraid of chilling the hearts of the frontier soldiers," Shen Yunnan sneered.
If they hadn’t known that Prince Kang was secretly forging weapons for Your Majesty, they wouldn’t have suspected that Your Majesty was the one embezzling. Since he was already forging weapons in secret, he must also be privately raising an army—otherwise, what use would the weapons be?
In recent years, the weather had been favorable, and the national treasury was abundant. The Ministry of Revenue would never dare to withhold frontier military supplies. Even if they wanted to embezzle, they wouldn’t resort to such methods—smoothing over the grain levy of a single county would be easier than tampering with military supplies.
"We can’t just sit back and let this continue," Shen Xihe frowned. "Right now, there are no natural disasters, yet Your Majesty is already reckless enough to withhold military supplies. If we encounter war or natural disasters and the national treasury is depleted, it will sow the seeds of chaos."
As she spoke, Shen Xihe lifted her gaze to meet Shen Yunnan’s eyes. "We need to target the Minister of Revenue."
"The Ministry of Revenue is like an iron fortress—I have no way to intervene. However, I did uncover some anomalies in the Stables Administration," Shen Yunnan told Shen Xihe. "In all regional stables except the Northwest, the death toll of horses exceeds a hundred, while the breeding rate is less than a hundred!"
Shen Xihe was shocked.The dynasty's cavalry is formidable, and its horse administration is vast and crucial. Pastures are established across the regions to breed horses, yet mortality exceeds a hundred while reproduction falls short of a hundred—a situation rife with dubious practices.
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