"Your Highness intends to lead by example and charge at the forefront?" Shen Xihe asked.
Bu Shulin nodded silently.
The truth was, no one dared to take responsibility. Since the embezzlement wasn't excessive, everyone planned to endure it. But the Prince of Shunan had a fiery temper and couldn't stand such humiliation. Moreover, who knew if there would be a second time after the first?
"I have an idea for you." Shen Xihe's lips curved into a faint smile.
Bu Shulin's eyes lit up as she leaned in closer to Shen Xihe.
Shen Xihe's smile deepened. "How will you thank me?"
Bu Shulin: "..."
"What's between us? Speaking like this hurts our friendship!" Bu Shulin lamented with exaggerated distress.
Shen Xihe stroked Duanming. "What friendship is there between you and me?"
Bu Shulin clutched her chest. "Youyou, you wound me so! Have you taken a fancy to some young man again?"
Shen Xihe spoke leisurely. "The method I'll give you won't make your father offend anyone, won't earn His Majesty's resentment, and can recover all the embezzled military funds."
"Really?" Bu Shulin pressed her hands on the table.
"Why are you so excited?" Shen Xihe glanced at her. "You should know that the better the method, the more valuable it is."
Bu Shulin paced back and forth several times before Shen Xihe before asking, "First tell me, what do you want?"
"In a few days it'll be the autumn hunt. Help me with something then." Shen Xihe's smile was light and graceful.
Though the beauty appeared exquisitely charming with her mesmerizing smile, Bu Shulin inexplicably took a step back.
"Don't worry, it won't endanger your life or require your delicate frame to hunt tigers or bears." Shen Xihe spoke with a slightly disdainful look.
Feeling underestimated, Bu Shulin declared, "I'll hunt a tiger for you during the autumn hunt!"
"Good, I'll be waiting."
Bu Shulin: "..."
She coughed lightly. "The wind was so strong just now, I didn't say anything..."
This made Biyu and the others cover their mouths to suppress laughter.
Shen Xihe stopped teasing her. "Do you agree or not?"
"I agree, I agree!" Bu Shulin nodded. She believed Shen Xihe wouldn't put her in real danger. As for potential embarrassment, she didn't care - she took pleasure in being shameless.
As long as she didn't feel embarrassed, all the looks directed at her were just jealousy and admiration!
"Have your father collaborate with others to expose it, but leak the intention to expose to the Minister of Revenue first." Shen Xihe said.
Bu Shulin's mind filled with: ???
"If we leak the information, how can we still expose it?" Bu Shulin felt Shen Xihe was teasing her.
"I don't think the Ministry of Revenue is behind this embezzlement of military funds across various regions." Shen Xihe lowered her gaze, her soft hand gently stroking Duanming's back from head to tail. "It seems more like someone trying to drag the Ministry of Revenue down. Look carefully - aren't the few places that weren't embezzled all connected to the Ministry of Revenue through personal relationships?"
"Isn't that just favoritism?" Bu Shulin and others had always assumed it was preferential treatment.
"No, this is to prevent information leaks." Shen Xihe stated confidently. "With the autumn grain being stolen at this time, someone is creating false clues to keep the Ministry of Revenue too busy to notice. Combined with your reluctance to expose it, the Ministry probably still doesn't know about this matter."
"Once Dong Biquan finds out, he'll definitely investigate thoroughly. Then he'll try every means to fill the gap for you."
"Is it really that simple?" Bu Shulin felt things couldn't be so straightforward, but she couldn't pinpoint what was wrong. She didn't believe Shen Xihe would deceive her or set her up regarding such an important matter.
"It really is that simple." Shen Xihe's smile was clear and sweetly captivating.Bu Shulin was somewhat skeptical, but she also knew Shen Xihe wouldn’t say more to her.
"County Princess, are you trying to cause trouble for the Crown Prince?" Biyu asked softly after Bu Shulin left.
"No, I’m helping him," Shen Xihe replied with a faint smile. "I’m making the charges he fabricates against others even more ironclad."
The autumn chill was biting, and Biyu inexplicably felt pity for anyone targeted by the Crown Prince and their County Princess…
After returning, Bu Shulin pondered left and right but couldn’t find a solution, so she faithfully relayed Shen Xihe’s words in a letter to the Prince of Shunan. The choice was left to him, sparing herself any blame.
When the Prince of Shunan received his daughter’s letter,
his face darkened. He said to his close attendant, "Look, both are daughters. How is it that Shen Yueshan’s daughter manipulates the winds and clouds in the capital, while my Bu Tuohai’s daughter can only be led by the nose?" Growing angrier, Bu Tuohai couldn’t help but plant his hands on his hips and curse, "Damn his ancestors! Can my sea not drown his mountain?"
The attendant thought to himself: Aren’t you the clearest about whether you can defeat the Northwest King?
"Your Highness, please calm your anger. Now that the young master has spoken, should we follow her advice?"
Bu Tuohai paced back and forth with his hands on his hips. If Shen Xihe had seen him, she would have thought he looked exactly like Bu Shulin.
This was no small matter. Jointly exposing the issue while leaking the information to the Ministry of Revenue was tantamount to betrayal. If anything went wrong, he, Bu Tuohai, would become a petty man who harmed his allies, broke his word, and betrayed their trust.
He would also be labeled as an ally of the court, inevitably ostracized by local military factions in the future. If war broke out in Shunan, they would likely be left isolated and unaided.
But if he didn’t trust Shen Xihe, not only would it damage the relationship between Shunan and the Northwest, but it might also plunge them into unknown dangers.
"We have no one in the capital. A Lin may seem rough but is actually thoughtful. Since she trusts Zhaoning County Princess, let’s tentatively trust her judgment." He knew his own daughter well—outwardly careless but inwardly shrewd.
From his daughter’s letter and the unusual incident of military funds being withheld, he vaguely sensed that something major must have happened in the capital, unknown to outsiders.
A single misstep now could mean utter destruction. To avoid becoming someone else’s pawn, he decided to trust Shen Xihe this once.
When news of discrepancies in military funds from various regions reached Dong Biquan’s ears, he angrily smashed his favorite glazed bowl and kicked his trusted subordinate. "Do you want to rebel? How dare you tamper with military funds!"
"Lord Dong, the provisions His Majesty requested were hijacked. We had no choice. We didn’t dare make it public and had to fill the gap again…"
Everything His Majesty needed was privately allocated. Even if hijacked, they couldn’t publicize it or openly pursue recovery.
"Even so, how dare you not report such a major issue and take matters into your own hands by misappropriating military supplies? Who gave you the guts!" Dong Biquan’s veins bulged with rage.
The subordinate prostrated on the ground, not daring to speak.
Dong Biquan’s steward bowed and said, "Master, the urgent matter now is how to resolve the current crisis."
"The autumn grain was hijacked, and His Majesty is frantic with anxiety. If we report the military funds being withheld now, both of us will be sacrificed to appease his anger."
How could they dare let His Majesty know about such a huge blunder at this moment!
Dong Biquan was so anxious he felt feverish. The steward suggested, "Master, why not replenish the military funds from various regions?"
"Replenish? Where are we supposed to get the grain to replenish them?" Dong Biquan retorted sharply."We don't necessarily have to replenish all at once. We can purchase grain from external sources at low prices to partially replenish supplies first. Once the various military garrisons learn that the court will make up for the shortages, they surely won't cause trouble. After we get through this current crisis, we can then seek long-term solutions."
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