Chapter 488: Rich or poor... [Two in one]

"In fact, my late husband knew he was going to die before he went to provide disaster relief." Mrs. Guo finally couldn't help herself and told Liang Yue and the others her memories, "I remember he said a lot of strange things to me at that time..."

"He took me back to the place where we first met and walked around for a long time, looking very reluctant to leave."

“I asked him at that time…”

"If you are so reluctant to leave the Divine Capital, can't you just let someone else go?"

"He just smiled bitterly and said that after receiving favors from others for many years, it is time to repay them. He also said that even if he can't come back, don't worry, someone will take care of me."

"At the time, I just told him not to say anything unlucky, but I didn't expect that my words would come true..."

Mrs. Guo looked sad. "Looking back, it was clear that he was saying his final goodbye to me, but I was totally unaware."

"Benefited by someone?" Liang Yue pondered, "Although Lord Guo was born in a proper imperial examination, his family background was ordinary. He was able to become a third-rank official so quickly in the officialdom, which was indeed inseparable from the promotion of a noble. If his death was related to the Xishan Society, does that mean the person who promoted him is suspected? Also, since his death, who in the officialdom has been taking care of you, does Mrs. Guo know?"

"I don't know." Madam Guo shook her head and said, "Everywhere I went in the past few years, everything went smoothly. Business and money seemed to be stuffed into my hands. In fact, I know that all of them were earned by my late husband with his life. I also wanted to ask several times who was looking after me behind the scenes, but in the end I couldn't find the answer. And I don't know much about my late husband's affairs in the court. I only know that he had a classmate and friend at that time, who is now... the right prime minister of the court."

"Song Zhili?"

Liang Yue didn't feel surprised when he heard this name.

There were only so many people in the first two rows of the court. Apart from Liang Fuguo, he would not be surprised at who the big boss behind the Xishan Society was, not to mention that Song Zhili had always been his main suspect.

As the right prime minister, he managed everything in the court in an orderly manner, but he gave people the impression of a mediocre person who would hide when encountering problems. His skill in hiding his shortcomings was truly amazing.

But even if they had this suspicion, it would be useless. If they wanted to confirm that this person was related to the Khe San Society, they needed actual evidence.

"Well." Madam Guo said, "That's all I know. You don't have to think about helping me get revenge. After so many years, I no longer have the heart to pursue the past. Besides, that's not something you can do."

"Mrs. Guo, don't worry. I will try to find the murderer who killed Mr. Guo." Liang Yue said solemnly.

"You..." Mrs. Guo seemed to be moved by his determination. After a moment, she said, "If you want to investigate, I guess it may be related to the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue. Because I remember that before he set out to provide disaster relief, he went out early and came back late for many consecutive days. He even lived in the Ministry of Revenue for a few days and looked very haggard. At that time, I asked him what he was busy with, and he said that there was some problem with the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue..."

"Probably not long after that period, he left the capital to go to disaster relief and never came back."

"The relationship between my sister and her husband is really touching." Li Mo took the opportunity to say, "If you don't mind, we can be sworn siblings and get along as close relatives."

"Okay!" Mrs. Guo agreed immediately.

But after agreeing, she was a little stunned. It seemed that she had forgotten what she wanted to do in the first place.

……

It is very difficult to investigate an old case. After all, it was the death of a third-rank official. If there were clues, it would have been discovered long ago.

After Liang Yue went back to report to Liang Fuguo, he asked some questions about the circumstances before Guo Fuming's death. Only then did he have a general understanding of what happened at that time and sorted it out a little.

About seventeen or eighteen years ago, Li Longchan entered the palace to present treasures and was awarded the title of Imperial Master.

However, because of his extremely bad background and reputation in the underworld, and his behavior of amassing wealth as soon as he came to power, many court officials were extremely opposed to it, but Emperor Mu Bei insisted.

Sixteen years ago, Emperor Mu Bei wanted to support Jiang Zhenye and asked him to lead an army to expedition to Yunxiang Kingdom. Li Huchan, as a general, was responsible for hunting down the remnants of the Huozheng Sect.

Nangong Xue agreed to help Xishan Society at this time. Guo Fuming of Xishan Society found Li Longchan. He asked his brother to set fire to the Zhengjiao in exchange for the court officials to relax their attack on Li Longchan.

At this time, the Xishan Society was still half-open and half-secret in the court, and was not so taboo. Although Emperor Mu Bei had been weakening their power, his methods were still gentle.

Until twelve years ago, Tang Wei and Ba Shan had been fighting for many years, and the war between the two sides was hard to resolve. When the situation was unfavorable, the eldest prince took his men out of Shendu to purchase military supplies, and the whole team disappeared.

It was suspected that the Xishan Society was responsible for this incident. It was not until this time that Emperor Mu Bei launched a massive purge of the Xishan Society. In the following two or three years, many faces changed in the court.

Maybe he wanted to help clear the obstacles for the prince before he succeeded to the throne, but because of Li Longchan's efforts, Emperor Mu Bei's life has continued to this day.

Guo Fuming's death happened nine years ago, when the Ministry of Revenue was checking the accounts, and all the accounts from previous years were checked. However, there was no problem with the audit, and not long after, Guo Fuming died on the way to disaster relief.

"There was no problem with the audit?" Liang Yue asked, "Then what was the reason for Guo Fuming's death? Was it really an accident?"

"I remember that when the accounts were checked, it was not long after the court had settled accounts with the Khe San Society. Someone questioned that when the Battle of Bashan was coming to an end, the Ministry of Revenue was short of money and grain, and asked the emperor to use his own treasury to purchase military supplies..." Liang Fuguo said slowly, "Did the Ministry of Revenue really have no money at that time?"

"There is another matter?" Liang Yue put down the file after hearing this.

If the Ministry of Revenue secretly altered the accounts, forcing the emperor to use the treasury and the eldest prince to leave the capital, that would be a bit scary...

That means that Emperor Mu Bei’s control over the court is almost zero, and he can’t even control the most important purse.

"But later, Meng Shouyu immediately took out the accounts of the previous twenty years for people to check, and there was no problem. The continuous wars did indeed drain the national treasury." Liang Fuguo said: "Old Meng has been working diligently in the Ministry of Revenue for many years. He has managed everything very well. He can be said to be the most reliable steward. I don't believe that he is a member of the Xishan Society."

Liang Yue nodded, this made more sense.

Otherwise, while there is a war at the front, the people in the rear don’t even know how much money there is. Those people in the Horse Drinking Station are really useless.

But if that’s the case, why should Guo Fuming die?
Is it because of something else?
"Wait..." Liang Yue suddenly realized something, frowned and thought: "Is it possible that the reason he wanted to die was not because there was a problem, but precisely because there was no problem with the account?"

……

Was the imperial court rich or poor during the Battle of Bashan?

Liang Fuguo shared the same view as Liang Yue that the deficit in the national treasury must be real, which was why the country had to divert the treasury funds.

If he could be deceived even on matters like this, it would be difficult for Emperor Mu Bei to sit securely on the throne for that long.

Liang Yue's guess is, is it possible that Guo Fuming's original intention in the Ministry of Revenue was to make some problems with the accounts in order to frame the Minister of Revenue Meng Shouyu?

However, this plan failed, and Guo Fuming, whose deeds were exposed, had to end it in order to avoid involving more people behind the scenes.

After hearing this idea, Liang Fuguo pondered for a while and decided to go and talk to Meng Shouyu in person.

The affairs of the court were full of twists and turns, and there were too many people with their own agenda. Even important officials like them could hardly see the whole picture. Not to mention them, even the emperor could only see part of the chess game.

After he left, Liang Yue went home first.

However, as soon as he left the Ministry of Justice, he saw a figure from afar that surprised him. "Xiao Yun?" Liang Yue looked at the elegant girl in the crowd in front of him. Although it was only a back view, it was not difficult to tell that it was his sister.

Next to her was a young man in a yellow shirt, dressed simply and with a bamboo hat on his back. He was walking and talking with her.

Liang Yue's eyes narrowed immediately.

Today is indeed Liang Xiaoyun's regular day off, and she should go home early, but she is shopping here with this boy...

If it were an ordinary person, he would probably go up and question the boy's identity.

But Liang Yue felt that his sister was not the type of person who would delay her cultivation because of a personal affair, so he chose to wait and see for the time being.

He quietly restrained his breath and followed the two of them from a distance, wanting to see what they were going to do.

But after taking a few steps, he suddenly found that the two figures had disappeared!

Ok?
Liang Yue was puzzled. With his current spiritual power, he could disappear without a trace after locking onto something. Only a Grandmaster could do that, right?

Just as I was wondering, someone suddenly patted me on the back, "Brother!"

When Liang Yue turned around, he saw Liang Xiaoyun standing behind him with a smile. Next to her was the young man in yellow. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and was also smiling. "Liang Xianguan, I have heard of your great name for a long time."

"Who is this?" Liang Yue asked calmly.

"This is the master I told you about." Liang Xiaoyun said, "The one who taught me how to practice the secret arts."

"My name is Xuanyuan Fourteen." The young man in yellow introduced himself.

"Brother Xuanyuan." Liang Yue clasped his fists and saluted, a little surprised, "You are really so young?"

In his heart, he felt that the other party must be an old monster who had changed his true appearance, but it was impolite to ask such questions in person. If the other party didn't say anything, he would just assume that Xuanyuan Fourteen was really a young man.

Liang Xiaoyun had told her family about this master, who gave them the impression of being extremely powerful. Seeing him today, it turned out that he was indeed quite mysterious.

"My appearance is just a shadow in my eyes. I can't even remember how old I am." Xuanyuan Shisi was frank and said calmly, "I have been away for a long time. I just returned to Longyuan City and just wanted to say hello to my disciple. I shouldn't have let you see me, but I can see that you are about to face a disaster, so it's better for me to show up and give you some advice."

……

Liang Fuguo walked out of the Ministry of Justice and turned around and walked into the Ministry of Revenue not far away.

Soon after the arrival of the Left Prime Minister, the Minister of Revenue Meng Shouyu came to greet him in person, and the two of them sat in the Qushui Pavilion at the back of the Ministry of Revenue. Liang Fuguo dismissed his attendants, and the lake was surrounded on all sides, with no third person present.

Meng Shouyu had a square face, simple looks, a broad face and a long beard, looking like an old man.

He and Xu Zhan'ao were classmates at the Kendo Academy. Compared with Xu Zhan'ao, who was of tall stature and had a distinguished family background, Meng Shouyu, who was plain-looking and came from a peasant family, was quite inconspicuous.

For a long time afterwards, his knowledge and practice were second only to Xu Zhan'ao, which was beyond the expectations of the people in the academy. What was even more unexpected was that in the imperial examination that year, he won the first place in one fell swoop, and in turn suppressed the more dazzling genius Xu Zhan'ao.

After the two of them entered the court, he was able to take charge of a department faster than Xu Zhan'ao.

He usually does things in a very low-key manner, and people often forget about him, but he has been in charge of the ministry for more than ten years without any mistakes.

Xu Zhan'ao's brilliant life was always shrouded in such a shadow, which later students in academies all heard: "He was the best in his life, only inferior to Meng Shouyu."

However, after both of them became Shangshu, they seemed to have reached a bottleneck, and the left and right prime ministers were taken away by the younger generation in the academy, Liang Fuguo and Song Zhili respectively.

If there is any difference between them, it is probably their surnames.

"Lord Zuo Xiang came suddenly and did not allow anyone to be around. Is there something important?" Meng Shouyu asked without sitting down first.

"Brother, please take a seat." Liang Fuguo was very polite to him. After he sat down, he asked, "I came to you to inquire about someone."

"Who?" Meng Shouyu asked.

"There was a Guo Fuming in the Ministry of Revenue back then?" Liang Fuguo said, "I want to find out more about his death."

"When he died, didn't the Ministry of Justice investigate everything clearly?" Meng Shouyu asked in return, "At that time, every detail should have been recorded in the files, right?"

"No." Liang Fuguo said decisively, "At the beginning, we didn't find out that his death was related to the Xishan Society, so we wanted to ask more. The audit at the beginning clearly didn't find any problems. Is there anything that they are afraid of?"

"This..." Meng Shouyu was silent for a moment, then said, "In those years, Guo Fuming and I worked very well together and we became close friends. In the early years, he did show his intention to get me to join the Xishan Society, but I refused."

"You have never mentioned this matter in the court." Liang Fuguo said.

"I don't want to betray my friends." Meng Shouyu suddenly smiled, "Just like I'm being honest with you, I believe you won't tell anyone."

Liang Fuguo smiled back, "In fact, they also tried to win me over."

The atmosphere was a bit stiff, but it finally eased a little when the two of them smiled at each other.

"Since you are being honest with me, I will ask you my doubts truthfully," Liang Fuguo said.

At that time, Liang Yue made a guess that maybe the people from Xishan Society wanted to make problems with the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue in order to frame Meng Shouyu, which led to this audit.

Liang Fuguo denied this speculation in his heart.

However, this line of thought also led him to another speculation.

"Did the Ministry of Revenue have any money during the Battle of Bashan?"

"And if the deficit in the national treasury is fake, who did it?"

"The audit was initiated on the grounds that someone might have tampered with the accounts." Liang Fuguo looked directly into Meng Shouyu's eyes and asked a series of questions. His gaze was as sharp as a knife and his voice was as loud as thunder.

These consecutive questions made Meng Shouyu's expression slightly shocked.

"Is it that Your Majesty wants to investigate the accounts of Xishan Society, or... Xishan Society wants to investigate the accounts of Your Majesty?"

(End of this chapter)