Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

The following morning, Xue Wei finally arrived at the official residence, received his three strings of cash salary, and then went to find Wu Sansi.

Wu Sansi was waiting for him; Xue Wei had been keeping him in suspense for the past two days, and he was seething with anger.

"This humble official pays his respects to Prime Minister Wu!" Xue Wei entered the hall and bowed.

"Lieutenant Xue, please don't stand on ceremony, please have a seat!"

Xue Wei sat down and smiled, "Thank you, Prime Minister Wu, for approving the transfer."

Wu Sansi stared at him. "Tell me! What's the other stupid thing my son did?"

Xue Wei slowly said, "Zhu Ling had an eldest son named Zhu Nian, who was an idiot. When the fake Zhu Ling escaped, she only took him with her. Although he was an idiot, he had an exceptionally good memory. The real Zhu Ling told him the secret of the treasure before she died. Of course, it wasn't as straightforward as the location of the burial. It was said to be a long poem that had never been deciphered. If one is determined, one will be able to decipher it sooner or later. Unfortunately, this Zhu Nian was killed by your son."

"How do you know Zhu Ling told him the secret of the hidden treasure? And how do you know it's a long poem?"

"It was Zhu Ling's second son, Zhu Yang, who gave the instruction, but he didn't know the poem. If Prime Minister Wu doesn't believe it, he can ask Yu Jianxiu, the commander of the Plum Blossom Guard in Chang'an."

This wasn't something Xue Wei made up; Yu Jianxiu later wrote to him that they had found Zhu Nian's body, which had been killed by Wu Chongxun's men, obviously on Wu Chongxun's orders.

"So my son destroyed the last clue to the treasure?"

Xue Wei nodded. "I killed Zhu Ling, but I didn't expect the secret of the treasure to be in his idiotic son. So I didn't fight for Zhu Nian and just left. Zhu Nian then fell into your son's hands."

"Is this how you wrote your report to the Emperor?"

Xue Wei nodded again, "I dare not conceal the truth from the Emperor. It was indeed your son who ordered Zhu Nian's death. Yu Jianxiu also wrote a report afterward, which corroborated this."

Wu Sansi coldly said, "Who knows if you and Yu Jianxiu conspired to frame my son? Would Zhu Ling tell her idiot son such a huge secret?"

"It's precisely because no one can predict it that it's the safest."

Wu Sansi took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, saying, "You can go now! Thank you."

Xue Wei left, and Wu Sansi slumped against the soft couch. He suddenly realized how terrifying the Hidden Guards were. They could report to the Emperor, and they could say many unfounded things, under the pretense that they dared not hide anything. Ironically, the Emperor loved to hear these unfounded stories.

This position was originally intended for his eldest son, Wu Chongxun, but now his son has not received it; instead, it has been taken by the emperor's grandson, Xue Wei.

Wu Sansi had a hunch that Xue Wei would likely become his son's biggest political rival in the future.

Just then, an attendant announced from below, "Your Excellency, Imperial Censor Wan has urgent business to discuss!"

"Let him in!"

Imperial Censor Wan Guojun strode in like a whirlwind, his face beaming with joy. "Prime Minister, good news!"

"What good news?"

Wu Sansi was in a bad mood and glared at Wan Guojun.

Wan Guojun took out a silver ingot from his pocket. "Prime Minister, take a look at this."

Wu Sansi glanced at it. "A single ingot of silver makes you this happy?"

"No, this silver ingot signifies that Wu Chengsi's wealth has come to light."

Wu Sansi's spirits lifted, and he quickly asked, "What do you mean?"

"Prime Minister, this is a standard 25-tael ingot of official silver, with a serial number cast on it. This ingot is the batch of silver that went missing in the fire at the Imperial Treasury six years ago."

Wu Sansi narrowed his eyes. Back then, Wu Chengsi concurrently served as the Director of the Imperial Treasury. After the fire in the Imperial Treasury's warehouse, it was discovered that 300,000 taels of newly minted silver were missing. It was said that the silver had been melted by the fire, but there was no trace of it. Wei Yuanqi, the Assistant Director of the Imperial Treasury, committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

Everyone suspected that Wu Chengsi had embezzled the money, but there was no evidence.

Wu Sansi understood Wan Guojun's meaning. The appearance of this silver ingot meant that the official silver that had disappeared from the Shaofujian had appeared, and it also meant that the silver that Wu Chengsi had embezzled had appeared. And wasn't the 300,000 taels of official silver that Wu Chengsi had embezzled the same wealth that had disappeared from Wugong County?

"Where did this silver ingot come from?"

"A foreign merchant smuggling Tang swords was arrested. Three thousand taels of silver were found in his residence, all of which was the silver that had gone missing from the Shaofujian warehouse."

"Foreign merchants?" Wu Sansi was startled. Foreign merchants were Tibetan merchants. Could it be that this batch of silver had been lost to Tibet?

"Prime Minister, the silver has nothing to do with Tibet. This Tibetan merchant has been operating in Luoyang and Chang'an, and this batch of silver is in those two places."

"Did the foreign merchant confess? Where did the silver come from?"

Wan Guojun gave a bitter smile. "The trouble lies here. This foreign merchant fought desperately but was killed by a hail of arrows from the Plum Blossom Guards."

"Ah! So the trail goes cold, doesn't it?"

"Not entirely. This foreign merchant had a Han Chinese manager who handled the money. This Han Chinese manager's surname is Luo. He has run away, and the Plum Blossom Guard is searching for him in various places."

"Then what do we need to do?"

"A case needs to be filed, and the three judicial departments will jointly try it, with the Censorate in charge. I will be in charge of investigating this matter, and I will catch that head steward surnamed Luo as soon as possible."

Wu Sansi nodded. "I will go and request an audience with the Emperor right now!"

.........

In the afternoon, Xue Wei studied the use of the copper still in his room. The still was an ancient distillation apparatus, which he needed to use to refine alcohol. He had found it in the warehouse of the Qingfeng Restaurant's main branch.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from behind him. One of the footsteps was Yuan Min's, which he recognized. The other footsteps also seemed familiar.

When Xue Wei turned around, he saw that it was his mother, Princess Taiping.

"Why is Mother here?" Xue Wei stood up.

Princess Taiping looked serious, and Yuan Min's expression was also complicated, with a hint of worry, a hint of guilt, and a hint of nervousness.

"What happened?!"

Li Lingyue gave Yuan Min a wink, and Yuan Min called the two maids out and closed the door.

Yuan Min spoke first: "When we bought Qingyun Pawnshop, we used 30,000 taels of silver from the chests. At the time, we overlooked an important thing: that silver was all official silver, and it was stamped with serial numbers. Now these serial numbers have exposed the clues."

Xue Wei was startled. "They've tracked us down?"

Li Lingyue shook her head. "Things are not that simple. It hasn't come to your place yet. The Emperor has summoned you. Come with me to the palace first, and I will tell you everything on the way."

Li Lingyue then said to Yuan Min, "That batch of gold and silver must be moved to a safe place immediately."

Yuan Min nodded. "I'll move to the basement of Mingyue Tower now, and then move to another place later."

.......

Xue Wei changed into his official robes and followed his mother into her carriage, which then turned around and headed towards the palace.

Inside the carriage, Li Lingyue slowly said, "This morning, the Plum Blossom Guard arrested a foreign merchant smuggling Tang swords. After a fierce battle, the merchant was killed by a hail of arrows. During the search of his room, they found three thousand taels of silver, all of which were official silver and had serial numbers."

"But how can I prove that the official seals used in the search are from the batch I obtained?"

"Don't interrupt me, let me explain slowly. This batch of silver has nothing to do with you right now. It's 300,000 taels of silver that went missing from the Shaofujian warehouse six years ago. At that time, the Shaofujian official Wei Yuanqi committed suicide out of fear of punishment, but everyone believed that this batch of silver was embezzled by Wu Chengsi, who was concurrently serving as the Shaofujian director at the time."

Xue Wei suddenly understood, "So this batch of silver became the wealth that Wu Chengsi had secretly hoarded?"

"You understand now!"

Li Lingyue nodded. "Now everyone realizes that Wu Chengsi's wealth has resurfaced. So they've started investigating its origins."

"But that Tibetan is already dead, how can we investigate?"

"That Tibetan is just behind the scenes. Now no one wants to do business with Tibetans, so he found someone to work for him in the open. He is a Han Chinese named Luo Rui, who has already fled. The emperor has approved a joint trial by the three judicial departments, led by the censor Wan Guojun, to investigate the source of this batch of silver. So catching Luo Rui is the key."

"What did the emperor want with me that day?"

"I don't know either, but I guess it's related to this case. I can't help you this time; you'll have to handle it yourself."

Xue Wei paused for a moment and then said, "I need a few subordinates, the kind who have signed a life-or-death contract. I don't need many, two or three will be enough, but they must be silent, obedient, and highly skilled in martial arts."

Li Lingyue nodded. "I'll arrange it for you!"

.......

Inside the Qilin Pavilion, Wu Zetian pointed to a somewhat old file on the table. "That was a dead case six years ago. Three hundred thousand taels of silver went missing from the Shaofujian Treasury. More than twenty officials were implicated, some were demoted, some were dismissed, some were exiled, and some even committed suicide. In the end, the case was never solved."

But I know very well that this case isn't impossible to investigate; rather, everyone is afraid to delve deeper, all playing the game of officialdom. You are not an official; you are a secret guard responsible to me. I'm entrusting this case to you. No matter the outcome, I want to know the truth.

"Your Majesty understands."

"I won't give you a deadline for this case. I'll grant you three thousand strings of cash and appoint you as the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Do you have any other requests? You can make them now!"

"Your Majesty wishes to appoint two officials as assistants."

Wu Zetian pulled a folded document from the table and handed it to him, saying, "Fill this out yourself, then submit it to the Ministry of Personnel!"

Xue Weijie withdrew, and as he reached the doorway, Wu Zetian said calmly, "Remember the broken hairpin I gave you!"